In praise of public art, and public places: When it comes to the built environment, one of the most common complaints is: why can’t we have nice things? It’s simplistic, and not entirely unjustified.
One section of the public plaza at the top part of the South Mall, nearest Parnell Bridge, is now open for lounging. Work is ongoing on the flood-relief scheme which runs along the length of Fr Matthew Quay, but for now you can rest your weary feet or eat your homemade/overpriced sandwich amidst the plants, trees and public art pieces which have been dusted off and put in pride of place alongside the Lee. And the welcome news is: it’s nice.
Some of the public art pieces will be familiar; they’ve been dusted down and have regained prominence in doing so. The original lamps from Parnell Bridge have been taken out of storage and at least two of them are now in the plaza. While the original bridge is long gone, the new one has just had a paint job.
It all adds up to a thoughtful investment in public space, a nod to our heritage and public art, and, given the weather we’ve been having, a place to watch the world go by, or at least the Lee as it whispers by.
One way, and then the other way: Anyone following the roadworks on Mahony’s Avenue in St Luke’s would have been entertained by the sign changes and massive indecision by the City Council. That is anyone, bar the residents.
The narrow lane which connects St Luke’s to Grattan Hill had, up to this summer, been a two-way street. However, after much consultation, a new plan was devised which would see traffic flow north up the residential hill which is home to St Luke’s National School. The funding for the upgrade was part of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Programme in partnership with Cork City Council. Other changes included widened footpaths and car parking moved to the opposite side of the street.
The changes were made, signposts were installed, except earlier this month there was an abrupt about-turn. Some residents were notified by flyer that the direction of traffic would be reversed and the residents' parking moved back to the wall side of the street. No explanation of the changes was offered and no opportunity for consultation was suggested, according to the residents' association
It’s a bold, if agile, move when you consider all the planning and consultation that went into the initial upgrade. It also means that once again Mahony’s Avenue is a rat run for drivers bypassing Summerhill North to get to the Lower Glanmire Road. The residents’ association have serious concerns about emergency vehicle access, parking and nightlines.
Could there be a less messy way out of this? Yes, according to the residents’ association: if a narrow strip of the lands already zoned ZO16 Public Open Space along the eastern side of O’Mahony’s Ave is CPO-ed to alleviate the spatial constraints that are currently presenting an almost unresolvable challenge.
What next for Bessborough?: An Comisiún Pleanála’s decision to uphold most of Estuary View Enterprises’ plan to build 106 homes on Bessborough, a former-mother and-baby institute, has considerably upped the ante on the State and the City Council to halt the process and buy the lands back so that they are not developed.
The biggest sticking point is the remains of more than 800 babies and children who were born and died at the institution throughout its 80-year history.
This week, a submission from former minister for children Katherine Zappone was released in which she said “enough was not done to determine burial sites” at Bessborough.
In her submission, she said “there were modest efforts to do so (locate burial grounds) at Bessborough by the Mother and Baby Home Commission, but these were not sufficient or similar to the efforts made at Tuam”.
Last week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin asked Cork City Council to engage with the landowners of Bessborough to explore “all options” for the future of the former mother-and-baby home site.
EVE is the largest landowner in the Bessborough Estate, with its block totalling just over 40 acres, according to The Irish Times.
Zoning out: Earlier this month, councillors voted to rezone a further 260 hectares of land, in addition to the 450 hectares of residential-zoned land already in the Cork City Development Plan.
The land rezoned for residential building is spread throughout the city. Only in Kerypike, to the far west of the city limits, did councillors vote down the plans for the 3.5-hectare site.
Members of the gallery walked out of the public meeting at City Hall after councillors voted in favour of the 20 hectares of land rezoned in two areas of Moneygourney. Per The Echo: “One resident of Moneygourney in Douglas called out ‘shame on you all’ to councillors, as she and other locals walked out of the public gallery after plans for their area were approved.”
The average price of new properties in Moneygourney is just shy of €1m. The rezoning was at the request of the government as it seeks to meet home-building targets of 300,000 new homes by 2030.
Sticking with planning: Housebuilder Bridgewater Homes has lodged plans for 300 homes in Douglas, on the Carrigaline Road from Donnybrook. The development would, if cleared, link up with the Ballybrack Greenway. Bridgewater also has plans to build a creche in the development, which consists of 210 new houses and two apartment blocks containing 90 units.
No doubt, locals in Douglas will be wishing that Bridgewater could build new roads, as more cars are added to the backed-up suburb.
The Fifth Quarter redux: The backers of the most upbeat, and currently empty, plaza in the city took to social media with an upbeat adjective-laden announcement that they’re back. The food trucks that were there had to clear out last month, as all was not kosher with the City Council. Whatevs, the new initiative, called the Summer Club, which is short on details, will be strong on positive vibes: what does that look like (besides more of the same)?
