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Daragh Brophy / TwitterGOAL have placed a fake military rocket outside the Gaeity to raise awareness of Syria. pic.twitter.com/nMeWr60Ucr
— Daragh Brophy (@DaraghBroph) March 14, 2016
THE SIGHT OF a military rocket lodged in the pavement near St Stephen’s Green attracted plenty of curious passers-by in Dublin this morning.
Of course, it wasn’t a real rocket. The installation, constructed from salvaged material, was put in place by street artist Will St. Ledger on behalf of aid agency GOAL to mark the fifth anniversary of the Syrian crisis.
The first pro-democracy protests erupted in Syria in the southern city of Deraa in March of 2011, and the unrest has spiraled out of control in the following half-decade.
More than 270,000 people have died in the conflict.
In a stark report released this morning, UN agency UNICEF said that one in three Syrian children had known nothing but a lifetime of war.
GOAL Global / TwitterThankfully this isn't a regular sight in Dublin. #NowYouKnow stand #WithSyria pic.twitter.com/imr0E6GSXn
— GOAL Global (@GOAL_Global) March 14, 2016
“Our advocacy campaign is aimed at bringing home to people the reality of life in a war-torn country, in Syria,” GOAL CEO Barry Andrews told TheJournal.ie at the site of the installation this morning.
We don’t want people in ten years’ time saying ‘I wish I’d known then what I know now’ so we’re confronting people with the reality of what it might look like here today.
Andrews observed that people tended to be obsessed “with small things, with celebrity stuff” in their day-to-day lives.
Projects like today’s are aimed at informing opinion about the refugee crisis and about radicalism, he said, and would hopefully “start conversations that perhaps aren’t being had at this time”.
He believes there’s a massive appetite for “authentic genuine commentary” about Syria in the media, he said.
Andrews also noted that there was certainly “good news around at the moment” in terms of progress on ending the war.
While agreed ceasefires were by no means being “perfectly kept” he said that compared to other recent periods in the vicious conflict there was “definite progress”.
Will St Leger / TwitterI created a fake missile impact in Dublin for @GOAL_Global this morning #streetart #NowYouKnow #WithSyria https://t.co/j22FjjdGBV
— Will St Leger (@WillStLeger) March 14, 2016
The latest talks to end the war opened in Geneva today, with the sides locked in an ongoing dispute over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.
A temporary ceasefire introduced on 27 February has largely held, despite accusations of violations from both sides, allowing aid to reach some 150,000 people living under siege.
GOAL has 380 Syrian staff working inside the country providing support in a range of areas: the charity’s operating a food voucher system to allow people buy their daily essentials, water remediation works are being carried out, and efforts are now being made to get businesses back up and running.
Groups were stopping to ask questions at the ‘rocket’ site this morning as TheJournal.ie visited; GOAL staff offered leaflets and information – and stark notices placed 25 metres from the installation told passers-by that they would have been killed instantly at that spot, had it been a real attack.
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Why don’t ye invent horse free meatballs ?
Didn’t take long……
Sky +. No more arguments about missing your favourite programme. The best invention by far in our house – the blessed record button !!!!
Thanks be to Sky
Even with Sky+ people cancel. Or they clash. The old way I think the best.
And there was I thinking it was Divorce that stopped domestic rows.
Me and the wife have the two sided elec blanket one in her room and one on mine.
Why do women always leave the toilet seat down ????
To keep the smell of the last man to use it at bay!
Everyone knows that girls are smelly and ugly! Why else would you wear make-up and perfume?
They must be queuing out the door with smooth talking like that…..
There’s a two-sided electric blanket…? How am I only hearing of this now…?
I know. I never heard of that until now.
I never got the whole toilet seat thing.
You share?
Yeah, I prefer half toilets too.
Try aiming Gary..
The dishwasher is a total waste of money!! Hasn’t it been scientifically proven that women are better and faster dishwashers than machines?
Now that is the saddest comment of the year so far.
I don’t see a wife shutter upper machine on the list. We have the flippy toothpaste at home and I leave it open most of the time and I wouldn’t have an electric jacks seat in case I got a shock when my aim goes wonky after a few beers.
Eastenders and holby city buys me some peace every now and then
And we don’t have rows,because I’m right all of the time.
No disrespect meant Susan and point taken with my apologies.
Hey, no worries Glenn!
The automatic toilet seat is ridiculous. A better idea would be a toilet that will not flush until the lid is put down. It will solve the seat up/down argument and be much more hygienic, saving toothbrushes from micro-spray of fecal contaminants.
Why aren’t hurleys mentioned?
I just got sucked/tricked into reading an advertisement.. sneaky TheJournal.. very sneaky!! Now, can I have my two minutes back please?
Hi Thomas, Please note the reply to Glenn (above). This is clearly marked as a sponsored post, with branding and placed in a specially bordered box which shows that it is an ad and not a regular TheJournal.ie article. If you choose to click and read after all those flags, then that’s entirely your responsibility. We’re not in the business of tricking anybody (and I hope you enjoyed it anyway!).
Thanks, Susan, Editor, TheJournal.ie.
Thanks Susan – sure I was only messin’ – I enjoyed it so much I read it twice! :)
Thomas, did we just have our first domestic? To make up for it, I’ll load the dishwasher for a month ;)
So Ikea sponsor the Journal and now contribute editorials. They could do with learning what’s newsworthy and what isn’t.
Hi Glenn, This is clearly marked as a sponsored post, branded and posted in a specially flagged/bordered box to show so. There is no attempt to hide this and it is up to you whether you want to click into the ad and read it or not.
Thanks, Susan, Editor, TheJournal.ie.
I love the way you sneaked that ADD IN . Priceless .
Well done susan,ive no problem with the dishes,just eat in the mistresses house.
How are the meatballs going lads?
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