The Dublin Community Blog

There is a fan page on Facebook called Secret Dublin. Secret Dublin aims to provide a forum for Dubliners to share their insights on places and talent in Dublin to discover “hidden gems”. The idea is romantic, but sadly a short peruse of the page shows few suggestions. With this in mind, I am going to share my little bit of Secret Dublin I happened to stumble across two months ago.

Weeks and weeks ago, my French friend, Maryline, told me of an evening called Milk & Cookie Stories.

“It is a group of people that come together to tell stories and have cookies,” she explained. She described the event as if it were common place.

“What has cookies got to do with stories?” I asked in puzzlement.

“I don’t know, replied my friend. “It’s just what they do.”

“How much is it?”

“It is free.”

I was suspicious. I gave the first two events a wide berth by politely declining an invite. Then came a funny phase of mine; I realised I needed to be more open to new things and new people. When Maryline reminded me yet another Milk & Cookie Stories evening approached, I agreed to attend. I remained sceptical, but reminded myself of the new things and new people I craved.

On a wet Tuesday evening Maryline and I made our way to the Dublin Exchange, Temple Bar. We arrived to be greeted by friendly faces, most of whom –  I guessed – were students. We were early. Rows of seats and large cushions on the floor remained vacant. Across the open plan room were tables bearing baskets of biscuits. We were offered tea and helped ourselves to the fare on offer.

When I asked one of the organisers about the evening, I was told that it was an open mic evening where attendants were invited to share a story. The story could be anything from a lament to a personal experience. An emphasis was placed on first timers. Anyone interested in spinning a yarn was invited to put their name on the list. They would be called up when their moment came.

My friend and I warmed ourselves next to a solitary radiator in a remote corner of the gallery. We watched as the number of attendants slowly and steadily increased. We were both taken aback by the friendly atmosphere. I was introduced to a considerable number of people. I noted how simple it was to strike up conversation with relative strangers. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

“We will be starting in around five minutes,” a girl named Sarah announced to the eighty or so people gathered. This prompted a hush to descend on the room.

The first story teller was called up. He received a supportive applause from the congregation. He told his story. Following another round of applause, the next story teller was called. The most memorable performances from the evening were a recital of Arabian Nights, an Hungarian folktale and a Celtic myth. The featured performer of the evening – whose name has unfortunately slipped my mind – told a personal story that was both moving and humorous.

I went again last Tuesday and had an equally enjoyable experience. The featured performer, Clare Murphy, told two Irish stories and a Nigerian tale. Her performance was uniquely engaging and animated. Clare drew loud laughs and planted ideas in our minds. I would gladly have listened to her for hours had I the chance. Clare embodies the skill and art of storytelling that Milk & Cookie Stories strives to promote.

Milk & Cookies Stories meets on the first/second Tuesday of every month at Dublin Exchange, Temple Bar. The atmosphere is friendly, the stories are entertaining and the cookies are tasty. The event is free, but the organisers do encourage attendants to make a small donation when the “cookie jar” is passed around.  Should you find yourself available from six o’clock Tuesday, 9^th February, you should come along.

What’s the worst that can happen? You enjoy a unique experience and open your mind to some new ideas? Come along, it’s a great evening.

If, like me, you’re passionate about coffee, and you want to meet like minded people, learn a load about coffee as well as taste some of the finest that Dublin has to offer in a fantastic new venue, I suggest that you make your way along to the Third Floor Espresso (3FE) launch party this Sunday, the 24th.

Our own Colin Harmon, who is the current Irish Barista Champion is the man behind 3FE, and by all accounts, the venue is the place that you really need to be if you’re seeking some of the best coffee that Dublin has to offer.

There’s more details on the launch event, including an outline of some of the guests of honour in Colin’s blog about the launch party

The winner of the second annual Dublin Soul Award was announced recently after six months of searching. Organisers surprised the eventual winner, Joan Freeman, Psychologist and Founder of Pieta House, the Centre for the Prevention of Self-Harm and Suicide, as she went about her daily routine.

Pieta House offer a holistic solution and groundbreaking approach involving daily, one-to-one counselling for people who have attempted to take their lives or for people who have engaged in self-harming behaviours. Pieta House provide coping mechanisms for people who are in crisis and aim to move the suicidal person away from ideas of suicide as quickly as possible by helping them to identify reasons to live. Their intensive approach is remarkably effective and available for free to those in need.

The Dublin Soul Award, part of the Dublin City Soul Festival, was launched in May 2008 and are a search for Dublin’s most outstanding soul. Once again Organisers were hoping to uncover some truly remarkable stories of Dubliners who regularly and selflessly give up their time and invest their energy to help others, making a real difference in the local community and believe they found a truly deserving winner for 2009 in the guise of Joan Freeman – Founder of Pieta House.

As winner, Joan Freeman was presented with an exclusive Soul Festival glass plaque, and of course the title of ‘Outstanding Dublin Soul’.

Joan Freeman said; “Firstly I am so honoured to be even considered for this beautiful award – however I can only accept it on behalf of the organisation rather than as an individual. Anyone can have a vision – but it takes many, many souls to carry through that vision. Pieta house is a wonderful success – because of the staff, the volunteers and because of the public. But it is because of the belief and the trust of the people in crisis who attend Pieta house – makes it a honour for us all to work there.”

The Dublin Soul Awards were launched in 2008 as part of the annual Dublin City Soul Festival, last years winner was Brother Kevin Crowley of the Capuchin Day Centre.

Chris Maher, Founder of the Awards said; “We are delighted to have found such a worthy winner again this year. The work Joan and her team do is absolutely vital and they deserve all the praise and support possible for providing such a life saving service.”

