Blog 7_ Arts Block

According to my Housing proposals up to 50,000 people could be living on "Clontarf Island" in five years time. A questioner asks: what will they do for entertainment?

First off, they will all live within a short Dart/Bus/Drive/Taxi/Bike ride (or even walk)from the City center and all its attractions. Secondly, the ground floor of many of the residential blocks will need to contain lots of retail establishments eg shops, cafes, creches, pharmacies , restaurants, Hair salons, wine bars etc.,etc.

However the questioner might be referring to a bigger issue. Dublin City has plenty of large and medium sized venues to accommodate the established acts but fewer and fewer smaller spaces for artists to perform.

The proposed density of the reclaimed site is far less than elsewhere in the city so there would be plenty of scope to construct an Arts Block: think 100m of low rise (2-3 stories) reconfigurable space, rentable at very low cost and suitable for a wide range of artistic activities: Poetry readings, Book clubs, Painting or Photographic exhibitions, String quartets, Amateur dramatics, Bands starting out, Stand-up comedians, etc.,etc. With 50,000 potential customers living nearby and an Events website selling tickets , it should be possible to attract 50-100 attendees to almost any event. Good for the residents and good for the artists.