The Dublin Community Blog

The good people of Dublin hit the streets of Dublin in their thousands over the weekend to check out the Street Performance World Championships. We made it along but not quite in time to participate in the world record attempt. From what I read on Twitter it seems like too many people hopped along! Congratulations to all who particpated in this wonky bit of history!

Congratulations too to the staff and volunteers at SPWC for organising another great free festival. We managed to catch JP Koala, Dr. Kaboom and Thom Sellectomy. We couldn’t get next or near last year’s winners, USA Breakdancers, but had we managed to catch them we would have missed our favourite this year, Dr. Kaboom so all’s well. Like last year the Festijeux were a big hit with three generations of our family and I eventually had to drag my father away!

If you haven’t already made plans for next weekend I would advise you to get yourself into Merrion Square, the earlier the better. Last year myself and my family had a great day out at the Street Performance World Championships in Dublin. It was so good on the Saturday that we went back for more on the Sunday. This event happens over 2 weekends – the first took place yesterday and Saturday in Fitzgerald park in Cork and from the tweets seemed to have been a big hit, regardless of the weather.While it was very busy last year, particularly on the Sunday, we were nearly always able to get a good view and we didn’t feel crowded.

Apart from the contiortionists, sword swallowers, breakdancers and acrobats SPWC are organising a world record attempt which we can all participate in on the Sunday. If you would like to break the world record for the number of people bouncing on space hoppers at the same time, your dream can become a reality on Sunday at 2pm. You just have to register by emailing worldrecord@spwc.ie.

The competition kicks off at 12pm on Saturday and the last performances are scheduled to take place at 6.30pm on Sunday. While most of the performers don’t take the competition too seriously, you can vote for your favourite act throughout the weekend. Make sure to bring along plenty of fivers or change to pay the performers. They do not get a penny except what they can persuade you to part with after their performance. Some of them are very persuasive!

The SPWC website includes maps (don’t worry about not being able to print it – they have plenty available at the event), timetables and lots of info about the competing acts. A favourite with the kids last year were the wooden games so we’ll see you there and challenge you to best us!

This Friday (i.e. the day after tomorrow!) the Hyperbolic Crochet Reef, which has been on display in the Science Gallery in Trinity College Dublin since March, will be packed away to continue its world tour elsewhere. I have yet to see this exhibition myself – the timing was a bit off for me with all that has been going on but I am heading to the gallery on Friday to catch a tour of the reef. I’m sorry to be leaving my trip to see this fascinating marriage of science and craft so late, being a bit of a hooker myself. I even rustled up a few pieces of coral myself which are still languishing at the bottom of my crochet box: as I said there’s been a lot of changes recently!

Photo owned by superfem (cc)

What in the heck is hyperbolic crochet I hear you ask? Well you can read Karlin Lillington’s excellent column from last week’s Irish Times to get an idea of this amazing process of modelling 3 dimensional geometry which was first developed by Latvian Dr Daina Taimina. Taimina was in the Science Gallery during the week to talk about her work. This was one of many events organised by the Gallery throughout the coral’s visit to Dublin.

You can also watch this brilliant TED talk given by Margaret Wertheim who, with her sister Christine, has used this modelling method to raise awareness of the dangers to the world’s coral reefs.

Some of my co-bloggers here on Dublinblog.ie have written a post or two about the Science Gallery and really it’s a gem. If you are visiting Dublin, planning a trip to the Gallery via the grounds of Trinity is well worth it. It’s easily accessed from a number of bus routes or you can alight at Pearse Dart Station and the Science Gallery is just around the corner. There’s a full calendar of events with something to suit all types, from ubernerds to schoolkids.

While I don’t think my children’s patience will stretch to it on Friday, I’m delighted to see that the Science Gallery’s Friday Tapas are back as I heard a number of favourable comments. Some day I’ll make it

A quickie for you all. I just received an email from DublinWaste.ie with good news. Until now this freecycle service has been confined to Dublin supported by the four city councils. They are now going national and rebranding as as FreeTradeIreland.ie and letting current users know that they are porting their user database to this new site. This is good news and will expand the possibilities of finding the perfect second hand items on the site. I look forward to hearing more about the new service and indeed using it!

