Kieran’s Question to the City Manager/ CE and Motions, Cork City Council Meeting, 13 October 2014

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

 

Question to the City Manager/ CE

To ask the Manager/ CE are there any plans to clean the limestone plinth of the Fr Mathew Statue to mark its 150 years at the site on St Patrick’s Street (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

 

Motions:

 

That the Council review traffic calming measures on Blackrock Road; There is a point in the road where the cars get a good run to build up speed around Rochelle apartments, and then it narrows suddenly heading to Blackrock, just at the 4 white Victorian houses (Cllr Kieran McCarthy.

 

That Cork City Council supports the call from the Restaurants Association of Ireland for the ongoing retention of the 9% VAT rate for the food, tourism and hospitality sector that has helped create one of four of the jobs in economy. That this Council ask the Minister for Finance to Keep VAT @ 9% into 2015 and beyond (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 9 October 2014

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

763a. Fr Mathew statue as depicted in the Illustrated London News, 26 December 1863

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 9 October 2014

150 Years of The Statue

 

To honour such a man is to do honour to ourselves, to your country, and to the Irish name. It is now my pleasing duty, in the names of the citizens of Cork to unveil the statue, which is to stand henceforth in your city, as an enduring memorial of its best and greatest citizen, and to present to the gaze of those whom he loved and served in life, the semblance of those features, which are so familiar to their memories and dear to their hearts (John Francis Maguire, Mayor of Cork, 10 October 1864).

The date 10 October 2014 marks the 150th anniversary of the unveiling of the Fr Mathew Statue on St Patrick’s Street. Enshrined in Cork City’s collective memory as the ‘Apostle of Temperance’, by the end of 1840, it is recorded that 180,000 to 200,000 nationwide had taken Fr Mathew’s pledge. In the late 1840s, Fr Mathew went to America to rally support for his teetotaller cause and the teetotalism cause in Ireland and England started to suffer by his absence. He died in December 1856 and was buried in St Joseph’s cemetery, Cork, his own cemetery that he created for the poor. Fr Mathew has left a legacy in this city that has been maintained and respected since his death. Of all his commemorative features in the city, the Fr Mathew Statue, erected in 1864, on the city’s St. Patrick’s Street very much honours the man. 

Soon after the death of Fr Mathew in December 1856, a committee was formed for the purpose of erecting a suitable memorial in the city. The commission was entrusted to the famous sculptor John Hogan who in his early days had been raised in Cove Street and was acquainted with Fr Mathew. Hogan died in 1858 and on his death a meeting of the committee was called. It was reported that they had on hand the sum of £900, and on the motion of John Francis Maguire MP, it was agreed to give £100 to the Hogan family in recognition of what Hogan had already done on the contract. The sculptor’s eldest son, John Valentine endeavoured to carry out his father’s work and in June 1858 another meeting of the community was held at the Athenaeum to inspect a model of a statue he brought to Cork.

However the commission was handed over to John Henry Foley. He was the second son of Jesse Foley, a native of Winchester, who had settled in Dublin. When John had reached the age of 13 he decided to follow his eldest brother in the profession of sculptor. He entered the school of the Royal Dublin Society where he soon distinguished himself by winning many prizes for drawing and modelling. In 1823 he won the major award of that school. This success induced him to follow his brother to London where he joined the schools of the Royal Academy. Within a short time he submitted a study entitled “The death of Abel”, which won for him a ten year scholarship to that establishment. Foley’s next noteworthy achievement was exhibiting in the Royal Academy in 1839, and 10 years later he was elected a full member carrying the letters R A after his name. At 40 years of age the sculptor had achieved the highest honours. Foley’s output was prodigious and his works are to be found in India, USA, Ceylon, Ireland and Scotland. His subjects were deemed classical and imaginative, creating equestrian statues, monuments and portrait busts. Two years after the unveiling of Fr Mathew statue, his Daniel O’Connell monument in Dublin was unveiled.

The Fr Mathew Statue was unveiled on 10 October 1864 amidst a concourse of people and public celebration. Both the Cork Constitution and Cork Examiner the following day carried lengthy and vivid accounts of the pomp and ceremony. The statue had been cast in the bronze foundry of Mr Prince, Union Street, Southwark, London. As well as obtaining a remarkable likeness of Fr Mathew, the sculptor posed the figure as a representation of him in the act of blessing those who had just taken the pledge. On the statue’s arrival in Cork, it was placed on the stone pedestal which had been designed by a local architect William Atkins. 

