The Friday View 24/03
A library designed by someone recovering from the flu, what it was like to be Mayor of Cork 300 years ago, crime figures for Cork city, and Lifelong Learning Festival returns.
Ellie writes…..on emails, digital communication and our faltering accountability and transparency
When JJ was reporting his piece on the lighting on The Dean Hotel this week, there were some questions that remained unanswered.
The first was regarding the mysterious disappearance of negative Google reviews that disgruntled neighbours had banded together to write, to force the hotel to take action: although Reddit shows a record of numerous people who had posted negative reviews in protest at the hotel’s lighting, these are no longer visible when you click on Google reviews for The Dean. Did the hotel somehow get them removed?
The last time we wrote about the city centre hotel’s nuisance lighting was a year ago, and the hotel manager consented to an interview.
But this time, JJ was directed to Press Up, the Dublin-based hospitality group who own The Dean, whose in-house PR person emailed a three-line comment and did not address follow-up queries.
Unfortunately, the PR-isation of both civic and commercial worlds has continued afoot and has even become more entrenched since Covid. It’s driven by the idea that an emailed statement is as good as an interview, which it never is.
It’s increasingly frustrating for journalists to try to get straight talking and simple answers and people willing to pick up the phone. Digital communications are supposed to facilitate unforeseen levels of communication: instead they are, in some instances, a barrier.
I’ve put in two interview requests to speak to someone from Cork County Council’s housing directorate to straighten out some questions about how the largest local authority in the country is handling - or not handling - dereliction. I haven’t received responses, not even refusals that would allow me to let readers know that that’s not going to happen. Just radio silence.
When it comes to politics and public life, it’s our own tax money that is paying to put a barrier between us and the basic levels of accountability and transparency that a small democracy like Ireland should aspire to.
Local Authorities and all sorts of state bodies and governmental departments are in the process of dangerously eroding the public’s ability to connect, to ask questions, to be properly engaged citizens, in the interests of protectionism. I would love to see political candidates take a stance on the increasing budgets made available for the purposes of PR.
When it comes to the commercial world, the lack of accountability gets more breathtaking and frightening the larger and more distant the business you are trying to contact.
On a High Street of community embedded, family-owned, or at least owner-managed, businesses, if you have a problem with how one of these does business, you walk into the shop, talk to the owner, and it’s in the owner’s best interests to listen to the complaint and resolve the issue. They will likely feel a sense of responsibility as part of a community.
But in the world of multinationals, there is no equivalent sense of community responsibility. And so you are met with a wall of PR.
That PR wall is not benign. It is designed to manipulate public opinion, hide mistakes and errors and optimise positive angles.
The so-called Dewey-Lippmann debate, which originated in the US in the 1920s, presents us with two opposing views of what journalism is for.
Philosopher and educator John Dewey saw democracy as a constant process of collective action, and saw the role of the press as providing enough accurate information to allow people to make well-informed and engaged choices about their society through the democratic process.
Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Lippmann, on the other hand, believed that the majority of people were not rational and were governed by emotions. He believed that a knowledgeable elite was best-placed to know the correct course of action, and that the role of the press was to “manufacture consent” by manipulating public opinion into accepting, or even believing that they had conceived of, the courses of action determined by governments. Yes, Chomsky’s phrase “the manufacture of consent” is after Lippmann.
I was always gobsmacked when teaching Journalism undergrads at how many of them professed themselves supporters of Lippmann’s view.
Because I’m a Deweyite: I don’t want to live in Lippmann’s depressing, paternalistic world of behaviourism and PR. Knowledge is power. The agency of knowledge should be for everyone who wants it, and there should be faith amongst the political class that most people have the capacity to analyse and interpret what they see and hear, as long as they are sufficiently equipped with real information.
Rant finished, I promise. Long live the Dewey side of the Dewey Lippman debate. And down with PR.
News in brief
Cork city property crimes increase while violent crime reduces
One councillor queried if the increase in shoplifting is due to the economic downturn and people "shoplifting for essentials."
Property crimes in Cork city, including shoplifting and vehicle theft, have seen a massive spike in early 2023 even as violent crimes have reduced, the city council’s monthly Joint Policing Committee heard this week.
The first quarter of 2023, when compared to the same period last year, saw:
an increase in shoplifting of 78%, from 186 incidents in 2022 to 331 this year.
an 81% rise in bicycle theft
a 208% increase in attempted car break-ins
a 56% rise in thefts from vehicles
a 23% increase in non-aggravated burglaries
a 58% increase in other property theft
However violent crimes have reduced in the same period, with assaults and minor assaults both reduced. Statistics on reported rapes and sexual assaults show no change over last year, with 10 rapes reported citywide and 22 sexual assaults.