I took myself and my three children along to the RHA Gallagher Gallery on Ely Place (map) to check out their annual exhibition. It runs until 31st July and I would recommend that you get yourself along to it. It’s a hop, skip and a jump from Stephen’s Green so we combined our visit with a picnic in the park. (This was originally supposed to be a playground post but the playground in Stephen’s Green is closed for refurbishment but looks like it will be ace!)

To be honest my visit to the exhibition was kind of a duty: my brother, Blaise Smith, and brother-in-law, John O’Reilly, both have paintings on display. The painting right is by  the brother in law.

That’s the thing about the RHA Annnual exhibition: if you know any Irish artists chances are you will see some of their work exhibited here. It’s a great opportunity to see the work of up-and-coming or established artists. I am the farthest thing from an art critic. I look at the paintings and think about what they make me think about. I like this or that because the colours appeal to me or it evokes memories or reminds me of a person, place or thing. Some paintings I enjoy because they make me smile or conjure up other emotions. I have a very rudimentary art history education so I won’t even attempt to review the exhibition in those terms but as a way to spend an afternoon in Dublin you could do a lot worse. You are bound to see something that will make you melt inside, raise your hackles or that will feature in your dreams or nightmares. All types of materials are used and while painting features heavily there are also prints, photography, sculpture, architecture and even one brooch featured! The refurbished gallery is a beautiful exhibition space (it’s probably been refurbished for ages but y’know I don’t get out much!) It was a fine way to spend the afternoon with two lively under 7s and there was no difficulty getting the buggy around and up and down.

My husband was very glad when I told him I didn’t get a catalogue and buy any paintings but if you are looking to invest in some work this is a great place to pick up some iconic Irish art as many of the items are for sale. I hadn’t planned to write a blog post about the exhibition so while I know which items would be my top five I can’t remember all the details. I do plan to go back so I might take notes next time!

180th Annual Exhibition, Opening hours:
The RHA Gallery will revert to opening ALL Exhibition AREAS, 7 days a week, for the 180th Annual Exhibition, from 24 May – 30 July.
Monday & Tuesday 11 – 5pm
Wednesday – Saturday 11 – 7pm
Sunday 2 – 5pm

As a mammy-ish aside I also note that the RHA run children’s workshops throughout the year. My older son was very interested in the exhibition so I’m off to book him into the workshop that focuses on the exhibtion.

It’s been a shocking long while since I’ve posted here or anywhere else for that matter. However I have a very good excuse – I’ve been busy increasing the population of Dublin!

Since I started contributing to Dublinblog.ie I have been meaning to write reviews of playgrounds. (Picture, left, is the playground in Marlay Park, which I will review in the future.) As a parent this is the kind of information I would love about a city I’m living in or visiting. There’s nothing like a playground to retrieve some of your sanity when you’re hanging out with kids. You can sit down with a book or a coffee and they can vent their energy. However it can all go wrong if you rock up and all the equipment looks perilous for your little darling. I am also always interested to hear about developments in parks in the city because, recession or no, there has been some interesting developments in Dublin parks recently. No doubt they were planned and paid for before things began to slide. Swings and roundabouts eh? (Expect much more playground wordplay ) Also, as your kids grow, certain playgrounds lose favour or playgrounds that were once too challenging are now just challenging enough. I’ll also try and include some essential info for parents (proximity of hot beverages, picnic tables, benches etc.; y’know essential!) Please, as always, share your thoughts or comments because I may not notice what you might notice about a playground.

The only possible problem with the series is that I’m a southsider and with 3 small children it will definitely be the summer before I make it to any northside playgrounds, if I make it at all. If you are based on the northside and have children and would like to contribute please leave a comment below and we’ll get in touch. Also I refer to my children as Nipper 1.0 (Boy, 6ish, kind of cautious), Nipper 2.0 (Boy, 3ish, bonkers) and Nipper 3.0 (Girl, Shiny, shiny, new, new!)

