Kieran’s Comments, Tourism Opportunities, Cork City Council Meeting, 11 February 2013

Uncategorized

To give E.250,000 to arts groups in this recession is very positive.

There is a very strong cultural vein in the city, one that needs to be exploited more.

Walking around the city at the moment on the Grand Parade and St Patrick’s Street, I see we still have the happy Christmas and happy new year banners up…they look like they are crumbling off their connections. They are drab and we need to move on now with the city’s cultural programme for the year… at this moment in time, mid February…you would think there is nothing on in the city for the year.

The Titanic banner on the Grand Parade needs to replaced.

The recent luminous signs set up at different points in the city, one on Washington Street, the South Mall….advising passengers to slow down, belt up are fair enough…but the emphasis on the negative of don’t do the following does not create the positive environment such signs could create. At present these signs are intrusive on the landscape…the one on the Grand Parade jars with the World War I memorial space. The one on Washington Street adds to the drab look of the former Capital Cinema.

The city has 24 festivals ahead of itself this year…we need to push these and get people into the city…the arts form a major part of why our restaurants are full and give many people a purpose to come into the city.

The case in point being recently, the Sound of Music is on the Opera House and the bringing of thousands of families to the city centre….investing in our car park…our theatre…our local restaurants and bars, all of which are rate-payers.

This city is very good at providing support for the arts but we need to harness the arts more to bring people into town…we need to make Cork, that city of festivals, a city of arts…especially as we are investing heavily in it.

Kieran’s Question and Motions and to the City Manager, Cork City Council Meeting, 11 February 2012

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

 

To ask the Manager how much was the spend on Christmas in the Park for 2012 compared to 2011 and 2010? (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

 

Motions:

That the Coal Quay be marketed and rebranded as a heritage quarter and that a marketing strategy be employed to support it (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

To get a summary report on ongoing initiatives to combat dereliction on Barrack Street and Blackpool (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 7 February 2013

Cork History, Uncategorized

677a. Professor John Marcus O'Sullivan, Minister for Education

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 7 February 2013

“Technical Memories (Part 43) – A Bill in Question

 

By early June 1930, industrial unrest was being talked about at the Crawford Municipal Technical Institute. An article published in the Cork Examiner on 11 June 1930 notes a letter being read out at the committee meeting, which asserted the gripes of part-time teachers. They would not resume work for the next session if there was any reduction on the existing rate of remuneration, which as agreed the previous year included 20 per cent advance on the pre war basic rate.

At this June meeting the programme of instruction was also presented, which was the same as the previous year with the addition of a course in sanitary science. The committee anticipated that there would be a number of public health appointments in the future and the course was to be held with a view to qualify candidates. The course was to be conducted by a doctor and it was suggested to comprise 30 lectures. Mr King, the principal, proposed that a fee of £25 be paid by interested participants. After regular business, the committee members made final arrangements for the reception and entertainment of the delegates to the Technical Congress in Cork in the institute on 11-13 June 1930.

The Irish Technical Congress was an annual assembly of teachers, members of various county and urban committees, and others interested in the technical or vocational side of education. The year 1930 coincided with the Vocational Education Bill which was before the Oireachtas in Dáil Éireann. The Cork Examiner on 12 June 1930 details that the Bill proposed to recast the entire system which for many years was under control of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, but in 1924 was taken over by the Department of Education. The editorial notes;” At the same time, it may have been just as well that the consideration of the whole scheme of vocational education should be put back until the present time, thus allowing time for the easing off of the early enthusiasms…the country is in calm mood today and even the enthusiasts of seven years ago, having learned important lessons by experience, are less inclined to rush matters”.

Professor John Marcus O’Sullivan, Minister for Education, visited Germany in Easter 1928 and visited a range of facilities for the study of the education question in that country. In a subsequent follow up paper he noted that he met German educationalists who described: “We have lost everything in the war, but the one thing left to us is the youth of the country and their proper education- we are determined to make the most of these two things”. In February 1929 Minister O’Sullivan, in a keynote speech in Listowel Co. Kerry, noted that Ireland had not suffered in the same way as Germany, but the German statement could be applied to Ireland. Irish people, he asserted had brains, imagination and ability which, trained in the proper way, was one of the biggest assets the country had. The Minister was convinced that Technical Education ought to be looked upon as “important as primary, and as honourable as secondary and university education and not as a Cinderella amongst the different branches of education,and  not as a luxury to occupy people’s evenings”. In his opinion, which was also based on extensive interviews with Irish technical institutes, no country could afford to lag behind in the matter of training; “if they had not a properly trained population in craftsmanship they could not have a successful nation”. He hoped that a system would be developed whereby boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 16 years would be compelled to attend continuation schools. It was hoped to introduce a part-time system of compulsory attendance for those who were employed and a whole time attendance for those who were not employed. He hoped to get rid of the general claim that technical education did not play any part in the country’s industrial training. He also hoped to evolve a system, which would play a real part in the “promotion and welfare of Ireland’s industries”.

