One of the worlds friendliest cities

Ole Rodrigo

Article on BBC news Travel ranking Dublin as a warm friendly city. Its encouraging to see the problems of city center don't affect the overall experience for visitors.

As any traveller who has joined in an Irish sing-along knows, Dublin is home to some of the warmest people on the planet. “I think a major part of [our] friendliness [comes] down to an inferiority complex,” said Martina Skelly, a native of the Irish capital. “We constantly want to make sure that visitors like us and are having a good time.”

One of Europe’s smaller capital cities, Dublin also benefits from a low crime rate and a widespread feeling of security, so residents are more likely to lend a stranger a helping hand. That said, locals speak in hushed tones in public and are quick to notice foreigners who talk too loudly on trains, buses or in coffee shops; doing so comes across as being careless at best, and rude at worst.
Related article: A literary pilgrimage through the streets of Dublin
While friendly Dubliners are easy to find almost everywhere in the city, those who love nightlife often live in the city centre; families seeking good schools tend to live in the suburbs. Either way, most people live in houses, not high-rises. “Dublin is a very flat and wide city,” Skelly said. “We grew out rather than up, so apartments are much less common than in our European neighbours.”

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20141009-living-in-the-worlds-friendliest-cities/1

GalwayGirl26

I would suggest the friendliest people you meet in Dublin are the ones who moved up from the country, but I would be biased here....

Ole Rodrigo

GalwayGirl26 wrote: »

I would suggest the friendliest people you meet in Dublin are the ones who moved up from the country, but I would be biased here....

You may have a point there. There is a subtle difference between being unfriendly and being insular though.

chopper6

GalwayGirl26 wrote: »

I would suggest the friendliest people you meet in Dublin are the ones who moved up from the country, but I would be biased here....

Don't agree.

fleet_admiral

chopper6 wrote: »

Don't agree.

Me neither, country folk dont have the famous Dublin wit

chopper6

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Me neither, country folk dont have the famous Dublin wit

Yes,they're usually far more sour than Dubs.

The Hill Billy

Put the Dublin vs Country handbags away please.

tHB

BMJD

The vast majority of Irish people are warm and friendly IMO

Birneybau

GalwayGirl26 wrote: »

I would suggest the friendliest people you meet in Dublin are the ones who moved up from the country, but I would be biased here....

You do realise, this is the Dublin City forum?

Sorry, just saw warning.

drumswan

Yet more positive press for one of the worlds best cities! We are so lucky to live here

Lux23

I live in the inner city and I find the locals to be very insular. They might be friendly but they aren't interested in making friends. Dubs tend to hang around with the same people from school or early childhood, I don't think I have many friends that I know longer than ten years. (I'm 32)

But this is all my experience, means nothing really.

reprazant

Lux23 wrote: »

I live in the inner city and I find the locals to be very insular. They might be friendly but they aren't interested in making friends. Dubs tend to hang around with the same people from school or early childhood, I don't think I have many friends that I know longer than ten years. (I'm 32)

But this is all my experience, means nothing really.

Well it depends, if you are still living in, or near, the same area as you grew up in, they it is understandable.

If you moved a farther distance, then you do tend to lose contact that you used to hang out with but no longer see.

I would imagine that it is the same with every city or town in the country and is not Dublin specific.

John_Rambo

Lux23 wrote: »

They might be friendly but they aren't interested in making friends

Do you want to be friends with them? I lived in the inner city for a long time and made lots of friends, I'm still in touch with a lot of them, Dubs, country, foreign... Are you involved in the community?

Peter Anthony

What a surprise a local Dub involved in Tourism claiming its one of the Worlds friendliest cities. They probably couldnt get a tourist to say it with a straight face.

DoYouEvenLift

Would put Budapest on there long before Dublin.

ProudDUB

Peter Anthony wrote: »

What a surprise a local Dub involved in Tourism claiming its one of the Worlds friendliest cities. They probably couldnt get a tourist to say it with a straight face.

Did you even read the full article? The reason why the native Dub was being interviewed in the first place, was because Dublin was voted one of the most friendly cities by Conde Nast readers. It's not some random fact the native Dub just pulled out of her arse, for the heck of it.

