Cork Harbour Open Day Programme, Saturday 20 September 2014,
http://www.corkharbour.ie/img14/CorkHarbourOpenDayProgramme2014.pdf
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 18 September 2014
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
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
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.
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 11 September 2014
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 11 September 2014
“Technical Memories (Part 88) – A Nation of Regions”
“The Minister noted that industrial development called for even wider and more varied activity in the educational sphere, and the Cork City Vocational Education Committee had always been conscious of its responsibility to make sound and proper provision for technical and technician training accordingly. It now had provided the means for apprentice tradesmen to get proper training for the important industries of building and furniture” (journalist, Irish Times, 27 February, 1965, p.6).
The years 1963-1965 were key years for economic policy making in Ireland. The first Economic Programme published by the Government in November 1958 was a 50-page document containing general statements of government policy and giving an indication of the aids to production which the government proposed. The first part of the Second Programme for Economic Expansion was published in August 1963 and the second part in July 1964. The policy focused on expenditures for education, with a doubling of expenditures planned, and high production goals for the dairy industry.
The 1960s coincided with a major thrust in the development of technical education with the publication of Investment in Education in 1962 and Training of Technicians in Ireland in 1964. The then Minister for Education, Dr Patrick Hillery, in May 1963 signalled the Government’s intention to arrange with appropriate vocational education committees the provision of a limited number of technical colleges with regional status, the establishment of comprehensive schools and access by students to all public examinations.
In a Dáil Éireann speech on Wednesday, 5 February 1964, Dr Hillery, commented that the regional technical colleges were to provide courses for all three of the following: (a) The Technical Leaving Certificate, (b) Apprentice training and (c) High level technician training. The arrangement was to avoid as far as possible a duplication of staff and equipment. Regional Colleges were to cater on a nation-wide basis for various specialised occupations. The Minister envisaged about ten such colleges. In addition to Dublin (with two centres), Cork and Limerick, the long term was to have colleges at Waterford, Galway, Dundalk, Sligo, Athlone, and Carlow. He noted in the Dáil: “The establishing of these Regional Technical Colleges and courses involves the question of sites, plans, financing, building, syllabuses, staffing and organising generally. Planning in these regards is proceeding as rapidly as possible”.
Fast forward by a year and a journalist with The Irish Times outlines on 27 February 1965 the visit of Minister Hillery to Cork to open the Cork School of Building and Cork School of Furniture on Sawmill Street (the previous day). During his speech Dr Hillery outlined plans for various technical trades and commented that his department was committed to broadening the scope of technical education of all levels throughout the country through the provision of regional technical colleges. Minister Hillery noted that the government’s intention was that there would be reasonably large scholarship provision “to enable good students to avail themselves of the courses so that national progress would not be held back because of an inadequate supply of suitable qualified technical personnel”.
A significant factor in the provision of the new colleges was the organisation by An Cheard-Chomhairle of apprentice training. The furniture trades had already become designated trades by a decision of the Chomhairle. This meant that an educational standard had been set for admission to apprenticeships and a training schedule had been drawn up for apprentices, which included a certain amount of school work. The aims of An Cheard-Chomhairle for the raising of the standard of craftsmanship could not be achieved unless the proper facilities for schooling were provided. Government policy noted that for some trades, it was uneconomic and impracticable to have apprentice training facilities at every vocational school or even in every large centre of population. Accordingly, for the furniture trades, three regional centres for apprenticeship training were set up – a school in Cork, a section of Bolton Street College in Dublin, and the School at Navan, Co Meath. They aimed to improve standards of craftsmanship and rates of production. The Minister in Cork remarked of their need and the building activity across the country; “At a time when there were feverish signs of building activity to be seen in every town and village and sometimes also in the open spaces of the countryside, it was scarcely necessary to indicate how desirable and necessary it was to give the soundest possible basic training to young people in the various building trades. The building trades had not yet been declared designated but things were shaping that way”.
