Category right to the city
From Edenmore to El Alto: How Water is Transforming How Politics Happens in Our Communities
Originally written for Focus: Action for Global Justice. Back in February, Comhlámh hosted a First Wednesday debate which put the ongoing resistance to water charges and Irish Water into a global context of popular struggles for water justice. The evening debate ‘From El Alto to Edenmore’ opened with a screening of Muireann De Barra and Aishling […]
The future shape of Dublin’s Docklands
This post continues our focus on the new phase of development in the Dublin Docklands. In the past we’ve written about the Docklands Strategic Development Zone (SDZ), the absence of community participation and the displacement of the local cultural scene by new developments. Here we just provide an overview of the five major new developments […]
The fisherman’s guide to ruining Dublin
At the end of June we attended a public meeting in Dunard Community Centre in Dublin 7. The meeting was a presentation of the ‘D7 Parks’ project, which has come about through the collaboration of Oxmantown Rd. community garden, the Dunard/O’Deaveny Gardens football club and a number of O’Deaveny Gardens residents who are horse enthusiasts. […]
Municipal revolution, part II: Dublin
This is the second of two blog posts on ‘municipal revolution’, reflecting on the victory of ‘citizens’ platforms’ across Spain and what it might mean for Dublin. While much attention has recently been focused on next year’s general elections, it seems to us that the municipal scale currently offers more possibilities for a variety of […]
Municipal revolution, May 2015
Feeling the euphoria of the municipal elections in Spain, we’ve decided to scribble out a few notes on what happened there and to think through what it might mean for Dublin. What follows is a bit sketchy, but we think it’s worthwhile to add to the debates currently going on and to get our heads […]
Something wonderful is happening in Madrid, in spite of Madrid
We recently came across this interesting project in Madrid linked to the ‘right to the city’. Like Dublin, the Spanish capital was overwhelmed by a speculative storm of property construction from the mid-1990s to the financial crisis. But it has also played host to a variety of new social movements seeking to reclaim the city. Most […]
Shaping Dublin: a seminar series on the contemporary city
When: March/ April 2015 Where: Dunlop Oriel House, Corner of Fenian Street & Westland Row, Dublin 2. (map: http://bit.ly/1i7YapE) What time: 7.30pm During the ‘heyday’ of the Celtic Tiger, Dublin experienced speculative development in key areas like the Docklands; a housing bubble accompanied by dramatic increases in the cost of rent; and the increasing role […]
Squatting in Dublin steps up a gear
The last year or so has seen DIY urbanism move up a gear in the fair city. Most notably, the unprecedented success and ambition of Granby Park marks a ‘before and after’ in terms of grassroots urban initiatives. This period has also seen Dublin City Council take an increasing interest in alternative or ‘creative’ uses […]
Cracks in the city: an interview on Dublin’s independent spaces
For the last couple of years we’ve been researching Dublin’s independent spaces. Whether they’re art spaces, social centres or community gardens, independent spaces have become an important feature of life in Dublin for many, providing affordable access to culture, socializing, education and lots more. They also offer people the chance to get involved in collectively shaping […]
Militant research and the urban commons
What follows are the notes of a talk we gave as part of the Critical Ecologies panel at the American Conference for Irish Studies which took place in UCD recently. Thanks to Anne Mulhall for organising the panel and inviting us and to Sharae Deckard and Vukasin from the Asylum Archive project who were part of the panel. […]
provisional university 