AIMSIR
Bhí sé stoirmiúl, le séideáin gaoithe of Storm Kathleen blowing paper bags and cardboard boxes along the street and knocking wares off the stall nearest to us or over. The guys on the Churros stall considered it too dangerous and gave up before they had properly set up but most which had set up were still there when we finished our 499th Saturday stall but the winds had snapped a retaining cord of our banner twice.
DAOINE
Bróna, Orla, Deirdre agus Diarmuid were the foireann today. Diarmuid had a heavy cold and was wearing a mask most of the time, ar eagla na heagla (just in case). Over the years members of our team have been at our stall with a broken arm, on crutches …
As usual we collected lots of signatures and had many positive interactions with people, Irish-born and not. Among them was a relative of a member of Cumann na mBan (Revolutionary Republican military women’s organisation) and of one of the stalls. A chef asked us what happened to the Paris Bakery in the street which was very popular. Their landlord closed it down and Moore Street campaigners picketed in protest but afterwards when we learned that the staff were not getting paid, some of the campaigners picketed the owners also!
We were honoured with a visit from historian Hugo McGuinness who feels very strongly that the history and the street market of the Moore Street area need to be conserved. Although he was busy he posed for a solidarity photo before wishing us well and departing.
EILE (repeated from previous weeks)
Our group is heading for its 500th Saturday on the street. In September 2014 Bróna Uí Loing, Vivienne Kelly, Diarmuid Breatnach and Mel Mac Giobúin met to begin a weekly presence on the street with a campaign table, leaflets and petition sheets. We consulted with other campaigners about the wording of the petition, of which the immediate objective was to prevent an exchange of DCC’s Nos.24-25 at the end of the 1916 Terrace to Joe O’Reilly for Nos.14-17 because otherwise he’d be able to demolish all buildings from No.25 to No.18.
Only Bróna and Mel had relatives who had fought in the 1916 Rising and/or the War of Independence but others with or without family connections to fighters in those two periods joined over the years for long or short periods, while others dropped out for health, employment or other reasons.
In November 2014 the objective we had set ourselves was achieved when the elected councillors voted to reject the speculator’s offer but we decided to continue our presence on the street until overall victory which is how we are now approaching our 500th Saturday, 10 years later.
Join us on the 13th in period costume or not as we mark the occasion with some spoken words and some song.
YOU CAN SUPPORT US by sharing the information in our posts from time to time and signing and sharing our on-line petition.
