The Dublin Community Blog

In a recent article of The Dubliner magazine, a variety of Irish “luminaries� were asked what they would do to “save Dublin.�  The answer came from politicians, artists, property developers, authors, historians, etc. and the quality of answers ranged from daft/silly/“they can’t be serious� kinds of ideas to a more common sense/“yes, of course!� breed.

Here are some of the ideas that I found interesting (whether or not I agreed!):

Arts Consultant, Ciaran MacGonigal:
“Once a year, have a public flogging of all the planning officials for their bad decisions . . .�
“Directly elect a prefect or mayor for Dublin City for a term of five years.�  (See Dec’s post from a few days ago.)

Artist, Pauline Bewick:
“Rapists and paedophiles should be castrated.�  (Right.  I’m sure the UN Human Rights Council would turn a blind eye to that one.)
“All citizens should have a plot to garden to become vegetarian, lessening the gases from cow and pig farming.�

Novelist, Joe O’Connor:
“Introduce a charge for driving in the city centre.�
“There’s an urgent need for more music venues on the scale of Vicar Street.�

Director of Dundrum Town Centre, Don Nugent:
“If I could do just one thing to save Dublin, I would ban the importation, sale or use of chewing gum.�  (Now we’re dreaming big!)

Comedian, Eric Lalor:
“All vehicles should be banned from the city centre to be replaced with donkeys.  If it’s good enough for Jesus and Mary, it’s good enough for us.�
“What better way to travel to and from the city than by Roller Coaster?  It would be great fun and our public transport would be the envy of fun loving people all over the world.�  (Woo hooo!  Tear off the roofs of the LUAS trams and away we go!)

The litter problem and traffic congestion were probably the most commonly addressed issues in the article, along with the lack of Gardai presence on the streets. I found it interesting that nobody mentioned the cost of living in Dublin which is now the world’s 16th most expensive city to live in, according to this report.

How about you?  How would you “save Dublin?�

Quite often I see the Garda Mounted Unit in Temple Bar. Usually 1 or 2 Gardai on horseback wandering around keeping an eye on things and being photographed by tourists. However, I’m tired of stepping into the horse poo. They deposit massive lumps on the path or road. Large and all as they are, twice today I managed to step into some during a day dream moment. Question is, who is responsible for cleaning up Garda horsey poo? I have looked on the Garda website but it only gives details of their care etc. Any ideas folks?

…With coffee at eleven and a stroll, through Stephen’s Green…

OR, a bottle of West Coast Cooler cunningly disguised as a 7Up bottle, in Stephen’s Green.

When the sun is shining, Dublin really is at its best and it’s so lovely to sit in any of the many parks (Stephen’s Green, Wolfe Tone Park, St Patrick’s Cathedral Park, Tymon North Park in Tallaght, Corkagh Park in Clondalkin, the Phoenix Park the list goes on) and just soak up the rays and relax.

In about 10 minutes, I’m leaving work, jumping on the Luas and heading in to meet friends in Stephen’s Green to catch the last of the sunshine, eat ice-cream and certainly NOT drink illegal alcohol from a plastic bag.

Ah but seriously, bye-laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in our parks and green areas are in place and carry a hefty fine if you’re caught, so if you’re a visitor to Dublin and fancy a beer in the sun, just be aware of that and perhaps stick to beer gardens. If however you do have a crafty tipple in the park (as many Dubs do if I’m honest), be sure to clean up after yourself and not overdo the booze and we should all be happy. Bins are provided all over most parks, so do use them and leave our greens as you would like to find them. (That applies to Dubs as well as visitors, we can be a filthy lot when we want to be.)

Enjoy the sun!

NO surprises there then. Dublin fared very badly in a nationwide litter survey carried out by the Irish Business Against Litter.

While towns all over the country made great gains, Dublin is classed as a litter blackspot.

Smithfield was described as an ‘absolute disgrace’; the Quays ‘unsightly’ and Moore Street as an ongoing problem.

Blame was laid on Dublin City Council but I don’t think that is entirely fair because to me the people who walk along dropping litter as they go bear more responsibility. Can you blame a local authority for the dirty b*stards that live within their areas.

Certainly there is no doubt that local authorities have a responsibility to keep our streets clean, but it’s an uphill and expensive job in Dublin and this is backed up by what I see everyday.
The worst thing about this is that more money than is right is already spent cleaning up after the lazy b*stards I have alreay mentioned. Let us be clear about this, this is money that could be directed to say playgrounds but is spent brushing-up streets, clearing up illegal dumping, and all it takes is for people to have some civic pride. However that pride is lacking.

Should I expect people to have that pride, not at all, but I do expect people to know that dropping the wrapper from their chips in the middle of a street and not in a bin, is wrong, unsightly and makes our communities a litter bug’s dream and an eyesore to live with.

There have been a couple of occasions where I have lifted people’s discarded rubbish and went after them saying ‘oh excuse me you dropped this! And in most cases I have been told to ‘f*ck off’.

Charming indeed but not nearly as charming as their compulsion to pollute our streets.

Since my daughter was small NOT dropping litter has been what I consider an important lesson and one that would later become the bane of my life on washing days, she holds litter in her pockets. Well thats the way it should be.

