Category Archives: Uncategorized

Cllr McCarthy’s Make a Model Boat Project 2020

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events

     Douglas Road and Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy invites all Cork young people to participate in the tenth year of McCarthy’s Make a Model Boat Project. This year because of the Coronvirus all interested participants must make a model boat at home from recycled materials and submit a picture or a video of it to the competition organisers at kidsmodelboat2020@gmail.com. The event is being run in association with Meitheal Mara and the Cork Harbour Festival Team who have cancelled nearly all of their festival this year bar their collaboration with Kieran on the Make a Model Boat Project. There are three categories, two for primary and one for secondary students. The theme is ‘At Home by the Lee’, which is open to interpretation. The model must be creative though and must be able to float. There are prizes for best models and the event is free to enter. For further information, please see the events section at www.corkharbourfestival.com. The closing date for participants is 30 April 2020.

     Cllr McCarthy, who is heading up the event, noted “I am encouraging creation, innovation and imagination amongst our young people, which are important traits for all of us to develop. I am going to miss this year seeing the models float at The Lough. The Make a Model Boat Project is part of a suite of community projects I have organised and personally invested in over the years– the others include the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project with Cork City Council, the Community local history walks, local history publications, McCarthy’s Community Talent Competition and Cork City Musical Society. Many of the latter projects were have gone digital or soon will go digital for this year. I look forward to the digital challenge”.

Some pictures from last year:

McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019

McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019

Cllr Kieran McCarthy highlights the key role of Regions and cities in helping defeat the Covid19 during a debate with Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety

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 Press Release:

   The European Committee of the Regions Conference of Presidents highlighted the key role of Regions and Cities in implementing measures to defeat the Corona Virus.  The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides spoke to members about the measures taken by the European Commission including the coordination of efforts and the solidarity between our regions. 
 
   A subsequent debate also took place with Jan Olbrycht, European Parliament Co-rapporteur on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 where Cllr McCarthy spoke of the future budget to also be more accessible to Regions and Cities and called for specific actions to help SME’s with specific measures for the tourism sector.
 
Cllr McCarthy also welcomed a strong joint statement by the Conference of Presidents, as follows:
 
COVID-19: We call for an ambitious recovery plan for a sustainable, resilient and socially-just Europe, which leaves no places and no people behind
 
   As mayors, presidents of regions and local and regional councilors we are on the front-line in the fight against the Coronavirus. The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 shock requires immediate measures and a bold social and economic recovery plan for the European Union, built on solidarity, sustainability, resilience and social justice, in line with the European Green Deal and digital transition agenda. Together with all levels of government across Europe, we commit to join efforts to fight the pandemic, protect our people and contribute to the economic, social and financial recovery.
 
   In these difficult times, our priority as regional and local authorities is to continue providing healthcare and public services to our communities, making sure that no one is left behind. We are doing all possible efforts to support the local economy, save jobs, create new employment opportunities, help all companies to continue their businesses and provide quality education. Our work on the ground complements the efforts put in place at EU and Member States level, but more needs to be done, particularly regarding solidarity beyond borders.
 
   Therefore, it is key for us to create an EU Health Emergency Mechanism as a synergy tool to integrate and streamline EU, national and regional/local resources in order to fund the purchase of medical equipment and facilities, deepening the efforts the European Commission has already done on the matter. The EU must also finance a regional health and hospitals programme to assess, refit and monitor regional health systems’ capacity on the ground and invest to ensure healthcare sustainability. A new EU Pandemic Coordination Centre should directly involve regions and cities. A more efficient cross-border coordination must be put in place for providing health services to citizens. In the future, the EU, Member States as well as cities and regions should assess ways of rebalancing their health competences in line with the subsidiarity principle.
 
   To compensate income tax losses, EU mechanisms to allow Local and Regional Governments to have direct access to funding scheme should be developed. Regional and local communities must be supported to reengineer public services to make them digital, sustainable and resilient. The EU should provide new funds and simplified procedures for sustainable local infrastructure, and support SMEs via a post-pandemic strand in the InvestEU Fund. A dedicated aid programme must also be set for small enterprises who suffered disruptions in the food supply chain. A rural inclusion plan should be developed to boost innovation, entrepreneurship and connectivity in rural areas.
 
