The new emigrants

The kids may be leaving – but Ireland isn’t derelict, says Shaun Dunne, who has watched his friends all leave in the last year, and, most recently, his twin sister. This is an excerpt from his play I Am A Homebird (It’s Very Hard).  

I’m sad to see them go. Because they don’t know about all the stuff we’re starting. 

What’s exciting is the building, the renovating, the complete excavation that is going on here. It’s epic. It’s unreal. It’s starting from the bottom up. 

How can they just walk out on this?This is where it’s all happening now. There’s a fucking renaissance going down. 

There has been a demolition – a complete deconstruction. Nothing is the same anymore. And we’re starting from absolute scratch. We’ve put a match to all that shit and we’re starting fresh. Because we can – because it’s up to us. 

It’s about us now. We’ve stopped being victims 

We’re not little boys and girls anymore. We know now. We’ve learned loads. And we’re applying it. Here. 

People are talking to each other – we’re examining new options. Our priorities aren’t the same anymore. Because they can’t be. Constructive conversations are building bridges – and we’re getting the fuck over this. 

We’re bartering. We’re swapping. Wearing our old clothes. Turning our jeans into shorts. Ripping the sleeves off our shirts. It’s nearly fucking summer – so we’re taking our ties off. 

There’s art on the streets. There are stories on the walls. We’re taking photographs outside empty buildings so we never forget. 

We’re singing old songs. Making up new ones. We’re moving in – moving out. Helping each other. Celebrating. 

This isn’t derelict. This isn’t a waste ground. There is room here. This is a fixer-upper. A project. We’re workers. 

And it’s just unfortunate because…Well, they’re missing out on the rare oul times. There are gonna be history books written about these days – about things we say; about movements we made. I can’t wait. And I don’t even have to. 

Sure, it’s already begun. 

I Am A Homebird (It’s Very Hard) is on at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre until April 16.