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Tag: Interview

  • Ireland’s first cat lounge opens its doors

    Ireland’s first cat lounge opens its doors

    Ireland’s first highly-anticipated cat lounge opened its doors in Dublin earlier this month. Cara Croke and Megan Walsh paid a visit to speak to the woman behind it all. 

    Located in Smithfield Square, The Cat Lounge welcomed its first visitors on the 10th of October and has received a great response since.

    Owner and cat-lover Georgina O’Neill was inspired to open the lounge when she was shown photographs of a cat café in Japan back in 2014.

    Cara + cats
    Our reporter Cara Croke getting to know some of the residents of The Cat Lounge

    “I’d first heard about cat cafés when my brother visited one in Japan. I knew Ireland needed one and ever since then I planned to open my own here in Dublin,” said Georgina.

    Georgina explained she wanted the lounge to be a great place for those who can’t have pets at home due to living in an apartment or living with someone who has allergies.

    Cat lounge
    The Cat Lounge is located in Smithfield Dublin

    The lounge allows animal lovers to spend 90 minutes at a time with the kittens with a tea or coffee from their hot drinks machine. 

    So far, The Cat Lounge is home to eleven kittens from two litters. 

    “Six of the kittens are black and the rest a mix of tabby, white, and black and white. They were rescued from the local vet after they had been handed in to be euthanised.”

    Cat lounge sign

    Two of the eleven kittens have been named so far, with plans to name the rest through the help of social media. Georgina has hopes that some of the kittens will be adopted once they are six months old, however she has her concerns that the black litter will be harder to re-home.

    “The black cats find it harder to be re-homed because people can be so superstitious. People want interesting looking cats and for some reason they think black isn’t. I’m hoping the lounge will give potential owners an opportunity to come in and fall in love with the cat’s personalities.”

    For now, the kittens all live together in The Cat Lounge and are doted on daily by Georgina, her three staff, and cat-loving members of the public.

    Georgina says in the two weeks since opening, the response to the lounge has been fantastic, however, with mornings being the quietest time for visitors, they have plans to host events for charities during this time in the future.

    You can book your slot with the kittens at www.catlounge.ie for €15 per person.

     

    By Cara Croke and Megan Walsh.

  • Paper cuts: the struggle of the Irish publishing scene

    Paper cuts: the struggle of the Irish publishing scene

    Like any industry built on SMEs, the Irish book sector has to up its game to stay in the ring. Zuzia Whelan talks to the O’Brien Press, Maverick House and New Island about the challenges, upswings and future of Irish publishing.

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  • Dublin Roller Derby: blood, sweat and flip-flops

    Dublin Roller Derby: blood, sweat and flip-flops

    Need for speed? Baying for blood? It’s not violent, but it’s not far off. Zuzia Whelan speaks to Sonia Fernandez of the Dublin Roller Derby A-team for a run down on the rules, the names and the jams.

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  • Exciting times for BLOQ Apparel

    Exciting times for BLOQ Apparel

    Before saying goodbye to 2015, we spoke to the creative directors behind urban brand BLOQ Apparel, who captured and harnessed their creativity to create a uniquely Irish and innovative fashion label.

    Launched in late 2014, BLOQ Apparel is a metropolitan clothing brand designed and produced locally by Dublin natives Simon Bastable and Brendan Ennis. The inventive duo left their financially stable careers in retail and finance, to fulfil their desire for design. One year on, and three collections later, we find out whether their risk was worth taking.

    For many, obsession with creativity and design begins at a young age and is later ignited by a growing devotion to produce beautiful designs; whether that’s in the form of technology, cuisine, advertising, or fashion. The finished product behind the design may be different, but the semantics and passion required remains the same.

    After conforming to the social norms of going to college, obtaining a degree and getting a nine-to-five job, both Simon and Brendan, who are life-long friends from Dun Laoghaire, repeatedly found themselves becoming bored in their mundane day jobs.

    “I was doing it because that’s what I was told you were meant to do. Since a young age, I’ve been obsessed with all forms of art and design. Looking back, I should’ve definitely gone down that road,” said Simon.

    Simon has a background in online marketing and digital strategy and has experience in luxury retail, while Brendan studied business and entrepreneurship where he acquired a solid skill set that prepared him for starting out in business.

    “We both offer a completely different dynamic which is why we work so well together,” added Simon.