Now back to the Irish Business Against Litter, wouldn’t it also make sense as I posted about here before to negotiate with Dublin City Council to have commerical rubbish collections lifted in the early morning.

When they do this, I will probably take their campaign (as good as it is) more seriously.

WHILE out and about at the weekend, it struck me how visitors and tourists to our shores could benefit from a little insider knowledge about how to avoid various pitfalls and mistakes in Dublin, which will ensure them an enjoyable stay.

I’m not talking about ‘don’t wander around with five massive cameras and a wallet full of 50s cos that’ll get you killed’ or ‘taxis are a rip off, get the bus’ advice, because everyone knows that by now, I’m talking about the subtle hints and tips that everyone should know.

For example: 1. When you’re walking from Dame Street to Temple Bar through the Central Bank, don’t walk by the side where the gold ball is, as there’s a bit of a bottleneck passageway there and there is ALWAYS a do-gooder charity person trying to get you to give away your moolah. Instead walk through at the other side, beside the Foggy Dew, and you’ll avoid the chugger [charity mugger] and also the smell of wee in the passageway.

2. Up until very recently Ireland only had two types of hot drinks: tea or coffee both of which were made with boiling water. Now of course we’re much more cosmopolitan and we have our share of half-fat, de-caff, cap lattes and frappachinos and the whole lot BUT we’re not entirely sure how to make them. So, to this end, whenever you get a takeaway fancy coffee, I guarantee you it’ll only be half full, topped up with lots of fancy foam, so always ALWAYS ask them to ‘whack in a tad more milk there’ so that you get your money’s worth.

3. Near Bad Bob’s nightclub in Temple Bar there is a missing cobble stone right smack bang in the centre of the street. Step into it at your peril. Trust me, it really really really hurts when you fall!

4. There is a ‘secret’ ATM machine in Tesco in the Jervis Centre, just off Henry Street and also downstairs in Debenhams in the same centre. Before you join a massive queue for some cash out on the street or in the middle of Jervis, check out both of these. Sometimes they’re out of order, but more often than not they’re working with no queue and it’s happy days!

5. The toilets in The Mint Bar in the Westin Hotel on Westmoreland Street are gorgeous. Plenty of cubicles, clean, fabulous Molton Brown soap and hand cream and perfectly located if you’re dying to go and your only other option is a fast food dive (don’t go into the dive toilets, you’ll catch the syphallis). You’ll have to go in through the main door of the hotel and waltz past the doorman with a bit of purpose and then downstairs to the bar and the loos, but if you stick your nose in the air and give off an air of ‘daaaahling, yars, let’s do lunch’ you’ll get in no probs.

6. Dublin has probably one of the worst chewing gum/litter problems in the world. Don’t sit on the ground/steps,  you’ll get gum on your ass. We also have a problem with public urination, so you’re likely to get that on your ass too. Carry a plastic bag with you at all times and if you’re forced to perch on a wall or a step you can whisk it out and sit in comfort.

7. Any member of the Garda Siochana, security staff at the door of a shop/bar or ordinary citizens strolling around window shopping, will give you directions with a smile. Honestly. People rushing to work, soaking wet after forgetting their umberella and talking ninteen to the dozen on their phones trying to assure their boss they’re ‘two seconds’ away will not. Choose your battles well!

8. You’ll know you’re getting a good deal on a meal in a decent restaurant if a starter costs between 4 and 7 euro, a main course between 11 and 16 and a dessert costing around the 4 mark. Anything very over that and I firmly believe you’re being ripped off. Try Trastevere in Temple Bar, prices generally around that mark and the food is exquisite. Also Gruel on Dame Street. Out of this world and very reasonable.

9. Towards the end of the day on Grafton Street, some of the flower sellers tend to take a little off the price of their very-high-quality blooms, just in case you wanted to brighten up your hotel room.

10. And finally, the question I get asked most often by visitors and tourists: Dublin city centre can roughly be divided into two sides, northside and southside. The River Liffey divides the two. Northside has O’Connell, Henry and Jervis streets while southside has Temple Bar, Trinity College, Grafton Street and St Stephen’s Green. Now, don’t make that mistake again!

Anyone any more they’d like to add?

According to An Taisce, Dublin is on average, 12% dirtier than the rest of the country, with fast food wrappers, ATM receipts and plastic bags being the main culprits in the litter gathering on our streets.

The dirtiest streets are in the city centre, Ballymun, Mulhuddart and Clondalkin, while Clontarf, Dalkey/Killiney, Leopardstown/Sandyford, Swords and Howth were named as the cleanest areas in Dublin.

The suprise out of all this is the fact that the wealthy and very well-to-do suburb of Malahide is highlighted as one of the cities litter blackspots, described as having “a serious litter problem”. I dunno, I spend quite a bit of time in Malahide, I wouldn’t say that it has a “serious litter problem”, no more than most towns around the city, but, who am I to argue with the experts I suppose!

Here’s hoping Malahide, as well as the other areas of the city that have been singled out as being litter blackspots, can follow the leads of Swords and Finglas, who only last year were described as litter blackspots, yet have now made a huge effort to clean up their acts.