   We call for an ambitious recovery plan for a sustainable, resilient and social Europe that builds a new circular and inclusive economy, activating all existing tools to ensure financial solidarity. One that develops new commonly-funded financial instruments and sources of income which have sufficient size and long maturity to be fully efficient. At the centre of such a recovery plan should be an EU Recovery Fund, connected to the EU budget and based on European debt insurance. The Fund, which would have to amount to approximately € 500 billion, should allow for future-oriented investment. The new EU budget must be the backbone for the recovery and must be considerably increased to be a true instrument of solidarity and cohesion. Only an ambitious Multi-Annual Financial Framework, pushing EU budget investments to unprecedented levels, would be up to the challenge of a fair and sustainable recovery.
 
    A way to unlock the necessary resources, and guarantee leverage and mobilization of further public and private investment, is to push the investment capacity of the EU budget by lifting, at least temporarily, the ceiling of the EU budget beyond the current 1.2% EU GNI, and by considering new own resources. The EU budget needs indeed strengthening to make additional investments and guarantees possible, to support national governments, regions and cities to restart the economy and guarantee a just transition. A strengthened cohesion policy aimed at reducing inequalities and improving resilience of Members States, regions, cities and villages across Europe is key. 
 
   All new measures, and the next Multiannual Financial framework, must take into account the concrete experience of regional and local authorities and support them to provide social care and all essential services for its citizens. One third of public service expenditure, and two-thirds of all public investment in the EU is carried out by local and regional authorities: they will be indispensable in rebuilding our economies, implementing the ecological transition and social innovation, so that no places and no people are left behind and they must be at the forefront of the formulation and implementation of the recovery plans.
 
 
* The Conference of Presidents of the European Committee of the Regions:

 

Apostolos Tzitzikostas, President of the European Committee of the Regions and Governor of the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece

Vasco Ilídio Alves Cordeiro, First Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions and President of the Regional Government of the Azores, Portugal

Olgierd Geblewicz, President of the EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions and President of the Westpomeranian Region, Poland

Christophe Rouillon, President of the PES Group in the European Committee of the Regions and Mayor of Coulaines, France

François Decoster, President of the Renew Europe Group in the European Committee of the Regions and Mayor of St Omer, France

Władysław Ortyl, President of the ECR Group in the European Committee of the Regions and President of the Podkarpackie Region, Poland

Kieran McCarthy, President of the EA Group in the European Committee of the Regions and Member of the Cork City Council, Ireland

Satu Haapanen, co-President of the Greens Group in the European Committee of the Regions and City Councillor of Oulu, Finland

 

McCarthy’s Make a Model Boat 2020 (At Home Edition)

Arts, Cork City Events, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized, Ward Events
It’s the tenth edition and is usually held at the Lough but this year is different!
The Theme is “At Home by the Lee”
#athomebythelee #creativityathome
Make a model boat at home from recycled materials with the theme At Home by The Lee.
There are three age categories 4-8yrs, 9-12yrs and 13-16yrs.
There are prizes for best models and the project is free to enter.
The closing date for participants is April 30th 2020.
You will need to send a picture or video of your creation to kidsmodelboat2020@gmail.com
In association with Cork Harbour Festival & Ocean to City
More event details here:
http://corkharbourfestival.com/events/
Some pictures of boats from last year attached:

McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019 McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019 McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019 McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019 McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019 McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019 McCarthy's Make a Model Boat entry 2019

Witness to Murder Publication Launched, April 2020

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Cover of Witness to Murder by Kieran McCarthy and John O'Mahony

    The new book ‘Witness to Murder’ by Cllr Kieran McCarthy and John O’Mahony, and published by the Irish Examiner, has been launched. It is a transcript of the Tomás MacCurtain inquest one hundred years ago following his murder on 20 March 1920.

    The last time Tomás’ inquest in full was published was in the Cork Examiner between 23 March 1920 and 18 April 1920. Despite the ordeal and daily fallout, over time the fourteen hearing sessions have not overly been revisited by scholars of the Irish War of Independence.

