The Dublin Community Blog

The ever-popular Porterhouse microbrewery and bar is currently holding its annual Stout Festival, nicely timed to coincide with the St. Patrick’s festivities. Their city centre bars on Nassau Street and Parliament Street, as well as Porterhouse North in Phibsboro, are all taking part, and full details can be found here.

The various Porterhouses will also be showing the final round of Six Nations matches, which includes England vs Ireland in Twickenham at 3pm. Not a bad way to get the party started!

For those of you unfortunate enough to miss the first run, the Ross O’Carroll-Kelly play will have a reprise in April!  ‘The Last days of the Celtic Tiger’ is a play based on the books of Paul Howard about hasbeen Rugby talent/womanizer who still expects a call from Eddie O’Sullivan any day now and is living off his parent’s trustfund untill that happens.

In the meantime he has to balance his time between his illegimate Northdide son, drinking, cheating on his wife with the nanny and visiting his dad in Mountjoy prison.

I saw the play a few months ago and was crying with laughter.

So put on your Leinster jerseys, fake tan and Ugg boots, straighten your hair and head off to the Olympia!

Tickets start at €25 and are on sale through Ticketmaster 

A common money maker for sporting clubs these days is to sell the naming rights of their home ground – the JJB, Reebok Stadium, Walkers Stadium. It seems the Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company (IRFU and the FAI) are going down this route. The chairman, Philip Browne, announced at a media briefing yesterday:

At the briefing Browne also announced the appointment of the US specialist company Wasserman Media Group (WMG) who have been appointed to evaluate and ultimately market the naming rights for the new stadium. WMG were responsible for the deal between Arsenal FC and Emirates Airlines which combined stadium naming rights with a shirt deal.

Personally I think its disappointing but I suppose I should stop being sentimental and move with the times.

How does KitKat Crescent grab you?

The redevelopment of the Leinster rugby grounds in Donnybrook has started. The pitch has been barricaded off, the stand is knocked and a large section of the wall removed to allow the heavy construction equipment to access the grounds. Here are a couple of photos.

“Own your very own piece of Irish History”

I don’t bloody think so. The last time yours truly checked, a rusty old turnstile or a dusty/unwanted rugby magazine wasn’t an historical item.

Ok, I admit, I’ve not posted since July 2006 for several reasons … (1) Busy (2) Busy and (3) Busy. Now that’s sorted, here’s a catch up on all things sport.

• Dublin GAA – The Dubs again came short in their quest for the Holy Grail that is Sam Maguire. Alot of analysis has been written and put forward as to why Pillar’s men fell just short of the final hurdle in what was one of the weaker All Ireland’s in recent years. The fact remains that an over-hyped team with forwards who have the inability to take scores when it matters will never win an All-Ireland. Dublin’s best forwards throughout the championship being Alan Brogan and Conal Keaney are the only forward’s in a blue jersey one would trust with taking points from the 45 metre line from hand. Pillar’s new forwards in 2006 being Kevin Bonner, Declan Lally and to an extent, born again Ray Cosgrove do not have what it takes to be All Ireland winning forwards. Consistency is key but consitency against stronger counties OUTSIDE Leinster is paramount.

  The Allianz National League of 2007 was another groundhog day tournament in the life of Dublin Football. Brutal away form and the odd win at home get’s teams nowhere. There is light at the end of the tunnel … with every one of Dublin’s games in the 2007 Championship being in Croke Park then it’s sure to be a “Home Game” every game. Get out the jump leads, the Bandwagon needs starting.





• Leinster Rugby – Where does one start, at the beginning. Another slow start off the blocks in the Magners leage with disappointing away form dogging Leinster’s quest for Magners League glory. Losses to Edinburgh and the Scarlets away with the usual fortress Donnybrook that follows Leinster’s away losses were par for the course (And still are coming to the end of the Magners League season). What’s surprising that Leinster sit on top of the Magners League and 5 points clear too! With such sporadic form in the league, one has to ask the question whether it’s a drop in quality as a whole or are Leinster acting the mickey just to create an exciting end to the season? Leinster have 3 games left to wrap up the Magners Leage with an inevitable 5 pointer at home to the Borders sandwiched in between 2 tricky away ties to the Ospreys and the Blues on the final day. What’s worrying is Leinster’s away form, who knows what team turns up in Swansea and Cardiff? Yours truly prays that it’s the one with Brian O’Driscoll in phenominal form oozing leadership from forwards to backs.

  As for the Heineken Cup, I don’t want to talk about it. Maybe another time I’ll share my joy/anger/sorrow with you fine people.