Aard

I'm not sure how they define friendliness, but Dublin/Ireland is one of the few places where you could strike up a conversation with somebody at a bus stop, say, and the other person would actually engage. Many/most other places I've been, people generally don't want to talk, and usually make it known.

Peter Anthony

Aard wrote: »

I'm not sure how they define friendliness, but Dublin/Ireland is one of the few places where you could strike up a conversation with somebody at a bus stop, say, and the other person would actually engage. Many/most other places I've been, people generally don't want to talk, and usually make it known.

The only talk you get is "gimme a smoke bud"

John_Rambo

Aard wrote: »

Dublin/Ireland is one of the few places where you could strike up a conversation with somebody at a bus stop

Maybe not going to or from work, people are focused, tired, or simply weary of talking! I've had plenty of bants on bus's, bus stops, trains in Dublin and other parts of Ireland, gave two lads a lift last Sunday. I even got a couple of dates out of this carry on.

What were the circumstances that your conversation was snubbed and what city did you find friendlier for chatting to strangers at bus stops?

RDM_83 again

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

Would put Budapest on there long before Dublin.

Really? I wouldn't put Dublin as one of the friendliest cities, in terms of Ireland Cork and Galway would be far ahead on those stakes (but may be too small to be included on this list). And I like Budapest its a cool city , never lived east but I've been there 4 times but I have to say Bratislava seemed like a friendlier town to me despite its rough edges (Berlin and Vilnius also seemed friendlier but those were once of trips).

I met my current fella on the train, only because Irish people tend to like to talk to each other.

John_Rambo

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Really? I wouldn't put Dublin as one of the friendliest cities, in terms of Ireland Cork and Galway would be far ahead on those stakes

I'd say Dublin is more tolerant and accepting to be honest.

conorhal

That reads like a gushing blurb from 1992. I've no idea how the author managed to find any Irish people in Dublin City center to talk to.

griffdaddy

conorhal wrote: »

That reads like a gushing blurb from 1992. I've no idea how the author managed to find any Irish people in Dublin City center to talk to.

That's true, even when it was the bears I knew it was the immigrants.

alastair

conorhal wrote: »

That reads like a gushing blurb from 1992. I've no idea how the author managed to find any Irish people in Dublin City center to talk to.

1. There's plenty of Irish people in Dublin city centre (unsurprisingly)
2. Who determined that the friendliness of people in the city should be limited to Irish people?

folbotcar

Dublin is one of the world's friendliest cities. But as usual people miss the point and immediately we have a sour comment from one of the usual suspects. Ironically as a Dub living in Galway city I never get any sour comments here which is more than can said for other parts of the country.

Dublin is friendly compared to other big cities in the world. So it's irrelevant whether or not Galway or Cork are just as friendly. Dublin as the capital is rated alongside cities like Amsterdam or Prague.

It's also a compliment to Ireland as whole but of course some can't see that trapped as they are in their parochial blinkers.

We should enjoy it. We live in a friendly country. That's the experience of visitors coming here. Why can't we take a compliment for what it is?

alastair

Personally, I don't find Dublin, or Ireland in general, that friendly. But clearly others do - in large numbers. Glasgow is a friendlier city than Dublin imo, but certainly many continental cities would be harder to break the ice in.

chopper6

alastair wrote: »

Personally, I don't find Dublin, or Ireland in general, that friendly. But clearly others do - in large numbers. Glasgow is a friendlier city than Dublin imo, but certainly many continental cities would be harder to break the ice in.

Dublin is a friendly city,no question.

But what needs to be remembered is it's not an international capital like London or Paris and as such it still has a level of small-town cosyness to it.

But as the population demographic changes over the years it will become less friendly..there are a lot of eastern europeans here who would never dream of talking to (or helping) strangers..not because they don't want to but because in thier culture it's not considered to be the norm.

In russia for example..you smile at a stranger and you can end up getting killed.

Rough Sleeper

Peter Anthony wrote: »

The only talk you get is "gimme a smoke bud"

I actually find that unsavoury-looking sorts are, the vast majority of the time, quite courteous when trying to scab some tobacco off me.