This graffiti mural of two men embracing, is the true depiction of the struggle same sex couples are going through to obtain the right to get married.
The Blooms Hotel is located in Temple bar, Dublin. This hotel stands out against its dull grey surrounding buildings … The Blooms Hotel, in all its glory, bright beautiful and modern
‘Fresh’ a small clothing Boutique located in Temple bar, wanted to have a contemporary feel both in and out, so they decided to use graffiti to make it different. they store also offers the corner of the shop to new and upcoming graffiti artists to tag their name or show their artistic skills This building offers us a very futuristic theme, with the bright colours and excentric pattern
this building is located along the Quays, the detail in this portrait is immaculate, the time and dedication graffiti artists put into their portraits shows through in this picture
This portrait shows two tapes with the word ‘Confidential’ wrote on the largest tape. This portrait was painted when tape recordings from the Anglo Irish Banks reveal for the first time when the top executives lied about the extent of losses the institution was making.
This portrait was also located on an abandoned wall in the city centre.
The ‘Blue Lady’ portrait was displayed on the Strand Street Great. her face shows sorrow yet she is still beautiful. she is art and the artist that created her an artist This form of graffiti is very new, businesses are now employing graffiti artists to draw portraits on their shutters. portraits that represent them and their store.
This is another business that has employed the service of a graffiti artist to design the front of their shutter.
This portrait is displayed above a store called Catch on Abbey Street Upper. The portrait includes an inspirational statement “Don’t waste your potential”
Graffiti in Ireland is seen as art, many galleries, colleges, restaurants and cafes now use spray painted canvases as decorations, and to bring a modern vibe to their facility.
The Luas Cross City is the name given to the new extensions planned for the Luas by the year 2017. The plans include extending the Luas line across the city from Stephens Green to Broomfield and are proposed to include the much anticipated ‘missing link’ between the red line and the green line.
In 2014, the Luas had been in operation for ten years. This June marks it’s eleventh year as a main feature of Dublin’s transport services. The Luas was first proposed in April 1994 and would not launch for a further ten years.
Construction began on the Luas in October 2000. Ten years on the Luas continues to expand across the city and has already added numerous new stops either side of it’s two lines, the Green Line and the Red Line. In 2008 the red line extended as far as the Point depot on Dublin’s northside.
In October 2010 The Green line extended by 11km with 9 new Stops to Brides Glen.In july 2011 The Red Line was extended by 4.5km with 5 new stops taking passengers as far as Saggart.
Future extensions plan to bridge the gap between the two current lines and join them both. The new lines are planned to extend from St Stephen’s green as far as Broomfield and boast a mere “21 minutes to travel the 5.6Km from St. Stephen’s Green to Broombridge”.
Andrew Chan, left, and Myuran Sukumaran, right awaiting trial in 2006
By Aoife Lawless
On the 29th April 2015 eight men were executed by firing squad in Indonesia for drug trafficking crimes. Among them were the two named ring leaders of the infamous Bali Nine, the Australian group who attempted to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Bali into Australia.
After lengthy drawn out legal proceedings spanning nine years, the two were finally executed at midnight on the 29th April. They were led into the forest and given the choice of standing kneeling or sitting for the ordeal. The two Australian men had vowed to stay strong in the face of death, wishing their families to have an image of strength in their final moments.
They sang ‘Amazing Grace’ as they marched to their final destiny and refused to wear blindfolds as they faced their executors on ‘execution island’, Nusa Kambangan, Bali.
In 2013 the moratorium on the death penalty in Indonesia was lifted and in March of that year a Malawi national was the first person to be executed there in four years. The execution was carried out by firing squad. The crime; drug trafficking.
In November 2014 Indonesia saw the election of a new president, Joko Widodo. The young President Widodo, a former street kid from Jakarta, has taken a firm stance on the death penalty for drug trafficking since his election. In January the fresh faced young president caused much controversy when he ordered the first round of executions under his rule; six foreigners by firing squad.
The six were made up of Dutch, Brazilian, Nigerian, Malawian, Indonesian and Vietnamese men all on death row for drug trafficking. Both the Dutch and Brazilian leaders fought hard against the death penalty for their citizens. All pleas for the lives of their countrymen were in vain. The two countries were so outraged by the deaths that they pulled their ambassadors from Indonesia post execution.
President Widodo did not waste time lining up a second round of death row prisoners and in February gave notice to another group of people that their executions were imminent.
