Summer weather

How come everyone complains about the weather in Ireland? This isn't too bad, highs about 24oC, generally fairly sunny, bit of a wind etc. Far, far better than those hot muggy summers I'm used to. But, as the Irish will never stop telling you, the past 3 summers have been horrible so maybe we're getting a nice one to make up for it. It certainly has been rather nice, and I've even got some colour on my skin. And you know what....it's even a bit hot for the little doggies, so it must be warm.

Last weekend was great (well, Saturday was), so Catherine and I went down to Bray, south of Dublin, to walk the coastal trail to Graystones (photo of Bray Head trail below). And what a lovely little walk it was, and at the end of our exercise we found a lovely little pub to relax for a pint before taking the train home.

While on the topic of Graystones, what I saw was a lovely little seaside community with great houses, great view, lots of little shops, restaurants and pubs....basically a fantastic seaside community that would be great for commuting to Dublin. So what the hell is that oversized monstrosity they are building in the marina area under the banner of 'regeneration'?The walls blocking off the harbour for the construction are filled with images of yuppies enjoying a 'lifestyle', you know a glass of wine and a giggling blonde, the incredibly handsome man tying up his boat, squeaky clean kids shopping with their mother and using all of the new amenities this development will bring. It looks shocking in its scope and ambitiousness, and in this economic climate, seems destined to fail miserably. Looking online it seems there was a huge fight from the community about 4 years ago when the plans surfaced, and accusations of overbuilding, councillors in the pockets of developers etc., ruining the nature of this quaint town.

Can't say I'm really surprised. And now, last night Catherine and I were talking to the head of our sailing club, and there may be plans in the works for a similar thing in Skerries. I only hope the complete economic downturn puts them off of ruining our lovely village.

A new favourite newspaper!

I never feel quite right on weekends unless I can sit down with a coffee and read one of the great weekend edition newspapers.

In London it was the Guardian on Saturday that I read religiously (formerly the Manchester Guardian). Sometimes I'd pick up the Guardian during the week but found it was far too much about politics. The Saturday version is much more rounded, with great sports, travel, and review sections. Once in Dublin I still kept reading the same Guardian, but was feeling a bit strange reading a UK paper with no Irish content.

But hey, problem solved, and I now have a new favourite newspaper. I still read the Guardian cover to cover on Saturdays, but now Sunday mornings are reserved for the Sunday Times, Irish edition. The Guardian is considered a centre-left paper, and the Sunday Times centre-right, so I figure in the end I'll have a balanced view of the news.

Far better than any of the papers in the USA or Canada....way, way better.

House prices....again....

I stumbled across this blog post today that seems to make a lot of sense about the crazy nature of the Irish housing market, and the fact that people still aren't understanding that prices must continue to fall. The bubble was mere speculation, and it has gone.

It makes a lot of sense, and using his estimate that house value should be 12 to 14 times annual rent, then the place we rent should cost about €160,000. But, an identical house is currently on the market (and has been for 8 months) at €440,000. Ridiculous, and another reason why we'll keep renting for now.

A new hockey rink coming to Dublin

There is no real ice rink in Dublin. But there is in Dundalk for some reason. Sometimes they put up these temporary things in parking lots around Christmas (there was one in Howth last winter), but it's hard to believe there is no permanent rink here. Until now that is! Apparently they are building one attached to Charlestown Shopping Mall on the north side fo the city. They're even starting up a hockey team to be based there!

I'll have to check this out at some point.

Skerries from Shennick Island

Once in a while when the spring tide is at its lowest you can walk out to Shennick Island with the water only to your calves. Lovely little spot, with its own martello tower. Of course you can only spend an hour or so there or you have to get rescued by the lifeboat people. As several people had happen to them a couple of weeks ago.

Smithfield, Dublin...stuck in a rut

I'd been hearing about this part of town called Smithfield quite a bit. Well, apparently there is a 'market' there and there's quite a bit of new development and a couple of galleries.

The Motor Tax Office is in the area, so I managed a look around last week. Hmmm, not sure what the fuss is about, but there's something drastically wrong in Smithfield. Lots of new housing developments, mainly 5 story apartment blocks, looking out over a large public square. Commercial units on the ground floor of all of the buildings. So why are there no commerical outfits occupying these spaces? It seems like a bit of a vicious circle...lots of vacancies in the apartments, so the shops never really opened, and because the shops didn't open then nobody wants to live there. The place was deserted. There was a Subway open, but many of the other shops looked half finished or in suspended occupancy. Even the large hotel facing onto the square has closed. An ambitious development that just ran out of steam.

Looks like another failure in urban planning in good old Dublin.

Here's another bloggers take on it.

Fingal or Dublin?

So, I have to admit that I'm not quite sure where we live. North Dublin is a strange place in terms of municipal services. Our postal address is County Dublin, but we are served by Fingal County Council. Some services come from Dublin Regional Authority, and some from Fingal County Council. Finding out which is which can be a nightmare.

When I first arrived back in August I had to get a PPS number, which is your work permit / tax number. The address on the government website said go to Balbriggan Social Services office, so off I went. Got there and they told me that it's been handled by Dublin County for the past 3 years. Great, thanks for updating the website. So off I went to the city, no great hassle.

Last week I had to visit the Motor Tax office to get my driving learner permit. I walk in to the main office in Dublin (near Smithfield, but that's another story) and there's a big sign saying you must apply for the license in your home county. Seeing as I really have no idea what my home county is, I took a number and sat down. Lo and behold I was in the right place, and now I have my very own Irish driving permit (provisional).

Anyway, here's what Wikipedia has to say about the local government structure...'At present, many organisations, state agencies and sporting teams continue to operate on a "County Dublin" basis. Subsequently, much confusion exists around the legitimacy of the new counties - though they do have administrative county status, the only protected recognition of a county within the Republic of Ireland. County Dublin is now defined in legislation solely as the "Dublin Region" under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993,^[1] and this is the terminology officially used by the four Dublin administrative councils in press releases concerning the former county area.

Yeah, I'm still confused.