The Friday View 12/04
Turners Cross closes its doors, Cork has a new junior minister, a survey to see what can be done with vacant and empty buildings and our line-up for your culture calendar for the week ahead.
Good morning and welcome to the Friday View on T+D. Let’s get to it!
Get off the pitch: Incredible news emerged from Turners Cross on Monday night, when local sports journalist Dylan O’Connell broke the story on X (formerly Twitter) that Cork City FC’s home ground Turners Cross will close for the foreseeable future. Later that night, O’Connell wrote that a statement from the Munster Football Association, who own Turners Cross and lease it to Cork City, blamed ‘extensive damage’ to the pitch, which they claim was caused by the derby game between Cork City and Cobh Ramblers.
However, it would be surprising for one game to cause such extensive damage to a pitch. Earlier in the season, the Cross hosted Cobh Ramblers home games while St Colman’s Park installed a new astroturf pitch. This, on top of the City home games, may not have allowed enough time for the pitch to breathe, and many City fans are now complaining that the pitch has been overused. Regardless, the fact that the pitch was damaged to the extent of needing to be closed for the foreseeable future is embarrassing for local and Irish soccer.
The hunt and rumour mill continues on where City will now play their home games, and in fairness, the city has no shortage of sports grounds. O’Connell has reported that Munster Rugby have not received any requests from Cork City to play games at Virgin Media Park. Kerryman reporter Damian Stack has questioned whether Cork GAA would host City games in either the Supervalu Páirc or Páirc Uí Rinn, the latter was a soccer ground and home to Cork Hibs when it was known as Flower Lodge. Only two weeks ago, the GAA Central Council granted Cork GAA permission to host rugby and soccer in the SuperValu Páirc Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It could be perfect timing. And as every dog in Cork knows, the County Board needs cash.
Either way, Turners Cross needs improving, and while I’m not expecting the Santiago Bernabeu or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a basic facility would be nice. When the Cross was redeveloped in 2009, it was the first all seated, all covered stadium in the country, but today you will struggle to find a seat if you arrive too late. This even happens when the attendance is a mere 3,500, well short of the original 7,845 figure. It’s almost impossible to find what the official capacity of Turners Cross actually is. Unfortunately, the ground isn’t owned by CCFC, and there’s nothing they can really do except try to buy it, which is likely to be out of their budget.
In most cities in France and Italy, the stadia are (usually) owned by the municipality, who lease it out to the clubs, and groundshares are not uncommon. This is the case with the San Siro, home to Inter Milan and AC Milan. The Orange Velodrome in Marseille has hosted Toulon Rugby games. Small cities, like Lorient (population ~57,000), own basic but good stadia. In Paris, there was recently controversy surrounding the Parc des Princes when Mayor Anne Hidalgo refused to sell the ground to Paris Saint-Germain. I
In Ireland, sports organisations and fans are a bit more precious about who can use what grounds, and what grounds their teams play in, but there’s an 8,000-seater ground just two minutes away from Turner’s Cross, and a barely used 40,000 seater stadium in the docks. Common sense says one of them should host City, tribalism expects the team to play in another soccer ground out in Cobh. O’Connell expects the fixtures to be swapped or reversed, meaning City will be playing away for foreseeable future. We’ll just have to wait and see.
-KMC
News in Brief
Meanwhile use: One thing Cork, and indeed most towns and cities across the country, is not short of are buildings and bits of land that are vacant and derelict, which begs the question, what could be done with them while they are in limbo? Enter the idea of of “meanwhile use”. It’s not a new idea, but it could be a hugely transformative means of giving space to artists, yoga instructors and community organisations crying out for a base.
Hence, Mick O’Sullivan’s survey to map out the needs of or community groups looking for space to start-up or expand projects, ideas, classes, training, etc. and who would consider 'Meanwhile Use' as an option. It’s a short and useful survey and once collated, Mick will be sending the anonymised results to Cork City Council towards the end of May. You can access it here. Previously, Mick conducted an extensive survey of the city’s parks which you can read about here on T+D.
