Kavanaghs sweet shop on Aungier Street was well known for selling traditional confectionery using old fashioned scales and jars, but has closed after revenues fell by about 30 per cent last year.
Sweet Shop Closes After 85 Years In Business
February 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment
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HAGS WITH BAGS
January 25, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Visitors to Dublin in Ireland may be amused by the strange comic nicknames given by the populace to some of the city’s statues and other monuments. They might also be struck by controversies that have arisen over some statues in Dublin and the disappearance of some of the city’s most prominent monuments.
Dublin’s most prominent monument, Nelson’s Pillar, which stood near the General Post Office (GPO) in the centre of O’Connell Street, was blown up by the IRA in 1966, as their way of commemorating the Easter Rising. The IRA only demolished the top of the pillar, what remained was known as the stump, until it too was blown up by the Army bomb squad for safety reasons. Ironically, this controlled explosion actually caused more damage than the original bombing.
Other monuments still surviving on O’Connell Street include statues honouring Charles Stewart Parnell at the north end of the street; at the southern end stands a statue of Daniel O’Connell. Other statues on the street include one of trade union leader James Larkin.
Nearby, outside St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral stand the Dublin Martyrs, Mayor Francis Taylor and his grandmother-in-law Mayoress Margaret Ball. Blessed Francis Taylor is probably the only ‘blessed’ politician[citation needed]. (If we define politician as one who attained elected office).
On the site of the Pillar, a new monument was erected in January 2003. Officially named the Spire of Dublin, this tall needle-like structure has already received a number of nicknames including The Spike, The Binge Syringe, The Stiletto in the Ghetto, The Nail in the Pale (see the Pale), The Pin in the Bin, The Stiffy at the Liffey, and The Erection in the Intersection.
To erect the new monument, a notorious 1980s monument to the personified river Liffey, Anna Livia, was removed from nearby on O’Connell St. The river was represented by a woman sitting on a slope with water running down past her, bubbling. It rapidly came to be nicknamed the Floozie in the Jacuzzi, the Bitch in the Ditch, the Hoor in the Sewer (‘hoor’ is a dialectal Irish version of ‘whore’, and in a “working class” Dublin accent, rhymes with sewer.), Bidet Mulligan (play on the song Biddy Mulligan) and Viagra Falls
North Earl Street runs right onto the base of the Spire. At this junction is a statue of James Joyce, the world-famous Irish writer, walking with a cane in his hand. It is known to the Dublin populace as the Prick with the Stick.
Just by the Ha’penny Bridge is a statue of two women sitting on a bench engaged in conversation with their shopping bags at their feet – they are known famously as the Hags with the Bags
A short distance away from O’Connell Street by the banks of the Liffey lies the site of an ill-fated millennium clock, erected in the mid-1990s to count down the hours, minutes and seconds to the year 2000. The clock, with a green-illuminated digital face, was placed underneath the surface of the river by the bank so that the time shone up through the water. A postcard booth was placed on the bridge above the clock that printed postcards for £1, each bearing the exact amount of time left at that moment until the dawn of the new millennium. However, the clock entered a period of chronic ill health: it had to be temporarily removed to allow a rowing-boat race to pass by and in the months that followed, it had repeated problems with letting in water and failing to display the time correctly. It was removed after a brief period, but not before it had been variously nicknamed the Time in the Slime, and Chime in the Slime by the people of Dublin. Also it received the nickname An Rud in the Mud (a usage of the Gaelic word ‘rud’, meaning ‘thing’ or an object of no actual function – the implication being that the clock was of no practical use, even when it worked). A rectangular hole left in the side of the bridge was later filled with an unauthorised plaque commemorating a fictitious priest, Father Pat Noise.
On College Street, outside Trinity College, the traffic island that a statue to the nineteenth-century lyricist Thomas Moore shares with a public toilet has long been known as The Meeting of the Waters, thus neatly honouring both the civic facility and an eponymous work of the writer.
