The Dublin Community Blog

On Saturdays, I go to the Temple Bar food market and usually stock up on my salsa and chat with the guy who sells it. As I have posted before, he makes the best Mexican that I have tasted in Dublin. This week, I went and got some fantastic black bean soup and a fajita and noticed that they are doing a cookery class! Well, three in fact.

The classes are in the evening in either the Cup N Coin Cafe in Blackrock on the 3rd, 10th, 17th of October or the Tree House Cafe in Clonskeagh on the 4th, 11th, 18th October. The first week the menu is “La Fiesta.” The second week the menu is “La Tamalada” and the third is “La Vercruzana.” Each week the participants make 2 starters, 2 mains, dessert and drinks. Each class costs 60 Euro or 160 for all three.

If you are intersted, you can email Theresa at meromerocafe@hotmail.com. I am certainly planning on attending at least one of the classes since they should be good fun and certainly will have great food!

I’ve just read with disgust that protestors from Monaghan, aggrieved (admittedly genuinely) with the downgrading of the emergency status of the hospital recently, are planning on taking their protest from their locality in Monaghan, to cause traffic and transport chaos along the M50 in Dublin.

They are operating under the belief that the seat of power for the country is in Dublin, and until they start to hurt the people of Dublin, that their local issues will not be listened to or addressed.

Now, I for one have serious issues with this. Whilst I have no issues with people expressing their grievances with various powers of authority on any occasion, such are the joys and benefits of democracy, I have a serious issue with people purposely setting out to cause misery and suffering to innocent bystanders who, in this case, already have a miserable time trying to negotiate their way through Dublin traffic to start with!!

What makes this all the more galling, is the fact that The Monaghan Community Hospital Alliance (MCHA) chairman, Peadar Mc Mahon, recognises the fact that he will cause innocent bystanders to suffer “People have died as a result of the downgrading of Monaghan Hospital. We are prepared to go to any lengths to remove that anxiety,”

If you wish to voice your anger, support or otherwise with this cause, please feel free to comment here, participate in our poll (see right) or, contact the Monaghan Hospital Alliance direct, contact details are:

County Monaghan Alliance
C/O Peadar McMahon
Mullan Road,
Emyvale,
Co. Monaghan.
Tel: 086-8156816
email: peadar@emyvale.net

Ranelagh Arts Festival takes place this weekend and features street performances, art exhibitions and plenty of music. On Sun Oct 1st, Helen Dillon will be opening her famously beautiful garden at 45 Sandford Road to the public for free. I have visited this garden in the past and it is stunning. An oasis amongst the hustle and bustle of Ranelagh.

A full programme of events can be found on the Ranelagh Arts Festival website.

You can get there by hopping on one of these buses or by taking the Luas.

Unfortunately I won’t be around this weekend but if you are, please take some photos and submit to our photoblog.

There is another exhibition of art for sale around Stephens Green, today (September 29), Sep 30 and October 1st.

I spotted the colours and lines on these paintings from across the road as well as the shadows of the leaves fn the overhead tree on the work. So off I went camera in hand and took some snaps when I met the artist himself and another lovely woman who was exhibiting next to him. If you pass them by tell them you saw them here.

 Artisit Dan McCarthy with his work

Sheila Hanley with her work

Seeing as how the last time I didn’t have time to take many pics I decided to try and capture the atmosphere until a very rude and aggressive artist practically jumped at me telling me that I could not take pictures of artist’s original work. I didn’t have the heart to say that I actually wasn’t, that actually I was taking pictures of people looking at the work. As a result particularly following my earlier lovely encounter of friendly banter with Sheila and Dan I have decided to omit the pictures I took which included his work.

I don’t believe he is strictly correct either, the paintings are being publically exhibited on a footpath. I wasn’t taking close-ups of his work to reproduce them so I do not see what the problem was other than I wasn’t buying!
How and ever do not let one eejiit put you off. Check out the art, there is some amazing paintings and drop by Sheila and Dan and say hello. They are located on the opposite side of the green to the shopping centre (the Upper Baggot Street side)
 

According to their information the Peoples’ Art is a voluntary non-profit making charitable association which holds three outdoor exhibitions a year with funding from Dublin City Council and the Office of Public Works.

I have thought about posting a series of posts on how to move to Ireland from another country for a while. I am starting this series because it is fresh in my mind because I have a new coworker from another country. Also, if there are any recruiters who work with international moves reading this, PLEASE give this information to your clients. My and my coworkers’ recruiters fell very short in facilitating our international moves.

Anyway, here are few things that you should consider at BEFORE you move. They are not in any particular order.

