Mannix Flynn (born Gerard Mannix Flynn, 4 May 1957) is an Irish

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

politician who has served as a

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council was ...

lor since May 2009.Gerard Mannix Flynn
at Irish Writers Online. Retrieved 24 May 2009 Aside from his work on

, he is also an author and playwright, having written the novel ''Nothing To Say'' in 1983 and the play ''James X'' in 2002.

Early life

He was sent to St Joseph's Industrial School in

Letterfrack Letterfrack or Letterfrac () is a small village in the Connemara area of County Galway, Ireland. It was founded by Quakers in the mid-19th century. The village is south-east of Renvyle peninsula and north-east of Clifden on Barnaderg Bay an ...

aged eleven for eighteen months.Mannix Flynn: To Hell in Connaught
Brighid McLaughlin, Sunday Independent, 22 December 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2009 He was subjected to

sexual Sex is the biological distinction of an organism between male and female. Sex or SEX may also refer to: Biology and behaviour *Animal sexual behaviour **Copulation (zoology) **Human sexual activity **Non-penetrative sex, or sexual outercourse ** ...

and physical abuse there. He also spent time in Marlborough House Detention Centre,

Daingean Daingean (; or ), formerly Philipstown, named after King Philip II of Spain, is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry on the R402 regional road. The town of Daingean ...

, County Offaly, St Patrick's Institution and was given 5 years at 15 years of age and sent to

Mountjoy Prison Mountjoy Prison ( ga, Príosún Mhuinseo), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed ''The Joy'', is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Edward Mullins. History ...

Career

Crime

Flynn was sent to prison for two years for an arson attack.

Artist

He published the novel ''Nothing To Sa''y in 1983. It was subsequently translated into German, Italian, and Polish. He founded his arts company, Farcry Productions, in 2004, which produces visual art, performance and installation work around taboo issues such as child sexual abuse, violence, and addiction. In 2004, ''James X'' performed by Flynn won the Irish Times Theatre Award. An earlier version of this play titled ' Talking to the Wall' had previously won the Edinburgh Fringe award. He appeared in the films '' Cal'' and '' When the Sky Falls'',

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

and worked as an actor in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

for 20 years.

Politician

Flynn was first elected to

in the 2009 local elections as an independent candidate representing the South-East Inner City electoral area. He was re-elected to the revised Pembroke-South Dock electoral area in the 2014 local elections. He tabled a motion to move the Temple Bar Cultural Trust

tate company set up in 1991 as a regeneration agency for Temple Bar Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

under the direct control of Dublin City Council. The trust was subsequently found to be in breach of corporate governance and accountability in a number of public reports. He has expressed critical views of the way public money was spent as part of a

Grafton Street Grafton Street () is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre (the other being Henry Street). It runs from St Stephen's Green in the south (at the highest point of the street) to College Green in the north (the lowes ...

regeneration project in

. He supports tougher regulation around the amplification of busking on public streets, which led to his office being vandalised in February 2015. He has been involved in a number of challenges to cycle lane provision, with a High Court challenge against the Strand Road cycle lane COVID mobility trial and is a spokesperson for a group opposed to this cycle lane trial. Critics have accused Mannix of consistently voting against policies that would provide more active travel infrastructure and in favour of policies which negatively impact pedestrians and cyclists. His legal challenges to cycling provision have the potential to revert a number of cycle lanes which have been created back to servicing predominantly cars. In 2015, he resigned from the Dublin City Council Arts SPC over what he perceived as a lack of cohesive overall policy, strategy, and vision. In 2016, he protested against the

Artane Band The Artane Band () is a marching band for young musicians based at the Artane School of Music in Artane in Dublin, Ireland. Name The band was originally called the Artane Boys Band, with members drawn from the pupils at Artane Industrial Sch ...

, due to its association with the

Artane Industrial School St. Josephs Industrial School, Artane was an Industrial School run by the Christian Brothers in Artane, Dublin from 1870 to 1969. History On 28 July 1870, the Artane Industrial School for Roman Catholic Boys, also known as St Joseph's, was of ...

. The band responded saying it has had no association with the former industrial school. Flynn's peaceful protest, which included him protesting on a window sill in his

office, was criticised by some as "attention seeking" and a "publicity stunt full stop". In 2019 Flynn was involved in a protest march against plans to open the state's largest homeless shelter in his ward. Protesters marched north bound on

Aungier Street Aungier Street is a street on the south side of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It runs north-south as a continuation of South Great George's Street. It is the location of both a Technological University Dublin and a Dublin Business Schoo ...

blocking traffic and shouting slogans against the

Peter McVerry Fr Peter McVerry, SJ (born 1944) is an Irish Roman Catholic priest, notable for battling homelessness in Ireland.

trust for providing the services in conjunction with Dublin City Council. In 2020 Flynn took further legal action against the council, who were working in conjunction with the Peter McVerry Trust, so that he could ensure the homeless facilities would not be built in the area. He contested the 2011,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

general elections to Dáil Éireann unsuccessfully. He stood unsuccessfully as an independent candidate at the

2021 Dublin Bay South by-election A by-election was held in the Dáil Éireann constituency of Dublin Bay South in Ireland on Thursday, 8 July 2021, to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of the Fine Gael TD Eoghan Murphy. The by-election was won by Senator Ivana Bacik ...

, getting 879 first-preference votes (3.3%).

''Land Without God''

A 2019 documentary by Flynn, ''Land Without God'', about the effects of clerical abuse on Flynn and his family, received special mention for the ''Dublin Human Rights Film Award'' at the

Dublin International Film Festival The Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF; ) is an annual film festival held in Dublin, Ireland, since 2003. History Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003. It was revived by Michael Dwyer, international film critic and ' ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flynn, Gerard Mannix Aosdána members Irish male film actors Irish male novelists Irish male dramatists and playwrights 1957 births 21st-century Irish politicians Local councillors in Dublin (city) Independent politicians in Ireland Living people 20th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish male writers 21st-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Irish male writers