The Dublin Community Blog

As a bit of a musical theatre geek and (relatively) recent returnee to Dublin, I’m delighted to see that there are lots of productions being put together around the city. Most are staged by amateur societies but the quality is generally great.

The Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS) has a handy guide to productions around the country, with many being staged in Dublin. There are three shows on in the city this month, the first of which – Teachers’ Musical Society’s staging of Little Shop Of Horrors – opens tomorrow night in O’Reilly Hall, Belvedere College. Tickets are €20.30 including booking fee and are available from Ticketoffice.

One of my favourite features in Facebook is reading my friends updates. This is especially helpful when you are away on holidays for a few weeks and playing catchup. It was with huge surprise and delight that I came across a Dublinblogger friend update “joined Light House Cinema Smithfield group”.

In the late 80′s/90′s The Light House Cinema resided in Middle Abbey Street, in a plot that is now Arnotts Car Park. It was the only arthouse cinema in Dublin at the time and I had many pleasurable viewings there. Even though the Irish Film Institute (Centre) had opened by the time the Light House Cinema closed in 1996, its closure was a big disappointment.

The Light House Cinema reopens in Smithfield on May 9th next. Welcome back

The Light House Cinema has officially confirmed May 9th as the date for the re-opening of the venue at the new location in Smithfield Square, Dublin. The eagerly awaited re-opening comes following an extended “intermission” – the Light House, in its previous incarnation, closed in Abbey Street in 1996. The Light House Cinema team of Neil Connolly and Maretta Dillon continue to be committed to ambitious and adventurous programming, and the new four-screen cinema will act as a cultural hub for the Smithfield area.

Dublin does not have many Lebanese restaurants and I happen to be a big fan of Lebanese cuisine. To satisfy my cravings for Lebanese food, I recently decided to look for Lebanese restaurants in the city and ended up going to Byblos on St Andrew street. Byblos is situated next to Cedar Tree, which is the oldest Lebanese restaurant in Dublin. The two restaurants seem to be associated with each other. Both restaurants offer fairly extensive dinner menus while Byblos also opens for lunch and specializes in Mezze, which is a collection of appetizers that is great for sharing.

We decided to visit Byblos on a quiet East Monday afternoon to try the lunch menu as it offered a variety of items at fairly reasonable prices. The restaurant was largely empty with only two other tables that were occupied. We immediately noticed that the place was exceptionally clean with a comfortable decor. The two of us were quickly assigned a table and given our menus.

We were quite hungry so we ordered a Shawarma Platter, a Chicken Shawarma, and a Mezze Kibbe. The service was really good but the restaurant wasn’t busy at the time. We didn’t have to wait long before the food arrived. The portions were large and the food was excellent and fresh. We found that the platters were large enough for us and ordering the Mezze wasn’t really necessary. We had a hard time finishing all the food but our gluttony was well satisfied.

If you are in town and want to eat something a bit different give Byblos a try. In case that you are unsure of Lebanese food or the restaurant, I recommend trying the lunch menu at Byblos. It will give you an opportunity to sample the food at reasonable prices.

Dublin GAA will hold a press conference later this morning in the Shelbourne Hotel where the future plans for the Dublin football team will be officially unveiled.Speaking last night a GAA official revealed that the Dublin football team will not take part in the upcoming GAA season but will instead spend the summer in a skills conversion camp outside Barcelona where they will focus on switching codes. The final aim of this conversion camp is for the team to join the English FA leagues at Championship or 2nd division level and gain promotion to the Premiership within 5 years.”Your average GAA player has the skills to make it at the top level in any sport” explained the unnamed official. “They show a level of dedication and pride that has been lacking in English sport for many years now so both ourselves and the English FA believe an injection of fresh blood into the league would be beneficial to the Premiership”. The deal will also benefit the GAA for whom it would provide a welcome income boost and help quell calls for professionalism within the GAA codes. Players who wanted to be paid could be moved to the Dublin team for a season or two.Croke Park would be the home venue for the new team which unfortunately could mean there will be no slots available in the schedule for the Irish national rugby or soccer teams to play games as well as the cancellation of Celine Dion, Prince and Westlife concerts. The new team will be co-sponsored by both Ulster Bank and the Cork Evening Echo newspaper.