I have to confess that I completely nicked this off the good people over at culch.ie, but this is so incredibly good it has to be reposted. Visual artist Eoghan Kidney’s video for Underworld vs Mark Knight and D.Ramirez, played “on” Liberty Hall. Could someone please convince Dublin Tourism to make this the official video representing our city?

- Or an ode to Dublin

So, here I am now in a dirty old town that I reached while the Celtic Tiger was already preparing to go into his final hibernation. And fell in love with it, though I could not tell you when exactly it happened and why. Maybe because of the fact that things are not perfect here (busses never on time, railway-bridges collapsing, city development postponed – but then who needs perfection anyway?), maybe because the Irish are such welcoming people (in spite of the knackers who tried to rob me twice and threatened me with physical violence even more often), or maybe because (again, in spite of the recession) Dublin still is a city filled with loads of interesting people from all over the world. And mixed with the very own ways of the Irish, it’s like the whole of Europe meeting in a pub on a Friday evening. You never know if you’ll be drunk at 10 and go home or stay all night listening to a band from Senegal and conversing until the wee hours with a random acquaintance. Who might well be Quentin Tarantino.

Read the rest of this entry »

It seems the cold weather came quite suddenly earlier in the week. So why not embrace the chill in the air and celebrate winter with a little ice skating? You wouldn’t know it from the online promotional buzz (or complete lack thereof), but an ice rink is now open in Sandyford’s Beacon South Quarter (PDF). Last year’s Dublin on Ice site has yet to be updated (as of this post anyway) and I can’t confirm that the rink is opened in Smithfield. (If YOU can, please let us know in the comments.)

The lack of information on the rink(s) is a bit odd, begging the question, why spend money and other resources on something like an ice rink without getting the word out? Where are the models in Santa outfits? (Maybe we’ll see the advertising ramp up a bit the closer we get to Christmas.)

For now, here’s last year’s promo video from City Channel.

The Norsemen are upon us again! As last year, the Dublin Viking Festival is taking place next weekend.

The Dublin Viking Festival takes place on Dublin’s Wood Quay and Temple Bar from Friday the 16th October until Sunday 18th October 2009.The Vikings were the first settlers at Dublin and old reminants of their settlement have been found at Wood Quay in Dublin City Centre on the site of Dublin City Council’s civic offices.

Dublin City Council invites you to come down and explore our Viking Heritage from 12 noon – 6pm October 16th, 17th & 18th for a family fun packed weekend.

I’ve been there last year, and have to confess that it is a bit dull for a veteran roleplayer like me; plus the post-modern surroundings of the civic offices are not really helping in recreating the image of the Viking world. On the other hand it was great fun for the kids, and it seems the festival is generally more aiming at family entertainment than drinking mead from the skulls of slain enemies. And if there’s the same re-enactment group as last year, you’ll get at least an overview of how to form a propper Viking shield wall:

I’m not sure we could add this to our ‘recession busters’ or ‘how to get by on €15’ categories, but it’s a good deal nonetheless. The ‘Dine in Dublin-Restaurant Week’ campaign will feature a number of restaurants offering three course dinner menus for promotional rates of €25 or €30 (a 20% discount.) The initiative will run from the 12th through the 18th of October and there are over 50 restaurants participating. It may indeed include some of your favourites, so be sure to have a look at the full list HERE.

And if you can’t wait until next weekend for a culinary adventure, be sure to check out Marlay Park this weekend, where the Festival of World Food will be taking place again. (CLICK HERE to see DublinBlog’s write-up on it last year.)

[I'm having a hard time confirming the Festival of World Food event this weekend, so if anybody can provide further information or a website that confirms it, that would be appreciated. It's supposed to be a Dun Laoghaire Rathdown council sponsored event, but their website is showing nothin'.]

The Dublin City Soul Festival, which was launched in May 2007 was designed as a positive feel-great celebration for the people of Ireland. The festival is committed to promoting Dublin and Ireland as a major tourist destination, in addition to promoting community spirit.

Aside from the growing annual festival event which has attracted over 35,000 people annually, generating an estimated €6 million for the Irish economy they have also established a charity – the ‘Musical Youth Foundation’ (CHY#18624) which aims to provide musical instruments and tuition for underprivileged children.

In 2008, as part of their dedication to promoting positive activity within the local community the Dublin City Soul Festival launched the ‘Dublin Soul Awards’, designed to recognise the tireless work of volunteers and outstanding ‘Dublin Souls’ within the local and wider community.

They presented the inaugural Dublin Soul Award to Brother Kevin Crowley, founder of the Capuchin Day Centre in November 2008. Brother Kevin and his team of volunteers are serving over 500 free meals a day to homeless people in the city and is truly ‘an outstanding Dublin Soul’ and a worthy winner of the first annual Dublin Soul Award.

They are now seeking nominations for 2009…and would welcome any suggestions. If you know someone who regularly and selflessly gives up their time and invests their energy to help others, someone making a real difference to the lives of others within the local community please e-mail chris@dublincitysoulfestival.ie with some basic details and he will be in touch!

I also think that this would be a great opportunity to promote some of Dublin’s ‘good souls’ via the comments section of the blog below. Who knows, we may even do some feature pieces on those that we feel are truly stand-out and worthy of a mention.

Like every year, it’s the International Talk Like a Pirate Day today. And, other than the year before, there actually is a pirate concert in town tonight. To be more precise it’s the Lost Pirates, courtesy of the Dublin Fringe Festival. I’m off to board some enemy vessels now, landlubbers. Avast!