With no further ado I’m going to kick off with Rathfarnham Castle Playground. (Map) This was discovered by Nipper 1.0 when he and his classmates were brought here by his school. He was mad keen to revisit so we have been back a couple of times since then. The playground here seems to be very new and unlike many in Dublin does not use bark chip as a weed suppressant/ falling child catcher. The ground directly under the various equipment is covered with a soft rubbery, faux tarmacadam and elsewhere a bright hard tarmacadam like composite. I understand the attraction of bark chip but it gets very messy when wet and while it hasn’t rained for a good while in Dublin this is not the norm. But more about bark chip when we get to it!

When we were at Rathfarnham castle today it was quiet enough. Last time we were there during the Easter Holidays and it was busier. What I like about this playground as a parent is that while it is sizable enough so that you are not sitting on top of the other families that are there, it is still small and flat enough to see from one side to the other, thus allowing you to keep an eye on the kids without shifting from your seat. Also the fact that it is big enough means that the equipment isn’t packed together so it is easy to see around it. I forgot to take photos today but future posts will include more. (And if i’m back in the meantime I’ll add photos. Obviously I have to be careful not to include other people’s kids so it can be a little challenging if the playground is busy!)

There are about 5 main pieces of equipment and then a variety of swings and, for want of a better word, twirlers. The five items include a spiderweb style rope climbing frame that rises in a pyramidal shape to about 15ft. This is quite a challenging item although Nipper 1.0 told me today that a girl in his class climbed to the top and got in trouble when they were there with the school. He wouldn’t dream of doing this but I would say it’s only a matter of time before Nipper 2.0 is shouting at us all from up there. There is a piece of equipment that involves stepping stones on springs, balancing and reaching, which would be suited to older children. There is set aimed at toddlers and ambitious wobblers with bridges, platforms, steps and slides all placed at a lowish level. Finally there is a large castle with rock-climbing style walls, slides, steps and various games, tables, windows, a portcullis (non-operational boo hiss) and the ground also includes blue fauxmacadam in the shape of a moat. It is attached by a rope bridge to the spiderweb rope frame. The castle appeals to both the nippers and because it is accessed by steps and has wide bridges and large platforms it is very easy for parents with toddlers to use it as well. As mentioned there are a variety of swings including a large disk into which a number of children (or adults, I daresay!) can fit. Also I recommend you give the twirlers at the gate a go. You hold what is for all the world like a steering wheel that is nearly parallel to the ground but about 6ft up and place your feet on a disk that is also skewed off the horizontal and the next thing you are spinning. The pic right are the nippers twirling on the bottom part. A lot of the playgrounds have variations on these clever twirlers and they can be great fun until somebody pukes!

There are also quite a few simple but not uncomfortable red benches and enough bins. I think it’s a pity that the benches aren’t two sided so you can face either way and so capacity is increased. I also noticed that there isn’t a bin beside the gate into the playground which is always handy so you can dump your rubbish as you leave. You might laugh about me commenting about the bins but this can be an issue in some parks. There are no picnic benches i.e. benches with tables, which is a pity but this is not a deal breaker for me. We were there for about an hour today and could easily have stayed longer without the boys getting bored. The park itself is very simply landscaped and of course contains Rathfarnham castle itself. There are tearooms in the castle but at the time of writing and during my previous visit they were closed. Rathfarnham village is just across the road and through the archway. We were there on Good Friday so trading was a little funny but there’s a good sized Spar where you can get takeaway coffee or ice cream for the kids! I think there are public toilets available in the castle as well and will confirm on my next visit. There is parking available just off Rathfarnham Rd. directly after the traffic lights. It is 50c/hour, max. stay 3 hours. According to DublinBus.ie you can take the 15n, 16, 16a, 17, 48n, 74a or 75 to Rathfarnham but do check their site to find the most convenient bus for the park.

Also housed in the park grounds is the Tree Council of Ireland. You can read more about Rathffarnham on Wikipedia.

Being snowed in can have it’s advantages. After doing the laundry and cleaning the living room, I will no try to summarise the year 2009 on the Dublin Community Blog.

