šThe Friday View 29/09
A storm passes, ship to shore, reluctantly, Cork Folk Festival gets cracking and our biggest story to date on Tripe + Drisheen: one man and his bike box. Welcome to the Friday View
First up, welcome to all our new subscribers (and hello and thank you to all our regulars and especially our paying subscribers who keep T+D afloat). This week more than 50 people signed up to T+D, largely on the back of our two stories, one on why a city centre building has effectively been left to stew for decades and the other being a planning judgment that flies in the face of logic, if not the law.
It still amazes me that people willingly subscribe to get more emails into their already overcrowded inbox, but I hope you find Tripe + Drisheenās newsletter worth it. The Friday View, if itās your first time reading it, is a news, views, and round-up of whatās on in Cork for the week ahead, and as it says on the tin, it comes out every Friday, in the morning.
The bike box story, which you can read here if you havenāt already, was one of our most-read stories ever, and it was one of our most commented-on stories in quite a while. Denis dropped me a line during the week when he got news of the Councilās decision, which is why we were first with the story (which is my way of saying, do drop T+D a line if you have a story or think something should be looked into - weāll try our best to get on it).
One of the wittiest comments was that the City Council needs to think outside the box (which would have made a great headline!). Another commenter recommended that the sole objector to Denis OāReganās bike box, which is placed outside the front of his house in his driveway, should get a bike and a box. Most people, though, just cannot make sense of why the City Council couldnāt stick its neck out on this one and do the right thing, especially when itās making a lot of the right noises about sustainability and active travel in other areas.
Sticking with transport and active travel, the first car-free day in Cork city in 21 years was staged last weekend on a few streets in the city centre. While the weather wasnāt great - itās been that kind of week - it was important to get the car-free day off the ground, and the Council can definitely build on the foundation from this year.
They could do that by announcing details much further in advance and communicating that the car-free day is part of a network of more than 1300 cities across Europe all uniting by going car-free for a few hours. Thereās even the potential to expand it to more streets next year. Think big and outside the box, as they say.
-JJ
News in brief
It was a week of high drama on the waters off the south coast this week as the Navy, the GardaĆ, Irish Revenue and the Army Rangers launched an operation to board the MV Matthew (pictured above). They bulk container ship from which authorities seized 2000kgs of cocaine is now under armed guard in Cork Harbour. Niall OāConnor, writing in the Journal, has a good long read on the events leading up to the seizure of the drug ship which you can read here.
Sticking with Ironman: Ahead of Tim Luceyās departure as Chief Executive of Cork County Council - heās off to Greyhound Racing Ireland where he will be a well-paid top dog - the County Council announced this week that they are sticking with Ironman for another year, at least.
The local authorityās sponsorship of the event was brought into question earlier this summer following the deaths of two of the participants in the swimming event in Youghal. What followed was a war of words between the organisers of Ironman and Triathlon Ireland over who sanctioned the swim and whether it should have been canceled. It wasnāt, and two men lost their lives in the event. As we outlined before, deaths in Ironman events are sadly common.
This week, in a statement, the Council said that āChief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey, has advised the Elected Members of Cork County Council that the Council will continue to support the IRONMAN Ireland Cork event planned for 2024, having considered accounts presented by both IRONMAN and Triathlon Ireland on the IRONMAN Ireland Cork event held in Youghal last August.ā
The Council made it clear that while they sponsor the event - they donāt put a monetary figure on what that entails - they have no part in the sanctioning permits for the three sporting events.
Cancelled: Grand Parade will once again host a demonstration this weekend, this time itās 'Cork Says Yes' (in support of library workers at 1pm outside the City Library). It comes after a 'Cork Says No' protest and counter-protest that took place earlier this month on Grand Parade between the National Monument and the City Library. Tourists exiting the car park on Grand Parade during the protest looked entirely bewildered, as a rosary and two protests were in full swing.
Interestingly, on Wednesday of this week, UCC Co-operative & Community Action Society was due to hold a talk entitled 'The Rise of the Far Right in Cork - and What Can We Do?' on campus. However, the event was cancelled the day before it was scheduled to go ahead. T+D asked why, and in reply, the students said that they were āguttedā that the event wasnāt going ahead but couldnāt get into the details. They did say a statement would be forthcoming and that they were āfightingā to get the event back on the cards. The use of "fighting" suggests it wasnāt all going the students' way, but we shall see what they say and if they can get back up and running on campus.
New homes in Cobh: Cork County Council released details of nearly 50 newly built affordable homes at Cluain Ard this week. (It's nice to see an Irish name on the estate and not something that sounds like it was the result of a ChatGPT prompt.)
The estate will include 21 two-bedroom townhouses available from ā¬215,000, a 26% reduction from market value and 28 three-bedroom houses which will be available from ā¬245,000, 23% below market value.
