The Friday View 09/06
Remembering a GAA legend, a carnival of science at Fitzgerald's Park, battle raps at Elizabeth Fort, and a new trad fest coming to Fearann Rí. Plus, how many runners ran the Cork City Marathon?
Remembering Teddy McCarthy
The untimely death this week of GAA titan Teddy McCarthy resulted in an outpouring of sadness and memories about the Sarsfield, Glanmire, and Cork athlete. Humor is a common means to deal with tragedy, and one anecdote that was widely shared on WhatsApp and social media involved a Clare hurler in a Cork bar being feted for winning multiple All-Ireland medals in successive years. Cue the quiet man in the corner pausing from taking a sip from his stout who pipes in: "Two?"
"Sure, we'd a fella did that in a fortnight." (Mic drop, or pipe drop!) What Teddy did, winning a hurling and football All-Ireland in the year Cork won the double, has never been achieved since. And will never again, since the dual player role no longer exists at the top level of the GAA. He was a truly unique talent. I'll always remember the Double-winning team for as long as I live and the man that straddled both teams. Thanks for all the memories. Gone too soon.
A Book of Condolences has been opened at City Hall (in the civic buildings beside Anglesea St fire station) until June 21, Monday to Friday.
News in brief:
A fair segment of a Prime Time investigation on direct protest (I'm not sure why RTÉ termed it "direct protest" - isn't all protest direct?) which aired this week featured significant footage and interviews from Cork, where a small minority of alt-right protestors have taken their protests to the city library, vaccination clinics, and pharmacies. In doing so, they have intimidated staff, disrupted the peace, and filmed staff against their wishes.
In March, city councillors in Cork passed a motion expressing support for library staff who, they said, were experiencing "focused personal abuse" and "intimidation in the course of their work."
However, the RTÉ program went on to say that some of the councillors who supported the motion were reluctant to speak to them about the protests due to concern that they may be subjected to similar campaigns as a result.
It was, therefore, commendable of Green Party Councillor Collette Finn to explain on camera why such tactics by the alt-right should not be tolerated and to show her support for the workers who have been targeted by a small minority of conspiratorialists.
As Cllr Finn said, “workers should not have to be intimidated at work. I just think that's a bottom line that we shouldn't cross".
Her courage for speaking what we’re all thinking is a lesson for her fellow councillors.
Never rans: The 2023 edition of the Cork City Marathon took place on the Sunday of the Bank Holiday last weekend, with media reports stating that 12,500 participants took to the streets. It was a glorious day to watch a marathon; running it was a different matter.
T+D noticed some post-race tweets questioning how many runners actually ran. There were three races this year: the full marathon, the half marathon, and the 10km race, a new event which replaced the relay. The total number of finishers for all three races were: 1757 for the full marathon, 3206 for the half marathon, and 3754 for the 10K, which comes to a grand total of 8717.
Someone who completed the race and knows a lot more about running told me that while "You'd expect a bigger dropout rate during the longer races, there weren't hundreds of people not finishing.
Therefore, if 8717 finished the races, "There's somewhere between 25% and 30% (depending on what you want to believe as the reported figure) of people not racing or never existing."
So, was there inflation? Is a figure less than 10k a bad thing, or did 12,500 participants sign up, but a significant number either did not show up or dropped out?
I posed these questions to Davis Events, which is contracted by the City Council to stage the marathon, as well as concerns raised by some participants that there weren't enough water stations and that the water stations ran out of water. However, as of publishing, there has been no reply. We will follow up next week.
One suggestion I heard this week was to have the course run through more residential areas on its way back to the city centre. The idea being that neighbourhoods could band together and host block parties. Granted, it's not a new idea, but it might well help with attracting volunteers, creating a festive atmosphere throughout the city, and providing water to the weary runners.
Another idea, perhaps not as appealing, would be to embrace the city's topography and head for the hills, both on the Northside and the Southside of the city. Patrick's Hill would be quite a climb, and it would surely leave a lasting impression on every runner who conquered it or attempted to do so. However, it might be too challenging on a scorching day in June.
It's a monumental task to stage (and run) a marathon, so hats off to everyone who participated, regardless of the distance they covered.
Will Dublin do what Cork didn't? That is, will Dubliners vote in favor of having a directly elected mayor? It appears that a plebiscite on the matter will be presented to Dubliners next year, asking them if they want a directly elected mayor. You may recall that the same question was posed to the Cork electorate in 2019, and they ultimately voted against it.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was probably right when he said that the "no" vote in Cork was more likely due to the electorate being asked too many questions on one day (without sufficient knowledge about the vote and the implications of having a directly elected mayor) rather than being against the idea itself. If Dublin passes the plebiscite, it is likely that Cork will follow suit at some point. It would be intriguing to see how the votes would be cast in Cork and how the role of the Lord Mayor might transform from ceremonial to more policy-focused. Would executive power be diluted? Would that be detrimental? Many questions remain. The answers are likely to emerge from Dublin first..
Artists and accommodation: It’s never easy working in the arts, but trying to make a living from the creative sector and put a roof over your head has possibly never been harder, in spite of the introduction of programmes such as the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot scheme.
