The Friday View 13/12
☕️Charts, data, a new art gallery in Douglas, the Kino wall gets a paint job, a new music booker in the city, the Cliffords are off to Austin, and it's Friday the 13th.
Good morning and welcome to the Friday View on Tripe+Drisheen. Let’s get to it!
Borrow/Return: Data from the Chief Executive’s Management Report for October reveals a considerable drop-off in the number of books borrowed from the city’s 10 libraries throughout 2024 (see chart). While 2022 recorded a steady borrowing rate of 100,000 “items,” the trend in 2024 has been consistently lower, with monthly figures mostly below 60,000.
However, total visits to the city’s libraries in 2024 are higher than in the previous two years. This suggests two things: members are borrowing fewer items (after all, what’s the point of borrowing 10 books in one visit?), and libraries are no longer just about borrowing books. They have become spaces for studying, reading the paper, attending readings and events, socialising, and even catching 40 winks.
However, the data looks different for My Open Library, the service that allows members to use the library outside of staffed hours. In Bishopstown Library, it has led to an increase in visits and usage, rising from 5,141 in October 2023 to 9,137 in October 2024 since its introduction.
Bowing out: Newly elected deputies Pádraig Rice (Soc Dems) and Kenneth O’Flynn (Independent Ireland) attended their final Cork City Council meeting as councillors this week, delivering their farewell addresses before stepping down. Rice, who served only briefly on the council before being elected to the Dáil last month, thanked the council and pledged to be a champion for Cork, particularly in the areas of housing, transport, and climate change.
His colleague in the Dáil, Kenneth O’Flynn, has had a much longer tenure in the Council chambers, having first been elected in 2008. In a lengthy farewell speech, he spoke glowingly of the City Council and his time there, urging councillors to reflect on the symbolism of the prayer that opens proceedings in the chambers. Sadly for him, there will be no opening prayers in Dáil Éireann.
The conference councillor: It was a busy summer of conferences and networking for Cllr Terry Shannon (FF), who attended the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Donegal, the La Touche Legacy Weekend Conference in Greystones, Wicklow, and the AILG Training Seminar in Monaghan.
In his notes to the Council on the MacGill Summer School, Cllr Shannon highlighted the wide-ranging agenda, which covered topics such as “the state of the world 2024, Northern Ireland: past and present, and Disease X: the next public health crisis.” Also present at the prestigious gabfest was An Taoiseach Simon Harris, who, away from the podium, discussed a variety of topics, including “how much does Ireland need immigration? What if Trump wins? Election 2024, and the future of public service broadcasting,” according to Cllr Shannon. Unfortunately, Cllr Shannon didn’t have the space to elaborate on these significant issues.
Q: What goes up and never comes down? The City Council’s derelict sites register. That’s a bit glib, but activity into derelict sites is certainly busy. That’s welcome. Getting them off the register and operational as homes is the hard part. Data from the CE’s Management Report for October shows that 406 sites are currently under investigation while 172 sites are currently on the register and therefore subject to an annual derelict sites levy of 7% of market value which will continue to apply until the site is rendered non-derelict. Unpaid levies also attract interest of 1.25% per month.
What goes up, must come down? Well, that would be the Boots mural on the Kino on Washington Street. The giant ad for the British chemist wasn’t long for this world, and the handiwork was painted over last weekend. Why the change of heart? We asked the Kino, and whether more advertising would be going up, but we heard nothing back. Perhaps words were had from City Hall, and the wall will be returned to non-commercial art?
New booker in Dali: Dali, just off St Patrick’s Street, has announced a new gig booker for its 150-capacity venue on Lavitt’s Quay. Evan Prendergast, who also promotes metal gigs across the city under the name Dead Cult, said on Instagram, “Cork has been crying out for a mid-sized 150-cap venue like this for a long time, and I’m delighted to be part of the team to help it grow,” adding that “all genres are welcome.”
This development is welcome news for Cork’s original music scene, which has been lacking this type of venue for some time. Prendergast is also a musician, playing drums with local bands Worn Out, Uncultivates, and Low Violent.
Market Gallery, the city’s newest art gallery, had its official launch in Douglas Shopping Centre this week. According to gallery manager Gerard Sexton, the new space will aim to have a new exhibition roughly every month. The gallery opened with Sensing Place, featuring five Cork-based artists: Catherine Duggan, John Corkery, Rosie O’Regan, Sinead Barrett, Tom Herdman and Keith O’Brien. The Market in the new gallery’s name gives a clue to its backers: Urban Green which runs the Marina Market as well as a slate of other shopping centres across the country including the Marina Market.
Sticking with art: Artist Marie McInerney’s new exhibition, upstairs at the Quay Co-op runs through this month and into January. Officially opening this evening, Friday 13 the sea is a key element in the Ballinhassig-based self-taught artist’s work in the Quay Co-op exhibition.
