Orla received a big surprise to be joined by Bart today and so did Diarmuid; the three were the foireann inniu. Bart was on the street with us on Saturdays for years but he got a job that requires him working on a Saturday. Today he managed to finish early and it was great to have him and his camera on the street again. Though no longer usually on the street with us, Bart works behind the scenes managing our website and providing tech support.
We’ve had a lot of past active supporters visit us this year: Lawrence came back to Ireland from Australia and dropped in on us, then Maeve, also from Australia but visiting; last week it was Emily and Veronique.
The street was lively with the new market stalls but with the hot food stalls absent for some reason. Also people in Dublin for the GAA matches thronged the street in the county colours of Armagh, Monaghan, Kerry and Tyrone.
The GAA is the largest community participative sporting association in Europe, perhaps in the World and its Dublin stadium, Croke Park, is the third largest in Europe with a capacity of 82,300.
Many came to sign the petition as usual, particularly people with children, family groups and couples. Signers originated from different parts of Dublin and further afield, other counties and Spain, Angola, Romania …
One woman told we hadn’t been here last week or the week before and wouldn’t accept that we had. We were and are, a stór, every Saturday, 458 weeks now.
Mary Poole told us her great-grandfather had been hanged for the assassination of Cavendish and Burke in Phoenix Park in 1882 but that he was innocent, with the accusation coming from his brother-in-law. That is possible but if so he must have had a different surname, unlike the four Poole brothers who were in the Irish Citizen Army and fought in the 1916 Rising, along with another three cousins. (Marcus Howard has a Youtube documentary about them called “The Pooles – a 1916 Band of Brothers”).
Also known with regard to Moore Street campaigning seen today were a couple of members of the Save Moore Street Trust, with Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha leading a group on a history tour along Moore Street. They passed by our stall and went on up the street …
Bartle D’Arcy of the Mythlands tour company brought a couple of people from San Francisco to the stall to sign the petition and to have their photo taken there (on his camera and on ours). Some tour guides always bring their groups to our stall and encourage them to sign the petition, some don’t …
AIMSIR
Bhí sé in a ghaoth láidir and some gusts had our leaflets and petition sheets scattered down the road but it settled down later and got hot enough, really.
UASDHÁTA
High Court hearing for the Hammerson appeal against Dublin City Councillors naming five buildings for listing as of historical importance is set for next week, we are given to understand. People can encourage DCC’s legal officers to fight to defend the correct and democratic decision of elected reprentatives.
No change with An Bord Pleanála’s long-postponed decision on our appeal against the Hammerson plan.
The Department of Heritage has written to some people (but not to us) about its plans for the development of the shoebox museum and cafe, toilets etc in Nos.14-17, also about its plans to consult with ‘stakeholders’ (in which it does not include us, approaching our tenth year of every Saturday collecting signatures, distributing leaflets, talking to people, organising events …
It does not include most of the independent shopkeepers either.
We read that Kilmainham Jail is listed among the 15 most popular historical sites in the whole of Europe, beating even the Greek Acropolis! That building complex was listed by the Irish state for demolition but the tenders for the job were considered too expensive so it was left to rot. Volunteer conservationists took up the task of renovating it, working evenings and weekends and handed it over to the State in 1966. It is so popular now that a visit needs to be booked – and it’s on the outskirts of the city, whereas Moore Street is in the heart of the city centre. https://www.irishtimes.com/…/kilmainham-gaol-and…/
NÍ NEART GO CUR LE CHÉILE (there is no strength without united action).
What people can mostly do to help is to spread the word which can be done by sharing our posts on FB or website smsfd.ie on your social media from time to time. All your contacts potentially would then be reached and all together that’s thousands and hundreds of thousands of people.
