Patrick Smith (politician) career, Smith being said to have shouted across the floor at Dáil Éireann, "They gave us stepping-stones, but they [state forces in 1922] would not walk on them." A play on the same quote by Irish revolutionary, Michael Collins. He entered the Dáil in September 1923, as a Republican candidate. In 1926, Éamon de Valera, the Leader of Anti-Treaty Sinn Fein, approached Smith and persuaded him to join his newly founded political party, Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fail abandoned the abstentionist policy of Anti Treaty Sinn Fein and its elected members took their seats in Dáil Éireann. De Valera and Smith
Ulrike and Eamon Compliant Ulrike and Eamon Compliant Ulrike and Eamon Compliant is a work by Blast Theory that premiered at the 53rd Venice Biennale in June 2009, commissioned by the De La Warr Pavilion and supported by Arts Council England. The work is based on the lives of Ulrike Meinhof (Red Army Faction) and Eamon Collins (Irish Republican Army). Having chosen to be Eamon or Ulrike, participants walk through the city receiving mobile phone calls. Exploring subjectivities and political obligations, the work culminates in an interview with the artists in a hidden room. Mixing locative media, live performance, and interactivity, the work counterpoints