Sir, - On April 14th your newspaper captured a wonderful photograph of a segment of the estimated 5,000 who attended the annual commemoration in Fishamble Street of the first performance of Handel's Messiah in 1742. I was surprised that this event, now called "Messiah in the Street", which was initiated in 1992 by Temple Bar Properties and has been organised by the agency each year since, did not feature in yesterday's article (April 21st) on the area. On April 13th each year, Our Lady's Choral Society sing the main choruses from this celebrated work on the site of the original performance. This year, many people brought their own scores to join with the choir and afterwards they seemed to be very happy to adjourn to the many local food and drink establishments now flourishing in the area.
I was also disappointed to find no reference to the ARK Cultural Centre for children in Eustace Street which is literally teeming with young people enjoying the many activities organised by a very innovative team. Their recent Music Fest, in which we also participated, presented a varied range of events. The Music Garden in the Ark, demonstrates the fun element of music for young people and is well worth a visit.
There was no reference either to the Classical Buskers competition which took place in the hostelries of the Temple Bar area during the recent Handel Fest. I also recall a Passion Play in Temple Bar Square, the live relay in Meeting House Square of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and a May Day concert by the Irish Chamber Orchestra in Parliament Street on May Day.
These are just the cultural events about which I have personal knowledge and I offer them to counterbalance the very negative picture created by your correspondent. Some of the issues raised in the article refer to matters of policing and maintenance which apply to many other areas of the centre city and are the responsibility of authorities other than Temple Bar Properties and need to be urgently addressed.
Yours, etc.,
Director,
Our Lady's Choral Society, Holy Cross College,
Clonliffe,
Dublin 3.