Urban cowboys: Cónal Creedon and Denis Lehane head to the mart
All I do know is that the nudists got their photo opportunity, and urban farmers could be next, writes Denis Lehane in this week's Lighten Up.
For a long time now I have been interested in Urban farming.
With rural farming having failed us so miserably, I think it's our only option.
I believe we should be looking to our city streets for salvation the way Elon Musk is looking at Mars.
Anyhow, last Saturday, I took the celebrated author and pure Cork city boy, Cónal Creedon, to Macroom Mart.
I took him there in the hope that he might purchase a few springers, sucklers or indeed Shorthorns, anything really, to get cattle marching on Patrick's Street and get city people interested in the concept.
If urban farming is to succeed, I figure we may as well go full-throttle
Cónal, a man synonymous with the streets of Cork, took to the mart like a duck to water.
He could understand the auctioneer better than myself.
Cónal could well be our man to light the fuse in Cork City.
Most cities in Europe at this stage have embraced urban farming the way a love-hungry farmer might embrace a potential life partner.
It's no exaggeration to say that Cork is lagging behind.
But we can catch up.
And to make Cork's case all the more appealing, right now Cork City has a Green Lord Mayor in charge.
He's the greenest Lord Mayor we have had in over a generation.
Last week, he was photographed with nudist cyclists from all over, on the steps of City Hall.
The purpose of the photo is unknown to me, as I'm not a big fan of the bicycle.
All I do know is that the nudists got their photo opportunity, and urban farmers could be next.
We have a mayor willing to go out on a limb, and we can't ask for more than that.
And I don't care if urban farmers also want to go nude.
So long as they are carrying pikes and have wheelbarrows full of dung, they can operate in any fashion they damn well please.
Cork City has, of course, many beautiful and picturesque parts to it.
And no doubt Cork city also has many places where cattle could rest easy and graze comfortably all day and all night.
Mayfield and The Glen, for instance, have plenty of parcels of scrub and grazing ground that are just itching for livestock.
At least that's the way it was almost 50 years ago when last I ventured up there.
The Lee Fields, too, have potential far beyond what is currently going on there.
I could have an eager ploughman in by the Carrigrohane Straight tomorrow morning if I got the green light from City Hall.
The lough, too, could be drained and converted into the finest stretch of land from here to Missouri.
The mind boggles as to the opportunities available to us and to the number of avenues we could yet go down.
All this and more could be done if there was a will and desire to make Cork green again.
Anyhow, Cónal purchased nothing on Saturday, for we spent most of the day talking.
But as I mentioned earlier, I feel the cowboy is there and only waiting to saddle up.
The celebrated playwright will be back in Macroom before long. Mark my words, and this time, he will be back with his chequebook and herd number.
If Cork City does become an urban ranch, Cónal Creedon could well be its John Wayne.