The proceedings on that 10 October began at 12 noon when it was estimated that thousands of people lined all the vantage points on the city’s streets. All businesses had been suspended for the day and public buildings and private houses were decorated for the occasion. The city remained thronged with people from 10am to 4pm. A huge procession had assembled on Albert Quay and the Park Road and moved off at 12noon headed by the Globe Lane Temperance Society of 50 members and 12 performers in their band. All the trades, societies with their banners, sashes and coloured rosettes marched with Temperance Societies from all over the county. At 2pm the statue was unveiled to a mass of public support. Henceforth it was immortalised as a landmark, defining the centre of the city and supporting the story and folklore of Fr Mathew on the great St Patrick’s Street.

 

Caption:

763a. Fr Mathew Statue, as depicted in the Illustrated London News, 26 December 1863, p.665

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 2 October 2014

Cork History, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

762a. Aerial photograph of Cork Regional Technical College, 1975

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 2 October 2014

“Technical Memories (Part 89) – Planning a Cork RTC”

 

“In technical education also, good work has been and is being done…for we are entering upon a fiercely competitive era in which skills of all kinds will mean the difference between survival and stagnation. We have plans in that regard too in relation to the technological colleges and the regional technical colleges. If agriculture and industry are to flourish here and for our survival they must do so and the prime necessity for that will be technical skill” (Jack Lynch, The Irish Times, 20 June, 1967, p.7).

Speaking at the official opening of the Christian Brothers’ new national school at Blarney Street on 19 June 1967, the Taoiseach Jack Lynch commented on the importance of the new regional technical colleges. He noted of a shortage of medium grade and higher technicians and that it was for the new colleges to provide skilled men and women with roots in the country; “our national commitment to education will ensure that even if we cannot ever aspire to be numbered among the wealthier nations of the earth, every Irish father and mother can for the future say that their children will be given their chance in the world”.

Between 1965-67 investment in the State’s education was made. Over 130 schools applied for assistance under a new building grants scheme. A total of 25 sites for comprehensive schools were examined. There were over 50 projects for new day vocational schools at various stages of development. The planning of regional technical colleges, costing in total £7m, was ongoing. Tenders had been received for sites at Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Athlone, Dundalk, Carlow and Waterford.

In late November 1966 an interim architect’s report of Cork’s proposed £2m regional technical college was approved at the meeting of the Cork City Vocational Education Committee. By early January 1968, early indications appeared in the media (Irish Times, 13 January, 1968, p.13) that the Cork college would likely be sited 2 ½ miles from Cork City Centre in the south western suburbs. The CEO of the Cork City Vocational Education Committee Mr Parfrey noted that “by and large it would be post leaving certificate pupils who would be accepted by the college”. It was also planned that the college would also cater for post intermediate students. Confirmation of the site was given in late February 1968. The Minister for Agriculture agreed in principle to the granting of a site for the proposed college on the lands of the Munster Institute at Model Farm Road.

By July 1972 preliminary work had begun on the 48-acre site for Cork’s new regional technical college, near Bishopstown. According to an Irish Times reporter (12 July 1972, p.15), the proposed student population was to rise from an initial 2,000 to about 5,000. Mr Parfrey noted of a major problem that arose that of the provision of student accommodation in the college area. It was initially hoped to open in the summer of 1974 and the college was to be the biggest single modern building in Cork City. There were to be nine departments – science, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering, printing, nautical studies, building, automobile engineering, commerce, general studies and catering. A total of 260,000 feet was to be covered by the college, which was to have 30 laboratories, 56 classrooms, 36 workshops, 13 drawing offices and 36 specialist rooms with close circuit television. A planned sports complex was to include a swimming pool and squash courts. Space was also to be provided for five playing fields, three tennis courts, a basketball court and a sport’s hall. It was also flagged in the media that some of the smaller schools under the VEC would close eventually. However, the Cork Municipal School of Music and Crawford Municipal School of Art would continue as they were. On 1 August 1974, it was recorded by the Irish Times that 140 CIE trailers had began moving furniture into the new Cork college.

The mission statements for the Regional Technical College in Cork were also rooted in part in the Buchanan Report. Dáil Éireann archived speeches in May 1969 reveal that Colin Buchanan and Partners, the English architects and town planners, were commissioned by the United Nations on behalf of the Government of Ireland in 1966 to undertake studies of the nine planning regions in the Republic and to provide physical development policies for these regions. The consultants’ final report, Regional Studies in Ireland, and the two accompanying technical volumes, Regional Development in Ireland, were published in 1968.

