Dirty, dreary, expensive, nothing to do

Potential-Monke

John_Rambo wrote: »

Lol! You demand evidence of value food in the city, it's presented to you, but you get the hump, throw your toys out of the pram and refuse to try the food!!

Can you link me that post? I honestly have not seen it, or can't recall it if I have. I got the hump because of your insistence that I was in the wrong, hungover, in a mood, etc. Even after I clarified you continued, so why would I continue? And I'm not refusing the try the food, I'm just not going back to Dublin anytime soon, or ever preferably. If you link me the post, I'll try to remember if I ever have to go up there again and try it.

You do know that you can also get good food outside of Dublin though, yeah?

John_Rambo

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Can you link me that post? I honestly have not seen it, or can't recall it if I have.

It's on this thread... here.

John_Rambo wrote: »

If you head down to the Capel st. area there are plenty of restaurants that can't be beaten for price. Good, fresh, healthy food for next to nothing. Myself and my little boy ate for under €12 in one of them.

Also, there's a burgeoning early bird and pre-theatre menu scene in the city. The competition is rife and restaurants have exceptional offers with various course combos, some offering three courses of high quality food for under €30.

There's also a oversized tapas scene popping up around the city. I think it started in Market Bar where large plates of meatballs, meats & cheeses, olives, chicken and chorizo skewers, prawn skewers are on offer for exceptionally good value made even better by sharing the keener priced larger plates. Two people can eat for around €20.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

You do know that you can also get good food outside of Dublin though, yeah?

Yes, we travel the country all year round, food is a huge part of our lifestyle and important to us. The last places we tried were Stoked and Knox in Sligo, before that we were in Barrtra in Clare. All excellent, in January we're heading to Cork, we already have restaurants booked. .

Yamanoto

Potential-Monke wrote: »

My experiences I referred to were in relation to visiting Dublin, bar staff, waiting staff, parking staff, all have a holier than thou attitude. Just my experience...

My brother in law, a fairly successful Wexford businessman, has always viewed visiting Dublin as like going into battle. I think he perceives those he meets as looking down on him because of his accent, his clothes, his politics, what he may opt for on a menu and maybe just his general outlook on life.

I'm not saying this applies to yourself, but there are many from beyond the pale who carry a bit of an inferiority complex, bordering on neurosis with them into the capital. They drive up the quays and along Dorset St to Jones's Rd and straight back home after the game, declaring the place a cesspit with all the charm of a Grozny or Mogadishu.

cgcsb

Wierd for British people to say this. Outside of London, British cities are empty at 6pm and there is literally nothing at all to do there.

Mezzotint

One thing that I've seen is that some people (but definitely not all) from the UK find a bit challenging is that our museums and visitor centres that deal with our 18th and 19th century history tend to be a bit of a cold, hard culture shock, if you're used to seeing that era exclusively from a British perspective. All of a sudden you're being faced with the grim reality of a famine and the independence movement that struggled against your governments' predecessors.

If you're French or German or American it's just interesting, but not personal. If you're English it's a little jarring, especially if you've had little awareness of the history.

I've just noticed this a few times with English friends of mine who've visited and wouldn't have much knowledge of Ireland or historical Anglo Irish relations.

Potential-Monke

John_Rambo wrote: »

It's on this thread... here.

Thank you. And not to prove a point, but most 3 course meals down here are under €25, with some as low as €17.50 (food type dependent, ie: Asian cuisine is generally cheaper). The quality and enjoyment is a personal preference, for example I cannot stand Angus beef and most people seem to like it (horrible aftertaste imo). So still, imo, more expensive. But thanks again for re-answering it.

Yamanoto wrote: »

I'm not saying this applies to yourself, but there are many from beyond the pale who carry a bit of an inferiority complex, bordering on neurosis with them into the capital. They drive up the quays and along Dorset St to Jones's Rd and straight back home after the game, declaring the place a cesspit with all the charm of a Grozny or Mogadishu.

I did, at one stage in my early 20's, have that, but I grew out of it fairly soon. And maybe, actually most likely, my negative previous experiences have given me a view of the place which I cannot forget, and may lead to me not giving it a chance, but I'm very open to trying things, and I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to service. Problem is, I've given the place many chances and always been let down, usually by the service.

