The Friday View 14/10
Cork City FC have name plans for Turner's Cross, a stunning picture of a peregrine falcon in action at Harper's Island Wetlands and our recommendations if you're out and about over the next week.
BusConnects in quotes
BusConnects Cork is the National Transport Authority’s plan for the delivery of a sustainable public transport network for the Cork Metropolitan Area. The NTA is currently developing plans to introduce 12 new Sustainable Transport Corridors, including approx 93 km of bus lane / bus priority and 112 km of cycle facilities (one direction) delivering 56 km of the cycle network across the city. Investing in a sustainable future for Cork is vital for supporting the city’s growth over the coming two decades. BusConnects Cork landing page.
“If you want this to succeed you need to listen to us. We’re not being listened to.” Cllr Lorna Bogue, An Rabharta Glas/Green Left speaking at Cork City Council meeting in July 2022. Cllr Bogue identified as a regular bus user.
“I do not want this scheme to succeed.” Cllr Terry Shannon, FF, at Cork City Council meeting in July 2022 speaking about BusConnects. Cllr Shannon called the NTA “balmpots” at the same meeting.
“You can not have a 15-minute city if you only rely on cars.” Cllr Dan Boyle of the Green Party speaking at a Cork City Council meeting in July, 2022.
“Without being too sarcastic about it, is it easier to contemplate the end of humanity rather than the end of your on-street parking? Over 50% of people who come into Cork City use the bus. So the idea that you need a car to get into the city is just not true.” Cllr Cllr Colette Finn of the Green Party speaking this week at Cork City Council meeting in which a motion to reject BusConnects was tabled.
“It has created extraordinary anxiety among people across the city, elderly people are crying because of the letters that have been sent to their homes.” The Taoiseach Micheál Martin claimed in Prague this month.
“Councillors are getting it in the neck in relation to Bus Connects. The only people who are being discommoded here are people in older parishes, because people in the leafy suburbs want to get into the city faster.” Cllr Seán Martin, FF, speaking at a Cork City Council this week.
“Cork is a massively growing city, and it’s already got a level of congestion. If we don't improve the bus system and cycling facilities, the big picture is that congestion is going to get more widespread and more severe.” Hugh Creegan, deputy chief executive of the National Transport Authority.
“There's a scandalous amount of disinformation floating around about BusConnects on social media in particular people talking about multiple houses being demolished, people being barred from owning cars and other nonsense.” Namloc on Boards.ie
“In brief, I think the plan, in general, is to be welcomed. A shift to sustainable, public transport is essential for a vibrant, healthy and sustainable city. I think this plan makes real progress in delivering on this goal. As you'd expect, there are areas where the delivery of STCs comes into conflict with other uses, in particular public green spaces. Unfortunately, in these sorts of plans, the erosion of public green space is seen as an easy option that we need to guard against.” Tweets from Dr Eoin Lettice, plant scientist, UCC.
The new corridors will benefit the city in the following ways; create a more efficient public transport network, reduce bus journey times, create a safer environment for cyclists and pedestrians, better serve the needs of all road users and create a more sustainable and liveable city. BusConnects Cork website.
News in brief
As coincidence would have it, the National Transport Authority released details of a survey carried out earlier this summer on why people were visiting Cork city centre and how they travelled in and out of the city. Shopping accounted for the single biggest reason from the sample of more than 600 people surveyed. It’s a small sample, and doesn’t include information about whether those surveyed live in the city, county or are just visiting. It also doesn’t stipulate what time of day (or night) the survey was conducted, other than to say it was conducted over two days in early July.
According to the survey 50% of those polled used the bus to travel to town, while 56% used the bus to travel out of the city. On average, people spent a longer time on Oliver Plunkett Street compared to St. Patrick’s Street, and while the report doesn’t specify reasons, Oliver Plunkett Street is pedestrianised (for most of the day) and has less vacancy, which could point to why it’s preferred to the main artery of the city which has had a patchy car ban in place for years. You can read the rest of the report here.
Congratulations to Cork City FC who won the First Division this day last week and followed up the promotion to the premier league by signing a new deal with the Munster Football Association, owners of the stadium at Turner’s Cross. The deal ensures that League of Ireland and Women’s National League fixtures will be played at the Cross for the next 20 years. But will they be playing at Turner’s Cross for long more?
Cork City FC are now on the hunt for a new sponsor for the stadium, and club chairman Declan Carey is pushing the hard sell which is to say if you cough up enough you’ll get the naming rights for Turner’s Cross. Which is to say everything has a price and everything is commercial. The Dunnes Stores Stadium anyone? Or Amazon Arena?
