Government reasonable over embassy

COMMENT

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore, has said this week that the closure of the Irish embassy in the Vatican will go ahead as announced, despite the clamour from the Government backbenches and the Fianna Fail contingent in opposition.
The stated reasons for the closure of the embassy, along with those in Iran and East Timor, are purely financial. Given the history between Ireland and the Catholic Church, the fallout is ultimately of a very political nature. Micheál Martin’s vehemence on the issue of the closure has been interesting to observe.
Of course, he and his advisors will try any strategy to rekindle the flame of allegiance in the hearts of the Irish electorate for their ailing party but I’m not sure this is the fight that will do it for them. The demographic who might be moved by this story are the most unlikely to be the floating voters who were pursued so doggedly come election time in the last 10 to 15 years. It is valid to argue that Fianna Fáil are hopping on this bandwagon in order to foment unrest in the Fine Gael ranks but, again, the efficacy of this strategy is questionable.
There have been dark rumblings regarding the reasons for this closure since it was announced. Was the Government merely continuing its policy of sticking it to the Vatican over its abysmal record with regard to the abuse of Irish children? Was Eamon Gilmore trying to boost his profile, having been undermined and outplayed by the suddenly tough-talking Taoiseach Enda Kenny on the subject? Certainly, there is food for thought in the speculation but ultimately a definite positive to come out of the story is the saving of money that the closures will mean for the Irish exchequer.
In the new language of billions, which characterises debates about Ireland’s financial position, the saving of a million euro by closing these three foreign missions does seem rather paltry. That said, the old adage of minding pennies and letting the pounds take care of themselves does spring to mind.
What this debate has done is raise the very interesting question of what the embassy in the Vatican actually did. In all the years it has been present, it did absolutely nothing to successfully force, coerce or convince the Vatican and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to stop shielding the rapists and child abusers within its ranks.
Diplomatic language will have characterised assurances and rebuttals on both sides in the last 20 years but there was little to show for it. I have heard the Vatican outpost described as one of the world’s important “listening posts” but have yet to hear of any concrete positivity to have come from maintaining a presence there.
What has been interesting to note in the debate is the implied threat of consequences if the embassy is closed. What exactly might these consequences be? Will the Vatican begin to be less forthcoming with the Irish State on the issue of abuse?
This would constitute business as usual to my mind. The real issue may be around the stranglehold that the Catholic Church retains within Irish education and care services.
It is easy to forget, and extremely discomforting to remember, that the institution is still firmly at the centre of the Irish education system. It is a position of power and domination that it will not want to give up without a fight. In reality, however, as Ireland continues to become more secular, it is something that will need to be addressed by an Irish Government at some point in the future. It is safe to say that it will not be happening any time soon, given the state of Irish finances but it cannot be put off forever.
Even if this is where the Vatican may maximise its revenge on the Irish State for the slight of closing an embassy within the confines of the world’s smallest state, I feel we can rest easy. It would never have been very forthcoming on the issue anyway so the consequences will really be minimal.
The peculiar and anachronistic nature of the Vatican’s ­international position as an actual state means a very acceptable alternative to a full embassy can be offered with great ease.
Anyone who has visited the place will know that it is merely a part of the city of Rome. When you walk from the Italian city to the Vatican the only indication that you are entering another state is the sudden proliferation of shops selling religious trinkets. The Irish Government has been able, as a result, to offer a perfectly acceptable deal to the Vatican. They can share an embassy with the Italians, who surround them on all sides.
My understanding is that this has been rejected as unacceptable but this can only be for petty reasons of status and a sense of entitlement, which will be familiar to anyone who has examined the Catholic Church as an institution with even a cursory glance.
The words of the newly appointed Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles John Brown, were interesting in the context of this whole affair. Addressing a crowd in Dublin last Sunday, the Nuncio stated the Pope “felt deeply the wounds of those who had been harmed and who so often had not been listened to”. Statements of this kind from the Church and its representatives are nothing new and, despite ticking all the right boxes in terms of content, cannot be seen to be worth anything at all.
The newly appointed Papal Nuncio went on to identify his own Irish roots and the importance of the particular brand of Catholicism that travelled to America with his ancestors. He attributed his own membership of the Church to that brand of the creed. Given the results we are still hearing about of that kind of Catholicism both in Ireland and abroad, it is a question of judgment as to whether anyone would want to associate themselves with it.
The coming years and months will be interesting with regard to this particular situation but it is interesting to note that the Tánaiste left the get-out clause of “improved financial circumstances” with regard to a reopening of the embassy in question.
The pressure will be on in diplomatic circles to ensure this happens as quickly as possible. It may give us an indication as to how much sway, influence and power the Catholic Church continues to wield in Ireland in the 21st century.