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infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL %u2018Little Africa%u2019; Parnell Street, food and Afro-Irish Identity. Keith Spiller, Department of Geography University College Cork, College Road Cork Ireland Ireland of the late 1990%u2019s is a distinctly different place to that of the late 1980%u2019s, having encompassed the global economy and adopted the %u2018celtic tiger%u2019. The phenomenon of prosperity, which exists, has lead to a reversal of Ireland as a land of emigration to a land of immigration. Irish emigrants have returned to their country of birth during this period and a new aspect to immigration has appeared - the emergence of ethnic populations in Ireland. The recognition of asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants and other nationalities born in Ireland is directing Ireland towards its first acknowledgements of the country becoming a multicultural society. Indeed people like Samantha Mumba with her Dublin accent or Sean Og O%u2019Halpin with his All-Ireland medals, are shifting the stereotypical image of what makes an Irish woman and man. But is De Valera%u2019s Ireland of maidens dancing at the crossroads, or Roman Catholic Ireland, or a white only Ireland about to incorporate a sense of plurality? Most multicultural cities throughout the world have what is considered an ethnic quarter, a &quot;China Town&quot; being the most obvious example. So when the R.T.E. programme @ last T.V. aired a piece on the %u2018Little Africa%u2019 of Dublin, I was intrigued. An area of Dublin, Parnell Street has become synonymous with an ethnic community in Ireland. Through a fascination with the idea of a %u2018Little Africa%u2019 in Dublin I endeavoured to understand what was occurring in Dublin. To comprehend the phenomenon I looked at the location of Parnell Street and the construction of place and identity in this vicinity. Also attempting to understand the importance of food in the transformation of a marginal site of Dublin into a space of multiculturalism. I wanted to explore a new and critical geography, documenting the subjective changes and the integration within an inner city Dublin locality, in the context of previously unexplored contemporary Dublin geography.
infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL %u2018Little Africa%u2019; Parnell Street, food and Afro-Irish Identity. Keith Spiller, Department of Geography University College Cork, College Road Cork Ireland. Parnell Street: the place in a space Parnell Street is located in inner city Dublin. O%u2019Connell Street is a neighbouring street and is considered the main boulevard of the city, it also has cultural and historical connections to the formation of the state. This street ends at Parnell Street and it dissects Parnell Street into an east and west referencing point, %u2018Little Africa%u2019 is situated to the east of this dissection. While Parnell Street is extremely central to Dublin city it has been an area neglected in the past. A recent article in the Hotpress magazine described the street as %u201C ...seedy and tawdry...nobody went there because it was a dodgy area.%u201D (Murphy, 16.8.00, p86) Presently there are proposals in place to address the problems of dereliction and high levels of vacancy on Parnell Street. Dublin Corporation has initiated the O%u2019Connell Street Integrated Area Plan to combat the problems and rejuvenate O%u2019Connell Street and its surrounding areas. However, Parnell Street is an old, established working class area and is often regarded as a tough area. The influx of a new culture has not always been welcomed and racial tensions in the area have been prevalent. Well documented newspaper reports suggest fear, suspicion, jealousy and ignorance prevail in attitudes towards the transformation of the area into a multicultural space. The tensions have culminated into physical violence, as a report states; %u201C African shops in the north inner city have been repeatedly attacked over the past year, %u2026.. Incidents have included attempted arson, shots being fired at the shop and vandalism. On one occasion %u2026%u2026a woman brandishing a knife entered the shop and threatened to %u2018slash everyone%u2019s throats%u2019 %u201C. (Sunday Business Post, 23.4.00). The violence however has eased, but during my research an understandable nervousness existed in Dublin%u2019s African community. Yet, even in this adverse climate %u2018Little Africa%u2019 has appropriated a Dublin space. Paul Lubienga who opened the first African shop on Parnell Street over two years ago suggests; why, in an area of manifest neglect and racial tension %u2018Little Africa%u2019 has emerged on Parnell Street. %u201CI like Parnell Street, there%u2019s lots of people travelling through, now there is a lot of African people. You see Africans all the time walking up and down. Its a good place to be.%u201D The general area of Parnell Street has enveloped the emerging African community, the street possess the %u2018classical%u2019 characteristics of an in-migration area, in that the area offers cheap housing and a proximity to employment. %u2018Little Africa%u2019 is a hub or focal point for Africans in Dublin, but it is not by any means the only location for African shops. There is also a community centre on Moore Street and shops in various locations throughout the city (as well as shops in other cities in Ireland, I have noticed there is one on Barrack Street in Cork). But Parnell Street proves to be the area with the highest concentration of the African population and ultimately constructs and associates the African community with a distinctive place in the geography of Dublin.
infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL In the last few years the amount of Africans in Ireland has doubled creating a new Irish community. Africans make up a great majority of immigrants to Ireland even though the government figure would not be able to tell the exact amount. It is however a huge community and a very economically viable one as such contributing to the business landscape of Ireland.
infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL This guy was really good.
infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL There were two African Music festivals in Dublin on the same day one sponsored by the African community and the other by an African Government (to the best of my knowledge it was Lesotho). I forgot to charge my camera battery so I did not get many good photographs. ========================================================== %u2018Little Africa%u2019; Parnell Street, food and Afro-Irish Identity. Keith Spiller, Department of Geography University College Cork, College Road Cork Ireland. The Construction of Place and Identity in %u2018Little Africa%u2019 %u2018Little Africa%u2019 is central to the cohesion of the African identity in Dublin; it presents an area now synonymous with a new identity in the city, a marginal region that has initiated a multicultural perspective to the social geography of Dublin. The African Shops on Parnell Street are spaces of African identity, they offer a micro narrative of how Africans conduct and live their lives in a Dublin setting. The shops are places that are African, Irish influences within the shops are minimal and they are places where Africans can express themselves freely. The geography of these shops is a window into the uninhibited construction of African place and identity in contemporary Dublin. To understand and gain a sense of the African community in Ireland, one must simply enter the shops and a spatial organisation distinctive to an indigenous culture presents itself. Geographical regions within shops are not unfamiliar to geographers, these areas prove interesting in their use of space and can illuminate preconceived regional functions and sociological traits, i.e. in the domestic home the kitchen as the region of practicality and the dinning room as the region of performance and entertainment if guests arrive. In a similar fashion the regions of African shops differ, into what Goffman would describe as the front and back regions. The front region of the shop is primarily for the act of transaction and the social functions affiliated with this, it is an area for the customer. Within this area an additional divide is indicated by the counter, as Goffman would comment %u2018a moral%u2019 and %u2018instrumental%u2019 division (1959,p110). Items behind the counter are concerned with the personal; hair care products, African cosmetics, African wigs, braids and hair extensions. The items in front of the counter are foods, usually displayed with fresh products towards the entrance of the shop and foods of the condensed, dried or frozen variety towards the back. Paul Lubienga elaborates on product position in the shops: %u201CHair pieces are kept behind the counter as they%u2019re easy to steal.........the food is in a position for handiness......what people want is to the front of the shops.%u201D Specific product placement is similar to standard displays in western shops, certain items are positioned to lure people to areas of the shop. However, the African shops differ enormously in the aspect of the back region. The back region is an integral part of the African shops on Parnell Street, it provides a unique geography to the shops. The back region is usually visible from the front region and sofas, chairs and a coffee table generally characterise the area where people sit and socialize. Yet this region is extremely separate to the rest of the shop, it is a private region where uninvited guests do not enter. The Africans freely eat, drink, smoke and converse in this region, it allows them to socialize in a milieu which is uninhibiting. In the course of my fieldwork, it became apparent that people arrive at the shops purely to socialize in the back region, by-passing the front area. The consistent ebb and flow of people into the area creates a sense of people checking in to say hello, the often brief but regular social contacts serve to construct communal identity. The back regions of the African shops on Parnell Street are a site that is comparably similar to a social club or a Mediterranean plaza. Areas and sites where people often idly chat and pass the time of day. The identity through constant companionship in the back region is solidified into a common cohesion; the social function of the back region is paramount to the construction of the Africa identity and in what is the place of %u2018Little Africa%u2019.
infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL A very attractive little girl.
infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL %u2018Little Africa%u2019; Parnell Street, food and Afro-Irish Identity. Keith Spiller, Department of Geography University College Cork, College Road Cork Ireland. Food and African Identity in Ireland The main proponent for the shops existence on Parnell Street is the sale of African food. The commodity that food is and its consumption are a prerequisite to life and living of all nationalities. Food can prove to be a very distinctive identifier of culture and place. Crang states nation are associated with culinary identifiers %u201C the French as frogs, the Germans as Krauts, the English as Rosbif......%u201D(Crang,1995,p6). The link to national identity through food is inherent to the African community in Ireland. The availability of authentic African food in Dublin provides a reference point to the identity in an emerging multicultural society. In a comparison, the Irish pub has played a central position in Irish diasporic identity, i.e. the Irish pub in a foreign country is the first port of call for the recently arrived emigrant, a place to reinforce your Irishness and gain information on the receiving culture. For the African identity in Ireland food and meeting around %u2018Little Africa%u2019 are what the pint of Guinness and the pub are to the Irish emigrant. African food and the meal are a reconstitution of African cooking, the atmosphere and cuisine are replicated from the collective social cohesion of consuming a meal in Africa. The fact that authentic African food is eaten in Ireland leads to the identity incorporating its tradition into a new milieu and solidifies its presence before what bell hooks would describe as resistance. The cohesion centres on food for the African community and with food that is consistent with their antecedents, as the effect would not take place through the consumption of bacon and cabbage, for example. The availability of African food is imperative for the African identity in its transition into the Irish culinary and cultural mainstream. Authentic African food helps in the construction of a disaporic identity in Ireland, but also inadvertently enhances the flow of multiculturalism. The shops are part of a network of culture through the fact African food products are required in Ireland, a commodity circuit is established to facilitate the demands and desire for an availability of African food in Ireland. The food products integrate the networking of ports and cities, to satisfy the demand of the consumers for African food; this firmly places the shops of %u2018Little Africa%u2019 into the commodity circuit. Areas like %u2018Little Africa%u2019 manifestly establish commodity circuits between distinctly different culinary environments, their presence and their circuits build spaces through which multiculturalism can flow. The flow often expands to the situation where the mainstream of the receiving nation totally incorporates the flow. As exemplified by the success of the number and range of food companies specializing in authentic food on supermarket shelves in Ireland, that were often originally only available in ethnic shops. So where does this locate %u2018Little Africa%u2019, will Ireland become a fully multicultural society and develop a site of plurality through African culture and cuisine? Conclusion The African shops and their food may be the litmus test that will indicate the speed of the transformation of urban Dublin society into a position of multiculturalism. Food can often prove the simplest way to actively access another culture. The African shops provide authentic African foods to Dublin and their commodity circuits have established the link. There is no doubt an embryonic culinary plurality exists, but the question is will it grow? What was once the hegemonic state of Ireland is now slowly evaporating, Irish attitudes through travel, education and the media are now more accepting of the %u2018other%u2019. But not too accepting, as the racial tensions in Parnell Street would indicate. The space of %u2018Little Africa%u2019 does however offer a marginal site in the process of urban Irish cultural plurality. I cannot predict whether the integration into Irish society will be total, yet I do predict this site of multiculturalism is something important and will be further explored by Irish geographers in the future.
infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL
infomatique > DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL Waiting to have their faces painted.
DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL
%u2018Little Africa%u2019; Parnell Street, food and Afro-Irish Identity.

Keith Spiller, Department of Geography University College Cork, College Road Cork Ireland

Ireland of the late 1990%u2019s is a distinctly different place to that of the late 1980%u2019s, having encompassed the global economy and adopted the %u2018celtic tiger%u2019. The phenomenon of prosperity, which exists, has lead to a reversal of Ireland as a land of emigration to a land of immigration. Irish emigrants have returned to their country of birth during this period and a new aspect to immigration has appeared - the emergence of ethnic populations in Ireland. The recognition of asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants and other nationalities born in Ireland is directing Ireland towards its first acknowledgements of the country becoming a multicultural society. Indeed people like Samantha Mumba with her Dublin accent or Sean Og O%u2019Halpin with his All-Ireland medals, are shifting the stereotypical image of what makes an Irish woman and man. But is De Valera%u2019s Ireland of maidens dancing at the crossroads, or Roman Catholic Ireland, or a white only Ireland about to incorporate a sense of plurality? Most multicultural cities throughout the world have what is considered an ethnic quarter, a "China Town" being the most obvious example. So when the R.T.E. programme @ last T.V. aired a piece on the %u2018Little Africa%u2019 of Dublin, I was intrigued. An area of Dublin, Parnell Street has become synonymous with an ethnic community in Ireland. Through a fascination with the idea of a %u2018Little Africa%u2019 in Dublin I endeavoured to understand what was occurring in Dublin. To comprehend the phenomenon I looked at the location of Parnell Street and the construction of place and identity in this vicinity. Also attempting to understand the importance of food in the transformation of a marginal site of Dublin into a space of multiculturalism. I wanted to explore a new and critical geography, documenting the subjective changes and the integration within an inner city Dublin locality, in the context of previously unexplored contemporary Dublin geography.
> DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL %u2018Little Africa%u2019; Parnell Street, food and Afro-Irish Identity. Keith Spiller, Department of Geography University College Cork, College Road Cork Ireland Ireland of the late 1990%u2019s is a distinctly different place to that of the late 1980%u2019s, having encompassed the global economy and adopted the %u2018celtic tiger%u2019. The phenomenon of prosperity, which exists, has lead to a reversal of Ireland as a land of emigration to a land of immigration. Irish emigrants have returned to their country of birth during this period and a new aspect to immigration has appeared - the emergence of ethnic populations in Ireland. The recognition of asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants and other nationalities born in Ireland is directing Ireland towards its first acknowledgements of the country becoming a multicultural society. Indeed people like Samantha Mumba with her Dublin accent or Sean Og O%u2019Halpin with his All-Ireland medals, are shifting the stereotypical image of what makes an Irish woman and man. But is De Valera%u2019s Ireland of maidens dancing at the crossroads, or Roman Catholic Ireland, or a white only Ireland about to incorporate a sense of plurality? Most multicultural cities throughout the world have what is considered an ethnic quarter, a &quot;China Town&quot; being the most obvious example. So when the R.T.E. programme @ last T.V. aired a piece on the %u2018Little Africa%u2019 of Dublin, I was intrigued. An area of Dublin, Parnell Street has become synonymous with an ethnic community in Ireland. Through a fascination with the idea of a %u2018Little Africa%u2019 in Dublin I endeavoured to understand what was occurring in Dublin. To comprehend the phenomenon I looked at the location of Parnell Street and the construction of place and identity in this vicinity. Also attempting to understand the importance of food in the transformation of a marginal site of Dublin into a space of multiculturalism. I wanted to explore a new and critical geography, documenting the subjective changes and the integration within an inner city Dublin locality, in the context of previously unexplored contemporary Dublin geography.
DUBLIN AFRO CARNIVAL
%u2018Little Africa%u2019; Parnell Street, food and Afro-Irish Identity.

Keith Spiller, Department of Geography University College Cork, College Road Cork Ireland

Ireland of the late 1990%u2019s is a distinctly different place to that of the late 1980%u2019s, having encompassed the global economy and adopted the %u2018celtic tiger%u2019. The phenomenon of prosperity, which exists, has lead to a reversal of Ireland as a land of emigration to a land of immigration. Irish emigrants have returned to their country of birth during this period and a new aspect to immigration has appeared - the emergence of ethnic populations in Ireland. The recognition of asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants and other nationalities born in Ireland is directing Ireland towards its first acknowledgements of the country becoming a multicultural society. Indeed people like Samantha Mumba with her Dublin accent or Sean Og O%u2019Halpin with his All-Ireland medals, are shifting the stereotypical image of what makes an Irish woman and man. But is De Valera%u2019s Ireland of maidens dancing at the crossroads, or Roman Catholic Ireland, or a white only Ireland about to incorporate a sense of plurality? Most multicultural cities throughout the world have what is considered an ethnic quarter, a "China Town" being the most obvious example. So when the R.T.E. programme @ last T.V. aired a piece on the %u2018Little Africa%u2019 of Dublin, I was intrigued. An area of Dublin, Parnell Street has become synonymous with an ethnic community in Ireland. Through a fascination with the idea of a %u2018Little Africa%u2019 in Dublin I endeavoured to understand what was occurring in Dublin. To comprehend the phenomenon I looked at the location of Parnell Street and the construction of place and identity in this vicinity. Also attempting to understand the importance of food in the transformation of a marginal site of Dublin into a space of multiculturalism. I wanted to explore a new and critical geography, documenting the subjective changes and the integration within an inner city Dublin locality, in the context of previously unexplored contemporary Dublin geography.
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Keywords: dublin ireland festival carnival afro infomatique william murphy mapireland wwwinfomatiqueorg africans in ireland african culture
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