Strumpet City and the Soup Kitchen

Strumpet City and the Soup Kitchen

Molly Malone
From Google Images

One of the pleasures of a Sunday morning has to be reading the newspapers or in this instance "The Times" and two articles in particular, and in relation to the above! Justine McCarthy's excellent piece on Oliver Williams and his request to establish a soup kitchen in Liberty Hall given the need that exists and that the Capuchins at Bow Street are now feeding 450 people a day, which is some reflection on the state we find ourselves in. The other one is by Kevin Myers on page 13 and he takes Dublin City to task in no uncertain terms for declaring Strumpet City its One City, One Book for 2013. A wholly "sanitized" account would be his best summary of the book and I don't want to cross swords or pens with anyone.  His contention or belief that the novel's "triumph is not literary but a politico-cultural affirmation of the enduring potency of the myth of Jim Larkin" makes for interesting reading and goes so far as to say one could even argue that "it was the moral inspiration for the disaster that was the Croke Park deal"(His Words) And there is more and well worth the read. And he even finishes with a verse of his own but go read if you can. Back to the soup kitchen in Liberty Hall and Siptu's response to the request to establish one there and borrowing from Justine McCarthy's piece, "We don't want to deny the heritage and the history but we have to ask if having a soup kitchen is what trade unions should be doing in this day and age".  Sure  lads just let them go down to the Capuchins and as you watch them pass you'll have plenty of time to read that article on page 13.