Serious debate on Irishness - and time out for set-dancing

Merriman Summer School Shifting the focus on ways of defining Irishness will dominate the 36th year of one of Ireland's most popular summer schools, writes Fergal Quinn

The decline in family size and the increasing spread of suburbia beyond the major urban centres marks a "transformation reminiscent in scale of the revolution spawned by the Famine", according to the broadcaster and academic Prof Brian Farrell.

Speaking at the opening of the annual Merriman Summer School in Ennistymon, Co Clare, last night, Prof Farrell said was a "real risk" that the "inherited tradition" that constitutes our sense of identity will be brushed aside like "some redundant set of slogans from an obsolete advertising campaign". However, it would be futile and blind to resist change, he said.

Instead, there should be a "total reconsideration" of our conventional inherited sets of attitudes and a "deeper understanding and appreciation" of the multiple roots from which we have drawn cultural sustenance. These "new informed terms of reference" were necessary in any "meaningful debate" over what it means to be Irish.

There was a need to complete the process of "full and equal citizenship for all, irrespective of creed, class, gender preference" and for an end to the poverty that begins "through accident of birth" and carries through to "a lifetime of deprivation" which remained "endemic" for far too many here.

The theme for the week-long gathering of academics, writers, poets, journalists, public servants, students and the public is Recording Ireland - Amharc Éireann and the way in which the Republic is recorded and depicted, through popular culture, artistic expression, and the mass media.

The programme for the summer school, which runs until next Sunday, was built around the idea of a need to re-examine the Irish identity. Prof Farrell, the RTÉ broadcaster and emeritus professor of politics at UCD, said new ways were needed to reinterpret the "distinctive elements" that must be moulded into a "new, more inclusive, generous sense of what it is to be Irish".

He said the school intended to address more immediate contemporary issues, including "the modern intrusion of advertising", "prejudice against minority groups", the "still unresolved" pursuit of peace on the island.

This year's Merriman school is being directed by Diarmuid Ó Giollain, a University College Cork lecturer in folklore and ethnology.

Ennistymon is again hosting the summer school. The Japanese film crew in town making a documentary on traditional arts of Ireland shouldn't be lacking in material. It is more likely that they will be struck by how fitting a venue it is for the Merriman Summer School, that annual celebration of the diversity of shadings within Irish cultural life which takes place there this week.

Ennistymon is also thought to be the birth-place of Brian Merriman. Although the name is now more associated with the school than the writer of The Midnight Court himself, Liam Ó Dochartaigh, chairman of this year's committee, insists upon the writer's contemporary relevance.

"He wrote about relationships between the sexes, or the issue of clerical celibacy. These are themes that are still potent," he says.

No question though that the school itself is in rude health. The object of Merriman is to generate informed debate and insight into what this country is and what it is evolving into, says Ó Dochartaigh, chairman of this year's committee. It has always tried to take a step back from Ireland in the way it addresses issues, he says. But it's also thoroughly rooted in it's west Clare locality.

This year's theme has an emphasis on the variety of ways in which the Irish nation is both recorded and depicted. Such "recordings", from artists, journalists, historians and ethnographers, generated from within Ireland and from outside, are the subject of this year's discussions. What do these representations tell us about their authors, and the conventions that govern them? Ultimately, what do they tell us about Ireland?

A typical day in Merriman involves a choice of classes in the morning on such topics as Irish language or local history. This is followed by set-dancing in the afternoon, a late afternoon lecture, then dinner, and an evening lecture, with a range of entertainment organised for the evening.

Ó Dochartaigh attributes the longevity of the school to the fact that it has always attracted a range of people. It's a relaxing week, which provides sustenance for the mind. Lots of set-dancing, with inevitable "outbreaks" of music and song, is promised. For him, the Irish language sessions are a particular highlight. He's also looking forward to some of the younger voices that will get a platform this year, people such as Michael Griffin on local Clare history or Helena Wulff, a Swedish anthropologist, examining dance in Ireland.

For Diarmuid Breathnach, Merriman has always been about paying attention to Irish tradition of one kind or another.

"The set-dancing has been a fine addition in recent years. It's a particularly sociable activity and encourages mixing. The great strengths of Merriman is the sheer entertainment value and the variety of themes. The entire day can be well spent. It's a different kind of holiday."

The range and variety of subjects tackled is particularly good this year. Tim Robinson, whose wry, reflective style is always popular, will be talking on the tradition of the seanchaí. Ricca Edmondson on scholars such as Arensberg and Kimball, whose pioneering anthropological study was carried out in Clare in the 1930s, will be interesting.

Venue: Falls Hotel, Ennistymon, Co Clare

Cost: 100, for the whole week's events - but you can attend any afternoon or night lecture, or gain admission to Club Merriman, by paying at the door.

Website: www.merriman.ie