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Category: Dublin

Busking under threat! City Councillors are determined to make Dublin boring

10 July 2016Written by Joerg Steegmueller

For a number of years, the Dublin City Councillors are trying to re-organise the busking in the city and they are making a mess of it.

The problem is that the shops in the areas where busking makes sense don’t like buskers. They make noise and block the street, Busking at night also disturbs people’s sleep (more in Temple Bar than in Grafton Street where nobody lives). And then there are some really really bad buskers who shouldn’t be on the street at all.

So, it is totally accepted that a bit of structure needs to be injected. But the Councillors went over the top. They introduced the requirement for buskers to have a license that they need to buy from Dublin City and they defined the amount of noise buskers are allowed to make (but that is difficult to measure) and they created busking free zones and defined how far buskers should be from each other and for how long they are allowed to sing and how often they are allowed to repeat their songs. They even considered introducing the requirement of auditions for buskers!!! Mad!!

There was a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel! The previous busking laws were time limited to be reviewed some while later. This some while later has come now and with a LOT of delays finally the councillors discussed busking again and…made things worse again.

Because the noise measurement doesn’t work, now they have forbidden the use of backing tracks!!

Not too long ago, I saw a busker who played something like a pan flute. He wasn’t one of the Mexican flute player that can be found all over the world who mainly sell their CDs, but it was a guy whose hand was severely disabled. He could hold the pan flute but wouldn’t have been able to play any other instrument. With the new rules, he is out! Because pan flute without any backing track just doesn’t work.

A few years ago I heard two guys in Grafton Street who were amazing. They were the type of power or pop violinists that you see sometimes. Extremely talented, playing the violin like gods but they couldn’t do their gig without an orchestra. Obviously they didn’t bring their orchestra but had a backing track. You won’t see anything like that in Dublin anymore! …thanks to our City Councillors!

But it gets worse! Some of them even want to forbid the use of amplifiers. I am totally ok with a limitation of the amplifier use. Otherwise we will have huge PAs at some stage in Grafton Street and Temple Bar, but there are small 5-15W amps that help a bass player (for example) just to be heard without having to buy a new instrument. They don’t really make noise, they just allow the use of a normally amplified instrument in a more acoustic environment.

Dublin has a great musical tradition and a huge musical talent in our midst, but we (at least _I_) also like hearing “travelling musicians” and there HAS to be a way to use soft and careful limitations to improve the situation for ALL sides instead of forbidding everything!! City Councillors are meant to improve things in our City not destroy culture and variety.

Dublin, Dublin City Council, Events, Tourism Backing Tracks, Busking, Dublin City Councillors

Serious disease targets men in Ireland! – No cure found for Umbrellaphobia yet.

09 July 2016Written by Joerg Steegmueller

New empirical studies have shown that men in Ireland suffer from a debilitating disease that not only affects men, but also attacks their wardrobe. The disease only breaks out on rainy days, but then spreads faster than the feared winter vomiting bug until it reaches every corner of Dublin. The disease is called Umbrellaphobia and is a chronic aversion against the use of umbrellas and it can even escalate to an outright fear of umbrellas. Luckily the Umbrellaphobia disappears once the rain stop, but subsequent wet days show that it never gets cured, it only gets temporarily pushed back a bit.

This Umbrellaphobia seems to affect the brain of the majority of men in Ireland and makes logical thinking and the slightest bit of risk assessment an impossible thing. The prevalence of the disease is significantly higher in Irish males in comparison to non-irish males, but it does affect both population groups.

What happened? Last Wednesday, a wet early morning, I saw with my own eyes how Irish men in particular and many men in general have such a fear of umbrellas – or the image that the use of an umbrella might create (or destroy), – that destroying their clothes, walking around looking like a wet cat and getting drowned in the Dublin rain is preferred over using a stretched out piece of fabric, spanned over a collapsible metal frame.

I saw not one, not two, not three, no FOUR men who had full suits on, but walked along the canal with no jacket and no umbrella, looking like someone had dragged them through the canal. What is wrong with (Irish) men!? Why does a simple umbrella scare the bejaysus out of them so that they would be rather seen dead (or drowned) than with an umbrella in their hand.

Odd!! Luckily the women are significantly more logical and analytical when it comes to the rain and its effects.

