The Dublin Community Blog

Congratulations to all the participants in the 2009 Liffey Swim. I understand over 200 men and 70 women took part this year. They had a lovely sunny day for it and that brought out the crowds of spectators along the quays and over the bridges. Special praise has to go to the swimmer who while bringing up the rear of the mens race was still gracious enough to joke with the crowd. At the Ha’ Penny bridge some jokers cheering on the swimmers shouted “you’re going the wrong way”. The swimmer looked up seemed to smile and shouted “Oh Really? Thanks!” turned around and started swimming back up the river to the amusement of all present.

I have not been able to find official results yet but from what I can find out the mens race was won by Pat O Driscoll of the Templeogue Club. More photos from the swim can be found on my Flickr account and in the Dublin Blog Flickr Group.

Update: Official results are available on Swim Ireland

Mens Race Winner: Pat O’Driscoll, Templeogue Club

Womens Race Winner: Sorcha Barry, Glenalbyn Masters

The Rathmines Festival kicked off on the 14th of this month and will pick up again today, finishing late on Sunday night. The festival features a variety of events, workshops, and galleries, all happening along Rathmines Road (Upper and Lower) just south of Grand Canal. Most events are free and those that come with a price tag (like some music performances) never rise above a tenner. Dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, film, sports, history – there really does seem to be something for just about everyone!

For more, including a downloadable schedule, surf over to the festival website at www.RathminesFestival.com. Alternatively, the good folks at Cafe Moda have agreed to allow the use of their coffee shop as the festival club house, so if you happen to be in the area, stop by for brochures, booking, or any other information.

There is no doubt in my mind, today is a slow news day. Last night, Linfield came to play St. Patricks Athletic in Richmond Park, Inchicore in a Setanta Cup soccer match. St. Pats won the match 2-0.

Todays papers would lead you believe there was widespread rioting by the Linfield supporters. As an Inchicore resident living yards from Richmond Park, there was no such thing.

The Evening Herald says (I can’t find an online version):

many Inchicore locals say they were trapped in their own homes as chaos and violence ensued outside on the streets.

I don’t know what chaos and violence is being referred to because I certainly didn’t see or experience any. There were minor scuffles prior to the game kick off, however that was taken care of quickly and efficiently by the Gardai. I certainly did not witness “scenes of chaos” as stated in the Evening Herald.

There was huge Garda presence all evening, which included the Dog Unit, Mounted Unit, a Helicopter and the Riot Squad. Seems to me like the Gardai were well prepared in the event of any problems.

In my opinion all involved in organising this game should be commended for their hard work and reporting should be confined to events on the pitch.

St. Pats statement
Irish Independent
BBC
Belfast Telegraph

Dublin GAA will hold a press conference later this morning in the Shelbourne Hotel where the future plans for the Dublin football team will be officially unveiled.Speaking last night a GAA official revealed that the Dublin football team will not take part in the upcoming GAA season but will instead spend the summer in a skills conversion camp outside Barcelona where they will focus on switching codes. The final aim of this conversion camp is for the team to join the English FA leagues at Championship or 2nd division level and gain promotion to the Premiership within 5 years.”Your average GAA player has the skills to make it at the top level in any sport” explained the unnamed official. “They show a level of dedication and pride that has been lacking in English sport for many years now so both ourselves and the English FA believe an injection of fresh blood into the league would be beneficial to the Premiership”. The deal will also benefit the GAA for whom it would provide a welcome income boost and help quell calls for professionalism within the GAA codes. Players who wanted to be paid could be moved to the Dublin team for a season or two.Croke Park would be the home venue for the new team which unfortunately could mean there will be no slots available in the schedule for the Irish national rugby or soccer teams to play games as well as the cancellation of Celine Dion, Prince and Westlife concerts. The new team will be co-sponsored by both Ulster Bank and the Cork Evening Echo newspaper.

The Chinese New Year festivities are about to begin in Dublin as the city welcomes year 4076 of the traditional Chinese Lunar year. Chinese New Year is considered to be the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and falls on the first day of the first month of the Chinese Lunar year. This year the New Year day arrives on February 7, 2008. It will be the year of the Rat, which is the first of the 12 year cycle of animals that form the Chinese Zodiac related to the Chinese New Years.

The Dublin Chinese New Year Festival Association (DCNYFA) has organized various events to celebrate the holiday. The first of these begins tomorrow (February 1, 2008) with the launch of a Chinese film ‘Still Life’ by directory Jia Zhangke in the Irish Film Institute, Temple Bar. This film is part of a seven-day Chinese film festival. Other events in various locations around the city include a Chinese arts and crafts show, an event celebrating Chinese literature and music, launch of a 2008 Beijing Olympic pack at UCD Sports Centre, international table tennis and badminton tournaments, dragon boat racing, lion dances, stage plays, and a three day Chinese carnival in Smithfield. The closing ceremonies will take place on Monday February 11, 2008 at 6m in Smithfield Square.

I believe that this is first time that a Chinese New Year festival is being held in Dublin and I have no doubt that it will be successful. We should all welcome the festival and make an attempt to attend at least some of the various events. We wish a very Happy New Year to the Dublin Chinese community!

A complete brochure with more details about the festival is available here.

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.

Tomorrow is the Dublin Marathon.  So, if you are in Dublin, go out and cheer on the runners! The race starts at 9:00 AM and the course is a big loop starting and ending in city centre.  The course route can be found by downloading the pdf file.