Roadblock On The Book Tour

Presuming that all of Ireland would love to see the "other side" of a vicious criminal, New Island Books went and published a biography of Martin "The General" Cahill, as penned by his loving daughter Frances. Right now, they are fervently hoping that any publicity will move paper, even publicity of a highly negative nature. There are those out there, mainly victims of The General, who would like it if not a single copy sold.

Ms. Cahill has already been interviewed by Joe Duffy on his Liveline program and ruffled a few feathers. Her book tour was supposed to take her next to an appearance on Pat Kenny's Late Late Show, but her tour may have run up against a roadblock.

As far as RTE is concerned, Ms. Cahill's book isn't balanced. She writes of her beloved Da as a loving father, persecuted by gardai, but she forgets to mention that he was also a vicious murderer, criminal kingpin and bigamist. Easy to forget the bigamy, after all, seeing as it was her aunt who was the other woman in daddy's life.

Those who suffered at the hands of Martin Cahill would like the book tour to be halted. They see the book as pure fiction, a "fairy tale" in which The General comes across as something far less than the thug that he was. They don't want Ms. Cahill to be allowed on the Late Late, since all she's doing is hawking her book and they'd like to see the thing boycotted.

If you're curious about The General, you could rent a copy of the movie that starred Brendan Gleeson as Martin Cahill and Jon Voight as the inspector who was determined to bring the criminal to justice. Whether or not anyone has any further interest in the subject will be determined by the number of biographies that sell, and if Frances Cahill can't continue her book tour, she may not earn much out of her literary efforts.

The book was thoroughly panned by the Independent, which describes the tale as deluded. Ms. Cahill really should have done a bit of research before she put fingers to computer keyboard, starting with Antoinette Giancana's memoir. Sure there's a paternal side to any vicious thug, but it doesn't do to whitewash the brutality and try to turn a brutal gangster into a doting father. Sam Giancana was a known Mafioso, a brutal murderer, and his daughter didn't whitewash the picture. By including the negative, the positive stands out that much more. A good story needs a bit of contrast.