Contempt!!!!!!!
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You are all very welcome to Dublin. Sorry, you may have to wait for an hour for a bus from the airport to get to the city, but hey, we will have a Metro by….erm….2008, maybe 27. But do take the bus! Today its €1.50! Yesterday it was €1.60, and two weeks ago it was €1.30. Don’t be confused, just get used to it!!!!
But hey look at our lovely main street! Its so nice this time of year, with all the trees…oh dear, it is quite a mess isn’t it!
And for recreation, we pride ourselves on having one of the largest stadia in Europe, but sorry, no foreign games allowed.
And as for our wonderful architecture, just look in awe at the customs house, just ignore all around it! Stunning, eh?And while you may get sick after a night on the town, our first class health system will provide you with an ambulance. But sorry, the hospitals are for special cases only.
Oh yes, this country is great , eh?:confused:
‘Ah sure it’ll do rightly.’ Sums up this country.. always excuses, all bloddy talk, no action…
Cr*p infrastructure, corrupt politicians, p*ssed off tourists, quiet natives…. nothing gets done, nothing will.
The crazy thing is people tolerate it..
If only all those reclaim the street kids would actually carry our some proper protests (as opposed to just having a pathetic aimless doss around one sunday a year and then thinking they’re great).
Really though, some form of non-fatal guerilla activity is probably the only way to go. Or else we need someone to dress up in a cape and repeatadly throw pies at people in charge…
me – I’m far too apathetic, so I’m part of the problem. the most I ever did was think bad thoughts at dublin bus, and adopt a “no tipping” policy when I felt the taxi drivers were striking in an unreasonable manner.
so – what other ways can we all find of saying “you’re bloody crap so you are”.
Federalism, Decentralise, local government with tax raising powers, only fair way of government, badly needed in Ireland. Look to Germany, Spain, Australia, New Zealand to name but a few.
erm… yep fjp. did my 4 years sniffing glue allright … ahh, happy memories, someday i shall return to it.
In reality, we (or rather the powers that be) are utterly incapable of operating a nation or state. Its as simple as that. The only time anything was done properly in this country was under British control.
Not meaning to bore the arse of you, but when the Home Rule Bill was finally drafted in London in the 1880s, the main reason it was rejected was because a majority of MPs belived that the Irish were simply incapable of self-governance, and dissapointingly they have been proved utterly correct.
And it is manifest most evidently in our built surroundings.Whatever about the rest of the country, I can never ever see Dublin being fixed, ever, with regard to architecture, transport, planning regulations, street furniture, housing, historic appriciation, litter, rezoning, street lighting/floodlighting, the Liffey, the Quays, Stephen’s Green, North Inner City…….. and fundamental civic pride.
I love this city, I’ve been studyng it’s development for years, I know virtually every building, lamppost and structure in the city centre, when they were built, why and by whom. Which is why I’m so constantly disgusted, so dissillusioned, so sick of hoping, so tired of waiting, so ready to give up on this place we call a city. I’m not quite there yet, but purely through nievity.
” The only time anything was done properly in this country was under British control. “
really Graham ? penal laws, plantations, ethnic cleansing, the halving of our population …
you might wan’t to revise that one …
those cities in Ireland still under Brittish control are hardly anything to get excited about …Oh come on, poor little paddys still suffering at the mercy of the Brits in Derry & Belfast? I ‘m obviously referring to our built surroundings. Can you imagine the physical state of our cities, towns & villages had the English not assumed control. Can you just imagine… Do you honestly think that the Irish would have been capable of building in their own unique style, or indeed built at all, sure we could’nt even do it in the 20th century!
Well this is all unprovable. The English certainly didn’t perfect their design skills on the first go, so it’s unfair to assume that we’re less skilled than they are. Discussing a “what might have happened” on this matter wuold surely just turn into a hypothetical points scoring match.
And were English designs really that unique? I thought a lot of it was based on classical designs…
fjp
We sure make good whiskey… and the best is made by our cousins in Ulster’s Bushmills…the one and only Black Bush.
I’m not sure the Uk has always got it right in terms of urban management…apart from high profile areas their architectural standards have been found wanting, the transport systems have been let fall into near ruin and many urban centres suffer from blighted areas. However, it did strike me last night as I stood on Charing Cross road waiting for a bus that things are better there than in Dublin and at least their streetscapes are less cluttered, built to higher density and much more functional and accessable than in Dublin
Can’t remember the exact quote but Michael Scott used to say that Ireland was at the very end of a chain of architectural events that began in classical/Renaissance Mediterranean and slowly worked its way across Europe.
I think he saw Modernism in broadly similar terms.
Although the Brits are good at architecture, they tend not to invent styles. They’re pretty near the end of the architectural chain, too.
Possible exceptions are Arts and Crafts, and high-tech. British-originated? Discuss.
Architecturally, what went wrong – I blame the Diaspora of the 40s and 50s, the talent left the country (bankrupt, repressive catholic backwater) and hence we were left with the “sure it’ll do approach” which we are only starting to climb back out of
Wow, Wow, Wow, lets stop beating ourselves up here. Yes I have to agree, things are not perfect. For example I was back home last weekend and I thought the litter problem was even worse than I thought it was last time I was home.
However we are making strides, Dublin has become a far more pleasing city to visit than it was 10 years ago. If we keep beating ourselves up about how bad things are we’ll get nowhere. We must look at the positives and build upon them.
It’s a typical Irish reaction to assume that we’re the worst at everything – we’re not !
I’m not saying we’re perfect but we’re getting better all the time. If your living away from home like I am you’ll know what i’m talking about.
foreign opinion – your country is great and your people are even more… and I’m not talking as a tourist who has been there only once for a long weekend…
In general we also think we are always worst then the others (except Spain of course!) but people are starting to look at their life quality, wonderful weather and land, national culture, music, arts, modest but good architecture, etc. and asking themselfs “WHY?”…
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