    Both the brand concept and name are unique to the Irish market, as he explains:

    “We want our clothing to be everyday wear, but to also have the versatility and adaptability to be that ‘special piece’ in your wardrobe.

    “The name is derived from the term ‘Bloc’ which translates as ‘a combination of groups who share a common interest, and who have formed an alliance. A community’. We dropped the ‘C’ and replaced it with our trademarked ‘Q’ to give us individuality, but still in keeping with the original pronunciation.

    “At the core, BLOQ is a community of people who are passionate about, and share, a common interest,” he added.

    Simon and Brendan have successfully built a solid customer base within the last twelve months, and are enjoying continued success with their third capsule collection, as Brendan illustrates:

    “The overall feel for Collection 03 is that we are embracing designs and fits that are resounding of late 90’s and early 00’s street and athletic wear. This is broken into three subsections – t-shirts, sweats and headwear.

    “We have five t-shirts that fall under our ‘Classics’ that we are carrying on from the previous two collections. In addition to these, we’ve added on two more freshly designed t-shirts, a long sleeve-sweater, a hoody, and a crewneck.

    “We work with a manufacturer on designs from the beginning. This is a lengthy process, but it’s done so that we can provide the exact cut, fit and fabric that we feel our customers will really appreciate and love,” he added.

    Although the Irish fashion community has welcomed BLOQ, the directors believe that more needs to be done to ensure the longevity of independent Irish labels.

    “There’s a reason why we’re so far behind the likes of London and Paris, but in my opinion, there just isn’t the support systems in place for independent producers. We felt that we were on our own at the beginning. However, even though it is extremely difficult, it’s great to see more young designers and brands making a go of it here,” Brendan added.

    What do the directors hope to achieve in 2016? Simon and Brendan will soon be launching two new concepts to the brand – BLOQ Sound System and BLOQ Natives – with the aim of further enhancing the lifestyle aspect of the brand. They are also actively looking to take BLOQ to an international market.

    “We launched in winter of 2014, and have seen a massive rise in such a short space of time. This has given us the impetus to keep pushing boundaries and see how far we can go. Exciting is an understatement,” Simon concluded.

    You can follow Simon and Brendan’s story and progress on Facebook , and Instagram.

     

     

  • A catch up with The Beer Market

    A catch up with The Beer Market

    The Beer Market was the first dedicated beer-only bar in Ireland. Up to 90% of the beer on tap is not available anywhere else in Ireland and they pride themselves on that fact.

    I caught up with Damian Breslim, from The Beer Market, to find out a little bit more about what they do.

    Tell me a little bit about The Beer Market?

    “The Beer Market is part of the Galway Bay Brewery Company, and we are one of their nine bars that they have in total.” (Others include Against The Grain on Wexford Street, and The Brew Dock, in the IFSC).

    “When we started off here, we had the idea that we would sell all twenty of our craft beers, while rotating the kegs every time one ran out. We didn’t want to do any other drinks, just beer, beer, beer!

    “However in the last couple of months, we’ve changed that slightly to suit a range of other people and we’ve since added wine. We used to just sell pies from The Pie Man in Temple Bar too, but now we’re open at 12 for lunch.”

    When did you guys open?

    “We opened our doors late last April.”

    Who drinks in The Beer Market?

    “I really couldn’t pinpoint just one demographic that drinks in The Beer Market, it’s a very mixed bag; from students, to professionals, to locals, and after work crowds.”

    Do you run any events or theme nights?

    “Not at the minute, although we do have tasting nights where people can come in, talk us through how much they’d like to spend, and we guide them through the different beers we have, where they come from, the brewing process etc.

    “As I said, we currently stock twenty beers, eight of which are from Galway Bay, while the others include a mixture of Belgian, German, American, English and so on.”

    Are there any future plans for The Beer Market?

    “Well, we’ve recently opened our kitchen, so that’s pretty much our biggest change. We’ll wait and see how that goes before we make any more plans.”

    To find out more about The Beer Market, you can find them on Facebook or you can log onto their website.

  • A catch up with Pan Cooke

    A catch up with Pan Cooke

    Pan Cooke is a 25-year-old freelance artist working and living in South Dublin. The City’s Laura Larkin nabbed five minutes with the busy painter to chat about how a strange twist of fate caused him to stumble onto his new career.

    Robin Williams re

    Can you introduce people, briefly, to your work?