Dublin, Irish, Society Irish Men, Rain, Umbrella, Umbrellaphobia

New Architecture and Planing in Dublin – Getting better or worse?

07 June 2016Written by Joerg Steegmueller

Let me start with this: I am NOT an architect, not an expert in building design and I also am not a structural engineer or a town planer, so I am not speaking from a place of trained or studied knowledge, BUT I do have an opinion.

On Friday it was announced that Hawkins House in Poolbeg Street, near Tara Station will be knocked down and replaced by a new building. The Department of Health will move out and once the building is finished some other department will move in. The Department of Health will move to the former Bank of Ireland building in Baggot Street.

TheJournal.ie had one of the best articles about this development here and they also provide some detail about the new building.

Through my day job, I know the current Hawkins House building reasonably well and I have to say that it is VERY ugly and doesn’t seem to be structurally safe anymore. Scaffolding is supporting the building in many places OR is protecting pedestrians from pieces that might come off. On the inside, Hawkins House is certainly not modern (it is from 1962), but not too bad looking. However, I can see many areas regarding comfort, but also regarding energy efficiency etc where significant improvements would be hugely beneficial.

After the announcement a good few people argued that building projects and the massive amount of money they will cost shouldn’t carried out as long as sick children can’t be looked after well and appropriately and I can empathise with this point. However, I don’t think one is directly linked to the other or simpler put, I don’t think one should exclude the other!

So with Hawkins House needing some significant work anyway, it probably makes more sense to knock it down than to patch it up.

The newspapers write about the “ugliest building in Dublin” and there are many competing for the prize. Hawkins House is a strong contender, so I was curious to see the proposal for its replacement and shockingly (but not THAT surprisingly) the replacement doesn’t look much better at all. It is a more modern ugly building, but it is questionable if any normal office building can ever look good.

I heard (but have no proof for it) that Hawkins House won some prizes when it was built in 1962 and in the same way the new building could win prizes, but in 40 years time, I would expect the new Hawkins House also being declared ugly. So now change there.

What puzzles me the most, though, is the fact that the current 11 storey building will be replaced with a 10 storey building. How does that makes sense? Liberty Hall and the Ulster Bank buildings are quite near and they are all higher than Hawkins House. And with space limitations in the City Centre, we need to make maximum use of the available space, so I would have expected an INCREASE in height, not a decrease. It should be at least 13 or 14 floors high, not 10.

And if you accept that in 30-50 years it will be declared as ugly anyway, then I also wonder if it should be attempted to make it “pretty” for today’s taste!?

Dublin, Other Architecture, Hawkins House, Poolbeg Street

EPIC Ireland – The Journey of the People – New Visitor Attraction

20 May 2016Written by Joerg Steegmueller

EPIC Ireland is Dublin’s newest visitor attraction. It is based in the beautiful basement of the CHQ Building at George’s Dock (IFSC) and only opened last week. The exhibition is telling the story of the people of Ireland and you can “travel” with them. Thanks to @DarraghDoyle and the EPIC Ireland management, I got a chance to “travel” through the whole exhibition nearly 3 weeks ago and here are my impressions.

When you arrive you get a passport that shows you the stations on your travels through the exhibition and you can get a stamp in every room. But then it starts quite gloomy, because the Irish history wasn’t a happy story for long stretches. Emigration, unemployment, poverty and even death were everywhere. But luckily the fog lifts soon and EPIC Ireland celebrates the successes, the Irish people that made it, for example the scientists that had an impact on the world. It also celebrates Irish culture (Music, Sport and Pubs, but also literature, film, TV etc) and there are rooms for every aspect of culture. One of the most impressive one is a library, where you can move some books in the shelves and you hear then a reading of a section of that book.

The whole exhibition is heavily built around multi-media presentations. Many of them are interactive, which means that you are not only a passive viewer, but can experience the exhibition to a degree. There are very few panels that you have to read as you find them in traditional museums, but there are also quite few real exhibits. So you wouldn’t call EPIC Ireland a museum, instead it is a show. A multimedia show that uses more (touch) screens than you have ever seen before in one place.

After 1.5 hours travelling with the Irish people I came to the “finish line” (I rushed it a bit and could have spent at least another 30-45 minutes there) and at that point I had to think about my opinion of the overall experience. Not easy because it is so different.

