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The Sound and Poetry of Ireland's Housing Data

Join us on Tuesday 23 April 2024 in the Recital Hall at Technological University (TU) Dublin Conservatoire for the premiere of a new work - a sonic-poetic treatment of Ireland's housing data composed and performed in collaboration with David Bremner (piano) and Larissa O'Grady (violin).


Produced and curated by David Bremner, and supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, this project has been in development over several months during which David, Larissa and I engaged in regular generative sessions where we gathered, sifted, discussed, and crunched vast amounts of data - numerical and linguistic - from a wide range of sources including the Central Statistics Office, Council meetings and Dáil sessions, public testimonies and media reports, The Central Bank, Global Property Guides, and more, on the causes and effects of the severe housing crisis in Ireland.

We then converted these data points directly to a multi-movement work for violin, piano, and text, through which patterns relating to the crisis may become audible.

We are delighted to be premiering this work at TU Dublin Conservatoire. Admission is free, and tickets are available here. Start time is 7.30pm.

As a bonus, the event will also feature a new work for uilleann pipes and keyboard with Mark Redmond (pipes) and David Bremner.

With thanks to The Arts Council - and to Rory Hearne, associate professor/senior lecturer in social policy at Maynooth University and author of Gaffs: Why no one can get a house, and what we can do about it, for consultation on the issues involved.

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