It's a divine comedy when Sacred Heart surgery is taken to extremes

THE Office of Public Works seems to have embarked on a crusade of political correctness which, to date, has put the Sacred Heart across the gardaí in at least one station.

If the State agency, which has apparently taken upon itself the role of ridding us of any symbols which they imagine may be offensive to foreigners who have settled among us, then the landscape of the country may be changed utterly.

The OPW is responsible for the maintenance of public buildings and since the arrival on our shores of various asylum seekers and refugees, they have been charged with finding accommodation for them.

Accommodating their religious sensibilities by protecting them from perceived offensive images, such as holy pictures and statues, would appear to be above and beyond the call of duty for the OPW.

Appropriately enough, their mission to arrest such offence was launched in the garda station in Cobh otherwise known as the Holy Ground.

When the gardaí in our nascent State established a barracks in the town in 1922 one of the first to help them with their enquiries was the Sacred Heart. A picture, revered by villain and innocent alike, was put up in the public office. For the past 80 years it has hung there, silently and non-judgemental, gazing benignly on gardaí and members of the public.

Then, three weeks ago, the gardaí moved into new premises and, naturally enough, they brought the Sacred Heart with them and put the picture up in the public office. At this stage, it has a longer service record than any member of the force and has never been known to suffer from the blue flu.

Despite this devotion to duty, the OPW ordained that it be transferred from the public office to some back room because it could be deemed offensive. A spokeswoman for the OPW said: "It was felt it wouldn't be appropriate in the context of dealing with people in a public building in a multicultural society. It's a large, modern building and there are a number of other rooms, so maybe they could consider putting it somewhere else."

With those mortal words, the Sacred Heart was given a bypass.

However, gardaí in Cobh have vowed that it won't be left in the limbo of a back room. They intend to move heaven and earth to ensure that He makes another public appearance. To that effect, they have signed a petition renouncing the OPW and all its pomps. More importantly, they have invoked the support of the Garda Representative Association.

I think it would be fair to say that this is the first time in history that practically an entire police force is mobilising itself in defence of the Lord. And it is very definitely the first time that a trade union, or at least a workers' movement, has been asked to intervene on behalf of the Sacred Heart.

The GRA, which has 9,000 members, has demanded that the picture be reinstated in the public office. Their executive for Cork North Division, Dermot Moloney, said it represented a part of the force's heritage and should be retained in the public office as was the wish of the members of the force in Cobh garda station. While the gardaí are sensitive to the modern day needs of a multicultural society, Mr Moloney said they were confident non-Christians would understand the picture's cherished cultural and religious significance.

I don't know how far the GRA are prepared to go to resolve this dispute to the satisfaction of its members in Cobh, but it's got the potential to last 40 days and 40 nights, if there is no divine intervention.

The town's mayor, Cllr Stella Meade, has added the weight of her office in support of the gardaí, as has the local Christian Solidarity Party. One of their spokesmen said there was a level of political correctness which was astonishing and unjustified.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Cloyne, Fr Jim Killeen, said they would be happy if the wishes of the gardaí were respected. Religious images, he said, can present some difficulties for some people, but he believed it's probable in this particular case that more people would be offended if the picture were removed.

As far as I know, nobody in the multicultural society that is Cobh has objected to the picture of the Sacred Heart. Maybe none of those, who could, by the lights of the OPW be offended, are ever in trouble with the guardians of the peace in the harbour town.

With the arrival of about 1,000 asylum seekers and refugees into the country every month for the past few years, the entire country is now multicultural. There are now so many of them in the country, that the scope for any one of them taking offence is immense.

If they have to go into hospital, for instance, there is every chance that the sight of a crucifix or statue of Our Lady could make them forget a broken leg. Driving through any of a thousand villages could be very traumatic, dangerous even, because the sudden appearance of a Marian shrine could offend them and cause them to crash. Then they would end up in hospital and be subjected to more trauma.

I would imagine that the image of the Sacred Heart would be the least of your worries if you are invited into the local nick. For non-Christians, or non-believers, it would surely be comforting that there was somebody in the garda station who might just be on their side, or at least neutral.

Obviously, if the OPW is engaged on a mission of icon cleansing, then they have a lot of work ahead of them. They will also face a lot of hassle because in pandering to the sensibilities of a minority, they will be causing offence to the majority of people in this country.

At this stage, in the case of Cobh garda station, they seem to be going off at a tangent of their own. Nobody has objected to the picture of the Sacred Heart. Not in 80 years has it happened that anybody complained.

They have managed to manufacture a controversy of their own making and one which is, literally, off the wall.

Hopefully, the gardaí's prayers will be answered, with the help of God. And maybe a little bit of common sense will descend on the OPW, although possibly not in the shape of tongues of fire.