Gloomy January showed us that the recession is in full swing, as Dublin indie institution Road Records was forced to close its doors (which thankfully re-opened later due to massive support from many a successfull Irish musician) and Dublin Bus announced massive cutbacks, laying off 200 staff. Add some snow causing massive disruptions to traffic and you had a very bleak start into the new year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ah parking. Everyone in Dublin has their clamping horror stories. Mine is when our car was clamped outside our house even though we were fully paid disc holders. To add insult to injury no-one answered the phone when we rang to have the car unclamped. Steam. Ears. You can imagine. Three months later I got my fine back. This happened over 5 years ago. I’m not bitter.

Parking is usually not something I worry about being a committed city cyclist. However, of late, I have had occasion to drive instead of cycle especially as I’m carrying a precious cargo. I had planned this post to be aimed at expectant fathers in the Dublin region but I discovered that Brandon beat me to it in a post in June. Seriously he’s right: Dads-to-be get your ParkingTag on! (Me I’m planning to cycle to the Coombe when the time comes.)

However since then I’ve actually started using ParkingTag.ie so I thought I would share my experience. After a few initial hiccups where their site continuously refused to take my payment details and therefore refused registration I finally managed to register after giving up but returning at a future date. I’m nothing if not persistent!

Firstly I really like the site and their understanding of how people use their cars. Like many families living in a city we only have one car so either of us could be out and about in it. Therefore it would make no sense if we could only register one mobile to the account. This means that either me or Himself can pay for parking from our own phones. Similarly if we ever own two cars (hah!) we could register both plates to the one account.

This last fact is very clever for business accounts in particular. You could register all those in the company to the one account with their mobiles, keeping trips to the meter to a minimum. It also allows you to download an Excel of parking costs from the “Recent Transactions” section which would allow the company to track payments made outside of work hours (if the boss was very pernickety!)

However it was when I was viewing this that I noticed a few figures that I didn’t expect and that were unexplained. I was charged 20c for every reminder SMS to tell me that I had 10mins left on my parking even though this service is not optional. I found this detail at the very bottom of their FAQ. Personally I would prefer to stick a reminder in my phone that doesn’t cost me a cent. The other fee was a 50c service fee which I suppose is fair enough – it’s a very handy service but surely a public service like Dublin City Council should factor these costs in to their arrangement with Payzone but that’s just scabby ol me and the taxes I’m already paying…!

When registering one has to give payment details for a credit or debit card and a regular top-up amount is debited from your card. However as an infrequent user the minimum top-up amount of €20 is a little high for me and I fear that there will be a surfeit of my cash languishing in the ParkingTag bank account over time.

The other bugbear I have (and I’m sorry to moan but I would prefer you not to panic when parking as I did) was that I followed the instructions carefully to activate my ParkingTag only to have my first few attempts rejected! Not a happy experience when you’re rushing for an appointment and I did the unthinkable and left my car unpaid for!

However, good news for those for those of you who prefer free parking*. Dublin City Council announced a free parking scheme in the run-up to Christmas to encourage shoppers to the city centre.

Under the scheme, on-street parking spaces will be free from 2pm every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until December 27th.

Oho it’s a far cry from Operation Freeflow and my poor mammy spent three hours getting out of the College of Surgeons’ Car Park one Christmas Eve!

*I was also hoping to find a Google Maps Mash-Up of Free Parking in Dublin City but could only find this.

Photo right owned by thms.nl (cc)
So you better watch out! Seriously folks: Dublin is about to become a lot more hazardous for all its citizens. The Dublin Bikes scheme rolls out across the city centre at 11am today September 13th. Daragh has all the facts in his previous post. Mind you this morning at 2am as I was ferried home in the “safety” of a taxi there was narry a bike to be seen at the stations so don’t be too disappointed if you roll up today and there are no bikes.

As I have already written here on my love of cycling in Dublin I thought I would share some pearls of wisdom with those of you who are thinking of lepping into a saddle next week when the Dublin Bikes scheme launches.

(Note: Dublinbloggers take no responsibility for injuries sustained as a result of following Roseanne’s advice. You’re a cyclist not a sheep!)