Amongst the second round were the two Australian men Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Sydney. These two men were named as the ring leaders of a drug trafficking syndicate known as the Bali nine. The group of nine young Australians were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Indonesia to Australia. While the other seven members were given life imprisonment Chan and Sukumaran were given a death sentence.
In 2015 when the two men received notice of their executions they had served almost ten years in Keroboken prison, Bali.
The Australian government made numerous appeals for clemency on behalf of these two as they have proven to be fully rehabilitated in their nine years of incarceration.
Myuran Sukumaran studied fine art and went on to teach art classes at Keroboken prison to young inmates. He also held several art exhibitions with many of his art works selling worldwide. His last wish was to be allowed to continue painting until the very last moment. Many of his final works were self portraits, emulating the trauma and emotional upheaval he was experiencing in his last days.
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Andrew Chan studied Theology and had attempted to become a Pastor. He held bible studies classes with other offenders. He also taught cooking classes in the prison and was well liked and respected in his nine years at the prison. He married his long term girlfriend on the eve of his execution with all his family present. This was his last wish. He made time to visit with other inmates on death row to say final goodbyes and say “It was good knowing you mate” before being led to his death. Unusually, Chan wrote his own eulogy which was read aloud by a friend at his funeral in Sydney. “It is even in death there is still a lesson to be learnt. We learn that you don’t need to be old to die, nor do we need to have something wrong with us, but we learn that when it’s time to go home, God has the kitchen table and sink ready.”
The eight men executed on April 29th were not given the traditional ‘last meal’ requests and instead shared a last supper of KFC chicken fast food.
Human rights
The case of the two Aussie men have highlighted many issues regarding human rights for prisoners held on death row in Indonesia. The first question, of course, lies with Indonesia and how they assess prisoners on death row without evaluating rehabilitation. The UN chief Ban Ki-moon publicly implored with Indonesia for clemency prior to the executions.
As well as these issues, Australia’s unstoppable legal forces refusing to take no for an answer and dragging the case out further and further must surely have had an impact on the mentality of the convicted, as they were not being given the chance to have time for acceptance of their fate and were instead constantly being given false hope.
Andrew Chan confided in a friend that he “never believed it would actually happen”, in regards to the death sentence. Not surprisingly, as the two men had been held in Keroboken for nine years and observed the moratorium on the death penalty.
The two men were young when initially arrested, Chan was 21 years old and Sukumaran was 23 years old. When their lives were ended they were 31 years old and 33 years old.
British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, 58, remains on death row in Keroboken prison where she was a prison mate and close friend of Andrew Chans. Sandiford was arrested in May 2012 on arrival to Bali from Bangkok, Thailand. She was found with 4.8kg of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase and sentenced to death.
Sandiford maintains that she was forced to smuggle the drugs by a drugs gang who were threatening to harm her family if she did not carry out the crime.
She has spoken of her grief over losing her friend and how it is has resolved her to her own fate. She said “if they can execute someone as good as Andrew, what hope is there for me?”. In solidarity with the recently deceased Sandiford has vowed to also sing in the face of her executioners and refuse a blindfold. Her chosen anthem is ‘Magic Moments’ by Perry Como. Chan and Myuran sang the hauntingly beautiful tune of ‘Amazing Grace’, a highly apt and profound melody under the circumstances.
Sandiford has stated, since the recent executions, that she just ‘wants to get it over with’. She no longer holds out any hope for clemency, despite her claim that she was forced into smuggling drugs under the duress that her family were threatened if she did not do so. British legal teams have withdrawn from her cause, claiming they have no further avenues to pursue in her case and that fees have been exhausted. Sandiford reached out to comedian turned activist Russell Brand after he released a video condemning the execution of Sukumaran and Chan through his youtube broadcast ‘The Trews’.
The most disheartening factor in the case of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran is the lack of acknowledgement of their massive attempts at rehabilitation while incarcerated. Numerous individuals in contact with the two men spoke of their drastic change and mission to rehabilitate other young offenders, even setting up programmes within the prison which did not exist prior to their time.
Indonesia remains one of the remaining few countries to impose the death penalty. Amnesty reports that 140 countries dropped the death penalty in 2013. It also reports that “In 2013, 22 countries around the world were known to have carried out executions and at least 57 to have imposed death sentences”.