So while my recent trips have been short, in and out as quickly as possible, I'm possibly not giving it a chance anymore, but it's like a bad relationship, sometimes you just have to cut and run, and that's what I've done. By my opinions are still valid, as they are based on previous experiences of Dublin City and Dublin people. Not all people mind, there was 1 or 2 I worked with who were ok in small doses, but still had the superiority complex of being from the Capital.

wakka12

cgcsb wrote: »

Wierd for British people to say this. Outside of London, British cities are empty at 6pm and there is literally nothing at all to do there.

And most are the grimmest urban areas europe has to offer , like by far, maybe until you hit the russian border. Actually, I used to assume Dublin's popularity with British tourists was because of this very reason, because it being so close and really a lot nicer than most British cities apart from Edinburgh and London. Anyway I wonder if the enormous amount of construction going on in Dublin is affecting these ratings? Not very pleasant always being around construction sites imo. Must be at least a few dozen active large ones across the city centre at any one time nowadays

John_Rambo

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Thank you. And not to prove a point, but most 3 course meals down here are under €25, with some as low as €17.50 (food type dependent, ie: Asian cuisine is generally cheaper). The quality and enjoyment is a personal preference, for example I cannot stand Angus beef and most people seem to like it (horrible aftertaste imo). So still, imo, more expensive. But thanks again for re-answering it.

Cool, where are you and what's the name of the restaurants? I'll look them up, if they look like they're worth it I'll take a trip.

Potential-Monke

John_Rambo wrote: »

Cool, where are you and what's the name of the restaurants? I'll look them up, if they look like they're worth it I'll take a trip.

Limerick.

Marco Polo: €25 for 3 course (heard it's nice, but not my style of restaurant)
Chocolat: €17.50 for early bird 3 course (Mon-Sun 5pm-7pm)
Freddys Bistro: €25 pre 7.30pm (€29.99 after)
Jasmine Palace: €17.50

Stop moaning ffs

Worst decision ever made was letting the legion of Mary close down the monto

Had it been left alone to evolve that whole area around talbot st would have thrived and been a huge tourist attraction by now as with Amsterdams red light district. The thing that put that city on the map initially and it’s grown and evolved past that.

wakka12

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Worst decision ever made was letting the legion of Mary close down the monto

Had it been left alone to evolve that whole area around talbot st would have thrived and been a huge tourist attraction by now as with Amsterdams red light district. The thing that put that city on the map initially and it’s grown and evolved past that.

Not sure it had the same appeal as Amsterdams picturesque canals..


This is what it looked like before the area was demolished. Youre probably right that it would be a tourist attraction today. But thats very long term hindsight . It was demolished also because it was the worst slums in the city, there were so many prostitutes because the women of the area had no other jobs prospects or means of providing for themselves or family

Stop moaning ffs

Just on that wakka, Brilliant listen on the history of Dublin both from the monto and Dublin’s gay scene perspective. It’s fascinating from the Irish passport podcast. Prompted my post.

https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-irish-passport/id1246162545#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Ftheirishpassport.com%2F%3Fpost_type%3Dpodcast%26p%3D941

Stop moaning ffs

*and a lot of those buildings in the pics weren’t demolished until the late 80s. I grew up in liberty house facing them. A lot more could have been done to make it a cultural draw as with temple bar was (initially at least)

gmisk

I think this thread is pretty harsh on Dublin.
I am originally from a picturesque part of northern Ireland but have been here 15 years.
There are lots of excellent things to see and do in Dublin, plus really brilliant food options you night just need to seek out the value sometimes.

I have had quite a few visitors from other countries and do research when it comes for places for them to go every single one of them has loved the little mueseum of Dublin, the national gallery and the natural history museum.
Undoubtedly there are rough elements in cc especially around o Connelly street, but there can be an amazing buzz around Grafton street especially around Christmas time. The pubs can be brilliant and the shopping is good.

wakka12

Interesting I'll have a look! I'm sure there could but I dont think making things touristy was really at the forefront of government agendas at that time. Templebar only managed to be developed in a sympathetic way by the skin of it's teeth, it was just pure luck really the way it panned out. A small group of very progressive young UCD Architecture graduates persuaded the government that it was worth saving from mass demolition and redevelopment, very famous architects today, O'Donnell and Tuomy, Mccullough Mulvin, Grafton Architects , made a name for themselves with the amazing work they did in Templebarin the late 80's and early 90's.

Dublin is a kip but it’s no different a kip than the cities the tans have. Cities in general are turd.

Ready4Boarding

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Dublin is a kip but it’s no different a kip than the cities the tans have. Cities in general are turd.

Good grief, you're crass.

