The Friday View 08/07
Passenger numbers are up at Cork Airport, Carrigtwohill has two new athletic champions, the Lee Swim returns this weekend and writers and readers descend on Bantry.
Summer weather has arrived. I’m not going to say anything else in case I jinx the spell of lovely weather. Except enjoy, make hay and read on.
JJ
News in brief
DAA, the company that runs Dublin and Cork airports, released revised figures for the number of passengers expected through Cork Airport for 2022. DAA have hardly been out of the news (or social media) this year over the widely reported problems at Dublin Airport which have resulted in queues, missed flights, lost baggage, and at one stage a plan for “holding pens”! Meanwhile, in Cork Airport, as many a tweeter has gloated, it’s a breeze getting through the airport. But, it’s not at all like for like: Cork will handle 2.1 million passengers this year (up from the preliminary figure of 1.8m). Dublin Airport handled 2.6 million passengers in May alone. There’s clearly an imbalance with too many passengers travelling from around the country to fly out of Dublin.
Numbers of the week:
10: The number of countries you can fly to from Cork Airport. They are the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia and Poland.
42: Total number of routes you can fly on from Cork Airport.
Planning watch
A decision is due next week (14/07) on an application by Carra Shore Hotel Ltd to convert three houses along South Terrace into a 103 bedroom hotel. Numbers 31, 32 and 33 are protected structures and if the hotel gets the green light it would be one of the first hotels to be built south of the river in the city centre. You can read more about that planning application here (reference number 2240897)
On the city end of South Terrace stand the vacant buildings owned by UCC that Tripe+Drisheen readers will be familiar with. Dairygold sold the site to UCC in 2019 for €17.25m and the university has promised to turn the former yard into a business school. A planning application is due at some stage this year from the university. The city centre site has been vacant for more than 15 years by now.
Finally, a decision still has not been reached about a planning application for a new Educate Together secondary school in Ardcarrig, Douglas (on the old Carrigaline Road). Further information has been requested and the decision, which was due this wee, is on hold.
Also this week
In case you missed it, this week’s long read on T+D was from Carrigtwohill, where we reported on developments in the town which is set to increase its population to 10,000 over the next six years.
Two young athletes from Carrigtwohill made headlines recently when they won big at the Disabled Sports England Junior Championship in Coventry. Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf, 12, won a total of six medals, and, as their mother told Imasha Costa, they have their sights on representing Ireland at the Paralympics. Hassan and Hussein were born conjoined at the pelvis and went through a 14-hour operation to be separated in Great Ormond Street Hospital in 2010. The pair now have their sights on track racing.
Photo of the week
Out + About
🎉Greywood Arts turns five: The arts centre in Killeagh is throwing opens it doors this week to celebrate a notable milestone, a fifth birthday. Over the last five years, the arts centre, founded by Jessica Bonenfant, has hosted over 130 events and workshops and has welcomed more than 175 artists, 600 participants, 300 youths, and 5,600 audience members through its door.
Next year promises to be a huge one as the Coach House, a monumental work in progress, should be up and running. Once opened it will offer workspaces for local artists and the community.
To celebrate their fifth birthday bash there’ll be a summer BBQ at Greywood this weekend, with Cork-based band The Underscore Orkestra providing the tunes. All are welcome, no booking is necessary and it’s free to enter with, drinks and snacks available to purchase.
Greywood Arts will also launch their ‘Meaningful Conversations’ summer/autumn programme, which includes events and workshops that provide a space for “meaningful conversations to be explored through creative activities”. More information about the party here.
Time, date, place: 4-8pm, Saturday July 9, Greywood Arts centre, Killeagh
🎶Kinsale Arts Weekend: Music, poetry, song, art and public lectures take place in the seaside town of Kinsale this weekend. Musician Martin Leahy, whom we wrote about recently here, will be playing in the The Lord Kingsale. Also in Kinsale will be Mary Coughlan, Pullitzer Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon and the Kinsale Men’s Shed Choir who will be singing on the streets of the town. Full program of events here.
Time, date, place: 7-10 July, various locations throughout Kinsale
🖼Art is healing: An exhibition of work by the lecturers and workshop facilitators of the Art Therapy Summer School (coordinated by MTU Crawford) runs throughout the month of July at the Lord Mayor’s Pavillion. Also on show will be watercolour paintings from artist and illustrator Tetiana Milshyna who fled her home in Ukraine earlier this year and now lives in Cork.
Time, date, place: Wednesday-Saturday until July 30 at the Lord Mayor’s Pavillion, Fitzgerald’s Park
🏊♀️Swim city: The Lee Swim race is back this Saturday and comes a month after the Ocean to City boat race. The 2km race starts on the north channel before finishing with an upstream swim on the south channel passing under 10 bridges in total. Around 500 swimmers are expected to compete. Best of luck to all the competitors. More information here.
Time, date, place: 3pm, Saturday July 7, Cork city
📚Writers, readers - unite: West Cork Literary Festival kicks off today and a mix of local and internationally-known writers will be making their way west. On the books are Zadie Smith (White Teeth is still one of best debut novels in the last 50 years), Colm Tóibín, and West Cork writers Sara Baume and Louise O’Neill. Also, look our for Iraqi-born Rodaan Al Galidi, a poet and writer, who Ellie talked with this week. See below. More information here.
Time, date, place: July 8-15, various locations in Bantry
👩🌾Horticulturist Klaus Laitenberger will be sharing gardening tips at L’Arche on Togher Road this Saturday. The event is free and Klaus will be covering topics such as “no dig” planting, organic pest and weed control and tips for growing vegetables for beginners.
Time, date, place: 10:30am - 12pm & 1:30pm-3pm, Saturday, July 9, L’Arche, Togher Road (right of Togher Church)
🚂All aboard: An exhibition on the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway will finish up at the end of this month at Passage West Maritime Museum. The rail line, which opened in 1850, closed 90 years ago and the exhibition features colourised photos (by Joe Healy) as well as posters and stories about the history of the line. The line was extended from Passage West to Glenbrook, Monkstown, Raffeen, Carrigaline and Crosshaven between 1902 and 1904. One stopping off point wat the beautiful sounding Frenchfurze. More information here.
Time, date, place: 2pm- 5:30pm Wednesday to Friday and 2pm- 5.00pm, Saturday and Sunday, through July, Passage West Maritime Museum
This week on T +D
On Thursday we published our long read about Carrigwtohill and the development plans that are afoot there. The East Cork town is on the cusp of monumental changes and we went and talked with Cllr Anthony Barry and waded through pages of country reports in order to synthesise what’s happening as the town expands significantly.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View. Watch out for tomorrow’s instalment of our Arts+ Culture newsletter from Ellie.
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.
