This 5km restriction malarkey....

 Yep, still in Ireland.  Actually, I can't think of a better place to be riding out this Covid-19 thingy.  Luckily I still have my job, the weather is getting nicer, and the vaccines are being rolled out (slowly, but surely).  I completely agree with the restrictions the Irish government have put in place, but I'm getting weary.  So are many others around here....weary to the point of taking the piss.  The amount of traffic on the roads is way, way higher than it should be if people are taking essential trips only within their 5km radius.  Main street Greystones seems as busy as it always was pre-Covid.

Anyways, to stay sane we are really taking advantage of forest walks, almost always staying within our 5km (ok, maybe stretching it to 8km).  Almost daily walks up in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains has kept us sane.

In two days the restrictions are being relaxed and now we'll be able to venture within our country for exercise.  I can't wait to get back up in the hills of Wicklow!

The Greystones building boom...

So you may have noticed that I wrote a post about 11 years ago about doing the Bray to Greystones hike in Co. Wicklow, and then complaining about the monstrosity being built in Greystones harbour.  That must have been foreshadowing, because in 2011 we moved to Greystones.  We rented for a while, and then bit the bullet to buy before my age really made it impossible to secure a mortgage.

Now Greystones has a bit of a problem.  It is a lovely place, and everyone knows it.  For years it was probably too far out from Dublin to commute, but then they extended the DART to the village and improved some of the access roads.  Now everyone (us included) wants to live in Greystones (apparently voted the World's Most Livable Community at some ceremony or other).  It really does have a lot going for it....on the beach, nice main street, friendly people (for the most part), but not enough pubs if I'm honest.

As the 'Great Recession' drew to a close, developers who had lots of land around the town started building massive housing estates.  Fair enough, loads of people want to live here so who am I to complain when we did the same thing (we bought an old cottage, not in the new estates).  But, it really does seem to be losing some of its allure that brought us here in the first place.  Lots more traffic, and buses and trains are packed.  Schools are oversubscribed, but that's a whole other story for another day.  It's still a lovely place, but the harbour development is still not finished, and quite frankly is a bit crap.  Oh yeah, house prices are daylight robbery as well.  My long-held disgust with Irish estate agents keeps getting worse.... Cowboys, Ted, Cowboys.

Photo stolen from Wikipedia apparently taken by someone called moptoptv.

and....10 years later

So I started blogging here way back in 2009 when I was newly arrived in Ireland.  We're still here, loving it, bought a house a while back, and now have an almost 10 year old Irish boy.

I'm not sure why I stopped blogging, it's not like I ran out of things to say.  I probably lost the password, got too busy with a small child and pressures at work.  Anyways, figured out the password, kid now occupies himself with an XBOX 360, and yesterday was the first day in 2 months that I ventured into the office.

This whole Covid-19 thing has got me with some spare time on my hands and a few new things to talk about, so the plan is to continue to blog here about my not-so-newly adopted home of Ireland.  In the 12 years that we've been here lots has changed....the recession sort of ended only to be restarted abruptly, politics are still only moderately ridiculous (but now I'm used to it), and the country really does now feel like home.  Yes, still have a huge part of my heart in Canada, but feeling more and more like the Irish everyday.  My good friend Caroline said a while back, ' a sure, you're one of us now'.  Best compliment I've had in quite a while.

A couple of photos from Kerry

These photos will have to do until I get my writing mojo back.

I haven't done much posting obviously for the past 6 months, but hope to soon.

Lots of new topics to chat about....so stay tuned.

Stephen

Here comes the budget!

Today is Budget Day in Ireland. And boy is it going to be a tough one, probably the toughest budget in Irish history. Ya see, there's a significant hole in public finances after the job and construction markets collapsed and also the banks were bailed out. The government needs to make public spending cutbacks of €4 billion. That may not sound like a lot but for a small country with drastically reduced tax intake and an economy that has been absolutely battered, that's a lot.