Fritzbox

Legion of Mary? 1930s?
The Monto was not the only thing that needed demolishing in Dublin since them - try half of Sheriff Street in 1991?

Ready4Boarding

Ready4Boarding wrote: »

Good grief, you're crass.

Oh my days. Do you need some smelling salts?

Ready4Boarding

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Oh my days. Do you need some smelling salts?

A filthy Paddy.

Stop moaning ffs

Fritzbox wrote: »

Legion of Mary? 1930s?
The Monto was not the only thing that needed demolishing in Dublin since them - try half of Sheriff Street in 1991?

Ehhh that’s Belfast.

Did you even watch or listen to the accents?

gozunda

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Can you link me that post? I honestly have not seen it, or can't recall it if I have. I got the hump because of your insistence that I was in the wrong, hungover, in a mood, etc. Even after I clarified you continued, so why would I continue? And I'm not refusing the try the food, I'm just not going back to Dublin anytime soon, or ever preferably. If you link me the post, I'll try to remember if I ever have to go up there again and try it.

You do know that you can also get good food outside of Dublin though, yeah?

I wouldn't be overtly concerned. Seems to be part of the usual type of reply there tbh ...

Fritzbox

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Ehhh that’s Belfast.

Did you even watch or listen to the accents?

Ehhh, you're right there! What am I - a f**king dunce!?

Realt Dearg Sec

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

*and a lot of those buildings in the pics weren’t demolished until the late 80s. I grew up in liberty house facing them. A lot more could have been done to make it a cultural draw as with temple bar was (initially at least)

The big mistake was putting busaras there. It's an eyesore, obviously, but it's also completely impractical to put a bus terminal in a place where, in every direction, the bus has to go through the entirety of city centre traffic. They wanted to do the same thing in Temple bar. Honestly if you put a chimp in charge of transport in Dublin they're do a better job. But in topic monto was an amazing historical district, i can understand the impulse to be rid of it but as mentioned, the self appointed moral police were the last people to trust with such things.

It's not something that matters to tourists necessarily but what has happened to the city East of o connell street has basically been a dirty act of larceny by the political and business classes of this country, at the expense of the rest of us.

Stop moaning ffs

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

The big mistake was putting busaras there. It's an eyesore, obviously, but it's also completely impractical to put a bus terminal in a place where, in every direction, the bus has to go through the entirety of city centre traffic. They wanted to do the same thing in Temple bar. Honestly if you put a chimp in charge of transport in Dublin they're do a better job. But in topic monto was an amazing historical district, i can understand the impulse to be rid of it but as mentioned, the self appointed moral police were the last people to trust with such things.

It's not something that matters to tourists necessarily but what has happened to the city East of o connell street has basically been a dirty act of larceny by the political and business classes of this country, at the expense of the rest of us.

Well it’s placed beside Connolly station. Which does actually make sense.
When they planned and built Connolly heuston and bus aras they didn’t have future goggles.
Connolly serves the top half of the country heuston serves the south and the west and the bus station is the bus station.temple bar was nearly the new bus station.
And all of them by the docks with access to main roads out.

You’re right but it’s only strange planning when viewed within hindsight. They’re only crime was lack of foresight. And could anyone have predicted that Ireland becoming this busy and this economically successful relative to when they were built? No.

Realt Dearg Sec

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Well it’s placed beside Connolly station. Which does actually make sense.
When they planned and built Connolly heuston and bus aras they didn’t have future goggles.
Connolly serves the top half of the country heuston serves the south and the west and the bus station is the bus station.temple bar was nearly the new bus station.
And all of them by the docks with access to main roads out.

You’re right but it’s only strange planning when viewed within hindsight. They’re only crime was lack of foresight. And could anyone have predicted that Ireland becoming this busy and this economically successful relative to when they were built? No.

Building a bus station in the very centre of the city to serve the whole country? That doesn't require future goggles it requires present goggles. You could see when it was built that geographically you're literally putting the station in a spot where, in every direction, the buses will have to go through the entire city centre before they get on the road.

