Q&A Mr Pussy – The Big Issues #1, June 1994

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A 1994 Q&A with Mr Pussy (Alan Amsby) scanned from the very first issue of The Big Issues. At the time he and his and business partner, Gavin Friday’s all night restaurant in Suffolk St was in full swing.  Check out our previous post on Mr Pussy from 1970 here.

The UK version of the Big Issue started in September 1991 with the Irish equivalent launched in June 1994. Editor of issue 1 was Niall Skelly , it had 40 pages, cost IR£1 with 60p going to the seller. It featured a couple of topical US World Cup articles from Eamonn Dunphy and Roddy Doyle. (A pint cost ir£1.83 in his local at the time), as well as articles from Eamonn McCann ,Shane Doherty and a “Near Buswells” piece (below) by Christy Moore.
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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. marycigarettes

    15 Jan 2015

    something about 1990’s dublin that unsettles me…like being in a car that takes off from the curb at a mad speed, tearing and ripping away at the gearbox….maybe it had to though…like a getaway.

  2. Ciaran

    21 Aug 2016

    Just stumbled upon this by chance and was a nice trip down memory lane. Was great to see a picture of my uncle Niall looking happy and healthy and full of hope, and to read his commentary in the first issue. Niall Skelly sadly passed away at his home in Wexford in 2015, losing a decade long battle with alcoholism. He ran the Big Issue from 1994-1999 and worked as a social worker for many years after. He was a kind, well intentioned man who ultimately was pulled asunder by being unable to escape traumatic events of his childhood.

    I have many happy memories of hanging around the Big Issue offices in the old Ormond Multimedia Centre on Ormond Quay (now the Morrison Hotel) and later beside the methadone clinic on Amiens Street (now apartments) during my school holidays in the 90’s. The staff were an eclectic bunch, and teenage me was fascinated with their Mohawks, tattoos and body piercings. Many hours where whiled away playing Sim City on the editorial teams PowerMacs, or listening to the bags of CD’s sent by record companies to be reviewed.

    I’m rambling here, but thanks for scanning those pages!

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