Since 2013 Indonesia has executed 19 people. The president has no intention of stopping there. If proven rehabilitated prisoners will not receive clemency, there wouldn’t appear to be much hope for the remaining inmates of death row.
I would like to begin by stating something that might shock you. Perhaps it will dismay you, or cause some of you to feel anger towards me or the words I write.
Russell Brand is dangerous.
More importantly he is dangerous in the worst possible way. When I was a teenager I had a huge crush on Russell Brand. This is not what makes him dangerous, although this might add to it. Those were days when the words that spouted out of his gregarious mouth were bible. How eloquent, I would think, he wrote a book called Booky Wook, how hilarious. That’ll show those conformist adults!
I have an issue now. Maybe it is because I am more aware, and maybe it is because I am no longer blinded by messy hair and a handsome face.
It is very easy to not take Russell Brand seriously. But there is a danger in that, precisely because Brand remains attractive and influential. Too often I see someone post on Facebook a video he has done for The Trews, alongside some caption passionately commending Brand for his stylish rants on current issues.
The Trews
For those who do not know, The Trews is a vodcast on YouTube where Brand talks about current issues. The name is a portmanteau of ‘true’ and ‘news’, the implication being that his presentation of opinions about news events is perhaps more valid than what we normally see.
Take for example this video. about the shooting dead by Los Angeles police of a homeless man.
Brand has missed a number of vital points in understanding the events of the shooting. For example, you can hear the officer saying that the man is grabbing the officer’s gun. This is vital because it is lawful for a police officer to use lethal force if an individual is acting in a way which might endanger others or the officer himself. Brand repeatedly uses the word murder to describe this, when the video suggests otherwise.
Brand implies that the problem is that certain police forces are out of control in America, and that they treat certain members of the public as less than human. He claims with a surplus of weapons that the attitude is ‘to start shooting people that don’t show up on statistics or who don’t have any relevance.’
Now I would not be so high and mighty to declare everything Brand has to say is useless and dangerous. He is intelligent, that much is clear. At times he even has some valid points. Of course self-expression needs to be encouraged as we live in a democratic state and simply because freedom of expression is a human right.
The danger lies in the fact that people trust media. Perhaps sometimes a little too quickly. Brand for one, is a huge icon, especially in Britain. His reaches millions of people and has more than one million subscribers to his Youtube channel.
This is where the danger lies. When his version of events becomes fact. When his self-assured expression becomes undeniable proof that what he is saying is valid and infallible.
When someone names their channel The Trews it opens up a world of ethical and moral practice that should be adhered to.
The irony of Brand is that he is quick to attack news organisations for faulty news coverage, and yet there are a plethora of times that Brand’s own version of the news omits vital information.
“There is this old belief that the monster hides in the shadow at the end of the alley way, but in reality they can be anywhere, and hurt you in anyway.”
“How would you describe yourself?” I ask her. “What words come to mind?”
She spoons sugar in to her tea and stirs. “I’m probably very irrational. Funny sometimes, quite intelligent, I think. Quite ordinary really. There’s nothing extraordinary or unordinary about me.”
“Why have you spoken to me today?”
“If they are anything like me, then they would blame themselves.” Lola (not her real name) embodies the attitude of some who are victims of sexual assault. “That took a long time for me to shake. Even five years later I still have days I think like that.”
“I never told anyone.” Lola says. “I felt ashamed. I went to the doctor the next day and told her I had lost my virginity, and I that needed the morning-after pill.” She takes a large breath. “And that’s when she asked me if I had been sexually assaulted. I remember there was a big gap in time where no one said anything. That’s then I told her no, I hadn’t. That’s probably one of my biggest regrets to this day.”
Many victims of sexual assault do not report their crimes, sometimes out of fear that they will not be believed, or even that telling anyone will not do any good. For some, like Lola, the fear becomes regret.
Superintendent John Ferris, who leads the Garda sexual assault division, recommends that those who experience sexual assault should “firstly seek medical advice”. Secondly, he says, victims should “contact the gardaí, report the matter to gardaí or report it to the Rape Crisis Centre, one of those people – but most definitely to report it. It’s part of the therapy of getting over these traumas: the fact of keeping it a secret it doesn’t aid recovery.”
Sexual assault has become a hot topic for many media outlets across the globe. The gang rape and murder of Delhi intern Jyoti Singh Pandey sparked global outrage, and she has since become a symbol of the need for public support of rape victims.