Well, “music, dance, creativity and community” according to the Fifth Quarter crew, and more importantly this time round it has the City Council’s blessing. Rory Gallagher Plaza is a great little meeting and hangout spot where a number of streets converge. Let’s see what the Summer Club will make of it. Kicks off today.
359: the total number of vacant homes in Cork City Council’s 11k+ housing local stock.
Here’s one for the City Council: Can you erect “cattle barriers” on a public space, say like a boardwalk?
The Spirit of Mother Jones Festival. July 23-25, Shandon
Skibereen Arts Festival. July 24-August 2. Across Skibereen
Cork Craft Month: August. Across the city and county
Cork on a Fork: August 12-16. Various locations across the city.
Park runs: The free volunteer-led 5km parkruns (or walks) take place at 9:30 am every Saturday morning across three locations in the city: Ballincollig Regional Park, Tramore Valley Park and the Glen River Park (the nearest one in the county is Midleton Greenway).
On Sundays it’s over to the juniors (aged 4–14) for Junior parkrun, a 2km run at 9:30 am at Clashduv Park, St Mary’s Campus, Ballincollig Regional Park and Nursery Drive park run in Ballinlough. Full listing of all 16 park runs in Cork city and county here.
🗣️Fight like hell: The 15th Spirit of Mother Jones Festival kicked off this week in Shandon and for the next two days it will consist of walks, talks, music and hopeful ways of looking at the world in the spirit of Mary Harris, a social justice warrior born in Cork and made battle-hardy in the United States. The full schedule of events is here.
One public lecture that stands out brings Elliott Gorn, a professor of History and American Studies at Loyola University, Chicago and author of the definitive biography on Mother Jones, together with Gema-Kloppe Santamaria from UCC and John Donoghue also from Loyola University, to discuss “This Land is Our Land: Confronting Extremism and Reclaiming Democracy.” As Mother Jones put it in her time, which works equally in our time, “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.
Time, date, place: 7:30pm, Friday 24, The Maldron Hotel, Shandon
📽️Film pick of the week (that’s not The Odyssey): Nirvanna: The Band – The Show – The Movie rolls into The Triskel this week from director Matt Johnson, who made a splash with his well-worth-watching biopic of Blackberry, the once ubiquitous device that's deader than Aertel. The plot for Nirvanna is simple: the band want a gig at Rivoli, the place to play in Toronto. Cue a series of madcap ideas, the winning one being to go back in time to 2008. It's all a bit of fun, and time-travelling. Tickets and more info here.
Time, date, place: Daily from Sunday July 26 to Wednesday July 29, The Triskel, Tobin St
🤨Impresario Ronan Leonard will be slightly behind the bar of Callanan's, politely shouting out questions for the monthly edition of the Love the Lee quiz. Teams of four (or slightly more or less) with edible prizes from Iago. Pay special attention to a hidden theme in round one to unlock your aura and big scores.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Tuesday August 28, Callanan’s, George’s Quay
🎻Sounds from the sea: The National Youth Orchestra of Ireland takes over City Hall tonight for the Summer Proms in a concert inspired by the ocean. The 120-strong orchestra, led by Conductor Killian Farrell, will be performing Orchestral Suite from "The Wreckers" – Ethel Smyth; Sea Pictures Op. 37 – Edward Elgar; and Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) – Alexander Zemlinsky. Tickets from €10; more information here.
Time, date, place: 7:30pm, Friday July 24, Cork City Hall
🎵Good times: Nudes is hosting Plano C this Sunday from 5pm, and it's an eclectic mix of tunes and crafting. There'll be live screen printing from Uncle Bside and a collage workshop from Loop Conspiracy (Silvio Severino). From 5pm, free in.
Time, date, place: 5pm, Sunday July 26, Nudes Craft and Cocktail, 8 Lavitts Quay
🎭Play it again: The Four-Faced Liar by Ger Fitzgibbon returns to Cork Arts Theatre next week for a five-night run. Told over a single night, the compact cast bring to life a dizzying array of diverse characters, which includes a man living in a freezer box, an old lady living under a bed, a Polish cashier, a know-it-all teen and many others. Central to it all is, as the title of the play suggests, Cork city and the lives it accommodates. Tickets €18. More information here.
Time, date, place: 8pm, plus Saturday matinee at 1pm, July 28 - August 1, The CAT Club, Carroll’s Quay
That’s it for this week’s Friday View. As always, any tips, comments, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us at tripeanddrisheen@substack.com. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity. Get in touch. Have a lovely weekend!
🔔If you know about something to do in Cork that you’d like us to share in the Out+About sections of our Friday View newsletter (published every Friday morning), please fill in the form below. It could be an art exhibition, a film, music to go see, theatre, comedy, something delicious to go eat, a clothes swap, public lecture, a community clean-up, community gardening - anything readers could get out and do.
We’d be delighted if you could share your listings of events with us via this form and we’ll include them in the Out +About section of the Friday View.
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