At repair cafes across the island of Ireland, volunteers fix small pieces of furniture, household electrical appliances and clothing at community venues for free. This movement, which started about 10 years ago – but stalled during the Covid-19 pandemic – is gathering pace again as a kickback against the perils of overconsumption and as a response to environmental and cost-of-living crises.
Tomorrow afternoon, in an industrial unit in Dublin 12, a repair cafe will take place, a community event in which a group of volunteer fixers will repair everything from broken toasters, kettles, coffee machines and air fryers to garments needing new zips or buttons.
The Dublin Maker Repair Cafe in Unit 2B, Motor City, Kylemore Road, Dublin 12, is one of a number of repair cafe gatherings held throughout the island. Volunteer fixers also show up for repair events organised in community centres, libraries and third-level colleges.
“I’d do a repair cafe every weekend if I had enough volunteers. I can’t meet the demand from libraries, county councils and community groups,” says Jeffrey Roe, a software and hardware engineer who also runs Tog Hackerspace, which hosts the D12 repair cafes four times a year.
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He says there are three types of people who turn up with broken items to be repaired for free at these community events.
“There are the environmentally conscious people who want to get things fixed rather than consume more valuable resources by purchasing new things,” says Roe. “There are people who want things fixed for sentimental reasons – say a food mixer their mother used or a toy they played with that they want to give to their children. And then, there are the cost-conscious people who find the cost of getting something new too high.”
He says that although there are commercial options for repairing laptops, mobile phones and washing machines, many people find it very difficult to get household gadgets fixed. “There is a lot of frustration out there from people who can’t find repairers for things like coffee machines and vacuum cleaners,” he says.
Unlike the standard approach, whereby you might drop off your lawnmower for repair or a service and pay a few days later when you collect it, repair cafe events are collaborative.
“The person sits with us and we talk about how the item broke and the way they were using it,” says Roe. “This approach to fault-finding gives them a sense of ownership of their devices so they have more confidence to look after them and keep them cleaner.”
The Dublin Maker gatherings are one of the few repair cafes in cities across Ireland with so-called portable appliance testing. This allows fixers to do safety checks on electrical or electronic items. Fixers are also insured at the Dublin Maker cafes, but being unable to get product liability insurance is something that hinders some repair cafes from holding more events. The Tog Hackerspace in Dublin 12 also has laser-cutting equipment and 3D printers that can be used to make replacement parts for some items.
[ Repairing an old thing is a small act of defiance against disposable cultureOpens in new window ]
Christine McCartney was one of the founders of Repair Cafe Belfast in 2017. Since then the volunteer-led group has helped 11 other repair cafes set up across Northern Ireland. “At that time, I was a mum of two young children with another on the way,” she says. “My motivation for getting involved was very personal as I got frustrated when things broke and I couldn’t get them fixed.”
McCartney says repair cafes are a practical, sensible, tangible way to respond to environmental crises. “These are happy, joyful, positive experiences to counteract the doom and gloom of being told to give up your lattes and your foreign holidays.
“Lots of people are visibly relieved to have things fixed when they don’t know how to fix things and they don’t know what’s wrong with something. They go away with a big smile on their faces and feel part of the community at these events.”
Designer Louise Nolan is a volunteer fixer. She generally repairs vintage furniture and clothing at the Dublin Maker repair cafes. “People bring in stools that are a bit wonky and need to be tightened and clothes that need zips, buttons and tears mended.”
Nolan recalls repairing a 1970s desk lamp that had belonged to the father of the current owner. “It had been left in a damp shed and the copper wire had oxidised,” says Nolan. “It really only needed to be cleaned up a bit and a new bulb put in it. We always ask people to clean their items before they bring them along to be repaired.”
She has also repaired catches on necklaces or earrings and fixed holes or rips in cardigans. “I sometimes ask people if they want a hidden repair or a creative repair,” says Nolan.
This creative approach to mending clothes and furniture is echoed by other ecopreneurs across Ireland, such as Mary Fleming, who runs repair workshops and courses as part of ChangeClothes.org, and Marianne Heaphy (aka the Revamp Tramp) who teaches classes in furniture upcycling and restoration.
James Dominy, a software engineer who works for WP Engine in Limerick and volunteers at repair cafes in the FabLab in the School of Architecture at University of Limerick, says the repair ethos is seeing a bit of a resurgence.
“We have gone through a decade or two in which repair became an increasingly niche service. Products became more electronic and more difficult to repair, and mass-produced cheap stuff became cheaper to replace than repair. But people are becoming more aware now because of the environmental crises. It’s not sustainable to keep buying new stuff.”
And while this repair culture has a bottom-up energy about it, there is also change coming from the top, particularly with the European Commission’s Right to Repair Directive, which came into force in July 2024 and is due to be transposed into Irish law by July 2026.
“The directive will make it easier for consumers to seek repair instead of replacement, and repair services will become more accessible transparent and attractive,” says a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment. “It also gives manufacturers the incentive required to make products that last longer and that can be repaired, reused and recycled.”
The Rediscovery Centre – Ireland’s National Centre for the Circular Economy – welcomes advances in the directive, which will include revamped rules on spare parts (manufacturers will have to offer spare parts and tools at fair prices), financial incentives to repair (such as repair vouchers and reduced VAT on repair services) and an online platform of repair and refurbishment services throughout the EU.
Countries such as France and Belgium already have voucher systems in place whereby people can seek repairs at reduced cost from accredited repairers.
In Ireland, a national online directory of repair businesses (repairmystuff.ie) was developed by Monaghan County Council in 2018 in collaboration with other local authorities. With more than 1,500 businesses registered across nine categories – including electrical, clothing, electronic, furniture, small and large household appliances, watches and jewellery and musical instruments – it is the first step towards the forthcoming requirements of the directive to identify repair services in EU member states.
Meanwhile, the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun in Dublin (rediscoverycentre.ie) already models good practice in repair culture with on-site social enterprises repairing bicycles, repairing and upcycling furniture and mending and upcycling vintage clothing. Through its circular economy academy for social enterprises, it mentors community-based organisations to set up similar initiatives throughout Ireland.
“Insurance remains a significant barrier for repair cafes – particularly for the repair of electrical and electronic equipment. If there were more repair cafes, a group insurance scheme akin to what men’s sheds have would become increasingly viable,” says Dr Sarah Miller, chief executive of the Rediscovery Centre.
