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HEMLINES YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION The Redisc
overy Centre’s Carrie Ann Moran – impassioned leader of Fashion Revolution Ireland - talks trailblazing change and the circular economy words Amelia O’Mahony-Brady An unmistakable landmark encroached by a mishmash of Celtic Tiger builds, the Boiler House has been a solid fixture on Ballymun’s cityscape for nearly six decades. Supplying the surrounding neighbourhood with invaluable heat and water sources, the first inklings of its demise surfaced as demolition schemes began sweeping through the city. Come 2012, rumours had turned into reality: a demolition date was finally set, with word reaching the still-budding Rediscovery Centre, a social enterprise scattered across different Dublin-based locations. Once the team discovered this last remaining relic of Old Ballymun was in jeopardy, they sprung into action: “We immediately made a play for it,” recalls the centre’s CEO, Dr. Sarah Miller. “We made a visit to the corresponding department and the Dublin City Council and said, ‘if you’ll give us the money that you’d spend knocking it down, we’ll go to Europe and get the rest that we need’.” Devising a groundbreaking blueprint that saw the Boiler House refitted as an education and skillsdevelopment centre, demonstrating the benefits of resource, 20 reuse and recovery, the project was green-lighted by the EU’s Life+ environment programme in 2014; a staggering €3.6 million was received to fund its construction. The Boiler House’s second incarnation – its red-striped chimney mercifully intact – has broken the mould for construction across Europe, let alone Dublin itself. Melding old and new features played a pivotal role: every pre-existent feature was salvaged where possible, from the durable steel girders to the indestructible concrete flooring – which has also minimised its carbon footprint – while reused sheep wool and hemp provide wall insulation, to name but a few up-cycled features. The Rediscovery Centre triumphantly moved into their new space in 2017, finally uniting their fourpronged enterprise under the one (hemp-concrete-cladded) roof. The space is the first of its kind on European shores to configure a “3D textbook” model, which shuns conventional classrooms in favour of more collaborative spaces for scientists and creative trailblazers. Student workshops and teacher-training programmes spearhead a fresh, engaging genre of sustainable education, the contents of which are adapted by the day. And while the first three facets of this social enterprise – Rediscover Furniture, Rediscover Cycling and Rediscover Painting – boast inventive ways to embrace ethical consumerism, its Rediscover Fashion section, led by the barnstorming Carrie Ann Moran, especially shines. Moran’s magical touch – and insatiable thirst for selfimprovement – plays no small part in this. Her enthusiasm for style and sustainability (albeit a more jaded term in sartorial contexts, now frequently replaced by ‘circular fashion’) has always been equally matched, testified by her inaugural treks to vintage shops and far-flung recycling centres. “I was brought up in a household in ‘80s recession Dublin, where buying second-hand was very much the norm – you would really value things. I’d get my pocket money and go into Temple Bar where, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there were loads of deadly second-hand and vintage places. I’d spend my pocket money there because I always wanted to have something that was a little bit different. And I’ve always been an environ