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1916-2016 Easter Rising Commemorations – Was it ok?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
1916-2016 Easter Rising Commemorations – Was it ok?

In 2016 we commemorated the Easter Rising from 1916. Everybody had huge expectations and I think now that we have left 2016 behind, it is time to look back and to assess if the expectations were met or if the whole thing was a big disappointment.

In 2015 I had expected that the following year will be full of funeral re-enactments and other drama and re-lived pain. Sinn Fein were positioning themselves to be in charge of Dublin City (through the position of “Lord” Major) and it seemed that they wanted to run the whole show.

When 2016 arrived it immediately started with a flurry of events. Talks, discussions, tours, music, poetry, theatre etc and it looked as if this would continue throughout the year. The events were mostly of high quality with very dedicated and passionate people running it and it all culminated in a great (RTE-organised) event on Easter Monday that had whole Dublin buzzing with activity. The streets around Stephen’s Green and Merrion Square were packed with people, O’Connell Street was more than full and Smithfield Plaza was as busy as I had seen it never before. There were concerts, historic car exhibitions, historic trade demonstrations, talks, theatre and everything else you can imagine under the umbrella of “cultural commemoration”. It was an outstanding day.It was very surprising that RTE got overall responsibility as the event had nothing directly to do with TV or Radio, but they did a really great job in keeping all together in that one day.

After Easter Monday, however, it all ended very abruptly. The odd exhibition continued and for the rest of the year only a small number of talks popped up but otherwise it was all done and dusted.

This latter part disappointed me! I didn’t think that all was discussed and sorted by Easter Monday, so the rest of the year could easily have had more activities. Before Easter Monday it was nearly a bit much because all was crammed in the first four months of the year and Easter Monday was – as mentioned – a true highlight and couldn’t have been much better.

Luckily NO political party claimed “ownership” of the commemorations and no one party had bigger influence over it than another party. And luckily also, the commemorations were a celebration and not a sad, drab affair.

So all in all, I would give 2016 a 8 out of 10 as far as 1916 commemorations are concerned. I learned a lot, understood a lot better afterwards and was (for the first time since I live in Ireland) impressed by RTE.

Now we have to ask, what is next. The Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) is next, followed by the Irish Civil War (1922-1923) and history get a lot more controversial at that time. But maybe we can find some positive common denominator there as well?

1916, Dublin, Events, Tourism, ,

Bad bad 2016!? – Celebrity Deaths

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Bad bad 2016!? – Celebrity Deaths

In 2016 a relatively large amount of celebrities died. There was David Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, George Michael, Muhammad Ali, Gene Wilder, Leonard Cohen, Carrie Fisher and many others that unfortunately left us in this year. Some died of illnesses other of other health reasons and others again because they had reached the age where their bodies decided to pack it in.

Importantly there was absolutely no link between the deaths, but oddly many Twitter and Facebook users and even some “news websites” tried to “blame” 2016 on it. With common statements after another death like “2016 you can f*ck right off” and similar.

Yes, it was a relatively large amount and there are good reasons for it, but the reactions were just nonsensical bordering on stupid.

If people switched their brains on and thought for a second, they would realise a number of things:
+ We know a much higher number of “celebrities” than any generations before us. That has to do with the Internet, with our global media outlets and with the fact that it is a lot easier to become a “celebrity” in the last 20-40 years than ever before.
+ Many of the celebrities we grew up with are – surprisingly – ageing like us. So if we get older then they also get older. With increasing age the risk of illnesses increases and – oddly – the risk of death is much higher for old people than for young people.

What does that mean? It means that the dying will continue! 2017 will probably see a similar high number of deaths. When will it end? When the end has reached us! I know that sounds brutal, but I see it happening with my parents, for example. They are at a funeral for people that they knew well during their life nearly every week and bit by bit, the friends and family get thinned out and you feel the unavoidable end coming closer and closer.

A very morbid tone for the last This is Odd in 2016? Yes, it is dealing with death, but it is something we will all need to deal with at some stage and stupid statements like “Stop that 2016!” are not facing up to facts about life.

So how should we react? The best approach is always to appreciate the fact that the people that pass away have been with us. To remind ourselves what nice memories we have and to accept that life is terminal. Only that way you can properly deal with it. Grieving is fine, even for someone that you have never met. Some celebrities, like George Michael, really were part of some of our lives. So keep the memories and stop the blaming on a year or other non-related entities and circumstances.

www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-year-in-review/look-back-all-famous-figures-who-died-2016-n698791

Elsewhere, Odd, Other,

Dundrum Town Centre Parking – Daylight Robbery

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Dundrum Town Centre Parking – Daylight Robbery

There are many out-of-town shopping centres around Dublin. There is Liffey Valley, Blanchardstown, a little further away Kildare Village and there is the Dundrum Town Centre.

