the liberty (march 2011)
DESCRIPTION
The Liberty is a local community paper - produced by DIT journalism students - for The Liberties, Dublin 8.TRANSCRIPT
Part of the Community since 1998
FREE
Election 2011analysispg 4 and 5
Annie Hallswaps NewYork for the Liberties pg 16 and 17
Out and About pg 12 and 13
NEWS
www.theliberty.ie
Many local residents and busi-nesses said they will refuse to pay the water charges the new Government is bringing in.
The introduction of water charges will involve the prior installation of water meters in every household and business. Once the meters are up and running it is likely that monthly payments will be mandatory when the limited credit on the meter runs out.
Many are worried about the impact these additional charges will have.
“What type of world do we live in that we have to pay to wash ourselves and our clothes, or drink water or flush the toilet?” said Mary, a lifelong resident of the Liberties.
“It’s going to be another bill in the door that I’ll be struggling to pay. Water is a basic need to survive. It is just madness that our right to free
water is being taken away from us because of mistakes made by others.”
Joe, a pensioner, told me how he is also feel-ing the pressure with the water charges looming.
“I live on my own and my memory isn’t the best anymore,” he said chuckling. “What would hap-pen if I forgot to pay the bill? Would I be cut off? Dehydra-tion can cause a lot of problems. I shouldn’t have to worry about dehydration in the 21st century”.
The general consensus on the ef-fect these charges will have on busi-nesses is that large businesses are not as worried. “I don’t think it’s going to
affect business much to be honest,” said Brendan, a member of the bar
staff in a popular local pub. However, the smaller business-
es said that they are hoping the implementation of the charges
hold off for as long as pos-sible. “Another bill, no
matter how small at the moment could throw
us under,” said the owner of a small
shop in the area. E x a c t l y
when the charges are
implemented will be a matter for the new Gov-
ernment to decide. As the Govern-ment will be a Fine Gael and Labour coalition, it is difficult to predict an outcome as the two parties have very different views on the issue.
Fine Gael said that they will only
support the introduction of house-hold water charges when the follow-ing three conditions have been met:
• Household water meters have been put in place.
• Families are given a free water al-lowance / credit.
• The responsibility for water de-livery is transferred from 34 local authorities to a single national water company.
Fine Gael believes that such a na-tional water company will be up and running within 12 months.
In stark contrast the Labour Party’s manifesto says “Labour does not fa-vour water charges.”
However, in contradiction, Pat Rabbitte said this month the Labour party favoured charges from 2014, with householders granted a specific allowance of free water.
Continued Page 7
Blood boils over new water charges
Pictured: Demolished Murphy’s Pram Shop on the High Street; Inset: The building prior to demolition work. Photo: Fionnuala Holohan
The last house on the block finally comes down. Murphy’s shop once stood as part of a full terrace on High Street. Its demolition has eradicated all indicators of a once thriving community. Story on page 3.
GONE BABY GONE
Issue 63 March 2011
Gillian Stedman
Is the Libertiesthe cheapest place to shop?pg 3
“When you are in a wheelchair,
small things can be a big
problem”
ARTS
FEATURES
St Pat’s get off to a winning start pg 24
SpoRT
Profile of a local artist pg 15
opINIoN pg 24
2 REGULARS
Welcome to the March issue of The Liberty, the free local
community newspaper for the Liberties area.
The newspaper is produced by journalism students at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)
in Aungier Street, not far from the heart of the Liberties. We
produce around six issues every year, during term time - from
January to May and September to December.
Our goal is to inform and entertain the community about
local issues and events, and only you can judge how well
we do this – so we welcome all feedback from you.
TheLiberty.ie
EDITORFionnuala Holohan
ARTSJenny Dunne
SPORTOisín Gregorian
PRODUCTIONAidan Knowles
FEATURESStephen Bourke
WEb EDITORLiam KeeganWEb ASSISTANTKevin Donnellan
PRODUCTION STAFFDeclan MarronConor KeaneyGeorgia DunnePatrick Gormley
SUbEDITORSMartha GberevbieSarah ReillyJonathan ReynoldsCormac O’ ConnorEllen CooneyGavin Morris
NEWSAndrew Nally
PHOTOSCassie Delaney
King George and Queen Mary Visit The Iveagh Play Centre on Francis Street, 1911. Picture courtesy National Library of Ireland
With the visit of Queen Eliza-beth II in May, Tessa Fleming looks back on a special visit of King George and Queen Mary to the Liberties in 1911.
Some older residents of The Liberties will remember stories of the Royal visit to Dublin in 1911. Locals prepared for the visit of King George and Queen Mary by decorating the streets with flags and other colourful decorations.
Dublin Castle provided accommodation for the Royals. The King and Queen received a warm welcome from the poorer district of the city. It was one of the most spontaneous and heartfelt in all of Dublin.
On the first day the King and Queen went to the “Iveagh Play Centre” on Francis Street.
This play centre was established by the Guinness Trust. The Ladies Committee prepared free breakfasts on Sunday’s for the poor children of the parish. Children were taught physical education, basket weaving, lace making, singing and dancing.
King George and Queen Mary
acknowledged the warm and friendly welcome from the massive crowd.
Children from surrounding schools were selected to sing and dance for them. Four barefoot girls, Lillie Lawlor, May Lawlor, Bridget King and Annie Boyle made a presentation of bouquets the royal contingent.
Both the King and Queen enjoyed the performance clapping to the entertainment the young children provided with their songs and dance.
As the carriage pulled off, one woman was almost killed in her rush and desire to get to the carriage to see the Royal couple. She fell beneath the horse’s feet but a nearby constable grasped her and pulled her from the danger.
After the visit King George donated £1000 to the poor people in the area, which included the centre itself. Lord
Iveagh, (Edward Guinness), presented the King with £50,000 to distribute to the Dublin Hospitals as he saw fit.
Within two years the Iveagh centre recorded 4,000 children coming through its doors. It was a community building and part of daily life in the Liberties. In 1915, the Iveagh play-
centre closed and on its last night, 918 people attended the ceremony
The centre moved to Bull Alley, one of the oldest streets in the Liberties.
Queen Mary paid a visit to the Coombe Hospital. The route to Hospital through Christchurch Place and Thomas
Street allowed the Queen to see poor working class people who struggled to raise families in their small tenant rooms and houses.
According to the Irish Times, her visit
to the Coombe Hospital was more than a ceremonial call. She spoke to the patients with humanity and care, listening to the weights of all the newly born babies showing graceful and genuine interest.
The Queen asked if she could visit the new Pembroke wing of the Hospital opened just days previously, but the Matron disagreed with her wish as no carpet had been laid or decoration been hung. Her Majesty laughed and hitched up her skirts and tripped across the courtyard to the new wing.
On the 12th of July, the King and Queen departed Dublin.
Among the many the many places they visited in Dublin, the Kings desire to spend time in the Liberties prompted “The Irish Times to pronounce that “in King George the Dublin poor have a warm friend””.
References, quotes and pictures Liam O’Meara’s book “The Bayno- a History of the Iveagh
Trust Playcentre” and the National Library.
100 Years Ago: Royal Visit to the Liberties
2 Oscar winners call the Liberties home, with Brenda Fricker living in Pimlico and Jeremy Irons owning a house near Francis Street.
1,800,000,000 pints of James Gate finest are enjoyed across the world every year.
3,000 performers from home and abroad set to descend on Dublin for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
7,000 babies are born in The Coombe Hospital every year.
520,000 copies of The Script’s latest album ‘Science and Faith’ have sold in the UK since its release in September 2010.
98 years since Leo Burdock’s has been dishing out the best chips in the city.
17 shops help to make up Dublin’s very own ‘Antique Quarter’ on Francis Street.
11 nights of Tommy Tiernan’s edgy comedy to look forward to in Vicar Street this June.
40 steps leading from St. Audeon’s Church to ‘Hell’, one of the most haunted spots in Dublin which is said to be visited nightly by a ghostly ‘green lady’.
285 years since Jonathon Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, wrote the classic ‘Gulliver’s Travels’.
60 stalls at the Dublin Flea Market held on the last Sunday of every month in Newmarket Square.
115 years that Frawley’s served Dubliner’s shopping needs before its closure in 2007.
120 exhibitions organized by the Monster Truck Gallery on Francis Street in the last four years, keeping local culture vultures more than happy.
109 weeks Imelda May’s ‘Love Tattoo’ has spent in the Top 100 Album Charts in Ireland.
10 bargain stores on Meath Street guaranteeing the best deals in the city.
1 winning Lotto ticket sold in Petals Newsagents on Cork Street – here’s hoping lightening strikes twice!
“Her Majesty laughed, hitched up her skirt and tripped across the courtyard
to the new Pembroke Wing of the Coombe
Hospital”
Interesting Numbers
Eight hundred years since the establishment of the Liberties, Liam O’Meara’s book “The Bayno” commemorates beautifully the community play centre which survived throughout the ages until 1975. According to Liam himself, emigration at this time peaked and the population of the Liberties declined. The “Bayno”, as it was fondly known as, is still fondly remembered by some of our elder citizens, who were once its pupils. Moreover, it has become part of the folklore of Dublin city, and it was the biggest investment in children ever made in Ireland by a private philanthropist. Liam’s book was commissioned for the 100th anniversary of “The Bayno” in 2009.
About The banyo
—Liam’s book is available from Carman Hall, Francis St. or telephone: (085) 1425752
2 REGULARS
3 NEWS
Shop next door to save you more
DeMolition work has nearly completed on the former premises of Murphy’s Pram and nursery store on the High Street.
The shop was part of a complete ter-race from High Street to Cornmar-ket Street, which was demolished in the early 70s following a compulsory purchase order issued by Dublin City Council to facilitate the widening of the High Street.
Only No. 17, the shop, survived, as the documentation for its demolition had been lost.
“I remember working in the shop af-ter school and on my school holidays and we made long term friendships in the area,” said Philip Murphy, 30, who now runs the Murphy family business from a premises in Rathcoole.
“We definitely miss the wit and hu-mour of the locals in the Liberties.”
The Murphy family continued to
Fionnuala Holohan
Dublin City Council have identified several new trading locations around the city, including sections of the Lib-erties, and is currently reviewing ap-plications from interested parties.
Newmarket Square will soon have a permanent stall on Sunday sell-ing bric a brac to go along with the markets that already take place there most weekends.
President Mary Mc Aleese launched the European year of volunteering on February 12 2011 in the Royal Hospi-tal, Kilmainham.
This special year pays homage to the significant work of volunteers all over Europe and has already attracted con-siderable media coverage.
Edwina Dewart from the Dub-lin City South Volunteer Centre on Thomas Street gave particular praise to the high percentage of the centre’s volunteers who come from the Liber-ties.
Liberties hairdresser Fiona Morris fundraised for Today FM’s Shave or Dye for the Irish Cancer Society, in the Grafton Lounge on 25 February 2011.
Participants paid €5 per head for their new retro look in aid of the char-ity.
Fiona currently has many special offers running at her hair and beauty salon ‘Perfect Touch’ on Gray Street in The Liberties.
Volunteer yearSarah Reilly
Shave or dyeSarah Reilly
NEWS IN BRIEF
New trade stalls Kevin Donnellan
“I only ever buy my lunch in this area. I
prefer the quality of the meat and vegetables in
Superquinn.’’
John Adams
“I grew up in this community and moved
to Rathmines nearly twenty years ago. But as long as I have these two legs, I will always do my
shopping here.”
James Elliott
“I have lived my entire life in this area. I wouldn’t
shop anywhere else. What is the point?”
Peter Reilly
“I always have and always will do my
shopping here. It keeps money in the area and
the market.”
Louise Molloy
SHOPPING IN the Liberties could save residents nearly €300 a year.
By shopping around locally you could provide the basic food to feed a small family for less than €22 a week. For this price you can buy 18 eggs, four litres of milk, 5kg of rooster potatoes, 2kg of steak mince and two loaves of bread for a total of €21.49.
But if shoppers take advantage of us-ing a combination of supermarkets, shops and the Meath Street market they can cut down significantly on what they pay.
The same list would cost you €31.71 from Tesco Express, Camden Street, and €26.45 from Dunnes Stores, St.
Georges Street, if you stuck to just one-store shopping. This is a saving of €4.96 a week or €257.94.
Dunnes Stores on St. Georges Street had the cheapest bread and steak mince meat. A loaf of Dunnes Stores St. Bernard’s bread was priced at just 65 cent. Steak mince meat was €3.99 for 580 grams or two packets for six euro.
In Catherine’s Bakery, on Meath Street, freshly baked loaves cost €1.95.
The best values for money eggs are available from C&N Meats on Meath Street, with a special offer of €1.70 for a tray of 18 eggs.
The cheapest milk in the area is on sale in Courtney’s shop, Meath Street.
Here, it costs €1.25 for two litres of milk - beating both mainstream super-markets in the Liberties. Tesco Express and Dunnes Stores both price their own-brand milk at €1.49 for two litres.
Jack Roche Grocers and Norton’s Grocers have the best value for pota-toes in the Liberties. Both grocers have matching special offers of five kg of rooster potatoes for €3.99 or ten kg for €6.99.
Tesco Express recently opened on Thomas Street last May, less than a two minute walk from Meath Street.
“This had an impact on local busi-ness’,” said Jack Roche.
“Prices will vary in this business. Su-
permarkets are able to sell groceries below cost price but still manage to make up the difference on other items. We all have to make a living, I have al-ways tried to get the best quality and give it to the cutomers for the best pos-sible price.”
“Our local business has always been family run, we have had generations of customer loyalty. We could consider ourselves not so much a shop, more a way of life.”
The prices listed above were correct on February 24.
Brendan Kelly
Jack Roache, pictured serving another happy customer. Photo: Fionnuala Holohan
Murphy’s pram shop gets wheeled away
trade from the city-center premises up to 2001, despite having to install props and supports to keep the building safe after the demolition of its neighbour-ing buildings.
In 2001, the family sought planning permission to rebuild on the site, a process which lasted five years, in-volved three re-applications and sub-sequent appeals.
Having finally acquired planning permission in 2006, the family put the site out to tender, and the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin beat nine other interested parties to purchase the site.
A proposed plan at that time was for the site to become a community cen-tre for the local Catholic Polish com-munity, a community which has since declined following the recession.
The building continued to deterio-rate, and when the roof collapsed af-fecting the integrity of the external walls, and compromising pedestrian safety, Dublin City Council issued a Dangerous Building Notice to the Archdiocese. Hegarty Demolition was then called in by the Church to make the building safe.