   The verdict has been highlighted on many occasions by many historians, but the information of the inquest has never been overly written about or the narratives within it championed. So, this book brings together the inquest data into one source. It is about giving a voice to the solicitors, jury and those interviewed

    The transcript of the newspaper text will help scholars of the War of Independence in their research to mine down further into the complexities of the time but also to keep the human dimension at the heart of new emerging research. This transcript in particular is inspired by the epic ‘Atlas of the Irish Revolution’ and the ongoing digitisation of State files and interviews of veterans of the War of Independence held at the Bureau of Military History in Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin– both sources, the Atlas and the Bureau try to bring a holistic perspective to what narratives, sources and memories have survived.

   Cllr McCarthy notes: “Tomás MacCurtain (1884-1920) is truly a colossus in Cork history who has attracted many historians, enthusiasts and champions to tell his story. His story is peppered with several aspects – amongst those that shine out are his love of his family, city, country, language comradeship, and hope – all mixed with pure tragedy. In many ways, the murder of Tomás MacCurtain on the night of 19-20 March 1920 changed the future public and collective memory narrative of Cork history forever”.

   Cllr McCarthy continued; “One hundred years on after his murder, the memory of Tomás and his life and times and works are a central part of the history of politics in the city and the city and region’s role within the Irish War of Independence”.

At this moment in time Witness to Murder by Kieran McCarthy and John O’Mahony is only available to buy online at www.examiner.ie.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 16 April 2020

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 16 April 2020
Remembering 1920: Coroner James McCabe Speaks

 

    One hundred years ago, the Tomás MacCurtain inquest was the most significant inquiry of its kind ever held in Cork City. The verdict, which was given on 17 April 1920, was the most startling ever pronounced by a coroner’s jury in the British Empire.

   The inquest comprised 14 sessions from 23 March to 17 April 1920. Coroner James J McCabe read out the verdict was as follows: “We find that the late Alderman Tomás MacCurtain, Lord Mayor of Cork, died from shock and haemorrhage, caused by bullet wounds, and that he was wilfully murdered under circumstances of the most callous brutality, and that the murder was organised and carried out by the Royal Irish Constabulary, officially directed by the British Government, and we return a verdict of wilful murder against David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of England; Lord French, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; Ian Macpherson, late Chief Secretary of Ireland; Acting Inspector-General Smith, of the Royal Irish Constabulary; Divisional Inspector Clayton, of the Royal Irish Constabulary; District Inspector Swanzy, and some unknown members of the Royal Irish Constabulary. We strongly condemn the system at present in vogue of carrying out raids at unreasonable hours. We tender to Mrs MacCurtain and family our sincerest sympathy in their terrible bereavement; this sympathy we extend to the citizens of Cork in the loss they have sustained by the death of one so eminently capable of directing their civic administration

   Apart from the verdict there are many voices in the 70,000 word transcript of the inquest, which I recently compiled with news editor John O’Mahony and the Irish Examiner to create the publication Witness to Murder. The voices of the 90 interviewees are a very important part of the inquest but so also was the work of the chair Coroner James McCabe and his jury. Whilst researching the proceedings of the 14 sessions of the inquest you can read how Coroner James McCabe tried to remain calm remain and thorough, in what was a raw and emotional time inside the inquest’s location at the old City Hall and outside in a city, which was unstable with tit for tat attacks by the IRA and the growing swathes of Black and Tan auxiliaries in the city.

   James McCabe handled all interviews of witnesses, solicitors and police officials alike with calmness, dignity and courtesy. He was always helpful and courteous to the journalists present too and was held in high esteem amongst its members. In his final conclusions at the inquest James McCabe reminded the jury that they had heard from the witnesses what occurred in the house on the night of the 19 March when the Lord Mayor was murdered. They also had the depositions of witnesses as to what occurred in the streets on that night, both at Blackpool, King Street and St Patrick’s Hill, and also as to what was stated to have occurred on the night of 20 March. The Royal Irish Constabulary authorities had put in a large number of depositions on the policing arrangements in the various police barracks, the patrols of the men of those barracks and of their weapons and motor cars and other movements. The police authorities had also put in books and documents connected with such matters. All those depositions were available for the members of the jury, if they desired to refresh their memories on any portion of the evidence given at the inquest.

  The background of James McCabe is also as interesting as his involvement in the Tomás MacCurtain Inquest. His obituary in the Cork Examiner on 17 September 1949 details that James was born in Midleton, County Cork, in 1862. He received his education in his native town and at an early age became clerk to the firm of Messrs Blake, solicitors, Cork, where he showed a deep interest in his work and soon became versed in the principles of law.