But setting that aside, planning is, by definition, about having foresight, so the fact that they made such terrible decisions doesn't absolve them. They're planners, the future is their whole business. And busaras was a disaster by the 80s, long before the booms (this is recognised is the Dublin city metropolitan area plan 1986 so it isn't just my opinion formed in 2019 or anything).

cgcsb

wakka12 wrote: »

And most are the grimmest urban areas europe has to offer , like by far, maybe until you hit the russian border. Actually, I used to assume Dublin's popularity with British tourists was because of this very reason, because it being so close and really a lot nicer than most British cities apart from Edinburgh and London. Anyway I wonder if the enormous amount of construction going on in Dublin is affecting these ratings? Not very pleasant always being around construction sites imo. Must be at least a few dozen active large ones across the city centre at any one time nowadays

I quite like it, construction = a city on the move. When you see a city with no construction it's either economically stagnant or one of those hyper advanced and terminally boring scandavian places.

cgcsb

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

The big mistake was putting busaras there. It's an eyesore, obviously, but it's also completely impractical to put a bus terminal in a place where, in every direction, the bus has to go through the entirety of city centre traffic.

It was built in 1953. There were only dozens of cars in Dublin.

And now having it there does still make sense, it's central and close to Connolly. If traffic is an issue, remove cars and keep the bus station central.

The problem now is that Busaras is simply too small.

dd973

As different to them and their country as we like preening ourselves to be, Dublin isn't likely to be that appealing or exotic to the average Brit less the ones who are Hibernophiles and love the music, pubs and culture.

It's English speaking, less than an hour on the plane, used to be part of the UK (that many of them still lump it in with) with crap weather, the same food, bags of rubbish lying around, the same issues with homelessness and anti social behavior, high prices and everyone seemingly on the piss most of the time. Pretty much stuff for the most part that they don't need to leave their own cities for.

randomspud

dd973 wrote: »

As different to them and their country as we like preening ourselves to be, Dublin isn't likely to be that appealing or exotic to the average Brit less the ones who are Hibernophiles and love the music, pubs and culture.

It's English speaking, less than an hour on the plane, used to be part of the UK (that many of them still lump it in with) with crap weather, the same food, bags of rubbish lying around, the same issues with homelessness and anti social behavior, high prices and everyone seemingly on the piss most of the time. Pretty much stuff for the most part that they don't need to leave their own cities for.

It's pretty much just a scummy mid-sized UK city with a different accent.


Although, i hear the are 4 museums or some **** which totally make it worthwhile.

Idbatterim

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

It is a kip. Bad planning and successive government's policy of getting more and more cars on the roads to bring in revenue has turned Dublin into a ****hole. I heard on the radio one morning during the week that the M50 'was in tatters'.
I was on the 16 bus into town recently which was full of tourists and I was genuinely embarrassed as the bus moved at about 1kmph or not at all at times!
More than 25m passengers travel through Dublin Airport per annum but it seems it isn't enough to justify a rail link, interesting that there never a shortage of funds to get more cars on the roads, I believe the M11 'upgrade' is the latest white elephant ......more cars=more tolls I presume?

25 million ? It will hit nearly 35,000,000 this year and possibly close to or over fifty million before we MIGHT get a metro. Of course this rail link would also offer a rail device to Ireland’s largest town not served by rail and open up masses of land for housing beside excellent transport. Welcome to Ireland though!

Idbatterim

randomspud wrote: »

It's pretty much just a scummy mid-sized UK city with a different accent.


Although, i hear the are 4 museums or some **** which totally make it worthwhile.

Right right. And which uk city has a geographical setting anything like Dublin? A European capital. Masses of tourism and massively multicultural and buzzing ? Yeah the places has a lot of issues , I raised them earlier In the thread. But so many foreigners I meet who have moved here , love the place. Despite the appalling transport and housing situation

Ush1

Idbatterim wrote: »

Right right. And which uk city has a geographical setting anything like Dublin? A European capital. Masses of tourism and massively multicultural and buzzing ? Yeah the places has a lot of issues , I raised them earlier In the thread. But so many foreigners I meet who have moved here , love the place. Despite the appalling transport and housing situation

Not to mention Dublins economic power.

Realt Dearg Sec

Idbatterim wrote: »

Right right. And which uk city has a geographical setting anything like Dublin? A European capital. Masses of tourism and massively multicultural and buzzing ? Yeah the places has a lot of issues , I raised them earlier In the thread. But so many foreigners I meet who have moved here , love the place. Despite the appalling transport and housing situation

Exactly, i was bemoaning busaras earlier and arguing with another lad but I'm actually coming from the point of view that Dublin is a flawed but really unique city (actually a place I've devoted my life to studying). The transport situation is a mess, you'd be mad to argue otherwise, or to deny that they've gone down a bad, pro-car route (although currently living in Texas, which is much, much, much worse). But anyone who can't see the charm of Dublin, its magnificent, still-living history, its incredible bay that is the envy of any city in Europe though we don't make nearly enough of it, its literary heritage that has no comparison anywhere in the world for a city its size, and its sheer personality, is welcome to their holidays in whatever mausoleum in Europe they decide to spend their time.