1. If you are planning to use the bikes regularly do pick up some decent raingear. Even though I have “proven” that it rarely rains in Dublin with my longitudinal photographic record of the weather at about 6 of a workday(!) that’s not to say there might not be the odd torrential shower. Don’t be fooled into thinking that a cape is a good idea. They are not. Trousers and a jacket are your best bet. If you can get a jacket that zips from the top and bottom all the better and better again if you can get a jacket that has ventilation zips under or near the armpits.
2. Layers are always a good idea on the bike as it can be shweaty work even within the relatively flat city centre. Sorry to be crude but only thinking of your comfort. I would also advise you to bring a pair of lightweight gloves even in September. Check my little handy out only last week!
3. Tough day ahead or behind you and need to do some thinking? Pick up a bike and do a chunk of your journey on two wheels. Your problems will be thought through by the time you reach your destination. That or at the very least you will forget about them for 20 minutes as you navigate Dublin’s peculiar perils!
4. PAY ATTENTION! While you may be thinking things through you do need to pay attention, especially at junctions. Not so much for yourself but you have to second guess all the other eejits on the road. Seriously you will be amazed by the number people who seem to desire an ignominious end under a two-wheel vehicle by wandering off the footpath and into the cycle lane.
5. I understand the Dublin bikes have bells. The answer to the age old knock, knock joke “Is a bell on a bike really necessary?” is yes indeedy! Use them bells well, my children. A sharp “Get the [bleep] out of my way” is also affective but will upset the zen like state you are reaching in point no 3 above.
6. Do NOT break red lights. Apart from the legal and safey issues you are doing bicyclists no favours. It’s the first thing anti-bikers mention when they are trying to justify their gas-guzzling, air-polluting idiocy. Don’t give them the satisfaction.
7. This is one for the ladies: you can liberate your Loubotin heels once you have mastered the art of cycling! You may not be able to walk in them but it’s far easy to cycle in them. Starting and stopping is trickier, especially on an incline. Thanks again to those dudes who picked me up beside the canal on my way up to Emmet Bridge. However pencil skirts are a no-no so on with the leggings and roll up do sciorta (less creases) and stick em in your backpack. On that subject, a backpack is really the best option on a bike, especially when carrying a laptop, so invest in one you like that has a sophisticated system for keeping your back ventilated.
8. The Dublin Bikes do have a basket which while it may not appeal to the boys, my son regularly asks me “Why does Dad not have a basket? It’s so handy!” and he’s right. Ridiculous, hard-coded and imaginary gender issues aside, baskets are gift but beware of overloading them as the bike will topple as the basket pulls the front wheel to one side. I’m not sure which kind of stand the Dublin Bikes have but ThinkBike in Rathmines fitted my bike with a two sided stand so neither the presence of a child on the back or a heavy basket up front will topple the bike. If the Dublin Bikes have a traditional one-sided stand watch out for this toppling. The other thing to watch out for when you have items in a basket are potholes because as you go over the hole everything leps up in the air and all over the road. Bye-bye iPod etc.
9. Dublin Transport Office have a cycle journey planner which in my experience is to put it bluntly, pure nonsense. Imagine I was a TD (hah!) and I wanted to get from my house in Crumlin to Títhe an Oireachtais for work. I put in my street address as starting point and Kildare st as ending point and the system tells me: “Unable to find a cycle route. Hopefully this walking route will be of use.” I think the reason for this is because there are a number of one-way streets on the route they propose. If only they could add in a social layer, I could indicate the actual route that I take which would then be saved and used to extrapolate for other similar journeys by others. Two nice features that they have added since I last used this is a “CO2 Avoided” widget and a “Calories burned” widget where you can add in your own weight. Nice!
10. My final word is a warning and please take this seriously: Avoid the corner of Stephen’s Green where Earlsfort Tce. and Leeson St. meet. It is a death-trap. I’m mildly tempted to tell everyone to aim for it on the offchance that one of you might be injured. This is pure evil of me, I am aware, but at least it might draw attention to this ridiculous piece of road planning. With the extra publicity of Dublin Bikes the powers that be might actually pay attention. Your sacrifice will be for a greater good. Does that make me sound kind of fanatical?