Photo of the week
Bird photographer Ashok Appu took this shot of an unfortunate duck snatched up by a peregrine falcon on October 1 at Harper’s Island Wetlands. Ashok, originally from India, moved to Ireland in 2021. He told T+D that he didn’t have any great expectations as it was an overcast day; he had been mulling about when the action kicked off.
“There was a flock of ducks at a distance near the Scrape hide, so I moved there in order to get flight shots. Then, after about an hour, all of a sudden, there was some disturbance and the ducks took off. A peregrine falcon appeared out of nowhere and lifted a duck (possibly a Teal) within a matter of seconds,” Ashok said.
Even though the duck was heavy, the falcon won out and was soon joined by a hooded crow Ashok said.
“It was quite a spectacle to witness, and I was lucky enough to pull off a few shots of the action,” Ashok said. You can see more of Ashok’s photos over at his Instagram account.
Harper’s Island Wetlands is open daily from 9am to 7pm. More information here.
Out + About
🪗Trad in the Kabin. During the pandemic, a lot of activities moved outside and it was no different up at the Kabin Studio in Knocknaheeny. This evening, they’ll hold their last open session of the year and traditional musicians, singers, enthusiasts are welcome to stop by for a tune, song or just to listen. Jessie Cawley from Creative Tradition, organisers of the Kabin session get-togethers said the outdoor sessions have been a blast but the weather is getting a bit too chilly to keep it out going outside for the rest of the year. However, there are plans to start a trad group, so watch this space. In the meantime, stop by and enjoy the music tonight. More information here.
Time, date, place: 6-8pm, Friday October 14, Kabin Studio, Knockanheeny
🐉Support your local neighbourhood dragon: There’s a table quiz on in Shandon next Tuesday in aid of the Dragon of Shandon festival. A table of four is €40 and sure wouldn’t you be spending more on pints with much less of the craic some evenings? The annual Halloween Dragon of Shandon parade, run by Cork Community Art Link, is not only one of the most atmospheric events in the Cork calendar, but it’s pretty admirable and amazing in terms of its community engagement: lots of the art featured in the parade is made by local groups including the Cope Foundation, Northside youth organisations and more.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Tuesday October 18, Maldron Hotel, Shandon.
🖼 Walker at the Crawford. If you’ve visited the Crawford Art Gallery you’ll be familiar with the part wood-panelled Gibson Galleries upstairs in the gallery. They’ve been closed for the past few weeks as Dublin artist Corbin Walker has staged an intervention for his new exhibition “As Far As I Can See”. Walker has represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale and for his Crawford exhibition he’s taken down some of the portraits of long dead men and replaced them with a mirrored installation where the viewer is wound up in the art. It promises to be a different experience in a familiar, yet not so familiar setting. The exhibition opening is tonight, Friday October 15 at 5:30pm. More information here.
Time, date, place: From October 15 - January 15, Crawford Art Gallery, Emmet Place
🌊Beach theatre. Loom, a new kid on the Cork theatre scene, is going to the beach for its debut performance. This Saturday Loom will stage Strain from directors Eadaoin Fox and Rosa Mäkelä, on the beach at Myrtleville. Cork musician Elaine Malone has created the music for Strain which plays for one night only. The production tells the story of a woman obsessively preparing for a party. “The food, the music, the guestlist. Everything will be in order. To let a single detail slip would be the undoing of her.” Loom has picked quite the setting for their debut. Tickets and information here.
Time, date, place: 6pm, Saturday October 15, Myrtleville Beach.
🌽Grow your own. L’Arche Cork have teamed up with horticulturist Klaus Laitenberger once again to offer a half-day course in gardening designed to give people the basics around composting, soil fertility and crop rotation so you can get going and start growing lettuce, onions, green beans and much else. It’s a free course (donations are accepted and appreciated), but you’ll need to contact Meadhbh Furlong at L’Arche to reserve a place. Lunch included.
Time, date, place: 11am -2p,, Saturday October 15, L’Arche, Togher.
This week on T +D
On Monday, Ellie published a story from Cork city centre of the rescue of a young man from the River Lee. Ellie was on the late shift that day with a report from Cork City Council’s meeting which was dominated by a motion to “reject” BusConnects. You can read that story here.
On Thursday, Ellie’s long read looked at two Cork County Council social housing projects which have been beset by yearslong delays which raises questions about how the urgency of tackling homelessness is perceived. You can read that here.
To get high-quality journalism about Cork in your inbox every week, join our free email list now.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for our weekly Arts+Culture newsletter/podcast. 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.