And for the record, to spare me the ad hominems, I'm a Kilkenny culchie so not some dub defending the place, and I've lived in multiple other countries so I'm not some insulated paddy who hasn't seen the world either.

As an aside, people complaining about the expense and then touting Paris must be having us all on. Ten quid for a beer anywhere remotely central, wine as expensive, and food you need to mortgage your house for if it isn't going to be a kfc.

Stop moaning ffs

You’re a ten or twenty minute walk from anywhere in Dublin city center to where you need to be.
It would be shorter if we embraced the bike

If ever a city center was made for cycling it’s Dublin. Take out all the cars and traffic. Why the ever living fvck we channel all the busses and traffic directly through the center and out the other side will never not confuse me. We need to adjust attitudes about how and why that is. It’s not working. The new bus plan makes it even worse.

Let it be as it was. A medieval pedestrian city. Where you can walk freely.
Was in Florence last year and was amazed. Wider streets by far but the pedestrian is king. The odd car you see has to crawl through the people traffic. Rather than traffic.

con___manx1

Dublin would be a much better city if the public transport was much better.
Melbourne has the best public transport that I have ever seen.
I was in Paris during the summer. They have a good metro system but to many people at rush hour.
Amsterdam is the best city for bascially hardly any cars. Its a really unique place in Europe.

I seen a picture of ó Connel Street during the war of independence and the whole street was just full of bikes.
It would be deadly if we could all go back to that.
Obviously alot of people that work in the city don't live there so it's not an option for alot of people.
I am a driver as I have no other option. I live 54k away and there is no public transport.

Stop moaning ffs

Good thing to remember.

You’re not ‘stuck in traffic’

You are traffic.

wakka12

A traffic free Dublin is my dream..maybe some day. Would be one of the nicest cities in Europe if it was pedestrian

Feisar

wakka12 wrote: »

A traffic free Dublin is my dream..maybe some day. Would be one of the nicest cities in Europe if it was pedestrian

I think that brings us back to the weather again.

farmchoice

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Ehhh that’s Belfast.

Did you even watch or listen to the accents?

no thats dublin, sherrif st area. i moved to dublin in 1994 and always lived on the north side, church st area, dorset st, mountjoy sq north circular rd, stonybatter. at the time some of these were pretty rough, very different from now, but nothing compared to down around sherrif st, it was beginning to be improved then but even still you would literally not walk the streets around there.

wakka12

I cant believe people in Ireland actually lived in places that looked like only 25 years ago. That video of sheriff street looks almost apocalyptic

Fritzbox

farmchoice wrote: »

no thats dublin, sherrif st area.

Or maybe he was just joking - hard to tell?

Paddy223

Let's face it the city is a dump. Was only down at Connolly station the last day and my god the state of the place. I only would leave my college campus to go out for a night with friend's to be honest. if I met someone that wanted to know a good city to live in Ireland I would say Galway. Traditional pubs and friendly bar staff, nice streets, friendly buskers and less crackheads about. Also some of the hospitality in some of the places in Dublin is shocking, for example if you walk into a bar in most places they would slam a pint down in front of you and angrily ask for 5.30 or more for something that is more than likely recycled from the slop tray into a barrel. I'm not Dublin bashing here but, just giving my honest opinion.

topper75

Mezzotint wrote: »

...I'd agree with some of the commentary on it being drab and run down. If you have a walk from say Smithfield through to Capel Street, that's entirely accurate. Or, go for a wander around Parnell Street, Dorset Street or something like that...

Crying out for investment/gentrification. Could be wonderful. I'm a Limerick guy and these districts always mystify me when I visit Dublin, considering the sums of money changing hands for sites and buildings not very far away in the more 'reputable' districts. Northside inner city needs some big love and soon.

wakka12

topper75 wrote: »

Crying out for investment/gentrification. Could be wonderful. I'm a Limerick guy and these districts always mystify me when I visit Dublin, considering the sums of money changing hands for sites and buildings not very far away in the more 'reputable' districts. Northside inner city needs some big love and soon.