In the 12 June 1930 editorial in the Cork Examiner, the journalist admitted that the system of agricultural and technical education initiated under the Act of 1899 had done a great deal for the country but it was not sufficient for modern requirements. He asserted: “In every country more and more attention is being given to the practical training of young people in the scientific principles of the occupations or trades, which they intend to follow, and not only is instruction given in the underlying principles, but actual workshop training is provided…rule of thumb methods no longer serve the purpose of either the skilled worker or the so-called unskilled man”.

The editorial notes that the new Bill was aimed at providing the necessary facilities for rural and urban areas; The bill was a complicated measure calling for serious reflection: “The teachers and members of Technical committees now meeting at Cork should be better able than any others to form opinions as to its merits or defects, and recommendations they make in connection with it should receive careful consideration from the Government of the Free State”.

To be continued…

Wanted: looking to talk to people about their memories who attended the “Crawford Tech”, c.1930-c.1970, contact Kieran, 087 655 33 89

Caption:

677a. Professor John Marcus O’Sullivan, Minister for Education, 1926-1932 (source: Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 31 January 2013

Cork History, Landscapes, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized

676a. Fords Works, 1930s

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Indepedent, 31 January 2013

“Technical Memories (Part 42) – Cutbacks and Apprenticeships

 

A late April meeting in 1928 for the City’s technical education committee reveals a raft of cuts to their educational programme. The minutes were published in the Cork Examiner on 2 May 1928 and they outline that the Department of Education wrote to the committee conveying approval to parts of their scheme for the academic year, 1927-28. They approved of payment on salaries and the cost of giving a bonus to the whole time employees for the period. A contribution of £2,227 10s 1d was to be made by the Department towards the overall programme, contingent upon the fulfilment on conditions laid down and the efficiency of the instruction.

Approval was withheld on certain expenditures that were proposed. In view of the small enrolment in the printing trade classes, high cost and bulk of machinery, and lack of accommodation for other classes, the Department were unable to sanction proposed expenditure of £270 for a printing press and accessories. They were unable to approve of the payment of a grant in excess of £450 to the School of Music. They were not prepared to sanction a salary in excess of £200 per annum to a Mr Tobin, the Irish teacher. They were not prepared to approve any increase in the existing wages of Mrs L Manning and Miss M Looney, cleaners, and Miss E Falvey and Mrs C Regan, Department of Education attendants. The Department drew attention to the limited amount of teaching undertaken annually by a large number of whole-time teachers. The Department had laid down 800 hours teaching per annum as a reasonable minimum for certain classes of whole-time teachers. It was requested that a reorganisation of duties be initiated as that would lead to the full employment of such teaching staff and a possible reduction in the employment of part-time teachers.

The Department also wrote stating that they were unable to contribute to any special financial aid towards the provision of adequate accommodation or equipment for the teaching of motor car engineering at the Technical Institute, owing to the heavy demands made annually by the other committees. They were in agreement as to the necessity for the development but suggested that the expenses could be defrayed out of the savings held by the committee or by means of a small additional loan from the Cork Borough Council. They approved of the invitation of tenders for the erection of a motor engineering laboratory in accordance with the specification and plan submitted. The Principal of the Technical Institute, Mr King, said the proposed accommodation was to consist of a garage, costing approximately £400. He considered it the most essential thing for the school at that moment as other classes were suffering owing to the overcrowding in the Motor Engineering Department. It was unanimously decided to advance the money from the Committee’s savings, and it was ordered that an estimate be prepared and tenders invited for the work.

The first committee meeting in early May 1928 gives insights into the committee’s opinions on the reform of technical education at government level. The sitting TD on the Committee R.S. Anthony referred to the fact that one of the upcoming matters that would come before the annual technical congress would be the position of the Education Commission, and its recommendations with regard to technical education going forward. He hoped that the delegates would interest themselves in such findings, especially the recommendations on the training of apprentices. He noted that in Dáil ireann he had made an effort to press for the putting into operation of such schemes for some time; “the Education Commission’s report had been referred to dozens of time in the Dáil by their representatives, and there was no delay in taking action on that report. A certain procedure had to be adopted before a Bill dealing with it could be introduced”.