The reports covered an extensive range of topics, such as population and population forecasts, employment and employment forecasts, migration and migration forecasts, industry, tourism, agriculture, transport, utilities, power, housing, and infrastructure. However, the Buchanan Report is most widely known for its policy recommendations and particularly the proposed strategy of promoting growth centres. The Buchanan Report singled out Dublin, Cork and Limerick-Shannon as main centres and Waterford, Dundalk, Drogheda, Galway, Sligo, and Athlone as part of a second tier of growth centres. The consequent debate about this policy was extensive, and the Government finally decided upon a policy of more dispersed development in 1972.

To be continued…

Caption:

762a. Aerial photograph of Cork Regional Technical College, 1975 (source: Aerial photograph collection, local studies, Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 25 September 2014

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

761a. Recent sunny days in Fitzgerald's Park

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent

Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project 2014-15

25 September 2014

 

Founded in the school year 2002/ 2003, the year 2014-15 coincides with the 12th year of the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project. Now launched for the new school term, The Project is open to schools in Cork; at primary level to the pupils of fourth, fifth and sixth class and at post-primary from first to sixth years. There are two sub categories within the post primary section, Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate. A student may enter as an individual or as part of a group or a part of a class entry.

 

One of the key aims of the project is to allow students to explore, investigate and debate their local heritage (built, archaeological, cultural and natural) in a constructive, active and fun way. Projects on any aspect of Cork’s rich heritage can be submitted to an adjudication panel. Prizes are awarded for best projects and certificates are given to each participant. A cross-section of projects submitted from the last school season can be gleamed from www.corkheritage.ie plus there are other resources and entry information as well on this website.

 

 Students produce a project on their local area using primary and secondary sources. Each participating student within their class receives a visit and workshop from myself, the co-ordinator in October 2014. The workshop comprises a guide to how to put a project together. Project material must be gathered in an A4/ A3 size project book. The project may be as large as the student wishes but minimum 20 pages (text + pictures + sketches).  Projects must also meet five elements. Projects must be colourful, creative, have personal opinion, imagination and gain publicity before submission. These elements form the basis of a student friendly narrative analysis approach where the student explores their project topic in an interactive and task oriented way. In particular students are encouraged to attain primary material generating primary material through engaging with fieldwork, interviews with local people, making models, photographing, cartoon creating, making DVDs of their area. Re-enacting is also a feature of several projects.

 

 Since 2003, the project has evolved in how students actually pursue local history. The project attempts to provide the student with a hands-on and interactive activity that is all about learning not only about heritage in your local area (in all its forms) but also about the process of learning by participating students. The project is about thinking about, understanding, appreciating and making relevant in today’s society the role of our heritage- our landmarks, our oral histories, our scenery in our modern world for upcoming citizens. So the project is about splicing together activity on issues of local history and heritage such as thinking, exploring, observing, discovering, researching, uncovering, revealing, interpreting and resolving.

 

The importance of doing a project in local history is also reflected in the educational aims of the history curricula of primary and post-primary schools. Local heritage is a mould, which helps the student to become familiar with their local environment and to learn the value of it in their lives. Learning to appreciate the elements of a locality, can also give students a sense of place in their locality or a sense of identity. Hence the Project can also become a youth forum for students to do research and offer their opinions on important decisions being made on their heritage in their locality and how they affect the lives of people locally. Over the years, I know a number of students that have been involved in the project in schools over the years who have took their interest further and have gone on to become professional tour guides, and into other related college work.

 

The project is open to many directions of delivery. Students are pressed to engage with their topic -in order to make sense of it, understand and work with it. Students continue to experiment with the overall design and plan of their work. For example in general, students who have entered before might engage with the attaining of primary information through oral histories. The methodologies that the students create provide interesting ways to approach the study of local heritage. Students are asked to choose one of two extra methods (apart from a booklet) to represent their work. The first option is making a model whilst the second option is making a DVD. It is great to see students using modern up todate technology to present their findings. This works in broadening their view of approaching their project.

 

This project is kindly funded by Cork Civic Trust (viz the help of John X. Miller), Cork City Council (viz the help of Niamh Twomey), and the Heritage Council. Prizes are also provided by the Lifetime Lab, Lee Road and Sean Kelly of Lucky Meadows Equestrian Centre, Watergrasshill (www.seankellyhorse.com). Overall, the Schools’ Heritage Project for the last twelve years has attempted to build a new concerned generation of Cork people, pushing them forward, growing their self-development empowering them to connect to their world and their local heritage. Spread the word please. See my website, www.corkheritage.ie for more details and application forms.

