JOHN BANVILLE,
Sir, - Anthony Cronin chides me (December 20th) for my "crusading zeal" in seeking to encourage members of Aosdána to resign their membership of the organisation. He also gently deplores what he evidently regards as my dereliction from "an expression of identity of interest with others" in the artistic guild for whom my continued membership of Aosdána would have been a source of support and comfort. Let me clarify my position.
I have no wish to damage Aosdána as an institution. I think the setting up of Aosdána, in which Anthony Cronin played no small part, was a singular achievement. Aosdána is obviously thriving, and will continue to thrive, even without my continued membership. My intention in resigning was precisely to express an "identity of interest" with others who, as Anthony puts it, "have made the same difficult and often dangerous vocational choice" that he and I made long ago.
The reason for my resignation was simple. I had for some years taken no active part in the proceedings of Aosdána, not because I disapproved of those proceedings, but because I was busy elsewhere, frequently out of the country, etc. It seemed, therefore, that the right and mannerly thing to do would be to resign. I know that many artists are eager to join Aosdána, and since there is a ceiling on membership numbers, I felt it was wrong for a non-participant such as myself to continue to occupy a seat in the organisation which could be filled by someone else, most likely younger and needier than I, whose enthusiasm for the institution would ensure his or her strong involvement in the activities of this extremely significant body. I have no doubt that more than one of the new members elected to Aosdána at the most recent plenary meeting will have approved heartily of my decision to create a vacancy.
In my letter of resignation, I suggested that perhaps the Toscairí, the committee of Aosdána members who run the organisation, might consider creating a new, emeritus status for members who, like me, felt they should make way for the next generation, but who wished to maintain a link with, and demonstrate support for, the institution of Aosdána. I still think this is an idea that should be explored.
Finally, to anyone who imagines that in resigning from Aosdána I nobly relinquished a financial interest, I wish to point out that I have not been receiving the cnuas since some time in the mid-1980s. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN BANVILLE,
Dublin 1.