    At the moment I’m doing black and white portrait paintings which are my main thing at the minute. I also do street art stickers, but that’s more of a promotional tool rather than being my main job. My main outlet is Instagram – people contact me through that. Pretty much all of the paintings I do are commissions, except for the odd ones I do for myself which I’ll usually sell too.

    Is Instagram something of a new frontier for artists?

    It is. I don’ have to worry about setting up a shop or anything like that. I can pretty much do everything from my phone and I still get a steady stream of commissions. I don’t even have to do a website. It’s a brilliant tool for artists, for promotion and for selling.

    You do have a show once a year?

    Coming up to Christmas we do a show that is kind of like a pop-up shop. A friend of mine works closely with the Irish rep for Billabong clothing so we sell that clothing and do an art show. We did it for one night last year, but this time it ran for a week.

    How did you get into art?

    It grew organically for me. I did business in college but I was always messing around with art. I was doing the street art paste-ups and when the Robin Williams thing happened, it was a huge thing. I had the portrait done before he died and a good few people heard about me through that so that gave me a platform. I was then able to move into painting and use the audience from that. I just built from there I suppose.

    The Robin Williams poster, which coincided with his death, was a real turning point for you, how did you find the attention?

    It was kind of strange because the main thing about that was that I had a huge poster [of Robin Williams] and I had it ready to go that night. It was about midnight when I heard that he died and I went straight out to get it up. The image came up so quickly. I then recycled that image a bit, if people were going away during the summer I sent packets of stickers to them. I got a lot of pictures of them going up all over the world – in Asia and Australia.

    What’s next for you and your business?

    I don’t know how sustainable it will be, I’m hoping to grow it more and more. At the moment it’s kind of happening naturally without me having to plan it out. If it keeps going at the rate it is and I can build up, I’m hoping to move away from the portraits eventually and branch out into more ‘artsy’ stuff using the audience I’ve built so far. The goal is to move into experimental art but I think that’s a while down the road anyway.

    Do you feel pressure to have a clear plan?

    There’s a bit of pressure because you’re not working five days a week with set hours. There can be some weeks where I’m inundated with commissions and sometimes I don’t have any. It’s quite episodic, rather than a secure job but if you’re doing something you love you have to take that risk. Now is the best time for me to go for it anyway.

    You can find Pan Cooke on Instagram at therealpan.

     

  • It’s the story that really matters

    It’s the story that really matters

    Apollo Entertainment is a recent start-up entertainment company based in Dublin, which can attribute its name and brand to such shows as ‘Wake to Wake’ on Setanta Sports, and its follow-up TV series ‘Off the DOC’. We caught up with CEO/Producer Jonny MacCann.

    MacCann (23) began by explaining why he decided to set up the company. “I started Apollo Entertainment because I wanted to tell stories and entertain people, my way,” he said. “I’m mad into sports and love TV, so I found a way of combining the two.”

    With the company only just over a year old, it has made great strides in the industry already with wake-boarding documentary ‘Wake to Wake’ being featured on Setanta Sports and their cooking show ‘The Little Green Spoon’ amassing a wide online following. They are also creating content with popular Dublin based website ‘Publin’ and have more shows in the pipeline.

    “We’re only one year old, so it’s still early days, but the company has been growing constantly. Apollo Entertainment has now created TV content for RTÉ, TV3 and Setanta Sports, so it’s all go,” he said.

    “My next step is to finish this TV series ‘Off The DOC’, which is a wake-boarding reality series for Setanta Sports – it’s due to air the end of this year,” he said.

    “After that we’ve a couple of projects in development both for TV and online. The two online series that I produce that are really going strong at the moment are ‘The Little Green Spoon’ and ‘Publin’. They’re two projects I’m very proud of,” he added.

    With so many projects under the company’s belt so far, we asked what’s next for one of Dublin’s brightest media start-ups.

    “The next step for me personally? I don’t really know, because my company and I are one and the same. So I guess it’s just keeping on the way I’ve been going.” Well it seems to be a formula that has worked so far.

    He finished with a solid piece of advice for anyone looking to start out in producing and editing videos.

    “Go out and film something,” he said. “Cameras are so accessible and affordable now that you can film a short film on your phone. Just remember the important thing is not what you use to tell your story, it’s the story itself that really matters.

    “People will forgive poor quality or shaky video if the story and context is there. Don’t believe me? Nike’s most viewed commercial was shot on a $200 ‘point and shoot’ camera, so go out and tell a story you’d want to hear.”

    For more from Apollo, you can visit their website here.

