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“NO MATTER WHAT the mix is and how long people have been outside of Ireland, you ask them who are they and they’ll tell you they’re Irish,” says Lorraine Maher, creative director of the #IamIrish exhibition that opened last week at Axis Arts Centre Ballymun.
The exhibition explores the issue of Irish identity through the experiences of Irish people of mixed heritage in an attempt to “challenge perceptions of what it looks like to be Irish” and demonstrate the diversity of Irish people.
The exhibition first opened in October 2016 at the London Irish Centre, with funding from the Irish Embassy. Its success has now brought it across the sea to Dublin as part of the celebration of Black History Month 2017, with funding from the British Council and the Dublin City Arts Office.
Maher says it is “a powerful and symbolic opportunity to unite these celebrations of Black and Irish heritage and put Ireland’s long history of dual heritage firmly into focus”.
After its opening in London, Maher was inundated by people online who told her that she was telling their story, many with different varieties of mixed-Irish heritages.
“When I first did it, the story was about being black and Irish,” Maher tells TheJournal.ie. “But that’s really expanded because I’ve met people who are Chinese and Irish, Asian and Irish, Iranian and Irish, people from all over.”
And though different from her original intention, Maher began to see similarities in each person’s story.
“The narrative seems to be same: of feeling very proud to be Irish but still feeling like they don’t quite fit in and I think as a society we need to be pushing that agenda more, we need to be saying more and more ‘we belong here.’”
Originally from Carrick-on-Suir in Co Tipperary, Maher left Ireland for London when she was in her teens. She said growing up in Ireland, “I always knew I was different.”
But at heart, she stills feels very rooted to Ireland.
“I’m a proud Irish woman and that identity is part of who I am,” she says, herself of mixed Irish and African heritage.
“I know for lots of mixed-heritage Irish their stories began in industrial homes and their experience of being in Ireland wasn’t always the most positive one. I feel like we here championing on their behalf and opening doors for young mixed-race people to come along and to be able to say, ‘I am Irish.’”
Maher worked together with photographer Tracey Anderson to take intimate photographic studies detailing the experiences of mixed race Irish people living in the UK. With the Dublin opening, the portraits now include mixed-heritage Irish people living in Ireland who reached out to Maher after the initial London showing.
Ranging in age, gender and mixed ethnicity, the photographs tell the stories of each individual and look into the roots and identity issues centered around Ireland and ‘Irishness’.
The subjects in the photographs researched their family history and family crests as part of the project and a snapshot of their stories will hang alongside their photographs.
“Conversations on diversity, heritage and identity have certainly increased and improved in Ireland in recent years, but they don’t always translate in daily life,” says Niamh Ní Chonchubhair, programme manager of Axis Ballymun.
“Visibility is key here. Often, what we’re seeing on our screens, stages, billboards or walls isn’t reflecting what our communities look like. People like Lorraine have done so much to shine a light on the broader spectrum of Irish identity.”
Niamh says that the exhibition is a stimulus for a conversation about identity, race, culture and heritage and to help the conversation go further, Axis and Lorraine have developed a series of creative engagements.
Schools and community groups have been invited to participate in workshops and talks with Maher, and the Axis theatre will host a panel discussion, ‘“I Am Irish” a conversation’, on Wednesday 25 October at 6.30pm.
For Maher, the Dublin opening of the exhibit enables more stories to be told.
“It’s really unfolding,” she says. “People are speaking out and wanting to be counted.”
The exhibition will be at the Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun till 31 October, Monday to Friday 10am to 8pm. Tickets to the panel dicussion are free and can be booked here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/iamirish-a-conversation-tickets-36145797052
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“People are slowing down at the go system cameras because they know where they are”. Erm isn’t that the point? Saving lives?! Think the lament is on lost revenue or am I being too cynical?!
That’s how it reads.
Personally I think it it wasn’t about revenue they would have made local speed limit sensitive (dynamic) speed limiters a mandatory condition of sale of vehicles long ago. The technology is there.
There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport, In all my years working at the airport I’ve never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.
It is nothing more than revenue generating ,As for the go safe company didn’t a well known business man get the contract who was a friend of Bertie.
I’d love to see the stats on what speeds people were caught at.
“There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport, In all my years working at the airport I’ve never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.”
Probably because there is “There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport” and everyone obeys the speed limit so “In all (your) years working at the airport (you’ve) never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.”