   James took up studies in Law at Queens College, Cork, where he was popular amongst his professors and fellow students alike. A prominent member of the Cork Catholic Young Men’s Society, he participated in the Amateur Theatrical Association attached to the Society at the time. He ended up dividing his time between reading for his legal examinations and appearing in dramatic productions by the Young Men’s Society. In both he was most successful, being a most admired figure on the stage, whilst he completed his legal studies with distinction and became a solicitor in 1897.  He soon became one of leading legal figures in the city and enjoyed a large practice which he kept right through his career.

    James was also deeply interested in the welfare of his country and a Nationalist and Home Rule supporter. On behalf of John Redmond, he addressed a large number of meetings during the campaigns in the city with his speeches being known for being thoughtful, forceful and sometimes quietly humorous. He acted as election agent for many Redmondite candidates, including Mr Augustine Roche, when he successfully contested local elections in Cork and became Lord Mayor of Cork in 1904.

    In 1911 James McCabe was appointed City Coroner and as can be seen across the southern regional newspapers oversaw a myriad of inquests in Cork City during the Irish War of Independence and during the Irish Civil War. Despite his political leanings, he remained politically impartial in his work. In 1934, he was elected to the office of president of the Southern Law Association – an office which he held with distinction. He lived at Bellevue Terrace, Tivoli for many years. After his death in 1949, his son Joseph McCabe succeeded him as City Coroner for over two decades.

 

Caption:

1044a. Bust of Tomás MacCurtain by Cork sculptor Seamus Murphy, on display in Cork Public Museum (picture: Kieran McCarthy).

Cllr Kieran McCarthy: Community Response Phone Number of Great Help, 11 April 2020

Cork City Events, Improve Your Life, International, Kieran's Council Work, National, Uncategorized

   Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy wishes to remind people of the Community Response Forum phone number specifically to provide support to vulnerable citizens during the COVID-19 restrictions.  The telephone number is 1800 222 226. Over its first week the forum received over 300 calls. The freephone helpline operates seven days a week from 8am until 8pm.

   Cllr Kieran McCarthy noted: “The majority of calls to the helpline have related to the collection and delivery of groceries, prescriptions, fuel and other essential household items, and the delivery of meals.  Cork City Council staff, the HSE, An Garda Siochána and community organisations such as Meals on Wheels are amongst the partner groups who are responding to these requests for support”.

   Requests for support due to an increasing sense of social isolation have also figured in phonecalls received – with a number of people experiencing loneliness as they stay at home.  Those who have contacted the phone number have also been put in contact with Friendly Call Cork who provide a listening ear and a friendly voice on the phone to anyone experiencing loneliness.  Friendly Call Cork is set up to tackle loneliness among older people, those with physical and mental disabilities and those who are socially isolated. It has expanded its services to deal with Covid-19 and the Cork City Partnership team have brought on more volunteers to meet the increased demand.

   Cork City Community Response Forum Co-Ordinator,  Denis Barrett said: “Cork City has been broken into 16 local area teams with a Cork City Council community worker and HSE community worker in each area who will work with ‘local champions’ – the existing voluntary organisations and groups who know their locality and can help match need with service delivery”.

   Cllr McCarthy continued; “Corkonians have also contacted the helpline wondering how they could register to volunteer their service in this crisis.  Would-be volunteers are asked to contact Volunteer Cork on 021 4251572, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or on info@volunteercork.ie.  They maintain a database of volunteers and are coordinating the volunteer effort in the city. Many thanks to everyone involved”.

   Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. John Sheehan said: “We are delighted to see that the people of Cork are using this helpline and we would encourage people, who maybe have never asked for help before, to not be afraid to pick up the phone. These are unprecedented times for us all  – but don’t forget we are all in this together and we will likely come out the other side with a deeper appreciation  of the important things in life – and that includes living in a city which is rich in community supports and community spirit”.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 9 April 2020

Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

1043a. Cover of Witness to Murder by Kieran McCarthy and John O'Mahony

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 9 April 2020
Remembering 1920: Witness to Murder

 

     The new book Witness to Murder by John O’Mahony and I is a transcript of the Tomás MacCurtain Inquest from March and April 1920. Tomas (1884-1920) is truly a colossus in Cork history who has attracted many historians, enthusiasts and champions to tell his story. His story is peppered with several aspects – amongst those that shine out are his love of his family, city, country, language comradeship, and hope – all mixed with pure tragedy. In many ways, the murder of Tomás MacCurtain on the night of 19-20 March 1920 changed the future public and collective memory narrative of Cork history forever.

