The Friday View 02/02
The Event Centre gets the Prime Time treatment, Cork City Councillors are reacquainted with joy of cycling and it's a long weekend. TG!
Happy (belated) St. Brigid’s Day/Lá Fhéile Bríde and welcome to the Friday View, the lunchtime version.
The (non) Event Centre made mainstream news last night on Prime Time in a piece by journalist Fran McNulty. The clip below is part of an interview with Cork City Council chief Ann Doherty in which he tries to get her to reveal how much more public money is needed to get the 6,000 seater venue finally started. The State (i.e. us) is in for €57m to date so far.
At this stage it is both a farce, and a bad musical. In the Prime Time programme, Doherty explains that she can’t reveal the exact amount that’s being asked for, likely not wanting that money figure to dominate headlines. But, it is astounding that nearly eight years on from turning the sod nod a sod since has been moved. Yes, we all know there was a pandemic and multiple wars, but the inability by local and national government to get the Event Centre off (on?) the ground is both an embarrassment and an epic failure.
A small cohort of Cork City Councillors took off to Utrecht in the Netherlands this week for an NTA-funded junket cycle study trip. Yesterday on T+D, we posted a clip of Cllr Terry Shannon (FF) and Paudie Dineen (Independent) enjoying the simple act of cycling. A cynic might ask why the councillors had to get on a plane to go get on a bike? However, the pragmatist might counter, well these are exactly the type of politicians who need to be brought along the road to enlightenment.
A few years back T+D asked every councillor in the city if they cycle regularly and if they don’t why they don’t. Many of those who responded said they don’t because they feel unsafe while cycling. There’s a few obvious reasons as to why that is so, but a lack of cycling infrastructure stood out as did the a perception that cycling is not safe, directly related to car traffic and speed.
The Utrecht cohort saw first hand how it doesn’t have to be that way. Let’s see how that experience feeds into their political decisions.
Elsewhere, University College Cork found an €11 million hole in their 2022/2023 accounts. Staff were notified this week of the deficit with a link to this piece in The Echo. Bean counters from The Higher Education Authority will now be looking over accounts from UCC especially on how and where money will be directed, or not, for capital expenditure projects and how this might impact on plans for example for the Business School which is slated for South Terrace/Copley Street.
Also, and surprising no one, delegates from the GAA’s Cork County Board voted in favour of the sponsorship deal with SuperValu. That means for the next ten years Páirc Uí Chaoimh will now be known as SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
And finally, Vibe Cork, a new LGBTQ+ venue opens its doors this weekend on Oliver Plunkett Street.
Out + About
It was St. Brigid’s Day yesterday, and on Monday we get our second ever Bank Holiday to celebrate it. Myo in Shandon are hosting a Lá Fhéile Bríde celebration on Monday in honour of the role of women in society, through music, dress, performance, and cuisine. They will also have a Book of Nations to sign. They are still looking for people to get involved, and you can contact corkmyo@gmail.com if you are interested in taking part!
Time, date, place: 12pm-4:30pm, Monday February 5, Myo, Pope’s Quay, Shandon, Cork.
The Crawford Art Gallery hosts a series of events for St. Brigid’s Day, including specially themed tours, music, and family-friendly workshops. At 12pm on Sunday, in the Long Room, is Music at Midday, featuring a three string quartet. On Monday, at 2pm, is a workshop with artist Queenie O’Sullivan that delves into the themes that connect us to St. Brigid.
Time, date, place: 12pm, Sunday February 4, 2pm, Monday February 5, Crawford Art Gallery, Emmett Place, Cork.
Meanwhile, in West Cork, Creative Bandon host their annual Bandon Brigids festival. Festival highlights include a talk by RTÉ folklorist Shane Lehane delving into the lore of Brigid’s pre-Christian origins, a discussion titled ‘Women’s voices - how far have we come?’ chaired by Irish Times journalist Justine McCarthy on Sunday, and a gig with Polly Barrett and Asha tonight. Tickets and more information here for Shane Lehane, here for Justine McCarthy, and here for the gig.
Time, date, place:
3pm, Friday February 2, Bandon Library, Market Street, Bandon.
9pm, Saturday February 3, 2pm, Sunday February 4, Bandon Town Hall, North Main Street, Bandon.
The Triskel hosts two film seasons for the month of February, of two classic styles of American cinema. The Eastwood/Siegel Season screens every Thursday and began last night with Coogan’s Bluff, and features five films on which director Don Siegel and actor Clint Eastwood collaborated; Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Beguiled, Dirty Harry, and Escape for Alcatraz. The second season, Eighties Sci-fi Classics, screens every Saturday, and begins with Escape from New York, followed by Blade Runner – The Final Cut, Robocop, and Predator.
Time, date, place: 6:30pm every Thursday and 8pm every Saturday, Thursday February 1-Thursday February 29, Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin Street, Cork.
The Ficino Ensemble is a chamber group performing rarely heard music by Mozart, McKay and Penderecki. They explore the chamber music repertoire and present thoughtfully programmed concerts. They are currently touring Ireland with pianist Finghin Collins, and play two concerts in County Cork. They perform in St. Brendan’s Church, Bantry, tonight, and in the Triskel tomorrow. Tickets and information for the Bantry show here and the Cork show here.
Time, date, place:
7:30pm, Friday February 2, St. Brendan’s Church, Wolfe Tone Street, Bantry
1pm, Saturday February 3, Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin Street, Cork.
This afternoon Fuaim at UCC begins its Spring Series with a performance by progressive Irish folk group No Name Trio. Consisting of Jason Turk, Karl Nesbitt and Conor O’Sullivan, they play a mix of their own tunes and novel arrangements of traditional melodies.
Time, date, place: 1:10pm, Friday February 2, Aula Maxima, UCC.
The Skibbereen Trad Fest takes place this weekend, with traditional music taking over the town’s pubs. A music club with Leah Murphy takes place tonight at The Corner Bar, while the No Name Trio play in The Tanyard. Tomorrow, the UCC Trad Society takes over the town’s pubs, with a session every hour between 5pm and 11pm. Starting in The Corner Bar at 5pm, the session crawl moves onto the Horse & Hound (6pm), The Tanyard (7pm), Annie Mays (8pm), back to The Corner (9pm) and finally back into The Tanyard (10pm). On Sunday, Two Time Polka plays in The Tanyard at 10pm.
Time, date, place:
9:30pm, Friday February 2, The Corner Bar, Bridge Street, Skibbereen.
10pm, Friday February 2, The Tanyard, Main Street, Skibbereen.
10pm, Sunday February 4, The Tanyard.
Dereliction activists Frank O'Connor and Jude Sherry, who are duo behind design consultancy anois.org and the project 'This is Derelict Ireland', are in conversation tomorrow with the artist Andrea Newman at the Lavit Gallery. Newman is a visual artist from Mayfield who uses the Irish language to explore the current housing crisis with her exhibition ‘There’s No Place Like Home, in Ireland’, includes a 30 minute walk through her home area and highlights derelict property.
Time, date, place: 12pm, Saturday February 3, Lavit Gallery, Wandesford Quay, Cork.
Cork musician John O’Brien is presenting a new series of concerts at The Everyman over the next few months, beginning on Sunday, with ‘Music of…Sadness and Comfort’. Along with O’Brien is mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan and flutist and fiddler, Johnny McCarthy. Tickets and information here.
Time, date, place: 7:30pm, Sunday February 4, The Everyman, MacCurtain Street, Cork.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View.
Any tips, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us via at tripeanddrisheen@substack.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. Have a lovely weekend.