So where are these cuts going to come from? Well, our illustrious leader, Brian Cowan, is taking a €60,000 paycut, but he'll still be one of the highest paid leaders in Europe. So that's a start at least. Most of the cuts will likely come from paycuts to the public sector as well as decreases in social assistance payments (which again, are currently among the highest in Europe).

We found a really stinging way that the government is trying to make up some lost revenue as well. A leaflet was posted through our letterbox yesterday for a town meeting to discuss the plans a local businessman has to develop some land in the centre of town...for a bigger supermarket and apartments on top. According to the leaflet, if you want to submit an objection to any planning application in the county (may apply across the country, don't know for sure), you must include €20 with your objection. Completely ridiculous, €20 to participate in public governance?

Apparently there will be no tax increases in this budget.

Stay tuned. And don't be surprised if there is an election around the corner in Ireland.

Ways to boost tourism

An article today in the RTE website talks of strategies to boost tourism in Ireland. Apparently Tourism Ireland hopes to boost the number of visitors by 3% next year, after a 12% drop in visitors in 2009 (that's 600,000 fewer visitors!). Apparently the strategy will focus on luring British and German tourists to our fair isle.

The article also admits there was a 25% drop in visitors from Britain last year, likely as many people are opting for 'staycations' during these tough economic times.

What the article doesn't state, and I haven't looked elsewhere for reasons, is why tourists aren't coming to Ireland. I've got a few ideas, so here goes.

The exchange rate and the cost of everything. Currently the pound sterling is worth about €1.10, making rough approximations as to the cost of things fairly valid. So, with this in mind, and in general people with less disposable income, I think the question should be 'why the hell are people still coming to Ireland? Hotels are expensive and often not up to the same standards as Britain or the US, car hire is expensive, eating out fairly ridiculous, and the price of a pint in Temple Bar should send every tourist scurrying back to the airport pronto.

The inconvenience of it all. Yeah, I know I complain about the inconveniences of daily life here, and that probably comes from living in Canada and the USA for too long. But it is so true! Public transport is inefficient, the roads network is good in places and quite poor in others, shopping can often be a struggle, and government services are dated on concepts from the 70s (not that tourists see that). Some people see these inconveniences as quaint, which I suppose they could be if you're here for a 2 week holiday, but they can become annoying if you life here.

So why do people come to Ireland for a vacation? I would think two main reasons. First, the scenery. Absolutely beautiful mountains, coastlines....even the bogs are gorgeous. The cultural scenery is great too (churches, ruins etc.), but I'm not sure its anything better than they already have in the UK. Most tourist spots are woefully unprepared for large numbers of tourists though. I've taken coach loads of students on trips to the west coast, and just try finding somewhere with public toilets, or where you can get a meal for 30 people on the spur of the moment.

The second reason I think would be heritage. I've stopped counting the number of people I've bumped into (mainly Americans) who are over here seeing where their forebearers came from. Mostly older and likely with a bit of disposable income and looking for a bit of comfort on their travels. The recent economic conference at Farmleigh called on the diaspora to come home to Ireland (either physically or at least to support financially), yet there appears to be no organized effort to help this along. I think a big campaign in America to get people over here for a visit would do wonders.....let's call it Come Home to Ireland - 2012. Making it two years from now should give us a bit of time to scrub up, remove some graffiti, finish a few roads, and to allow the floodwaters to drop.

The trains are back in North County Dublin!

Well, the trains are now running again since they've fixed the bridge at Malahide. Replaced the bridge, rather. The first day back was last Monday, and now that the week is over I've been on that train 10 times. Not once has the train been on time. Not once. I think the drivers have forgotten how they work.

And now they've just announced a new schedule for the northern commuter trains (not that they follow the old schedule anymore). And of course, fewer trains during the evening rush hour. Yeah Irish Rail, that's not exactly the way to get your customers back after cancelling services for 3 months now, is it?