Brother Ryan, another member of the technical education committee, expressed the view that a great deal of technical skill was required in connection with important City works that gave considerable employment. He noted “Cork people are practically unskilled owing to lack of facilities for the providing of technical education for them”. Mr Foley supported Brother Ryan’s and instanced cases where people seeking employment in Fords were unable to get positions owing to lack of training. Men with such training had to be brought from England and elsewhere to fill such positions.

Mr J F Murphy referred to the efforts of the Master painters’ Association in connection with the training of apprentices in that trade in the Cork School. They were informed by the government that funds would support it. The Lord Mayor, Seán French, said that such classes were needed. He referred to the external appearance of some of the city’s buildings, even in the main streets of the city, and said he thought that the firms having such buildings should do something to make them more presentable. They should be encouraged to decorate the outward portions of their buildings and premises. That would not alone give a good deal of work to painters but would provide a training forum for apprentices.

To be continued…

Wanted: looking to talk to people about their memories who attended the “Crawford Tech”, c.1930-c.1970, contact Kieran, 087 655 33 89

Caption:

676a. Ford Plant, Cork, c.1930 (source: Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Motions and Question to the City Manager, Cork City Council Meeting, 28 January 2013

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

 

Question to the Manager:

To ask the manager for the commercial rate struck each year from 1995- present day? (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

Motions:

That the Council check and fix the drainage on and around Cusheen Road (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

 

In light of the Good Shepherd Convent fire, that the Council work with the HSE to secure Our Lady’s Hospital, and to remove valuable artefacts like the organ in its church and identify other aspects of value and put them aside for protection against the elements (Cllr Kieran McCarthy)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 24 January 2013

Cork History, Uncategorized

675a.Professor Alfred O'Rahilly, UCC

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 24 January 2013

“Technical Memories (Part 41) – O’Rahilly’s Lament”

 “I have no use for ideas in themselves- they must be translated into life or literature. Too many of us are quick on the uptake but might be slow on the output” (Professor Alfred O’Rahilly, 10 October 1927, lecture to the members of the Economic and Literary Society of the Cork Municipal School of Commerce).

Professor O’Rahilly’s lecture in one sense gives an insight into his personal thoughts on the problems of the Irish Free State. Indeed, much of what he noted in his lecture has echoes in any age of Irish history, no mind in his time. Some of his ideas are thought provoking at any rate to refer to especially in building the story of the more social theory side of technical education in Cork. In his lecture entitled “Efficiency” he noted that he was not much of a believer in brains, which he had found “did not count for very much in life at all”. He believed in character, grit, will power, and ‘spunk’. He believed not so much in the man but in his capacity for getting out what was in him. He commented that most people only owned a very small bit of themselves, and that bit they had no control over. He noted that he had met printers to carpenters, who were as good “as any man”, but they lacked power of concentration. Some people he noted “just go along with half minds on the jobs”. What was required he commented was to be all there- the majority of the people, he believed, were “half-witted and need to have their minds mobilised for the work in hand”.

Professor O’Rahilly had seen much change in Ireland in years previous to his lecture. He had led Irish delegations to the International Labour Organization conferences in 1924, 1925 and 1932, and took on a conciliatory role in trade union and employers disputes in Munster. Standing as a candidate in the Cork Borough for Cumann na nGaedheal, he was elected to the 4th Dáil at the 1923 general election. He resigned in 1924. He had became Registrar of University college Cork in 1920, and held the post until 1943 when he became President of the University. He spent a year, in 1927, at Harvard studying social and political theory. Indeed he had a huge interest in adult education as advocated by one of his biographers Denis O’Sullivan in 1989. O’Rahilly would in time set up an adult education programme that extended university education in social and economic subjects to a much wider audience.

In his 1927 lecture O’Rahilly noted that the primary motive force in life should be religious and social. In a country like America he observed that the “mere exercise of power seemed to be an end in itself and seemed to enable them to be efficient in a sense. Through the mere exercise of power they were looking for money, enjoyment, Ford cars, and pictures”. He did not think that was desirable and it was not very applicable to a “poor country” like Ireland.

Referring to obvious cases where a sense of social obligation was not sufficiently present, O’Rahilly went on to instance the Irish political system, about which there was a great deal of discussion at that time. He noted: “In a lot of ways we must only admit we deserve it; we know we have not been carrying out these things with the high sense of public duty that we should do…Our obligations should not be to the candidate for the position, but to the people he is going to serve who are very often poor people. Their bounden duty was to vote for the man who was efficient but very little of that was found in the country…They [politicians] had a solemn obligation to the public and to the poor but they had little consciousness of it. The first thing necessary was the motive force that would drive them on and give them something to live for”. However, he followed this up by commenting that the “social sense cut both ways”. Those elected had also got to live and work in the country; They were not unique. They were not sports or supermen. They were not capable of working in isolation from their party fellows; “Even Newton or Einstein had first to master the accumulated store of knowledge and only by piecing together what other men had thought and done”.

