The Free Manx Paper Earroo / Issue 41 - Jerrey Souree / July 2008 Published by Mec Vannin Roland Paul Drower 12-10-53 to 12-05-08 Roly Drower died suddenly from a heart attack in May. He first contacted Mec Vannin in 1996, offering space on his newly created "Manx Megalinks" internet site. His idea was simple and sound; to create both a "portal" and hosting facility for Manx organisations of all persuasions and for Manx poets, artists and musicians. This was when the internet was just coming to general public attention and a lot of people just didn't grasp the potential usefulness of the internet as a means of international communication and information exchange. Hence, many people let this excellent opportunity slide past them and the concept of a central portal to "all things Manx" and a central hosting resource was almost lost. Roly and Partner, Anne, December 2007 Mec Vannin, however, instantly a healthy disdain for the corrupt were not necessarily discomforted by recognised the worth of the facility and establishment in all countries. That Roly's dealings with all. continued to host its pages on the corrupt establishment seemed, in Manxman domain up until its closure Roly's eyes, to have been fermented But what brought Roly, born, raised and in August 2007. By this time, Mec and distilled into a particularly rotten educated in southern England, worked in Vannin had seemlessly transferred to brew in the Isle of Man. the USA, to the Isle of Man, to a place a stand-alone domain. Whereas other which seemed to epitomise the organisations have stumbled from Nonetheless, he was not a cynic by clostrophobic, incestuous machinery of domain to domain and are frequently default and, at times, displayed a state that he so opposed? beset by fragmented, out of date refreshing (some might say naive) pages, dead-ends and well-intentioned belief in the ultimate triumph of truth Roly's mother, Angela, is Manx and when but misguided piecemeal sites, Mec and honesty over lies and deceit. He his father Denys retired in the early Vannin's web presence has been was certainly no fool, and his deep 1980s, they decided to come to Angela's consistant since Roly's first intelligence was easy to perceive country of birth. Roly came to visit in involvement. His advice and tutoring without him ever talking down to 1984, having given up the day job as a were invaluable in maintaining our people in any way. Few, without rocket scientist, and stayed. The Island internet integrity. being told, would have suspected was very different back then. We were him of formerly having worked for rising out of the recession made so acute But who was Roly? What was his NASA until quitting for ethical by our over-dependence upon what was intent? It didn't take long to establish reasons. already a fast shrinking industry; English that his objectives with the Megalinks / mass tourism. It was actually a nice place Manxman pages were altruistic, or The thing is, it is impossible to pin to be. Though the government of the day Mec Vannin would likely have kept down Roly's character. Nearly was hardly one to hold in high esteem, it away. He was outwardly non-partisan everyone who knew him, knew him had not yet collapsed into the culture of although he had is own political in a slightly different light: Poet, unbridled arrogance bolsterd with an standpoint that could not be pigeon- musician, humourist, computer impenetrable denial response that is the holed into simplistic left / right , expert, political thinker, motorcyclist, ministerial system of government we communist / socialist / capitalist terms. socialiser, organiser, friend, partner have today. Nor was it the undisguised That he was a founding member of the .... This is where his non-partisan hand-maiden of the international finance Isle of Man Freethinkers is a reflection nature allowed him to deal with sector. Like the rest of us, he watched it of this. He was not overtly radical but individuals and groupings who may was definitely non conformist and had have had little time for each other but Continued on page 2 yn pabyr seyr Issue 41, July 2008 Page 2 In memory of Roly Drower From page one site but that is very far from the case. court. Only then did a further two There have been several abortive all go so horribly wrong. years' of legal background arguments attempts to create on-line competition to take place with Roly's defence finally the Isle of Man Newspapers' monopoly. One of Roly's main lines of attack was being torpedoed on a technicality. He The "Isle of Man Eye", the "Ballaugh an incredibly incisive humour reinforced never had a chance to demonstrate Jester" and the "Black Dog" sites come with a great command of language. His the veracity of statements alleged by to mind. There may have been others, humour was not the bitter sarcasm of Gubay to be libellous in open Court. we don't know, which proves the point. many anti-establishment humourists, The most amazing thing is that Only Roly's Manxman pages were able but a gentle, almost polite, smack throughout the entire ordeal, Roly to grip the public imagination sufficiently across the face of the subject. In simple never expressed any feelings of to generate widespread interest in an parlance, Roly took the piss but he took malice towards Albert Gubay or his internet based publication. Both it so very well. cohorts. Pity perhaps, but not malice. government and Isle of Man Newspapers were seething at the thought that their Recognising that the newspaper In the wake of the legal case, the stranglehold on public information was monopoly created by Isle of Man wounded establishment and its lackies slipping. Questions were asked in Newspapers' acquistion of the "Manx gloated and sighed relief. Tynwald, Richard Corkill had his own list Independent" was a gift for a Understandably, after three years of of suspects and Isle of Man Newspapers government that was openly incapable extreme stress, Roly was under spouted self-indignant aspertions against of dealing with any objective scrutiny or obligation to his family to curtail his a publication that laid bare the criticism, Roly decided that a activities. That doesn't mean he was monopoly's short-comings. humourous exposé publication was the finished with exposing corruption, but best means of creating a a new direction was necessary. For While those who had most to fear from counterbalance. In talks with the one thing, Roly had no assets and the Black Pages barked and snarled up committee of Mec Vannin, he realised very little income which can make life the wrong trees, Roly kept chipping away that a hard-copy publication like "Yn beyond simple survival pretty tough. at loose rendering that lay over the Pabyr Seyr" would not be practicable. It That, in itself, did not unduly worry corruption in the Island. Only the Black would be too costly, distribution would Roly as he was completely non- Pages carried any actual reports from be difficult and slow, and so the impact materialistic. He was looking forward the Mount Murray corruption inquiry. and penetration would be limited. to spending quality time with his family Reliable contributions to a physical and friends. The greatest triumph, perhaps, was the address would be too open to exposure of the fraudulent grant interception and, as was proven by the As is ever the case, most people in the application by Richard Corkill's wife, Manx police force's totally unfounded Isle of Man simply don't have the first Julie. The familiar tactics of blunt denial, raid on Roger Watterson's printing idea of how much Roly did for them. secrecy and political pressure on the works in the 1970s, daring to advertise There are even some individuals who, police all failed to stop a rolling stone. yourself as an anti-establishment in total ignorance of the full story, Like King Cnut trying to command the publisher would be like advertising a believe that he must have done tide to halt, Richard Corkill clung to democracy rally in Zimbabwe. something wrong to have been subject power in Mugabe-esque fashion until he to the treatment he was. It's so typical could cling no more. Even when he The internet was identified as the best and comparisons to Illiam Dhone are eventually let go, his fingernails issued a vehicle; Roly had the skills and inescapable. teeth-jarring squeal all the way down to resources to maintain a set of "live" the next election. pages. He had the talent to write Roly had no belief in any life beyond eloquently and humorously without this one. He understood that a Even given the same raw information losing the impact of the true message person's worth is the sum of their sources as Roly, it is unlikely that anyone within. He could drop bombs wrapped actions between birth and death. else could have presented it in such an in cotton-wool. The Manxman Black There was no afterlife waiting for him, imaginative and digestible form. That is pages, as they became known, were good or bad, and the non-religious an important fact to remember. Roly the delivery vehicle. Hosted outside the funeral service for him, packed with didn't write the news on Manxman, he Island, they were less susceptible to the family, friends and supporters, was presented it in his own unique fashion. interference that would be certain to touching and personal. Contrast this accompany a site hosted in the Island with spectacle of an embittered old It was inevitable that there would be and / or using an "im" domain.