The Dublin Community Blog

If you are up for entertainment that has nothing to do with people dressing up as sl**ty nurses or Dracula this weekend, maybe you should visit this year’s edition of the Darklight Festival.

Welcome to Darklight, Ireland’s premier festival celebrating independent, DIY and artist films. Now in its eleventh year, Darklight 2010 promises to be an exciting weekend of film, animation, art, music and workshops. It began in 1999, as an opportunity for artists and filmmakers to share their work and experiment with new technologies and has emerged as one of the most important art events of the year.

This year, the festival motto is “The Heroes Edition”, as the festival planners asked contributors of the past festivals to invite their personal heroes to come and exhibit & perform at the festival. After the launch tonight, the festival takes place in various venues like IFI, Filmbase or the Grand Social over the next three days.

Congratulations to Moses Kibet who won the mens race in 2.08.58 and Tatiana Aryasova who won the womens race in 2.26.12 both of which were course record times. Paul Hannon was the wheelchair winner in a time of 2:20:38 and of course congratulations to all those who took part in this years race. The results list can be found on the Dublin Marathon site.

Social pub goers may be interested to know that Dublin Tourism are currently running a ‘Pint Pursuit’ competition in order to find the best value pint in the city. Yes, believe it or not, the Tourist Board, no doubt in association with the Vinters Association of Ireland, have set up a ‘drinker’s forum’ if you will, wherein visitors are encouraged to share their intimate knowledge of the urban social scene by posting information on the venue that they feel offers the best alcohol prices in the city. As a reward for their efforts, contributors are then entered into a competition prize draw which would see the winner take home tickets to a special ‘VIP Night Out’ for themselves and 3 of their friends at one of Dublin’s more up market social hubs, The Church Bar & Nightclub on Jervis Street. The prize itself includes a complimentary 4 course Dinner for 4 people at the Gallery Restaurant, followed by a reserved VIP table in The NightClub including champagne, and no doubt, your photo taken for some people’s celebrity magazine.  Essentially, for any of you who are fond of a few scoops, it is practically a win/win situation. Sampling a wide range of alcoholic drinks in fancy bars around the city in order to win a VIP ticket which allows you to sample even more alcoholic drinks in a fancy bar in the city!

As a true sceptic I would be slightly wary of any competition promoted by comedian Daire O’Briain in aid of the publicans of Dublin.  Also, taking into consideration my own nightlife experiences in town, I find it very hard to believe some of the low prices quoted for drinks currently on display on the website. However, if you are planning to go out this weekend, then why not put your frugal knowledge to the test afterwards. If nothing else, the information you provide could prove a useful reference point for all those eager night owls on the lookout for discount drinks prices in the city. To enter the competition, or to merely scout out some deals for the weekend, just log onto http://www.visitdublin.com/competitions/joindublinspintpursuit/listing.aspx?id=360&page=1

Just remember, drink sensibly!

On Saturday I walked through St Stephens Green and it struck me that this is the last Autumn for this part of the Green.

By October next year these trees will have been removed to make room for the new Metro station. Personally in post Celtic Tiger Ireland I don’t see the need for the Metro or how we can afford it both financially and spiritually, The Green is the heart of the city center and no cost benefit analysis can measure that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not someone who could be described as a “tree hugger” or “anti-progress” but I do believe that sometimes you cannot justify destroying something as beautiful as St Stephens Green in the name of progress.

The developers promise to restore the Green to its former condition after the building has finished. I was part of a group that met with the RPA lately and the plans for St Stephens Green were discussed. In fairness to them I believe they do mean well and do intend to preserve as much of the Green as possible. A lot of effort is going into documenting the current layout and structure of the Green so that everything can be put back to the exact spot where it was prior to the construction work but the trees will have to go and there is nothing that can be done about that. New trees will be planted and even semi mature ones could be moved into the Green but no matter how much effort they put into replacing stones and railings it still takes 200 years to fully restore a 200 year old park.

The government is pushing ahead with plans for an elected Mayor for Dublin. The latest step in the process was the publication of the Dublin Mayor Bill today which will form the basis of the new office, a new Deputy Mayor and a restructured Regional Authority. The office will have responsibilities in many areas of Dublin life including development, planning, transport, waste and water management. Whether you agree or disagree with the need for an elected Mayor, it looks likely who ever holds the office will have a huge impact on the city and how it is managed. More information can be downloaded from Mayor4Dublin.ie.

Update: please note it appears the “Mayor4Dublin” website is actually the campaign portal for the Green Party candidate. If you dont want a one party view of the roll you can (currently) download the legislation here instead.

Theatre fans rejoice, the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival returns to the city that continues it’s age old love affair with the stage. Celebrating it’s Fifty Third year in existence, the festival launched just last Tuesday, September 30th, and runs up until the 17th of October, giving theatre goers plenty of time to catch some of the many highly recommended shows on offer. Just as in previous years, there will be an extensive programme of award winning productions to look forward to, featuring some of the finest Irish and International performances in contemporary theatre. In total, the festival will present thirty one shows from ten different countries around the world with the event being celebrated in no less than 22 venues all across the city, as the festival continues it’s geographical reach across the Dublin community.  Including both extravagant, large scale productions as well as some smaller, more intimate events, this year’s festival has something for everyone and is certain to delight both renowned lovers of the theatre and cultural connoisseurs alike. Highlights this year include an in depth look at Polish Cinema, as well as a number of Irish remasterings of classic productons such as Sean O’Casey’s The Silver Tassie, and the highly anticipated Greek tragedy, Phaedra. For more information on the festival programme, log onto www.dublintheatrefestival.com for a more detailed list of events and shows. Highly recommended for anyone interesting in witnessing the special bond between our city and the theatre.