The initial contract is for the demoli-tion of the building to first floor level, so that an assessment can be made as to what further work needs to be done to make the building safe.
The basement of the building has ac-cess to the catacombs of ChristChurch and its proximity to a National Monu-ment - the Medieval Church of St. Au-doen - means that extreme care is be-ing taken in this work.
Joe Murphy, who first opened the store in 1942, passed away in 1999.
His wife Mary and family relocated the business to Rathcoole in 2002. The improved motorway access and park-ing facilities is ensuring continued suc-cessful trading. Philip and his brother and sister Martin and Marie Murphy run the shop with the help of two other staff.
Local Sadie Doyle, 74, remembers the shop as it used to be:
“We used to buy all of our prams and baby things in that shop,” she said, add-ing that many businesses in the Liber-ties relocated to the suburbs in the 70s and 80s, a trend which still continues today.
Meath Street SaysDan Cochrane
As the site stands now. Photo: F Holohan
3 NEWS
4
Vote share: How Dublin South Central voted
“Good poll today in the Daily Star but not a single vote has been cast yet. I’m out again all day canvassing meeting the people.”
Unsuccessful Fine Gael candidate Colm Brophy, on Twitter, proving that the polls aren’t always right.
“Trying to stay awake tracking Wicklow & Laois Offaly counts, eyes starting 2 fade. Come on ye good things Brian Stanley & John Brady”
Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, showing that more than Dublin South Central is on his mind.
“Off to canvass in Drimnagh with Brian Kerr this morning. Looking forward to a good day.”
Maybe Labour Cllr. Henry Upton should have chose his company more carefully.
Dublin South Central
(5 Seats)
Electorate: 80,203Total Polled: 51,744Valid Poll: 50,927Turnout: 64.5%Spoiled: 817Quota: 8,488
ELECTI
ON
2011
“One of the reasons I only got 1015 votes was that I only made it to about 3,000 out of 40,000 doors. Must do better.”
Oisín Ó hAlmhain deservedly gives his campaign low marks
“FG support clear on the doorsteps in Crumlin and Ballyfermot today.”
Sadly for Ruari Mcginley the support wasn’t for him!
Jonny Reynolds brings you the
best comments and opinions from
Dublin South Central Election candidates.
4
5 “Independent candidates are ordinary citizens standing up to say “enough is enough” now is the time for Citizens to take back control.”
Neville Bradley, Independent can-didate, will remain an ordinary citizen.
YOur NEw TDS
FroM tHe moment the ballot boxes of the liberties were opened at the count centre of the royal Dublin Society on Saturday 26 February. it was evident that the people of the area wanted change.
The counting of votes started at 9am but after an hour the tallies were show-ing that Fianna Fail were in for a hid-ing. This time round the left wing parties were going to take the spoils.
Eric Byrne looked certain to top the poll for Labour from an early stage and rumours began to circulate that Labour could take three out of the five seats.
Micheal Mulcahy the lone Fianna Fáil candidate walked around the centre with his head firmly fixed on the ground. This count was no place for a Fianna Fáil candidate.
The counting of votes continued up until lunch time and all sorts of out-comes were being predicted.
The Fine Gael camp with their young brigade of male followers all dressed in smart suits and polished shoes were predicting two seats.
The Sinn Féin camp was not happy when lunchtime arrived. Their man Aengus Ó Snodaigh was on course to win a seat. “But why did he not get more votes?” asked one. “There must have been votes missing or misplaced.” said another.
People Before Profit were quietly
confident but were keeping their coun-sel to themselves. It looked at this stage that another Joan Collins was to be-come a household name.
By two o’clock the tallies were all complete even though Sinn Fein were not altogether convinced.
Henry Upton who started off well in the morning tally counts had slipped
back and was now the third Labour candidate in the race. His facial ex-pression had changed from one of con-fidence to one of dismay.
Henry knew at this stage that three seats were not on but like all politicians he was not going down without a fight,
that word recount was been floated around even before the official first count was declared.
Micheal Mulcahy had enough at lunchtime and made a quick dash to RTÉ to talk about his defeat and that of his party.
This was to be his last appearance on television as a TD.
The official counts went on for hours with spoiled votes having to go un-der the microscope in order to render them unusable.
The counting eventually finished at 6am on Sunday morning. Media, tal-lymen and hopeful candidates - ac-companied by their loyal supporters - were among the last few standing at the RDS.
The day and night belonged to the left wing parties with Fine Gael win-ning one seat.
Sinn Féin went home still wondering were all those votes had gone.
Labour were jubilant and in a party mood all except Henry Upton who had failed to hold on to the family seat.
The young Fine Gael boys were well past their bed time but were generally happy with events elsewhere.
Joan Collins gave her mum a big hug. Micheal Mulcahy had nothing to say, and went home to ponder his future something that another sixty Fianna Fail TDs would be doing on that same night.
A dramatic count for Dub SCAndrew Nally
“The young Fine Gael
boys were well past their bed time but were
generally happy with events elsewhere”
Independent TD Joan Collins embraces her mother during emotional scenes at the Dublin SC election count. Photo: Paula Geraghty
collins was the fourth candidate elected with nearly 13% first preferences.
Joan Collins has been a councillor for Crumlin-Kimmage since 2004.
In 2007 she ran for the Dáíl as part of a campaign against waste charges after splitting from the Socialist Party. She failed to win a seat, but was re -elected to Dublin city council in 2009 Local Elections as part of the People Before Profit Alliance.
Joan confronted Bertie Ahern at the gates of Leinster House on the final day of the last Dail and asked if he was ashamed of himself. The confrontation became a YouTube hit.
Ó Snodaigh received 13.5% of first preference votes.
Ó Snodaigh won his first Dáil seat in 2002 and was reelected in 2007. He was Sinn Féín’s spokesperson on Justice, Equality, Human Rights, Law Reform and International Affairs.
He worked as a secondary teacher in Dublin before becoming a public representative. Last year he was one of three Irish politicians who tried to join the flotilla bringing aid to the Gaza Strip.
Byrne got 11% of first preferences.
Former Lord Mayor of Dublin Catherine Byrne was also elected by Dublin South Central. She keeps the Dáíl seat she won in 2007.
In the last Dáil she served as Fine Gael’s spokesperson for Older Citizens.
Catherine’s priorites for her year as Lord Mayor included continuing to support the various regeneration projects across the city, childcare issues within communities, supporting community projects, and civic leadership schemes, especially among young people.
Joan CollinsPeople before Profit
Aengus Ó SnodaighSinn Féin
Eric ByrneLabour
Catherine ByrneFine Gael
labour councillor eric Byrne topped the poll in Dublin South central with 16% of first preference votes.
Byrne has been on Dublin City Council since 1999 but first ran for the Dáil for the Workers’ Party in the 1977 General Election in Rathmines West.
In 1992 he was one of the members of the Workers’ Party who split to found Democratic Left, but lost his seat soon after. He was at the centre of the famous 1992 ‘Long Count’, when he narrowly missed out on a Dail seat by five votes after three recounts over 10 days.
conaghan got 11% of first preferences.
Originally from Donegal, he has represented Ballyfermot on Dublin City Council since 1991. Conaghan was a teacher and worked as the vice-principal of Inchicore College of Further Education.
Conaghan was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 2004-2005. During his term in office as Mayor, Conaghan paid particular attention to community policing and sought to establish a specific council committee to deal with issues relating to social justice and equality.
Michael ConaghanLabour
“I’m out putting up my last few posters around the Liberties and Inchicore in the rain, anyone got a very tall umbrella?
Maybe Neville Bradley should have put up more posters.
“I am safely back in my constituency on the couch with alcohol!”
Oisín ó hAlmhain showing that the greens aren’t that different from the rest of us!
Jonny Reynolds brings you the
best comments and opinions from
Dublin South Central Election candidates.
Watch
5
6 NEWS
How accessible is the Liberties for a wheelchair user? Ciaran Ó Fiachain finds out why the area still has a long way to go.
To begin with, I didn’t get my hopes up about the wheelchair-friendliness of the Liberties.
I am using a wheelchair myself at the moment, and since I go to college in the Liberties, and spend nights out in town and around the area, I’ve travelled around a bit.
The usual problems you encounter such as lampposts, wheelie bins and cars parked too close to the curb, may be so small that to a non-wheelchair user they are unnoticeable.
However, when you are in a wheel-chair, a small thing can turn into a re-ally big problem.
Considering the paths in the Liberties are some of Dublin’s oldest, they are in reasonably good shape, with only the occasional broken slab, or curb that doesn’t have a dip and is just a bit too high to cross smoothly.
However, even though the paths are in good enough shape, there are some other obstacles that are challenging to wheelchair users specifically.
Road Works
Road works can be a problem as they are normally performed at the sides of roads and the protective screen that is used can come onto the path and
make space very narrow on the path.
Narrow paths can be a big problem, and there are a lot of them in lanes and alleys throughout the Liberties. Sometimes you have to cross the road if paths are wider on the other side.
To make matters worse, the screens are sometimes erected on the dip of the curb, because it is easier for them to stand up.
Cobblestones are painful, literally - Temple Bar is a bit of a bumpy ride.
Hills and troughs
Steep hills have their advantages and disadvantages, you can fly down them – once there is a wide, clear path of course, but they can be difficult and tiring on if you are going up them. The elevation of an area can have a big influence on the accessibility of an area.
You eventually figure out where the indents are in the paths and where there is a dip in the curb, which side of the road the path is the easiest to travel on and what buildings you can and can’t get into.
Buildings
Some public places such as supermarkets, hair salons, bookshops and similar have little signs or stickers in the corner of their windows with the disabled sign on them, or stating “we care about accessibility here.”
ramp Access All Areas?
Cobbled streets in the Liberties; Inset: Steps such as these prove a tough challenge for wheelchair users. Photos: Fionnuala Holohan
However, these signs are of little use if when you are about to go into a shop, pub, restaurant or club and there is one big step between the path and the inside of the premises – it makes you wonder what is the point of it at all.
It is just another obstacle for wheelchairs users or elderly people.
Going out
Night clubs too, are an issue.
Most night clubs and clubs have more than one storey, and most don’t have lifts. It can be disappointing when you want to spend a night out with friends, especially going to a place for the first time and you arrive at the place but
you’re stuck downstairs, because there is no lift.
In most places the ground floor is ok, but it is normally better the higher you go up.
Unfortunately, there is normally one of these obstacles encountered everywhere you go, and they can discourage you from spending a night out with friends.
Finding toilets on a night out is a tough mission, and is a whole other story altogether.
Transport
On a positive note, buses are vastly
improving compared to years ago, and it is now quite easy to go where you want to go.
Most buses have ramps and can “kneel” to make it easier for people in wheelchairs to board. A bonus is that elderly and disabled people can apply for pass that allows for free travel with Dublin Bus.
People sometimes say that roads and paths are a mess and that the council never do their job properly. In fairness, roads and paths are accessible enough - it is the buildings that are an issue.
Even though some of the buildings are very old and historic, something should be done to modernise the accessibility.
ALDI, LIDL, Tesco and other retail giants represent one of the biggest threats to retailers and small traders in the Liberties.
Liberties trader Tom Walsh believes his business has been “severely affected by the likes of Tesco Express and Lidl opening in the area”.
Walsh’s tobacconist and confection-aries has been running in the Liberties since the 1950s.
Recently it has begun to experience some unfortunate changes, most likely due to having retail giants such as Lidl and Tesco Express as neighbours.
Tom Walsh now relies on just two
full-time staff to run the shop. His turnover has dropped dramatically as he says it’s impossible to compete with the prices of Lidl or Tesco, both situ-ated just 100 meters away.
Retail giants Tesco and Lidl had no problem gaining permission to open in the area. With their prices so cheap, it’s almost impossible for local traders to compete.
Mr. Walsh believes local authorities should cut down on commercial tax rates for small traders. “It is bullshit that we have to compete with them”, he said. “Local authorities should cut commercial rates, for businesses simi-
lar to mine…This is the only way lo-cal traders can save money and possi-bly compete with the retail giants”, he added.
Not all traders are unhappy with Tesco and Lidl coming to the Liberties. In fact some residents welcome their presence.
John Dunne of John Dunne Butch-ers has been operating in the Liberties since 1936. He believes the retail giants really help the area, “they bring more people into the Liberties and people come in here with Lidl bags looking for quality meat,” said Mr. Dunne. “Without them there wouldn’t be half
as many people around and our busi-nesses would suffer,” he added.
A statement released by Tesco said “customers walking to Tesco could possibly generate business for local traders.”
Mr. Dunne certainly agrees; “a busy footfall to Tesco most probably means more business for local butchers”. He also wanted to make it clear that he really sees no problem with the retail giants coming to the area.
“We’ve had the same clients coming here for many years, Tesco and Lidl operating here hasn’t changed that and I don’t think it ever will”.
Casey Fitzgerald
Tesco Express outlet on Thomas Street. Photo: Fionnuala Holohan
retail giant Tesco takes on local traders
tHe level of anti-social behavior in the liberties area has worsened since the beginning of the recession.
There has been an increase in reports of bullying in local secondary schools such as St Enda’s. Local agencies such as the Carmelite Community Cen-tre, the YMCA and the Royal College of Surgeons have joined together to combat the causes of these anti-social problems.
Youth Work coordinator at the Car-melite Community Centre, Darren Costigan, says a massive effort is being made to tackle these issues and create a new sense of community in the area.
“During the boom years, much of the old neighborhood residents moved to places such as Adamstown because back then they could afford it” Mr. Costigan explained. “What they have left behind is a divided community which in turn has created tension in the area which has only worsened since the recession,” he added.
Mr. Costigan believes that it takes more than the Garda to solve these social problems. “The Garda are there to tackle the effects of social issues, but we are here to try and tackle the causes,” he said.
The Carmelite Community Centre plans to create a team of youth workers to go out and connect with the part of the community that doesn’t make use of the facilities available to them.
“Local agencies have joined forces to make this a better area, and we are hoping that with our help, that the community follows suit,” Mr. Costigan concluded.
rise in bullyingand anti social acts in LibertiesLiam Keegan
• Employs over 13,000 people.
• 116 stores, depots and offices across Ireland.
• Worth €2.5 billion annually to the economy.
• Ireland is Tesco’s most profitable sector in Europe.
• Worldwide, only South Korea is more profitable.
• Profits of almost €200 million in 2010.a
• Most products imported directly from UK suppliers.
• Holds a 27% market share in the Republic.
• One of seven shops fined in 2008 for failing to display prices properly.
• Prices still 18% more expensive than in the North.
