The Philanderer
Monday, July 2, 2007
Dublingrad
My wife and I have just returned from a long weekend in Dublin, courtesy of Irish Ferries. A couple of nights b & b in the four star Burlington Hotel, and the crossing were covered, so we just had to feed and water ourselves....neither are too much of a problem in that fair City.
We visited Wicklow, Arklow and the Wicklow mountains on Saturday, and generally chilled the rest of the time.
I need to give the City a 'heads up' though, and how much I hate that expression. The joy of visiting the City is as much about the people as it is the surroundings, particularly the serving staff who take a real pride in being Irish and doing their job well. Imagine my disappointment then that many of the bars we visited had non-Irish staff behind the bar.
Now I have never had a problem with the Aussie and Kiwi population of London who traditionally came over, worked their passage in bars and restaurants and funded the next part of their round the world trip accordingly. They were kind of British, so had an understanding of the culture of the British pub, could give the banter as much as take it, and generally speaking laughed and joked their way through their shifts, keeping the regulars happy.
The problem Dublin has is that the immigrant staff they are employing have limited English, and much less Irish, don't really understand what the Craic is all about, or the special relationship they should have with their punters. If it becomes endemic, the atmosphere of the traditional bars will be lost and the bar tender profession, so revered in the Country, will become a thing of the past.
So rant over.....and that said, we did find some cracking bars full of the Craic and people prepared to chew the fat. Kehoe's remains a favourite, as does O'Donohues in Baggot Street. Over the road is Doheny & Nesbitt which we must add to our rugby pub circuit, and O'Briens in Leeson Street was a local lively bar.
We had a very pleaseant evening in Bijou, a restaurant in Rathgar, but kitty's next to O'Donohues promised much but came up a bit short.
Three hurling contests at Croke Park made for a lively city, not withstanding the usual 'hens'.
Roll on the Six Nations!!!
We visited Wicklow, Arklow and the Wicklow mountains on Saturday, and generally chilled the rest of the time.
I need to give the City a 'heads up' though, and how much I hate that expression. The joy of visiting the City is as much about the people as it is the surroundings, particularly the serving staff who take a real pride in being Irish and doing their job well. Imagine my disappointment then that many of the bars we visited had non-Irish staff behind the bar.
Now I have never had a problem with the Aussie and Kiwi population of London who traditionally came over, worked their passage in bars and restaurants and funded the next part of their round the world trip accordingly. They were kind of British, so had an understanding of the culture of the British pub, could give the banter as much as take it, and generally speaking laughed and joked their way through their shifts, keeping the regulars happy.
The problem Dublin has is that the immigrant staff they are employing have limited English, and much less Irish, don't really understand what the Craic is all about, or the special relationship they should have with their punters. If it becomes endemic, the atmosphere of the traditional bars will be lost and the bar tender profession, so revered in the Country, will become a thing of the past.
So rant over.....and that said, we did find some cracking bars full of the Craic and people prepared to chew the fat. Kehoe's remains a favourite, as does O'Donohues in Baggot Street. Over the road is Doheny & Nesbitt which we must add to our rugby pub circuit, and O'Briens in Leeson Street was a local lively bar.
We had a very pleaseant evening in Bijou, a restaurant in Rathgar, but kitty's next to O'Donohues promised much but came up a bit short.
Three hurling contests at Croke Park made for a lively city, not withstanding the usual 'hens'.
Roll on the Six Nations!!!
Labels: craic, Croke Park, Doheny and Nesbitt, Dublin, kehoes, o'donahues
¶ 12:33 PM 2 Comments
Friday, June 1, 2007
"I think you've had enough old son......."
I am off to Wembley tonight for the England v Brazil game, and this, together with some incidents over the weekend, got me thinking about why football followers seem to be so much more aggressive than those of other sports.
At the family barbecue I referred to, there were a mixture of young people. Some from Liverpool had gone to school with Kieran at St Mary's, a Christian Brothers school, some who had gone to Merchant Taylors, next door . Others where at Uni (or Poly ;-)) in Liverpool and had come from other parts of the country, and some were work colleagues of Kieran from the Wirral and around. They all mixed extremely well, and people commented on how well mannered they were.
One poor girl had had a hell of a few weeks with boyfriend problems, and she got absolutely trashed. Rather than leave her to fall about the furnishings and smash the ornaments, two of her flat mates took her home, put her to bed and returned later to the party.
Sometime after that one of the St Mary's lads got some abuse from another of the boys there, and the St Mary's lads closed ranks and suggested to one of the rogues friends that it was time he helped him home, which he did. This passed off unnoticed by most people at the party.
It reminded me of my own experiences as an 'old fart' who regularly attends rugby internationals at Twickenham, in Dublin and in Paris. There are usually six of us, and we do like a drink. It is fair to say though, that in the 25 years we have been acting the fool, we have at worst made bus travel between Twickenham and Richmond noisy, and the ride out of Dublin on the Dart a joyous singing occasion. Any activity likely to provoke violence, either physical or verbal, is quickly stamped on by the group, and the offender parked in a corner and told to behave.
Why then is it not the case at football matches that there is not this same self policing? The tribal nature of the supporters seems to add an 'edge' to the whole atmosphere. It can't be associated purely with the Public school, grammar school, secondary school differential outlined yesterday, as many of the perpetrators are from good stock?
Personally I blame the lager, as we all know London Pride has no alcohol in it!!!
At the family barbecue I referred to, there were a mixture of young people. Some from Liverpool had gone to school with Kieran at St Mary's, a Christian Brothers school, some who had gone to Merchant Taylors, next door . Others where at Uni (or Poly ;-)) in Liverpool and had come from other parts of the country, and some were work colleagues of Kieran from the Wirral and around. They all mixed extremely well, and people commented on how well mannered they were.
One poor girl had had a hell of a few weeks with boyfriend problems, and she got absolutely trashed. Rather than leave her to fall about the furnishings and smash the ornaments, two of her flat mates took her home, put her to bed and returned later to the party.
Sometime after that one of the St Mary's lads got some abuse from another of the boys there, and the St Mary's lads closed ranks and suggested to one of the rogues friends that it was time he helped him home, which he did. This passed off unnoticed by most people at the party.
It reminded me of my own experiences as an 'old fart' who regularly attends rugby internationals at Twickenham, in Dublin and in Paris. There are usually six of us, and we do like a drink. It is fair to say though, that in the 25 years we have been acting the fool, we have at worst made bus travel between Twickenham and Richmond noisy, and the ride out of Dublin on the Dart a joyous singing occasion. Any activity likely to provoke violence, either physical or verbal, is quickly stamped on by the group, and the offender parked in a corner and told to behave.
Why then is it not the case at football matches that there is not this same self policing? The tribal nature of the supporters seems to add an 'edge' to the whole atmosphere. It can't be associated purely with the Public school, grammar school, secondary school differential outlined yesterday, as many of the perpetrators are from good stock?
Personally I blame the lager, as we all know London Pride has no alcohol in it!!!
Labels: brazil, Dublin, england, London Pride, merchant taylors, Paris, Richmond, St Mary's College, The dart, twickenham, wembley, Wirral
¶ 2:32 PM 0 Comments
