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Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Rock the Vote, yeah?

Posted in Miscellaneous, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on February 16, 2011| 3 Comments »

Remember this? A concerted effort by those in Leinster House to get “the youth” out to vote by making it cool ala New Labours Cool Brittania across the water a few years back. The criticism was quiet but produced the following video, summed up as “a satirical take on the mind-numbingly vapid rock the vote campaign in Ireland.” The legacy left behind by that campaign is that a large number of those it targetted have been forced to flee Ireland for shores new once again. It started slowly for me, but that trickle has become a flood and I’m hearing of someone else emigrating every other day now. In the video below, some of the faces may have changed, (thankfully McDowell has disappeared back to Hades or wherever he came from) but the sentiment remains the same.

Oh, and to read another cringe-worthy piece of journalism from Ruth Gilligan where she descries the disappearence of “convoys of Volkswagen Polos up to UCD, [with] collars up and speakers up even higher, blaring Kanye for all to hear,” go here. 

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Dublin under the IMF, 2021

Posted in Miscellaneous, Politics on February 15, 2011| 1 Comment »

Ever so slightly unsettling this, not least because of the background music, Dublin Dilettante from the ever deadly Circumlimina blog gives us a look at what we might expect from a decade of “EU/IMF rule under Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil (in whatever permutation.)” Scary to say the least!

“And remember, we’re all in this together.”

Cheers to Barra for the heads up.

The Republic of IMF, from thejournal.ie

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“Put Michael in the Dail and put the rest outside….”

Posted in Politics on February 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Oh my god.

This comes via Cedar Lounge Revolution. (Though I see they’ve given the tip of the hat in the direction of Maman Poulet)

Can you listen to it the whole way through? Labour’s Dublin South Central candidate has a horse outside.

They’re going to need an MP3 section over on the Irish Election Literature Blog soon. Who could forget ‘VOTE ALAN KELLY’ during the last European Elections?

Rest Outside – Michael Conaghan by Maman Poulet

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A little bit of Dublin in Hamburg

Posted in Miscellaneous, Politics, Pubs, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on February 13, 2011| 1 Comment »

A Robert Ballagh piece in The Shebeen, Hamburg

A strange week for CHTM! Two of us were in Hamburg but not at the same time, both to see St. Pauli play. The one who planned months in advance (ie. me) ended up having no game to go to as it was called off due to an unplayable pitch, and the one who got his tickets on the off chance of us meeting someone nice enough to part way with a couple six days before their game (ie. DFallon) did.  Thats the way it goes I guess, but both of us were welcomed with open arms into a pub by the name of Shebeen, not far from the Millerntor Stadium where St. Pauli ply their trade. Enough to have us already planning our next trip over.

The outstanding thing I found about the Shebeen (apart from the fact that there’s a hairdressers on the way to the jacks) was the above Robert Ballagh piece on the wall, depicting a rally in Dublin in support of the Hungerstrikers. It’s rare enough to see one of these in Dublin so imagine my surprise when I saw it taking pride of place here…

 

 

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The Pipe/An Píopa.

Posted in Politics on February 4, 2011| 1 Comment »

TG4, by far the best TV station in the land, will be broadcasting The Pipe (An Píopa), next Wednesday (9/2/2011). For anyone who missed this one on its cinema release, it is essential viewing. It will be shown at 9.30pm.

Here’s the trailer. God Bertie, what were you like….

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So, my friend just got photoshop…

Posted in Politics on February 4, 2011| 3 Comments »

…and he’s off to a flying start. All credit to Alex Lawes for these efforts, fantastic.

Me? I’m down the back of the class with the MS Paint crowd.

All entries welcome.

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It begins…

Posted in Politics on February 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Artist - ADW (adwart.com)

Elections bring out the artist in everyone.

More at the Vandalised Irish Election Posters Facebook page.

From politics.ie

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Q:How annoying are the Union of Students in Ireland?

Posted in Politics on January 31, 2011| 1 Comment »

A: Very.

You’d almost forget all about this….

USI President Gary Redmond to the right there (literally) telling you to ‘Vote Fianna Fail for Jobs’. Their Vice President recently decided students are so important that he could walk away from his job representing them to go after a career in the Labour Party.