TESCO FACTS
6 NEWS
7 NEWS
STUDENT NURSES picketed St James Hospital last month in response to the government’s plan to gradu-ally reduce the pay they receive during their mandatory 36 week placement in hospitals during their final year.
The nurses were not alone. They were joined by 3,500 other student nurses and midwives who protested outside over 13 hospitals around the country. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Or-ganisation (INMO) stated that they will go on strike from early march if the pay cuts are not reduced.
“The INMO will continue with its campaign of action until these cuts are reversed. This proposal devalues, to the level of slave labour, the nature of the essential direct care given during this 36-week placement. No one can seriously expect people to work the full roster and range of duties while replacing qualified staff, for no pay.” said their industrial relations officer Noreen Muldoon.
Fine Gael stated before the elections that they were not prepared to guaran-tee a 100% reversal of the threatened student nurse pay cut in the course of an election.
The party’s health spokesman James Reilly said to do so would lead to “auc-tion politics” in the future. Meaning the party was not prepared to bargain restoration of the pay for the INMO’s votes.
However, Councillor Martin Cough-lan of the Labour party pledged his support for the INMO’s campaign to restore payments to student nurses. The two parties are now set to join forces.
The Minister for Health Mary Coughlan announced that a review of the initial decision would take place. This was welcomed by the INMO but they insisted that a review was not enough.
“The statement is also inadequate as it appears to suggest that the outcome of the review will still lead to a reduc-tion in pay with the amount being un-specified and the proposed review is also wholly inadequate as it does not include a reversal of the pay cut im-posed upon current fourth years un-dertaking the pre-registration place-ment,” said an INMO spokesperson.
“Pre-registration nurses and mid-wives are the lowest paid grade in the health service,” said INMO general secretary Liam Doran.
“They work full rosters, replacing qualified staff and are filling gaps in the service that otherwise would have to be paid at staff nurse/midwife level. This government decision was wrong, is fundamentally flawed and should be reversed, without equivocation, im-mediately.”
Mr Doran told the students demon-strating outside St James hospital that no other grade in the public service was being asked to work for nothing.
Brisk trade in weapons at Liberties Market
— For more information visit: http:www.dublincity.ie/planning
Patrick Gormley
Blaithin Henehan
St James’ nursesthreaten furtherindustrial action
Katriona Quinn
at FirSt glance, the shabby building belies the maze of crowded, multi-co-loured stalls and eager traders housed within. However, the blue awning above the doors proudly states that it is “Dub-lin’s famous liberty Market”.
The ‘Liberty Market’ opened its doors to Meath Street over 30 years ago and is still going strong today.
As one of the oldest markets in Dub-lin it is well-established in the area as the place to get clothes, shoes, hand-bags and more on the cheap. Many of the traders admit that their goods are counterfeit, yet it doesn’t seem to deter customers.
The friendly, chatty traders sell every-
thing from handbags to Blu-ray DVD players and they are more than happy to haggle prices with the customers.
Alongside the stalls stacked with bags, shoes and jewellery that uncon-vincingly purport to be designer label there are booths selling pirate copies of the latest Xbox, Wii and Playstation games and Blu-ray DVD players for as little as €45. These goods are snapped up week after week at the Liberty Mar-ket.
One saleswoman explained to me that the DVD player is, “in perfect condition but it’s cheap because the box was damaged” and she even of-fered to lower the price further to get
my custom.However, the busiest stall was run
by a friendly red-headed woman who gave her name as Jacinta. She sells
knives, BB guns, and more powerful gas and electric-powered guns and smoking paraphernalia. She explained she has been “running this stall here in the Liberty Market for one year now”.
Her stall was always crowded with fascinated young boys and she sold BB guns by the dozen.
When questioned about these she said, “I only sell to over 16s but if they’re younger then they have to have a parent with them.” She explained that she insisted younger customers had a parent with them so she couldn’t be held responsible for any accidents caused by the guns and knives sold.
I heard a boy aged seven say, “This is
the coolest stand going…pellet guns and everything to do with weed and stuff,” before being dragged off by his irate mother.
Jacinta admitted, “The market for these guns has slowed down...but I’ve built up the stall gradually so I have some dedicated customers”. Her booth was never quiet and I witnessed a teen-age boy buying a gas-powered gun and pellets for €90 after haggling the price down from €120 because he didn’t want to, “spend all my dole money be-cause I want to get some Adidas run-ners at the other stall too”.
In what can be seen as a result of the country’s struggling economy, the sight of more and more boarded-
up properties in the Liberties area is becoming commonplace.
Attempting to find a solution for this problem, the Dublin City Council De-velopment Plan 2011-2017 outlines the plans of the council for the devel-opment of the city for that six year plan period.
This plan outlines specific plans for the inner city Liberties area which aims to rejuvenate and revive the re-gion. A Local Area Plan (LAP) specifi-cally for the Liberties was adopted by the council in 2009 following extensive public consultation in the area.
The Liberties LAP is a regeneration
strategy for 136 hectares of the South Central Dublin and the city’s largest LAP to date. The plan has been written to guide development and regenera-tion over the next decade.
The main aims of the plan is to pro-vide an over-arching strategy for the regeneration of the area. These regen-eration aims include levels of social and affordable housing, the provision of new community facilities - such as new parks, libraries, sport and play ar-eas for the residents - and the redevel-opment of existing dilapidated areas.
Dr. Sean Daly, Chairman of the St. Teresa’s Gardens Regeneration Board is keen to see the redevelopment of the area.
“Some St. Teresa’s Gardens residents
are currently in the process of being moved out in order to get plans un-derway,” he said, “and now quite a few of the units are empty. These vacant apartments have been boarded-up to prevent occupation or antisocial be-haviour”.
Evelyn Hanlon, Dublin City Coun-cil’s Project Manager for the Liberties Regeneration Project, says the plan “reflects the concerns and aspirations of the local community and their elect-ed representatives”.
Council push regenerationproject for social housing
Boarded up houses on School Street. Photo: Cassie Delaney
LOCAL LIBERTIES girl Elena Thom-son has emerged victorious from RTE’s reality show ICA Bootcamp. Elena, 26, was a professional Irish dancer for 16 years. She won three All Ireland championships. She describes herself as a shopaholic, but will surely develop more self-sufficient hobbies thanks to her new ICA title.
The three-part show aired on RTE 1 in January and saw 12 spoilt and do-mestically challenged young Dublin women being sent to the Irish Coun-trywoman’s Association HQ, An Gri-anán in Termonfeckin, Co. Louth.
Once at the ICA base they learnt do-mestic skills and competed at various old fashioned skills including baking and hat making. They were under the tutelage of three hardened domestic goddesses.
The 12 young women competed at country tasks from plucking a chicken and skinning a rabbit to budgeting.
Elena showed the grit and capabil-ity the mentors were looking for ICA Bootcamp winner 2011.
David Hogan
reality TV winner
Winner Elena Thomson. Photo: Starnow
“The market for guns has
slowed down ... but I have
some dedicated customers”
Continued from page one
SPEAKING LAST month, Labour TD Pat Rabbitte said “they will in the fu-ture have to pay for water above that minimum allowance”.
At the moment it seems there will be no escaping the water charges, how-ever it is evident that many are willing to fight it to the end.
Watercharges will be strongly resist-ed with a “can’t pay, won’t pay” cam-paign lead by the five United Left Alli-ance (ULA) TDs, similar to the fights against bin charges twenty years ago.
The ULA said the plan for water me-tering contained in the Programme for Government is one of the areas where the parties have broken their pre-election promises.
The umbrella group including the Socialist Party and People Before Profit accused the new coalition of “shamelessly betraying” those who voted for change by offering more of the same.
Joan Collins who was elected to Dublin South Central said Labour had “ditched” its pre-election promise not to impose water charges. The newly-elected TD went on to say that this new water charge was “an intolerable burden on ordinary people who are already cut to the bone”.
She said the ULA will be “a key or-ganising force” in a “can’t pay, won’t pay” response to the charges.
water Charges
7 NEWS
8YOUTH/COMMUNITY
Youth leader Brendan Dowl-ing from the South Area Youth Service (SAYS) accompanied a
group of local teenagers to Mayo for a team building trip.
Youths including Adam O’ Doherty (15), Ryan Plunkett (15), Sean Roe (15), Grant Murray (15) and Ian By-rne (14) all agreed that the trip was a fantastic experience. Activities under-taken by the youths included planting trees, building huts, archery, cooking and scary night walks.
During the recent trips the team of young people brought down a load of old wood they gathered from around their area and built an extension to the Forest Hut.
The young people also invented a new ‘water slide’ activity during their visit. They laid out a huge sheet of polythene on a steep slope, wet the surface with buckets of water and then used it as a speed slide.
SAYS manager Brigid Ruane said the organisation helps to highlight the sense of community in the area. “Dub-lin communities are still strong, united and full of life and spirit,” she said.
As well as organising trips such as these, SAYS runs many activities for young people from South Dublin communities. These include a youth café which was designed by the teen-age members of the organization. It is a place where they can relax in the evenings. Café facilities include food, card games, board games, laptops and listening to music.
The association runs a study group. It is available to young people who feel they need time, space and support to do homework, revision and work on school projects.
Each week youth members take part in many sports in the hall of DIT, Kevin Street. Activities include foot-ball, basketball and relays. Girls from
9-12 years meet on Tuesday evenings from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. Boys from 9-12 years meet on Tuesday evenings from 4.30 to 5.30. New members are welcome.
On Monday afternoon youth mem-bers take part in a baking club where they explore many recipes which use sugar alternatives.
Other ongoing activities include Ai-kido, Arts and Crafts, Computers, Drama, Film Making , Horse riding, Swimming and Film making.
SAYS also encourages its young mem-bers to help produce their ‘SAYS. Who?’ newsletter. It is a great editorial opportunity for up and coming young journalists to put their ideas forward for publication.
South Area Youth Service members enjoy trip to MayoSarah Reilly
— For further information or if you would like to become a member of this excellent service contact Brigid Ruane on 01- 4759889.
TARAGH O’ KELLY was one of 30 lucky winners in the Vodafone World of Difference competition.
The award will enable Taragh to work for three months for SICCDA to promote the new community media-tion service.
Taragh’s work with SICCDA involves raising local awareness of the service and to get this vital project up and running.
“The aim of mediation is to help the people involved in a dispute to reach an agreement acceptable to both sides. Mediation can be a time saving and cost effective alternative to taking legal action to resolve a dispute” she said.
Taragh is a trained and accredited mediator. She has many years of man-agement experience in diverse and challenging environments. As a Hu-man Resources Manager, she gained significant insight into resolving a wide variety of workplace issues and human conflicts. “I am an empathic and client focused individual with ex-cellent interpersonal and communica-tion skills.”
“I am approachable and have an abil-ity to build relationships with people from all walks of life,” she added.
Sarah Reilly
— Taragh can be contacted by phone on (01) 453 6098 or email [email protected]
Pictured: Adam O’ Doherty, Ryan Plunkett, Sean Roe, Grant Murray and Ian Byrne. Photo courtesy SAYS
KAY KING, co-ordinator of services to older people in the South Inner City Community Development Associa-tion (SICCDA), recently highlighted the availability of security grants to older persons wishing to install new security systems.
The grants are funded by the Depart-ment of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht affairs.
Kay King is available to discuss the courses available for older people within the community. These include blood pressure health checks and the age well clinic.
There are also many social facili-ties available including tea and coffee mornings.
For fitness, older people are invited to get involved in the water aerobics classes.
OAP security grants now available
SICCDA CO-ORDINATOR Michael Conlon is currently organising the 41st Liberties Festival, which will take place in June.
Michael is looking for residents, dancers, musicians, artists, groups and clubs within the Liberties to take part in this special community celebration.
Michael Conlon described the festi-val as a major event that enhances the lives of those living in the Liberties. He said it creates a sense of identity for the older residents and the new com-munities. “It also has the potential and capacity to host International Acts and the potential to create jobs and boost the local economy,” he added.
The festival committee wants to cre-ate a community based festival with international links, top class acts and contribute to the social and economic well-being of the area.
SICCDA are focused on carrying this vision to the 50th Anniversary with the aim of putting the Liberties Festival on the map.
Sarah Reilly
Sarah Reilly
The liberties is a central part of Dub-lin’s inner city that is well-known for its active role in state-funded child-care, according to conor Mckay from the citizens information cen-tre on Meath Street.
Although demand for childcare has gone down over the last few years due to the recession and the recent cuts in social and family al-lowance, the Liberties is still a fan-tastic place for childcare facilities such as after school and homework clubs.
A great example is the Liberties’ After School Club which takes place in three primary schools in the Liberties area: St. Enda’s Prima-ry School, Primary School Francis Street and School Street.
These after school clubs are free to
attend. They are funded by the state under the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS) and are available to all parents who are en-titled to social welfare payments or to a medical card.
According to Mr. McKay, the chil-dren that attend the after school clubs are mainly from single parent families around the Liberties area.
The after school clubs are run by a mixture of volunteers and part-time staff from 2:30pm to 6pm every day in the three primary schools, to keep costs down.
The club runs all year round and comprises of 100 local children. The special Summer Project puts on trips to the beach and other local places for the children.
On an average school day the chil-
dren take part in activities such as arts and crafts, board games and sports. They are also currently run-ning an introduction to the German language.
The club also distributes short ad-vice booklets which are produced by the Family Support Agency and are sponsored by Barnardos, designed for both parents and children. They cover various issues such as coping with death, understanding parent-ing and bullying in a straightfor-ward manner.
This club is a fantastic place for children to flourish in a laid-back, yet educational environment where they can make new friends and learn new skills.
Sinéad Love
— Kay King can be contacted by phone on 01-453 6098 or email [email protected] for further information.
— People or groups who would like to partake in the up and coming festival can contact Michael on 01-453 6098 or email [email protected]
Liberties Festival
Mediation winnerTaragh O’ Kelly. Photo: Sarah Reilly
Community after school clubgoes from strength to strength
INITIALLY LAUNCHED in 2001, SICCDA’s afterschool pro-gramme provides daily afterschool childcare to around 100 children living in the Liberties area of Dub-lin 8.
The programmes provide par-ticipants with homework support, nutritious snacks and enriching ex-tra-curricular activities in a warm, child-friendly environment.
All part-time staff must have a childcare qualification at FETAC Level 5 or qualifications in a related discipline such as teaching. These are supplemented by community employment participants.
CICCDA operate the facility in partnership with local schools. All participants are referred to the or-ganisation by school management.This means that to be considered for a place on the programme, a child must be a pupil at one of the programmes partner schools.
