TD 1
“When I was looking at locations a year ago, I wa
s brought to two separate places, both completely unoccupied. In both situations, the person taking care of it had said that the space should be used for artists’ studios. One is the Debtors’ Prison, on Green Street. Which was squatted, similar to the Phibsborough squat. That place could be refitted as a massive artists workspace if they got the electrics and plumbing working. It’s not a huge cost. A crowd called Green Street Collective tried to do that in the ‘90s, couldn’t get the money together, gave it to the DCC. They’ve sat on it for the past twenty five years. The other space is Ushers Quay, there’s an unoccupied building with a theatre space, the Riverside Theatre, in the basement. These spaces do exist. Good people have the right idea about them, but somewhere there’s a blockage. With the Ushers Quay building, it’s a health and safety concern, with the Debtors Prison, it’s a big refit, but places like those could provide a space for every artist in the city, and I don’t know why they’re not doing it.” Opposite: We Stand With Palestine Below: Darragh Lynch and Iona Zajac With music, I suppose you can always earn your crust, whereas I can’t exactly busk up a film. I mention this because there seems to be a vibrant punk rock pulse beating through your work, from your friendships and collaboration with people like Ian, as well as Ruskavellas/Deadlians frontman, Sean Fitzgerald, the folks from the Mary Wallopers… It’s a great scene. I tell everyone when I’m traveling that the music scene in Ireland is the best it has ever been in my lifetime. When I was a kid in the ‘80s, there were bands trying to be U2, so the ‘80s was shit. The ‘90s, slightly less shit. And so on. It’s sudden, and I’m convinced it was because of the crash in 2008, people growing up in the shadow of the crash. Also, the destruction of the music business. Nobody can make any money anymore, so suddenly you don’t have any careerists anymore. All you have is people who want to make music, and play music, and speak to people, and the result is amazing. Have you seen similar effects in the film industry? Obviously, the costs of putting a film together aren’t quite the same as picking up a guitar. With music, you can always earn your crust, whereas I can’t exactly busk up a film. I also find film funding in Ireland way more conservative than how novels, poets and musicians are treated, meaning that a lot of Irish films seem to end up looking like television. There’s constant news stories about how Ireland’s film industry is in great shape, largely because some Netflix shows are filming here, which is not the same thing as having a film industry. It’s having a service industry. Or about the Oscar nominations for Poor Things, for example, great people and everything, the DOP Robbie Ryan is a very old friend, but in the end it’s a Greek director telling a Scottish story. Everything about All You Need Is Death, by contrast, is uniquely, authentically and gratifyingly Irish, as well as being fiercely independent. How did you arrive at that decision? I was sitting at home, having been turned 17