The Friday View 01/04
It's April first. Quick, think of a tall tale. So there's this building and it's called an Events Centre...
JJ writes
Oh, the wittiness. I bet that’s why you signed up to T+D.
You might have noticed that we’ve added a Reviews column on T+D. As we launched in the pandemic, up until now there wasn’t much to review in real life as they say, but now that venues have opened their doors again, we can start taking in the cultural sights and sounds, meeting others and, well, hopefully having fun.
It got me thinking about the range of cultural venues we have in Cork, and some of the ones we’ve lost and gained along the way. It’s great to see the lettering back up on The Everyman Theatre advertising the shows within. It’s the granddaddy of Cork theatres, constructed in 1897, at the tail end of the Victorian era and its style is very much in keeping with Victorian tastes and touches. MacCurtain Street, on which it sits, is in the middle of being transformed - MacCurtain Street is in a state of constant transformation; the area around it is pushing hard to rebrand itself as…wait for it, the Victorian Quarter.
As Ireland becomes more secular, churches are in (many) places being turned into venues. (“Is culture our new religion?”, an Irish Times op-ed writer would surely inquire!) Two church venues in Cork that spring to mind are Sea Church in Ballycotton and St Luke’s just up the hill from The Everyman. Both are former Protestant churches, with St Luke’s now owned by the City Council and most of shows booked through the Good Room. It’s a big, unmistakably church-y venue, the pews still in situ and by god does sitting on them feel like penance. One lad I know brings a cushion to every gig he goes to and into the pub with him afterwards. Sea Church, formerly St Colman’s, is, in comparison, much, much smaller and more genteel and right beside the sea. Both though are great venues.
As to the venues we’ve lost, or they’re still there, but they’ve become part of the sad story of vacancy, I think of The Kino and The Savoy. It’s mad to think that just yards from the where ‘the Hut’ stood on St Patrick’s Street stands a theatre which can hold hundreds, easily over a thousand if memory serves me correct. I worked there and at The Kino, and both venues had their own sort of old pair of shoes charm. I have some great and funny memories of working in The Kino, but it’s likely they’re only funny to me, so suffice to say venues, like churches, come and go. Or else they just remain, but fade from memory like an old song.
News in brief
Homelessness in Cork: There were a total of 491 homeless people in Cork city and county for the last week of February according to the latest figures released by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Nationally, 6,825 people were registered as homeless for that week, with the vast majority (nearly 70%) in Dublin. Figures are gathered only from those who access emergency accommodation.
Seventy one families in Cork and Kerry were accessing emergency accommodation during that week (February 21-27) of which 47 were headed by a single parent according to the most recent data. For both counties a total of 148 dependants were living in emergency accommodation
Ferry for Dursey Island: Funding has been allocated for the introduction of a temporary ferry service to Dursey Island following damage to the cable car.
The works relate to the towers of the cable car, which suffered during recent adverse weather events including Storm Barra in December 2021.
However, neither Cork County Council or the Department of Rural and Community Development have provided a date as to when the ferry service will commence. Ireland’s only cable car is expected to be back in operation in November 2022.
Noel Sweeney wrote a beautiful Long Read for Tripe + Drisheen about the cable car back last winter, just weeks before Storm Barra hit, that’s well worth revisiting:
No America’s Cup for Cork: There’ll be no super fast (and incredibly expensive) yachts coming to Cork in 2024, as the government quietly withdrew Cork and Ireland’s bid proposal to host the international yacht race.
Last autumn, Cork was hotly tipped to host one of the world’s oldest sporting competitions but that was also around the same time that Simon Coveney’s role in the appointment of Katherine Zappone, a former government minister, as a UN special envoy got in the way. She quit the role and Coveney survived a motion of no confidence. The minister was influential in Cork’s bid to bring the race to Cork, and the spotlight was firmly on him and all his dealings.
In our explainer about the race, Cork sailor Maurice O’Connell told us, "I think it's no secret that Cork are really, really strongly positioned. The reality is that this will come down to the highest level of government."
It did, and the government decided against spending around €150 million to make Cork ready for the race.