These schools include; Scoil San Seamus CBS, Basin Lane (contact: Niamh Kavanagh,), St Enda’s Na-tional School, Whitefriar Street (contact: Johanna Doherty), Fran-cis Street CBS, Francis Street (con-tact: Victoria McQuaid,).
SICCDA currently have vacancies for three childcare workers, two of whom must be eligible for Com-munity Employment with FAS and one who will be directly employed by SICCDA.
Local people, with some childcare experience, are encouraged to ap-ply for these positions by close of business on 11 March.
Sarah Reilly
Three jobs in Liberties community childcare
— For job applications for childcare positions, contact SICCDA’s main office on 90 Meath Street.
For further information on the Afterschool Programme contact manager Conor Mc Kinney on 01-453 6098 or email [email protected]
Michael Conlon. Photo: Sarah Reilly
8YOUTH/COMMUNITY
9YOUTH/COMMUNITY
As a student in college, I see plenty of nightlife most weeks. During the course
of nights out, one sees more than just the carry on of people who have become completely drunk.
At about three in the morning, when I was leaving a club, there were people drinking on the street and shouting at passers-by on the footpath and at moving vehicles on the road, causing a lot of disturbance and commotion.
To add to this, the noise coming from the club was too loud, especially as there is a hotel right above it.
There are many foreigners living and working in the Liberties and I have noticed that many of them face jeer-ing and abuse on a regular basis.
There is environmental damage in the area, especially around blocks of flats, where there is very noticeable graffiti tags, broken windows etc.
All these elements infringe on the anti-social behaviour act.
There has been considerable growth in anti-social behaviour, over the last decade. Anti-social behaviour can be characterised as an overall lack of consideration for others and that may cause damage to society, whether intentionally or through negligence, as opposed to pro-social behaviour, which benefits society.
Studies show that individuals with antisocial behavior disorders are re-sponsible for about half of all crimes committed, though they make up only about 5% of the population.
There are many blocks of flats around the Liberties, where there are many people, especially elderly people who are being tormented by anti-social behaviour everyday. I remem-ber seeing a group of young teenagers outside a block of flats, throwing rocks at cars passing on the road. The behaviour of some teenagers is quite startling.
According to scientific research, anti-social behavior can start in child-hood, adolescence or adulthood.
In children it is referred to as a con-duct disorder, in adults as antisocial personality disorder. Conduct disor-ders developed early in life are more likely to continue into adulthood and also more likely to be aggressive.
Most of today’s criminals showed clear signs of anti-social behavior as children. Children with conduct disorders are often victims of abuse or have been exposed to difficult envi-ronments.
I spoke to a number of people around the Liberties, to see what their views on anti-social behaviour were.
An elderly woman, who lives in one of the flats told me she was “worried when it gets dark” and that in the winter months she doesn’t leave her house after six o’clock.
A man who runs a pub told me that there is “constant fights breaking out on the streets” spilling out on the streets outside his pub, and that “they [the fights] come out of nowhere, without warning”.
According to Citizens Information, local housing authorities have the ability to evict anyone who is engag-ing in anti-social behaviour. This in-cludes drug dealing or any behaviour that might cause danger, injury, dam-age or fear to people living in the area i.e. violence, threats, intimidation or harassment.
Anti-social behaviour creates an en-vironment where crime can take hold and affect people’s everyday lives.
But there are ways to tackle the problem. People with a behavioural problem in their area can talk to their local community advisor who can help tackle the problem.
Older people can report incidents, confidentially, to the police or their local housing authority.
People can also become a witness to support legal action and stop anti-so-cial behaviour by getting court orders.
Colin Higgins
Antisocial antics rising Criteria Delays
Social welfare GOVERNMENT CUTBACKS are beginning to have widespread effects on public welfare claims according to Patrick Stagg, Development manager for the Citizens Information Service in Dublin 8.
Mr. Stagg says the length of time that social welfare departments are taking to process claims has become a ma-jor problem for members of the public.
In addition, Mr. Stagg also said that a tightening of the criteria for claim-ants has seen a surge in the num-ber of claims re-jected.
“There are more claims be-ing turned down than in the past. As well as that the cutbacks in the government departments mean that the claims are taking longer to process. It can be very stressful for someone who is waiting on a claim, to eventually be turned down. We are trying to help people ensure that they meet the nec-essary criteria to get approved” said Mr Stagg.
Mr. Stagg was keen to urge members of the public to find out their entitle-ments before making any decisions:
“What we encourage people to do is come in and talk to us. Quite often if a claim is initially rejected, it is won on appeal. It is just about getting people to fit in to where they need to be to be ap-
proved. We are try-ing to help people to meet that crite-ria. So we would advise people to come in and speak to us before mak-ing any final deci-sions, as there may be something that can be done for them.”
Mr. Stagg also stated that his of-fice was operating at total capacity, and that meeting the demand for the service has been difficult.
“We haven’t had any increase in our budget, but have seen a huge jump in the amount of people coming in. The fact is we are dealing with too much for the staffing levels we have, but we just have to get to each person individually. I would be keen to urge people to avail of the service if they feel we could be
Sean Duffy
This March, the olympia Theatre will host a concert like no other in order to pay a special tribute to sick mothers and children in Dublin.
The purpose of this concert is to raise the vital funds that are needed for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at The Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital.
It will pay special tribute to three of the world’s biggest stars to date - ABBA, The Beatles and Elvis Presley.
The concert will take place on Sun-day, 20 March 2011, and fans of all ages are welcome to enjoy some legendary hits by these three great musical icons,
including Suspicious Minds, Dancing Queen and Hey Jude.
Dr. Chris Fitzpatrick, Master of The Coombe Women and Infants Univer-sity Hospital spoke about the need for the unit.
“The intensive care of seriously ill newborn babies is highly challeng-ing and very complex,” he said. “Car-ing for these babies is one of the most demanding tasks imaginable and dis-charging these babies home well after days, weeks or even months in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit is one of the most rewarding experiences that modern medicine has to offer.”
He emphasized that “by coming along to the show, people will be sup-porting, not just the fundraising event but also investing in medical progress and the future of infant healthcare in Ireland.”
This event is organized by Friends of The Coombe in order to raise funds to provide a Respiratory Support Ventila-tor for the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This device costs €51,000.
The event takes place in The Olympia Theatre and doors open at 8pm. Tick-ets cost €25 and are available at http://www.ticketmaster.ie
Concert for the CoombeSinéad Love
THE FOUNTAIN Resource Group (FRG) in James’s Street launched the first edition of their newsletter in December and the second edition has been on their website, www.frg.ie, since 8 March 2011.
The group operates out of a hall situ-ated on the right of St. James’ Church and offers help for areas that often get overlooked or receive insufficient funding.
These areas include enterprise sup-port, employment and training, fur-ther education, citizen’s information, local information and senior citizen support
It was started after a meeting called by Fr. Denis Laverty in 1991 to discuss remedies for the “chronic unemploy-ment, massive social exclusion and the underlying poverty suffered by the area”.
Its remit is to develop “an innovative strategy of community development”,
while working across private, public and community sectors.
“We have lots of free spaces on our computer classes,” said Tom Brunkard, co-ordinator for the group. “We cater for all levels of knowledge, and all ages, and they are free.”
These classes run every Monday and include 5-6 students in each class.
Fionnuala HolohanFountain group
THE CBS Secondary school for boys in James’s Street is still accepting ad-missions and welcomes queries from interested parents.
The school has a rich history dating back to 1820, although the current building has only been in place since 1977.
Subjects are offered in Higher, Lower and Foundation Level in the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate Ex-aminations.
The three-year Junior cycle subjects include religious education, social personal and health education, Infor-mation and Computer Technology, Civic Social and Political Education as well as Irish, Science, French, English, History, Business Studies, Maths, Ge-ography, Art, Environment and Social Studies and Wood Technology.
The two-year Leaving cycle offers three programmes – Leaving Certifi-cate (Established), Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme and the Leav-ing Certificate Applied Programme.
The Applied Programme has a stron-ger emphasis on the use of ‘on-going assessment’ and has a more ‘hands-on’ approach to learning and career-mak-ing.
The subjects offered on these pro-grammes are Irish, History, Physics, French, Art, English, Geography, Biol-ogy, Accounting, Mathematics, Busi-ness, Physics and Chemistry, Econom-ics, Construction Studies, Religious Education and Personal Development with careers guidance.
The latter two are non-examination subjects.
The school also offers a wide range of support to students and families.
“We hope to have most admissions in by Easter,” said Kylie, the Home School Co-ordinator, “but we’re flex-ible and will work with parents as needed.”
Fionnuala Holohan
CBS Enrolment
— Contact Owen Brunkard at 01 4532936 to find out more or enroll in the next set of classes.
Photo courtesy of the Friends of the Coombe
FRG computer training classroom. Photo: Stephen Bourke
DUBLIN CITY Council (DCC) has said that, in accordance with legisla-tion, election posters must be removed by midnight Friday 4 March.
DCC can issue on-the-spot fines of €150 for posters that have not been removed.
In the Liberties, most election post-ers have been removed. However, some remain.
Two for Chris Andrews hang on an electricity pole just outside Bull Alley.
The Upstart Project posters are sub-ject to the same rules and have largely been removed.
However, two of these were also found in Thomas St.
TDs’ election posters net council 150 euros a popFionnuala Holohan
Chris Andrews posters still hanging around the streets. Photo: Stephen Bourke
“There are more claims being turned down
than in the past ... cutbacks mean that the claims
are taking longer to process”
9YOUTH/COMMUNITY
1 0 FEATURES New career prospects for jobless
Colin Higgins
Liberties College, Bull Alley. Photo: Stephen Bourke
Thumbs up-skill for Liberties open day
Graffitti at NCAD, Thomas Street. Photo: Stephen Bourke
Liberties College in the heart of the Liberties, held its annual open day on Friday, 11th of February.
There was a steady flow of visitors to the college throughout the day, made up of school-leavers, mature students and also career guidance teachers intent on offering the best advice to their students.
Childcare and youth work courses continue to be the most popular, but the college offers a range of other courses in the special needs, social care, counselling and health care.
They also run popular courses in the creative arts, tourism and information technology.
Liberties College has 800 full-time
students, 500 part-time students and also 40 adult leaving certificate places.
The college has two sites in the Liberties; the Iveagh Trust building in Bull Alley, across from St Patrick’s Cathedral, known locally as ‘The Bayno’, and a second site in Mark’s Alley West, off Francis Street.
‘The Bayno’ building was built in 1915 with funds from the Guinness family. Its purpose was to house a play centre for local children.
Over 7 million children visited the centre in the first 50 years of its exis-tence.
In the 1970s the building was convert-ed to house the Liberties Vocational School until eventually, on St Valen-
tine’s Day 1996, it became the Liber-ties College.
Tuition is free for students who are citizens of Ireland or another European Union State and a means-tested main-tenance grant is available.
There are four application and inter-view rounds before the end of Septem-ber.
Applications should be made directly to the college, not through the CAO.
— For more information log on to libertiescollege.ie. To hear some students talk about their college expe-rience, log on to theliberty.ie
Fionnuala Holohan
Fine Gael and Labour may be the new parties in government for the next number of years, but the jury is out as to whether they can actually improve the employment situation.
In such times, upskilling may be the best option and there are very few better places to do that in Dublin than in the Liberties.
Some 170,000 jobs disappeared in this country last year, in one form or another, and the lack of employment is driving many people overseas.
The economy shrank in the previous 12 months by 7.5% according to the Economic Social Research Institute (ESRI). The same body also claim that unemployment will hit 13.8% by the end of 2011.
These figures may scare some but the Liberties are a hot-bed for upskilling opportunities. There are a number of different colleges located in the area which should be able to cater for a wide range of interests and abilities.
Liberties College
For people who are looking to get their first step on the ladder you have the Liberties College, situated
opposite St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which provides mostly Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses.
PLC courses are a good entry point for someone who may eventually wish to pursue a degree.
Liberties College provides courses in areas from childcare to counselling as well as health care.
Former student Audrey O’Gorman
said Liberties College had helped her take the first step towards further education.
“I completed the Health Care Assistant course in 2008. The course
was an opportunity for me to see if I could study and to taste life working in a hospital. I enjoyed all the subjects and especially the work experience in the Rotunda Hospital.
“I applied to Trinity College as a mature student and found a place on the Midwifery course and I am now in second year. I found that the Health Care Assistant course was a turning point in my life. I am a strong supporter of such courses grounding students before they embark on life’s journey.”
NCAD
There is also an option for the arty people in the community in the shape of The National College of Art & Design (NCAD).
NCAD has been Ireland’s independent college for art and design. The origins of the college date from 1746 with the founding of a private drawing school in George’s lane and according to their official website their role is to “promote a wider understanding of the value and meaning of research, in through and about art and design”.
They also believe that “art and
design have a crucial contribution to make to the cultural and intellectual enrichment of Ireland, and to Ireland’s capacity to create a sustainable knowledge based economy and society”.
NCAD is a real alternative to the other colleges available in the Liberties and its existence highlights the diversity for up-skilling available in the area.
For people who wish to do a degree course you have two of DIT’s biggest campuses in Aungier Street and Kevin Street.
Not having a Leaving Certificate or being over a certain age is not necessarily a barrier to re-entry into education.
DIT
DIT provides a high number of places for mature students, so anybody over 23 can apply for a range of different courses.
DIT also operates a successful
community links scheme to provide advice and guidance for those who are thinking of re-entering education. They have a system in place called Recognition of Prior Learning which is a process that acknowledges, and gives value to, learning achieved prior to registering for a DIT programme or prior to seeking a DIT award.
Prior learning may be a result of successful participation in a formal learning programme for which you were awarded certification. If you
use your prior certificated learning towards a DIT award, the process is called: Accreditation of Prior Certificated Learning (APCL).
Prior learning may also be an outcome of non-formal or informal learning achieved through work, voluntary activities or private study, for which you may not have a certificate.
This programme thus offers an alternative entry point for some individuals who may otherwise not be eligible for courses in DIT.
People who have achieved a PLC in from colleges similar to Liberties College may also progress onto DIT through the advanced entry system.
Waltons
Finally, for the musically gifted, Walton’s Musical School on Georges Street offer training for anybody wishing to pursue a career in music.
Like NCAD, Walton’s Musical School provides an alternative to the usual kind of academic qualifications available in the other institutions.
The college provides lessons on an almost endless selection of instruments, and their website is worth checking out as it provides some excellent in-depth information about their courses.