In a wide ranging lecture, Professor O’Rahilly found that a great number of Cork men were receptive to new ideas. With a strong theme of what Americans were doing in America, he finished up his delivery speaking about the national diaspora and their potential; “let us not forget that the greatest of them all are the millions of our kith and kin beyond the seas…we have got to close up our ranks and make a united appeal; I do not mean a begging expedition…they are willing to organise on the other side, and there are three or four big business men who would gladly place their services at the disposal of their country if asked, but they never were”.

To be continued…

Wanted: looking to talk to people about their memories who attended the “Crawford Tech”, c.1930-c.1970, contact Kieran, 087 655 33 89

Caption:

675a. Professor Alfred O’Rahilly, UCC (source: Boole Library, UCC)

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 17 January 2013

Cork History, S.E. Ward Local History, Uncategorized

674a. Capwell Road, October 1927

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 17 January 2013

 

“Technical Memories (Part 40) –Matters of Efficiency”

 

“The latest scheme of 148 buildings, on the Capwell site, off the Douglas Road are now all but ready for inhabiting. A further scheme of 115 houses at Evergreen and Curragh Road is definitely contemplated and is expected to be soon undertaken. The average rents of these houses, Mr Monahan intimated, would be from 11s to 12s per week, and this rent would apply to the cheapest class of dwelling house, with four or five rooms, and built in twos and threes” (Cork Examiner editorial, 16 November 1927).

One year after Cork: A Civic Survey (1926) was published, certainly the ideas within it had been embraced by City Commissioner Philip Monahan who led the city in light of the Council, the councillors themselves, being dismissed. In terms of Capwell Road, Philip Monahan outlined in an editorial in the Cork Examiner on 16 November 1927 that building long straight rows or terraces would mean a little saving in the original expense of erection. The lay-out costs could also be somewhat further reduced by limiting the size of the gardens, a restriction which in building layouts at that time was not desirable. Every house built by the Corporation under their previous schemes had at least half a rood of garden attached, and this was quite a consideration for the occupier to want.

According to Monahan, the income from capital on building investments had been set down as 8 1/3 per cent, so that the annual rent would equal one twelfth of the cost of building. The basis of reckoning also worked out that the cost of the house should be twice the annual wage, and taking the average wage in Cork City as being 50s per week, or £130 per annum, this would mean that the cost of a house for the average wage-earner should be £260 in order that it might be let at a reasonable rent. However, Monahan pointed out that £200 would not build even a three-roomed house at that time. The lowest contract price submitted to him for the erection of three-roomed houses averaged £429 and five roomed £601. These figures did not include acquisition of land, laying out of ground, making roads and footpaths and architect’s fees. In his opinion, the only way in which building costs could be reduced would be that labour should do one of three things-either work longer hours, accept lower rates of wages or give a greater output or agree on a combination of all three.

Efficiency seemed also to be the theme amongst the committee overseeing technical instruction in the city.  Indeed in early October 1927, they clashed with Philip Monahan over assistance he gave them through his city engineer Stephen Farrington over the repair of the roof in the School of Commerce on the South Mall. The committee noted that the assistance ran over the estimate given by Monahan and they wrote to him asking for reasons why. In a stern letter back, Monahan was unhappy with the thankless letter and for several months, both sides were unhappy with events as outlined in technical instruction committee meetings.

In early October 1927 as well, the Cumann na Gaedhael government under W T Cosgrave was returned to lead the Irish Free State. There was much debate in the papers at the time on what the future of Ireland should be like. Indeed, perhaps one of the most interesting insights into the ideas of educationalists on Irish society at the time came from Professor Alfred O’Rahilly, UCC. On 10 October 1927, the opening lecture of the session 1927-28 to the members of the Economic and Literary Society of the Cork Municipal School of Commerce, was delivered in the lecture hall of the School of Art by Professor O’Rahilly.  Entitled Efficiency, it was a critique on the social mobility of Ireland to embrace a positive future at that time. O’Rahilly was a Professor of Mathematical Physics. During the Irish War of Independence, he was supporter of Sinn Féin and was interned on Spike Island for his political writings. In October 1921 he was constitutional adviser to the Irish Treaty Delegation. O’Rahilly supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and in 1922 he composed a draft constitution for the Irish Free State with Darrell Figgis.

