Alfie by Trevor White

Author:Trevor White
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241982310
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2017-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

The election results were a triumph for Byrne. Out of a poll of 137,749, a total of 72,658 votes – over 52 per cent – were cast for the Lord Mayor’s Panel, the 28 candidates who ran with his support. Byrne personally polled 14,297 first preferences: at least double the vote of every other candidate but one. The Evening Mail said his personality ‘has dominated the campaign’, and described the election as ‘a remarkable personal triumph for the Lord Mayor’. The decision to give his blessing to named Fine Gael and Independent candidates was cited as a factor in that success. Alderman Byrne was duly re-elected Lord Mayor, once again defeating Kathleen Clarke.

In 1936, Byrne’s contemporary James Joyce wrote a letter to his grandson, Stephen, that has since been published as a short story called The Cat and the Devil. Joyce’s tale is set in the small French town of Beaugency. When the devil builds a bridge to allow its residents to cross a river, he does so on condition that the first person who crosses the bridge will belong to him. After the devil builds the bridge, everyone from the town comes to inspect it, but no one dares to cross. The wily mayor of the town, Alfie Byrne, who ‘always had a great golden chain round his neck even when he was fast asleep in bed with his knees in his mouth’, throws water on a cat, thus encouraging it to cross the river, and into the arms of the devil. So the devil’s plan is thwarted, and the people of the town can use the bridge for ever.

Joyce’s vignette would do to amuse a child, but the story also invites us to reflect on Alfie Byrne’s willingness to work with villains for the greater good. And while the mayor’s unkind treatment of the cat is a mischaracterization – Byrne was an early champion of animal rights – Joyce captures the showboating style of a politician-businessman who pretended to have all the answers.13

For several months leading up to the coronation of King George VI in May 1937, there was intense speculation as to whether Byrne would go to London for the festivities. On 27 April, the Lord Mayor received a politely worded threat:

A Chara:

The attention of the National Association of the Old I.R.A. has been drawn to the report that the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alderman Byrne, intends to go to London for the purpose of taking part in the ceremonies in connection with the Coronation of George the Sixth of England.

I am directed by my Executive to point out to you that having regard to the relations at present existing between this country and England any such action by the Lord Mayor would be detrimental to the interests of the Irish Nation.

In view of the unanimous resolution passed at its recent Convention this organisation will use every endeavour to have removed from public office any official who attends the ceremonies held in London in connection with the Coronation on the 12th of May.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.