Mr. J. Dillon of Walton’s is keen to express the different learning experience available in the school:
“Walton’s New School of Music fills an important gap in music education as it is open to newcomers or amateurs, especially adults. It caters for all, from ‘hobbyists’ to top grade exams and provides wonderful opportunities for music making.”
If, like many others, you find yourself unfortunately out of work, you need not despair as there is plenty of opportunities available for you in the Liberties to learn a new skill.
“Not having a Leaving Cert isn’t always a
barrier to further education”
“The course was an opportunity for me to see if I could study and to taste
life working in a hospital”
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St. Patrick’s Festival Céilí
St. Stephens Green becomes one big céilí on St Patrick’s Eve. Don’t worry if you don’t know a thing about dancing, you won’t be alone by any
means...
Where: St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2
Time: 4.30pm – 7.30pm
Last year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Photo courtesy www.stpatricksfestival.ie
The Liberties is home to many successful and long-standing businesses, of which there is no
better example than the Liberty Florist in The Coombe.
Spring is in the air as I catch up with Kim Buckley, a local entrepreneur who seems to have all the answers. I asked her 20 questions on the life and times of a trader in the Liberties and how she’s kept her business going during these hard times.
Flowers have always been a part of Kim’s family, going back as far as her great grandmother Biddy McGrail, a local fixture who sold beautiful flower arrangements from her pram. Flower arranging is a tradition in the Buckley/McGrail family that will surely contin-ue for years to come.
Kim says that although she has stud-ied the art of flower-arranging, natu-ral talent is in her blood and has been passed down through the generations.
I asked Kim why she decided to open a flower shop and her reply was sur-prising. “I saw a vacant premise on the corner here, and I was young and fool-ish so I just went for it.”
Kim had just returned from studying at the College of Marketing and De-sign in Jersey and since she had a keen interest in flowers from a young age, it
was an obvious choice for her. The name Liberty Florist is self ex-
planatory. Kim wanted something simple, recognisable and it does just that. The building was originally called the Pride of the Coombe but the family decided to change the name to avoid confusion.
I walked into the shop and Kim’s mother and father greeted me.
Towards the back I spotted Kim who was multi-tasking like any good busi-
ness owner, arranging a bouquet while she chatted to those around her.
I can see she is extremely busy but she agrees to give me a few moments while she continues to work.
When we began the interview Kim had just begun to put an arrangement together, by the time we finished she had created something magnificent, a present for a patient in St James’s.
It’s clear flowers are Kim’s passion.
Florist owner Kim with one of her creations; Inset: Selection of roses in the Liberty Florist. Photo: Cassie Delaney
Business isblooming in the Liberties
— For all your flowering needs call the Liberty Florist on 01-4545455
Blaithín Henehan
“I saw a vacant premises on the corner here, and I was young
and foolish so I just went for it”
the St. Patrick’s Festival runs from March 16th to March 20th this year and the city will be alive
with activity over the five days.
we take a look at the many free events that will be happening in the city.
The festival website www.stpatricksfestival.ie carries additional information about all the events listed below, as well as many more.
Band & Street Performances
Dublin is always a great city for street performers and buskers. During the festival there will be even more. The festival website will be updated regularly on what’s
happening.
Time: Various
16thWednesday
HOW IRELAND FINDS IT’S VOICE: The future of our
words and music
Ireland’s literary tradition, and its future, gets examined and debated. An event that combines our love of both the written word and arguing
with each other.
W h e r e : O ’ C a l l a g h a n Alexander Hotel, Merrion
Square
Time: 6.30pm
Tickets: Free,just email [email protected]
16thWednesday
17thThursday
St. Patrick’s Festival Parade
The main event. This year’s parade will be based on ‘Brilliant’, a specially written short story by Roddy Doyle. The story is available to download from the festival website and is well worth
reading before the big day.
Where: Starting at Parnell Square
Time: 12pm
19th Saturday
Literary Treasure Hunt
Learn a bit more about Dublin’s literary history while (hopefully) winning some prizes and goodies along the way. A great event for any families, or any group
of people for that matter.
Where: City Hall, Dame Street
Registration 10am – 1pm. Finish Time: 5pm
Pre-register on festival website.
20thSunday
St. Patrick’s Festival Big Day Out
Bringing together the best of Irish street art in one location. The square will be filled with workshops, games, storytellers and
performers all afternoon.
Where: Merrion Square.
Time: 12pm – 6pm
All week
Trad Trails
A series of ‘Trad Flash Mobs’ as people come together for one-hour trad gigs on the streets of Dublin. Events will be announced through twitter, facebook and the festival website. The thought that tourists could come away thinking we spontaneously burst into song and dance numbers, makes this worth
attending if you can.
16th&17th
Gannon Cup University Boat Race
Before heading to the parade itself, try and catch the 60th annual boat race between UCD and Trinity. Starting in the heart of the city and finishing up at St James Gate, there should be plenty of spots where you can stake
a good view.
Where: Starts at O’Connell Bridge
17thThursday
Kevin Donnellan
She has a reputation for quality so it’s not surprising that Feargal Quinn’s Re-tail Therapy contacted her to take part in their TV show in 2008.
The aim of the programme is to help small businesses deal with the reces-sion. Feargal Quinn is one of Ireland’s most prominent entrepreneurs and an excellent mentor for any business look-ing to expand. To this day Kim counts Feargal as a friend, in her own words - he’s a sweetheart and very good to her.
The television series took 4 months to film. During that time Kim refur-bished the shop and created a new im-age for the business.
“The process was enjoyable but hec-tic, It was difficult to run the shop dur-ing filming thankfully I have my family to help me with it”,” she remembered.
It took just 10 days to redo the shop itself. That meant that Kim had to re-locate to the Local community centre, which they very kindly let her use as her base until the shop was ready to move back into.
The Liberty Florist is a loyal business that takes care of its regular custom-ers, whether it’s free delivery or some extra flowers in a bouquet. They are prepared to go the extra mile to be suc-cessful.
Nowadays Kim finds that a lot of her business stems from corporate orders or special events like weddings and christenings.
Whatever the occasion they have what you need. Kim’s favourite flowers are tulips, keeping in theme with her favourite season springtime.
The Liberty Florist will feature on Feargal Quinns Retail therapy on RTE again this March.
St Paddy’s glee without the fee
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OUT AND ABOUTRyan’s and Hannon’sKenny’s
Ryan local Paddy Boyle
The Lord Edward
Dublin Comic Jam members (top left) Judith Gannon, Earnest Dines, Lesleyanne Carey, Ciara White, Cian Elliot and Gerald Rog-ers (left) Gerry Kelly, Mags Cotter, Michael Buckley and Pat Dooley (top right) Dublin Comic Jammembers getting creative (above)
Mark Godd and Steve O’Leary (top left) Marina Robson and Alan Sands (top right) The Kenny’s Darts team (above left) Kenny’s locals enjoying the craic (above right)
William Dowd and Pat Tully enjoying a pint (top) Anne Marie and Terri catch up (above left) Adrienne Daly and Bridie Cahill (above right) Ann Brown and Teresa and Peter Croke relaxing after work (below)
Baker’s
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OUT AND ABOUTRyan’s and Hannon’s
Ray Bolger with brothers Christie and Kevin Duffy (top) Yvonne O’ Connor enjoying some live music (above left) Vinnie and Mary Coates (above right)
Got an event coming up? Want
to see it here? E-mail theliberty
William Dowd and Pat Tully enjoying a pint (top) Anne Marie and Terri catch up (above left) Adrienne Daly and Bridie Cahill (above right) Ann Brown and Teresa and Peter Croke relaxing after work (below)
Siblings John and Anne Loughrey
Mark McCann (left) and Pat Gardener
Barbara McKenzie and Anne Keogh
Baker’s The Pale
Photographers: Sinéad Love, Sarah Reilly
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1 4 JUST FOR FUN ANSWERS TO WHeReISIT: 1: Dublin City Walls, Cornmarket Street 2: The Clock pub, Thomas Street 3: The Bayno (Liberties College), Bull Alley 4: Building Site hoarding, Francis/Cork Street 5: Molyneaux Yard, Off Thomas Street 6: Brazilian flag wall art, Cork Street 7: Vicar Street statues 8: Rock ‘n’ Stroll Plaque on St Catherine’s 9: St Audoen’s church window, High Street10: The Capstan Bar, Cork Street 11: 92 & 93 Francis Street 12: Tom Kennedy’s Pub, Thomas Street (check) 13: Thomas Street Post Office 14: Brabazon Street 15: FleaMarket 16: Back of Laying-In Hospital Monument, The Coombe 17: Johns Lane Church, Thomas Street 18: St. Catherine’s Church, Thomas Street 19: St Audoen’s Polish RC church, High Street 20: Newsagent stand, Thomas Street 21: Merchants Ward sign, Meath Street 22: Mother Redcaps pub, Back Lane
Where Is It?Think you know the Liberties? Try our
just for fun quiz, and if you have a picture for us, send it in to
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15ARTS
This issue’s featured Liberties artist is Gerry O’Dowd. As Ger-ry lacks the use of his arms, he paints with his mouth.
Born in Cavan, Gerry moved to a bright and airy Blackpitts apart-ment, which he shares with
Ginger his cat, two years ago. Before he moved to the Liberties, Gerry had lived in the same Baggot St residential home since 1977.
It was in that home that Gerry first began painting. “I started using watercolours with my art therapist, and then moved to using oils. I prefer them,” says Gerry.
Now that he lives in his own apart-ment, Gerry does one art session a week with his care worker Lars Schweinsberg. Lars shows off sev-eral canvases painted by Gerry in
his bright, expressive style. More of Gerry’s paintings are placed around the apartment, including his latest work in progress, which is propped on an easel in a corner window.
“It usually takes about a month to finish a painting, so that’s around four
hours work for each painting,” Lars says. Lars helps to mix the paints, and then Gerry applies paints on the canvases using a paintbrush he holds in his mouth.
“I started to paint when my father died in 1994, it helped me to cope,” says Gerry. “When I paint, it’s usually landscapes.”
Also on the wall are photos of Gerry surrounded by family and friends at his first art exhibition. This was held in the Loving Spoon café on Parnell St in 2008.
“We’d love to have another exhibition but the problem is finding a venue for it,” says Lars.
Aside from having another exhibition Gerry’s dream is to see Liverpool at Anfield, but there are only 32 wheel-chair seats available in the 45,362 capacity stadium.
Jenny Dunne
— In the meantime he will keep on de-lighting people with his work, exam-ples of which can be found at http://gerryartist.ge.funpic.de/
Pictured: A Sample of Mr O’ Dowd’s work; Inset: Artist Gerry O’ Dowd. Photos: Fionnuala Holohan
Featured Local Artist
“I started to paint when my father died in 1994, it helped me to
cope”
Limerick rappers The Rubberban-dits shot the final scenes for their
latest music video “I Wanna Fight Your Father” in Dublin’s Liberties, namely Arbour Hill boxing club and the South Studios.
The Rubberbandits used a ten-man film crew, more than 60 extras, three animal wranglers and 500lb of cod to film their second video in the Liber-ties.
Singer Blind Boy Boat said they chose the Liberties because “it’s the Limerick of Dublin” and “it’s cheaper to shoot a video in Dublin because the people with the relevant skills live there”.
There was controversy over the film-ing of their first video, the six million hit YouTube sensation Horse Out-side which was filmed in the con-templative centre of the University of Limerick. The chaplain, Reverend Koenraad Van Guucht, claimed that the Rubberbandits “weren’t up front” with him as to “the nature” of the video.
However, there were no such qualms this time around. Ronnie Wood, manager and Secretary of Arbour Hill boxing club, said “the Rubber-bandits are very nice people”.
He added “They shot the video at Ar-bour Hill boxing club for a day and a half. It’s a great coup for the Liber-ties.”
The IFTA winning comedic hip-hop trio is comprised of Limerick lads who attended the prestigious Ards-coil Rís in Limerick.
The new single was officially launched last Thursday at the Dub-lin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street. There, the band gave an im-promptu performance to a 3,000 strong crowd.
Martha Gberevbie
Limerick rapperschoose Libertiesfor music video
IT’S THAT time again when every visible lamp post has been suffocated with election posters. These posters are known for being dull, monotonous and rather irritat-ing, but an arts initiative has set about creating something different.
Upstart is a non-profit organisation whose main objective is to “bring the role of the arts to the centre of the public consciousness during the Gen-eral Election Campaign”.
Throughout the course of the recent general election, UpStart distributed 1,000 posters around the city using the spaces commonly used for politi-cal posters.
However, instead of featuring politi-cian’s mug shots, the posters consisted of artwork and poetry submitted from both Irish and international artists.
A refreshing concept, the collective’s main objective is to encourage a de-bate on the role of the arts in the state and to emphasise its importance in public life.
Their aim is also to promote creativ-ity at a time when society is in need of direction, stating on their website that the “future development of the coun-try requires a healthy cultivation of the Arts”.
UpStart is comprised of a core panel of filmmakers and artists, who togeth-er, selected and exhibited the chosen work.
— For more information log onto www.upstart.ie
Katie Carroll
Election art posters
The Fureys & Davey arthur play vicar Street on Saturday 26 March and for eddie Furey it will be something of a ‘homecoming’ gig. Speaking ahead of their eleventh ap-pearance at the venue, Eddie, the old-est of the Furey brothers, was keen to point out that the band has ties with the Liberties going back to childhood. “We [the Furey family] came out from the Liberties to Ballyfermot originally in the very early 50s so to us it’s like coming home [to play in Vicar Street],” he explains. “And there’s always a great atmosphere there.” Despite moving away from the Liber-ties at a young age, Eddie still feels a great affinity with the area. “Me wife is from the Liberties, from Oliver Bond Flats…we’d know all the families around there,” he explains. “All the businesses on the street, they always give us a wave when we’re go-ing by. I love going around there and looking in at the shops and all.” “[I remember] the Limelight up in
Thomas Street when that was going on…I’d have only been going along for a listen, listening to other peo-ple playing after I came back from America and other parts of the world,” he says. “There was an awful amount of folk going on in those days.” And across the road from the Vicar Street venue is the church where Ed-die and his wife got married.
“Every time I look across to Johns Lane Church from Vicar Street I start crying,” he jokes. The Fureys and Davey Arthur have played together for over 30 years, having formed in 1978. The line-up has changed over the years and is cur-rently made up of Eddie, his brother George and Davey Arthur, along with
another two musicians: Luke Crowley and Danny Lynch. In the past they have played for for-mer Australian Prime Minister John Howard, President Mary McAleese and Pope John Paul amongst others. But despite a long career Eddie has no intention of slowing down any time soon. “If you slow down you get rusty and you can’t do anything, I can’t see that happening unless I get taken away in a wooden box,” he says. Their appearance in Vicar Street should include plenty of their old favourites like When you were Sweet Sixteen, The Green Fields of France, Red Rose Café, The Old Man and Leaving Nancy.
reviewThe Fureys return To Their Liberties roots
— The Fureys & Davey Arthur play Vicar Street on Saturday 26 March. Tickets €30 plus booking fee.
