With the recent fracas over the Limerick City of Culture project in which four leading members resigned (the CEO’s resignation coming on the back of pressure from the initial resignation of the artistic director; international programmer and legacy programmer) there has been some commentary made on the discourse, particularly from chairman Pat Cox (who is also a seasoned politician), which has emerged in order to sidestep any underlying issues leading up to the resignations. Poet Kevin Higgins managed to piece together, and publish over at the Irish Left Review, some satirical verses from the speeches on the issue:
I am humbled by what I’ve heard here tonight.
I am determined to hit the reset button.
This is a lot more complicated than what actually happened.
I will be taking stock of resourcing requirements.
Kerrigan writing for the Sunday Independent points to how these “pre-packaged phrases” or “Vaccuspeak” employed as a language of control are attached to the wider power structures in society whereby “meaningless words mask [a] rotten system”: Continue reading
Myths of Our Time 