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MAGNIFIED GOBLIN Goblin magazine celebrates the I
rish skate scene through interviews, articles, photography and artwork. Editor Philip Halton gives us the lie of the half-pipe land. words Michael McDermott – Where did the idea of Goblin come from? What inspired it? The idea of Goblin came from The Wizard, Ireland’s first skateboard magazine that was released over ten years ago. Unfortunately, it only lasted one issue due to the recession. Obviously the trend in the last few years has been a move away from print to digital media, but magazines are still a massive part of skateboarding culture. Most skateboarders and skate photographers aim to get their work in print. Truthfully the inspiration for me comes from my own battles with mental health as I found skateboarding was my answer to a lot of internal struggles that I dealt with for years. Being active and keeping busy is a massive part of staying healthy, mentally and physically. I thought Goblin might be able to motivate people to become active in the scene and take photos, submit artwork or express their views and stories, all the while documenting Irish skateboarding at a certain point in time. – What are the greatest challenges in bringing out a publication in print? Any unexpected occurrences so far? Most of the unexpected occurrences have been positive thankfully. Printing costs are high and so far we’ve been independent of advertising outside of our friends’ brands. On the first issue I put forward the money anticipating a loss but accepting that it would be worth it if it would help the scene, hopefully we could break even. Within six weeks we had sold out the 500 copies we got printed and had a stellar night in the MART gallery with over 400 people. It appears people truly value print, also it gives us a chance to bring the whole scene together under one roof for the launch, and they can take home with them a piece of the night as a memory. 68