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America's war on tourism
2007-02-11 11:43:00
Mayor Bloomberg paid a visit to the west of Ireland last week to drum up business for the city that never sleeps. Tour ism business, that is. The West of Ireland has been sending people to America in large numbers for centuries but there are fewer wistful immigrants drooling over their pints in the bars on second avenue of late. There are some hardy tourists taking advantage of the favourable exchange rate but not enough for Mayor Bloomberg’s liking. He wants us to travel to the Big Apple and he’s so concerned about declining visitor numbers he’s made a special trip across the Atlantic to shout about it. America has experienced a “17 percent decline in travel from overseas” according to the Discover America Partnership (source International Herald Tribune). Meanwhile New York is losing its position as the world’s financial centre to London. Mayor Bloomberg has been talking about that too, trying to reverse the unfavourable trend. Tourism and financial services are two of ...
More About: War , On Tour

Dublin parking rip-off
2007-01-25 13:43:00
€60 per hour to park in suburban Dublin ? Amazing as it might seem that was the going rate in Ranelagh on Friday 19th January. In case you think I’m exaggerating, look at the photo. I paid €2 at 14.58. The ticket expiry time was 15.00. That’s two minutes parking for two euros. I asked a passing guard about it. He found it amusing but could do nothing. He suggested leaving a note on the windscreen, which I did. He said if I was clamped they’d probably come and remove it, once I explained. I couldn’t afford to wait around to be wheel-clamped and then de-clamped (maybe) so I cut my meeting short and left. Most of the parking bays on the road were unoccupied. I wonder why? Have any of the local businesses noticed the effects of this draconian parking regime? Does anybody care?
More About: Parking , Park , King

Boycott Aer Lingus' anti business travel policy
2007-01-19 19:46:00
Aer Lingus has declared war on business travellers. They’ve introduced new hand-baggage restrictions which make it virtually impossible to avoid checking-in your bag. So what, you might ask? Forget the added cost for a minute, there’s the sheer inconvenience of having to wait in some draughty baggage hall at both ends of your journey while the baggage mis-handlers delay/damage/steal your possessions (delete as appropriate). Lots of airlines charge for checked-in baggage. That’s not the issue. The problem is the ridiculously low weight restrictions Aer Lingus has imposed. A quick comparison of various airlines ( including airlines serving European routes outside Ireland) shows Aer Lingus now has the most restrictive hand-baggage weight limits in Europe. What sort of customer service is this?Imagine you’re frequent traveller on business to London, Paris or Brussels for a few nights, a common event. You pack your bag with some overnight things, a few changes of clothes, some fi...
More About: Business , Travel , Rave , Policy , Ness

Irish Democracy R.I.P.
2007-01-09 19:39:00
I was beginning to warm to Enda Kenny. He has a gentlemanly air of integrity, rare in politics, not just in Ireland. He already had one hand on the keys of office when Bertie stood beside Charlie Haughey’s grave and gave a tearful impression of wanting to jump in after his old boss and mentor. Wise old Fianna Fail heads are still trying to calculate what good Bertie thought would come from his fulsome praise for the arch-chancer. The country was debating this conundrum when Bertie’s shenanigans in Manchester were exposed to public view. The plan people of Ireland were still mulling over these developments when Justice Morris set-off the greatest judicial salvo in modern times. Enda would have been justified in starting to think about ministerial appointments. Bertie, Haughey’s bagman, was badly tainted and now his master’s crimes against democracy were exposed. What choice would the electorate have but to vote for change? Enda ought to have plunged the dagger but he pulled h...
More About: Democracy , Iris , Irish , Demo

The walls of Belfast
2007-01-06 12:42:00
At a recent meeting in London, to discuss the Hungarian uprising of 1956, I found myself sitting next to the jovial MP for Daventry, Tim Boswell, chairman of the all party Anglo-Hungarian parliamentary group. We spoke briefly before the meeting and again afterwards. The 1956 uprising has always held a particular interest for me since the day my father brought me, as a small boy, to see the military camp in Co. Clare where Hungarian refugees were housed. I mentioned this, in conversation, after the meeting and there was some surprise to hear the Irish state had shown such generosity towards the Hungarians. It is regarded as axiomatic that Britain should adopt a paternalistic interest in foreign conflicts, while taking a more partisan line in problems closer to home. My English companions struggled to comprehend what foreign policy interest Ireland could have in distant central European conflicts. They were less than delighted when I explained it was natural for Ireland, itself recove...
More About: Wall , Fast , Belfast , The wall , Walls

