Emily Roche
she/her
Corporation Tax
When the Catholic church arrived in Ireland, it operated as a corporation which constantly required a tax to keep itself afloat. This was funded by the average layperson through regular donations and collections. However, members of the Catholic church often paid their dues in other ways such as maintaining an acceptable family status, sacrifice their bodily autonomy, hiding their sexuality, and tolerating physical, sexual and verbal abuse- all in the hope of appearing faithful and loyal to the powers at play. To not adhere to these rules was like a tax gone unpaid, and as the debt grew, so did your isolation from the community.
'Corporation Tax' explores how this mask or façade was upheld for so long by an organisation drunk with power. However, no stone can go unturned forever. As the sun rises on a more secularised state, the cracks of the past begin to open, and the truth reveals itself.