     One hundred years on after his murder, the memory of Tomás and his life and times and works are a central part of the history of politics in the city and the city and region’s role within the Irish War of Independence. Remembrance is carried through a variety of ways – books by local historians and seasonal historical newspaper articles in for example the Irish Examiner, yearly exhibitions in Cork Public Museum and Cork City and County Archives, conferences at University College Cork,  portraits and sculptures at Cork City Hall, and annual speeches by incoming Lord Mayors. Annually the MacCurtain family work closely with Cork City Council and community groups to highlight his memory and without fail every 19-20 March there are memorial civic ceremonies and political and community group ceremonies. All of the latter examples keep the candle lit on his story, legacy and memory. Indeed, one can say his narrative is highly structured as he retains his position amongst Cork top historical figures.

   As the news got out into the public realm after the murder of Tomás MacCurtain it sent shockwaves throughout every household – he had been Lord Mayor for less than 50 days an just 36 years old. People began to discuss their relationship with Tomás within Cork City. Some revered his character and work. Others saw his work as another part of the way of life of a busy port city, which had many activities happening on any given. But for a time in Cork, his murder brought the city and region to a standstill. This was another intensification of all-out war held across the streets of Cork that in time would be named the Irish War of Independence.

   The out-pouring of public grief was heard in the speeches in the days following through his successor to the Lord Mayor’s chain Terence MacSwiney, by fellow Corporation members, by MPs in the chamber of Westminster and visibly seen in the enormous turnout on the streets of Cork during the funeral procession. In the weeks that followed the civilian inquest of his death revealed more questions than answers to who actually killed him. The verdict proposes that it was a government and RIC cover-up but unfortunately, no official statement has ever come forward. So, in truth history will never be able to officially record who killed him and who the masked person was who pulled the trigger. That’s why the revisiting of his inquest is important.

     The last time Tomás’s inquest in full was published was in the Cork Examiner between 23 March 1920 and 18 April 1920. Despite the ordeal and daily fallout from the interviews, over time the fourteen hearing sessions have not overly been revisited by scholars of the Irish War of Independence. The verdict has been highlighted on many occasions by many historians, but the information of the inquest has never been overly written about or the narratives within it championed.

   So, this book firstly is about bringing together the data inquest into one source. It is about giving a voice to the solicitors, jury and those interviewed (see more in the next few weeks).

   Secondly, within the interviews and the remarks of Counsel, jurors, and solicitors, the frustration is plain to read plus one can view the complex relationships of all sides of the debate. The interviews and the answers given also provide multiple narratives on what life was like to those who interacted in the power play with authorities in the city, the nature of policing but above all the raw emotion attached to the murder of Tomás. On the raw emotion element, the witness statement by his wife of Elizabeth and family, and even the account of the bullets in his chest makes for harrowing reading.

   Thirdly, the publishing of the data is a nod to the Cork Examiner journalists present at the time who wrote up each verbatim what witnesses said from each individual session, and turned around the information in just a few hours, so it could be published in the following day’s edition.

   Fourthly it is my hope that this transcript of newspaper text will help scholars of the War of Independence in their research to mine down further into the complexities of the time but also to keep the human dimension at the heart of new emerging research. This transcript in particular is inspired by the epic Atlas of the Irish Revolution and the ongoing digitisation of State files and interviews of veterans of the War of Independence held at the Bureau of Military History in Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin– both sources, the Atlas and the Bureau try to bring a holistic perspective to what narratives, sources and memories have survived.

    The book has an epic amount of valuable historical information but one, which I hope will help assist to create a roadmap of sorts in commemorating the life and legacy of Tomás MacCurtain in the next hundred years and place the inquest at the heart of future scholarship on Cork’s role within the Irish War of Independence.

Witness to Murder by Kieran McCarthy and John O’Mahony (2020, Irish Examiner) at this moment in time is only available to buy online at www.examiner.ie. Stay safe to everyone.

 

Caption:

1043a. Cover of Witness to Murder by Kieran McCarthy and John O’Mahony (2020, Irish Examiner).