“Is the shoplifting down to economic downturn? Are these repeat offenders or is there a new type of offenders who are coming in shoplifting for essentials?” one councillor asked Chief Superintendent Garda Thomas Myers.
“Alcohol is a key feature in the items that are being taken, so dependency is an issue there,” CS Myers responded. Of course, Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol was introduced in 2022.
Meanwhile, despite some positive figures, many councillors expressed concerns about the level of “open drug taking” to be seen on city streets, with former Lord Mayor Colm Kelleher saying he had witnessed a group taking drugs outside Boots Chemist on Half Moon Street at 3.30pm on the afternoon of St Patrick’s Day.
“Big recruitment and retention problems”
CS Myers highlighted ongoing “big recruitment and retention problems” amongst the police force when quizzed by Sinn Fein TD Thomas Gould on Garda numbers for Cork at the meeting.
Lifelong Learning Festival returns with an explosion of free events citywide
The 2023 iteration of Cork’s Lifelong Learning Festival takes place from Monday, March 27 to Sunday, April 2.
A breathtaking array of free events citywide are designed to spark curiosity and celebrate our lifelong learning capabilities and there’s everything from line-dancing to analogue photography, talks on everything from abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ time in Cork to the human Microbiome on offer.
The festival is supported by Cork City Libraries and many of the events are in libraries citywide, but also UCC will host many events, as will MTU, Collins Barracks and a host of other venues.
This really is one of Cork’s most admirable calendar events, involving the generosity of knowledge sharing, intergenerational skills transfer, and a true love of what learning is all about. And there really is something for everyone, of any age or range of interests. Check out the extensive and exciting programme of events available online here.
Design film shot in Riverstick gets New York screening
A film celebrating art, architecture and design and shot in Co Cork is set for a screening in New York next week. Joseph Walsh, the self-taught, home-schooled furniture designer who has become internationally renowned for his ethereal ash, walnut and resin creations, has been hosting the “Making In” series of events for artists, designers and crafters at his Riverstick studios for several years: this is the fifth iteration. Tripe + Drisheen won’t make the New York screening and panel discussion in Penn Plaza, unfortunately.
But you can watch the promo right here.
Bantry Library set for upgrade
Bantry’s modernist library has been announced for a Heritage Council grant of quarter of a million euros, with works to be completed in good time for the unique building’s 50th anniversary.
Although County Mayor Danny Collins said Bantry Library has been “an integral part of the town for many years” in his statement welcoming the news of the conservation funding, which comes via a Historic Towns Initiative grant, the modernist structure was once controversial.
It could have been a car park
Designed in 1962 with construction completed in 1966, the cost (£60,000 at the time) and Megalithic Wedge Tomb inspired design were not always popular. One councillor famously argued in a debate that “it would be nothing short of ridiculous to throw that sum of money into that dump,” saying “it would be far better to cover in the river, make a car park there and widen the road.”
Legend has it that County Council architect Patrick McSweeney designed the building with his daughter to pass the time while they were recuperating from a dose of the ‘flu.
The external conservation works to the library are on the cards for later this year.
“Increased financial supports” needed if derelict buildings are to be renovated
The government’s Croí Cónaithe grant scheme for tackling dereliction in towns would need to be doubled if it were to have any real impact on encouraging owner-occupiers to restore derelict properties, a new report has found.
The Real Cost of Renovation report published by the Society of Chartered Surveyors this week contains a lot of interesting reading and a real snapshot of the challenges faced by those who would prefer to restore an existing building as a home instead of buying a new build.
Of 13 owner-occupier case studies the SCSI examined, just one became financially viable with the support of the maximum €50,000 Croí Cónaithe grant plus a €21,500 SEAI grant, leading the SCSI to recommend the Croí Cónaithe grant be doubled:
The report also noted that 11% of Irish greenhouse gas emissions come from the construction industry and that we are producing 8.8 million tonnes of construction waste annually.
The rest of the SCSI Real Cost of Renovation report is very interesting reading and is available here.
Last week for submitting to our Bridges photo competition
We are running a photo competition for all of March on the bridges of Cork city and county, with a cash prize and an interview with the winner. There’s one more week to submit your work: so far, we’ve received a lot of entries from the city, like this classic shot of the Shakey Bridge from reader Rosemary Kelly, and not so many from rural parts.
