[sustran] Obedientia civium urbis felicitas

[Pascal Desmond]

Steady now! Hands off! That motto belongs to Dublin! [and most likely 
has since the city was incorporated some 7 or 8 centuries ago].

>Has no-one ever suggested to Dublin Corp that it is a tad 1984-ish?

The Irish Times [http://www.ireland.com] environment correspondent, 
Frank McDonald, has written 3 books on planning matters in Dublin: 
"The Destruction of Dublin" in 1985 [isbn 07171 1386 8, Gill and 
Macmillan, Dublin] which details the mass destruction of [in 
particular] the Georgian heriatage since the 1950s. He followed this 
with "Saving the City" in 1989 [isbn 18717 9303 3, Tomar Publishing, 
Dublin] which is more a manifesto. He has just written "The 
Construction of Dublin" which documents some of the corruption in 
planning matters [no further details at present -- I've only read a 
review which suggests that it has been written a bit prematurely as 
there are many ongoing Tribunals of Inquiry in Ireland into brown 
envelope payments to politicians and public servants].

Movie fans will remember a 1960s film featuring George Peppard as a 
WW1 German flying ace aiming for "The Blue Max". Ursula Andress was 
the love interest. It was filmed in Ireland. Towards the close of the 
film, Peppard goes to Berlin to receive the medal. We see a bombed 
out Berlin and some fine riverside Georgian buildings [Dublin's Four 
Courts]. Whether Berlin was bombed in WW1, I do not know. Be that as 
it may, the bombed out bit is a view from near St Patrick's Cathedral 
through the arch over the road at Christchurch Cathedral [the arch 
links CC to the Synod Hall] towards the River Liffey. Between 
Christchurch and the river is a very stressed streetscape. This area 
is Wood Quay where the Vikings settled down beside a "Dubh Linn" 
[Gaelic for Black Pool] in 836 or 988 [both years are quoted in 
official Corporation literature].

The Corporation acquired Wood Quay bit by bit between 1950 and 1975. 
They announced that it would be the location of their new offices, 
ignored public opinion [a massive 'Save Wood Quay' campaign with all 
the usual petitions sought legal clarification, etc., managed to 
delay the construction] and all those concerned about the heritage 
value/ tourism potential of the site, performed a minimal 
architectural dig, thoroughly trashed the site and poured in plenty 
of concrete to ensure that the remaining viking remnants can never be 
recovered.

In Saving the City, McDonald quotes from "Wood Quay: The clash over 
Dublin's Viking past" by Thomas Farel Heffernan, 1988, a lecturer in 
English Literature somewhere in Texas [afaik]. McDonald writes ... He 
ends his book by recalling an encounter with the Corporation's PRO, 
Noel Carroll, in the rotunda of City Hall where Dublin's official 
seal Obedientia civium urbis felicitas -- the obedience of the 
citizens is the happiness of the city, "probably the most 
totalitarian motto adopted by any  body of government anywhere" -- is 
set in the stone floor. "That's the city motto?" [Heffernan remaked], 
'Yes', Carroll replied with a contented smile, 'that's what it's all 
about'.

It is ironic, given Ireland's literary strengths, that it required 
someone from the wild west to enlighten us about our cowboys. When I 
mentioned the motto at a full meeting of Lancaster City Council a few 
years ago [where I now live], I got the impression that some 
councillors were more than a little envious of Dublin. My feeling is 
that most politicians the world over would be equally covetous.

Dublin has moved a long way from the attitudes of the 1960s when one 
politician remarked that he hoped to see all of Georgian Dublin torn 
down because it was a symbol of English imperialism. Nowadays, what 
little remains is valued as "heritage" [unless it is in a developer's 
way]... just like the motto -- so Hands Off!.
-- 
Kind regards
Pascal Desmond.