Updated February 15, 10.37
TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY was in Cork last night speaking at the Forum on Brexit.
Local stand up comedian and prankster Ross Browne saw this as a prime opportunity to pull off a gag.
He stood up during the speech and acted out his own “sign language” interpretation of what Kenny was saying
Taking his place at the front of the room, Browne lasted a whole minute before anyone actually approached him to stop – with a man eventually emerging from the audience to have a word with him.
The subtitles on the video give an idea of what he’s trying to act out for “comedic” effect:
“Enda will only give us money if we give him a sexy dance.”
With other “quotes” including: “Him there, Enda… he’s a w**ker”
As he starts to leave, he struggles with his coat for a while in front of the crowd:
And just as he’s being escorted out, he leaves with the line: “I’m not paying for my water anyway”:
On Wednesday, The Council of Irish Sign Language Interpreters released a statement strongly condemning Browne’s use of fake sign language:
It is with a mixture of disappointment, and faint amusement, that the Council of Irish Sign Language Interpreters (CISLI) greets the latest ‘fake interpreter’ episode – this time, comedian Ross Browne ‘interpreting’ for Enda Kenny at a conference in Cork, performing rude gestures in his direction.
It has been made clear that Ross Browne was not, of course, booked to interpret for this event, and did not purport to. CISLI understands the premise of using platforms such as these for purposes of social and political activism. However, it is disheartening to see this tactic used in such a way as to undermine professional sign language interpreters, Deaf people, and Irish Sign Language.
Further down, the statement spoke of the offence Browne’s act caused in the community:
CISLI gets the joke, but this does not remove the offence felt by both professional interpreters and Deaf people. Regardless of the intention of the stunt, the message was delivered by poking fun at sign language.
You can read the full statement from the group here.
The Irish Deaf Society were quick to condemn Browne as well, addressing their statement directly to him.
DailyEdge.ie has contacted Fine Gael for a statement on the interruption, with the video racking up over 260,000 views on Facebook since it was posted.
