With Dublin losing access to social spaces and nightclubs dwindling in numbers in the face of delayed licensing reform that could do a lot to reinvigorate it, we are once again facing a time where community action is the way forward.
As we’ve seen with the likes of CATU and Praxis, organised collectives can do much together, and that’s an idea that has sparked members of Dublin collectives like Club Comfort, Department of Energy, Ecliptic Newsstand, 1815FC, and more to make a collective announcement.
Members of these collectives have been involved in taking a lease of an industrial unit in Glasnevin, and intend to run it as a venue and creative space.
The as yet unnamed space will be modelled on a members co-operative, with a dues-paying membership allowing the space to be noncommercial and financially independent.
As they say, there’s a lot of work to do to get the space accessible and fit for use, and you can donate to the project from €10 a month on the Patreon page. Your initial funding will also going towards rent and utilities.
The news was announced via this Instagram video, along with the caption below.
Ireland has a storied history of social centres, DIY venues and other independent spaces for art, culture and sociable activity. We’ve come together as a group concerned by the void left in Dublin by the closure of many of these, most recently Sunnyvale, Jigsaw and Jaja Studios. We’ve taken over the lease of an industrial unit with the aim of making it a venue of this kind and are currently fitting it out for purpose. It doesn’t have a name yet; we hope you will help us to give it one.
Contribution to this project will take many forms and most will not involve money! But we do need to raise some funds to cover rent, utilities, and the expenses of making the space accessible and fit for use. It’s central to our vision that our project is, as much as possible, noncommercial and financially independent. We’re adopting the model of a member’s co-operative, with the aim of fully funding and maintaining our activities through a dues-paying membership.
We want as many people as possible to be a part of this space. Please consider signing up to our Patreon to make a monthly contribution. Your monthly dues will be a pledge to this vision and an ongoing and direct act of support for DIY Culture in Dublin.
If you are unable to make a regular contribution or membership doesn’t suit you at this time but still want to support, keep an eye out for our crowd funder and other fundraising efforts which will follow in the coming weeks.
There’s still a lot to figure out, but we have somewhere to figure it out now, and we hope that you’ll do it with us. We hope you’re as excited as we are, and can’t wait to see you there.
