The Friday View 29/11
🍃 It's Black Friday, General Election 2024 Friday, a cold and wet Friday and most importantly of all Friday View Friday!
Good morning and welcome to the Friday View. Let’s get to it!
Vote early (vote often:) As you may be aware, today is General Election day (finally), and many of the 151,491 registered voters in Cork city will be heading to polling stations. You should have received your polling card in the post (you don’t need it to vote), but you do need valid ID.
The list of what is acceptable is long and includes: passport, driving licence, an employee identify card containing a photograph, a student identity card issued by an educational institution and containing a photograph, a travel document containing name and photograph, a bank or savings or Credit Union book containing address in constituency or electoral area, a Public Services Card (and the list goes on).
If you’re not sure which polling station you should be headed to, you can check by inputting your details on CheckTheRegister
Give a little: Edel House, a homeless shelter in the city centre providing emergency accommodation for women and children, has shared its Christmas wish list for those who would like to contribute. While vouchers are the most helpful gift, as they allow parents to choose what suits their needs best, the shelter also welcomes items such as sensory toys, new clothes, underwear, pyjamas, and more.
You can find out more about making a donation here. Drop offs for donations will take place right through December in the Parish Centre, Church Hill, Carrigrohane Road. Mon-Fri: 9:30am - 5pm and Saturday 10am-1pm. You can also call 089 453 8072 for any questions or to arrange a drop off.
Water works, quay works, no works: The builders have proper moved on to Fr Matthew Quay (and on the Lee) as part of the substantial redevelopment of the quay right up to the Mall and the eventual removal of car parking spaces along the quay. There will still be parking, but there’ll be less empty cars occupying what is a beautiful quay, or could be, if cars hadn’t monopolised it.
However, the betting men and women amongst us would probably be correct in their wager that while the quay will be redeveloped, the derelict eyesore at the back of the Bank of Ireland will look still very much like it does now and has for the past two decades. We wrote about 4 and 5 Fr Matthew Quay previously on T+D. The property belongs to the McCarthy family and it’s on the City Council’s derelict sites register since 2021 with a market value of €1.5 million. It’s a reminder of how intolerably slow and frustrating – despite some successes – it is to get these sites turned around.
ABP says no: In a blow to the future development of the Docklands, An Bord Pleanála rejected a move for Goulding Soil Nutrition to Marino Point, on Great Island. Emer Walsh at the Irish Examiner reported that planning for a new port facility on the former site of Irish Fertiliser Industries, to build an agricultural fertiliser facility and develop the existing jetty at Marino Point to hold cargo vessels, was rejected.
This puts the development of 1,300 homes at Goulding’s current site, on Centre Park Road, on hold indefinitely. This development by O’Callaghan Properties would be the largest such of its kind in the city, and is a key site in the future development of the docks. The site has a ten-year planning permission for this development.
However, O’Callaghan Properties have stated that this ruling does not affect their other major development in the docks, on Kennedy Quay. The site is set to begin construction in the coming weeks, although work on the site is currently muted.
This is not the first time that the Goulding’s site has caused issues in the Docklands - in 2023, the Marina Market had their initial retrospective planning permission refused due to their proximity to Goulding’s, which is a level 3 Seveso site.
Houses update: O’Flynn Developments lodged an application for the first phase of the Dunkettle LRD, at Dunkettle, Glanmire. It includes 550 residential units, of which 394 are a mix of semi-detached and terraced houses, and 156 are apartment and duplex units. It also includes a greenway which would run from Glanmire Village to Dunkettle, on the eastern shore of the Glashaboy estuary. Dunkettle is also earmarked as a site for a future railway station and Park and Ride, located to the east of the Dunkettle Interchange.
There is lots of work currently happening in Glanmire, with the Glanmire Roads Improvement Scheme and the Glashaboy Flood Relief Scheme happening in tandem. This is set to include a greenway, which will run from adjacent to the one planned in Dunkettle to Riverstown, connecting Glanmire and Riverstown villages, although this has no set timeline. Cork City Council has already approved the removal of vehicular traffic from the Copper Alley Bridge in the town, and a cycle route from Riverstown to Hazelwood through Dooley’s Lane.
Meanwhile in Wilton, this week the Land Development Agency (LDA) released images of what the development on the former ESB site will look like, and, well it looks nothing like Wilton. Per the project description: “The proposed development will include 154 one-bed apartments, 180 two-bed apartments and 16 three-bed townhouses, as well as a creche, landscaped open spaces and new pedestrian and cycle greenway links. The homes will be a mix of cost rental and affordable purchase, the latter delivered through the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme.” A planning application will be submitted in early 2025.
The LDA is holding a Public Drop in Consultation Clinic on Tuesday, December 3 from 2-7pm at SMA Wilton Parish Community Centre, Sarsfield Road, Wilton.
