Category Archives: Ward Events

COVID -19 Community Response Forum, 31 March 2020

Cork City Events, Improve Your Life, International, Kieran's Council Work, National, Uncategorized, Ward Events
 
I have had a good number of Independent Older People with generally no family support contacting me looking for community supports – in terms of grocery or medicine collection.
 
I have contacted the invisible army of community supports in this corner of the city to have them looked after.
 
Many of those who have contacted me are cocooning and have never had to ask for help before, and thus potentially are not on the local community’s vulnerable radar list.
 
Many do not have the internet.
 
Many thanks to the many community groups working with local Gardaí, and individual local volunteers who are all doing trojan community work. There are many local shops as well doing a myriad of deliveries, whilst adhering to social distancing.
 
The new Cork City Council dedicated community support helpline will be running from 9-5pm seven days a week to help ensure that vulnerable members of the community or those living alone can access deliveries of groceries, medicine and fuels and can avail of social care supports, if needed.
 
Taking part in the Cork City Community Response Forum are Cork City Council, the HSE, GAA, Tusla, Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross Paul Colton, Catholic Bishop of Cork and Ross, Fintan Gavin, the Age Friendly Network, Alone, Cork ETB, Migrant Forum, Citizens Information, the Cork City Volunteer Centre, the Red Cross, Civil Defence, An Post and the IFA amongst others.
 
There are 16 teams of people in different areas of the city.
There are two in the south east area.
The helpline is 1800-222-226. People on the other end of the phone are very approachable, and will co-ordinate with those on the other end of the phone – the most vulnerable in our community. Ringing on someone’s behalf Without telling them or not co-ordinating with them will frighten an older person when all of a sudden someone turns up on their door.
 
I remain available as well if people have questions on the proposed support system.
 
https://www.corkcity.ie/en/council-services/news-room/latest-news/covid-19-community-response-forum-established.html

Award Ceremony, Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project 2020

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

   Wednesday evening, 4 March coincides with the Cork City award ceremony of the Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project. A total of 25 schools in Cork City took part in the 2019-2020 edition, which included schools in Ballinlough, Ballintemple, Blackrock and Douglas. This year the project was open to new schools within the broader area of the new city boundary. Circa 1200 students participated in the process with approx 220 project books submitted on all aspects of Cork’s local history & heritage.

 The Discover Cork Schools’ Heritage Project is in its 17th year and is a youth platform for students to do research and write it up in a project book whilst offering their opinions on important decisions being made on their heritage in their locality and how they affect the lives of people locally.  The aim of the project is to allow students to explore, investigate and debate their local heritage in a constructive, active and fun way.

 Co-ordinator and founder of the project, Cllr Kieran McCarthy noted that: “The project is about developing new skill sets within young people in thinking about, understanding, appreciating and making relevant in today’s society the role of our heritage – our landmarks, our stories, our landscapes in our modern world. The project also focuses on motivating and inspiring young people, giving them an opportunity to develop leadership and self-development skills, which are very important in the world we live in today”.

   The City Edition of the Project is funded by Cork City Council with further sponsorship offered by Learnit Lego Education, Old Cork Waterworks Experience and Cllr Kieran McCarthy. Full results for the City edition are online on Cllr McCarthy’s heritage website, www.corkheritage .ie.

 

 

Archive, City Edition Results, 2020

Cllr McCarthy: Commemoration Fund to Help Communities Tell the Story of Cork in 1920

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events

   Douglas Road Cllr Kieran McCarthy has called upon communities and organisations across Cork City to avail of a new Cork 2020 Commemorations Fund to support local events commemorating the centenary of the War of Independence – a monumental year in the history of the city.

   Cllr McCarthy noted: “Cork City played a pivotal role in the country’s fight for freedom with two of the city’s Lord Mayors martyred in 1920 and the Burning of Cork by British Forces also taking place that December. Community, social and voluntary groups as well as schools can apply for funding under the open Cork 2020 Commemorations Fund. This is an opportunity for a community to come together to commemorate the events of such seismic year in Cork history. Application Forms can get got by emailing lord_mayor@corkcity.ie”.

   Cork is set to host a major state event in 2020 to mark the centenary of the War of Independence. In March 2019, a public consultation event was held at City Hall so that members of the public could share ideas on how the Decade of Centenaries 2019-2023 might be commemorated in Cork City.  Participants shared their ideas at workshops that took place across the afternoon.