The Furey Family - originally from the Liberties. Photo courtesy of The Fureys.
Lynne Swan
LENT IS a time when we attempt to give up a daily urge like chocolate or something a bit more challenging, such as cigarettes or alcohol.
This year Trocaire has teamed up with world boxing champion Katie Taylor, GAA star Graham Canty and the multi-award winning singer-songwriter, Imelda May.
For 24 hours on 3 March, the all-stars will give up some of their favourite things. Graham Canty will be leaving the Sam Maguire unpolished, Katie Taylor will be giving up watching boxing on the tv and Liberties-born Imelda May has agreed to temporarily get rid of her signature ‘quiff ’ hairstyle.
A blues and rock fan from an early age, the Liberties native has certainly left a mark on the Irish and international music scene.
In 2003 she released her debut album No Turning Back under her maiden name Imelda Clabby.
The crooner has just been confirmed as part of the line-up for V festival in Hylands Park this summer and is currently on tour around Australia with support from local bands.
Imelda May
An Upstart poster. Photo: SB
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Inspired by the fabulous fashions in Woody Allen’s comedy classic 1977 Annie Hall, stylist Caroline Ewins trawled through the Liberties’ thrift shops to style our very own Liberty Belle.
Styling and coordination: Caroline Ewins.Photographer: Cassie Delaney
Model: Sinead Delaney
Annie HallOur
LibertyBelle
Model wears: Shorts, blazer and shirt all St. Vincents De Paul; braces from Bohemia; tights
Model wears: scarf and trousers from Bohemia; blouse from St. Vincent de Paul’s and glasses are model’s own Model wears: Straw
hat from Bohemia; denim dress from St. Vincent De Paul; belt, bangles
16ARTS
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La-di-da
17ARTS
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Alternative film titles this springDavid Hogan
It’s spring and this means the blockbuster movie season is just around the corner. Prepare to be
bombarded with trailers and hype for sequels along with the usual moaning about Hollywood running out of ideas.
But for every monstrous Hollywood sequel or remake there’s a few smaller, brilliant films that will move you and entertain you in ways gigantic explosions and superheroes can’t even begin to.
Here’s a look at just five fantastic films coming your way this spring.
Unknown Release: 4 March 2011
Sure it’s not the art house film you’d expect to see on a list like this, but if you need your fix of action and suspense—and we all do—this Liam Neeson flick is a fine film for it.
He’s perhaps the most unlikely action star ever, but the Irish man fits the role of older, smart, tough-guy perfectly. His latest film, Unknown, promises that Neeson will capitalise on his intense and thrilling action skills brilliantly—as he awakes from a coma after four days to find another man has assumed his identity.
The words being tossed around are “implausible” but also “entertaining” and it certainly looks like the latter. Neeson’s performance is getting great reviews, making it such a shame that he lately dropped out of the upcoming Abraham Lincoln film, a role he seemed born for.
Submarine Release Date: 18 March 2011
They don’t come much funnier and
promising than Richard Ayoade. The IT Crowd star has done a lot to be proud of in the past ten years, from the brilliant Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace to being the best thing in several episodes of the Mighty Boosh. But it feels like his best years are ahead of him, and film directorial debut Submarine is proof of this.
A coming of age story about a fifteen year old boy set in Wales trying to lose his virginity and bring his family back together, this synopsis and Ayoade’s involvement should be all you need to know.
If you need more convincing to go see it check out this review from Slashfilm.com: “Ayoade has an incredible command of tone, character and cinematic grammar — I can’t believe this is his first movie.”
Animal Kingdom Release Date: 25 February 2011
Animal Kingdom is an Australian crime drama that packs a slow burning punch as powerful as the previous Australian masterpiece
Chopper.
Centring on a crime family led by an ice-queen mother, Animal Kingdom slowly entrances you into a world of manipulation, crime, and heart pounding drama.
The acting is incredible, the tone is hyper-realistic, and the writing is spot-on perfect. Jacki Weaver, in a supporting role as the mother in the family, was thought to be a dead cert for “Actress in a Supporting Role” at the Oscars but it went to Melissa Leo in The Fighter.
Man of Aran Release Date: 11 March 2011-17 March 2011
Man of Aran is a 77-year-old documentary, and it’ll be playing on the big screen in the IFI for just six days.
The reason that the ancient documentary about life on the Aran Islands in the 1930s is getting the showing, a digital restoration, and a DVD release all these decades later is that it is simply fantastic in every
aspect.
Controversy has surrounded the film due to fictional events being created for it but the islands and the incredible life led by their occupants are beautifully and respectfully photographed, perfect for the IFI treatment.
Route Irish Release Date: 18 March 2011
Despite its name, Route Irish is an entirely British affair. The name is from the title given to the dangerous highway in Iraq connecting the Baghdad airport to the safe Green Zone.
The film is set in Liverpool and deals with the death of a private security employee killed in Iraq, and his best friend trying to find out how he died. It looks like another great and gritty piece of cinema from the legendary director Ken Loach.
Reviews from the Cannes film festival were highly positive, as to be expected from a Ken Loach film.
The age old seven chapel tradition is all but goneEASTER IN the Liberties was once a time for the tradition of ‘doing the seven chapels’. This meant saying the Holy Thursday prayers at the seven local Catholic churches.
These churches were The Church of the Immaculate Conception (‘Adam & Eve’), St Michael’s, St John’s, John’s Lane Church, St Nicolas of Myra, St James’ and St Audoen’s. Church goers would visit all seven
churches in that one evening.
“There was nothing else to do at that time,” said Sadie Doyle, 74, a local resi-dent who has lived in the Liberties all her life. “That tradition is long gone now though,” she added.
Although the outside of these churches can be plain and grey, John’s Lane excluded, the interiors are often very decorative and beautiful.
Many of these churches contain work by world renowned stained glass art-ists.
Two of the churches - St Nicolas’ and John’s Lane - have stained glass windows designed and produced by the Irish stained glass artist and book illustrator Harry Clarke.
Stained glass - a world of colour
The stained glass tradition is still going in the Liberties. The colourful shop front of Enda Hannon Stained Glass has been on Francis St. for over ten years. Jenny Dunne talked to Enda about his trade and his Liberties connections.
Q. How did you get started in stained glass?
A: I kind of fell into doing stained glass work. I began as a painter and decorator. Then I worked for a sign company where I was doing a lot of pub work including glass and lead light. After that I worked for Myra glass which used to be just around the corner from here. I opened my own shop on Francis St about ten years ago.
Q: What attracted you to Francis St?
Well it’s at the heart of the antiques quarter. I do a lot of restoration and refurbishment work, and that goes hand in hand with the antiques business.
Q. Are you from the Liberties yourself?
I’m not, but my mother is from the Tenters and I have relations from Spitalfields.
Q. Can you explain the process of making stained glass?
A. Well it all starts on paper, we draw what we call the cartoon, then we cut out the
various shapes we need out of glass. Then I paint in the outline and begin shading using a special paint. Then we fire it.
Q. Where does most of your business come from?
A. I do a mix of private and church work. I’m trying to get more church work. The piece I’m working on at the moment is for a church in Galway. With the recession though, it’s quiet
all around.
Q. There’s a lot of work by renowned stained glass artists
in the Liberties, is there any in particular you like?
A. Well there’s a Harry Clarke window in Francis St church, but even the work in there that isn’t by him is really nice. There are a lot of nice windows in St.Patrick’s Cathedral as well. There are windows by Mayer & Co. of Munich, by artists
from Germany and England.
From left to right; The Life of St. Augustine by Micheal Healey; window in Nuptial Chapel by Harry Clarke in St. Nicolas of Myra Church; detail from half moon above the altar in St. Audoens; St. Rita by Harry Clarke in John’s Lane Church; detail in window behind altar in John’s Lane Church. Photos: Fionnuala Holohan
Interview Local Liberties craftsman
— enda Hannon Stained Glass, 53 Francis Street. Tel: (01) 4733044 [email protected]
The view of Francis Street from the inside of Enda Hannon’s shop. Photo: Jenny Dunne
Enda at work on one of his creations. Photo: Jenny Dunne
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5thSaturday
Art ExhibitionCara Thorpe ends her
exhibition today in The Cross Gallery on Francis Street. The exhibition which has been running since the 5
February showcases her latest paintings. Famous for her use of textures, mark-making, and overlaying of printed images.
http://www.crossgallery.ie/
7th -12thMonday- Saturday
D’Unbelievables D’Unbelievables are set to
continue their stint in Vicar Street with more comedic
performance from 8-12 March and also in April. The legend-ary comedic duo have brought
their nationwide tour ‘One Hell of a Do’ to Vicar Street.
Tickets cost €32.50
10thThursday
Art Exhibition
The Cross Gallery Dublin on Francis Street opens its door to an exhibition entitled Pen-cil to the Plough. It is sure to be something intriguing and
interesting for art-goers.
http://www.crossgallery.ie/
16thWednesday
Seachtain na Gaeilge
Seachtain Na Gaeilge gets underway this week and Vicar Street will play host to a live concert. In association with
Raidio Rí Rá and Barnardos, the concert will feature acts such as Republic of Loose,
Delorentos, and many others. Tickets cost €20
20thSunday
Friends of the Coombe
A Tribute to the Coombe Women and Infants Univer-
sity Hospital with music from ABBA, The Beatles and Elvis
Presley takes place in the Olympia Theatre on the 20 March. Doors at 7.30pm.
Tickets cost €25
26thSunday
The Fureys
The brothers are back along-side Davey Arthur playing in Vicar St for one night only. This is a night not to miss.
Tickets cost €30
Liberty Market
Dublin’s world famous Liberty Market is located in the heart of Dublin’s city centre just minutes from the famous Christchurch cathedral.
It offers the best bargains around on everything you are looking for from clothing / jewellery to toys and garden supplies, blowing shop prices out of the water (see our product listings for further info)
Thursdays: 10.00am – 15.30pm
Fridays: 10.00am - 16.00pm
Saturdays: 10.00am – 17.00pm
Events
The Tivoli theatre car park is possibly the most astonish-ing part of the Liberties, due
to the incredible work from many of Ireland’s most skilled street artists that is found there.
“Jor” is one of the most established street art icons in the country. He cre-ated a wonderfully peculiar piece in the Tivoli Theatre car park. He spoke to The Liberty about street art and its importance to the area.
For Jor, street art is of great signifi-cance to the Liberties because it helps the area to sustain its individuality. ”It is raw, passionate, and keeps a sense of independence to an area that is being overrun by advertising, alcohol, crappy shops and products,” he said.
Despite not growing up in the Liber-ties, Jor was a keen admirer of its structure, exploring its streets on his way home from work. “I like the architectural mix of the Liberties with the Guinness factory, the huge church on Thomas St and the new NCAD building. I also love the old lanes, the terraced houses and some of the flats.”
The large amount of neutral space in the Liberties means that
it is ideal for street art, almost like a giant canvas. The juxtaposed architec-ture from different times works well with the juxtaposed nature of street art’,” said Jor.
Most of the work in the Tivoli car park was done at graffiti jams between 2008 and 2010 when artists from all over the world added their touch. “I definitely think there should be more work like this in the Liberties and would love to see more places like that all over Ireland,” said Jor.
He is a huge fan of some of the work in the beautiful outdoor gallery. “My favourite stuff from the Liberties at the moment is the Espo stuff from the Tivoli theatre. I also love the portrait image by Mac outside the Tivoli.”
Anyone from Ireland could tell from the speech bubbles attached to Jor’s characters that they are Dubliners. It certainly evokes the idea that it could be an overheard conversation from
any of the cafés dotted around the Lib-erties. But according to Jor, any hint of the characters being from Dublin is only to make the image more local. “If I painted that in a foreign city I would probably use something from their locality.’’
He also says his own piece was not based on any characters in particular. “The main inspiration behind that piece is self sufficiency and going back to some simple things instead of consuming unnecessary products. It’s also about colour in life and celebrat-ing everyday things that we take for granted like good food.”
This piece was recently used as part of the Upstart poster campaign, a non-profit art collective whose aim was to put creativity at the centre of public consciousness during the Irish Gen-eral Election Campaign in 2011. They used space usually used for election posters for street art posters.
For Jor, this was an excellent chance to see more art on the streets. “I submit-ted an image because I don’t think art is public enough. Most visual art in public places is advertising.’’
The idea central to street art is freedom of expression and on this Jor offers encouraging words to newcom-ers trying their hand at street art. “Do your own thing. Don't pay attention to graffiti and street art hierarchies and rules. Work on what you think is important.”
— Find clips of the show on facebook http://www.facebook.com/Dunbe-lievables
Martha Gberevbie
Vicar Street welcomesD’unbelieveable boys
review
“Anyone could tell that the artist’s
characters are Dubliners... their
conversations could be easily overheard
in the cafes dotted around the
Liberties”
How did a local theatre car park become a centre for the city’s newest expressive art form? Declan Marron investi-gates
after a lengthy absence of just over a decade, the D’Unbelivable boys, Pat Shortt and John kenny, came back to town last night with a bang.
The inspiration for the hilarious D’Unbelivables, which was formed in the late 1980s in Limerick, came from rural pub characters. Welcome to the wacky, witty, weird yet wonderful world of the D’Unbelivables, where hearty laughs greet their every move.
From the minute the incorrigible Pat Shortt and his side kick Kenny bound-ed onto the Vicar Street stage last Wednesday night there was no doubt it would surely be an experience to tell the grandchildren about in years to come. Pat’s part in Killinaskully has rightfully cemented his place as an Irish legend. Everything he touches works and this show didn’t disappoint.
In the words of one of John Kenny’s onstage characters it was “absooolu-utely wonderful” from start to finish. The middle of the show was a real masterstroke because it involved every single member of the audience. One was a member of either the bride or groom’s family.
It saw the staging of a mock wedding that had more twists and turns than an Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale wedding combined. It was all improvised by the wedding party, who were audience members, and of course Shortt and Kenny. It was a no holds barred wedding extravaganza which culminated in
the modern bar of the venue so the performers could avail of a much needed break!
