Is Gerard Hutch being turned into a celebrity ahead of the Dublin Central by-election?

Stage appearance blurs line between art and politics as Gerard Hutch prepares for another Dublin Central by-election battle

'While I have no issue with Gerard Hutch running for election, his appearance in a play was a step too far for me.' Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

My mother often says that I would attend the opening of an envelope. On Monday, I defied all expectations when I chose to stay at home rather than take up an invitation to The Ambassador Theatre in Dublin to attend the opening night of Rex Ryan’s new play The Monk.

“Five minutes before a life-defining verdict, Gerard Hutch faces the possibility of life in prison,” a public relations person told me in an email.

“In this gripping one-man show, we journey through the mind of one of Ireland’s most enigmatic and polarising figures.”

Last Friday, I accepted the invitation, telling her that my guest and I would be delighted to attend.

However, as the weekend wore on, I became increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of seeing the show.

On Sunday evening, the straw that broke the camel's back came when a colleague sent me a picture of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch on stage at The Ambassador. 

An accompanying social media post advised that Hutch himself would be on stage every night at the theatre.

That was when I decided I could not go. My conscience would not let me.

I felt it was completely attempting to reputation-wash The Monk just three months before a by-election in Dublin Central that he intends to contest.

His nightly appearance on stage is also a blatant attempt at political posturing and propaganda, a bid to make people view through a completely different lens the trauma that was caused to my beloved Dublin during a feud that resulted in the loss of dozens of lives — along with untold destruction and heartbreak for countless families in the communities Mr Hutch now wants to represent.

Gerard the Monk Hutch and Rex Ryan at a behind the scenes tour of 'The Monk' set ahead of the theatre production. Photo: Sam Boal/Collins

While I have no issue with him running for election, his appearance in a play was a step too far for me.

While Mr Hutch’s name is well known, until very recently he was infamous, not famous.

The Monk was acquitted of murdering David Byrne in The Regency Hotel in 2016 following a high-profile trial at the non-jury Special Criminal Court.

While the court accepted that members of the Hutch group were responsible for the shooting, it ruled that prosecutors failed to prove The Monk’s direct involvement.

However, Ms Justice Tara Burns called Gerard Hutch the “head of the family”, a statement that has hung over him since.

If you had said in April 2023, when the verdict was handed down, that Hutch would run for election twice in the space of two years, I would have raised an eyebrow.

If you had told me he would be appearing in a play written by late broadcaster Gerry Ryan’s son and that people would be looking to take pictures with him afterwards, I would have told you to give your head a wobble.

I do not care about Rex Ryan doing a play about The Monk. Art is supposed to be provocative, and people can make up their minds, like I did, about whether they will go and see it.

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Similarly, I have no issue with Gerard Hutch running for election. That is his prerogative and his right. I wish anyone who puts their hand up for something as brutal as a by-election battle well.

Where the line has been crossed is this attempt to make Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch a star.

Videos sent to me by friends who did attend Monday evening’s show at The Ambassador showed people queuing up to take selfies with him.

People were having the same reaction to Gerard Hutch that I would have if I came within three feet of a Jonas brother.

There was a standing ovation at the end of the show. There were laughs throughout. There was applause.

In the opening few minutes of the play, Mr Ryan took on the part of a media interviewer probing Mr Hutch on this victory in the by-election in Dublin Central.

“I ran for [election] with the intentions of winning,” Mr Hutch told the crowd in the opening minutes of the play during a fictitious media interview.

But, win, lose or draw, it didn't bother me. I wasn't doing it for the wages. I was doing it for the community, to wake up the place.

The interview assumed Hutch won the by-election and questioned what we could expect from him as a TD.

“As a TD and a representative, I am going to be in the Dáil, and I’m going to be talking to ministers and whoever else is there. I am going to be representing my community and asking certain questions to certain ministers,” he continued.

“If they tell me lies, I’ll be going back straight to the people and say, ‘These people in here are telling me lies. I’m asking this question, and they’re giving me that answer, and I know that’s porky pies’.”

This was met with laughter from the audience, but it did not necessarily tell us what Hutch actually wants to do in the Dáil.

And it truly was a work of fiction as, for the second time in the space of a week, Mr Hutch refused to take questions from the media following the play.

It was the same story in the RDS during the count for the general election in 2024. 

'If you had told me Gerard Hutch would be appearing in a play written by late broadcaster Gerry Ryan’s son and that people would be looking to take pictures with him afterwards, I would have told you to give your head a wobble.' Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Despite a huge and oftentimes dangerously pushy media scrum, Hutch failed to outline his political policies other than saying they would include “change”.

That election nearly saw Mr Hutch elected, only for the fact he was pipped to the post by Labour’s Marie Sherlock after the transfers went against him.

The fact that he got a strong vote must be respected, and questions about why that happened have never been fully answered.

It was clear that those people saw something in Hutch that they did not see in others. 

It was clear that they were fed up with the status quo and wanted something different.

It was clear that some people thought he would be a good representative for a constituency of two halves, where one part has become gentrified and hip, while the other has been left to fall into disarray and, often, criminality.

People will disagree about whether he would have been a good TD. But that is politics. The beauty of the system is that there is choice. And we must respect the choice that others make.

However, I do not have to respect attempts to make The Monk a celebrity or a part of pop culture.

If he wants to be a politician, be a politician. But be open about your past, rather than trying to erase it by taking part in a work of art.

If Hutch wants to sit down for an interview, the PR person who invited me to the play is more than welcome to contact me again. 

I will sit down to speak to Hutch any time and anywhere about his policies and his past.

But I will not lower myself by going to The Ambassador Theatre to witness a whitewash.

• Louise Burne is Political Correspondent.