The Friday View 27/01
There's a great line-up of music, workshops and events for the Ballincollig Winter Music Festival, and the City Council has a special fund dedicated to Cork's six "sister" cities.
JJ writes…
Hello and welcome to the Friday View on Tripe + Drisheen. Thanks for subscribing and do help us spread the word.
Recently, Substack, the tech platform that we use (and pay) to publish and deliver this newsletter added very basic metrics which gives us some insight as to where our subscribers around the world are reading Tripe+Drisheen. The short answer: everywhere there are people interested in the great state of Cork!
But, it is lovely to see that a small independent local news outlet such as this one has subscribers from New Zealand to Chile and Thailand, as well as all across Europe, North America and Africa. I hope that through our journalism T+D is helping keep you informed about Cork.
As I mentioned, Substack hosts and delivers this newsletter, as well as thousands and thousands of others. When we set up, we did so on the free model. Half a year in we turned on subscriptions to give people the option to support our reporting and in doing so keep Tripe + Drisheen open to everyone. As always, thank you to everyone who pays to keep T+D going. From each paid subscription, Substack takes 10% and a smaller percentage goes to Stripe (owned by the Collison brothers) for transaction fees. What’s left is what we work with.
Why am I telling you all this and not some anecdote about the no 207 bus? Well, for transparency and to give you a bit more information about how an independent local journalism outfit publishes on a newsletter platform. As you know, we don’t run any adverts and we also don’t publish sponsored content (which is effectively just more expensive advertising). So every penny that comes in is via subscriptions. And on that note, read on.
News in brief
This week, Cork City Council signed a Charter of the European Union Missions for Adaptation to Climate Change. A mouthful indeed, but what it means is that the council is committing to drafting a Climate Action Plan for Cork city, to be prepared sometime this year. According to the City Council, this will result in a “series of Cork Climate Conversations” (and yes, those conversations will involve “stakeholders”). Also, you might not know but Cork City is the only local authority in Ireland with a dedicated Climate Action Committee of Council, chaired by Councillor Oliver Moran.
As we tweeted last week, Cork city is twinned with Cologne, Coventry, Rennes, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Swansea. Quite a spread indeed. What you might not know is that the Council has a special Twinning Grant. The fund is open to organisations planning on celebrating the links with one of our sister cities through sports, education or culture. The closing date is February 10 and full details are here.
Staying with funding, February 10 is also the closing date for applications to the Council’s Commemoration Fund remembering the events that shaped Ireland 100 years previously. Cork played a pivotal role in the country’s War of Independence and subsequent Civil War and the 2023 Commemorations fund will support local groups, schools, organisations and individuals to commemorate apsects of those historical events. Note, funding will not be allocated to restoring busts, statues or plaques or paying for commemorative pins. The full list of what will be considered as well as the application forms can be found here.
Out + About
🧹Cork Nature Network is running a clean up in Beaumont Quarry in Blackrock this coming Saturday morning. What they need? Enthusiastic volunteers to help collect litter and cut back invasive flora and bramble for an hour or two. What you’ll get? Rakes, gloves, loppers, bin bags and litter pickers are all provided. Plus tea and coffee and biscuits. The meeting point is by the green area near the Beaumont Quarry sign on Beaumont Drive. Sign up here.
Time, date, place: 11am, Saturday January 28, Beaumont Quarry
🎻 Fiddle master Kevin Burke has played with the Bothy Band, Patrick Street, Open House and Celtic Fiddle Festival and this weekend he will be hosting a fiddle workshop in The White Horse in Ballincollig. It’s a practical workshop aimed at medium to advanced players and will be held upstairs in the Ballincollig pub. Tickets and information here.
Time, date, place: 11am - 2pm, Saturday January 28, The White Horse, Ballincollig
🎬 Staying with The White Horse, as part of Ballincollig Winter Music Festival 2023, director Micheal McCormack will be on hand to screen “Breaking Out” his film about Fergus O’Farrell, the charismatic voice of Interference, one of the most influential bands on the Irish music scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Although diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at a young age, Fergus did not define himself by his condition nor allow it to limit his musical pursuits. The film follows him from his teenage days in Dublin to the Czech Republic, to Radio City Music Hall and home to West Cork where he struggles to record his final album. Tickets and info here.
Time, date, place: 3pm, Sunday January 29, The White Horse, Ballincollig
This week on T +D
On Monday, Ellie published the second installment of her month-long journey, if that’s the right word, of going car-free. There’s also input from readers who are, or have gone, car-free and who contacted Ellie after reading the first piece. Ellie was also on 96fm this week talking about how it’s going. You can listen back here. Check back next week for the third installment.
On Tuesday, we published a story about the house in Mallow where the remains of Mr Tim O'Sullivan were recently discovered. Cork County Council told Tripe + Drisheen they were not aware of who boarded up the house, or when exactly it was boarded up. It’s believed that Mr O’Sullivan’s remains lay undisturbed in the house for 20 years.
On Wednesday, Ellie wrote about the plight of adult literacy tutors working for the Cork ETB. They spoke out about the insecurity of their working conditions ahead of a protest at Dáil Éireann in February.
On Thursday, we reported on the opening of a new Educate Together primary school in Douglas. Parents have voiced concerns about access to the school along a narrow footpath on a busy main road.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View. We’re back tomorrow with our weekly Arts+Culture newsletter. Any tips, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, contact Ellie at 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.