Heading to Austin: The unstoppable Cork band The Cliffords are bound for the SXSW 2025 in Austin, Texas next March where they’ll be one of many bands vying for acclaim. The five-piece outfit announced this weekend that they’ll be Stateside this side of St. Patrick’s Day. All the Irish artists scheduled to play an official Music From Ireland event at last year’s event boycotted the event owing to the music festival’s sponsorship by the US army and the army’s support of the war in Gaza.
Poet, polymath and taxi driver John Tynan has released a Christmas carol with all proceeds going to Cork Simon. Titled Winter's Colours, the song is composed by Tynan and song by John Stoker. Winter's Colours is available to buy and listen here.
Out + About
Film pic of the week: Home Alone. How many times have you seen it? Doesn’t matter. Go see it again and relieve your youth queuing up on Grand Parade to get into the Capitol. Except this time the queue is much quicker and the seats are church pews. But Kevin McCalister’s (Macaulay Culkin) antics haven’t changed. Tickets and times here.
Time, date, place: Sunday, January 15 to Sunday, January 22, The Triskel, Tobin St
Cork clothes Swap will hold its last meet-up and swap of 2025 this coming Saturday in St. Peter’s. You can swap previously up to five pieces of your own clothes for something new to you. More details and tickets here.
Time, date, place: 11am - 1pm, Saturday, December 14 , St. Peter's 87A North Main Street
Sober Disco: Over at Quake House on Summerhill South, and in aid of Medicins Sans Frontiers operations in Gaza, there’ll be a sober disco this coming Saturday featuring guest DJs and a dance performance from Real Hot Bitches. Suggested donation of 20.
Time, date, place: 7pm - 10pm, Saturday, December 14, Quaker House, Summerhill South
The Last Vinci are an alternative/stoner rock trio led by Alex Vinci. They released their second album, ‘The Revolution is Made Together’, in 2022. They perform in The Kino this evening, with support from affable young bachelors Single Men In Their Twenties and five piece Other Mother. Tickets are available here.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Friday December 13, The Kino, Washington Street, Cork.
Following a massive gig at the Cork Opera House for the Jazz Festival, Bricknasty return to the Rebel County this evening to perform at Connolly’s of Leap. Hailing from Ballymun on Dublin’s northside, the band combine R&B and hip-hop with an anarchic musical approach. These lads will probably be one of Ireland’s biggest bands. Tickets are available here.
Time, date, place: 7pm, Friday December 13, Connolly’s of Leap.
The Rebel Rebel Market is a bi-monthly market at the Quay Co-op. This month they’re doing Christmas Markets, with the first taking place this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. It includes vintage furniture, books, clothes, art, homeware, crafts and jewellery. Starting from 10am on Saturday and 12pm on Sunday, see their Instagram for more details.
Time, date, place: 10am, Saturday December 14; 12pm, Sunday December 15, Quay Co-op, Sullivan’s Quay, Cork.
Wrapping up their final public lecture for 2025, the Decorative and Fine Arts Society of Cork host Dr Angela Ryan, Department of French, UCC who will hold court on
Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, la Marquise de Pompadour and George Sand, three hugely influential women in the art world through the 17th to 19th centuries. Refreshments from 11 am.
Time, date, place: 11.30am, Saturday, December 14 at 11.30am, Nano Nagle Place, Douglas Str.
oNo NoNo is a group that aims to provide a community space for experimental listening and sounding, without a distinction between performers and audiences. They host their second music session in Maureen’s beginning with improvisation games and scores, before leading into an hour of open improvisation. Anyone who’s interested in going can bring any instrument or sound-producing object they want, bang on a can, whisper, scratch, shout, anything.
Time, date, place: 2:30pm - 4:30pm, Saturday December 14, Maureen’s, John Redmond Street, Cork.
Starting last Monday, Solace Festival is a two-week, community-driven project by a few initiatives around the city, aiming to bring some warmth to people through the winter months. In it’s first weekend of two, it hosts two events in The Roundy with Out of Frame. At 4pm, there will be a gig by Lighter with the Kabin Studio, while later in the evening, at 8:30, there will be film screenings and talks. Entry is free for both events.
Time, date, place: 4pm & 8:30pm, Sunday December 15, The Roundy, Castle Street, Cork.
Plugd are hosting a Fundraiser for Sudan on Sunday, with Dose. It includes Sudanese food by Mo and Jim, Sudanese music, mulled wine, and the Dose social. Food is €12 and donations are welcome, with all proceeds going to the Saving Algeneina charity.
Time, date, place: 4pm, Sunday December 14, Plugd, Cornmarket Street, Cork.
This week on T+D:
Kilian sat down with Fiona Collins the Night-Time Economy Advisor, aka the ‘Night Mayor’. You can read that here:
That’s it for this week’s Friday View. As always, any tips, comments, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us 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.
