Exploring the juxtaposition of the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and the result of the Brexit referendum, COLMAN MOLONEY paints a grim picture of the Great Britain of 2016

 

On Friday, July 27th 2012, the world watched with wonder as the image of a warm and accepting country spread itself across living rooms all over the world. As the 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony burst into full flight we observed with awe as a nation celebrated what made it great. It didn’t look back on its self-inflated sense of empire and importance – but on its modern achievements, in the name of peace, tolerance and aspiration. The Danny Boyle-directed ceremony was entitled ‘The Isles of Wonder’, and it provided us with a joyful glimpse of what Britain had become.

1948 was presented as a pivotal year in the history of modern Britain. That was the last time London played Olympic host, but also the year that saw the founding of the free National Health Service as well as the arrival of the Windrush, the ship bearing the very first Caribbean migrants, who would help change the face of Britain. Tender moments were plentiful as the nurses of the NHS tucked children of all backgrounds into bed in the Olympic Stadium as dusk gave way to twinkling night. They did little to prepare them for the cold light of 2016.

Friday, June 24th 2016 was a travesty. The wee hours of the morning saw relief as Gibraltar and Newcastle voted to remain in the European Union. Relief swiftly fell under attack and despair engulfed many as Sunderland voted to leave, along with the political establishment and status quo. In quick succession, political parties lost their leaders, the pound dropped to a pittance and an innate sense of betrayal started creeping into the hearts and minds of those of us around the world watching with horror.

The reason behind the vote is multi-faceted. It was an electoral outburst of rage at years of austerity with cuts to all services providing help in communities, and the ideological criminalisation of poverty. Like the result of the recent US election, it shows a people fed up with a world of wealth and power that has forgotten about them. However, Brexit was not the cure for their woes; in fact it will hit the ordinary person hardest as factories and businesses plan to relocate along with investment and jobs.

In the immediate years of post-war austerity, still on rations, the British people watched their global empire unravel, birthing a national narrative that endured for more than six decades. The answer to post-war poverty was investment in public services, cooperation with the outside world and leaving its people come and make new lives for themselves. This message has been lost to the cries of taking back control of the borders and British jobs for British people.

Perhaps the biggest casualty in all this is the fate of the young people of the very disunited kingdom. This referendum sees a youth cheated of its future. Promises were made to extend the franchise to those as young as 16, allowing those without a voice to have a stake in their own futures. Instead they weren’t allowed input on a vote that will change their lives fundamentally. Not only do they now see barriers to travel, education and jobs, but also an everyday reality in which racism and narrow-mindedness have become the norm; reports are coming, thick and fast, of increased incidences of racism and homophobia.

Discussion in the schools and campuses of Ireland see the UK as a diminished destination. Whereas once London, Birmingham and Manchester were seen as the natural home of the Irish who felt they couldn’t succeed here, they now have lost their allure with xenophobia and nationalism increasing day by day. Many fear travel and work restrictions, not to mention a lost decade of economic stagnation. Irish students feel immensely disappointed as they look elsewhere for prospects, but that pales in comparison to the prospects faced by Northern Ireland as communities face the rise of sectarianism and split communities with the talk of a hard border and the forgotten achievements of the Peace Process.

The 2012 Olympics was not the anthem of a welcoming and open country going from strength to strength. Instead it proved to be a swan-song, a whimper from a way of living in the twilight of its life. The future, as it stands on the horizon, seems foreboding and brittle. The structures and pathways of the past have crumbled and we see a not so brave new world. It is becoming increasingly clear that Theresa May’s tight-lipped strategy is a cloak, behind which she hides the lack of plans her government has for Brexit.

As crisis follows crisis on the other side of the Irish Sea, we look to the words of Shakespeare which so inspired the ‘The Isles of Wonder’ 2012 ceremony: “Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises.”