Bloomers, a publishing collective based in Cork, has put together a survey which they are asking anyone involved in the arts sector to fill out. The purpose is to gain a better understanding of housing and the financial insecurity faced by those working in the arts sector. The survey includes questions related to employment, housing, studio space, and more. You can find the survey here: Artists and Housing in Ireland.
Better buildings: Five building projects from Cork have been selected for the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) Public Choice Awards for 2023. They include a Charleville apartment (Scullion), Béal na Bláth Centenary memorial (CPIU Architects with Scott Tallon Walker Architects and Prof. Finola O'Kane), Passage House (O'Donnell + Tuomey), Haulbowline, Block No. 8 (OBFA Architects), and Elizabeth Fort (Cork City Council, Architects Department). You can read more about the projects here as well as cast your vote.
Féile Fearann Rí: Great news for music lovers, especially trad heads, with the launch of a new trad fest on the Northside. The inaugural Féile Fearann Rí will take place from Monday, June 19-23 across Farranree. The five-day festival features workshops, rehearsals, sessions, recitals, and concerts, showcasing the area's community spirit and musical culture.
One of the highlights is the gala concert on June 20 at the Church of the Resurrection, Farranree, which will feature the talents of local traditional musicians spanning multiple generations, who will perform alongside Liam Ó Maonlaí. We'll be speaking to Jessie Cawley, coordinator of Creative Tradition, which is staging the festival next week for what promises to be a wonderful new addition to Cork's music festivals. The full festival programme available here.
Rally round! Today, Friday at 1 pm, outside City Hall in Cork, there will be a rally in support of the Nature Restoration Law being proposed by the EU Commission. The proposal aims to restore ecosystems, habitats, and species across the EU's land and sea areas. Two MEPs, Fine Gael's Colm Markey and Sinn Fein's Chris MacManus, rejected the law during a vote of the European Parliament's Agriculture committee in late May. Cork Environmental Forum is holding the rally to support the Restoration Law, and all are welcome.
Tomorrow, Saturday June 10, the attention turns to the housing crisis. The cynic might ask what good does a rally do, and perhaps the best person to answer that is West Cork-based musician and activist Martin Leahy, one of the organisers who has been protesting/busking outside the Dáil for more than a year to highlight just how devastating the housing crisis is for an entire generation. Martin will be joined by musicians Karen Casey and Myles Gaffney. The march leaves from Connolly Hall on Lapp's Quay at 12:30 pm.
Out+About
It’s a packed schedule of events for the week ahead, especially this weekend which sees local authorities across the country running Cruinniú na nÓg events. All events are free to attend.
Sherkin Island: On Saturday, June 10, on Cow Strand, there'll be an afternoon of beach art involving lots of sand, some flotsam, and a bit of jetsam. From 1-3 pm.More information here.
Macroom: Macroom School of Art will run a series of printing workshops for those between the ages of 10-18 throughout the day on June 10 at their base on Cork Street. All the prints created on the day will be exhibited in the school. No booking is required. More information here.
Midleton: Land artists ahoy! This Saturday, June 10, from 11 am to 1 pm, in Ballyanan Woods, Midleton, all ages are invited to make art using only their imagination and materials in the woods under the guidance of Belinda Walsh and Ilse de Ziah. The possibilities are limitless: fantasy landscapes, mini gardens, little creatures. More information here.
Elizabeth Fort, Cork city: Block, rock, and beats. Rhyme Island, GMCBeats, The Kabin Studio, and Music Generation Cork City, in partnership with Cork City Council, have a day of hip-hop and rap battles planned for the Fort. Lots of up-and-coming stars will be taking the Fort by storm, and there'll be a live debut of "Music Gives Me a Reason". Included in the program of events are youth music workshops, rap and beats, and songwriting.
There are two "Rock the Block Festival" workshops. The first one is for 6-10-year-olds at 10:30 am. More information here and the second 10 –14 year-olds at 12 noon. More information here.
Soul singers: Join Cork soul legend Karen Underwood for a workshop in singing from the soul. Open to all sinhers aged 13+, drop by the Opera House cafe on Saturday June 10 at 2:30pm for this free event. More information here.
Cork Carnival of Science: All this weekend the scientists are taking over Fitzgerald’s Park as part of the annual science festival aimed at kids and families. Everyting from explaining the equilibrium of a unicycle to understaning the properties of water wil be explored and explained, and it promises to be a weekend of discovery and mad scientists. The full programme of events can be dowloaded here.
Pub quiz: Cork LGBT Archive and Camden Palace Hotel are holding a fundraising pub quiz this weekend at An Spailpín Fánach. Prizes include ticktes to the upcoming Body&Soul Festival. Tickets are €40 per team and can be bought on the night.
Time, date, place: 7:30pm, Sunday, June 11, An Spailpín Fánach, South Main Street
Sos Lóin: Every Tuesday at the Roundy, an informal group of Gaeilgeoirí (Irish speakers) of all levels meet for lunch at The Roundy on Castle Street to converse in Irish. Tóg do lón and whatever Gaeilge you've got. More information here.
Time, date, place: 12:30pm, Tuesdays, The Roundy, Castle Street
This week on T+D:
On Monday, we asked a few T+D readers for their (painful) memories of the Leaving Cert which got underway this week. You can read their reltections below.
On Thursday, we published a news peiece aboout the steps at Horgan’s Quay which have remained closed for more than a year. You can read that piece here.
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 our About page here. 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.
