All Ireland Beer Survey: Data Collected and Data Used

The study first collected data readily available from Beoir: Ireland's craft beer consumers group. Their list qualifies “Irish Micro-breweries” as “produced on the island of Ireland by an Irish company which makes less than 30,000hL per year” (http://www.beoir.org/index.php/craft-beer-directories/a-z-of-ireland-s-beer-cider). This means breweries that were Irish owned at the time such as Franciscan Well is included and breweries that have relocated to Ireland more recently, such as Rye River are excluded. From here a data base was built listing:

• Brewers Brand name- defined as the label brand of the brewer, in order to include contract brewers who use other breweries facilities to produce their product. Figure 2 lists breweries discovered with those which closed and those for which there was incomplete information noted.
• Core beers- defined as by the author as “consistently brewed for throughout a year for at least a year” to exclude seasonal and special brews).
• County- which of the 32 counties of Ireland the brand's business is based.
• Province- which of the 4 provinces of Ireland the brand's business is based.
• Beer Style- styles was recorded based on the brands own identification which resulted in 46 styles, these were then aggregated into 11 broader styles (See Figure 1).
• Start/End- the year a beer became available and the year it was discontinued if so.
  

  
  

  

Introduction: All Ireland Beer Survey 1981-2014

This study originally carried out as part of an academic publication spatially and quantitatively tracks the development of micro-breweries in Ireland from the early 80's to the year 2014. This study presents the reader with a geography of micro-breweries in Ireland that will show the location and quantity of breweries in Ireland as well as the styles on offer.

Due to working full-time I was not able to finish the study in time for the original deadline, so I will publish and discuss it here- in what I hope will be a more accessible and flexible format.

There are omissions which I have tried to explain, there will be mistakes found over time and I hope we can end up with a common database that can be added to and developed!

Introduction

Ireland is an interesting case due to the dramatic changes the country underwent with a rapidly rising economy and then a rapidly declining economy along with two important tax rebates for micro-breweries producing under 20,000 hectolitres in 2005 and a recent increase in the threshold to 30,000 hectorlitres in 2015.

The size of Ireland allows for a rather concise and complete study of this type with a total of 70 brewing brands accounted for since the 1980's. We will refer the companies as brewing brands rather than breweries or brewers as some have their beer contract brewed in Ireland. The Island has been through a similar experience to the UK and other nations in that the micro-brewery scene has at first suffered from the dominance of global brewing conglomerates with the 90's facing stagnation as start-ups come and go and growth in the 00's.

 The total breweries that sufficient data was collected on the island of Ireland is shown in Fig 1, from the earliest recorded entry 1981, where only 1 brewery is recorded, to the end of this surveys time-scape 2014 where 36 breweries were recorded.

Fig 2 shows the level of beers in production over time starting with 1 in 1981 and ending with 135 in 2014.

I will try to update this project weekly, next time dealing with the body of data I have collected and what amount of that was complete enough to analyse. 

Very happy to be featured on Trevor Conways PoemsInProfile project.

The poem is an older one previously published in Ropes which annually produced by the Masters in Literature and Publishing programme (circa 2009?) based in NUI Galway.

It was nice to have an older poem given fresh light- and the questions posed by Trevor really helped in opening up the poem, to myself and hopefully the readers.

Enjoy!

http://poemsinprofile.weebly.com/the-poems/12-the-local-by-liam-duffy

Irish Films at the Danish Film Institute

Dear Copenhageners,

I am very excited to announce a series of Irish films to be shown this month at the Cinemateket of the Danish film Institute, Gothersgade 55,1123 København K.

This has been organised by myself, the Irish Embassy in Denmark, the Irish Film Institute and of course the Danish Film Institute.

The full programme can be found here: http://www.dfi.dk/Filmhuset/Nyheder-fra-Filmhuset/2015/Marts-2015/Cinemateket---marts-april.aspx

The scheduled screenings are:

Calvary (2014)

5/3 19.15 and 12/3 16.45

Good Vibrations (2011)

7/3 19.15 and 18/3 16.45

The Pipe (2010)

7/03 14.00 and 17/3 16.45

The Rocky Road to Dublin and The Making of (1968)*

15/3 16.30

*With a reception by the Irish Embassy held on site

Poems and a Review in PB$

The Poetry Bus
Buy it here!


I am very happy to have a poem, a haiku and a review published in the latest Poetry Bus, the 5th issue published by Peadar and Collette O'Donoghue. The Poetry Bus continues to be a very attractive magazine, with high production values and striking full colour imagery.

Its content is broad, but the work inside the Bus normally has quite an edge to it, in content or style- for better or worse. It reads more quick fire than meditative, but an attentive editorial eye has selected pieces that not only demand you chase them down the page but are crafted well enough to stay in and stimulate your mind.

From cover to cover the artwork is bold and intermissions the poetry just enough to avoid distraction either way. Though the images themselves are catching the quality of their reproduction in the magazine is not always up to standard, more likely due to the images supplied rather than the printers or editors fault. The continued presence of comic strips is good to see and I hope more comic writers come to see the Bus as a platform for their work.
The 'My Writing Life' section of the Bus gives writers carte blanche beyond the title which prompts indulgent and flowery lifestyling to honest reflection of the role writing plays in an author's life. Another article in this Bus tends towards more flowery indulgence- a vent against rejection letters which can be seen as an unnecessary feature in a magazine which, I imagine, has a backlog of work waiting to be published.