By May 1965 and the publication of the first progress report in the second programme for Economic Expansion, plans were advanced for the regional technical colleges. Tenders for the building of some of the colleges were to be invited by the end of that year. In addition, an OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, founded in 1961) survey on investment in Irish education was published to critique what areas of science policy should be advanced. It refers to a detailed and valuable report on “Technology and Technical Manpower” prepared by Cumann na n-Innealteoirí, which was to provide a framework for future engineering courses.
To be continued…
759a. This map published in The Irish Times, 26 May 1965 shows overlapping government regions; the black lines are the borders of the Bord Fáilte regions; the dotted lines represent the physical planning regions; the cities and towns named represent the sites of the new regional technical colleges (source: Cork City Library).
Kieran’s Historical Tours of Fitzgerald’s Park and Old Line
As part of Cork’s Culture Night on Friday 19 September, Cllr Kieran McCarthy will conduct a walking tour of Fitzgerald’s Park and its environs (new tour, 5pm, free, meet at Park stage, approx 1 hour). The park’s 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 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 whom the park got its name.
Interested in finding out more on the Old Cork-Blackrock and Passage Railway Line and its connection to Cork Harbour? Cllr Kieran McCarthy will conduct a tour of the city side of the old line on Saturday evening, 20 September starting at 6.30pm at the entrance on The Marina side adjacent the Main Drainage station of the Amenity Walk. The tour is free (approx 1 1/2 hours, as part of Cork Harbour Open Day) and is open to all. South east Cork City is full of historical gems; the walk not only talks about the history of the line but also the history of the villages and harbour that surround the old line itself.
The Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway, which opened in 1850, was among the first of the Irish suburban railway projects. The original terminus, designed by Sir John Benson was based on Victoria Road but moved in 1873 to Hibernian Road. The entire length of track between Cork and Passage was in place by April 1850 and within two months, the line was opened for passenger traffic. In May 1847, low embankments, which were constructed to carry the railway over Monarea Marshes (Albert Road-Marina area), was finished. In Blackrock, large amounts of material were removed and cut at Dundanion to create part of the track there. Due to the fact that the construction was taking place during the Great Famine, there was no shortage of labour. A total of 450 men were taken on for the erection of the embankments at the Cork end of the line. Another eighty were employed in digging the cutting beyond Blackrock. These and other stories feature on Kieran’s tour.
Kieran’s Question to the City Manager and Motions, Cork City Council Meeting, 8 September 2014
Question to the Manager/ CE:
To ask the manager what is the plan to improve the aesthetics of the trough on either side of the displayed town wall in Bishop Lucey Park; the empty troughs look terrible (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)
Motions:
That Cork City Council carry out the agreement to resurface the rest of the resident’s carparks in Greenhills Estate, as agreed with residents (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
That Cork City Council carry out the agreement to provide adequate traffic calming measures on Boreenmanna Road (as part of recent works) and a safe crossing near the Willow Lawn junction, as agreed with residents (Cllr Kieran McCarthy).
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 4 September 2014
Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,
Cork Independent, 4 September 2014
“Technical Memories (Part 87) – A Country Renewed”
It was a time of significant change and transformation, culturally and physically in 1950s and 1960s Cork. The last number of weeks has focussed on a number of ‘heavy’ industrial monuments in the region. Sites have been discussed to illuminate Cork’s role in the industrial expansion of Ireland – Whitegate Oil Refinery, Haulbowline Steel Holdings, Verolme Shipyard, ESB Stations, Gouldings Fertilisers, Cork Airport, Fords, Dunlops, developments on Tivoli’s docks, as well as the revamp of the city’s docks.
The Cork sites were encouraged in their development by government through their policy documents. However the Cork industries also bucked the trend moving ahead of the national development curve with great leadership behind them. Between 1945 and 1973, Ireland moved from being a largely agricultural to one increasingly complex global framework. Ireland could attract mobile capital from national companies. During his tenure as Taoiseach from 1959 to 1966, Sean Lemass of Fianna Fáil focussed on the provision of additional exports, the creation of new export markets and the generation of further employment. It was also recognised that to acquire expansions various social actors had to be brought together, particularly the trade unions, business interests and farmers’ groups into the economic policy-making process.
