new_logo

The ‘Dinner and Dialogues’ project was a series of events that took place during 2015.

It was developed collaboratively by Joe Coveney and Suzanne O’Connell, two designers working in Dublin and London respectively and was funded by The Year of Irish Design 2015.

Taking the traditional format of a dinner party they explored how good food and a relaxed domestic setting can facilitate conversations between a group of people who mostly don’t know each other. The ambition of the evenings was to encourage meaningful interactions that are not supported in normal public discourse.

 

What people said…

“Harking back to the golden days of Dublin’s Salons, when Lady Wilde and the artists, intellectuals and activists of the time would gather in Georgian Dublin to debate and explore the social issues of the day, Dinner Dialogues was both a nod to the salons of the past while signalling the richness of discussion and perspective when diverse people meet. The evening of delectable food and scintillating company got me thinking about areas of design which were off my radar, and introduced me to new people and new ideas with a grace and elegance which no doubt Lady Wilde would have been proud of. Thank you Suzanne, Joe and John.”

– Clare Mulvany

“I went home buzzing with ideas and very positive about the potential to use such mechanisms to bring unlikely people together to deliver change. I have already bored family and friends describing the night, the house, the food and most of all the positivity.” -Deirdre Ni Raghallaigh

“A rare treat to meet a gang of new people with a shared interest and have the indulgence of being able to talk all night at a candle lit dinner on one of the most beautiful streets in Dublin.”

-Lian Bell