In his 1927 speech Professor O’Rahilly in his opening section spoke about opportunities: “In this country very often they [citizens] heard it said that they had not got opportunities. Of course that was true, but it was not enough to provide the opportunities; they must also have a mentality in order to avail of them. They must have efficiency; mere institutions were not enough. The fundamental of efficiency was aliveness; efficiency meant an intensive doing of a thing, the power of bringing one’s mind to bear on the point. This might seem very easy but in his experience in life it was very rare. Most people he had met in life, he believed, lived in a permanent state of distraction. They were never wholly in command of their energies, not wholly asleep, and not wholly awake, but in a life long dose”.

To be continued…

Wanted: looking to talk to people about their memories who attended the “Crawford Tech”, c.1930-c.1970, contact Kieran, 087 655 33 89

 

Caption:

674a. Capwell Road, October 1927 (source: Cork City Library)

Kieran’s Comments, Summer Time, Cork City Council Meeting, 14 January 2013

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

 

Lord Mayor, I understand there is a European Union Directive 2000/84/EC of 19 January 2001. As a result, all ED member states start summer time simultaneously. Consequently, time differences between member states remain constant throughout the year. Were we to consider extending summer time, and subsequently hoping to introduce such a change we would first have to convince all 26 other EU member states to do likewise in order that time differences between member states remain constant throughout the year

In considering any potential changes to our current time arrangements I am sure the Councillor will appreciate that we must consider what is happening in the UK, not least because we have same time arrangements, they are our biggest trading partner and we share a border with Northern Ireland.

Consideration must be also given to how such a change would affect the interaction between the different time zones, specifically between this island and our neighbouring island and between this island and the main Continent of Europe.

Kieran’s Comments, €13.2 million cut to the vocational education, Cork City Council Meeting, 14 January 2013

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

The Government recently announced a €13.2 million cut to the vocational education committee (VEC) sector, along with an increase to the pupil-teacher ratio at post-Leaving Cert (PLC) level.

This move has sparked controversy at a time when there is an increased focus on directing jobless people into a variety of education or training programmes.

Some colleges have pointed out that the real number of teachers who are likely to lose their jobs could be significantly higher, given that many work part-time.

The City of Cork VEC is due to lose 24 posts, for example, but colleges locally claim that as many as 50 jobs are at risk.

Staff at one of the colleges in the city – St John’s Central College – have been warned that as many as seven of its courses, ranging from veterinary nursing to software engineering, may be lost as a result of the changes.

Students at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa are already campaigning to save 13 teachers who will potentially lose their jobs, including three staff from the college’s renowned performing arts department which has produced grad

The country’s largest further education college, the Cork College of Commerce could lose 22 part-time teachers who deliver courses that lead to jobs, while St John’s College could possibly lose up to 15 specialised teaching staff.

It seems clear that the Department of Education doesn’t understand what further education does. These cuts will close courses that actually lead to jobs in industry and will put both teachers and students on the live register.

The Government is being completely short-sighted and creating more debt for the Exchequer by transferring the problem from the Department of Education to the Department of Social Welfare.

 

(Source: based on media reports in the Irish Examiner and Evening Echo plus emails from principals)

Kieran’s Comments, CSPCA, Cork City Council Meeting, 14 January 2013

Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

 

 Lord Mayor, on the CSPCA issue, I think overall I am disappointed that this review of the CSPCA hasn’t completely being finished.

 

There are large questions of the original motion that have not being answered the comparison asked for in the original motion with management and practices nationally hasn’t materialises…there are still governance issues such as the financial management that the Council has still not gone through. We still have not got a set of audited accounts before us. I’m not saying there is anything wrong but I would rather dot all the ‘i’s and cross all the ‘t’s in light of the deficiencies that have been found there in terms of paper work and this is outlined in the report in front of us.

 

Whereas there have been some positive changes been made, there are a lot of unresolved issues in my opinion.

 

Overall I’m disappointed with the CSPCA, one of the oldest bodies in looking after stray animals in the city. I’m disappointed with their quite vocal attacks on members of the public who lobbied hard to get where we are this evening. Animal welfare deficiencies were found as revealed in the report before us.

 

I hope the process of inspections has moved the CSPCA to a better level to start rebuilding its relationship with the general public at large.

 

I am still disappointed that two councillors are not still appointed to their board of directors. A large amount of tax payer’s money is invested in the facility every year.

 

With that in mind I am calling for a vote to reject the manager’s report and that the motion be returned to the environment committee so that work on putting two councillors on the board can be completed.