The Dublin Community Blog

Rob Williams sends his greetings to the readers of Dublin Blog from the Street Performance World Championship in Merrion Square:

(For more video interviews with Rob and other performers in this year’s SPWC, CLICK HERE.)

Also, be sure to keep visiting the Dublin Blog Flickr group for pictures. I saw Dec there today with his massive camera, so we should see some nice pics going up soon! =) Tomorrow’s the last day of this year’s event, so get there while you still can!

Might be worth a look if you’re looking for something to do this weekend! Weather forecasts are looking good, and I’d love to have a poke around some of the tall ships along with the Le Aoife.

http://www.dublindocklands.ie/maritimefestival/

There’s an outdoor market, along with some street entertainment. Pat Liddy will be holding walking tours of the Docklands area over the weekend.

A really interesting combination of competition, event and exhibition for all photographers and photo aficionadas has started in April at the No. 3 venue on Fade Street:

On Monday nights from 7.30 -11.30pm, No. 3 hosts SHOOT-OUT, an evening of cutting-edge music and photography. Each night, the work of 5 photographers is showcased on flat screen TVs and projector screens. Throughout the night, patrons are given voting cards and invited to choose their favourite image. The photographer behind the winning image joins 9 other winning photographers over three months to compete for the grand prize. The final is co-adjudicated by public vote and a panel of experts.

I attended yesterday’s  showcase and was really impressed by the quality of the works on display – not to mention that it was quite difficult to pick one “winner” out of the evening’s 50 pictures.  You can view all participating photographers and their works here. If you are interested in participating yourself, you’ll find the application form on the website of the Shootout Crew. A very neat idea indeed.

ANYONE with an interest in photography will be interested in this post, its something I am late coming too but I figure better late than never. Every now and again a gang of us have photomeets which are not only a great way to meet people and take photographs but they are also a great way to discover new techniques, tips and just have fun with photographs.

Last weekend Phil from Iced Coffee organised a photomeet in Dublin so we all met at the Spire before heading up to Dublin Castle via the boardwalk and Temple Bar. Course a visit to Temple Bar on a Saturday involves a visit to the Food Fair in Meeting Town Square, which inevitably involves everyone getting something to eat before heading onwards.

From Temple Bar we mosied up to Dublin Castle, then Christchurch and then finishing a couple of hours later in the pub. All in all I cannot think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon and the fact that despite the weather reports, the sun shone perfect for a day hanging about the city.

So now that the days are longer, brighter and sometimes warmer even, there will be more photomeets and I’ll be sure to let you know about them here when they are organised. In the meantime here’s some of the pics I took during the day and you can check out everyone else’s on Pixie.

THANKS to Pixie a gang of us had great viewing spots on the parade route yesterday, needless to say such a vantage point meant I took about 1,000 pics which will take me a good few days to sort through. In the meantime here’s a taster of some the pics, with more being uploaded to the St Patrick’s Festival group on Pixie as as when I finish them.

Hope you all had a great day, it was absolute bedlam in Dublin, crazy, I have never seen so many people hanging about the streets after a parade, mostly due to the wonderful weather I suppose. Anyway it is my intention to write more about the parade when I get a chance but for now here’s some images from the day.

YESTERDAY a small gang of us went with my two and a half year old Goddaughter to the Denny Big Day Out at Merrion Square organised as part of the St Patrick’s Festival.

The whole way to Merrion Square all the little one could talk about was the big wheel so that was the first thing we did and the fearless little dote wasn’t in the slightest bit afraid, not at all, in fact she absolutely loved it. Once we were done we set off among the crowd to see what we could find. Unfortunately it wasn’t really ideal for a child of her age (it was more geared towards kids that bit older) but she did really enjoy some of the music and made us stay to hear it all. We finished off the afternoon in the sand pit, as you do.

Next up in my St Patrick’s Festival calender is the parade tomorrow (from a special viewing platform no less thanks to Pixie), I’ll be uploading my photographs to Pix as will loads of other people, so do check out the St Patrick’s Festival group pool and do check back here as, I said in the previous post, other Dublin Blog members always post their images here too.

Going to bend the rules here slightly, but, it’s St Patrick’s Day (in Oz already!) so that’s my excuse, and I’ll mention Dublin somewhere, promise!!

Attended the Paddy’s Day Parade here in Brisbane at the weekend, along with the younger brother and best mate. I was actually surprised by just how many people turned out (there were estimates of 30,000, which knocks the socks off London’s 10,000) and how good everything was. It was a nice balmy autumns day, temp hovering around the late 20′s and the sun shining and everyone out in shorts, not quite your typical Paddy’s day!!

There was a good mix of Aussie’s, Paddy’s and just about every other nation in the world around town to watch the parade too! St Patrick himself even turned up for the occasion, and in true Aussie style, traveled on the back of a ‘Ute’

But, just to remind us that we are Irish, and to ensure that we don’t miss home too much, about 10 minutes into the parade, the sky opened and the rain began! Now, being Irish we’re well used to rain, however, rain in Queensland is slightly different (warmer and a hell of a lot heavier) than anything we’re used to back in Ireland.

However, the bands marched on, and everyone continued to have a fantastic time. More photos below and at this link. Hope everyone, no matter what part of the world that they are in today has a fantastic day.

WELL the funfairs up in Merrion Square and all sorts of events are happening around Dublin as part of the annual St Patrick’s Festival 2009. We were one of the first to get on the ferris wheel and the views over the city at night were fantastic.

There are loads and loads of things happening, culminating in Tuesday’s St Patrick’s Day parade. I’m going to be there in a special viewing area on O’Connell Street where I’m hoping I can get some great shots of the parade without the back of someone’s head, all thanks to Pixie who have managed to secure all sorts of fantastic passes for people to cover the parade. I will upload some pics here for those of you who will miss out n the day. Also keep an eye on the Pixie festival pool of pics for a flavour of the festival. And why not upload your pics of everything too.

So if you are in Dublin over the next couple of days you’ll find something for everyone. Check out the different events on the St Patrick’s Festival website. And keep checking back here as I am sure the Dublin Blog team will be out in force over the festival. Have fun and remember its St Patrick’s/Patrick’s/Paddy’s Day NOT Patty

While I am sure there are many drivers who will think this an awful plan, it seems to me appropriate that Dublin City Council is looking to ban all cars from College Green thereby making the city centre accessible only to public transport. The plans which you can read about in today’s Irish Times involve banning cars from entering Dame Street through College Green and will feature a public-transport only gate at Trinity College.

The plan is to allow preliminary work on the Metro North rail line to Dublin Airport. When the ban on  cars came into O’Connell Street I welcomed it and often wondered why it wasn’t extended so I think it is great that the Council is looking to do this.The plan is to be implemented from autumn and a three-week consultation process will begin next month.

What do you think, good move/bad move?