Latest news with #Boal
Irish Independent
27-05-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Abbey Church on Parnell Square finally sheds its scaffolding after 18 years
The 180-foot spire of the Abbey Presbyterian Church, which featured in James Joyce's Ulysses and Dubliners, is now displayed in all its glory after a restoration project finished. The church is 160 years old this year and was constructed under the guidance of Scottish architect Andrew Heiton. Dublin merchant Alexander Findlater bankrolled the £14,000 project which took two years to build. The scaffolding on the tower face and spire was installed to protect people on the ground in case any remnants of the structural damage fell onto the street below. The restoration – partly funded by the historic structures fund – involved extensive stone repairs, the installation of stainless steel components, as well as cleaning, repointing and decorative work. According to Reverend Alan Boal, the church fell into disrepair after the wrong building materials were used on a restoration project in the 1960s. Concrete was used instead of the original materials of lime mortar. 'The concrete eventually cracked which let water in and eroded the iron work which held the thing together,' Reverend Boal said. 'It's called a cantilever scaffold and it was there purely to protect people on the ground in case something fell off the building.' Reverand Boal said it was difficult to fundraise for the restoration of the abbey. 'We really struggled to raise the money, so we sold a building that we originally had. The heritage grant has been a really big support for us,' he said. Despite the tower being marred by scaffolding for 18 years, the actual building took just over a year. 'Ironically, the work we had to do actually hasn't taken long. It was redoing a restoration job that wasn't particularly well done in the 1960s and 70s,' he said. 'Because the Abbey is a protected structure, we had to ensure that all of the facing stone came from the exact same quarry in Devon.' Green Party local councillor Janet Horner said scaffolding on a building can impact the way people view our city. 'Unfortunately, in Dublin, we have a problem with timelines. These maintenance projects tend to bloat very quickly,' she said. 'It does impact how people see the city, construction sites everywhere and scaffolding on display can lead to a hostile environment.' Cllr Horner says the redevelopment of the Abbey Church has come just at the right time 'That whole area is up for redevelopment when the Parnell Library comes in. Having that building on display really helps to add to that cultural quarter,' she said. 'Between the library, the Hugh Lane Gallery and the Poetry Museum which is coming around, having the square looking its best will be incredible. 'I really want to see those projects delivered as soon as possible,' she added.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
'It seemed so quick': Region begins flood recover effort
WESTERNPORT — Theresa Boal was teary as she described her gratitude for neighbors and colleagues who rallied to help her Wednesday. The day before, water rushed through and back out front doors of Boal Funeral Home, her family's business since 1927. 'It seemed so quick,' Boal, a fifth-generation funeral director and owner of the establishment, said of rains that hit the region Tuesday. 'Within an hour, the place was flooded.' In addition to destruction at the business, as well as flooding at her her house next door, Boal's 10-year-old son had to be rescued from his school in a boat Tuesday. Her sister, Carlie Johnson, later collected the boy and reported that 'teachers were drenched but kids were dry,' Boal said, talking of her respect for school staff who 'did everything they could' to keep the students safe. Boal, her child, husband and three dogs escaped the flooding without injury, she said. After the storm, community members showed up to help clean the funeral home. They helped clear mud, removed damaged carpet and stand upright a body cooler that had flipped over in the water. Funeral home directors in the local community and as far away as Frederick reached out to help the business, Boal said. 'I'm so, so grateful,' she said of peoples' kindness, adding that she's gotten choked up 'a lot in the last 24 hours.' Her family business will remain open with use of its sister location in Barton as cleanup continues on the Westernport building. 'We're pumping the basement currently,' Boal said. 'My floors are bowed.' Destruction Westernport Administrator Laura Freeman-Legge said the flood 'happened so quickly' and destroyed much of the town including its beloved community library. 'Things are rough,' she said. 'We've lost pretty much everything.' The storm wrecked the town's garage, trucks and equipment, Freeman-Legge said. 'We don't even have shovels,' she said. 'A lot of our main roads are not passable.' Some folks are without water service due to main line breaks, Freeman-Legge said. A flood response form for area residents to report problems or request resources is available at she said, adding that state and local officials are involved to help. 'We're trying to do everything that we can,' Freeman-Legge said. 'We've spoken with the governor ... all of the (surrounding) towns have reached out to me as well.' Safety Lonaconing Mayor Jack Coburn said damage to the town's roads include large dips, big boulders, limbs and debris. 'This storm approached us in just (an unbelievably fast) amount of time,' he said. 'We have a severe amount of damage,' Coburn said. 