   The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. John Sheehan, who is chairing a cross-party committee of Elected Members on the 2020 commemorations, said: “Stories around the events of 1920 have been handed down for generations in Cork and local groups have been commemorating these events for many years.  The Cork 2020 Commemorations Fund is about communities and organisations bringing our proud history to life in a respectful way that showcases the city’s rich cultural and historical fabric”.

   Meanwhile, Cork City Council will hold a Special Meeting on January 30 to commemorate the centenary of the first meeting of Cork Corporation elected by proportional representation. This Special Meeting will be the first of a programme of events in Cork to mark the 1920 centenary. Under the steerage of Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr John Sheehan and a cross party committee of Elected Members, a rich and varied programme of events is planned for 2020 which is roundly described as ‘Cork’s 1916’.

“Evening Echo” Lighting Installation at Shalom Park, 29 December 2019

Arts, Cork City Events, Cork History, Improve Your Life, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized, Ward Events

“Evening Echo” Lighting Installation at Shalom Park

Sunset – Sunday 29th December 2019
Shalom Park

Lighting Sequence:
9th Lamp on : 4:21pm
Sunset : 4:31pm
9th Lamp off : 5:01pm

Evening Echo is a public artwork by New Zealand artist Maddie Leach. It is sited on old gasometer land gifted by Bord Gáis to Cork City Council in the late 1980s. This site was subsequently re-dedicated as Shalom Park in 1989. The park sits in the centre of the old Cork neighbourhood known locally as ‘Jewtown’. This neighbourhood is also home to the National Sculpture Factory.

Evening Echo is an art project generated as an artist’s response to the particularities of place and locality. Now in its ninth year, the project continues to gather support from the Cork Hebrew Congregation,Cork City Council, National Sculpture Family, Bord Gáis and its local community.

The project is manifested in a sequence of custom-built lamps, a remote timing system, a highly controlled sense of duration, a list of future dates, an annual announcement in Cork’s Evening Echo newspaper and a promissory agreement. Evening Echo is fleetingly activated on an annual cycle, maintaining a delicate but persistent visibility in the park and re-activating its connection to Cork’s Jewish history. Intended to exist in perpetuity, the project maintains a delicate position between optimism for its future existence and the possibility of its own discontinuance.

This year the last night of Hanukkah is Sunday the 29th December and offers the only opportunity to see the tall ‘ninth lamp’ alights until next year. The cycle begins 10 minutes before sunset, which occurs this year at 4.31pm, and continues for 30 minutes after sunset when the ninth lamp is extinguished.

The Evening Echo project is an important annual marker that acknowledges the significant impact that the Jewish Community had in Cork. Moreover this artwork, illustrates the precarious balance and possible disappearance of any small community existing within a changing city. Evening Echo continues as a lasting memory of the Jewish community in Cork city, and remains as a comment on the transient nature of communities and the impacts that inward and outward migration brings to the character of all cities.

Cork City Council wishes to acknowledge the essential role played by the Rosehill family of Cork in support of this artwork.

The event will be live-streamed by the Cork City Council on
https://m.facebook.com/corkcitycouncilofficial/

The Blessing of a Candle

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

The Blessing of a Candle

Cllr Kieran McCarthy

Sturdy on a table top and lit by youngest fair,
a candle is blessed with hope and love, and much festive cheer,
Set in a wooden centre piece galore,
it speaks in Christian mercy and a distant past of emotional lore,
With each commencing second, memories come and go,
like flickering lights on the nearest Christmas tree all lit in traditional glow,
With each passing minute, the flame bounces side to side in drafty household breeze,
its light conjuring feelings of peace and warmth amidst familiar blissful degrees,
With each lapsing hour, the residue of wax visibly melts away,
whilst the light blue centered heart is laced with a spiritual healing at play,
With each ending day, how lucky are those who love and laugh around its glow-filledness,
whilst outside, the cold beats against the nearest window in the bleak winter barreness,
Fear and nightmare drift away in the emulating light,
both threaten this season in almighty wintry flight,
Sturdy on a table top and lit by youngest fair,
a candle is blessed with hope and love, and much festive cheer.

Kieran's Christmas Candle