Ireland and the Hand of Frog

It's been three days since Thierry Henry 'handed' Ireland their exit from the World Cup, and the papers are still full of the fury. I'm not even Irish and I was raging. Catherine isn't Irish and hates football and she was mad. Accusations that FIFA wanted France to win, that Henry knew exactly what he was doing, and suggestions that the French Football Federation (FFF) should do the right thing and offer a replay are all common themes. Even the French people appear ashamed of their hollow victory (almost all of the newspapers are carrying apology letters from French people).

But something struck me about the level of upset seen in Ireland over this whole affair. It's not all about football (or soccer as the Irish call it), as none of the players even play for Irish clubs and it's not even all that popular a game here (rugby, hurling and Gaelic football are arguably more popular with spectators in Ireland). No, it's all part of a strong feeling running through the Irish these days of having been screwed over by the 'authorities' one too many times recently. The government is unpopular and doesn't listen to the people, the banks and developers conspired to get us into this economic mess, and Ireland is feeling alienated by the EU. And now we have the opportunity to feel good about ourselves for once.....and who takes it away? Another EU country, and an institution (FIFA) that appears biased and corrupt and lacking in moral fibre and sense of fair play. The FFF are also guilty of that Gallic shrug that says 'we don't care about you, we won, it may not have been fair but we are going to South Africa'. Where have we seen that attitude before? Oh yeah, the government, the banks, and the developers who got us into this financial mess.

There's lots of public outrage in Ireland these days; I hear it on the street, in the office, on the radio, and in the pubs. This is just another instance of the little guys getting screwed and those that make the rules saying tough.

Shame on France, shame on FIFA, and shame on the FFF. And well done to the Irish team. A brilliant display.

The Arctic Fox...in Dundalk?

This past weekend I did a bit of a spur-of-the-moment trip to Dundalk to do some coastal walking. What looked great on the map turned out to be a series of salt marshes that are a pain in the *ss for walking. So, I didn't explore as much as I wanted to, and ended up spending part of the afternoon exploring the lovely (?) city of Dundalk.

Not much to report about the town. Fairly large, a bit dreary, prosperous perhaps in a bygone day. But one thing did really stand out at me. Walking along some old but anonymous backstreet I spied one of those blue tourist signs attached to a building that usually designates the birthplace, deathplace (?), or former residence of someone barely famous. But this one got me excited....this run-down, fairly large house (for sale too!) was the birthplace of Sir Francis Leopold McClintock. Who? Well, a houshold name amongst those with an interest in the Arctic, McClintock explored huge areas of the Arctic in the search for Franklin in the mid-1800's, he mapped Melville Island and discovered both Price of Wales Island and Prince Patrick Island. Not bad for a kid from Dundalk.

Letting the days go by....

It's been a while since my last post. Just letting the days go by I suppose. Maybe it's because I'm becoming very drained by my commuting situation. The train bridge is still not fixed so I'm relegated to the bus still.

I must say that Dublin Bus has done a surprisingly good job of putting on plenty of buses to serve our town, but it still adds 45 minutes each way to my commute and also means I have to leave an hour earlier to avoid traffic. If I arrive at the bus stop anytime past 7 am, then the traffic on the highway into town is way too heavy and it becomes a nightmare. Oh well, I'm sort of getting used to the early mornings but I do yearn for the train to come back.

On other notes here in Ireland, it looks like there will be a public sector strike coming soon. Public sector workers have been told they'll have to take a 7% pay cut to 'do their bit' during the recession. This on top of the 5-7% pension levy they also had to pay. While Ireland does apparently have the highest-paid public sectors in Europe (and by the looks of things, the most bloated), this is a bit steep. I'm not public sector but this still raise my hackles. Especially when AIB Bank, which is now effectively owned by the government and taxpayer and something like €80 billion in the hole, has just voted themselves a 3% pay rise.

