A Vacant city – Dublin on Christmas Morning (pics)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

Pepsi.

wow, havent seen that since world cup 1990

coooill!

What a clever idea! (if somewhat unorthodox :))

Very spooky, esp Stephen’s Green – creepy or what 😮

I’ve often wondered what the city would be like deserted, and if there was any time that you could actually experience it besides closures for parades etc – so clearly Christmas morning is it!

Might just wander in one year so: with all the shops closed too it must be like a ghost town…….

If only the traffic was always like that. Just imaging driving a motorbike up and down the streets at 8 in the morning. 100 miles an hour, wrong way down the street, or on the pavement. I have to do that some Christmas morning.

Merry St. Stephens day.

Maybe for you!

@Graham Hickey wrote:

I’ve often wondered what the city would be like deserted, and if there was any time that you could actually experience it besides closures for parades etc – so clearly Christmas morning is it!

Might just wander in one year so: with all the shops closed too it must be like a ghost town…….

If you have an interest in this type of thing, you should have a read of Charles Dickens’s Sketches by Boz and his The Uncommercial Traveller. They give fantastic ‘journalistic’ style accounts of what Victorian London was like at night time and in the early morning. Interesting stuff. Dickens and Victorian London at their best.

Best wishes for 2006.

Indeed PDLL,and I came across one quote from Boz in “The Bus We Loved” and it still rings true in many ways today…..
Dickens is referring to the arrival of privateers into Londons Omnibus Industry and the influx of new staff…..
“………Cad`s who are minded to chuck an old Gentleman into the buss,shut him in,and rattle off,afore the unfortunate Gent knows where it`s a-goin to”….
Great Bus journeys of our time perhaps or how about a trip to Funderland at the RDS by No.7 today….!!!!! :confused:

Eerie isnt it? I wonder if this was how they filmed the central London scenes in 28 Days Later.

It was indeed eerie on Christmas morning, but I think what I found more difficult to understand that was the entire day the 26th was very much the same, as well as the morning of the 27th. When Dublin clears out for Christmas, it really clears out! Bad habit to get into, crossing the streets without looking!

Well it serves Dublin pedestrians well for the other 363 days!

@Morlan wrote:

While you lot were opening presents and singing carols this morning, I was on the internet downloading live pictures from the DCC website.

Is anyone on webcam duty this Christmas? 😀

Morlan…..?

I’m over in Germany and I’d be delighted to spend some of the morning looking at my home town free of traffic. I’d need a bit of help uploading the pictures, if they’re any different to the above, but I don’t know how. Any help would be appreciated.

just shows how unlived in the city still is. I mean the suburbs can still be quite busy at Christmas

Ode to Joy as one might say at Yuletide !!

That Camera 5 shot looking Eastwards back along Stephens Green should be cut and pasted to the City Managers forehead.
It clearly shows the Cats Menackie which the City Council made of the Bus Stop/Car Parking arrangements here.

As one can plainly see the Bus Bays are located AFTER the row of Pay and Display spaces which are usually to be found full of Builders Vans (From the Shelbourne Development).

This means that Busdrivers having made the sharp left-turn from the East Side of the Green are faced with a Wall of Steel effectively blocking their view of the Stops.
Ergo the view of the intending Bus Passengers is also blocked,causing the poor souls to wander abroad amongst the ever lengthening queue of Taxi`s which also make use of the Bus Bays.

A total frigging mess and a salutory example of just how POOR Dublin City Council`s Proffessional Planners really are at recognizing serious Safety Related Deficiencies in their own designs.

Simple shaggin Commonsense would have the Bus Stops relocated to the present location of the Pay and Display and these in turn moved to the Present Bus Bay location.
Several safety related benefits including clear sight lines for Busdrivers and Passengers.
No sudden sharp manouvering to access the Stops and no infringment of the Road Traffic Act by Bus Drivers attempting to enter Dawson St After utilizing the Stop (Read the bits of the RTA concerning Solid White Lines and Solid Bordered Hatched Areas).

Its also interesting to know that when a Journalist friend of mine contacted the Garda Press Office last year to enquire if The Gardai had sanctioned this little scenario,he was told they had nothing to do with the location of Bus Stops as this was a COUNCIL function……Hatches being battened there methinks !!

It`s almost as if DCC has a secret Department of Men in White Coats who spend their entire working life dreaming up cock-eyed scenario`s such as this and then putting great effort into ensuring its permenancy !!! 😡