The new homeowners will enter into an agreement with the Council, which will retain a percentage equity share of the dwelling. Applications for the scheme will be accepted between 12 pm on October 2, 2023, and 12 pm on October 23, 2023, via the online application on the Councilās website
Old flats in the city coming down: The Irish Examiner reports this week that several blocks of ageing flats on Noonanās Road, Dean St, St Finbarrās Road, and Fort St will be demolished with new accommodation being built, subject to funding. It follows a long campaign by the residents over the run-down conditions in the flats. Residents received notification this week about the City Councilās preferred plan and the consultation process.
Go see: Go see: Karan Casey will be in The Everyman for the next two nights for her show āThe Women, We Will Riseā as part of Cork Folk Festival which kicked off this weekend. Her new show, directed by Tom Creed, is a deft mix of songs, spoken word and imagery. Taken together the focus is singular: the role of women in the Easter Rising and War of Independence. Karan is joined by the very talented Niamh Dunne (fiddle and vocals) and SeĆ”n Ćg Graham (guitar). Tickets and information here
Out + About
š»Following a launch event two weeks ago, the Cork Folk Festival is well underway across the city, with Martin Leahy and Cormac Ć Caoimh playing in Coughlanās tonight. CĆ³nal Creedon and John Spillane play in the Triskel at 1pm, while four master flute players, Hammy Hamilton, Conal Ć GrĆ”da, Aoife Granville and CaoimhĆn Ć FearghaĆl play in the SpailĆn FĆ”nach at 2pm on Saturday, September 30. If you want to see something different, Gliogar are hosting Limerick musicians at the Corner House, with heavy shoegazers The Personal Vanity Project and sound artist Lara Gallagher playing a free gig. Tickets and information for all gigs here.
Time, date, place:Ā 7:30pm, Friday September 29, Coughlanās, Douglas Street, Cork.
8pm, Friday September 29, The Corner House, Coburg Street, Cork.
1pm, Saturday September 30, Triskel, Tobin Street, Cork.
2pm, Saturday September 30, An SpailpĆn FĆ”nach, South Main Street, Cork.
š¼Backwater Artists are exhibiting the works of members who are recent Art & Process MA Graduates from the Crawford College of Art and Design at associative relations, which has been running through the week. Tomorrow at 1pm, featured artists Ciara Rodgers, Fiona Kelly and PĆ”draig Spillane will be giving artists talks, while other artists include Lynn-Marie Dennehy, SeĆ”n Daly, Orla OāByrne, Cassandra Eustace and Tom Doig. More information here.
Time, date, place: 25 September-October 14, Studio 12, Backwater Artists, Wandesford Quay, Cork.
šØBill Griffin has, as they say, lived a full life. In the mid-sixties, he moved to London to pursue a life and career as an artist; however, in the 1970s, he switched careers to work on oil rigs. Rising through the ranks of the oil business, he has met the infamous dictators Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. A return to art came in 1999, and Bill now lives and works in Beara. St. Peter's will be exhibiting some of Billās works, opening at 7 pm on Tuesday, October 3rd, and running until Saturday, October 14th.
Time, date, place: October 3-October 14, Saint Peterās, North Main Street, Cork
š¶Dublin singer-songwriter Danny Carroll has been touring parts of the country over the past few months, and is currently visiting our own beautiful county with locally based English musician Laurie Shaw. Following a gig in Primās Bookshop, Kinsale, last night, the two play Levisā in Ballydehob tonight, and Plugd in the city tomorrow. Tickets for Levisā here and Plugd here.
Time, date, place:Ā 8pm, Friday September 29, Levisā, Ballydehob.
8pm, Saturday September 30, Plugd, Cornmarket Street, Cork.
šµThe UCC Music Department are hosting lunchtime concerts Fuaim Friday at Saint Finn Barreās Cathedral. The Vanburgh are joined by violinist Marja Gaynor and double bassist StĆ©phane Petiet, to present DvoÅĆ”k's String Quintet Op.77.
Time, date, place: 1pm, Friday September 29, St. Finn Barreās Cathedral, Bishop Street, Cork.
š¶If you havenāt had enough classical music with that, the Crawford Art Gallery is hosting Music At Midday on the first Sunday of each month, at 12pm, in collaboration with the Cork School of Music (although this particular show takes place on the second Sunday). Harpist Anne-Marie Papin LabazordiĆØre and cellist Sokol Koka welcome the autumn with performances of three specially selected pieces of music: Chants dāarriĆØre saison by Bernard AndrĆØs, Nocturne by Fermo Bellini and Promenade Ć lāautomne by Marcel Tournier. The weather has been awful this week, but maybe they can show you that Autumn isnāt all bad! More information here.
Time, date, place: 12pm, Sunday October 8, Crawford Art Gallery, Emmet Place, Cork.
This week on T+D:
On Tuesday, we published our piece on the derelict site at 4&5 Fr Matthew Quay owned by the McCarthy family as we reported on whatās happening and not happening there.
On Wednesday, we had our biggest story to date on the bike box that has to go in Ballintemple.
Thatās it for this weekās Friday View. Any tips, news or events youād like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us via our About page here. 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. We're back tomorrow with a theatre review. Have a lovely weekend.