I also wouldn't mind paying my share if I saw a solid government plan for getting out of this deficit. Taxing your way out of a recesssion doesn't work, neither does continually cutting wages. Let's face it, this country is in a very bad state, and the government has no clue how to get out of it. Banana Republic economics all around.

Sunday in the Wicklow Mountains

We've had a visitor with us from Canada, Glen, who's never been to Ireland before. So Catherine and I figured we'd show him a few of the sights (although he was great about getting out and exploring on his own). So, early Sunday morning Glen and I headed up to the Wicklow Mountains for a bit of a drive and some fresh air. Here's a photo from the Wicklow Gap area....very pretty.Now the town of Glendalough is quite touristy but not much else is in the area, so it's great for just wandering without the fear of packs of Spanish tourists.

We made it back home just in town to head to the pub for the All-Ireland Championships (Gaelic Football), Kerry vs. Cork. A cracking match and we both enjoyed it, as did the whole pub. Now that's a sport I'm going to enjoy, along with hurling. Not quite a full replacement for hockey but it's a start.

Sunshine on the Aran Islands

This past weekend was our first weekend trip with the new students. The plan was to head to Galway for Friday night, Saturday travelling through the Burren, on to the Cliffs of Moher, and then overnight in the small village of Doolin. Sunday was a ferry to Inis Mor (one of the Aran Islands) where the students were free to explore in their own way. So, it's the kind of trip that could be a complete washout in the event of rain.

But, the weather gods shined on us, boy did they ever! Each day was about 23oC and sunny and calm. Not a cloud in the sky. I even got a tan. Yep, a tan, in Ireland, in September!

The Aran Islands, when the sun is shining, must be one of the most beautiful, peaceful, scenic, cultural etc. places in Europe. Stone walls, abandoned churches, small villages, crashing waves....lovely. I'll post some pictures soon.

A Change in the Weather...

We're making some final preparations for our weekend trip to the west coast of Ireland. Lilly is on the phone to various B&Bs in Doolin to try and find a place for our bus driver to stay, but everything seems booked out. In questioning the fifth B&B 'is there something going on in Doolin this weekend', the response from the B&B owner made us laugh.

'The sun is shining'.

Only in Ireland.

Dublin's new IKEA

So, the long anticipated IKEA store opened in Dublin in late July. Apparently the store was ready months ago but the regional government hadn't done their part in finishing the roads leading to the store. Prior to this store opening, Dubs traveled in convoy to the store in Belfast, where the parking lot was filled with a good percentage of cars from the Republic.

Catherine and I had been trying to buy a new bed for a while now, and the Belfast store was either out of stock all the time or only had stock when we couldn't make it up there. So, we were resigned to waiting for the new Dublin store to open, even though prices are guaranteed to be much higher in Rip Off Ireland. We went out to the store a couple of Sundays ago....big mistake. Packed to the rafters with people who had never been to IKEA and didn't understand IKEA etiquette. You follow the arrows people, and don't block the main aisle. If you want to have a chinwag about how great the stuff is, please pull off to the side. Oh yeah, of course it was like a family outing as well, with several generations of Dubs blocking the aisles at the same time. And of course the bed we wanted was out of stock (somehow we still managed to spend €200 on things we didn't go there for).

So yesterday I took a rare day off work and took the bus to the store again, having called first to check the bed was in stock. The bus ride was an adventure in itself. First it goes through the leafy suburbs of Glasnevin, before traveling through the horror that is Ballymun. My god, people actually live there. Burned out buildings, graffiti everywhere, aimless youth just hanging around looking menacing. Grim grim place. At least they're starting to bulldoze it to start again after its been recognized as one of the worst social housing experiments in Europe.

Made is to IKEA, bought the bed, and now I'm sitting at home waiting for delivery. Then I just have to put the damn thing together!