There were props a plenty, more costume changes than I could count and to my surprise a star turn from Kenny as not only a female but also a credible female singer. The crew be-hind the staging and lighting deserve a mention because without them the show would not have gone on so suc-cessfully. They made the many differ-ent transitions smooth and plausible.
The greatest compliment one can bestow on the show is that it is akin to stand-up comedy, a stage play and a soap all rolled into one. This produc-tion is a rarity. They take the best elements from each genre and make it work. All the while they are paying tribute to what is good about Ireland and Irish culture, which is exactly what we need right now.
My sole gripe with the show was that a knowledge of previous D’Unbelivable shows seemed to be needed to understand a few of the jokes. Overall, the two-man show brought out the “inner culchie” in me.
The D’Unbelivables return to perform at Vicar Street on the 7-12 March 2011. For tickets go to www.ticket-master.ie.
Tivoli Theatre hosts street artists
An example of Jor’s street art; located in the car park of the Tivoli Theatre
Photo: Cassie Delaney
19ARTS
20 SPORT
THE CHELTENHAM Festival is the feature meeting of the National Hunt season in the UK and Irish horse rac-ing calendar. The course can expect to welcome over 200,000 race goers from all over the world and it is believed that more than £500 million will be gam-bled throughout the week.
The Festival in 2011 runs from 15 - 18 March. The week climaxes with the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, while other highlights include Tues-day’s Champion Hurdle, Wednesday’s Queen Mother Champion Chase and the World Hurdle on Thursday.
The Irish head with a strong con-tingent and as usual the Willie Mull-ins trained horses seem to be the best chance of an Irish winner. Paul Nich-olls is the bookie’s favourite for the top trainers spot. Rugby Walsh, who is just back from injury, is odds on to become leading jockey at this year’s festival.
The aptly name Recession Proof is the talk of the bookies shop. Many ex-pect he will probably go off favorite for the novice hurdle. The gold cup is an open enough contest. But, if Kato Star is back to his best, he will take all the beating.
Punters in Paddy Power on Meath Street were upbeat but cautious about the festival. Most said that they would have a small flutter on the festival races, nothing any different than any other week. Punter Mick explained that “people always make the mistake of just backing Irish horses ignoring the form”.
Another man who called himself PJ had the final say. “A small bet is grand but you beating Paddy Power every time is impossible” he said. He added that “you will never see Paddy Power on a push bike.”
Discipline is key in St Catherines
St Catherines Boxing Coach Ronnie Byrne. Photo: Cassie Delaney
Coach Ronnie Byrne talks about what life is like at St Catherines Boxing ClubCormac O’Connor
And they’re off:Cheltenham 2011Andrew Nally
The recent success of Katie Taylor and Bernard Dunne coupled with Ireland’s impressive history in Olympic boxing has meant the sport has had a steady interest.
Members
Some club members recently met Katie Taylor whom Ronnie says “is absolute lady, she had her own friends with and didn’t have to spend so much time with us but she did.”
Ronnie highlights that the main problem for the club is holding on to members.
“Once the women and the drink kicks in their gone. In a nut shell, that’s it”. But he added that boxing can help keep youngsters away from alcohol. “If they are dedicated, everything is knocked on the head because they are trying to keep their weight down for the leagues.”
Future
After eight years on Marrowbone Lane, the St Catherine’s boxing club will soon move location to a building - which has been loaned to the club by a local builder. “We have it till such time as he either sells it to us or to someone else”. said Ronnie.
However, the new premises are still only a shell. Building materials will be desperately needed. According to Ronnie, the building requires a new
roof and plumbing system. But “we will be happy to do it,” he adds.
The club receives funding from the young people’s service fund but be-cause St Catherine’s is already fully equipped the only time Ronnie sees any need for money is when they move location.
— If you are interested in becoming a member you can contact the St Catherine’s centre on 01-2227541.
Charles Roffey at Cheltenham, 2008. Picture courtesy of flickr.com
“We had a buffet set up, with chips and stuff like that, but we also had salads and when the boys came up from training they went straight for the salads.” Discipline is one of the key benefits of boxing according to Ronnie Byrne one of ten coaches at the St Cath-erine’s boxing club on Marrowbone Lane.
Ronnie says there are also other ben-efits to boxing apart from the obvious fitness “Personal development, but discipline is the main one. One thing we don’t tolerate here is messing…but everyone here at the club gets along with each other so messing is rarely an issue” added the coach.
Training
An average nights training starts with a quick warm up followed by about five rounds of skipping, five rounds with a punch bag then they members work on their boxing techniques.
Ronnie says that St Catherine’s differs from other clubs because members don’t have to fight “a lot of them just want to train, but when they see other members boxing they want to try it out.
The six to ten year olds do circuit training which basically builds up fitness, they are introduced to boxing at eleven.”
“One thing we don’t
tolerate here is messing… but everyone here at the club gets along with each other so messing is rarely an issue”
20 SPORT
21 SPORT Discipline is key in St Catherines History St James
ST JAMES Gaels minor team com-pleted an excellent double recently, adding their League crown to the championship trophy they won earlier in the season.
It took a superb second half perfor-mance, full of determination, skill and commitment, to pull away from an im-pressive Fingal Ravens side to secure this trophy.
As a result of the amalgamation of An Caisleán and Guinness GAA Clubs in July 1994, St. James Gaels GAA Club was formed.
The decision to form one strong unit was crucial in keeping gaelic games alive as the clubs struggled due to the increasing age profile within their re-spective areas.
An Caisleán’s existence can be traced back to a few weeks after Dublin’s All Ireland success in September 1958. A group of church stewards in Walkin-stown believed that a parish GAA Club was a great way to encourage the identity of the area.
With the blessing of the parish clergy they formed CLG Naomh Gearóid, and went on to become a dominant force in the local community.
A new club premises was purchased a short time later in what is now the Robinhood Industrial Estate on the Long Mile Road. However, due to fi-nancial reasons, the club was forced to resell the property to pay off their debts.
In 1966, the club formed an alliance with the Drimnagh Castle CBS School allowing them to continue playing their football within parish boundar-ies. This alliance allowed the club to use the school pitches and dressing rooms. As part of this association, the club members agreed to change their name to An Caisleán and thus served for the local people in the Walkin-stown area. Forty years on, the club continues to use the Drimnagh Castle grounds as their juvenile home venue.
Guinness GAA Club’s history dates
back further than An Caisleán’s. The first club to represent Dublin
and win an All Ireland Champion-ship in 1891 was a team called Young Irelands (the players were all laborers in the Guinness’s Brewery). Young Irelands were the dominant force in the 1890’s winning several All Ireland titles.
Young Irelands went out of existence in the early years of the twentieth cen-tury, replaced in the brewery by a new club called Phoenix GFC. This club enjoyed limited success and were then replaced in the mid-forties by Guin-ness Hurling and Football Club who were based in the Iveagh Grounds.
The merging of An Caisleán and Guinness GAA Clubs into St James Gaels has been a thriving amalgama-tion in its first fifteen years and contin-ues to provide the excellent service of gaelic games within the local area.
Kevin’s ClubGoing Strong
Successful tackle for Kevin’s men. Photo courtesy www.kevinsgaa.com
Niall McCague
Colin Higgins
Established in 1902, Kevin’s Hurling and Camogie Club have a long and proud history dedicated to the game in the Dublin south inner city area.
oRIGINS
Originally established in 1902 by Irish language enthusiasts from the inner city, the club based themselves around the area from the South Cir-cular Road, Rathmines and Portobello areas.
While based in the heart of the in-ner city the club’s membership draws from the Liberties, the Coombe, Do-nore Avenue, Harold’s Cross, Rialto, Dolphin’s Barn, Ranelagh, Rathgar and Terenure.
The club have 15 teams at the moment including minor hurlers, intermediate and and juniors. They have hurling teams starting at under 8 going all the way up to under 16. They also have an under 10 and under 14 camogie team as well as an ABC Nurs-ery which encompasses an introduc-tion to hurling for parents.
The club house is located on Donore Avenue, just off Cork Street. The main playing fields are located in two dif-ferent areas, one locally in Dolphins Park in Dolphins Barn, and the other further away in Bushy Park, Temple-ogue.
SUCCESS
The club has a deep history and tradi-tion dating back over a hundred years, and as such it has had many key mile-
stones over the years. Five years was all they had to wait
before picking up the Junior Football Saturday League in 1907.
The club really began to attain some clout and status in 1910 when it gained senior status by winning the Junior Hurling Championship. They were not long in the senior ranks be-fore they began to make a real impact, winning the Senior Hurling League Division 2 title in 1912, after just two years as a senior outfit.
BARREN SpELL
It was a barren spell by the club’s high standards for the next number of years as they did not win their next champi-onship until 1924, in the form of the Intermediate Hurling Championship.
Their time back in the seniors was not very successful for the next dec-ade. During this period, runners-up medals in the 1927 Hurling Champi-onship was all the club had to show. After falling back down to junior level the club would not win another Junior Hurling Championship until 1939.
FooTBALL SpLIT
The late 30s and early 40s proved to be a very successful time for the club’s football division, and included three Minor Football Championship wins in four years.
After much success it must have come as a surprise to some when, in 1945, Synge Street Gaelic Football & Hurling Club was founded, leaving Kevin’s to become solely a Hurling club.
The transition the club went
through during this period caused great difficulty as a Minor Hurling Championship in 1956 was the only highlight in an otherwise barren 30-year period, lasting all the way up to the early 70s.
Since the late 1970s success has been hard to come by for the club. They only managed to win three ma-jor championships up until 2002.
They did achieve great success though in 2002, being crowned Lein-ster Junior Hurling runners-up.
CoMMUNITY pRIDE
The club celebrated its centenary year in 2003 and is superbly organised in order to ensure it will be around for another hundred years to come.
The club, like so many other GAA clubs, is at the heart of the commu-nity. They offer much more than just camogie and hurling.
It is a club with a sense of pride in the Irish language, highlighted by the organisation of Irish classes three days a week - for those interested in improving their grasp of the native tongue. The classes usually run from Tuesday to Thursday and encompass all level of speakers from beginners to intermediate.
FUNDRAISING EVENTS
The club also has various ways of fund-raising, including the recent launch of a weekly lotto. The lotto takes place ev-ery Monday in Rosie O’Grady’s bar in Harold’s Cross. This event is well worth a visit.
The club is also organising a new Texas Holdem Fundraiser which will take place on Tuesday 8th March in the Camden Deluxe Hotel.
THE EASTER FESTIVAL
The club’s marquee event of the year is the Ester Festival. This is a two day event organised to pay tribute and to remember the club’s past members for their dedication and loyalty through-out the years.
The event - which is officially recognised by the Dublin County Board and the GAA - will be held on 22 April (Good Friday) and 23 April this year. The club is due to confirm the various competitions taking place later in the month.
The Easter Festival was first run in April 2007, and includes a number of competitions and exhibition games from nursery level up to senior hurl-ing. The main tournament is the Brian Scott Cup, a senior hurling competi-tion held on the Saturday which was won by Meelick Eyrecourt (Galway) in 2010.
Approximately 3,000 people visit the festival every year and the club acknowledges that not all its guests are as mad about hurling as they are, so a family fun day is also run on the Sat-urday to entertain younger members. Since its inception the festival has been hosted in Dolphin Park on the Crumlin Road.
resultsAFL6 - St. James Gaels 1-9, St. Mary’s Saggart 0-10
AFL 10S - St. Finnian’s 0-9, St. James Gaels 2-5
U13 - St. Pat’s Palmerstown 5-10, St. James Gaels 5-5
U13 - St. James Gaels 3-15, O’Tooles 1-4
U-15 - St. James Gaels 3-4, Lucan Sarsfields 1-9.
— If you are interested in joining the club you can log onto www.stjamesgaels.com.
want to get your
school or club sports
news here?
Email:
thelibertysportsteam
@gmail.com
21 SPORT
22 SPORT A lookback to the fairytale final:St Francis vs Bray wanderers
on a bright, breezy day in May 1990 St Francis Football club stepped onto the famous pitch
at lansdowne road and into the his-tory books of irish sport.
Founded in the Liberties in 1958, the club became the first non league side to reach the FAI cup final. A feat which no other club has repeated to this day.
Twenty years on and the pride of that achievement still resonates around St. Francis FC, as The Liberty found out, when we spoke to some of the 1990 team. The players were more than happy to share their memories of the historic day.
“I suppose it’s better to say a bit about the semi final against Bohemians first,” begins Gary Matthews, who was the goalkeeper for St Francis throughout the cup run. “That match could only be described as Custer’s last stand with Bohemians camped in our box for most of the game and us defending for our lives with a lit-tle help from the crossbar, which they hit more than a few times. Somehow though we broke down the wing and the ball was crossed for a tap in, it was
such a simple goal and I think it re-ally disheartened Bohs who weren’t having any luck in front of goal. Also the fact that we played them in Tolka Park, which would have been an en-emy ground for Bohs, didn’t help.”
So with the match finishing 1-0, it was only after the final whistle that the St. Francis players really started to realise what they had achieved. “I re-member after the ref blew the whistle in the semis and we were in the final, it kind of all went into a different level of excitement for the club”, Gary ex-plains, “suddenly we had all the atten-tion from the national press, looking to talk to us and all that went along with that, it was surreal at times.”
Bernard Connolly, who played right midfield for the club during the cup campaign in 1990 also remembers the build up to the final. “It was a complete fairytale for a club the size of St. Francis, we had played some really tough opposition to get to the final that year.” Bernard continued “I suppose one of my highlights from the cup run was playing Cobh Ram-blers in the second round and having
to mark a young Roy Keane in the 2-2 draw in Cobh and then the replay in Dublin which we won 3-0. The funny thing was that was his last game for Cobh Ramblers and his next com-petitive game after the replay was for Nottingham Forest against Liverpool in the old first division in England.”
Sadly the club went on to lose the fi-nal 3-0 to Bray Wanderers, in what turned out to be a final of firsts. It was the first FAI cup final to be played in Lansdowne Road, St. Francis were the first non league side to reach the final and John Ryan of Bray Wander-ers was the first player to score a hat-rick in an FAI cup final. An attend-ance of 35,000 was recorded that day, which is not bad considering the two teams were both outsiders to reach the final, with all of the other clubs in The Liberties coming out to back St. Francis and displaying a wonderful sense of community.
However, Bernard Connolly puts the defeat down to nerves saying “The team was really nervous the day of the final and this was added to when the kick off was delayed for the guts of half an hour as the crowds were still coming in. This led to the team
not playing that well and the fact that we conceded two soft penalties was not going to help us. And the third goal, I suppose if you were a Bray fan you might say it was a screamer, but I feel that Terry Hillard the hardest man on our team who sadly passed away a month ago, stumbled just as John Ryan took his shot for Bray and deflected the ball into the top corner which was really unlucky.”