What a country…

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“The Brain of Every Riot and Disturbance”

Posted in Miscellaneous, Politics, Social History, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on January 27, 2011| 1 Comment »

“For many years past, Liberty Hall has been a thorn in the side of the Dublin Police and the Irish Government. It was the centre of social anarchy, the brain of every riot and disturbance.” The Irish Times. (pg 191, Easter 1916, Townshend)

Neither Kenny nor Gilmore.

Reading through Charles Townshend’s excellent book “Easter 1916,” I picked out the above quote about Liberty Hall and thought to myself, how times really have changed. While DFallon’s recent post on Hawkin’s House challenged the myth, some still call it Dublin’s ugliest building, while others hold it in reverence. Although in this climate, the plans to see it torn down are unlikely, SIPTU have been talking about redeveloping as recently as last August. Personally I’d hate to see it removed, not because of it’s architectural significance or visually appealing exterior (or lack thereof,) but because of the historical relevance of the site and the significant difference it would make to Dublin’s skyline if it was replaced.

"And the banner read..." Originally posted here by DFallon

With the next government looking likely to be made up of a collaboration between Labour and Fine Gael, the current occupants of Liberty Hall, (SIPTU, who to be honest have been about as Anarchic as Tory Boy,) look fully set to have one foot in Leinster House. Not discounting the fact that due to Social Partnership, they have been bedfellows with the Government for over a decade, for the next four years or so, the party they have official ties with are to share power with a party whose roots are seeped in the fascist tradition. Dark days indeed.

"Vote Labour," Reclaim the Streets, 2002

I dread to think that in the next couple of weeks, a new banner will appear on the side of Liberty Hall, calling on the people of Ireland to vote Labour. Lets just hope it isn’t accompanied with an image of Joan “Joe Higgins eats babies” Burton. “The brain of every riot and disturbance” indeed.

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One More Time….

Posted in Politics on January 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The DIY Enda Kenny poster generator is probably the best thing on the internet right now. You just make one, print it off, stick it on the door and scare the local canvassers off. It’s been a huge viral success in recent days.

Or, you can go all out, like I did.

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“The Smiths, proclaimed An Phoblacht, were very good indeed”

Posted in Music, Politics, tagged , , , on January 26, 2011| 8 Comments »

On Monday night I popped along to the launch of ‘Why Pamper Life’s Complexities?’, a book of essays on The Smiths edited by Seam Campbell and Colin Coulter. The launch took place in the lovely Workman’s Club on a cold Monday in January. A warm fire and that view over the Liffey really makes the upstairs of the Workman’s a great little venue.

I’d just finished the book recently and thought it a very interesting look at a band we so often forget had second generation Irish blood in their veins. I’ve seen Morrissey here in Dublin before, but of course am more likely to see Jim Corr in the Dáil than ever catch The Smiths here.

The book examines issues like class, regional identity (Who did put the ‘M’ in Manchester?) , sexuality, the lyrics of the band, the emigrant experience and more besides.

We’ve a fascination with left-wing publications here at Come Here To Me, from obscure student produced pamphlets of the late 60s and 70s to the more common names, political weeklies like The United Irishman, An Phoblacht and the like. Imagine my surprise then when reading ‘Why Pamper Life’s Complexities’ to find this piece in Sean Campbell’s excellent chapter ‘Ambivalence, Unease and The Smiths’, relating to Morrissey’s infamous comments in light of the Brighton bombing which almost killed Margaret Thatcher. His comments were made on the eve of a visit to the north by the band.

The bands anxiousness about the trip increased when they were handed a copy of the Irish Republican newspaper An Phoblacht by an IRA-affiliated individual in Manchester. The paper, whose pages were usually taken up with ‘war news’, praised Morrissey for his Brighton bomb comments (which it reprinted in full) and laid stress on The Smith’s Irish provenance: ‘with names like that who could doubt their antecedents?’ The news-sheet-not known for its interest in rock- also praised The Smith’s anti-establishment ethos and concern for the ‘dispossessed’, before offering a ringing endorsement: The Smiths, proclaimed An Phoblacht, were ‘very good indeed’.

Wow.

Well done to Sean and Colin on producing such an excellent work, Smiths fanatics (there are no ‘fans’) can pick a copy up over on Amazon.

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Bertie on top.

Posted in Politics on January 22, 2011| 4 Comments »

Spotted yesterday. An oldie but a goodie from littleman still in place, it will likely be there long after Ahern rides off into the sunset too.

Will the election see more street art like this on the streets of the capital?

Some oldies that came to mind:

artist unknown

(more…)

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