with Lucy Dawe-Lane, Bill O'Flynn and Christine Pybus

9 May 2019

Sirius Arts Centre
Cobh, Co. Cork, Republic of Ireland

Elections are not only times for campaigns, competitive differentiation and debate but are also times of heightened reflection. Sitting politicians, candidates and the voting public are all prompted to reconsider the needs and aspirations of communities, their relative importance, and how these can be understood and met.

In the lead-up to the 2019 Irish local elections, The Long Table seized on the opportunity presented in this reflective time to pursue common understanding through a two-part experimental public event derived from art education. In the first part, each election candidate for the district of Cobh presented a three minute response to a question: What is most important in our vision of Cobh's future? In the next, each candidates presented a summary of what they understood to be the common vision amongst the candidates.

The Long Table presented an opportunity for sitting councillors and candidates to build public confidence in politics and politicians by demonstrating their interest in improving their understanding of the community, that they were open about how their ideas and policies are determined, and that they were willing to work cooperatively in the community interest.

The event and accompanying poster campaign was created as a response to disenchantment in the Cobh community over local politics, but also to the genuine care and commitment in the sitting councillors and election candidates.

The artists would like to acknowledge the generous and courageous contributions of:

• Diarmaid Ó Cadhla
• Alan O’Connor
• Ken Curtin
• Karen Doyle
• Peter Kidney
• Jerome McCormick
• Louise Murphy
• Cllr. Cathal Rasmussen
• John Paul Reilly
• Cllr. Sinead Sheppard

The Long Table was a part of See You Tomorrow, a series of collaborative projects prototyping collective future visions for the town of Cobh.

This project has been assisted by the Australian and Queensland Governments through the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts Queensland, their respective arts funding and advisory bodies, and by Cork County Council’s Creative Communities Award.