Journal of Flann O'Brien Studies (@theparishreview.bsky.social)

‘Cultural Affairs’: A Newly Discovered Myles na Gopaleen Article This note details ‘Cultural Affairs,’ a newly discovered article that Brian O’Nolan contributed, under the pen name Myles na Gopaleen, to a 1953 special supplement of The Statist magazine dedicated to ‘The Economy of Ireland.’ In its primary aim of advertising Irish industry to English investors, ‘The Economy of Ireland’ reflects the shift in post-war Irish economic policy away from the protectionist Free State era and towards the increasingly open economy of the 1950s and 60s. Myles’s contribution addresses the supplement’s theme by arguing for a form of cultural liberalism that rejects isolationism and bad-faith nationalism by opening Irish culture to foreign influence, rather than packaging it for export to foreign markets. However, ‘Cultural Affairs’ also departs from the economic supplement’s focus on courting foreign investment by advocating for meaningful government subsidies for Irish cultural regeneration. https://doi.org/10.16995/pr.23756