I take it you are not familiar with the stretch of road that I mentioned, It starts at the major roundabout at the airport and finishes about 1 km when you come to another roundabout for the M1.
Three lanes all going in the same direction revenue generating if you ask me.
I know the road, but you are failing to link the lack of accidents with the presence of the speed van.
No speed van, people will speed and there will be accidents.
The reason you don’t see accidents is, as you say yourself, there is normally a speed van there.
speed cameras have had no effect on saving lives, cause all speed camera are on dual carridgeways and main roads, most deaths occur in the country on secondary roads.
speed cameras just as you come out of airport. N11, N4, N3, . they list these as blackspots, and maybe they were many years ago before they improved the roads, but now they are just easy targeting areas. speed limits are too low for the type of road, you spend more time looking at yer speedo than the road
If speed cameras weren’t about raising revenue then the system would be changed to average speed cameras. Instead of people speeding along the road then slowing down where they know there is usually a van the speeding back up, people would actually have to obey the speed limit on the entire stretch of road.
Also the fact that fpc notices are not sent by registered post is a joke. You can simply say when summonsed that you never received the original charge notice and had no way of knowing you needed to pay and take the 2 points. Judges are copping onto this now and not taking it as a defence, but what if you actually didn’t receive the notice?!! I know people that have appealed to high court after district court didn’t take the above as a defence and it was overturned on appeal
Surely the judges have to take denial of receipt as a defence. The burden of proof is on the state, no? “Prove I received it. You can’t? Ok – see you later.” Shouldn’t have to appeal it at all.
You’d think that wouldn’t you?! But just in the same way a guard can pull you over if he thinks he saw you hold your phone, if it goes to court you pretty much have no defence. A judge will always take the gards word over the member of the publics.
Sending penalty charges by registered post would solve the problem over night. But it’s a broken system from the ground up.
Ignoring lots of this government theft (aka taxes and fines) works. Try it. I’ve stood up to many solicitors and guards ad they back off.
Oh not a popular point of view I see. It is however true that if you go to court for some of these offences they are struck out because a lot of people are being fined because they accept & admit to it. Due process has been replaced in these cases until you stand up for yourself. If you go on youtube you will see how many ways its possible to overturn these offences unless you are doing stupid kmh.
So give people ways to endanger lives without fear of penalty, well done
Endangering lives, don’t talk such manure. Speeding does not kill, bad driving does. You could drive past a ‘gosafe’ van in a with no tax, no insurance, no driving licence, no nct, no brakes, bald tyres, off your tits on coke, speed and LSD, with a boot full of explosives and corpses and as long as you’re watching your speed, you’re safe???
Half tempted to try that out
LIES AND LET ME TE YOU WHY….if speed checks and cameras were about safety they would be highly visible and also people should be given well advanced warnings of where they are like in other countries example on the raidio etc. At the end of the day it is should be about getting people to slow down rather than given points and a fine.
The ultimate aim is to get gossfe to be allowed ti setup anywhere. This will ensure max revenue generation as it basically will be shooting fish in a barrwll hiding and been around corners where speef changes suddenly.
This whole Gosafe as so many know are usually where there is max revenue generation but no crashes etc.
Or you could just follow the speed limits.
Or the yellow. Rick road
How come I don’t see the guards at obvious black spots. There’s a stretch of road near where I live that has a sign saying black spot on it that’s totally dangerous. I’ve never seen a guard there yet on a slip road coming off a motorway nearby which is a three laned mile long downhill bit where they always are. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.it just doesn’t seem to make sense.
Because we have enough Gardai to pull them away from all duties to stand at a Black Spot sign
another money grabing exercise from a pack of no hopers come trhe next election
I honestly dont think speed cameras are having much of an impact on road deaths.They are placed in areas where the roads are 3 and 4 lanes wide with ridiculously low speed limits.its entrapment at best.The M4 at liffey valley being a prime example.Its four lanes wide with a speed limit of 80km/h (think it used to be 60!!) as you come up off the M50 and I for one in all my years driving into work have never seen anything other than a brushing of bumpers on this stretch of road.Id be very surprised if theres ever been a death there since it was upgraded.Its absolutely crazy that such a stretch of road should be subject to the same speed limits you can find down most country lanes where alot of these fatalities happen.How often do you hear of road deaths in the capital at all?im sure they happen but Id love to see the figures of where these accidents actually happen.Its easy to say the cameras are having an impact on road deaths when they’re placed on the widest,best lit and generally safest sections of our roads.
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