The Dublin Community Blog

The Irish Green Party has hit out at the state of the revamped O’Connell Street, our cities main thoroughfare.

Green Party Transport spokesperson Eamon Ryan TD says the €40m redevelopment of O’Connell Street in Dublin has failed to protect the safety of cyclists and pedestrians due to bad planning decisions.

Personally I’ve always thought that O’Connell Bridge was the cyclist equivalent of the Baghdad Airport road, you can travel down it, but theres a strong possibility you’ll wake up in hospital, if you wake up at all. If you wanted to cycle from D’Olier Street to O’Connell Street your life was in the hands of truck drivers who could have driven hundreds of miles that morning and had now been stuck in a traffic jam for the last hour. They can barely see the big vans in front of them, never mind the tiny little cyclists tucked away under their radiator grill. I stopped cycling over it after reading news reports of fatal accidents and instead either walked across wheeling my bike or altered my route to cross the river at one of the, nominally, safer bridges. The new layout makes it even more dangerous due to the funnel effect and lane weaving as traffic enters O’Connell Street.

Though in fairness I do think the street is safer for pedestrians. The footpaths are a lot wider, so long as you realize that in some parts the footpath paving you were walking on is now actually part of the road. Maybe its just my imagination but I do think pedestrian lights are given more priority now so it’s easier to cross, and there is less traffic on the street.

I don’t think it would be possible to put in a cycle lane into the new O’Connell Street, without removing some of the new footpath, which seeing how it would involve digging up and dumping expensive paving is something Dublin City Council might actually do. If you are visiting Dublin and are cycling, stay off O’Connell Street. If you are used to the street and you’ve inhaled enough carbon monoxide to dull your sense of mortality then there is nothing I can say to get you to alter your cycle route.

ESB supplies to a large part of the City Centre have been cut off since about 11:40 today, due to what the ESB emergency line is reporting as a ‘major fault’ in Anglsea St / Suffolk St area.

EDIT

This problem appears to have been resolved since about 13:00 today.

Somewhat ironic given what I wrote about earlier today. Even more ironic given Fingal County Council are in the process of building a massive reservoir at the side of the M50 (now you know what that massive water-tower is, and there’s a reservoir beside it!).

See below press release from today:

Fingal County Council Water Services is today issuing an Urgent Water Conservation Notice to all residents in County for the coming week. Due to significantly increased demand on water supplies we are experiencing severe difficulties in replenishing reservoirs in some parts of the County and will not be able to guarantee supplies. In order to ensure availability of water for use during peak times it will be necessary to immediately introduce a series of direct conservation measures.

These measures will include reduction of water supply during off-peak hours (normally between the hours of 9.00 p.m. and 6.00 am) in the following areas.

Balbriggan
Balrothery
Lusk
Portrane
Skerries
Loughshinney
The Naul
Garristown
Balscadden
Swords
Donabate
Rush
Malahide
Portmarnock
Howth

As a result some customers will experience reduced water pressure with a possible total loss of water supply during these hours in the areas affected.

PLEASE CONSERVE YOUR WATER FOR ESSENTIAL USE ONLY

Don’t water your garden
Don’t use hoses or sprinklers
Don’t wash your car
Don’t leave taps running

Do report any leaks that you see so that we can have our staff on site quickly to repair pipes and therefore save water.

For a full range of conservation advice check out: WWW.TAPTIPS.IE

Again we appeal to people to conserve water and we thank you sincerely for your co-operation and patience at this time and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

If you need any further information please call 01 890 5900 (office hours) or 01 8731415 (outside office hours).

Just happened to be in Brown Thomas on Grafton St earlier today and on display inside the main door is the Ryder Cup. Its difficult to get a decent photo as its in a glass case and there are lots of lights. Theres no indication of how long it will be there.

SO the sun is out, the kids are off school, neighbours are playing their music VERY BLOODY LOUDLY (ahem) and there’s a hint of ‘something’ in the air. Yes, mid-summer sale season is upon us again! (Work with me here.)

Most of the shops are frantically selling off their itsy-bitsy bikinis and summer stock, and getting ready for autumn, or fall for all of our visitors from across the pond, so now is the time to strike.

