The Friday View 6/12
Some changes in the political landscape in Cork, but some things remain the same. There are plenty of Christmas markets this weekend, and a cash-strapped UCC finds more things to pawn off.
Welcome to the Friday View! Let’s get to it.
Voting/not voting: The dust has settled, and the horse race, also known as General Election 2024, is run. The view from Cork, at least the bigger picture, is altogether not that different from four years ago. Certain parts of the jigsaw have changed, but for the most part, it’s as you were.
Yes, we’ll most certainly have a Cork Taoiseach once again and, in Holly Cairns (the only woman TD in all of Cork), the leader of an ascendant Social Democrats. The left-wing party now holds nearly a third of its seats in Cork, having secured seats in Cork South-Central and Cork East. We also have the youngest TD in the country, Eoghan Kenny, a schoolteacher now turned full-time Labour politician, and still only 24. Kenny pipped Mick Barry for the last seat in Cork North-Central, and he’ll be joined by Cork City Councillor and first-time TD Kenneth O’Flynn.
The Greens went into the election in Cork with no seats. Their fortunes haven’t changed, and they’ll re-enter the next Dáil with just one seat. This will surely be the biggest reason for Labour and the Social Democrats not to coalesce with a Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil government: recent history strongly suggests you will lose out, and not just lose, but be obliterated. The centre can hold, but the peripheral parties? Not at all.
One aspect of this election that hasn’t received much attention is that, for more than 40% of the electorate, party promises, mandates, door-knocking, endless video appeals, and flyering will not move them to the polling stations.
Turnout in this general election was 59.7%, down three percentage points from 2020 and the lowest in a century. Across the three of five Cork election constituencies, Cork North-West, Cork South-West, and Cork South-Central turnout was slightly above the national average, while in Cork North-Central and Cork East it was below. (The Electoral Commission noted that their data is incomplete: as many as 500,000 people could remain on the electoral register due to duplications or deaths.)
"Why bother voting?" is an age-old question. Some democracies, such as Australia, have bypassed this quandary by making voting compulsory. Postal voting could also make a difference, and while it does exist here, its use is extremely limited (e.g., in prisons).
One common reason for not voting, and you can judge the validity of this yourselves, is the belief that when all the ballots are cast, how much really changes? Many people don’t give a shit about politics or politicians. Many believe that politicians will say anything to get elected. It is, after all, a numbers game.
Politicians have only themselves to blame for much of this. TV and radio debates rarely produce meaningful answers; politicians either say very little of substance or spend the debate obfuscating and interrupting one another.
Bigger than that, politics has a belief problem. Every single party promised to fix the multiple crises we so clearly face. These crises are not new and, in the case of the housing and accommodation crisis, have worsened rather than improved. Non-voters have made a simple enough calculation: what exactly changes by not voting?
Budgets passed: Both Cork City Council and Cork County Council passed their budgets for the coming year this week. The City Council approved a budget of €325 million, an increase of approximately €32.6 million in spending compared to 2024. The budget was overwhelmingly passed 23 to three votes against. In the County, councillors passed a record budget, €516 million up from €458 million in 2024.
Park news: Work is ongoing in Ballincollig Regional Park for the city’s first dog park, located near the allotments. Ballincollig is the guinea pig for this initiative, with the City Council set to review the pilot project after 12 months, with a view to opening additional dog parks. Elsewhere, work will soon begin on a new park at Tinker’s Cross, and a new playground at the Village Pitches in Lotabeg is currently in the design phase. Both projects are being funded through grants from the Community Recognition Fund.
The Devil wears Prada: Spotted at the count centre in Nemo Rangers was a very happy well-wisher sporting a Prada tote bag, celebrating as a newly elected TD was hoisted onto the shoulders of supporters. That same TD had campaigned heavily against overspending and waste.
Cash poor, asset rich: First, it was the Old Bar, and now it’s old trees, as UCC continues to cash in on its assets. Currently in stock at the Visitor Centre are wooden bowls turned from trees that were felled on campus a few years back. Priced at €80 and €110, they’d make the perfect gift for those who can’t get enough of UCC.
