Rua Red

Rua Red Arts Centre Tallaght

Tallaght gets a lot of crap for being a bad area, and fair enough there are some pretty dodgy parts to it. But I can't believe the amount of positive changes happening there right now not least of which, is the Rua Red Arts Centre where I took part in a print workshop by talented photographer Sinead McDonald. Though I have lived in Citywest for three years (a five minute drive away) and have visited Tallaght a million times, I'm ashamed to say it was my first time to even really notice the arts centre.


The first thing I noticed as I approached was the gleaming exterior and the sharp design. The interior is bright and welcoming, as are the staff. There's a little cafe with a seating deck outside, which was where I met with the rest of the workshop. We were working in the Mac Lab that day, a minimalist white room kitted out with bench desking and red and white swivel chairs, and of course the latest Mac equipment. The Macs were ready to go with the most recent versions of Adobe Creative Suite, various video and graphics programs too numerous to mention, as well as lab quality printers and scanners.

The workshop was really worthwhile and we all learned a great deal. I highly recommend following @sineadw on the twitter to find out when she's planning the next one. After the workshop, Sinead told us about membership to Rua Red. You give them €5, a recent bill and some photo ID, and in return you can book any of the facilities which include the multimedia labs for production, gallery spaces, workshops and printing facilities. They charge a nominal fee for utilities when you use them, which is fair and a lot more reasonable than a printers might be, for example.

The centre have 6 artist's studios in all with natural light, fitted sinks, storage and central heating. They have offices, available on application to start up businesses within the creative industry who wish to have a base to work from. There are performance and rehearsal spaces with changing facilities, ballet bars, mirrored walls and a piano. There's even a great little cafe called 21. During the workshop we grabbed a bite there and the food was great, lots of choice at a reasonable price.

Rua Red is designed to be the creative hub of the community and caters to existing tenants which include designers, visual artists, writers, arts providers and the local radio station Radio Tallaght 99.1.

It's really easy to talk an area down, especially when you don't know it so well, and that's what makes places like this so special, it's run by locals for locals and the positive feeling seems to affect everyone who passes through it's doors. If you're in the neighbourhood drop by, it's a fantastic achievement for Tallaght and should be experienced.