The half year review on Tripe+Drisheen
It's been one year since we turned on subscriptions on T+D. Thank you to everyone who has supported us thus far as we grow and continue to publish in-depth, independent journalism from and about Cork.
Today we were out on site, several sites actually, interviewing and surveying the lay of the land for a long read we’ll be publishing next week. It’s the kind of piece we had in mind when we started Tripe +Drisheen: shoe-leather journalism, digging around in files and interviewing people.
So, in place of a long read tonight we have, instead, a look back at some of the stories and podcasts we’ve published thus far in 2022.
This month marks one year since we turned on subscriptions for Tripe+Drisheen. We’re extremely grateful to everyone who supports us by taking out monthly and annual subscriptions and to those who have tipped us on PayPal. Speaking of PayPal, there are a few extra verification processes we need to go through on PayPal which is why we have taken down that button for the time being.
We’ll continue to publish all our pieces without putting up a paywall, and hopefully those who can will continue to support our journalism. As readers know we don’t run advertising or sponsored content (its first cousin); that we exist is down to your support.
As always, any tips, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact either of us at jj.odonoghue@gmail.com or 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.
January
To start off the year, Ellie wrote about an unlikely friendship that developed in Cork prison between Ed Winter, a former prison guard, and Seamus Kelly, a former inmate.
The pair first met in the early 1980s when Seamus was given a three year sentence. From that piece:
“There’s a difference between a screw and a prison officer,” Seamus tells me. “A screw comes in every day, does his work, enjoys annoying the prisoners, and fucks off home. A prison officer is someone who comes in, talks to the prisoners as human beings and treats them as human beings, and gets the same respect back. That’s the way it should be.”
February
February is the shortest month of the year, but we packed a lot in, and even managed to make a few people (very) angry with a particular opinion piece…on bicycles.
The hut: This was one of our most popular long reads so far this year, and that makes sense when you consider generations of people in Cork as well as visitors recall its central place at the top of St. Patrick’s Street. It still exists, but barely, hanging on for dear life in a yard in Fitzgerald’s Park.
JJ wrote about its long and storied history (it was first used by the fire service) and went out to see it in Fitzgerald’s Park where it has been for decades now. In light of that piece, at least two Cork City Councillors said they would raise the future of the “hut” at City Hall. Sadly though there’s been no movement on the story since, and the hundred-year-old structure is fading from this world. Could it make a comeback? Is there political will to get the ball rolling?
The journey: Also in February, Ellie wrote about a mammoth journey the Naderis, an Afghan family from Kabul, undertook as they started a new life Cork. At the tail end of February, Russia invaded Ukraine sparking the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two.
It was a huge combined effort to help bring the Naderis to Ireland and they finally made it to Cork arriving to the home of Nicki Ffrench Davis and Bertrand Galen at the end of January.
I think that…! We don’t often publish long form opinion pieces on T+D, except when we do, and then they are very long! This one from Ellie lit up parts of the internet, as with this equally long riposte from Irish Cycle.
You get the gist of Ellie’s position from the headline: I’m a cyclist and I’m against more cycle lanes in Cork. In it, Ellie outlines the reality vs expectations of cycle lanes in the city. Ellie is a cyclist, as am I. It makes sense, if you can, to cycle. But cycling in the city can be scary for novices. The new Lord Mayor, Cllr Deirdre Forde, said as much to T+D last year for a news piece as to why she doesn’t cycle much.
Ellie’s piece in full here:
The school of nos: The West Cork Sudbury School, up the side of a hill overlooking Bantry Bay, has taken a radical approach to teaching and learning - by ditching much of what we consider is best, or at least normal, practise: a curriculum, teachers, homework. But the school is growing. A separate group want to open a democratic school in the city. JJ talked to the people behind the schools in a story that was picked up by Newstalk and The Ray D'Arcy show.
March
Stay here: At the tail end of March, Ellie published an investigative piece on the short-term rental sector in Cork and what effect it is having on the overall rental market here. It’s a story that hasn’t fallen out of the news cycle and Councillor Oliver Moran subsequently said he would follow up on Ellie’s piece by seeking an injunction against AirBnB, to prevent the global short-term letting website from advertising properties let illegally in Cork.
Local man: This is a lovely short news piece about Michael O'Riordan who took it upon himself to clean up Lady's Well in Blackpool. He started something.
April
War and peace: We’re always looking to add new voices to Tripe+Drisheen, and we also (always) pay them when contributors do write for Tripe+Drisheen. Reader support helps us to do this, and in April, Alisa Salenko, 19, and a journalism student from Kiev wrote about her experience of leaving Ukraine and her family following Russia’s invasion. It was a very moving piece about separation and starting over. After that piece was published -Alisa’s first byline in English no less - she was invited on 96FM to talk about the journey to Cork and the piece she had written for Tripe+Drisheen.
May
Butter and tech: What will become of the Cork Butter Exchange in Shandon? That’s what Ellie set out to find out in this long read as she looked back at the history of the Exchange and Shandon and outlined the next tech-centred chapter for an area that is steeped in history.
Hurley man: We also added a new section to T+D this year called Lives Less Ordinary in which we profile characters in Cork. This profile of Douglas man Adam Lingane got a great response on here (and on TikTok!). It’s a story about the craft of making hurleys, but also about the existential threat to hurling in the form Ash dieback and how the sport will have to adapt if Ash can no longer be used to make hurleys.
June
We’ve published more than 20 podcasts on T+D since the audio function was introduced last year and this episode with swimmer Steve Redmond has it all: courage, despair, madness, triumph, more despair and lots and lots of swimming. A great story from a man who has swam all over the world.
There’s lots more news, reviews and features from this year (and last) over on Tripe+Drisheen. We’re back tomorrow with a great photo and the story behind it in The Friday View.