I’m sure everyone here at Dublin Blog is exceedingly happy that the weekend’s rugby match went so well.  I’ve spoken to several Irish people who saw it as another small (though important) step towards reconciliation between Ireland and England. 

Leading up to the match, people that I spoke with seemed quite confident that there wouldn’t be any trouble from the few who might be tempted to use the occasion as an excuse for violence or thuggery.  One newspaper that I read while waiting for a haircut seemed to make a lot out of a few bloggers who were writing some inflammatory and politically incorrect nonsense.  Turns out, it was probably just the media doing their usual job at sensationalizing things for a good story. 

With that said, it also seems that there is still a measurable amount of tension in Irish society when it comes to the “occupied territoryâ€? in the North.  I’d never even heard that perspective from any Irish people until seeing that alleged blog quote in the newspaper.   My understanding as a foreigner is that most Irish people would prefer a united Ireland, but wouldn’t go as far as calling Northern Ireland “occupied territory.â€?  Does that sound about right, or am I more of a clueless Yankee than I realize?  (Be nice, now.)    =)

Here’s my favourite line in yesterday’s Irish Independent: “This was more than a rugby match between Ireland and England, it was a defiant symbol of new maturity and a confident battle cry that we will no longer be prisoners of the past.â€?  Despite my inability to fully understand and appreciate these historical and cultural dynamics, it’s good to see this kind positive, hope-filled perspective.

Finding Celebrity (?!) Big Brother a bit of a yawn? Heres a few things that are happening over the weekend that might be of interest:

★ Tonight in Heineken Cup rugby, Leinster play Gloucester (away) in their final pool game. Kick off is 7.30pm and deferred TV coverage is on RTE 2 at 11pm. Live radio coverage can be found on RTE Radio 1 MW and Newstalk 106.

★ Willie Nelson plays the Point tonight and tomorrow night. Special guests include The Sharon Shannon Big Band, Eddi Reader and Damien Dempsey. Tickets are still available on Ticketmaster.

★ RockChic – The Life and Times of the Electric Guitar 1931 – 2006 exhibition at Collins Barracks ends this Sunday. The collection features guitars from Van Morrison, Phil Lynott, Jimi Hendrix etc. and a collection owned by the legendary Rory Gallagher. Well worth a visit.

★ At the Olympia Theatre, “I, Keano” continues its impressive run. Tickets are still available for this weekend.

★ If magic is your thing, tickets are still available to see Keith Barry in Vicar St tonight and tomorrow night. On Sunday night the wonderful Ben Folds plays there.

★ Golden Globe “Best Drama Film” Winner and Oscar hopeful Babel opens in cinemas this weekend.

Whatever you do, have a good one

 

 

After a disappointing summer of international rugby, the 4 proud provinces of Ireland (Well … Leinster, Munster and Ulster anyway!) will be looking to take the Magners Celtic League by storm. Last years campaign saw Ulster clinch the title on the final weekend by a single point with Leinster following in second and Munster taking 3rd spot.   

Leinster kick off their season with a pre-season friendly in Donnybrook on Friday August 25th in a friendly against London Irish, a fixture which is sure to attract a big crowd. With the Celtic League proper kicking off on September 1st, Leinster have been granted a free weekend which see’s them beginning their league campaign away to the Edinburgh Gunners on Friday September 8th. Thsi game will bring an an even more important meaning with both teams being in the same Heineken Cup Group!

The Cardiff Blues are Leinster’s first home game of the Celtic League. The Welshmen take on Leinster in Donnybrook on Saturday September 16th at 19:30. Fixtures to wwatch out for this season are below …

Saturday October 7th (19:30) – Leinster Vs Munster
Saturday December 2nd (19:30) - Ulster Vs Leinster
Wednesday December 27th (15:00) - Munster Vs Leinster
Sunday December 31st (14:30) – Leinster Vs Ulster

ROAR ON LEINSTER!

Ok, this is a strange one to come back home to! I’ve been glancing through my emails in the sunshine this afternoon, and in my inbox I received notification that UCD AFC are tonight launching a new, and curious initiative! They are granting free access to tonights Premier League soccer match between themselves and Derry City, to anyone who turns up at the gate wearing a Leinster Rugby Jersey!

Now, perhaps they’re desperately scraping the barrell to gain new fans, perhaps they’re finally realising that rugby really is a much better sport than soccer (c’mon, I had to!), or, perhaps they’re just being genuienly nice guys, and embracing all traditions! Either way, I think it’s a great idea, and though I’m a bit late getting around to posting this, if you’re looking for something to do this evening, in the beautiful Dublin sunshine, grab your Leinster Jersey and get yourself over to Bellfield.

If I hear of this happening again in the future, I’ll do my best to get it to you sooner!