AIMSIR
We were lucky to completely miss the later monsoon and instead had a warm day, an occasionally sunny Spring day in Moore Street and it was great to see the street busy again. But later – ag stealladh báistí!
DAOINE
The core foireann today was Bróna, Daniel agus Diarmuid. Steve Mackey was present for a while helping too – he had brought a nut to fit a bolt, part of the assembly of our campaigning table. Steve had caused alarm in some quarters when he messaged people that “Diarmuid has lost a nut”.
While helping of one of the street-traders, Diarmuid asked an Albanian customer what was the word for the number four in Albanian – “katër”, she replied. Of course this is very similar to the equivalent word in a variety of other Indo-European languages (see ‘quatre’, ‘cuatro’) but perhaps most of all to the equivalent word in Irish: “ceathair” (ka-her)!
Two from the USA who know Bróna as Facebook friends appeared (this often happens), Jeff Schneider and his wife and seeing their interest, Diarmuid gave them a snap history tour. Jeff is a regular visitor to Ireland now and brings students over from the USA also.
The petition sheet was filling up quickly with signatures from people with a wide age-range, mostly Dubs with some migrants too, including one Portuguese woman who has been living here for years now.
As we were closing up we were approached by supporters from Dublin and Tyrone (but living in Dublin) to ask us for an update on the conservation struggle. Tom Clarke, IRB, Signatory of the Proclamation, who was in Moore Street and executed by the British, was from Tyrone and we were able to tell his fellow-county person that Clarke’s tobacconist and newsagent shop was nearby, the site now occupied by a convenience store at the north-east end of O’Connell Street.
It was later that we learned of the death of renowned songwriter Pete St. John who penned and composed “Fields of Athenry”, “Danny Farrell” and “Dublin in the Rare Aul’ Times”. We have sung the latter a number of times in Moore Street at the campaign stall and in January 2016 at the mass meeting we convened on the street.
UASDÁTAÍ/ UPDATES
We are informed that Monday 14th will be the closing date for observations in support of Appeals against Dublin Council’s Planning Department granting two demolition applications from property speculator Hammerson.
MYSTERY OF THE MISSING SIGNPOST
It was observant Steve Mackey who brought us the news that the signpost indicating the location of the O’Rahill Monument was missing. We had been officially requesting the placing of such a signpost for around four years – in the Mayor’s Moore Street Forum, through mails to City Councillors, in the Moore Street Expert Group – and had been assured a number of times would be produced (see this in 2019 for example https://www.fm104.ie/…/pressure-to-signpost-monument…/). In February this year while we supplied a history tour from the GPO to Moore Street for Dublin Live video we remarked on that absence of signposting an important monument and ….. one appeared on the street the very next day!
Enquiries on the street brought information that someone for some reason had turned it on the pole to point in the wrong direction but it had been turned back by people working on the street and that workmen had been seen removing it mid-week. Is this absence temporary measure for some repair perhaps? Or something more sinister, like the disappearance of the 1916 commemoration plaque just after the turn of this century, after which it turned up in a property speculator’s office?
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