'Our biggest concern is up in our Beechwood area,' he said of a 10-inch pipe that ruptured and led to interruption of water service for several homes. Some area bridges were also damaged. 'My concern is (for) the safety of the people,' Coburn said, urging people to check on their neighbors and make sure pets are cared for. 'They need fresh water and food as well.' He talked to Gov. Wes Moore, and said Maryland Department of Emergency Management Secretary Russell Strickland toured the flood-damaged area. Local residents, businesses, organizations and elected officials have stepped up to help, Coburn said, adding that Lonaconing's Good Will Fire Company, armory and town hall are drop off spots for donations to help folks in need. 'Everyone is working together,' he said. Impact Allegany County Public Relations & Communications Manager Kati Kenney Wednesday said the flooding severely impacted select areas, particularly Westernport, where nearly all structures along Main Street, adjacent to Georges Creek, sustained significant water damage. 'Some buildings took on several feet of water,' she said. 'Multiple roads across the county are severely compromised or washed out.' Local, regional, and state teams had gathered at a command center in Lonaconing, Kenney said. Crews worked to access homes in flooded areas and check on residents, she said. 'We are prioritizing dangerous locations and beginning to compile a complete list of affected structures,' Kenney said. 'We anticipate moving from rescue and monitoring into cleanup and water removal planning later today.' She said 'significant support' included a representative from the governor's office, Strickland, Maryland State Police, the Department of Natural Resources, American Red Cross and the Maryland National Guard. 'We urge the public to stay safe and stay off the roads, especially in affected areas, to give crews space to work,' she said. 'We want to thank everyone — from emergency responders to mutual aid crews — for their extraordinary teamwork and cooperation,' Kenney said. According to a press release from Mineral County Emergency Services Director Luke McKenzie Tuesday night, significant flooding led to evacuations along New Creek in Keyser as well as a small portion along Stoney Run. Several roads were closed, roughly 200 people evacuated, and a shelter was set up for affected residents at Keyser Presbyterian Church. Closure 'Due to the devastating impact of recent floodwaters, the Gene Mason Sports Complex as well as Jaycee Field will be closed until further notice,' according to a Wednesday press release from Cumberland officials. 'This includes any league play or practices,' it stated. 'At this time both facilities are off limits to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This closure will allow city staff the necessary time to fully assess the extent of the damage and determine the cleanup and restoration efforts required to ensure the safety of all visitors.' Questions were directed to Parks and Recreation Manager Ryan Mackey at Deployed Maryland Department of State Police Office of Media Communications Director Elena Russo Wednesday said MSP deployed 14 personnel in addition to patrol operations in Allegany and Garrett counties. The group included three people from aviation command, two barrack commanders, seven folks from the Special Operations Division, and two from Unmanned Aircraft Systems for drone work. 'Troopers are working road closures, evacuations, responding to calls for service, conducting welfare checks and working from the Emergency Operations Center,' she said. 'Two calls for service were received this morning for elderly people who were unable to get out of their homes,' Russo said. Outage Roughly 190 Columbia Gas of Maryland customers in and around the Lonaconing and Westernport areas experienced a natural gas outage due to the severe flooding, according to a press release from the company Wednesday. 'As floodwaters recede, Columbia Gas technicians are conducting assessments of the natural gas distribution system to identify and address any potential flood-related issues,' it stated. Once the restoration process is underway, Columbia Gas crews will go door-to-door to each affected customer's home or business to turn gas meters back on, perform safety checks and relight natural gas appliances. 'Service restoration for all customers is expected to take several days,' the release stated. 'All workers carry photo ID, which clearly identifies them as a Columbia Gas employee. Customers are encouraged to ask for identification before allowing anyone into their home or business.' To learn more, visit Donations Jason Keeling is executive director of the Allegheny Highlands Chapter of the American Red Cross in the Central Appalachia Region. He said localization of Red Cross monetary contributions can be made at 'The caveat for this method is that the system uses the contributor's credit card ZIP code to determine the specific contribution geography,' Keeling said on Wednesday. Another method is for the financial donor to write a personal check and memo the specific county/area they wish to support. For the flooding event in Western Maryland, the most local office providing service is the American Red Cross of Allegheny Highlands, 1299 Pineview Drive, Suite 300, Morgantown, West Virginia, 26505. Support In a social media post Wednesday, Rep. April McClain Delaney acknowledged Western Maryland families and community as they begin to recover from the devastating flooding. 'I can only imagine how frightening it was for the children and I'm deeply grateful to the first responders who acted so quickly to bring them to safety,' she said. 