S.O.S. Dun Laoghaire seafront
2007-01-06 03:20:00
I took the air at Dun Laoghaire thinking it might clear my head but my stroll was interrupted by a polite but insistent chap handing out leaflets bearing the alarming slogan S.O.S. in bold type. I normally throw these things away but there was no litter bin and I’m far too green around the gills these days to drop it on the promenade so I made the mistake of glancing at the damned thing. Save Our Seafront was the urgent message. It seems like such a simple, inoffensive appeal nobody could argue with it, could they? Well, I can, for one. The idea of salvation has deep roots in our culture. Think of a man in a long white beard and green cloak lighting fires on hilltops and banishing snakes and you’re on the right track. Fire ‘n brimstone preachers, rosary beads and the dark confessional are all part of our collective consciousness, whether you like them or not. We are bombarded with appeals to save all manner of things, whales, birds (feathered variety), Africa, Antarctica, the ...
More About: Hair , Front , Afro

Show us the way
2007-01-06 00:27:00
How many times have you had to stop at a junction to have a close look at the road-signs (if any) and try to figure out where you are while other cars wait impatiently behind you? How many times have you driven past the sign only to find you're going the wrong way and need to turn back? Irish road signs are so bad they ought to be considered a form of post-modernist conceptual art. Giving directions is a very low priority. The main idea seems to be to explore the boundaries of experience by forcing us to stop and consider all sorts of uncomfortable possibilities. Are you going the right way? Are you on the right road? Is it really worth the effort? Are you in the right country at all? I was driving in Wicklow recently, aiming to get to the main N11 Dublin road. You might expect the way to the main highway to be displayed on directional signs but there's no mention of it anywhere so I aimed for Ashford. I came across the sign in the photo at a T-junction. It shows the way to Ashfor...
More About: Show , The Way

Ireland of the welcomes
2007-01-02 00:37:00
Returning to Ireland after many years abroad is a strange experience. I know, I’ve tried it recently and it’s not much fun.Coming back is more difficult than arriving in a new country for the first time. I can only imagine what new immigrants make of the place but the returning exile has the added twist of remembering what the place was like before. Any expectations I had of finding a friendly and civilised place were shattered soon after arrival. I find myself comparing the present with old memories like someone clinging to pathetic bits of ancient luggage.The old place was shambolic, inefficient and dirty. So nothing much has changed then, you might say? Things have changed almost beyond recognition, in some respects for the better, but in some ways definitely for the worse. The old informality and friendliness has been replaced with a frantic scramble for wealth (or survival). Civility is forgotten. Daily life in Dublin and the commuter belt is marked by levels of aggression ...
More About: Welcome , Come , Land , Elan

Dublin, jewel or junk-yard?
2007-01-02 00:14:00
There is much self-satisfied talk about Dublin ’s urban renewal. The Docklands development is worth a look and the scale, if not the form, of the expanding western suburbs is impressive. Dubliners, however, seem to be blind to the fact, quite striking to a visitor, that much of the city is semi-derelict and bears more than a passing resemblance to a third-world slum. This is particularly evident on the north-side. The old Georgian streets are cracked and decayed. Weeds grow on the pavements, on roofs and gutters. Look behind the crumbling facades and you will see real dereliction. Take a train from anywhere north of Clontarf southwards towards Lansdowne Road and you will see possibly the ugliest urban landscape on the planet. Some of the most decrepit sights are just a short distance from the bustling prosperity of the IFSC (on both sides of the river).The heritage industry insists we must preserve Georgian Dublin but the fact is that the architecture of that period was all about k...
More About: Jewel , Yard , Junk