Quay Co-op: How a Cork institution broke new ground in the 1980s
Arthur Leahy, back centre, and some of the other early members of the Quay Co-Op.
The Quay Co-op is a legendary institution whose essence goes far beyond its bricks-and-mortar incarnation as a shop, restaurant and café at Sullivan’s Quay in Cork. When it was founded in 1982, it was a beacon and often a life-raft for those struggling to stay afloat in an Ireland that was less than hospitable to anyone viewed as different.
The part it has played in Cork’s social history was something that documentary-maker Emma Bowell, who along with husband Eddie Noonan runs Frameworks Films, has wanted to honour for a long time and now the resulting documentary, The Quay Co-Op, is being screened at the IndieCork festival, currently under way in the city. The idea for the documentary was sparked back in 2005 when Bowell and Noonan made a series of short documentaries for Cork’s stint as European Capital of Culture.
