A Conspiracy of Lies

Reviews

A Conspiracy Of Lies offers romance against a background of bombings. Both Joe and Angie are scarred by the events, and Angie's mother is virtually blinded by one bomb. Joe narrowly misses being blown up by another. Both eventually get jobs in a Dublin restaurant where they chance upon information which points to the identity of the bombers and their accomplices. Their efforts to pursue the matter bring them into conflict with various institutions. In a vividly realized scene, Joe is beaten up by the police. The villain is a corrupt cabinet minister who has taken a bribe from an oil company and is in cahoots with British intelligence agents, who are complicit in the bombings. Angie is arrested and charged with a serious offence. Facing a long prison sentence, she is spirited out of court by her supporters, ultimately reunited with Joe on the continent where the story ends. A Shakespearean comedy ends with a wedding, signalling the renewal of society. The wedding of Joe and Angie is not meant to signal the renewal of Irish society, however, which is portrayed as corrupt, incompetent, divided, treacherous, dishonest, cowardly and incapable of dealing with a crisis like the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Instead it signals the survival of Joe and Angie, radicals who might be able to come up with a response. Frank Connolly's book is a carefully crafted, brave and challenging work which I think will feature on Irish Studies courses for some time to come. Expand reviews