Since 1833, legislation on intoxicating liquor and associated socialising has always come at the behest of special interest groups such as the Church, the Vintners, Dev or the supermarkets. Simon Price looks at what we’re up against. The last ten years have seen government legislate NAMA and bank bailouts to the ruination of the country while any moves to alter the status quo surrounding Irish nightlife have met fierce resistance … Read More
Postcards from the Parish Pump
The Irish Election Literature blog showcases the perverse nature of opportunism and spinelessness which runs deep in many who court our vote. Barry Gruff finds out more from its curator Alan Kinsella. It is fair to say most people don’t hold on to election flyers and leaflets for too long, before filing them to the nearest bin. This is not the case for Dubliner Alan Kinsella, who has been studiously … Read More
Bollotricks
They called for us all to put on the Green Jerseys, but when they got the call the only green we saw was the fat wads they stuffed in their wallets. Scratch Dat Itch explores the fine art of being two faced… You are the forgotten generation whose future was snatched in front of your eyes. Whilst you now shiver in the cold of uncertainty breaking down the doors to … Read More
[Look Up 4] Panels For Proles
At a protest outside the Dáil one day we found ourselves taking shelter from the rain in that sad-looking square next door. Taking a look about us we saw some extraordinary sculptures that have a certain totalitarian feel and topped off by some kind of Ironman-Michael O’Leary character spewing aircraft across the balcony. We gave Lisa Cassidy a bell, she’s behind the award-winning BuiltDublin.com blog, and asked does she know … Read More
#rabbleEye: Wally Cassidy
We asked the street photographer for a few words. Here’s what he had to say… I used to do a lot of street photography back then and you’d go wherever the big crowd was really. The market, the GPO – there was always republican protests on there, Dessie Ellis that kind of thing. Robert Capa, Elliot Erwitt sparked my interest of course but it was really Podge O’Farrell. He took … Read More
A Fistful of Bitcoins
Ed zillion takes us to the wild wild west of digital culture. The Libertarian Millennium, if you will. A place where the twin technologies Bitcoin and Tor have led to the emergence of an online community like no other with its own marketplace and its own currency. A place inhabited by a disparate collection of cyber-utopians, digital activists, scammers and their inevitable marks. A place where you can buy LSD … Read More
Voodoo People, Magic People.
With another annual budget blood letting over, our politicians are coming out in their hordes to justify their disgusting ways. So rabble has devised this rather traditional way of revenging their cuts. Make them squirm folks. Strike now while they gobble up airtime.
License To Pill…
The media leapt on the story, falling over themselves with delight at having a “new” chemical nasty to castigate – conflating MDMA and PMA in the same breath as if it was a new party sensation. This ignorant whoring for headlines has the consequence of making recreational users just go ‘meh’ to a media that cries wolf at every stage in the drugs debate. Remember the mephedrone hysteria?
Just Say Know: An Interview With The Irish Needle Exchange Forum
Definitely the media has an important role to play, some of them have been great, others not so much. It is also the individuals who make statements to the media who have a significant responsibility to ensure that their facts are right. The whole issue with the pmma was that people reporting about it didn’t really have a grasp on what it is.
[Street Art] Paint The Town.
Irish originality is an issue. Generally the work that clogs our local walls tends to over-reference past styles and overseas artists. Irish-directed stand-out work, outside of contained spaces such as the Drogheda Bridge Jam, is rarely acknowledged. This is unusual for a small country, or it would be if we had an Irish-managed version of the form to offer.