We’d love to hear about your experiences of using the Dublin Bikes so tell us your tales in the comments below or post your pics to a photo sharing site and add the links below in the comments. I’ll feature my faves in a post in a few weeks time. Happy cycling!

I’m Roseanne Smith, a newly recruited blogger to the Dublin Community Blog. Actually I’m not that newly recruited having been moved to volunteer when Red Mum was collecting the blog’s award at the Irish Blog Awards in February and mentioned that they were looking for some actual Dubliners to blog. So I’m an actual Dubliner. You can find out more about me on my own blog because I’m here to talk about what’s going on in Dublin not in my head (as a general rule…). I’m hoping once I get into the swing of things and have lulled you into a false sense of security to contribute the odd blog in Irish. Enough of the intros, here goes!

I am a cyclist. I wouldn’t say avid or fanatical while I’m just sitting here at my laptop. Not at all.

But get me onto the saddle and I become something else. Half woman, half bike: melded with my machine, senses heightened, coordination controlled, I’m a dynamic dynamo and I’m getting there faster than all of you.

Well except for anyone who’s running. Really I’m a very average cyclist. I always stop at red lights. I wear nerdy hi-viz clothing on all my limbs and a helmet. I have front and rear lights and I move at a leisurely pace.

I do cycle everywhere. I cycle to and from work, the kids’ school and creche, to meetings, out at the weekend; come rain or shine. I even sometimes bring our bikes on holidays. I do lots of  thinking on the bike when I’m not avoiding potholes or pedestrians. I find it’s a great way to start the day.

Dublin is a grand place to cycle. Okay it’s no Amsterdam or even Groningen. It’s fairly flat, there are new bits of bike lane all the time. (I’m trying to accentuate the positive here, folks! It’s my first post – I don’t want to come across as crabby on Day 1) As you will see I live close to the canal and there’s nothing like zipping along the canal no matter what the weather.

One of the main reasons people often give for not cycling is the weather: they are worried that they will get drenched on their way to work. As another cyclist puts it on his blog “it’s the prospect of getting wet that puts people off.” Well I’ve been doing a little experiment since January. Everyday I get stopped on Sally’s Bridge on the canal on the way home. It’s just not possible to get from one set of traffic lights to the other at my pedestrian pace. So every day I take a snap and post it to my Flickr account. You can see the set here. Or better still:

Now I’ll admit straight off that due to the fact that I was in Santry for work recently I failed to take a photo between the 20 and 23 May when there was some torrential rain. This is also just snaps from weekdays and there’s some days when I’d be so deeply in thought that I would forget to take a photo.

So even adding in, say, about five wet days that I missed, that is not a lot of wet in nearly six months. And, as your mammy would say (and I am a mammy so I know about these things), there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad dressing. A good set of raingear will get you to and from work dry as a bone. Although I will admit to getting a bit cheesed off lugging my raingear around and unlike my other half I haven’t gone as far as gaiters so I keep dry footwear under my desk for days that I am caught on the hop.

So why have I chosen now to out myself as a wannabe fanatical cyclist? Next week is National Bike Week. Two years ago we took part in the Dublin City Cycle and it was a great day. As proof of my very average cycling, I was the very last back to the finish – I blame the youngest for my poor performance as he fell asleep which slowed me down something rotten! Here are a few of my snaps.

So I was delighted when I read that the activities have been extended to not only a full week but they have gone national. Among the events are free bike check-ups, charity cycles, cycling workshops and family fun days. I love the idea that Parnassus theatre company have: show your bike light at their production of Abigail’s Party in the Samuel Beckett Centre in TCD and you’ll get 33% off on the 16th, 17th and 16th June. Bargain! And it’s a very entertaining play so win-win!

This year the Dublin City Cycle takes place on Wednesday 17 June and while it may not be so family oriented it will draw more Dubliners’ attention to the cyclists in their midst. This was actually my biggest gripe with the Dublin City Cycle two years ago: it happened on a Sunday so there was no real impact on the rest of the citizens. I think a city cycle like this should remind other road users that cyclists are really there.

So keep an eye out for me at the Dublin City Cycle or taking pics on Sally’s Bridge of an evening!