The road from Cork to Limerick: Details of the preferred route for the upgrade of the N20 road from Cork to Limerick were released this week.
The state will spend between €1 billion and €1.5 billion building about 80km of dual carriageway which should reduce journey times between the two cities by about 30 minutes.
From Cork, the preferred route will travel north past Blarney and Mourneabbey along the existing N20, before veering east of Mallow, New Twopothouse and Buttevant, and west of Ballyhea, Charleville and Banogue before linking up with the M20 motorway to Limerick at Patrickswell.
The new route will occupy a 500 metre-wide corridor and go through 700 individual properties. There’s still many hurdles to clear, including planning permission, before the diggers move in, so it could well be the next decade before the road opens. Expect delays and overspend.
Community noticeboard
The city council’s waste prevention grant scheme is funding projects in schools and local communities with a grant of of up to €1,000 per project. The project covers quite a bit and can be used by groups to implement waste prevention as well as re-use and repair initiatives. You can request a form from the council by emailing at this address: environmentCCP@corkcity.ie
The next Artists Afternoon at The Everyman takes place on April 11. It’s open to all professional artists and art workers and its basically an opportunity to chat with peers working in Cork. There’s no set format, but the whole idea is to connect. It’s a free event and children are welcome, but you’ll need to book in advance. More information here.
Photo of the week
The age-friendly seating pictured above is at the entrance to The English Market on the Grand Parade. The stone slabs were turned into much-needed seating through a partnership that brought together the City Council and Cork Age Friendly City Alliance. Funding came via the National Transport Authority (NTA), from the same fund that brought us the “Robotrees,” which you might have noticed also provide seating.
Out + About
📚🎼Cork Lifelong Learning Festival is back. The 17th edition - and the first in two years - runs in various venues across Cork all next week. There’s more than 300-in person events scheduled for the week including an exhibition of a rare copy of Ulysses at the City Library to learning to play 45 (the card game) to ukulele recitals and much, much more. Full programme of events can be found at the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival website.
Time, date, place: Monday, April 4 - April 10, various venues across the city
🖼 Wonder & Wild: Artist Niamh Leonard will exhibit new work at the The Hideout Café and Art Gallery on Wellington Road. Cónal Creedon will be along to open the exhibition at the launch, to which all are welcome. You may recognise NIamh’s distinctive style from the cover of Fred Callow’s book, Blow-in, which we featured in the arts pages last November.
Time, date, place: Launch night,7 p.m., Thursday, April 7 at The Hideout Café and Art Gallery
👖Clothes swap: The next Cork clothes swap will take place at Rebel Reads down in the Marina next week. Clothes should be washed and you’re asked to bring no more than five “sound quality items” although you can take as many items on the night. No shoes, swimwear, accessories or pyjamas.
Time, date, place: 7 p.m. - 8 p.m., Wednesday April 6 at Rebel Reads Bookshop, Marina Commercial Park.
🎭 Wake up the CAT Club: Actor and playwright Irene Kelleher’s new one-woman show, Wake, is finishing its run in the Cork Arts Theatre on Saturday, so there are two more chances to get down to this one. See the review below.
Time, date, place: 8pm on Friday 1 and Saturday 2, at the Cork Arts Theatre. Tickets here.
This week on T +D
This week we published two reviews; we’re hopefully going to be building on this element of our worlk now that music and plays and all manner of artistic output are open to the public again. Last Saturday, JJ went to Sea Church in Ballycotton to see Kerry-based David Kitt supported by Iniscarra singer songwriter Jennifer Lyons.
Ellie reviewed Wake by Cork playwright and actress Irene Kelleher at Cork Arts Theatre on Tuesday.
On Thursday Ellie had a massive long read on how AirBnB is distorting the private rental market in Cork. It’s a huge, investigative piece and it shows how and why property owners are benefiting from the short-term rental market and how self regulation is not working.
That’s it for this week’s round-up. Also any tips, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact either of us at jj.odonoghue@gmail.com or emailellieobyrne@gmail.com. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity. Get in touch.