Best wishes to Mercier Books as they officially launch their new bookshop this coming weekend. It’s the only bookshop on the Northside of the city and there’s a lovely mix of new and second-hand books, children’s books and of course titles from Mercier Press including Irish history, folklore and fiction. We even spotted a few Chinese and Japanese translations on the shelves. Through Christmas the bookstore will be open Thursday-Saturday from 9:30am -5pm with extra opening hours on the days before Christmas.
Hugs not hoisting: Are you even an elected TD if you don’t get hoisted onto the shoulders of well-wishers and campaigners when the official announcement comes through? No, would seemingly be the answer, but newly elected TD Pádraig Rice (Soc Dems) bucked the trend when he stayed rooted to the ground as the hugs came pouring in when the official news broke.
We checked with Pádraig to see if he had forsaken tradition of being held aloft, and he did. “For me, this campaign was always about the issues - housing, healthcare, childcare, disability services and climate action. The people who voted for me voted for doing politics differently. That is what I intend to do.”
Will the Social Democrats do it in government or in opposition is the big question?
Out +About
Maureen’s mini craft fair: A handful of designers, crafters, ceramists and illustrators will be taking over the lovely livingroom-like setting of Marueen’s this coming Saturday for their mini craft fair. Included in the line-up are Emer Kiely, Justine Lepage, Ruth Phelane, Riki Mats, and Niamh Leonard.
Time, date, place: 12pm - 4pm, Saturday, December 7, Maureen’s, 14 John Redmond Street.
Briery Gap, the newly renovated theatre and cinema in Macroom, will host a night of compelling trad this weekend when experimental harpist Méabh McKenna performs in the theatre on Saturday night, followed by the progressive trad supergroup Trá Pháidín. This show is being filmed by TG4 as part of their Buildings Beo series. Tickets and more information available here.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Saturday December 7, Briery Gap, Main Street, Macroom.
The annual St Peter’s Christmas Market will take place in the former church on North Main Street across both days this weekend. There’ll be a range of traders selling everything from vinyl records, oirigami, handmade crafts, jewellery, books, art, Christmas cards and much else. Iris House, Cork Cancer Support, will also have their stall with all proceeds going to support their essential services.
Time, date, place: 10am -6pm, Saturday December 7, 10am -5pm, Sunday December 8, St Peter’s North Main Street
Nano Nagle: Taking place all this weekend at the Nano Nagle Centre is their Christmas Carol, performed by Kieran O’Leary as Scrooge alongside Nicole McDonagh,, under the direction of Judie Chalmers in the The Goldie Chapel. There are six performances through to Sunday with 3pm matinee shoes on Saturday and Sunday. More details and tickets here.
Callanan’s resident quiz master Ronan Leonard will put down his question sheets tonight and instead be playing a selection of Christmas records as part of the public house’s official Late Late Show Toy Show warm up act. From 6:15pm for roughly 90 mins.
Time, date, place: 6:15pm, Friday December 6, Callanans, George’s Quay.
Sticking with Nano Nagle, the annual book fair returns this Saturday, 7 December, running from 11 am to 4pm with book sellers from across Munster bringing their eclectic collection of books featuring titles on local and regional history, along with more general stock of ‘Irish’ interest – military, political, social, religious, and natural history. More info here.
Time, date, place: 11:00am – 4:00pm, Saturday, December 7, Conference Space, Nano Nagle Place, Douglas Street
Film pick of the week: Who wouldn’t want to be the Irish Housewife of the Year? Housewife of the Year won Best Documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh this year and looks back at the not-so-distant past (1984–1995), when contestants from across Ireland showcased their skills as carers and homemakers, all in pursuit of a new stove and £300 for a live televised competition that aired on RTÉ. Former contestants share their direct experiences of marriage bars, lack of contraception, Magdalene laundries, financial vulnerability, boredom, shame, and, of course, of being contestants in the competition. Some of the participants in this documentary — Philomena Delaney, Ena Howell, and Margaret Carmody — will be in attendance to introduce the film on Sunday 8 December at the Triskel. Tickets and info here.
Time, date, place: Sunday, December 8, 2pm and Monday, 9-December 11 at 6pm, The Triskel, Tobin Street.
This week on T+D:
Pádraig O’Connor wrote about Monaghan-native Róisín McCabe who will be exhibiting her jewellery in the Benchhspace Market this weekend.
That’s it for this week’s Friday View.
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