Dublin City Council has voted to rename Archbishop Dermot Ryan Park, aka, Merrion Square. Almost no-one knows it is called after the former Archbishop of Dublin but the name is to be changed all the same because Archbishop Ryan is named and shamed in the Murphy report.
One councillor has suggested that it be renamed Oscar Wilde Park instead. Wilde was raised in a house opposite the park and there is a statue in his memory in the park. But not alone should the park not be named after him, his statue should be removed as well in the interests of consistency.
If Dermot Ryan is shamed forever because of his woefully inadequate response to the abuse allegations that came his way, then Oscar Wilde is doubly shamed because Wilde had a fondness for 'rent boys', that is, boy prostitutes.
If the name of the park is to be changed, then in logic it can't possibly be renamed after Wilde and Wilde's statue should be removed from the park. (A horrible statue it is too).
Why has Wilde's exploitation of young, vulnernable, working class boys not sullied his name forever? Does his undoubted talent somehow protect him? Does the fact he was a great writer and wit give him a pass?
The fact that Dermot Ryan was a 'man of the cloth' no longer gives him a pass. Wilde did worse than Ryan. His talent should not be allowed to protect his reputation. The fact that it does, shows our double standard about the issue of sexual abuse.
It's like the free-pass so many of Roman Polanski's supporters have given him. Do artists have a licence to do as they please?
Although this is an old post, I have to state that I wouldnt agree necessarily with the park being named after Oscar Wilde, I would try to remember though that Oscar did make a deathbed conversion and suffered much internal struggle with sin. As Catholics we are members of a Church that preaches forgiveness and mercy. Oscar Wilde served two years hard labour in prison for his homosexual behaviour. He struggled desperately to find help within the Catholic Church especially after his prison term. He once quipped that the Catholic faith was the only one worthy dying in. He wrote some of the most incredible poetry from his prison cell, one of those being the Ballad of Reading Gaol which spoke to me of a man who I believe came to know Christ and the depths of His Mercy. A verse of his below...
Ah! happy day they whose hearts can break
And peace of pardon win!
How else may man make straight his plan
And cleanse his soul from Sin?
How else but through a broken heart
May Lord Christ enter in?
We would do well to be more merciful especially to those who struggle with sin instead of taking the high moral tone which is of no use to anyone. On 16th July 2009 L'Osservatore Romano acknowledged the struggles of Oscar Wilde with the Catholic faith and wrote "The existential path which Oscar Wilde trod can also be seen as a long and difficult path toward that Promised Land which gives us the reason for existence, a path which led him to his conversion to Catholicism, a religion which, as he remarked in one of his more acute and paradoxical aphorisms, was 'for saints and sinners alone -- for respectable people, the Anglican Church will do'." Wilde had "embraced God after his dramatic experience in prison", 'L'Osservatore Romano said'
I think Oscar knew Christ would not reject him, even when he felt the painful rejection of those in the Church when he sought help, but he did not despair. He knew Gods mercy which exists for everyone.
I wasn't aware it was the nature of a "forgiving Christian" to fight fire with fire?
There's something about the quote "The fact that Dermot Ryan was a 'man of the cloth' no longer gives him a pass..." that I find quite sinister. From this, I'll assume, that theoretically, if you were the sole person with awareness of the allegations brought on Dermot Ryan that you would take no action on it, preferring to save the reputation of a "good man" than a child.
And your argument of Wilde being on par with and even suggesting that it was worse than Ryan is simply void. Not that I'm condoning what he did, but considering the job that these "rent-boys" had is indicating some kind of willingness on their part, whereas children were hardly aware of the situation enough to know how to properly react or to know that what was happening was wrong. Maybe I'm wrong, but we know I'm not.
Well, if we're to judge Wilde based on 21st century morals as David says, we should probably check all other historical figures to find out which ones frequented prostitutes. Prior to the sexual revolution, it's estimated that 20% of men lost their virginity to a prostitute - presumably the figure is far higher for the total number of men who ever frequented one. I look forward to David's campaign to have all their statues removed as well.
Oscar Wilde is hardly the best person to name a park after.
Then what about his da? Willie Wilde did quite a lot to promote Irish Culture. There really isn't anyone (Irish or otherwise) who hasn't a cupboard full of rattling skeletons.
Why are the Irish so censorious, so unforgiving?