CITY councillors were acting all bohemian at this month’s Metropolitan District meeting — real ‘arty farty’ altogether. Before you know it, they will be turning up to their local authority pow-wows in Doc Martens, leather jackets, and the obligatory Jim Morrison t-shirt.
There was a real cultured tone to proceedings as the conversation – as it often does at this time of year – turned to pop-up exhibitions. And as sure as councillors will be talking about scooping the dog poop come April, they get all excited come Halloween at the prospect of mulled wine and handmade candles as the dark nights roll in.
Social Democrats councillor Shane Hickey O’Mara wants to see vacant spaces and Council-owned properties in the city given a creative lease of life over the festive period. The City North representative, himself a proud thespian, took the view that this would show Limerick artists that the Council has their back.
Are they going rowing outside the chippers in town of a Saturday night or wha’?
Shane, who is artistic director of County Limerick Youth Theatre by day, had an existential moment early in the meeting, questioning whether he could even be heard in the vast recesses of Merchant’s Quay. Once convinced his mic was booming, he fervidly informed the Council executive that the arts are a necessity and not a luxury.
Oh, yeah, I can see them all now sitting around at the next Metropolitan meeting smoking Gitanes, reading Jean-Paul Sartre, and cursing John Moran’s ‘bourgeois’ worldview.
Still, they would want to remember that pop-up exhibitions aren’t just for Christmas. Oh wait…
Like a man preaching the epistles to his apostles, Hickey O’Mara was positively glowing as he spoke of nurturing the arts and making Limerick a place that is “liveable, vibrant, and deeply creative”.
They were flying high in City Hall at this stage. There must have been some really good baking powder in their well-buttered scones, as they were getting totally revved up at the very prospect of artisan crafts.
Cllr Elisa O’Donovan was very supportive of her Social Democrats colleague’s proposal and had the perfect spot in mind for shoppers to peruse hemp-crafted jewellery for that special crusty in their lives.
Seconding his motion, Cllr O’Donovan suggested the former Habit unit on Thomas Street for a pop-up gallery. Now seemingly a makeshift stable, Cllr O’Donovan pointed out that the unit “has been used as a shelter by homeless people. It is also being used to tie ponies.”
Sinn Féin councillor Ursula Gavan, in a fit of energy in no way tied to the beating her party has been taking from RTÉ in recent weeks (no sir, absolutely not), gushed that pop-up galleries would add to the vibrancy and cultural offering of the city over the Chrimbo.
“I’d love to see the vacant Bank of Ireland, or the old Dunnes building on O’Connell Street come into use – or even the old Debenhams building on O’Connell Street as the main thoroughfare,” Gavan insisted.
Debenhams? The four-storey Debenhams? The four-storey, 72,213sq/ft Debenhams? The world fair of pop-up galleries she wants for Christmas, is it?
I hadn’t seen them this animated in Merchant’s Quay since the great renaming of Shannon Bridge melee of 2014.
In fairness to them, isn’t Limerick really only a vast canvass for our councillors’ vivid imaginations to run free?