“I hate seeing the term ‘alleged rape’. I see it all the time, in newspapers, online,” Lola says. “The media are very careful, and sometimes I think it alienates people from coming forward. It’s alleged right, not a fact, it’s my word and to you this could possibly be made up. But this is my reality, you know? When I see ‘alleged’ I see ‘but could be lying’.”
The issue with reporting sexual assault, or even all crimes, is that it is technically an alleged crime until it is gone through the court system and provide otherwise. There is of course an awareness, especially in the media, as to how words can impact readers. Sexual assault is such a sensitive matter that the word ‘alleged’ might seem derogatory at times.
The term ‘rape culture’ is growing more and more prevalent. The main concern is the trend of ‘victim blaming’. In 2013, the Rape Crisis Centre in Ireland surveyed 571 sexual abuse victims who went to the Garda. Of that 571, 57% who filed the complaint with gardaí felt as though they were treated with sensitivity; 29% felt that they received neutral treatment; and the remaining 14% felt as though gardaí treated them in an insensitive manner.
This means as many as 80 victims felt that they were treated insensitively in 2013.
Lola took a moment to compose herself, and described her ordeal. “I was very drunk. I said no but that was about all I was able to do. At that time the definition of rape was widely seen as a fully conscious refusal, that could have even got violent. So I brushed this away as my fault. Next time don’t get so drunk, I would say to myself.” Even now Lola seemed a bit defeated with this statement, as though the words were a physical weight on her shoulders.
The Criminal Law (Rape) Amendment Act 1990 states that the person “guilty of rape under section 4 shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life”. The Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981 defines rape: “he has unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman who at the time of the intercourse does not consent to it” or “at that time he knows that she does not consent to the intercourse or he is reckless as to whether she does or does not consent to it”.
For Lola the gardaí were never involved. To this day only a couple of her closest friends and her boyfriend know. It took Lola a few years to tell anyone at all. “I didn’t want to upset my mum. She would have taken this the hardest. I never spoke about it, I had my mourning period, I thought I was okay. My logic was this: if I get upset about it, let it ruin my life, then he has won.
“And I didn’t want him to win, so I chose to brush it under the carpet.”
Advice from Lola
Support is available all around Ireland for those who have experienced sexual assault of any kind or degree. The Rape Crisis Centre has a hotline open 24 hours a day, and can provide help and information.
Lola wants to use her experience to help others. “I want to tell people to get help. I think admitting it took place and then working from that would have been the healthiest thing to do. And I know I sound like a hypocrite, but don’t hide it, it’s not healthy. My own mother doesn’t know this about me, and sometimes all I want to do is tell her now. Just remember you are strong, this is just one event in your life, don’t let it ruin your future.”
More and more countries have followed the lead of places like Amsterdam in decriminalising Cannabis in recent years. Is it time for Ireland to take another look at the issue?
Everyone has an opinion on cannabis. Is it harmless fun or an addictive drug? Should it still be a criminal offence to possess it?
People are extremely divided on the effects of cannabis, some argue it is as damaging and addictive as any drug, indeed a lot of its effects on the brain are still being studied. Others argue that it is no more harmful to society than alcohol, and they also have a legitimate argument.
Some may feel a nation as conservative as Ireland would never follow this lead, however even 20 years ago who would have thought we would be on the cusp of a referendum to legalise same sex marriage?
Daniel, Donal and James of TheCity.ie took to the streets to ask people where they stood on the issue. As you may expect the results were divided.
located along the Quays, the detail in this portrait is immaculate, the time and dedication graffiti artists put into their portraits shows through in this picture
This portrait shows two tapes with the word ‘Confidential’ wrote on the largest tape. This portrait was painted when tape recordings from the Anglo Irish Banks reveal for the first time when the top executives lied about the extent of losses the institution was making.
This portrait was also located on an abandoned wall in the city centre.
The ‘Blue Lady’ portrait was displayed on the Strand Street Great. her face shows sorrow yet she is still beautiful. she is art and the artist that created her an artist 
This form of graffiti is very new, businesses are now employing graffiti artists to draw portraits on their shutters. portraits that represent them and their store.
This is another business that has employed the service of a graffiti artist to design the front of their shutter.
This portrait is displayed above a store called Catch on Abbey Street Upper. The portrait includes an inspirational statement “Don’t waste your potential”
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