AIMSIR
Bhí sé ag bagairt báistigh to start with but later bhí an ghrian ag scalladh anuas orainn so much that most of us had to take off our jackets. For us of course the weather is important but even more so for the stall-holders.
A blackbird (lon dubh) cascaded his song down on us for a while and we spotted him on the TV aerial.
DAOINE
Bróna, Orla, Diarmuid, Steve were our team today. We were kept busy with people wanting to sign the petition, to ask for updates or just to chat.
Today, as well as Irish (including one man from Cork) we had a number of people from migrant backgrounds signing our petition, including Brazilians and at least one Indian (from Mumbai) and a Dutch woman resident here (who lost her partner recently) and attended an Easter Rising commemoration a couple of weeks ago. A Dubliner spoke to us about having a framed copy of Connolly’s death certificate and we invited him to come to us next week and we’ll take a photo to put on our FB album.
We spoke to a couple of Brazillians queuing for the Brazillian restaurant Toucano who wore an emblem declaring “Corinthians” but which had two oars in the club design. Apparently, it started life as a rowers’ club but is now mostly a soccer club founded in Sao Paulo in 1910, inspired by an English soccer club of the same name, famous not only for their quality playing but even more so for their sporting attitude (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinthian_F.C.). These guys had “Fiel Dublin” marked underneath the logo, meaning they are faithful followers, though in Dublin.
It is migrants mostly that are keeping the market alive – they like to shop in markets – and some also take a great interest in our history.
Errol, who normally brings us fruit, dropped by as we were packing up and, for a change, we forced him to accept a mandarin from us despite his protests.
David Ingerson, a teacher from Portland, Oregon, USA who is also a folk singer and is visiting Ireland, dropped by to say hello to Diarmuid and to support the campaign. He posed for a solidarity photo and sang Liam Weldon’s “Dark Horse on the Wind” (video to be posted later)
UPDATE
The property speculators threatening the survival of the Cobblestone, who were refused planning permission by DCC, have withdrawn their appeal to Appeal to An Bord Pleanála so the traditional music pub is safe – for the time being.
Sadly, An Bord Pleanála rejected our request for an oral hearing and we await their overall decision on two of Hammerson’s applications while we consider further action.
The O’Rahilly’s monument remains unsignposted.
As always, you can support us by sharing our posts from time to time.