Disheartened and dejected after the game, the team was given a huge lift when it witnessed the huge crowds that turned out on Francis Street to greet the players and showed them the pride that the area felt about their huge achievement. Gary Matthews added “This really lifted the spirit in the camp and to see all these people turn out to support us is something that will stay with me forever.”
The team had a twenty year reunion just before Christmas last year and played the final on the big screens. However Bernard Connolly in-formed us that he quite deliberately kept his back to the screens and has still to watch any replay of the final.
THE DUBLIN City Sports Net-work in partnership with Dublin City Council continues to promote sport and recreation for people in the Liber-ties of all ages.
The network hopes to continue it’s recent success by promoting local activities in 2011 by focusing on im-migrant communites, children under ten, older people, people with disabili-ties, women and girls.
The Dublin City Sports Network aims to deliver sport and recreation to local people by working closely with partner agencies, by increasing usage of existing local resources and work-ing towards long-term local sports de-velopment with the primary objective of increasing participation in sport, recreation and physical activity.
After the success of Dublin City’s holding of European Capital of Sport in 2010, Dublin City Council says it’s main objective is to “get more people active” through carefully selected sport and recreation officers.
The role of the sport and recreation officer is to organise sport and recre-ation programmes for the key target groups identified by the network by involving them in the design & plan-ning process.
Through partnership with sports clubs, groups and community centres the officer also hopes to increases ac-cess for people of all ages and abilities.
Dublin City Council is using sport as an effective tool in engaging young people, at risk of drug misuse, into more structured and positive activi-ties.
St. Catherine’s Community Sports Centre on Marrowbone Lane is just one of the centres involved in the Dublin City Sports Network and is open 7 days a week.
Offering membership or a pay as you go from as little as €6, St. Catherine’s offers a fully equipped gym, full size sports hall and an outdoor mini-pitch.
Activities and sports run from the centre range from soccer to badmin-ton and also holds classes in martial arts, pilates and circuit training.
— For more information you can contact the Dublin South Central area officer for sport and recreation, Ms Catherine Flood (01) – 22 28591 and St. Catherine’s Community Sports Centre on (01) - 2227541
Or log on to www.theliberty.ie
Sports networkaims for moreactivityOisín Gregorian
Patrick Gormley
FAI Cup Final 1990 St. Francis vs Bray Wanderers. Photo: Billy Stickland (INPHO)
The Liberty
Check out The Liberty online at
www.theliberty.ieFor up-to-date local new
s
Your FREE Community Newspaper
Issue 61 November 2010
Inside >>>
CaptainMagicWonderlandPg 16
Month ofthe MoPg 12 & 13
NorwegianInvasionPg 22
IRELAND’SMONETARYFIASCOThe Liberties will be facing
social
welfare cuts and tax increases as
the IMF and EU step in to have a
strong input on this year’s budget.
The government are looking to
reduce the deficit by €6bn this
year in order to reach EU targets
by 2014.IMF officials arrived in Du
blin
in mid-November, which sparked
talks of an impending bailout.
However, Fianna Fáil played
down their presence in thecoun-
try.
Continued Pg 6
Oisin O’Callaghan
Photo: infomatique on �lickr
The Liberty
Check out The Liberty online at
www.theliberty.ieFor up-to-date local news
Your FREE Community Newspaper
Issue 62 December 2010
Inside >>>Glen Hansardopens musicstudio in theLiberties
Dubliners’YouTubesuccess
Ireland end2010 on ahigh
Brian Lenihan commended the
most draconian budget in the
State’s history to Dáil Éireann on
7 December. This Budget will af-
fect every man, woman and child
in the Liberties.
Mr.Cowen said that “those who
could afford to paythe most
would and those with less would
pay less.” Sadly this didn’t seem
to materialise. Gardai were forced
to arrest three people outside the
Dail with disturbing the peace but
nobody was charged.
Continued on pages 4 and 5
BUDGET 2011
Garreth Mac Namee
THEBITEBEFOREXMAS
Part of the Community since 1998
FREE
Election 2011analysispg 4 and 5
Annie Hallswaps NewYork for the Liberties pg 16 and 17
Out and About pg 12 and 13
NEWSwww.theliberty.ie
MANY LOCAL residents and busi-
nesses said they will refuse to pay the
water charges the new Government is
bringing in. The introduction of water charges
will involve the prior installation of
water meters in every household and
business. Once the meters are up
and running it is likely that monthly
payments will be mandatory when
the limited credit on the meter runs
out. Many are worried about the impact
these additional charges will have.
“What type of world do we live in
that we have to pay to wash ourselves
and our clothes, or drink water or
flush the toilet?” said Mary, a lifelong
resident of the Liberties.
“It’s going to be another bill in the
door that I’ll be struggling to pay.
Water is a basic need to survive. It
is just madness that our right to free
water is being taken away from us
because of mistakes made by
others.”Joe, a pensioner, told
me how he is also feel-
ing the pressure with
the water charges
looming. “I live on my own
and my memory isn’t
the best anymore,”
he said chuckling.
“What would hap-
pen if I forgot to pay
the bill? Would I be
cut off? Dehydra-
tion can cause a lot
of problems. I shouldn’t
have to worry about dehydration in
the 21st century”.
The general consensus on the ef-
fect these charges will have on busi-
nesses is that large businesses are not
as worried. “I don’t think it’s going to
affect business much to be honest,”
said Brendan, a member of the bar
staff in a popular local pub.
However, the smaller business-
es said that they are hoping the
implementation of the charges
hold off for as long as pos-
sible. “Another bill, no
matter how small at the
moment could throw
us under,” said the
owner of a small
shop in the area. E x a c t l y
when the
charges are
implemented
will be a matter for the new Gov-
ernment to decide. As the Govern-
ment will be a Fine Gael and Labour
coalition, it is difficult to predict an
outcome as the two parties have very
different views on the issue.
Fine Gael said that they will only
support the introduction of house-
hold water charges when the follow-
ing three conditions have been met:
• Household water meters have
been put in place.
• Families are given a free water al-
lowance / credit.
• The responsibility for water de-
livery is transferred from 34 local
authorities to a single national water
company. Fine Gael believes that such a na-
tional water company will be up and
running within 12 months.
In stark contrast the Labour Party’s
manifesto says “Labour does not fa-
vour water charges.”
However, in contradiction, Pat
Rabbitte said this month the Labour
party favoured charges from 2014,
with householders granted a specific
allowance of free water.
Continued Page 7
Blood boils over new water chargesPictured: Demolished Murphy’s Pram Shop on the High Street; Inset: The building prior to demolition work. Demolition photo: Fionnuala Holohan
The last house on the block finally comes down. Murphy’s shop once stood as part of a full terrace on High Street. Its demolition has
eradicated all indicators of a once thriving community. Story on page 3.
GONE BABY GONE
Issue 63 March 2011
Gillian Stedman
Is the Liberties
the cheapest
place to shop?pg 3
“When you are
in a wheelchair,
small things
can be a big
problem”
ARTS
FEATURES
St Pat’s get off
to a winning start pg 24
SPORT
Profile of a local artist pg 15
OPINION pg 24
Next Issue May 2011
22 SPORT
23 SPORT
After an excellent away result for St. Pats, Oisin Gregorian looks forward to the SuperSaints 2011 season.
Two goals in the space of four minutes silenced Terryland Park and ensured St. Pats ended the opening weekend of the 2011 Airtricity League top of the table.
With scores level heading into the second half, Pat’s boss Pete Mahon fired his players up as a real sense of urgency in the early minute’s payed dividends.
A mistake from Galway’s Shaun Maher allowed new signing Daryl Kavanagh time to square for the impressive Anto Murphy, whose powerful drive found the back of the net.
Galway tried to respond quickly but a costly mistake from a long throw moments later killed off the game. Galway stopper Greg Fleming was found flapping as the unmarked David McMillan gratefully extended the lead.
St Pat’s played out the remainder of the half with composure and confidence to ensure that the home side were unable to fight back. Defender Derek Prender’s attempted cross somehow eluded everyone in the box and sneaked into the top corner of the net.
In what was a convincing display from Pete Mahon’s men and an away clean sheet to open the new season will no doubt give the team a boost of confidence. After the early exit from the Setanta Cup at the hands of Cliftonville, Saints fans are hoping this opening day victory can be the start of a successful season.
Loss
Key to success is to have chemistry and togetherness within a squad. It was in Mahon’s best interests to keep a stable core of players on for another
season in order to improve even more in 2011. However, the club was rocked in January by the sudden departure of long-serving fan favourite Ryan Guy. After four successful seasons Ryan, originally from San Diego, wanted to be closer to his family in the US. Despite the best efforts of Mahon and other senior coaching staff to change the midfielder’s mind it proved unsuccessful.
Replacements
Though the departure of Guy was certainly a blow for the new season, replacements and contract extensions were made throughout the squad. Signed halfway through last year on a temporary basis, Englishman Danny North has been resigned for the 2011 season to add more steel to a Saints attack whose top league scorer failed to break into double digits. The former Grimsby Town player hopes to pick up where he left off last season, in which he bagged a number of goals. Joining North is veteran Premier Division midfielder Paul Crowley whose decade of experience which will only add depth and stability to the
Saint’s and former U.C.D front man David McMillan, who has already had a solid goal-scoring start to his young Saint’s career.
Former Waterford United midfielder Daryl Kavanagh is seen as the natural replacement to Ryan Guy. “I feel he is the kind of player that will definitely enhance our squad. He is still only 24 but he has 5 or 6 years’ experience in the league. Addtionally, he can play either up front or out wide on either wing,” Mahon said.
Hope
Hoping to follow up on solid 2010 season are defenders Derek Pender, Conor Kenna and goalkeeper Gary Rogers. A man of 100% effort and great desire, Pender starts his second season at Richmond Park alongside Kenna, who joined last year also. Kenna has since been praised by Mahon after playing every game of his debut season for the Saints and didn’t pick up a single yellow card. Meath man Gary Rogers in now into his third season for the club. After a rather shaky debut season
for Pat’s, Rogers gained confidence and produced a handful of excellent performances during 2010, including a player of the month award for March last year after keeping five consecutive clean sheets. Rogers hopes to build on a safe and commanding Galway performance and there is no doubt consistent goalkeeping will be crucial to the team.
There is no doubting St. Pat’s scoring ability. The club finished third in the goal scoring tables. Though this was a respectable statistic in the 2010 season, Pat’s leading goal scorer - the now departed Vinny Faherty - failed to break into double figures last year. Instead, he reached 11 in all competitions. Goals were being scored from defenders to strikers, but not enough from one particular outlet. “It could and should have been better goal scoring-wise. There is a need for an out and out goal scorer this season,” said Mahon. With Danny North, David McMillan and Pete Mulcahy leading the line, Pat’s certainly have a frontline of experience, pace and plenty of goal scoring ability that they hope can propel the club to success in 2011.
Three more games are to follow for St Pat’s in March - with two to be played at Richmond Park against Bray and Dundalk. But the match of the month will be undoubtedly be the club’s third match of the season against Rovers at Tallaght Stadium. With no wins in their last five encounters against their Dublin rivals, the pressure will surely be on them to get hold of an early season scalp and bragging rights in the capital. March 2011 is just the start for them as Inchicore waits to see what the end product will be come later in the year.
The pitch has been cut, the lines painted and the turnstiles opened - Richmond Park has awoken once again.
St Pats Return Home Victorious
St PatsFixtures 2011
Airtricity League TableTeams Points
Bohemians 3Shamrock Rovers 3Sligo Rovers 3U.C.D 3 Derry 0 Drogheda Utd 0 Bray Wanderers 0 Dundalk 0 Galway Utd 0
St. Patrick’s Ath 3
St. Pat’s fans celebrate a three goal lead. Photo: Pat McCabe
11/03/11 Home vs Bray
18/03/11 Away vs Rovers
25/03/11 Home vs Dundalk
01/04/11 Home vs Bohemians
09/04/11 Away vs Sligo Rovers
15/04/11 Home vs UCD
22/04/11 Away vs Derry
29/04/11 Home vs Drogheda
02/05/11 Home vs Galway
06/05/11 Away vs Bray
09/05/11 Home vs Rovers
13/05/11 Home vs Dundalk
20/05/11 Away vs Bohemians
26/05/11 Home vs Sligo Rovers
30/05/11 Away vs UCD
10/06/11 Home vs Derry City
17/06/11 Away vs Drogheda
20/06/11 Away vs Galway
24/06/11 Home vs Bray
01/07/11 Away vs Rovers
08/07/11 Home vs Dundalk
15/07/11 Home vs Bohemians
23/07/11 Home vs Sligo Rovers
05/08/11 Home vs UCD
12/08/11 Away vs Derry City
19/08/11 Home vs Drogheda
03/09/11 Home vs Galway
09/09/11 Away vs Bray
12/09/11 Home vs Rovers
23/09/11 Away vs Dundalk
30/09/11 Away vs Bohemians
08/10/11 Home vs Sligo Rovers
14/10/11 Away vs UCD
21/10/11 Home vs Derry City
28/10/11 Away vs Drogheda
Anto Murphy scored the opening goal. Photo: Pat McCabe
Compiled by Oisín Gregorian
23 SPORT
SPORT 24
St. Patrick’S athletic roared to the top of the airtricity League after a well deserved 3-0 victory over Galway Utd in terryland Park.
Goals from midfielder Anto Murphy
and new striker David Mcmillan early into the second half deflated a spirited Galway side who kept Pats honest in the first half.
Defender Derek Pender added a cru-
cial third in stoppage time to move the Saints to the top of the league, ahead of rivals Shamrock Rovers on goal dif-ference.
It was an impressive away victory to
start the new League campaign for the Saints who look to improve on a 5th place finish last season.
Continued Page 23
Galway 0-3 St. Pats
Drogheda united
Bray wanderers
Shamrock rovers
AIrTrICITY LEAGuE KICKS OFF
1 - 30 - 13 - 1 Dundalk
Bohemians
u.C.D
St. Pat’s Athletic
Sligo rovers
Galway united
Derry City
0 - 30 - 1
Cheltenham 2011: a special previewpg 20
St.FrancisF.C. through the years pg 22
INSIDE
Liberties GAA pg 21
“Once the women and
the drink kick in, they’re gone”
INTERVIEWpg 20
Saints striker David McMillan celebrates crucial second goal. Photo: Pat McCabe
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