We’ll be publishing our shortlisted images throughout the month of April and announcing our winner at the end of April, but the competition closes midnight, March 31 so get snapping and sending! Details of the competition are here.
Out + About
View Ye Mayoral Booke of Thomas Pembrock
Thomas Pembrock was Mayor of Cork in 1733: he left behind him a book of over 400 hand-written pages not only documenting things relating to his Mayoral duties, but also providing a fascinating snapshot of what life was like in 18th century Cork. Up to 50 people can book in to view this piece of history as part of Cork’s Lifelong Learning Festival. Contact Cork City Library to reserve a place.
Time, date, place: From 10am until 5pm on Monday, March 27 at Cork City Library, Grand Parade.
Be Unsettled by an audience with Rosaleen McDonagh
Playwright, Irish Traveller and Aosdána member Rosaleen McDonagh brings a conversation on her experiences of theatre-making and disability in this afternoon event. Rosaleen’s debut book, Unsettled, is a collection of essays on community and family, but also on ableism and abuse and resistance. This event has a live interview format and is presented as part of the Spring 2023 Perforum Series, curated by UCC and Cork Opera House Theatre Artist-in-Residence, Jody O’Neill.
Time, date, place: 2.15pm on Wednesday, March 29 in the Granary Theatre, Mardyke, Cork City.
Songwriter’s night in Inchigeelagh
Join songwriters local to the Inchigeelagh area for an evening of original music: folksters The Lost Gecko, poet and songwriter Margaret Creedon O’Shea and ecology-inspired songwriter Laura McCarthy are all on the line-up for what promises to be a glorious evening of tunes.
Time, date, place: 8pm on Thursday, March 30 in Creedon’s Hotel, Inchigeelagh.
Dig a pond in Togher
Feel like getting up early of a Saturday, pulling on your wellies and going out to dig a pond? If not, why not? And if you do, this unique opportunity presents itself to you this very weekend: Togher Community Garden have enlisted the help of An Taisce’s expertise for this weekend meitheal to improve the biodiversity of their city community garden. You’ll be expected to get stuck in, but there will be refreshments provided.
Time, date, place: from 10am on Saturday, March 25 at Togher Community Garden, Clashduv Park, Cork City.
Explore the magical world of seeds
This beautiful structure is Seedarium by Rachel Doolin: the Cork-based artist spent over six years working with Ireland’s network of heritage seed savers, as well as interviewing people with stories of seeds from all over the world, for her exhibition, which is titled Heirloom and which explores the human connection to the miraculous little bundles of genetic material that are plant seeds.
Ellie is speaking at the launch of this exhibition in Cork County Library but that’s not why we’re telling you to go: we’re telling you to go because it’s beautiful and thought-provoking.
Time, date, place: Heirloom launch event takes place at 6pm, Thursday March 30 at the LHQ Gallery, County Hall, Carrigrohane Road. Exhibition runs during library opening hours until April 28.
This week on T + D
More on countywide dereliction
On Monday, we reported that Cork County Council only managed to collect €3,300 in Derelict Sites Levies last year, meaning that in the past six years they’ve collected an average of €700 across the county. This is a follow-up on our story the week before that the county keeps a register of 59 derelict properties countywide, with West Cork Municipal District not keeping records on any derelict properties at all and East Cork MD having a list comprised of one property in Castlemartyr.
No fairytale ending with The Dean’s Cinderella Clause
Tuesday, our news story that, following on from a campaign of negative review-bombing by angry residents who organised on Reddit, The Dean hotel agreed to switch off its glaring “statement lighting” that some in the city have dubbed The Bat Signal….but only after midnight each night.
It has taken two years to generate a response from the hotel, some campaigners told JJ. And many aren’t happy with the hotel’s Cinderella Clause: they want the lighting permanently adjusted or switched off for good.
Woodie woodpecker makes a Cork appearance
On Wednesday, JJ reported on a new noise that’s making itself heard in and around Cork. No, that drumming noise is not the blood pressure in your head as you anticipate your next energy bill….apparently, it’s the Great Spotted Woodpecker: the insectivorous birds are, Brexit notwithstanding, making their way to our shores in response to a population explosion in the UK. That story is here.
A welcome to new readers
On Thursday, we extended a welcome to all the new readers this spring. The T + D community continues to grow, and that’s incredibly exciting. We feel very valued, and very committed to continuing to deliver more and better local journalism as our support base grows. And we wanted to give newbies a little tour: