The Dublin Community Blog

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Enjoyed meeting up with around 25 or 30 eager amateur photographers on Saturday at the Dublin Flickr event. We gathered at the spire on O’Connell Street and then headed out from there to shoot the city. These people take their photography – and their cameras – pretty seriously. And there I was, with my pocket-size Canon PowerShot, surrounded by these impressive kazillion megapixel cameras with monster lenses. I was way out of my league. There was no need to feel intimidated, however, and everyone was eager to answer my questions about such things as what to look for in a good camera, what brands they prefer, etc. The passion and pure enjoyment of photography, whether as a hobby or an art form, was contagious. And of course, the pictures themselves turned out brilliantly. Be sure to check ‘em out at the “meet Dublin� Flickr pool.

Something that struck me as we walked through Dublin was the number of people out to protest or demonstrate about a variety of issues. There was a demonstration right there on O’Connell against “Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.� (Is it really that simple?!) There was also protesting against abortion, racism in the Irish government, and the fur trade. (The fur trade folks are there on Grafton pretty regularly throughout the year.) There was even some guy holding a sign with something about an Anglo-Freemasons conspiracy.

So, if you were in Dublin city centre on Saturday, whether as a demonstrator, a tourist, or simply to shop, you may very well have been caught on camera!

Ok, so, we all like freebies. And if you’re a college student, you kinda expect freebies, right?! Well, if you’re a third level student in Dublin (or, anywhere else in the country for that matter!) and fancy some freebies, along the lines of a blog, hosting and a domain name, then this Digiweb offer may be of interest to you. Yup, a free blog, domain and hosting of same, you heard it right!! Only catch is the offer applies to 3rd level students, postgrads, teaching or research staff, and lecturers only! That’s not so bad!

HT: Dublin.net

The influx of beggars and homeless people on the streets of Dublin has, I’m sure, not gone unnoticed by anyone. And they come in all shapes and sizes: wearing the latest Nike shoes or just an old sleeping bag, sleeping, mumbling or flat out hassling. Anything goes today.

On my most recent visit to the ATM, I was approached by its new squatter. Nothing strange there you’d say. True, but this gentleman was actually ON THE PHONE while trying to convince me to part with my change.

to his friend: hold on a sec
to me: can ya help us out loooove?
me (being quite flabbergasted I must admit): ehh I don’t think so pal
to himself: feckin foreigners

FYI: I’m pretty sure his phone was a lot more expensive than mine is….

Following yesterdays post about traffic congestion in Dublin I thought this article from ITV yesterday was interesting. Teams of researchers in cities around the world timed how long it took 35 men and women to walk 60 feet on a footpath.

The results place Dublin in the top 5 with an average time of 11.03 seconds.  Singapore takes the top spot with super fast 10.55 seconds. Couples in Paris can stroll arm in arm at a romantic 12.65 seconds, while those who like the quiet life should consider a move to Blantyre in Malawi where they can enjoy a laid back 31.60 seconds which I believe is only slightly faster that the M50.

Thankfully, I rarely have to endure Dublin traffic nowadays, and in fact, as I’m shooting up the motorway in the opposite direction to all the commuters, I regularly take (guilty) pleasure in listening to the traffic reports on the radio. But I would love to know what the deal is with the past two days. By all accounts it’s been completely manic out there, and I’m just wondering if any ideas what has led to traffic being so crazy around the city this week?

Interesting little note in a story on RTE.ie today. Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy today said that “deployable observation cameras are now being piloted in Dublin city centre to tackle drug dealing, anti-social behaviour and other activities”.

I guess some people wont like the idea of police cameras  around the city but personally I dont have any problems with them. It seems like every building in Dublin has at least one private camera on it so why not some police ones?