 

 

Caption:

761a. Recent sunny days in Fitzgerald’s Park (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Question to the City Manager/ CE and Motions, Cork City Council Meeting, 22 September 2014

Uncategorized

 

Question to the Manager/ CE:

 

To ask the CE about the future of the ex Shandon Craft Centre? What is the plan regarding this site going forward and the keen interest expressed in developing the site as a community hub by local community groups? (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

 

Motions:

That the Honan Mausoleum in St Finbarre’s Cemetery be repaired; it is in a dreadful condition (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

 

That Douglas Swimming Pool Carpark and Road be resurfaced as per the capital money put aside for it at last December’s budget (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project, 2014/15

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

 

Cllr Kieran McCarthy is encouraging students in the Cork area to enter the Discover Cork: Schools’ Heritage Project, which has been launched for the 2014/ 15 school season. The Project, which is celebrating its twelfth year allows students to explore, investigate and debate their local heritage in a constructive, active and fun way. Interested students can pick any topic on Cork’s heritage to research and can participate as individuals, groups or as a class.  Students produce a project using primary material such as fieldwork, interviews, making models, DVDs of their area. 

Co-ordinator and founder of the project, Cllr Kieran McCarthy noted that “The project is about thinking about, understanding, appreciating and making relevant in today’s society the role of our heritage- our landmarks, our oral histories, our scenery in our modern world for upcoming citizens. So the project is about splicing together activity on issues of local history and heritage such as thinking, exploring, observing, thinking, discovering, researching, uncovering, revealing, interpreting and resolving. The Schools’ Heritage 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 Civic Trust, Cork City Council, The Heritage Council, Evening Echo, Lifetime Lab, Sean Kelly of Lucky Meadows Equestrian Centre, Watergrasshill and Cllr Kieran McCarthy. Application forms to enter the project can be viewed on Cllr McCarthy’s heritage website, www.corkheritage.ie.

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 18 September 2014

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

760a. Summer rays, Fitzgerald's Park

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 18 September 2014

“Notes on a Park”

 

 

Finding myself sitting in Fitzgerald’s Park, creating a walking tour for culture night is engaging (Friday, 19 September, 5pm, at park stage, free). I observe my fellow but unknown companions, a woman reading a book while her young child plays with an imagined friend in the area by the Michael Collins statue, a man doing yoga by the river. In the distance two men sit on a bench by the pond chatting about aspects of life and children use the trees and bushes to create an imagined play world. Passing the Cork Museum there is the avid tourist with a map in her hand, entering to explore the wonders of Cork’s past.

 

On reflection the tourist’s map does not show the imaginary landscapes created in the mind of the people in the park. Indeed, the tourist’s map does not tell the real truth about the place. The reality is completely different. I recall reading once that maps are supposed to be an accepted part of everyday life and are a graphic representation of space. Maps have symbols – line spacings representing the lie of the land, perhaps the everydayness of a place – topography, water, road lengths, junctions, spot heights. In reality, those spacings are much different. Looking at a map of Fitzgerald’s Park, you never get that sense of sacredness, tranquillity, people coming and going, change and continuity, the whispered conversations to the outburst of laughter – a living place created by the human experience.

 

On my visit, I walk on, acknowledge and chat to a colleague about his research and travels in New Zealand. The pond with its Fr. Mathew Memorial fountain is imposing as the ducks hypnotically paddle around in a circle. My mind conjures up a memory, the trips with my parents, sister and brother to Fitzgerald’s Park, a haven of rest for many Corkonians and a familiar place of my childhood. Indeed, now growing older, thinking about jumping on the Shaky Bridge, feeding the birds in the pond and falling in, playing on the swings and slides and watching the world go by could be metaphors for time turning, a type of enjoying the moment but growing up and moving on. I have no doubt that I’m not the only Corkonian who has taken time out to appreciate the sacred composure of Fitzgerald’s Park and to use it to solve some of life’s problems.