This is why I find all the recent controversy surrounding the apparent gentrification of Dublin to be way over the top. Considering the wealth that is in Dublin, it is remarkably ungentrified. Injection clinics beside major tourist spots, hundreds of social housing blocks scattered throughout the city even wealthy area, the city main street looking the way it is, huge working class districts of housing just outside the city centre like Crumlin..hardly any luxury or gated communities... Dublin has a very very long way to go before it could ever be considered to be experiencing gentrification on the scale of most western cities. In fact I'd say its one of the least gentrified wealthy cities in the western world

Bobby Baccala

Paddy223 wrote: »

Let's face it the city is a dump. Was only down at Connolly station the last day and my god the state of the place. I only would leave my college campus to go out for a night with friend's to be honest. if I met someone that wanted to know a good city to live in Ireland I would say Galway. Traditional pubs and friendly bar staff, nice streets, friendly buskers and less crackheads about. Also some of the hospitality in some of the places in Dublin is shocking, for example if you walk into a bar in most places they would slam a pint down in front of you and angrily ask for 5.30 or more for something that is more than likely recycled from the slop tray into a barrel. I'm not Dublin bashing here but, just giving my honest opinion.

Ya sound homesick paddy, must be all the pollution getting to your head.

Elmer Blooker

wakka12 wrote: »

A traffic free Dublin is my dream..maybe some day. Would be one of the nicest cities in Europe if it was pedestrian

Dream on. The best the 'experts' can up with is to chop down trees and take away people's front gardens to make the roads wider for even more traffic. An underground for Dublin is not going to happen as long as the car lobby and the NRA is running the country. Has anyone else ever noticed that we can build roads with a ruthless efficiency (funding never a problem) in a country where nothing works but try improving public transport or building a children's hospital and its a different story altogether.
More cars = €€€€€€€€

meeeeh

I don't think gentrification is right description for what is happening in Dublin. It's more commercialization. The individuality is being lost. Whatever one might think of Una Mullally and I often find her annoying her articles about lack of alternative and creative culture are valid.

wakka12

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

Dream on. The best the 'experts' can up with is to chop down trees and take away people's front gardens to make the roads wider for even more traffic. An underground for Dublin is not going to happen as long as the car lobby and the NRA is running the country. Has anyone else ever noticed that we can build roads with a ruthless efficiency (funding never a problem) in a country where nothing works but try improving public transport or building a children's hospital and its a different story altogether.
More cars = €€€€€€€€

Yeh I dont expect to see any pedestrianised cities in Ireland in my lifetime and Im 23. It really just comes down to the culture and the significance of cars in our lives, and less to do with funding or political willpower. It's why none of these are built in Britain either outside London, because the car is valued in their culture too as part of daily life, nothing to do with infrastructure investment theres many other impressive infrastructural projects being funded , so metros could easily be built in those cities too to reduce the car usage.

Ready4Boarding

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

The best the 'experts' can up with is to chop down trees and take away people's front gardens to make the roads wider for even more traffic ... Has anyone else ever noticed that we can build roads with a ruthless efficiency (funding never a problem) in a country where nothing works but try improving public transport or building a children's hospital and its a different story altogether.

BusConnects is a generational attempt at improving the bus network but you ridicule its planners and overstate the significance of CPOs and tree felling. Have you considered that people like you are part of the reason we don’t have the infrastructural improvements you desire? Building a road through a field is a lot less complex than a metro under a city.

meeeeh wrote: »

I don't think gentrification is right description for what is happening in Dublin. It's more commercialization. The individuality is being lost. Whatever one might think of Una Mullally and I often find her annoying her articles about lack of alternative and creative culture are valid.

Where is the widespread commercialisation? What exactly is being lost? Mullally’s most recent eulogy to a dying Dublin was the closing of the Bernard Shaw. But that was like fifteen years old in its final guise, was owned by some pub magnate (making considerable profit from it) and was routinely breaking its license agreement concerning outdoor amplification. She’s preoccupied with the loss of (loosely) cultural spaces, as though cut at the root, never to return. But it has always been this way: the type of gritty place that she celebrates finds its home in underdeveloped parts of the city. When higher rents push them out, they sprout up elsewhere. The centre of Dublin remains strikingly similar to the Dublin of twenty years ago.

It’s conspicuous that Mullally’s default for Dublin is the form it took during her college years. For her, Dublin’e decline began post Crash, not when the ESB demolished the Georgian terrace for its HQ, or when a corner of Stephen’s Green was demolished for the shopping centre, or with the loss of Wood Quay, and so on. Previous losses of heritage are part of Dublin’s history but the Bernard Shaw’s closure points to a terminal decline. It’s shortsighted.