I feel the role of poetry journals and magazines to discuss the state of the art or the state of the scene it exists in and draws from is currently underplayed in the Bus. But I am optimistic that this role will be optimised in time, as its reputation grows and its understanding of itself increases.

The Banana Republic and the Bailout published by Jusos Kiel

I was asked to write an article by my Comrades in Jusos Kiel who were kind enough to show me all around there lovely homeland a couple of years ago.

It focuses on the state of the nation post-bailout and why The Boomtown Rats still matter.

The article is available in English here.

And translated into German here.

Enjoy!

Dancing like nobody's watching and Limerick City of Culture: Part 2

Efforts have been made to adjustment the structure of Limerick City of Culture to make it appear acceptable that Pat Cox attempted to gift Patricia Ryan with a job and a generous wage packet. The interim appointment of Mike Fitzpatrick and the introduction of further representation from cultural groups and Councillors should of course be welcomed, but should never have had to be fought for.

The papers read:

“Cox said he was “determined to do everything I can and we can to hit the reset button to put together in place the necessary resources.” ” [1]

“Mr Fitzpatrick now has the opportunity to show people there is more on offer than squabbling.” [2]

“I firmly believe that, the negativity created recent events, Limerick can and will put the past week behind it, seize the fantastic opportunity to highlight all that is positive about that fine city and get on with the project.” [3]

The ‘reset button’, ‘squabbling’ and putting the ‘past week behind it’.

The need to forget and move forward is important, discussing the circumstances that allowed the controversy to exist is ‘squabbling’ and going on blindly despite the nation witnessing an obvious fault is progress.

We are all once again asked to dance like nobody is watching.

The virtue; in being more determined after clear failure is a selfish one, adopted by Patricia Ryan before her resignation and now being adopted by much of the media to the comfort of Pat Cox.

In his previous defence of Ryan’s gift, Conn Murray, Limerick City and County manager, stated:

“"I accept the criticism around the process and if, quite honestly, I had been given a different approach to this, different time lines, obviously the approach would have been different" [4]

It seems all it took was prolonged outrage and organised action by the people of Limerick to find a different approach. Ryan’s quality of being available at short notice seems, somehow, more dispensable than before, when we see that an interim Chief executive could be appointed. Perhaps they can find someone who is as available as Ryan and maybe someone who will not be as reliant on others with a capacity for the job at hand, as Ryan made clear she was on Karl Wallace to handle the job she was gifted [4].

Something which is important to acknowledge when culture is used as a promotional tool is that culture is not necessarily positive in design or in action.

Culture is more than what you can sell and more than entertainment.

Culture can be designed to be ugly and uncomfortable, and cultural practitioners should be aware that in the creation of their work- they may design something which is in effect and interpretation ugly or uncomfortable.

Their ability to create discomfort and ugliness was used to make Ryan resign.

It is vital that arts and cultural practitioners not only use their darker talents in the creation of their work, but also in defence of their work.

[1]http://www.irishcentral.com/news/irishvoice/limericks-city-of-culture-tenure-in-uproar-as-ceo-patricia-ryan-resigns-239298791-239671761.html#ixzz2qxGEX0bU

[2]http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/relief-greets-new-limerick-city-of-culture-appointment-1.1647455

[3]http://www.irishexaminer.com/analysis/limerick-can-emerge-from-debacle-with-strong-legacy-254655.html

[4]http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/festivals/festivities-and-fireworks-as-city-of-culture-shakes-off-controversy-29876207.html

Dancing like nobody's watching and Limerick City of Culture 2014: Part 1

The departure of Karl Wallace and the subsequent departure of Patricia Ryan; played out publicly what many people know or assume about the terms 'Board', 'CEO', 'Director' and 'Brand' mean in relation to public administration.


Such titles and jobs are more associated, with an uncertainty about credibility and a certainty about personal profit, than they are with work or production. The Patricia Ryan's of Ireland are all about 'delivery' and 'oversight'. They ensure the project is delivered, to her credit, so her and others like her can perpetuate the myth of their competence. They oversee who responds to their invented authority and who questions it, so further recruits for the pyramid scheme can be identified.


The multiplication of the hierarchy is important, it guards its existence. Patricia Ryan did not pick up her pay check so those implicit in gifting her (not hiring her) for a job she was not suited for nor needed for. The reality is, she lost nothing in this exercise, it is not clear why she was hired or if she was needed, all she needed to do, was nothing to receive her gift.


It was the actions of Karl Wallace and his colleagues Jo Mangan and Maeve McGrath who's depatrure brought her down. Unlike Patricia they have lost financially as they gave up positions they had to compete for, they lost personally as unlike Patricia, they had labour of use and they applied it to the concept at hand and they have of course lost professionally as they showed a disregard for paymasters.


In the media storm that followed Patricia did what the rest of her ilk would do, they danced like nobody was watching.


In the blind determination she showed in her inability and her vacuousness regarding how she could not relate how professional artists, cultural workers and anyone who attempts to be rewarded for their ability viewed her salary.


She danced like nobody was watching, assuming enthusiasm would qualify her, that in ignoring all that was around her;


Eyes clenched closed- her appointment she didn't think “was very relevant to people on the ground”


Fist's pumping- she thought “people were more interested in the programme, what’s going to happen, and what’s in it for them...that’s what my focus has been and that’s what it will continue to be”


hips- with a life of their own that she was doing the job she was needed to do and despite it all she said “If anything I’m even more determined”


Then, her friends stopped the song, put a coat on her and called a taxi- so they could continue their party, without her.



*Quotes from http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/artistic-director-of-limerick-city-of-culture-resigns-1.1641819