Wilde Vibes: There was drama on Instagram on Monday, when Vibe owner Jen Bailey announced on the bar’s Instagram that it would close with immediate effect. “I’m absolutely heartbroken to be writing this post and it’s the last thing I wanted to do but after 9 months of building a safe space with the community for the community Vibe will no longer be running at 64/65 Oliver Plunkett Street with immediate effect,” she wrote.
“I’m appalled the group that led me to believe they had the community’s best interest at heart, took complete advantage of me and my connections in the community and basically used me to build a loyal customer base,” she continued.
Clancy’s then responded to the post denying that the venue is closed. “You may have seen a post by Vibe Cork stating it is no longer, but we want to make you all aware that our venue WILL REMAIN OPEN AND OPERATING as usual as an LGBTQ+ venue and safe space. See you all this weekend!”, the post said.
The Vibe page was taken down at some point this week, and a new page for a new space at the same location but this time called Wilde. Wild indeed.
Coffee house lates: Coffee house lates is an initiative by Cork City Council in which 12 independent coffee shops opened late last night, and it continues this evening. Events are taking place in Nádúr Deli, Café Moly, Filter, Greenwich, The Grumpy Baker, 115 Café, The Lough Café, Duke’s, The Lee Café, Plugd, and Butter Bubble Café, while the new Old Town Taqueria Café opens it’s doors on Pembroke Street.
Its all part of a strategy to offer more than alcohol at night. “Cork City already boasts a vibrant evening scene, but the ambition is to expand the possibilities for locals and visitors who don’t drink alcohol. We hope businesses will see the demand for this type of offering and consider extending their hours on a more regular basis, if only for a night or two a week”, Fiona Collins, Night-time Economy advisor, said.
Tripe + Drisheen interviewed Fiona Collins about her night-time strategy, and the problems that the night time economy faces, which will be in your inboxes very soon.
Honourable mention: One-third of Tripe + Drisheen finally made it to the charity quiz at Callanan’s, held on the last Tuesday of every month in aid of Save the Lee. Teams of up to four compete, with quizmaster Ronan Leonard running a one-man show like a pro, while the ever-decent Rob keeps things going behind the bar. For a lot of teams, it’s about participating (yes, we didn’t win), but it’s great craic, and a for a good cause. Now quickly: what year did Bulgaria and Rumania join the EU? No Googling.
Out + About
Alex Zhang Hungtai is a Taiwanese-born Canadian multi-instrumentalist who has made Post-punk, no wave, noise and ambient music under the names Dirty Beaches and Last Lizard. Plugd Records bring him to Dali on Saturday, with support from Senior Infants, a duo of Fixity’s Dan Walsh and The Altered Hours’ Cathal Mac Gabhann. Tickets are available here.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Saturday November 30, Dali, Lavitt’s Quay, Cork.
Alice Rekab is an Irish-Sierra Leonean artist based in Dublin, and their work exhibits at Sirius Arts Centre. Clann Miotlantach / Mythlantics discusses Rekab’s mixed-race experience through body and mind, geographies and politics, and researches and operates through the framework of the family unit. They revisit and reimagine archival items found in their own holdings and during their trips to Sierra Leone, and combines them with memories, oral accounts, field notes, and readings, all derived from their encounters with Irish and West African traditions. More information here.
Time, date, place: Saturday November 23 - Wednesday March 5, Sirius Arts Centre, Westbourne Place, Cobh.
A few coffee places are running events tonight as part of the city council’s Coffee House Lates. Tonight, Plugd will have live music and records while you sample unique, high-quality non-alcoholic beverages, and the new Old Town Taqueria Café opens up on Pembroke Street, until 1am. More information here.
Time, date, place: 6pm-9pm, Friday November 29, Plugd, Cornmarket Street; 5pm-1am, Friday November 29, Old Town Taqueria Café, Pembroke Street, Cork.
The Unthanks are an English folk band, known for combining their Northumbrian style of folk with other genres. They are releasing a double album and tour - The Unthanks in Winter, and they perform at Live at St. Luke’s this evening. Get festive in a folky way! Tickets and additional information here.
Time, date, place: 7:30pm, Friday November 29, Live at St. Luke’s, Summerhill North, Cork.
Ardú, a street art project founded by Shane O’Driscoll and Peter Martin responsible for some of the big murals around the city by the likes of Aches and Conor Harrington. They will be hosting Night-Time Walking Tours, supported by the Night-Time Economy Initiative, and offering a guided exploration of the Ardú murals. Tickets are available here, booking is essential.
Time, date, place: 6:30-8:30pm, Thursday December 5 & Friday December 6, Vents 137 Mural, South Terrace, Cork.
UCC Christmas Craft Fair: If you’re on campus at UCC next week, the annual Christmas Market will be held in the Students’ Centre on 2 December.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View.
Any tips, comments, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us via 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.
This week on T+D:
Kilian caught up with musician and music producer Cian Sweeney to see what he’s got cooking next.
Piano man
Collaborating and finding common ground with other musicians is something that has been at the forefront for musician and producer Cian Sweeney, 33, since he went down the route of becoming a professional musician. As 1000 Beasts, he worked with musicians such as Elaine Ma…