Dundrum always wanted to be something different, something better. Posher, more expensive, “better” shops. But in the end it is just a shopping centre … and not a lifestyle choice.

The newest idea to be different seems to be to charge outrageous parking charges. Well, that is one day of being different, but definitely not a way to be better.

Currently NONE of the other out of town shopping centres charge a cent for parking, but Dundrum always did. However the charges were moderate-ish. Now Dundrum is owned by new owners because they went through Nama and were sold in the middle of last year and the new owners seemingly want to get their money back through a huge increase in parking charges. No free parking, no discounts for people that shop for longer, nothing. They want a EUR 3 rate per hour.

But customers are slowly getting together to declare their opposition. There is a new Facebook Group now and you can find the “NO to EUR 3” Facebook Page here: goo.gl/eMP1IK . Support the Page if you think EUR 3 is too much and if you don’t want other shopping centres to get crazy ideas!

Dublin, Economy, , ,

“Dublin One” – INCREASING the North-South Divide

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
“Dublin One” – INCREASING the North-South Divide

The Independent.ie reported on Friday that Dublin has a new “district” and it surprised and puzzled me. I thought one of the fringe areas on the outer commuter belt might have got a new name, but, NO, they were writing about the “new district” called “Dublin One”. What?? A new district? Sounds like a whole pile of bullsh*t….and so it is!

Nearly a year ago, in January 2016, the Dublin Northside Attraction Alliance was founded and it seems that they have done close to nothing for the whole year. They started very confused when they included the Guinness Storehouse in the Northside list of attractions. (You better claim the biggest visitor magnet in Dublin for the Northside even if it is firmly on the Southside!) A website is up but not much else seemed to have happened.

And when you think about it, it does absolutely not make sense to create a deeper divide than there is already. By creating an artificial separation between Northside Attractions and other attractions (there is no “Southside Attractions Alliance”), you don’t market the Northside better, but you fragment our quite small city more and create unnecessary confusion in tourists.

The right thing would be to market DUBLIN (as a whole) and ignore that there is a river separating North and South. So it was an ill-advised initiative to create the Northside Attraction Alliance, but instead of seeing that it failed, now they plan to make it worse:

Last week Dublintown, the trader’s organisation for Dublin, launched “Dublin One”, a new “brand” to promote the area west of O’Connell Street to Capel Street and Parnell Square to the quays. Dublin 1 is already a postal district and doesn’t require any brand. So why a new “brand” was created for a fraction of Dublin 1 is a mystery. Oddly O’Connell Street seems to be EXcluded from the Dublintown district “Dublin One”, it only starts “west of O’Connell Street” according to the website.

Irish Independent journalist Pól Ó Conghaile suggests in his article that it is a great idea. But to subdivide Dublin further instead of pulling together and to promote based on merit and quality rather than on location can’t be a great idea. He mentions some of the highlights on the Northside and while he doesn’t claim it, it could appear that he implies that they are all in “Dublin One”, but they aren’t! Many of the sites he mentions are in Dublin 7 (e.g. K Chido Mexico, Old Jameson Distillery, the old Victorian Fruit & Veg Market).

No, Dublintown, “Dublin One” that only covers part of Dublin 1 and that is intended to discriminate some areas by elevating one small part of Dublin doesn’t make sense! It’s just odd!

Dublin, Society, Tourism, , , ,

Empty Terminal 2 – Where is everybody?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Empty Terminal 2 – Where is everybody?

The economy has improved again in the last few years and there are jobs available in Ireland if you are in the right sector. And while we still hear about emigration and many of us know some people that have temporarily or permanently emigrated, the departure from Ireland seems to have slowed down.

But last Wednesday, I was wondering if everybody had left and I arrived to an empty Ireland. I flew from London Gatwick to Dublin with Aer Lingus and we arrived at Dublin airport just before 20:00. We landed at Terminal 1 and – nonsendically – had to treck the loooong walk across to Terminal 2 to get out of the airport. At the passport check there were no queues and only two immigration officers sat there. When we arrived in the baggage claim hall, the place was deserted. There was nobody else around than the people from our half-empty plane. No other planes arriving. Nobody at customs. And after leaving the baggage claims hall there were just about 5 people sitting on the benches where you wait for the arrival of your loved ones. But they were not waiting for anybody, they read books!

What a surreal experience to arrive in a seemingly abandoned airport! Where was everybody on Wednesday evening???

Dublin, Tourism,
 
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