  • A catch up with Fresh Cuts Clothing

    A catch up with Fresh Cuts Clothing

    Developing a start up in Ireland can be challenging to say the least. High production costs and a saturated market can leave a company struggling to stay afloat.

    Fresh Cuts Clothing is a fashion lifestyle brand based in Dublin that designs eco-friendly clothes and active apparel. While still in its infancy, having only launched in December last year, the company has already taken part in a national charity campaign and have just released their newest range.

    We spoke with Steven Murphy, founder of Fresh Cuts, about the company’s origins, social responsibility and their plans for 2016.

    First off, how did Fresh Cuts Clothing come about?
    A lot of it came from being unhappy in my previous job and wanting something more exciting and fulfilling in my life. This and the fact I live in t-shirts and hoodies was basically where it started. I had no experience in any of it, but thankfully it’s come a long way since then – or so I hope!

    How do you differentiate yourselves from other clothing companies within the market?
    I like to describe the company as an athleisure wear brand. At the end of the day it is casual clothing that people wear every day and feel comfortable in. I don’t see it on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week any time soon, but in saying that it does have some great qualities that differentiate it from other clothing companies within the market.

    Our Fresh Designs line are limited edition pieces that are printed on a run of 100. You know buying that t-shirt or jumper that there is only 99 others printed. All these items are screen print, labelled and designed here in Dublin. Our Eco-Cuts line is simple in design, but superior in fabric. We source top of the line fabrics and processes to create that unmissable feel of our hoodies and jumpers. This, coupled with the fact that they are ethically produced under fair working conditions [makes] for a very guilt free purchase!

    Have you faced many challenges as a relatively new start up?
    The company is pretty much a one man band at the minute. Working from a spare room I do everything from website development to sewing labels. As with all start-ups there is always challenges. Time and money has been a huge factor for me so far as I’ve been working by myself.

    My plan was always to start off small and grow naturally. I didn’t have the resources to do it any other way and it’s working out so far. The industry itself is very tough and competing with global brands was always going to be a challenge, but what’s life without a few challenges? It makes it all the more sweet when you succeed.

    fcc_indoors_jm_v1 (2)

    One of Fresh Cut’s main slogans is ‘Designed by you – For you’. Why did you decide to outsource the majority of your designs?
    This was really to build on the commitment of limited edition pieces. Along with wanting to showcase Irish based designers and illustrators, I wanted to have a constant flow of new designs available to the public. I see the brand growing to the size where new designs aren’t available for long once they go online.

    In order to have constant access to new designs I had to open up this facility to work with new designers when this growth is achieved. With most of our designs being done in house at the moment, this is really something that will be built on in the future and something that could potentially be very exciting for the collaborations we come up with.

    As a company, you seem to put a strong emphasis on social change and responsibility through the production of your clothes. Is this something that Fresh Cuts feels very strongly about?
    It’s something I feel strongly about and definitely something I think we should all at least think about! Some clothes now are just becoming disposable, you buy them and throw them out after two washes. It’s great to get a t-shirt for €3, but you need to ask yourself at what cost was this made. I put a lot of effort into the fabrics and the process in which the clothing is made and where I source our products. At the end of the day, some people will appreciate this and some won’t unfortunately.

    How would you describe Fresh Cut’s latest range?
    The line has grown considerably since it launched last Christmas. From the first run of limited edition tee’s to the introduction of the Eco-Cuts range, I still try to keep things simple and in tune with the brand.

    With our new line I really think it’s the quality of the garments that stands out. The materials and processes used to make them make for an incredible feel. This coupled with our exciting designs and unique colours makes for a really exciting line that shouldn’t be missed. It’s something you won’t find any other Irish brand offering at the moment.

    fcc_outdoor_jm_v1Recently you joined forces with the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Headstrong. Do you plan on working with other charities in the future?
    Yes, 100%. I think if you are in a position to help out in some way, big or small, you should. We had a great response from the Headstrong campaign and raised over €1000 for the charity along with some vital awareness regarding mental health in Ireland.

    I had plans to do one more before the year was out, but as mentioned in the challenges I faced, time and money got in the way of this. I put my own money into the charity tees and it does put a bit of a financial strain on the business, so I wasn’t able to get it worked out before Christmas. However come the new year I hope to do another one for an equally worthy cause that I would be passionate about.

