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A bunch of people have started to get it together in Dublin to work on making a social centre happen there... On the 6th of December they kicked off with a cafe 'seomra spraoi' (Gaelic for 'play room') with free food & the 'world premiere' of daaa social centre films. Around 100 people showed up -excelling the expectations of the organisers big time. The  event  was great; there were really lots of people talking (& itching to get started) on Irish/Dublin spaces…   

Below is some text from folk that organised the event:

This Friday sees the premiere in Dublin of Six Films About Social Centres – a series of short documentaries about autonomous social centres from Belfast to Barcelona. Ideally, this screening should take place in an autonomous social centre, but Dublin has none. (A parish hall is being borrowed for the evening).

So, in a year or two will someone be able to come to Dublin and make a documentary about an autonomous social centre here? Or will fundraiser gigs, political meetings and workshops always have to take place in Teachers Clubs or the upstairs rooms of pubs? Will Food Not Bombs always be at the mercy of the weather? Will there be somewhere indoors to go after street parties?

The Indymedia centre that operated for a couple of weeks around Mayday this year gave many people a glimpse of the great use to which a disused building can be put. It reminded just how badly Dublin lacks an autonomous space.

The Six Films – made by Direct Action Against Apathy, a Belfast-based collective – will be screened at 8pm on Friday at the St Nicholas of Myra Parish Hall (Carman's Hall, a street running between Francis St and Thomas St), followed by a brief discussion, music, a raffle and a photo exhibition about social centres.

The films explore and celebrate the phenomenon of autonomous social centres in Europe, independent of local authority, church, business, trade union or other controlling body. These spaces have provided a focal point for many of the social movements in the West, where public spaces have been eaten away by consumerism, property speculation and the culture of the car.

They celebrate collective cooperation and diversity and have numerous day-to-day uses: community drop-in centre, inexpensive cafe, political meeting space, library, gig venue, arts centre, internet cafe, to name a few.

Usually these social centres begin as squats in derelict buildings and eventually an understanding is reached with the local authorities. Of course, Ireland is unique in Europe in that the authorities are utterly intolerant of squatting. Today in Ireland there is virtually nowhere indoor for people to congregate that isn't a pub or overpriced cafe.

Many questions have to be answered on the long road to establishing a social centre in Dublin, for example should it – as a matter of principle – be a squat rather than a rental, with any eviction attempt fought against in the courts, thereby making more of a public issue of it? This is an issue treated in the films.

But at least a start is being made: Friday's event is an attempt to bring together people who are interested in such a project and hopefully to inspire people through the examples in the documentaries.

More info & discussion on Dublin social centre initiative on Indymedia here.

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