Tag Archives: Grafton Street

CHRISTMAS CHEER

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Bugle Babes at Brown Thomas Photo: © Michael Fisher

Bugle Babes at Brown Thomas Photo: © Michael Fisher

Wishing all my readers a Happy Christmas, wherever you are and whoever you are with. No better way to bring in the Christmas cheer than with the Bugle Babes who I mentioned yesterday. They have been entertaining shoppers all week in the elegant Brown Thomas store on Grafton Street in Dublin. Their music could be heard ‘a cappella’ (which I am told means without instrumental accompaniment) so you could appreciated the range in their voices.

Christmas Lights in Grafton Street, Dublin Photo: © Michael Fisher

Christmas Lights in Grafton Street, Dublin Photo: © Michael Fisher

Meanwhile news came through on Christmas Eve of two developments in stories I have featured this year. On twitter I mentioned the campaign to save from demolition Cregagh Presbyterian Church in East Belfast. It has been confirmed by the campaigners that the building constructed c.1928 is now a listed one. It already has an entry in the NI Historic Buildings database.

Cregagh Presbyterian Church Photo: facebook

Cregagh Presbyterian Church Photo: facebook

Then almost simultaneously I received an email about an article I wrote in September on Samuel Munro from Lurgan, a former TUC President who had also served as President of Belfast Trades Council. It was based on a talk given in Belfast by the labour historian Francis Devine. Someone in England (originally from Bangor County Down) who says he is a great grandson of Munro had found the blog and is now seeking to make a connection with Munro’s granddaughter, who lives in England and who was thought to be the last known relative of the former Northern Whig typesetter. She had presented to the ICTU a bell originating from Belfast Trades Council, which has now been placed on a wall at the John Hewitt bar along with a plaque. So at least one success story from the 27,400 views my daily blogs have had! Happy Christmas one and all!

Plaque for Samuel Munro at John Hewitt Bar Photo: © Michael Fisher

Plaque for Samuel Munro at John Hewitt Bar Photo: © Michael Fisher

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

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Belvedere College students collecting in Grafton Street Photo: © Michael Fisher

Belvedere College students collecting for homeless in Grafton Street   Photo: © Michael Fisher

For the past thirty years, staff and students from Belvedere College SJ in Dublin have been doing something very different at Christmas, amidst all the glitz and glamour of the annual retail fest. They hold a sponsored sleep-out on O’Connell Street in aid of the Peter McVerry Trust for the homeless and other charities such as Focus Ireland. As well as dropping some money in the buckets in O’Connell St, this year people can also donate using a text service. By texting ‘Sleepout’ to 57802, people will be donating a minimum of €1.60 for the price of a €2 text.

Belvedere College students among the crowds in Grafton Street Dublin Photo: © Michael Fisher

Belvedere College students among the crowds in Grafton Street Dublin Photo: © Michael Fisher

Some of the students and their teachers also decide to fast for a period of the sleep-out. It is an integral part of the College’s commitment to social justice and the participants each year have become a familiar sight for passers-by on Dublin’s main street. Staff and pupils have raised well over €120,000 in recent years.

Collecting on Grafton Street for the homeless Photo: © Michael Fisher

Collecting on Grafton Street for the homeless Photo: © Michael Fisher

I saw recently that in a similar exercise to raise awareness about the problem of homelessness, students at my former school Wimbledon College SJ spent a night in sleeping bags in the playground in a sponsored sleep-out. I can remember passing through Waterloo station on many occasions and seeing what became a ‘cardboard city’ in one of the underpasses near Waterloo bridge where homeless people slept rough. Now the problem has again become more acute in Dublin.

Belvedere College SJ Sleepout 2013

Belvedere College SJ Sleepout 2013