    What can we expect from Fresh Cuts over the next few months?
    Having just launched the new line it is full steam ahead until Christmas. Along with our online store, I have a big presence on the Dublin Market scene. I pop up in various markets throughout the city, but you can catch me in The Designer Mart in Cows Lane every Saturday, Smithfield Market Fair and I will be trading in the I Believe in Christmas market in the IFSC from the 26th November right up until the 23rd of December.

    Early next year I am hoping to get a permanent location in town and am currently working out the details on this, so fingers crossed. This will be the next big step for the company and I see it as a huge move forward with the business.

    For more information about Fresh Cuts Clothing, you can visit their website, Facebook and Twitter.

  • Enda Kenny feels period pain in Repeal The 8th Twitter storm

    Enda Kenny feels period pain in Repeal The 8th Twitter storm

    Many women in Ireland are frustrated with the Government’s lack of action on abortion reform and now some have taken to Twitter to take this frustration out on Taoiseach Enda Kenny himself.

    Led by London based Irish comedian Grainne Maguire, women from all over Ireland are tweeting descriptions of their menstrual cycles to Enda Kenny’s account. The City caught up with Grainne to find out what inspired her to make her uterine activities public.

    “I just thought that since the Government thinks that they can control my body, they should just have all the facts and all the information. So I thought that I should just live tweet my menstrual cycle to the Taoiseach, and since he’s in control of what happens and it’s not my private business, I thought they might as well just know everything.”

    And Grainne wasn’t the only one who was comfortable sharing their period stories with our Taoiseach. The #repealthe8th hashtag on Twitter was filled with gory stories of cramps and moon cups, a response that delighted and surprised Maguire.

    “It was just an idea that popped into my head and I thought this’ll be a bit of craic, although I thought it might be a bit weird, but then I was just tweetin’ away… and everybody got involved and I’m absolutely thrilled. I’m so, so happy… and relieved.”

    Screen Shot 2015-11-05 at 15.37.42Some people have expressed the cynical opinion that, while this is a cute idea, it’s useless overall because Enda Kenny doesn’t run his own Twitter account and is unlikely to see any of these tweets. However Maguire rejects the idea that the tweets are futile.

    “It’s so important to have a sense of humour about something like this even if it is a gallows humour and I just think that it’s anything that reminds people that women aren’t going to go away.

    “We aren’t going to just forget and whether it’s tweeting Enda Kenny or whether it’s campaigning… anything that reminds people that it’s still an issue that a lot of the population is very passionate about is a good thing.”

    Screen Shot 2015-11-05 at 15.35.31The pride is palpable in Maguire’s voice as she describes how Irish women are the funniest in the world, mentioning specifically Tara Flynn and Roisin Ingle who have also thrown their weight behind the abortion debate.

    “They’re incredible women doing great work and I’ve never been so proud to be Irish.”

  • Ireland’s bid for Dublin2020

    Ireland’s bid for Dublin2020

    The people of Dublin are anxiously waiting on November 13 to find out if they will be announced as the European Capital City of Culture for 2020.

    Running for the past 30 years, the European Capital City of Culture is an annual competition between two host countries within the European Union – with the host cities for 2020 being in Ireland and Croatia.

    The winning city within each country will be given the coveted title for a period of one calendar year, and the potential to generate large amounts of revenue in tourism and business.

    Limerick, Galway, the South-East and Dublin are all competing for the title.

    The initiative aims to promote and highlight the diversity of culture across the EU, as well as promoting healthy competition between its members.

    The programme also offers an excellent opportunity to tackle issues within the chosen city, such as homelessness and other social issues.

    Ireland is no stranger to the Capital City of Culture; with Dublin having won the prestigious title in 1991 and Cork following suit in 2005.

    So what exactly is the bid?

    The Dublin 2020 bid is about social change through involvement – so get involved! A team of hardworking journalists, event managers, videographers, photographers, singers, dancers, teachers and everyone in between, have spent months preparing to put the bid forward to the EU.

    The bid is essentially a book filled with thousands of reasons why Dublin is unique, special, and most importantly why we as a county should be chosen.

    Niamh O’Donoghue and Marie Cogan spoke to Dublin’s youngest 2020 campaigner, Jamie Harrington, about the importance of the competition.

    Want to join #TeamDublin? Start spreading the message of the bid and simply inform others. If you think you have a great idea to help boost our chances of winning then get in touch and #TeamDublin will support you as much as they can.

    By Marie Cogan and Niamh O’Donoghue