Further to the release of a video by St Mochta’s National School Building Action Group…
Students from the school in Clonsilla, Dublin 15 – where 450 of the schools 907 children are taught in delapidated overcrowded prefabs – call for the building of a new school, which was promised 10 years ago.
Fifty construction cranes were visible over the centre of Dublin on October 1st from the seventh floor of The Irish Times building on Tara Street.
This is an increase of four – or 9 per cent – on the previous month’s total of 46. It is up 16 (or 47 per cent) on the 34 cranes recorded on February 1st when The Irish Times Crane Survey was first launched.
Ten cranes were located north of the river Liffey – the same as last month – while the remaining 40, up four (11 per cent) from the September 1st total, were concentrated in the south docklands and along the Grand Canal.
…With the economy expected to continue its recovery this year and a number of significant developments due to enter the construction phase shortly, it is likely the number of cranes on Dublin’s skyline will increase.
The Irish Times will be conducting a crane survey once a month to track construction levels in the city.
Vice presidential candidates Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate, and Senator Tim Kaine, standing with Hillary Clinton, discuss their faith and abortion rights during their only debate of the campaign.
Walking the line between layered, ambient passages and big, alternative-pop hookplay is Cork-born/London-based singer Lyra.
Beginning at the age of six, she spent her childhood performing in church and at family gatherings, learning the bodhrán in the process, which plays a part in her current live show.
Now based in London, and working with management company Tileyard, she’s finished her debut EP. W.I.L.D., available now across all digital platforms.
To mark the occasion, she’s about to play her first ever Irish shows under the Lyra pseudonym.The ‘sheet’s Mike McGrath-Bryan talks with Lyra ahead of the Cork leg of the show tonight.
Mike McGrath-Bryan: “Your story starts at a young age in Mount Oval, in Cork. Your sister picked up on your aptitude for tunes. How would you describe your musical upbringing?”
Lyra: “Me and my sister were inseparable when we were younger. I’ve always looked up to her and wanted to be exactly like her when I grew up. She has an amazing voice and I used to try and copy her! We would spend days on end making tapes in our bedroom and putting on concerts for anyone who would watch.”
Mike: “Provide us with some insight into your writing and recording process on a piece.”
Lyra: “Writing is very personal to me and I find writing about my life and experiences really therapeutic. I don’t really have a particular method of writing that I stick to – it changes from song to song! Some songs I write at home and then take those ideas to the studio and then some ideas just randomly come to in the studio. Recording the vocals takes a long time as I love layering harmonies and would spend forever and a day adding them if I could.”
Mike: “Your debut E.P. released this past July – how has it been received, how do you feel about it?”
Lyra: “I hope people like it! I’ve had some really lovely messages from people about it from all over the world which is amazing. I’m super proud of my E.P., it’s my first music-baby and I’m excited to have many more.”
Mike: “The artwork and aesthetic is fetching – go into it a little with us?”
Lyra: “Well, being from Ireland I have always been by the sea, it’s my favourite place to be. So an underwater photo shoot was an absolute must from the start. It was a lot of work to get it right but so much fun. Lots of holding my breath!”
Mike: “Nialler9 has already gotten well behind you, how is it to have that kind of support at this stage?”
Lyra: “It’s amazing! Nialler has been a dream, it was so nice to have such a great Irish blogger talk about my music, and I will always be grateful to him for backing me from the very start. I’ve always read the blog, so to be in it is wicked.”
Mike: “Based in London and being active there a lot of the time, do you keep in touch with the scene here at all? What do you make of it?”
Lyra: “I love home and being Irish is something I’m very proud of no matter where I am, so I do keep an ear to the ground to stay in touch as much as possible. I love seeing new Irish artists popping up and I know Ireland hasn’t got a shortage of fantastic singers – I was asked by a UK blog recently to write all about my top upcoming Irish acts – so it was nice to be able to intro the UK audience to more Irish acts that they mightn’t have heard of yet.”
Mike: “You have a hometown show in Cyprus Avenue, after playing Whelan’s in Dublin. What are your thoughts leading into it?”
Lyra: “I get weak at the knees when I think of it…. I am dead excited but I’m also nervous as a lot of my family and friends have never seen me perform before.”
Mike: “What next then, after these two dates?”
Lyra: “I have another announcement coming soon for some further shows… and then it’s studio time for me to finish some new tracks and get more music out there!”
Lyra plays Cyprus Avenue tonight. Kickoff at 8.30, €5 at the door. New E.P. W.I.L.D. is available now.
From top: A review by NUI Galway of methods forcing lone parents to seek work introduced by former Tanaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton
Many lone parents, particularly those who had been working part-time and earning less than €90 per week – the amount a parent could earn without their one-parent payment being affected – say their income has fallen as a result of moving to Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Groups say childcare is too expensive and inadequate to allow many to seek work, while no account is taken of difficulties of parents of disabled children, those in rural areas without transport or those with little education.
01. We seem to be at that time in a wave of music/artists where people are reorganising or going on to pastures new, and after Enemies and Starters‘ recent disbandings, comes news of the breakup of electronic duo Solar Bears.
02. Rian Trench and John Kowalski formed the duo in 2009, and across three albums explored electronica’s limits via sampling, synth, tape machine and acoustic instrumentation, veering between ambience and psychedelia.
03. Streaming above is the band’s farewell single, Across Yesteryear, available for free download from the band’s Soundcloud.
04. Speaking in Thump on their breakup, the band kept their statement succinct. “We have decided to call it a day after 8 years together… Thank you to everyone that listened and came to see us play. Major love to (labels) Planet Mu, Sunday Best and (agents) Littlebig for believing in us.”
VERDICT: A sombre parting note that perfectly summarises the band’s essence, bidding good tidings to the universe with a long, slow fade.
British Home Secretary Amber Rudd at the Conservative Party Conference yesterday
The racist Home Secretary Rudd
Revived Enoch’s river of blood
With a plan for a list
That all should resist
As she drags Britain’s name through the mud.
