City Arts Centre

Resist .

ART NOT BANKS- our centre's not for sale!
Carnival and Convergence at the City Arts Centre
6.30pm till late 29th November 0pm 29th November at Matt Talbot Bridge


Inner city Dublin 2001. Banks tower over-head and, in
the shadows, a little island of music, art,
imagination and community still holds on. But not for
long, if the banks and developers get their way!
The local area, from Ringsend and the Docklands to
East Wall, has already taken the brunt of this
government's relentless drive for privatisation. They
want to make profits from burning rubbish instead of
providing environmentally friendly waste disposal as a
public service. They sell off public sites for private
development instead of building public housing. Now
they even want our arts centre.

What's so important about City Arts Centre?
Over the years, City Arts Centre has:

·Provided one of the few wheelchair accessible arts
spaces in the city
·Supported the South Docks Festival
·Organised the multicultural Feile Fiesta along the
quays
·Helped the No High Rise campaign
·Organised arts programmes in local schools
·Provided space, equipment and encouragement to
thousands of theatre and dance companies, music
groups, visual and other artists
·Connected the world of professional arts and
voluntary participation

Why not keep it?
If the government can spend over £40 million on the
Farmleigh 'guest house' for visiting dignitaries, it
should be able to buy the site for the city and its
people. Why not have an arts centre run by the
community for the community? It would be easy to set
up a cooperative including the arts user groups, the
disabled community and people living in the area, who
could ensure the running of a truly open and creative
space. A place for:
· New art work and experimentation
· Rehearsal and gigs
· Youth arts groups and training
· Clubs and festivals
· Community meetings and forums..
Why not let the people involved decide?
'As a local political representative and resident, I'm
shocked to think that this building may be for sale
and I will make every effort to ensure that this
building remains as a community based city arts
centre. City Arts Centre has provided a great service
to the community and long may it do so.' - Dathaí
Dolin, Sinn Féin Councellor.
'This area has been swamped by the property developers
and the financial services, which make huge profits
while paying hardly any tax. We have seen the gas
works site sold off, rather than being used for local
people's needs - and now the possibility of the City
Arts Centre going the same way. Everyone should get
down to the carnival on 29th November and send a clear
message to the developers and the government - Our
arts centre is not for sale!!' - Shay Ryan, Socialist
Workers Party Ringsend.

Bring out the drums, dance, rock, theatre, fireworks,
painting, tug of war, DJs, clowns, video art,
children, the disabled community, unions, students,
youth clubs and mothers!

For further info contact Joe Carolan
Convergence and Carnival organising committee
at 087 9032281
or at redhohepa@yahoo.com

p-t saviour

dont know anout the rest of you, but i'm gonna be there, VIVA THE ARTS CENTRE!