The Dublin Community Blog

A conference on Cluster Munitions has been taking place in Croke Park since May 19th, hosted by the Irish Government. Last night, the conference members finalised a draft convention to ban the use of cluster munitions.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Michéal Martin, T.D., has warmly welcomed the successful conclusion of the negotiations on the treaty to ban cluster munitions. The Minister said “this is a very strong and ambitious text which nevertheless was able to win consensus among all delegations. It is a real contribution to international humanitarian law. I am proud that Ireland has been able to play a central part in its adoption. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ambassador Daithi Ó Ceallaigh, President of the Conference and his team for all their work”

The treaty, which will be formally adopted on Friday, imposes a comprehensive ban on cluster bombs and will offer significant assistance to victims and for clearance of affected areas. The Diplomatic Conference, from 19-30 May, has been attended by about 900 delegates from 111 Participating States, 18 observer States and a large number of NGOs and representatives of international organisations.

Great progress, but a shame that the United States and China haven’t participated.

Further information here:
Dept of Foreign Affairs
Stop Cluster Munitions site

As someone who loves to eat new things, what is better than making it a regular event! So we got together a motley (mostly Dublin Blog) crew and trotted on down to Town Bar & Grill last night for our first night out. Firstly – there were a few ground rules: You have to pick from the early bird/pre theatre and you must only order wine from the house selection.

Righteo – starting from the start, our table for 8 was set on a table fit for 6. Which was a bit annoying as they have all the bells and whistles on the table, which leaves little room for anything else. The anything else came along as a selection of delicious breads with some fabulous olive oil for dipping. Moving onto the menu – we had to ask for the pre-theatre menu as only the a la carte was on the table when we arrived. Service was prompt, nothing too exciting, a bit lifeless at times. Everything came in good time and it was hot and fresh tasting. Even though we had been told at the time of booking that we needed the table back for 8, they left us sipping the rest of our wine until nearly 9pm.

I had the chowder with smoked haddock. It had plenty of fish, but I like my chowder a little thicker. But that is my personal preference. For some reason Foie Gras appeared on the antipasti plate. It was delicious, but it seemed a little out of place. For mains I had the risotto, which had quite an intense flavour, I would have liked something sharp to cut through the dense taste. The other mains at the table seemed nice. I managed to get my fork into them all. Colin’s chicken was just a tad overcooked, and I’m just not a fan of polenta. But they did it justice and made it palatable. Desserts were tasty & simple. The house wines came in at €22.50 a bottle (two white and two reds) and they were both decent wines.

Now to the bill! Just as Colin was totting up what each of us owed, he realised that there was a major discrepancy between the items on the bill and the final total. We brought it to the attention of one of the waiters, who took it from Colin and walked away muttering. He came back – muttering some bizarre explanation and gave us the new bill.

SO! My two cents: It was a pleasant dinner, but if I had paid any more than €29.50 for the food I think I would have most definitely felt short changed. I would give it a 3/5 for food, 3/5 service, 2/5 ambiance and 3/5 for value. Giving it a grand total of 11 out of a possible 20. I don’t think I’ll be back in the near future!

I’m really looking forward to the next outing!

P.S. Santa in Holland comes on the 5th of December!!!