Come Here To Me!

I took this photograph on my way home from work today. On the left, are banners for the upcoming Dublin Pride event, an annual march by the LGBTQ community. On the right, flags can be seen flying for the Eucharistic Congress. It’s a remarkable sign of the times, and made me think just how much Ireland has changed since the Eucharistic Congress was hosted here in 1932.

Recently I’ve been doing a bit of research on the Congress in 1932, mainly looking at the anti-communism of Catholic newspapers and magazines at the time. The Irish Monthly, a Catholic magazine of the period, used the year of the Eucharistic Congress to inform readers that there was a coming confrontation between the two ideologies of Christianity and Communism in Ireland. The magazine frequently ran articles around the dangers of the foreign ideology of Communism, and in his article The Coming Conflict: Catholicism Vs. Communism, Capt. T.W.C Curd noted that:

The times are not without their significance for Ireland. In this year of Congress, the eyes of the world are upon her- a Catholic nation with a Catholic government and the social encyclicals of Leo and Pius open books before them.

I suppose, the times are not without their significance for Ireland once more. Just like in 1932, the streets are decorated with flags and bunting. Unfortunately for the organisers of the event though, it seems football is our religion now. Ole Ole Ole.

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Definitely the best yet. Both me and Donal have a few pieces in it. Pick it up in Easons for the recession-friendly price only €2. Keep up to date with the magazine on Facebook.

The latest, 48-page edition of LookLeft is in shops now. Stories include:

* Another Europe is Possible

* Interview with Mandate General Secretary John Douglas

* Michael Taft on the possibilities for building a progressive future

* Conor McCabe on the myth of NAMA’s ghost estates

* Gavin Titley on the media’s reporting of the economic crisis

* The Price of Corruption

* Belfast: Divided by Walls, United by Poverty

* Debate: Prostitution by Denise Charlton and Wendy Lyon

* Brian Hanley on Frank Ryan’s Street Fighting Years

* Lauren Arrington on Delia Larkin and the Irish Women Workers’ Union

* What Now for the ULA?

* Egypt’s Permanent Revolution?

* Stormont’s Policies a Recipe for Poverty

* The Politics of The Pogues

* St Pauli – the new commie chic image?

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Impressions of Dublin and its people made by Chris Malkeiwicz, a Polish TV producer, who worked in RTÉ in the 60s. The film shows various scenes from around the city accompanied by the voices of Dubliners talking about their city and Aidan Grennell reading from the works of James Joyce.

Twenty minutes of beautiful scenery, stirring music and intriguing quotes from an array of Dubliners. It can be watched on RTE Player here.

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Priceless video from YouTuber ronnymitchell. You might presume this is Poznan based on the drunkenness of it all, but look a little closer!

After 86 minutes, 3-1 down to Croatia in the Euros, the crowd at the Three on the Quay event decided to make their own entertainment.

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Out of the long list of Euro 2012 Irish Football songs, these are definitely two of the better and more intelligent ones.

The Studs are an Irish pop punk five piece who have re-formed after 10 years to release a CD for The Euros 2012. The CD “Let’s Give the Euros a Punt” was launched on 17th May 2012 at The Grand Social, Dublin.

1.  Let’s Give The Euros A Punt

Mentions of Bertie, WW2, Negative equity and a humorous list of currency related puns.

2. Il Duce

A taste of ‘Bella Ciao’ and confirmation that Giovanni Trapattoni is not a Fascist. What’s not to like.

The Studs last hit the airwaves with their three song EP for the World Cup 2002 campaign which included, in my mind, one of the best songs ever written about football or otherwise – Mick McCarthyism.

1. We Won’t Win The World Cup

2. Mick McCarthyism

3. Sitting In an Irish Bar……

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Last week, DFallon put up some excellent scans from the Portland Daily Press, from May 1st 1916. In his article, he made the remark that “It’s fascinating to see how news travels and is distorted or in some cases completely fabricated.” Reading back on any newspapers reports from Easter Week shows how difficult creating factually correct copy was in a time before the internet and social media. Above and below are some scans from two papers I picked up recently, chance finds on eBay, they help illustrate this fact, with papers on the first of May pronouncing Connolly dead and Pearse shot and captured near Boland’s Mills. This is clarified on the second of May.

(more…)

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Spotted this around the city recently, and trust Dublin Urban Art to get a few fantastic photos. Their Facebook page remains a brilliant tribute to the street art of the city, click here to enjoy.

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Canadian singer-songwriter Emm Gryner, who is of Irish and Filipino descent, covers The Blades’ classic 1983 single ‘Downmarket’.

Changing ‘Everything’s black and white and grey’ to ‘Everything’s black and white and red’ seems to be the only change she made.

The original:

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Anyone know why film star James Stewart visited Dublin in 1959?

Edit: He apparently was here to promote his film “Anatomy of a Murder”.

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