Monday 24^th May (Dublin):

I spent the morning updating and publishing the blog in a city centre internet cafe and eating the worst fish and chips I have ever experienced. I then went over to the National Library and Archive to see their exhibition about the Irish Countrywomen’s Association who celebrate their 100^th anniversary this year and who have a history of campaigning on issues affecting women in Ireland, perhaps most notably on issues of poverty in rural areas. This exhibition has been accompanied by a series of talks, lectures and other events to celebrate the anniversary. The association also has a history of encouraging the developments of traditional and non-traditional crafts and skills.

Tuesday 25^th May (Dublin):

I managed to pick up a copy of the 'Ballymun Trilogy' by Dermot Bolger (see Saturday's posting) and have been reading it avidly. My initial thoughts about Ballymun were almost correct, however I did not realise that the Ballymun estates were built on green-field land in the mid-sixties. The fact that the area has been in semi-perpetual regeneration for many years is indicative of the fact that the initial social experiment involving families being cleared from central Dublin tenements into out-of-town tower blocks was fatally flawed from its inception. What is clear from the plays in the Trilogy is the fact that, despite the organisational and social dysfunction which resulted over the decades, many people in Ballymun still became very attached to the area and that strong community ties often developed out of the adversity faced by residents.

Myself and fellow WCMT Fellow Alice Twaite met Dominic Campbell Artistic Director for Bealtaine and Anne Leahy Assistant Chief Executive Officer of Age and Opportunity to discuss the festival. We discussed the history, development, partnerships and funding underpinning the festival as well as the logistics and creative processes involved in running it. We also discussed other Age and Opportunity Programmes including 'Creative Exchanges'. Dominic supplied us with copies of the festival evaluation report which will inform my own report to WCMT. Following lunch, myself and Alice went across to buy tickets for the ‘Blow The Dust Off Your Trumpet’ concert on Wednesday night.

Wednesday 26th May (Dublin):

In the afternoon I went along to a rehearsal for the 'Dance Arias' performance and met Philippa from the Cois Ceim Dance Company who are working with a number of different over 55s groups around the city, developing contemporary dance pieces set to arias from the famous operas. These will be showcased on Sunday Night at The Mansion House.

www.coisceim.com

Wednesday 26th May - evening (Dublin):

Having previously hooked up with fellow WCMT Fellow Alice Twaite (Equal Arts /http://www.equalarts.co.uk/contact.aspx) to meet the team at Age and Opportunity, we met up again on Wednesday night to attend the 'Blow The Dust Off Your Trumpet' event at The National Concert Hall. The idea behind this particular Bealtaine project was that older people who had not been involved in music for some time were given the opportunity to re-aquaint themselves with their instruments and singing voices to work with a conductor to put on an orchestral concert for a public audience. The event was very well attended by a very enthusiastic audience.http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0526/6news_av.html?2760923,null,230

Following the concert, we had the first half-decent meal out since I arrived in Dublin (risotto at Carluccios). Later, I walked back to the car which I had parked in Phoenix Park only to initially panic that it may have been stolen (it wasn't - I had parked up in the afternoon at the end of a very long line of parked vehicles - the walk back to the car was longer than expected and very dark).