EPIC Ireland was built by the same people that are behind the Titanic Experience in Belfast, but I have never been there. So for me this was the first FULL ON multimedia (not-)museum show and it was TOO much multimedia for me. I like slowing down sometimes and reading something or looking at exhibits, at EPIC Ireland one show element was immediately followed by the next as you walked through the rooms and at times I couldn’t keep up. However, this is just my preference, so what should I tell you?

After thinking a bit about it, I came to a definite conclusion: If you are Irish or have some Irish roots, you should definitely go to EPIC Ireland. It won’t cover all, there are many gaps in the story, but you should go nevertheless. You will probably only go once, but when you go, give yourself at least 1.5 hours, better 2 hours.

So should everybody go? I think, that if you are not Irish or have no Irish roots, but are just in Ireland because you like the landscape or Irish music or you just work here and don’t care too much about the history of Ireland, then this show is not for you. Foreign tourists should definitely go to the National Museum, but unless they feel (partially) Irish, EPIC Ireland might not be for them. In other words: American tourists with Irish roots HAVE to go :-) , but Spanish, French, German etc etc tourists can live without it.

The show elements and the work behind it is absolutely impressive and while I missed a few elements about today’s Ireland (Music, TV, Film and Politics and Science & Technology) I am ok with the fact that even the historical parts are in many areas only skimming the surface. EPIC Ireland is not a comprehensive historic treatment of Ireland, but it is an EXPERIENCE of Ireland.

So, go when you can get a chance and if you can afford it and build your own opinion! I mentioned it here and in general left it until last: EPIC Ireland is, together with the Guinness Storehouse, the Wax Museum and also the 1916 Experience in the GPO part of the newer and costly visitor attractions. In the past Ireland was the country where the museums are free, but these good times are behind us. EPIC Ireland costs EUR 16 for an adult and EUR 8 for a child, but unlike in the Guinness Storehouse, there is no pint of beer waiting for you at the exit. ;-) So at that price, it is not something that many would go to without thinking. With the amount of work to create this show and the vast amount of flat screens (I am still not over that! ;-) ) I can see how the price is justified, but I also have to admit that I still find it very high.

Should you still go? Yes! Save for a little if you have to and then go. Spend all the time there that you need, because you will most likely not come back, but do it once!

Opening times are 7 days a week from 09:00-19:00. Tickets can be bought and more information can be found on www.epicirelandchq.com/

Dublin, Events, Society, Tourism CHQ, EPIC Ireland

College Green Plans – Consultation

22 April 2016Written by Joerg Steegmueller

The plans for College Green have been revealed. The intention is to pedestrianise the whole College Green area from Starbucks in Dame Street to the Westin Hotel in Westmoreland Street and up to Grafton Street. Suffolk Street is also becoming a car free zone. This is a HUGE area in the middle of the city and that has some pros and some cons.

The plus sides are that for the first time, Dublin will get a major civic space in the middle of the city centre and I really hope that that will be the new site for a completely new Christmas Market for Dublin and will also give opportunity to have other markets and events in that area.

But there are downsides for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. The downside for motorists is clear, but the new issues for pedestrians and cyclists might need a bit more of an explanation. Usually cyclists are banned from pedestrianised areas and while there are short cycling lanes reaching into the main pedestrianised area, it most likely will still mean that you have to get off your bike and push it for some distance before you are allowed to continue your trip and since this is one of the main North-South routes, that doesn’t seem to be a good options. Complete cycling paths that allow to traverse the entire pedestrianised zone should be provided.

For pedestrians such cycling paths are a problem because it de-pedestrianises the zone BUT much worse is that busses, the LUAS and possibly even Taxis (completely unacceptable!) are still allowed to drive throughout the so-called “pedestrianised” zone. Either all or nothing is my opinion and wile we can’t divert the LUAS, busses and definitely taxis should NOT be allowed to drive through in my opinion.

Can you imagine the line of hundreds of taxis that will try to drive through that area in the hope to pick up passengers? And they are prepared to stop at any point at any time, ignorant to busses and the LUAS trying to get through.

If you have different opinions or even share my opinions, you are asked to submit your view on the proposed solution.

You have until 24 May and all details are here: www.dublincity.ie/college-green

Dublin, Dublin City Council, Traffic College Green Consultation