A book entitled The Lemass Era (2005) edited by Brian Given and Gary Murphy outlines that between 1951 and 1958, gross domestic product rose by less than one per cent per year. Employment fell by 12 per cent, and the unemployment rate rose. Industrial output expanded at 2.8 per cent yearly while output per farmer grew at a respectable 3.4 per cent due to economic policy reform. However by 1960 the average British worker still earned at least forty per cent more than his Irish counterpart. This low salary structure served as a strong incentive for Irish skilled workers to emigrate even when not threatened by unemployment. Despite industrial progress, Irish Domestic Product was still only 60 per cent of the Western European average. The process of post-war recovery was characterised by intensive industrialisation and the development of a strong export potential. Ireland was on the periphery in both an economic and political sense.
In 1958 T K Whitaker, secretary of the Department of Finance, penned a policy document, entitled Economic Development. Within its introduction, he commented on eliminating restrictive economic policies; “we can no longer rely for industrial development on extensive tariff and quota protection. Foreign industrialists will bring skills and techniques we need, and continuous and widespread publicity abroad is essential to attract them. If foreign industrial investment does not rapidly increase, a more radical removal of statutory restrictions on such investments should take place”. Whitaker outlined two ways to attract foreign corporations: remove restrictions and give incentives for foreign firms to establish bases in Ireland. He suggested that the Control of Manufactures Acts of 1932 and 1934 should be amended and a series of proposals intended to attract outside investors to Ireland should be activated.
Whitaker proposed that the IDA should expand its staff, particularly in North America, and should strengthen and advance its efforts to attract foreign capital. He further recommended that the available capital be increased for outright industrial grants, which would increase the country’s productive capacity and bring new techniques and methods. Ireland had to become more efficient so that its products could be sold on an increasing scale in export markets. A white paper was drafted from Whitaker’s report with a number of actions solidified. In time, Lemass changed the title of the new act from a “Repeal of the Control of Manufactures Act” to an “Act for the Encouragement of Export”.
The white paper by the government on Whitaker’s work was published in 1958. This document ushered in an era of official commitment to some form of economic planning. It played a key role in redirecting government thinking and in preparing the way for new economic policies of the 1960s. Lemass completed the process of putting in place a substantial industrial support structure, covering technology, exporting and support for firms such as the IDA. In the same year, Ireland made its first application for membership in the European Economic Community in 1961.
The first programme covered the years 1959 to 1963. In 1961 during the period of this programme, the volume of GNP rose by over four per cent a year, which was faster than any of the projections put forward in 1958. Not only did living standards rise by 50 per cent, by 1971, the population had risen by over 100,000. This is also reflected in the suburban expansion of cities across the country and the construction of new houses. In the Cork context, it led to the city’s first development plan in 1969 with a proposed spend of £30m on development and redevelopment and enormous foci on the provision of social housing, drainage and new road structures. Millions more were proposed to be spent on a new regional hospital and a new regional technical college (more on this next week).
If anyone has stories of attending the Crawford Tech in the 1960s, I would like to hear them. Unfortunately I lost some phone numbers, so I’d appreciate any info and photos on the Tech, 0876553389.
Caption:
758a. Seán Lemass on Time magazine, 1963 (source: Cork City Library)
Shandon Clock, 3 September 2014
Further to recent press coverage concerning repair works to Shandon Clock, Cork City Council wish to clarify that although progress on the mechanism is substantially complete, some final testing work will be necessary over the next two weeks before the Clock becomes fully operational. The repair works have been carried out on programme and within budget and the Council, working with Church of Ireland as owners of Shandon Steeple and local clock specialists Stokes Clocks & Watches Ltd. are committed to ensuring that the future operation and maintenance of Shandon Clock is assured.
Kieran’s Historical Walking Tours, Heritage Week 2014
Thanks to everyone who supported my heritage week historical walking tours.
