There's a pub in Dublin's city centre that used to be known as the Avondale - after Charles Stewart Parnell's home in Co Wicklow. The pub was on Parnell Street, at the far end of O'Connell Street from the bridge. Parnell, the uncrowned king of Ireland, was an unfortunate victim of his time and was brought down over the love of a woman who wasn't his wife. Were he alive today, he could have been a Taoiseach, but that's the luck of the draw and times change. In its day, the Avondale pub earned a reputation in polite circles for being rather on the rough side, but it was representative of Parnell Street and its hinterland. In the immediate area of Parnell Street there are many public authority flats complexes, from Dominick Street at one end to Summerhill, Gardiner Street and Sean MacDermott Street at the other: a high-density concentration of poverty.
This community has suffered horrendously from heroin, which killed hundreds of its young people. And while it is bravely fighting back, the battle is ongoing and relentless. Three cheers and good luck to them.
New apartments
In the past few years big changes have come through the phenomenon of apartment building, which brought a new community, albeit a community of strangers, into the area. These newcomers were early harbingers of the economic boom. Their obvious relative prosperity contrasted with the poverty of life for the long-standing community.
Then another community of strangers started to arrive. This time they were mostly black and mostly poor. There was some friction. News media headlined the inter-racial element of some incidents. Earlier this year there was a much-reported incident involving patrons from a local pub and some newcomers. It was resolved over a friendly pool competition in the pub itself. Following this, a number of meetings took place to ensure that any further difficulties could be resolved. Those engaged in the discussions included prominent local politicians such as the Independent TD Tony Gregory, Cllr Christy Burke of Sinn Fein, the independent councillor Joe Costello, the Garda, the Irish Refugee Council, the prominent community worker Mick Rafferty, and others. Tensions lifted in the aftermath of the meetings and life on the street got back to normal. There have been no follow-up meetings, yet clearly the will for engagement is there. There is surely work here and elsewhere for some sort of official community liaison officers, and for a forum to be created where individuals or groups could meet to discuss difficulties an opportunities. Some £600 million is to be invested by the Government in the north inner city as part of a very welcome major redevelopment: a negligible fraction of this figure could finance any such officers or forum.
Urban myths
Given sensational media coverage, apocryphal stories and urban myths, one probably wouldn't expect to find many south-siders - for whom any crossing to the north side of the Liffey might induce severe trauma - daring to venture down Parnell Street, and even a doughty associate of mine who lives in deepest Ballyfermot recently expressed misgivings about going there for a drink. But individuals do make a difference by making a personal connection with new arrivals - and not just through the current cliche, "Don't you just love all those new ethnic restaurants?", which seems to have replaced the old excuse, "Some of my best friends are black". Talking the talk of embracing different cultures is easier than walking the walk.
Recent evidence that Parnell Street is a safe location for investment was provided by John Bankole and Tony Oguchukwu, two Nigerian businessmen who opened a pub on the site of the former Avondale. On opening night a goodly crowd attended, mainly black, but with a fair smattering of white well-wishers. The Forum, on the corner of North Great George's Street and Parnell Street, has a friendly atmosphere and on that first night there was a positive sense of occasion, a deepening of black commitment to the area. It is a pity John and Tony didn't have an official opening involving local politicians or community leaders, but there is plenty of time for that.
It was interesting to find during the evening's discussions that we Irish have a national institution in common with Nigerians - Guinness - although they swear in the Forum that it is much stronger down Lagos way.
Celebration
The tremendous potential for the active celebration of other cultures - not just the mere toleration - was brought home to me on a visit to London earlier this year when I attended the annual Islington midsummer street festival in north London. Over the weekend, the main local entertainment strip, Upper Street, was closed to traffic and tables were laid all along the middle of the street so that revellers could eat and drink in comfort and enjoy the various ethnic bands parading and performing up and down the street.
There's still some work to be done here before we can get to that stage, but I don't believe it is beyond the wit of politicians, civic, community and business leaders and ordinary people to begin an engagement with the new communities in Parnell Street and elsewhere, to initiate a dialogue aimed at mutual understanding and respect. Who knows, at some future date we might rise to the challenge and celebrate a brave new multi-cultural Dublin with a summer carnival involving all the new and old communities of Dublin and beyond. Imagine.