With everyone seemingly going ga-ga over the rise in house prices, it’s like Ireland has made a miraculous recovery. Hold off on buying that champers-fuelled jetpack just for a moment though, as Stephen Bourke looks into the housing crisis that is still very much in existence. The great big Bank of Ireland ad on Manor Street says something like, “I thought I’d be renting for the rest of my … Read More
Martin Luther King and the Obama Presidency
In the second of a three-part series Ronan Burtenshaw asks Gary Younge, Guardian journalist and author of ‘The Speech‘, about what the legacy of Martin Luther King means for the Obama presidency. What do you think Martin Luther King, had he survived, would think of the first African-American President? Younge: I can’t answer that question without first saying that it would be invidious to pretend that I can channel Martin … Read More
[Piseogs] The Widow’s Curse
Piseogs are the disappearing, peculiarly Irish, superstitions that attend every aspect of human behaviour. Ian Ó Loingsigh takes us back to the days when the act of cursing implied something slightly more sinister than calling your friend a fuckhead for robbing your flip-flops. One often wonders what has become of that famous Irish spunk that we’re all supposed to be full of. Siphoned off by weekly rituals of … Read More
#SpareChange: The World Is My Country.
A new poster series sets out to celebrate people’s resistance to the First World War. Conservative nincompoop and education secretary Micheal Gove created a right old hoo-ha, across the pond recently when he blamed the comedy genius of Blackadder for creating the myth of lions led to their death by donkeys. We can expect plenty more such bollox around WW1 as the British elite lays down the groundwork for a … Read More
The Price We Pay
Ronan Burtenshaw examines the State of the Nation for Ireland’s youth. From internships to precarious employment, what is the reality behind the figures? Young people in the West increasingly find themselves with worse standards of living and career prospects than their parents. But is there really a crisis of young people here and abroad? And, if so, why? Unite economist Michael Taft puts it strongly, “don’t be under any illusions. … Read More
A Magdalene Story
Ronan Burtenshaw interviews Martina Keogh – a survivor of the Gloucester (now Seán McDermott) Street Laundry – about her experiences of incarceration and forced labour at the hands of the Church and state. Martina Keogh was sixteen when she was arrested for fighting in 1966. Originally from Whitefriar Street in the south inner-city she spent much of her childhood in institutions or struggling with a sexually-abusive step-father. At her court … Read More
Granby Park.
Wee video from Outsider magazine bringing us back to those lazy hazy summer days. So, do ye miss it now its gone?
Advance Scambridge
For our younger readers – that disgraceful JobBridge scam is not the 1st time Advance Pitstop have been in the news. Garda corruption was highlighted in 2001 when an investigation was launched into how Advance Pitstop won contracts for Garda tyre-supply and subsequently charged well above their initial tenders, eventually having to return some £100k from the £2.1m spent between ’98-2001. Holidays. Advance Pitstop took Garda civilian fleet manager Oliver … Read More
Keeping Dublin Clubbing Through The Recession.
While you’re sweating the nights away on the dance floor there are a crew of folks working behind the scene to keep the whole thing afloat. Madison S. Pauly talks to Bodytonic’s Trevor O’Shea (known to many as Tayor…) about keeping Dublin clubbing through the recession. When Trevor O’Shea acquired a beat-up storefront on South Abbey Street, the deal was his company’s biggest venture to date. Trev had been … Read More
Direct Provision: Where Time Becomes A Loop
Back in early October, something unusual happened – instead of recycling the reactionary moral panic of his listeners into stellar ratings, Joe Duffy turned his attention to the fate of those left languishing in direct provision. Rashers Tierney takes a look at our nation’s latest institutional wrongdoing. With Joe’s blessing, the oddball maze of myths and lies, the stories of free cars and prams and of eating up local authority … Read More