Cork TD Becomes Junior Minister: New Taoiseach Simon Harris has nominated Cork North-Central TD, Colm Burke, as Junior Minister for Public Health and Drugs Strategy. Burke, a solicitor, stood for election in the 2019 Cork North-Central by-election caused by the resignation of Fine Gael’s Dara Murphy, but was not elected. He was first elected to the Dáil at the 2020 General Election. He hasn’t been immune to controversy however, having been “found ‘guilty of misconduct in his solicitor’s practice’ for misleading a client suing the state over the ongoing nursing home fees scandal”, as reported in The Ditch. Though it is not uncommon for solicitors to be found guilty of misconduct, how many go on to become government ministers?
Here’s a health or Here’s Health: Here’s Health, who have multiple stores and a café around Cork City, have opened a new café on Oliver Plunkett Street. The café is in the former Liam Ruiséal bookstore, which has been restored, with a mural painted on its corner. The building also hosts a new store with the same products as in their other locations, and is their fourth location in the city.
Mark O’Mahony signs new contract: In more positive Cork soccer news, Dylan O’Connell reported that Mark O’Mahony, from Carrigaline, has signed a new deal with Brighton & Hove Albion. The young striker was on the bench for the Seagulls two weeks ago for their draw against Brighton, but did not feature on the team sheet for their loss to Arsenal last weekend, with Danny Welbeck and Joao Pedro featuring instead. O’Mahony’s new contract runs until 2027.
Out + About
Play party on Marlboro St: As part of Lifelong Learning Fest, Let’s Play Cork are taking over Marlboro Street in the city centre this coming Saturday, April 13 from 11:30am-3:30pm. The bloc, or pop-up play party, will include everything form dancing, games, hoola hooping, music and a host of other street games. It could be a way of imagining how the street could be used in the future and people can also contribute their ideas on urban play.
Time, date, place: 11:30am-3:30pm, Saturday April 13, Marlboro St.
Last weekend was the 30th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. In his memory, alternative rock band Paradox and West Cork fuzz rock band Screenreader play the songs of Nirvana in De Barra’s, Clonakilty on Saturday night. Paradox played Nirvana last weekend in the city, more than likely bringing back the memories for the 40,000 people who saw them live in Sir Henry’s.
Time, date, place: 9:30pm, Saturday April 13, De Barra’s, Pearse Street, Clonakilty.
The monthly Dose Social returns and takes over Rebel Reads on Sunday. Artists mankyy, Laurie Shaw and Michelle Doyle will all be selling their zines and prints, while there will also be a DJ on the day. These tend to be quite relaxed and low-key, and worth popping into if you’re interested in seeing some of the city’s DIY scene on display.
Time, date, place: 3pm-6pm, Sunday April 14, Rebel Reads, Marina Commercial Park, Centre Park Road, Cork.
Vicky Langan is a multidisciplinary artist who works with experimental sound, performance and film, who has been active since 2003. As part of her Resonate residency at the Triskel, Langan worked with Maximilian Le Cain using film, recordings and experimentation to create her first live performance for the first time in two years. Tickets and information here.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Saturday April 13, Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin Street, Cork.
Sauti Collective is a collective of young creatives on a mission to turn Cork into an anti-racist county. Riot Against Racism is an event at City Hall to take a stand against racism, featuring Stevie G, the Kabin Krew, Tadhg Hickey & Eoin O’Sullivan, Ophelia, Misneach and others. Entry is free but donations are asked for in lieu at their fundraiser. You can see more information and donate to the fundraiser here.
Time, date, place: 7pm-10pm, Friday April 10, Millennium Hall, City Hall, 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.
Finally, a reminder: For Lifelong Learning Fest this year, team T+D is holding a talk about trees in the inimitable Callanan’s on George’s Quay on Friday, April 12 (this evening!). It’s free in and all are welcome. Start time 5:15pm (apologies to the people who compiled the official programme but we had to bring forward the start time). You can view the full catalogue of free events for Lifelong Learning Fest here. It runs from April 10 through to April 17
.
Sharing this now! Have a nice weekend.