Politico and ex-false teeth delivery boy Mannix has plenty of bite

Mannix Flynn’s career path got off to an appropriately off-beat start – delivering false teeth. Since then he has been a playwright, actor, novelist and is now a Dublin City Councillor. Despite being of the Left, he can be its harshest critic,  slamming People Before Profit and stating that the occupation of Apollo House “completely failed.”  A reformed alcoholic, Mannix has just produced an acclaimed new documentary  - Land Without God - dealing with his horrific experiences of church and state abuse in the notorious  Letterfrack Industrial School.

What was your first job?

Delivering false teeth. I was on the mitch from school and a man looked out the window and asked me to deliver a set of false teeth to Howth.

How much did you get paid?

Six shillings or something like that.

You were raised by your mother. How did she manage?

My mother was a street trader. She reared 15 children, ran a stall in Camden  Street and lived a very full life. She died at 89. There was a woman who managed - in an economy that was broken, a country that was smashed by civil war. You can’t get better than that. She was a tough cookie.

What did she teach you about money?

She taught me that you can make money. That money has its value. But it’s more that she taught me about what what not having money can do. Poverty and empowerment were hand in glove. But she had a great level of independence. I watched her being able to put up doors, wallpaper, do electrical wiring….

You worked with Liam Neeson, Jim Sheridan, Olwin Fouéré and Gabriel Byrne. What was it about that group that it was so successful?

 That group was the Project Theatre, a collective co op. There was an equal wage for everybody.You got 35 quid and you got your dole and you made that work.

We have a new social welfare payment for artists. Should we just have a basic income system (where everyone gets paid a minimum wage and is allowed to work to supplement it).

I think you have to have a basic income system, like the Finns have. You have to have basic income and integrity.

Have you ever been paid stupid money?

I remember getting ten grand for doing a film as an actor, a long time ago.  But I don’t think there’s such a thing as stupid money. There’s people who do stupid things with money.

What do you do to relax?

I watch television. I go for long walks. I might go and visit my therapist. Or I might go to a church.

So you’ve made your peace with the church?

The church is not something you make peace with. The church is just a building you go into. I never fell out with God. The rest is just human beings.

You can’t wipe away what happened to me. I don’t believe in sentimentality or hocus pocus. I do have a strong faith.

Do you go to mass?

 I use the rituals because they are interesting in the same way I like Christmas trees. I would go to mass. I go to communion. I will do anything I can do, anything that will assist me in my day.

Do you own a property?

I have a small house in Kerry I bought there which I am fixing and building over the last 20 years. I am up and down all the time from Killorgan.

How much did it cost?

I am still paying for that. It cost me €160,000. I did all the work myself because I thought I was a builder. There’s still a lot more to go on it.

What was the worst part (of your recovery from alcoholism)?

The worst part was the fear - the fear that I wouldn’t be able to take responsibility for being an author, a politician, a homeowner. All of that was a huge burden. Making amends to all the people, paying back what I owed them. All of that was a difficult journey. Making Land Without God (a feature-length documentary film) was an extremely difficult journey.

It was a fairly big budget wasn’t it (over €400,000)?

You had to go high end. Fixing the sound, all that, cost tens of thousands of euros. We interviewed 60 people. Each one over 5 hours. Most didn’t make it into the film. 

How did you raise the money?

Over ten years I set the whole thing up. And each time we had an opportunity to film, we all came together and filmed it. I borrowed money. Put money into the bank. Borrowed money off the bank. The Bank in Killorgan were very kind to me.

I got the starter money from the Film Board, the guts of €100,000, a loan. I got the crew in and promised I would pay them what I could. I delayed the payments, delayed the payments.

How much does it cost to run in a (local) election?

An election can cost anything sixpence to 60 grand. On the last election, I think I probably spent in the region €4,000 because we kept all our posters. And we realised nobody was answering doors we just stopped knocking on doors and put it in the hands of the Gods.

Any financial tips? I was taught if I owed someone a fiver  and I owed someone a million. Pay the fiver. That’s something dealt with. That’s a bit of progress.

Three things you would do as finance minister?

· Declare an Emergency on Housing

· Put a super-agency together to deliver housing

· Bring in expertise from abroad