 

With engaging with the historical development of the city, part of the process involves dealing with the familiar places like Fitzgerald’s Park that people know but also unravelling the narrative of the forgotten. Cork has many forgotten places that exist adjacent to well known cityscapes. Exploring these angles, I find that the notion of Cork as a city has always been reinvented. Exploring the architecture of Fitzgerald’s Park, there are elements that Cork has always been a cosmopolitan city within Western European culture, always staying in touch with aspects of modernisation, its history in a sense creating a worthy former European Capital of Culture. Looking at the physical landscape of the Park, there are clues to a forgotten and not so familiar past. The entrance pillars on the Mardyke, the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion, the museum, the fountain in the middle of the central pond dedicated to Fr Mathew and timber posts eroding in the river were once part of one of Cork’s greatest historical events, the Cork International Exhibitions of 1902 and 1903. Just like the magical spell of Fitzgerald’s Park, the Mardyke exhibitions were spaces of power. Revered, imagined and real spaces were created. They were marketing strategies where the past, present and future merged, Aesthetics of architecture, colour, decoration and lighting were all added to the sense of spectacle and in a tone of moral and educational improvement. The entire event was the mastermind of Cork Lord Mayor Edward Fitzgerald, after which the park got it name.

 

The wandering of my mind is broken by the crying of a child passing pining for an ice cream. It’s time to ramble on again. Passing by the famous swings and slides, they look so small to me now, as the parents and guardians nearby sit on the benches. Some stare into mid space, others chat and laughing, others shout and perhaps others remember their youthful spell within the Park. High above, the imposing Shaky Bridge stands as a testament of strength as a mother leaves her screaming children loose to jump on this great Cork institution. The River Lee, like the park’s pond, is hypnotic as it flows steadily towards the city centre past the familiar, forgotten, real and imagined spaces of one of Cork’s greatest landmarks Fitzgerald’s Park.

 

Other tour: I will also conduct a tour of the city side of the old line on Saturday evening, 20 September starting at 6.30pm (free) at the entrance on The Marina side adjacent the Main Drainage station of the Amenity Walk (as part of Cork Harbour Open Day). The Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway, which opened in 1850, was among the first of the Irish suburban railway projects.  Sir John Benjamin MacNeill, the engineer of the Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway, was appointed engineer-in-chief of many projects in Ireland including plans for 800 miles of railway.

 

Caption:

760a. Summer rays, Fitzgerald’s Park (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

Library Staffing Crisis, Cllr Kieran McCarthy

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

Press Release, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Comments made at Cork City Council Meeting, 8 September 2014

 

The retirement of three senior librarians in the Council’s library staff is a cause for concern. With nearly over one hundred years experience collectively, this city has lost their banks of knowledge. In a time, where culture and arts is blooming and booming in this city, and in a time where our libraries are actively rolling out great educational programmes, there is a staffing crisis in our libraries. You get the impression that some branches are just about staying opening – sudden sicknesses, maternity leave or general leave may result in a further reduction of hours across the city.

The closure of the local studies section for two days a week, has led to many foreign visitors seeking information on their family histories being turned away if they arrive on Monday or Tuesday. The queries of general scholars build up and lead staff catching up on the Wednesday. The closure of the mobile library in Blackrock and Mahon has led to many people not being able to access books to read, a process they enjoy. Plans are progressing to open up a new library in Mahon but at this point in time, there are no staff to man this very important piece of cultural infrastructure. I have called on the new Chief Executive to review the matter and come up with a sustainable plan going forward. Where we are at the moment does no justice to the great work our libraries do.  I am also worried as well that this will lead to a speeding up of the process of the amalgamation of the City and County Libraries Services, which I feel will be detrimental to both city and county. Both work fine without the city taking over the operation of libraries in the far reaches of the county. This is another matter that needs to be reviewed.

 

Secure the National Diaspora Centre for Cork

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Press Release, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, Comments made at Cork City Council Meeting, 8 September 2014

 

Cork City Council recently entered the completion to secure national funding to get a national diaspora centre for this city. As a city, we need to make sure that the centre stays on the wider agenda for progressing Cork and do all that we can to secure it. This centre is as important as the event centre and needs to be pushed for especially in light of the stiff competition from Drogheda and Limerick in the current competition process. Almost 90,000 overseas visitors came to Ireland last year to trace their Irish roots, spending as much as €61m in doing so, according to Fáilte Ireland. More than half of those visiting the country to trace their Irish heritage are from North America.

 

I believe that Cork city, should be the location for a new Irish Diaspora Centre, which will serve as the hub in Ireland for returning diaspora members. Over 250,000 people emigrated Cork Harbour after the Great Famine with countless others during the twentieth century. It is estimated that the Irish diaspora comprises of approximately 71 million Irish people across the world. The Irish Global Diaspora Centre is a major national and international undertaking. A centre like this can act as a major and sustainable stimulus for Cork into the future. I believe that progressing this project would help to re-invigorate any area of Cork City, and the reason why this city needs it.