Rail fiasco update

Here is an update on the causes of the near disaster on the northern Dublin commuter line. It looks like scour around the bridge piers is going to take the blame, but I stand by my semi-expert opinion that this doesn't happen overnight. Spotted apparently by some boy scouts but not Irish Rail. Somebody dropped the ball on this one and should pay with their job. Of course this being Ireland that won't happen, because we all know that 'it will be grand'.

As for replacement services for commuters, I must say that I am fairly impressed with Dublin Bus and the way they've picked up the slack. From 6:30 to 9:00 am there is an express bus from Skerries to Tara Street that takes about 50 minutes. Only about 10 minutes more than the rail commute, but certainly not as convenient a drop point for my office. Evening rush hour is similar, with good fast service but inconvenient pick up points. Oh well, I can deal with that for a few (six?) months.

My main beef is that there are no express buses in the evening after 7pm. So if I want to stay in town for dinner, a pint, or have to stay in town for work, I'm kind of screwed. A nearly 2 hour ride on the regular bus is the only option. Sigh. I think Paddy Power must be taking bets on when this will be operational again. I'll give 5:1 against it being operational before Christmas.

And another thing.....the 'apologies for the disruption' signs at the station sort of cover it when there is a 10 minute delay. But for a 6 month denial of service I expect something a bit more....well, apologetic.

Irish Rail....again.

I know it's been a while since I last posted, but things have been busy and I've had a trip to Vermont, Quebec, and Ontario to keep me from posting.

So, last night I was on the 6:15 departing Pearse Station heading for my stop in Skerries. At about 6:30 we pulled into Howth Junction and the driver came on with an announcement. 'The causeway at Malahide estuary has collapsed, this train terminates here and there will be no further trains'. Everyone chuckled, and I managed to find two other Skerries-bound passengers to share a €40 taxi home.

The seriousness of it only came to light when I got home and checked out the news on RTE. Apparently, a train driver heading south over the estuary at 6:20 noticed the track starting to collapse under his train. He managed to cross and stopped at Malahide to raise the alarm. My train, with me in the first carriage, would have been the next over the causeway had the other driver not noticed the problem. Now pictures have appeared on news sites, and it looks very, very serious indeed. Any train passing over that would have ended up in the drink.

Now the news indicates that it will take 3 months to repair, and of course I have absolutely no faith in Irish Rail to provide alternative commuting arrangements for any commuter north of Malahide. Stay tuned.

Race day

The post below was put up after the Friday practice at the Skerries 100. Now it's a few days after the Saturday race. Again, mega impressed by the skills and courage of these guys. Somebody told me that the big bikes reach speeds of 175 mph down the main stretch. Nuts. And the crowd, perched on embankments, also take major risks (I didn't....I managed to find protected areas).

Saturday morning was a bit rainy, so that slowed things down a bit but I managed to find a few great spots (on top of hedges basically) to watch the action. The crowd was out in full force, many sporting t-shirts commemorating Martin Finnegan, a local boy who died in a similar race last year. It dried up after noon and the later races, many of the big bikes, took place under dry conditions.

Overall a great day, and what a great event for little 'ol Skerries.

The Skerries 100 !

Big weekend in Skerries...it's the Skerries 100 motorcycle race. So the local Loughshinny Motorcycle Club holds the races every year, TT-style. The track is composed of various roads between Skerries and Lusk....you know the type, one lane each way with a massive hedge along the border. Winding, lots of blind bends, up and down, spectators standing beside the road....yep, perfect place for a motorcycle race. Only crazies need apply.

I went along to the practice sessions today. The first bikes out were the classic reconditioned ones....so I was very impressed with the speeds they managed on these winding roads. Quite crazy actually. And then the 750cc bikes came out, and I must say that I was blown away by the balls these riders have. These guys were doing about 140 mph down these narrow country roads, unbelievable. Here are a couple of pics from today, but they don't actually capture the speed.

The actual races are Saturday, and Catherine is coming along then. I know she'll think it another example of utter Irish madness.

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.