'Thank you to the parents, teachers and school staff who stayed calm, and to the first responders from Maryland and neighboring states who stepped in to help,' McClain Delaney said. 'Your quick action made all the difference.' She said her office is 'working closely with local and state officials and will continue to support the community through the recovery.' Gratitude Midland Administrator Craig Alexander said the town's fire hall Tuesday night served as a gathering spot for roughly 100 people. Many of them were part of out-of-town staging teams prepared to help local folks in need. Red Cross workers Wednesday distributed cleaning buckets. 'Everybody is working cooperatively,' Alexander said. Midland's recreational facilities 'were hit hard' by Tuesday's flood, he said. 'The access road is washed out,' Alexander said. Crews Wednesday worked to clean up after the storm, which included removal of debris from streets, he said. 'They're making pretty good progress,' Alexander said. He said Strickland and state Sen. Mike McKay visited the town to assess the damage. Alexander was hopeful state crews would soon clear a bridge on Maryland Route 36 that was partially blocked with trees. 'We're doing pretty good,' he said. 'We're just glad that nobody was hurt.'
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Former women's hockey coach Katey Stone gains edge in bias case against Harvard
Under court rules, Boal's recommendations are presented to the judge assigned to the case, in this matter US District Judge Leo Sorokin. Harvard and Stone have 14 days to file objections to any recommendation in the report. Advertisement The court set a hearing for April 14 to begin scheduling the next steps in the case, including the discovery process. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Boal's recommendations relate only to five counts of Stone's suit that Harvard asked the court to dismiss. There has yet to be a hearing on three additional counts in which Stone seeks $15 million or more from as many as 50 unnamed individuals identified as John and Jane Does for allegedly defaming her. Stone, who won more games than any female coach in the history of collegiate women's hockey during her 29 seasons at Harvard, claims the university forced her to resign after former players lodged false reports of misconduct against her. She alleges, too, that Harvard systematically paid her and other female coaches less than male coaches and retaliated against her because she advocated for equity. Rejecting Harvard's bid to dismiss the discrimination claim, Boal cited Stone's assertions that the university treated her less favorably than her male counterparts who faced misconduct allegations. Stone's lawyers argued that male student-athletes, rather than their coaches, were disciplined in certain cases, while only Stone was held responsible for alleged misconduct on her teams. 'Coach Stone has plausibly stated a claim for gender discrimination,' Boal wrote. As to Stone's retaliation claim, Boal found it plausible based on her repeatedly opposing Harvard's gender pay inequities as well as complaining about the unequal treatment she believed she received during the investigations into her conduct. Advertisement Stone filed the lawsuit last summer, after Havard gave her the option in 2023 of resigning or being terminated. The ultimatum followed several school investigations of Stone, beginning in 2020, when a survey of Harvard's student-athletes showed low levels of satisfaction in her program. In 2022, Harvard placed Stone on a performance improvement plan after she admitted making a racially offensive remark that prompted one of her assistant coaches, Sydney Daniels, a former captain of Indigenous descent, to quit and file a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Harvard investigated Stone again after a Boston Globe report in 2023 cited complaints of verbal and emotional abuse from 16 of her former players. Six weeks later, The Athletic published a story reporting that the day after the Globe article appeared Stone's team engaged in a ritual known as 'Naked Skate' in which freshmen were at times told to perform a 'superman' slide on the ice that left some of them with ice burns and bleeding nipples. Stone said she never condoned a 'Naked Skate.' Her attorney also asserted in Monday's hearing that Stone tried to report the practice as soon as she learned of it potentially occurring, yet Harvard chose to open another investigation. Bob Hohler can be reached at
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Legislative theatre: how this interactive artform empowers communities to create social change
What if every citizen could have a say in how the issues that affect their lives and communities were dealt with? Or could input into policy and even law-making? Legislative theatre is a form of community-based theatre that gives participants an opportunity to actively explore, analyse and transform their lives through drama and roleplay. Legislative theatre brings together citizens and policymakers in a creative constructive dialogue about issues and policies that affect local communities. The idea is to engage citizens in identifying solutions to social and political problems, and then help translate them into new laws. It was developed as an artform by Brazilian playwright and cultural activist Augusto Boal to create a variant of his own Theatre of the Oppressed, which was underpinned by his mantra: 'All must act, all must be protagonists in the necessary transformations of society.' In the 1960s, as Brazil faced a repressive authoritarian regime, Boal started experimenting with theatre to give voice to oppressed people, and provide a method of resistance. Today it's used all over the world for social and political activism, conflict resolution, community building, therapy, and consulting on government legislation. Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here. In 1971, as a result of his activism, Boal was forced to leave Brazil by the military regime, but continued his work in exile in Latin America and Europe. He developed legislative theatre in 1992, after returning to Brazil, when he was elected city councillor for Rio de Janeiro. Boal invited members of the public and fellow councillors to test out local legislation and policies by performing and improvising 'in character'. This allowed citizens and lawmakers to get together and develop policies through dialogue, by generating, testing and honing responses to shared issues in 'live' scenarios. The first major success was the approval of the law of geriatric care, requiring municipal hospitals to provide specialist treatment for elderly patients. This law originated from a performance by the Terceira Idade (Third Age) group, highlighting the lack of geriatric specialists and the risks of inappropriate care. During Boal's term as council member, legislative theatre led to the development and approval of 13 laws in Rio de Janeiro between 1992 and 1996. Legislative theatre involves local partners and community members collaborating to create and present original theatre plays based on their own experiences. The process of developing the play can take days, weeks – even months. When ready, it is typically performed to an invited audience of interested parties and decision-makers. After watching the play, members of the audience join the performers on stage and collectively improvise alternative responses to the situations and issues presented. Afterwards advocates develop workable policy proposals, which then form the basis of further discussion and amendment. They then progress toward adoption via some form of democratic process, such as a community vote or city council ratification. Despite their best intentions, policymakers are often criticised for being disconnected from the very people their policies are supposed to help. Although legislative theatre comes with its challenges, the approach can promote a deeper, more thoughtful – and sometimes emotional – understanding of the problems people face. Using theatre and other artforms such as storytelling, participants can lay a foundation for sharing, listening and mutual understanding of complex social issues. Unlike other more traditional participatory approaches such as public hearings or citizens' juries, legislative theatre offers an opportunity to test policy proposals in advance. This means normal everyday people – often those furthest from the levers of power – have a chance to make a difference to their own lives. By staging a presentation showing how social issues affect them, participants can invert the usual power dynamic, frequently placing policymakers in uncomfortable or unfamiliar positions. The immersive, often emotionally charged nature of this kind of theatre can feel quite alien to the more rational culture of policymaking. Sometimes this results in defensiveness and scepticism, which has perhaps dissuaded wider use by governments and other institutions. Legislative theatre has been widely used across the UK to create social change, demonstrating how the process can be used to generate effective solutions to complex challenges. The People Act, a recently launched project coordinated by Katy Rubin, showcases good examples of legislative theatre around the world, and invites people to connect and find out more about this creative tool. Rubin works with governments across the UK and internationally to implement and advance legislative theatre and has achieved some notable successes across the country, including: 1. Tackling street harassment in Greater Manchester In 2023, Manchester's Right to the Streets project identified public harassment of women and girls as a critical issue. A community play depicting the lack of support from authorities led to concrete changes, including active bystander training for public transport staff and a public awareness campaign on buses and trams. 2. Youth-led climate crisis action in Glasgow A project in Glasgow empowered young people to address climate issues by creating performances that highlighted challenges such as transport accessibility and liveable neighbourhoods. The aim was to influence Glasgow city council's policy discussions. Their efforts culminated in a performance during COP26, held in 2021 in Glasgow, showcasing the power of youth engagement in shaping climate policies. 3. Homelessness and rough sleeping in the UK A 2020-2021 collaboration in Greater Manchester involved people who had experienced life on the streets, resulting in a homelessness prevention strategy. Similarly, a 2022 initiative in Coventry helped create the city's rough sleeping strategy, praised for its inclusivity in a University of Warwick report. Legislative theatre's ability to engage individuals, communities and policymakers is a powerful model for initiating change. It can bridge the all-too-often neglected gap between policy and personal experience, and provide people with a real sense of agency and optimism. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Ana Isabel Nunes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
