Bloomsday in the Monto 2017, by Irene Crawley

A fantastic day was had by all bringing Joyce back to the North Inner City. The event was organised jointly by H.O.P.E. and the North Inner City Folklore Project with the generous help of many volunteers. We combined the traditional ‘Madame of the Monto Wedding’, with scenes from the ‘Night-Town’ chapter in James Joyce’s Ulysses. First and foremost, I would like to offer a big thank you from myself to Terry Fagan, it was a pleasure to work with you, as always.

We would like to extend our gratitude to Former Lord Mayor, Christy Burke and his beautiful “bride” and H.O.P.E. volunteer, Connie Murphy. Mick Rafferty and his troupe of actors gave a great performance of scenes leading up to the ‘Night-Town’ chapter. Dublin City Council provided great support; a stage, gazebos, tables and chairs. Anto Kelly of Kelly’s Carriages graciously donated his time to pick up the bridal party and deliver them to the wedding. The community Garda from Store Street and Fitzgibbons Street were on hand to support the event. Conor O’Mearáin was our professional photographer and did an excellent job capturing the festivities. Susan Porter spent several weeks tirelessly browsing charity shops for the great costumes. Elaine Hilliard did the hair for all the ladies who looked wonderful. Glenda Guilfoyle came along with her mobile costume unit, which was great fun. Gerard O’Neill volunteered his DJ equipment and services which added greatly to the atmosphere of the day. Delicious sandwiches were provided by George O’Brien. Carmel Cosgrove and Theresa Brady from our Management committee volunteered their services for the day. Also, serving our refreshments and helping out for the whole day in their fantastic costumes were Sandra Byrne, Shauna Byrne, Megan McEvoy, Bart Hoppenbrouwers (thank you for the photographs too), Michael Burke, Paula O’Connor, Celine Gifford, and Marilyn Molloy.

All of our staff pitched in for weeks of preparation, David Brown and Alison Grey were a huge help with everything from shopping, set up and planning – Alison also did the make-up and David is our IT Guy who organised all our promotions for the event. Finally, yet importantly, from the staff, thanks to “Father” Joe Dowling who was hilarious, as usual.

I would like to thank IMPACT for giving a grant towards the running of this event.

We would also like to thank our local representatives Maureen O’Sullivan TD (Independent), Councillor Ciarán Cuffe (Green Party) and Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil) for coming along.

As well, we would like to thank the Irish Times for covering the event in three articles online, Live Images of Bloomsdaya video-clip of the event & a write-up on Friday 16th June 2017  and an amazing half page spread in the Saturday 17th June 2017 print edition.

Finaly, a big thanks to everyone for coming along! We hope next year to make the event bigger and better, with lots of community engagement.
-Irene Crawley, HOPE Manager


“Bloomsday in the Monto”

From Bloomsday 2017. Posted by HOPE Hands On Peer Education on 6/19/2017 (76 items)

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Season’s greetings from everyone in HOPE

As the main event of this festive season draws nearer, we would like to take a moment to wish all of our clients, partners, sister organisations, family and friends a very merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous new year. In 2016 there were a lot of people and organisations that have helped us help the communities of Dublin’s north inner city and for that, we would like to say thank you. In the year that marks the centenary of the Easter Rebellion of 1916, this is but one of the many events that will enshrine 2016 in all of our memories.

Dublin’s north inner city played host to numerous commemoration ceremonies on the run up to the centenary commemoration. Various community and state groups held many ceremonies in honour of those fought for the Irish Free State. With the local centenary celebrations underscored by the community deprivation and gangland feud killings, there was a scramble for change. Four of the local parishes came together in May and marched on the Home Monument for peace in the community. Government representatives met with community representatives in St. Laurence O’Toole national school to get an idea of issues facing the area. After the announcement of the community-based, government-led task force, the community came together to help each other in identifying issues and providing possible solutions to the new task force.   An Taoiseach Enda Kenny & Minister for Public Expenditure Pascal Donohoe paid a visit to some of the smaller projects in the area. On a wet rainy day in August, there was a community day. Thanks to support from Croke Park, An Garda Síochana, Dublin City Council, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, the Crinan Youth Project and The Fire Station Artist Studio and Urban Soul the NIC saw its first free – hopefully annual – community day. After consulting the public on the forthcoming national drugs strategy, Minister Byrne, tasked with delivering the new national drug strategy, paid a visit to a number of local projects to get a first-hand view of the issues faced by projects around the country.

As the year draws to a close, the weather gets colder and the need for compassion grows. With that in mind there a few special thanks we would like to make. Special thanks to Danny Cummins and his friends for their efforts for fundraising and collecting clothes for the homeless on the streets of Dublin. And to the Lotto and the Luas for supporting us with our client dinner. As well we would like to express special thanks to our friends in the Ripley Court Hotel for their endless efforts to support us support the community.

Lastly, we would like to say thank you to everyone for helping HOPE help the community. Without all of your help, we would not be able to do the job we do. ‘Ní neart go cur le cheile – there is no strength without unity’.

Merry Christmas from Everyone in H.O.P.E.