Seomra Spraoi

There’s something so charming about this space. Even empty, it buzzes with some sort of energy. There’s a game of chess being played on a felt board attached to a screen. There’s a lending library of all genres on the first floor, and a free clothes area opposite it –take what you fancy, leave what you can. There’s posters, newsletters, kitchen facilities… and out back, dozens or possibly hundred of bicycles in various states of existence. There’s language classes, vegetarian food nights, movies… all the world is happening in this space. Definitely a hidden gem.

‘A gathering space without a profit motive’ is a rare enough feature of Dublin social life, so hats off to Seomra Spraoi, and the huge amount of work they have put into renovating the building in which the collective have found a semi-​permanent home. The last time I visited there was almost two years ago and the place is transformed. Tonight’s atmosphere was particularly congenial, at the launch party for issue 5 of the Rag, a fine periodical of the Revolutionary Anarcha-​feminist Group. Third-​wave feminists are a lively bunch, no uniform dungarees and combats, rather plenty of glamour mixed with Doc Martens, men in drag and a queer cabaret show to boot.
Seomra Spraoi is hub of activity, providing meeting rooms, cinema, music, library, crafts workshops, wireless internet and a vegan café. Regular events in this child-​friendly space include language classes and bicycle repair workshops. An essential pit-​stop for recessionistas, revolutionaries and those seeking a change from endless establishment media keening over the state of the nation.

One of Dublin’s best hidden secrets.
Everything from bike workshops, spanish language lessons, cake sales, political meetings and BYOB reggae gigs happen in this unique building a few minutes walk from Parnell Street.
Check the website for what’s going on.

Seomra Spraoi is a co-​operative born in 2004 with the intention of setting up a radical social centre in Dublin. This initiative is born from a desire to re-​erect some of the things we have lost in the modern world: secure surroundings, broadmindedness and respect, the sense of community and a non-​commercial space for political, arts, cultural, community and other events. It’s a space where you don’t feel like you need to buy a cup of over-​priced coffee just to sit and relax for a while. I ventured to the North side, just past Mountjoy Square, coaxed into the twenty minute walk by the promise of something truly miraculous in 21^st century Dublin: a three course meal for under a fiver. ‘Seomra Spraoi’, meaning ‘play room’ serves up a full meal every Wednesday and Sunday made by volunteers and strictly not for profit. Serving vegan food (free from meat, dairy and eggs), volunteers hand you each course — soup, main and dessert — fresh from the kitchen. The suggested donation for each course is € 1 and € 2 for the main. Admittedly, I did walk in sheepishly but ten minutes in I’d met several new people and was happily slurping my soup, followed by mash, lentils and a fresh salad, and topped off with a delicious vegan chocolate cheesecake. The food was good but it was the atmosphere and the people that brought me back the next week. There was a mixture of ages from children to seniors, and nationalities; I met a Canadian just passing through, a government employee and a few Irish punk rockers. The space itself was inviting, messy but clean and offering up lots of possibilities. When you walk in there you can tell it’s a place where reading, eating, music take place in one space. We tend to regard what we eat as a very personal decision, but the truth is that our food choices affect the world, particularly the developing world and future generations. Environmentally conscious organizations such as Seomra Spraoi emphasize the most important factors in fighting climate change; community and a conscientious lifestyle.

It’s been a nomadic existence for leftfield cultural centre Seomra Spraoi, but they’ve been in Belvedere Court since September. According to their website, «the centre seeks to be a hub of positive resistance, in a city and society where public spaces have been eaten away by consumerism, property speculation and the culture of the car.» Expect good company, anti-​establishment attitudes and, above all, culture.