Of course, much of the stuff on offer is either a size 6 or a 24, or in a lovely shade of orange, but if you can bear rummaging through mountains of clothes, there’s bound to be a gem or two in there.

Last week I had occassion to visit the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Clondalkin in the west of the city with my sister and baby niece and found it a good alternative to shopping in the city centre, particularly with a baby on board.

First off, there is ample parking and it’s free for visitors of the centre (though I don’t recall if there’s a time limit, so maybe check that out when  you get there) which is a welcome change from paying huge prices to park in town. Just as an aside, most people who go to Liffey V tend to park either at the front entrance, or at the cinema entrance, but here’s my little tip, the Mark’s and Spencer entrance (Purple car park) usually has loads of free spaces, just follow the signs.

Liffey Valley is all on one level, except for the food court and one or two shops upstairs, meaning it’s buggy and wheelchair friendly (there’s a lift to the food court) and very easy to get around.

We started out at the far end of the centre, Marks and Spencer (where there’s a secret ATM in the men’s department), and had coffee in the Cafe Revive there which is very tasty and clean, with a plethora of staff on hand to man the till and clear tables; mothers and children are made to feel very welcome.

From there we mosied on down the centre, passing well known shops such as River Island and Principals until we got to the main concourse, which has the escalators to the food hall. Here is where you’ll find the Customer Service Desk, juice bar and where most charity stalls etc (say if someone was selling pins or buttons for cancer, this is where they would be) are set up, meaning everything is contained in this one area, not scattered about the rest of the centre. You can also hire fun car shaped buggies to transport your little ones around, costing just a few euro. (They don’t let adults get in them though, no matter how much you beg, harumph.)

The food court features the usual fast food outlets such as McDonald’s and Burger King but there is also a Bagel Bar, Cafe Kyelmore and baked potato shop, if you happen to be watching your waistline. I wasn’t, so gorged myself on lard. Mmmmm, lard.

We then hit Sasha, A-Wear and various sports shops until we got to a big Dunne’s Stores about three quarters of the way down the centre. There are large ladies and gents loos too in this area, along with pay phones and disabled toilets, as well as baby changing facilities. Any time I’ve visited, the loos been clean and tidy with plenty of paper and soap.

After this it was the home stretch to Eason’s, Boots and the cinema (Vue) where there is also an Eddie Rockets, Pizza Hut and steak house. So if you fancied doing a little shopping, having a meal and then hitting the flicks, this would be the place to do it. Be warned though, all three restaurants beside the cinema are usually very busy so be prepared to queue at peak times.

The cinema itself is large with a good number of screens and offers the usual movie fare, such as popcorn and nachos. Prices are similar to the city centre, though if you’re a large family it might be worth looking into a yearly pass or membership if it’s available.

While shopping in the city centre has its charm and offers a wide variety of shops along with tourist attractions, Liffey Valley is a great alternative on days when you can’t face the hassle of parking, you have the kids with you or you just fancy some retail therapy and the movies without traipsing about for miles, or indeed if you’re a tourist looking to get out of the city for a bit. Dotted throughout the centre are carts and stalls offering everything from new mobile phone covers, to sweets, to gorgeous jewellrey, so you could easily while away a couple of hours. On the day I was there last week, many of the shops were having sales and my little niece got a gorgeous brand-name coat for just 11 euro in Ladybird. Bargain!

To find out more about Liffey Valley including opening hours and directions, bus routes to and from the city centre and special offers vist www.liffeyvalley.ie

Dublin’s Peace March for the people of Lebanon has just commenced on it’s route from the Central Bank on Dame Street, to the Israeli Embassy on Pembrooke Road. A crowd of about 50 people gathered outside the Central Bank, along with quite a few media to highlight their concerns about the current killings of innocent civilians in Lebanon. Some pictures from the event (more in this flickr set):

There are lots of horrific things going on in Lebanon, Finglas has no bus service, The Dart’s are still not airconditioned and you don’t have a ticket for the Qtr finals yet, but if you stick you head in the sand and listen to the song of the summer – Mundy’s July (live) you will suddenly see things in this wonderful city which seem incredibly beautiful. Yes I haven’t hit post Australia depression yet…. I’m sure it’s coming. In the mean time enjoy the upside of Global Warming and if you do have 4 tickets to see Dublin progress to the semi’s – email me.

July please,
I’m on my knees,
The smell of you fresh cut grass,
Your blue sky grins
For all its sins
Look another gorgeous levi ass
July people come and go
It looks like another perfect day
Just to see your
Striptease show
July please try your best to stay
And a mongrel begins to bark
At a wino in the park
and his owner doesn’t care
’cause he really isn’t there………
Oh! ma ma ma, oh! ma ma ma, oh! ma ma ma
My july
July, fizz bombs in my mouth
Babarama everywhere
I can’t lie on my pocket trout
So I sit back in the easy chair
And a woman of middle age
Licks and thumbs another page
Then she brushes off the dirt
From her greayhound
Oh! ma ma ma, oh! ma ma ma, oh! ma ma ma
My july
July, fizz bombs in my mouth
Babarama everywhere
I can’t lie on my pocket trout
So I sit back in the easy chair
And a woman of middle age
Licks and thumbs another page
Then she brushes off the dirt
From her greayhound
And a baby sucks its thumb
To the sound of a steal drum
And fountain water gush
Through the thick bull rush (everybody)

Well, we’ve had a few nice sunny, warm days here in Dublin, some would say that summer has arrived, but, apparently it’s far more than that, officially, according to Met Eireann, we have “absolute drought”. Hard to believe that, but, apparently, absolute drought occurs when you have 15 consecutive days where less than 0.1mm of rainfall is recorded. The absolute drought was recorded at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, but, Dublin Airport was not far behind at all. Proving that last summer was just pants, there has been only 13% of the total July rainfall that occured last year in the month to date. On top of that, we’ve only had 22% of the average July rainfall over the past 50 years.

But, a reminder, whilst out enjoying all this hot, sunny weather, please remember to conserve water, and don’t be wasteful. Water tables are starting to run low, just as consumption is taking a spike due to the hot weather. If this current trend continues (though, I’d imagine rain is not far away), it won’t be long until water shortages start to affect us all.

The company I work for took us out to the races last Wednesday night in. I’d never been to the horse races before and I only ever bet on the Grand National which I never win. Despite that it was a fun night.

First of all, despite the company paying I should tell you how much it costs. Basic entry is eur 14. Entry with the BBQ, a pint of Miller and a eur 2 tote bet costs eur 27. That was the one we had. There is a super package which cost eur 55 I think. That got ticket holders access to a special bar and someone to advise them on the bets.

I liked the BBQ, but I imagine vegetarians would have gone away a little hungry. It doesn’t help to have a thirst on you either, as there were long queues at many of the beer stands. We had beer vouchers and they were only taken at certain stands.

The races them selves run every half hour. There were free copies of the Evening Herald being handed out on the way into the race course so these allowed us to pick horses based on jockey name recognition and owners. It didn’t help but I only bet eur 5 a race and one of my picks placed in one race so I only lost around 10 euros, not bad when you factor in the free entry and free beer from the company. There are loads of betting stands, naturally it’s much easier to bet than it is to buy beer or get food. Some of the TOTE betting stands even had computer terminals to automate the betting so you can bet without displaying your complete lack of knowledge.

The races ended at 9pm and we took the LUAS home, the terminus is about a 20 minute walk away which is very handy. For those who did not want to leave there was a band playing music on a stage and the bars stayed open.

All in all its a fun group evening, especially if everyone knows nothing about races and the challenge is to try to be the member of your group who picks a winner.

Following on from RedMum’s post below about things to do at lunchtime, here’s a reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday, at 13:00, there will be a protest march to the Israeli Embassy on Pembrooke Road in order to highlight the killing and injuring of so many innocent Lebanese people in the current incursion into Lebanon.

More details of this can be found over on MacDara’s Blog. Hopefully we will be able to cover the happenings from the ground and get pictures and stories up here ASAP tomorrow.