1. What type of work visa/authorization/permit do you need? Do you need one? The Oasis website is an informational site set up by the Irish government and has information on different types of work permits.

2. Cost of living. Everyone that I know who has moved to Dublin is surprised at the cost of living. Dublin is expensive! I pay an average of 5 Euro for a pint of beer/cider and 10-15 Euro for a main (entree) at a restaurant. I also pay about 400 Euro a month for groceries for two people.

3. Cost of housing. I know that this is part of cost of living but I think that it warrants its own point. Prices of accomodation varies greatly throughout the city depending on where you are and the size/type of accomodation you rent. Daft is a good website to give you an idea of how much renting costs and you can search by area of city and price. The other part of housing: you may need a written reference. Usually when you are new the country the agency/landlord will accept a letter from your employer saying that you are employed. It would be helpful to have a letter from your current landlord saying how long you have been in your accomodation and that you pay rent on time. Not all landlords require this.

4. Banking. Getting a bank account is a pain in the arse in Ireland. It is helpful if you have bank statements from your current bank. You will get a debit (Laser) card faster this way. Having bank statements doesn’t affect your ability to get an account but they are happier if you have that information. I will talk more about the process of getting a bank account in the “when you get here” post.

5. Cost of move. Investigate transport costs (e.g. plane, train, ferry). What are the weight restrictions for your travel method? Do they allow excess baggage and if so how much does it cost? Shipping tends to be quite expensive so investigate these costs also if you are going to have boxes shipped over. Also consider the cost of the work permit/authorization/visa as well as 100 Euro for your garda card. You need the garda card to reside legally in the country if you are a non-EU citizen (not sure about EU citizens).

6. Find a job. It is helpful if you have a job before moving over because there are some work permits that you are not allowed to get while in Ireland. People that I know have had the most success with Irish Jobs. Monster is alright and Loadzajobs is also pretty good.

That is all that I can think of right now. Oh, the international move can be quite overwhelming and expensive.

Ok, so, 80% of you didn’t support the taxi drivers in their strike, with a further 12% not having much of an opinion on the matter (hello to our foreign visitors I guess) and 6% of you supported them (hello to our taxi driving visitors!!), so, now that that story has run it’s course, I guess it’s time for a new poll.

What do you think of our latest bit of street art…the Grafton Street Bear

Does he have a name? Should we start a campaign to give him a name? What do you suggest we call him if he doesn’t have a name? Is he even a he? Thought’s please….

The Dublin Theatre Festival takes place in venues around Dublin from Sept 28th to Oct 14th. There are many highlights, some which include:

* The Exonerated staring Aidan Quinn at Liberty Hall Theatre.

* An Evening of Leonard Cohen Songs at the Point Depot featuring interpretations of Cohens music by Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker (from Pulp), Gavin Friday, Beth Orton, Lou Reed and many more.

* The Abbey features a staging of the Druid production, Empress of India, directed by Garry Hynes, written by Stuart Carolan and starring Sean McGinley.

Tickets can be purchased via their website.

I hope to get along to a few productions. The programme this year is very exciting. I hope the festival continues to be a success.

There are reports coming through of a major bank raid in Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock. Reports are very sketchy at the moment, but some reports say that there was a kidnap plot involved in this. More on the story as it happens.

UPDATE 13:40RTE are reporting that the bank manager of the TSB Bank in Northside was held hostage, along with her husband and two children in their home in Clogherhead, Co. Louth at around 20:00 last night, and held overnight. The manger was then brought to the bank this morning, where the gang have made off with up to EUR 1 million.

The managers family were found “somewhere in North Country Dublin” at around 10:30 this morning.

Cuala G.A.A. Club is having a Family Fun Day in Dalkey, this Sunday (24 September) from 1pm – 6 pm. The event is being held in the Cuala training grounds on Hyde Park Road in Dalkey.

As it says on the tin, there will be loads of fun for families – little kids, big kids, and really big kids. Face painting, games, slides, a book sale, a barbecue and a bake sale are just some of the activities on offer.

Cuala has 43 juvenile teams and 7 adult teams. They also run a Saturday morning academy for children aged 5 to 8, which currently has about 260 enthusiastic participants. The goal of Cuala is to promote Gaelic games in a friendly and enjoyable atmosphere.

If you’re around on Sunday and you’re sick of the golf, consider stopping in to support the club. Click here for a map showing the approximate location of the club. You can also visit Cuala’s website.

The M50 southbound at the Firhouse junction is currently closed, apparently due to a person threathning to jump from the bridge. This will further add to the traffic woes around Dublin during this evenings commute, with the area around Dawson St also being closed due to a security incident. More on this as it happens also.

UPDATE: 16:35

According to this update the M50 has now re-opened also.