Another statue to earn a dubious but comical nickname is a monument at the bottom of Grafton Street representing Molly Malone, a fictitious fishmonger featured in Dublin’s anthem, Molly Malone, who is shown, with ample cleavage, wheeling a cart. The statue was erected to celebrate Dublin’s millennium in 1988 (although Dublin was more than 1,000 years old at the time, see History of Dublin), and is generally known in Dublin as the Tart with the Cart, the Dolly with the Trolley, the Trollop with the Scollops, the Dish with the Fish or the Flirt in the Skirt.
On the north-east corner of St. Stephen’s Green, a semi-circle of rough stone pillars commemorating the Irish Famine and surrounding a statue of Wolfe Tone, is sometimes called Tone-henge (after Stonehenge). In Merrion Square, inside the north west corner gateway, there’s a statue of Oscar Wilde composed of different coloured stone, sitting on a large granite boulder. This has been called at least once The Queer with the Leer, The Fag on the Crag or The Quare in the Square (“quare” being a dialectal Irish pronunciation of queer).[
On Sandymount Strand, close to the Martello Tower, you can find the sore on the shore. Traffic news on Dublin City Anna Livia radio call it the white lady.[
Curiously, given that Ireland has been independent for over eighty years, no statues in Dublin commemorate independent Irish leaders. Statues were never erected to figures like Éamon de Valera[2], W. T. Cosgrave, Seán Lemass or any of the presidents of Ireland. One of the few elected politicians commemorated with a statue is Henry Grattan, a leading politician of the 1780s in the old Irish Parliament. A nearby statue of patriot Thomas Davis has earned the nickname Frankenstein due to the out of scale hands and odd shaped body given to the nationalist leader in the 1960s work.
Dublin was once famed for its high quality equestrian statues, including the Lord Gough monument in the Phoenix Park, the William of Orange statue in College Green and the King George II statue in St Stephen’s Green. No statues of people on horseback remain today, as they have all since been blown up by the IRA. There is, however, a modern equestrian statue outside the “Break for the Border” nightclub on Stephen Street. The statues consists of an INDIAN mounted on the horse back
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ALT* Andrew’s Lane Theatre
January 23, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Andrew’s Lane is commited to presenting the best emerging and established shows to come on the Irish and International circuit.
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Dublin Civil Defence – Collecting For The Earthquake Victims In Haiti
January 23, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Dublin Civil Defence – Collecting For The Earthquake Victims In Haiti, originally uploaded by infomatique.
Earthquake in Haiti
Donations are needed by Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to assist those affected by the disaster. Donations to the emergency appeal can be made online at www.msf.ie or by calling 1800 905 509.
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Blaze at Guinness – Dublin City Centre Covered In Smoke
December 21, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Photos
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11 units of Dublin Fire Brigade and three aerial fire fighting vehicles attended the scene this afternoon.
It is understood two fire fighters were injured while they were tending to the blaze. They were taken to St James’s hospital for treatment.
The fire broke out in a storage building at the lower end of the brewery near the Victoria Quay entrance at 12.10pm this afternoon.
Diageo said repairs were being carried out on the roof of the building, which was partly made of felt.
The area in question was not in regular use and was successfully evacuated.
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St. James’s Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo. The main product is Guinness Draft.
Leased for 9,000 years in 1759 by Arthur Guinness at £45 per year, St. James’s Gate has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and was the largest in the world in 1914, covering 64 acres. Although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it is still the largest brewer of stout in the world. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the brewery owned most of the buildings in the surrounding area, including many streets of housing for brewery employees, and offices associated with the brewery. The brewery also made all of its own power using its own power plant.
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Tags: aerial | fire | evacuated | World | dublin | guinness | BRIGADE | Blaze | brewery | Diageo
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Lilisa wins Dublin City Marathon
October 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment
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Feyisa Lilisa from Ethiopia has won the Dublin City Marathon. He crossed the line in an unofficial time of two hours, nine minutes, 11 seconds.
It is just four seconds off the record.
Russian Aleksey Sokolov, who is the record holder, came second in an unofficial time of two hours, ten minutes, 35 seconds.
The Kenyan runner Noah Serem came third.
The first Irish man home was Sergei Ciobanu, a member of the Clonliffe Harriers club, with a time of two hours, 22 minutes, six seconds.
The winner of the women’s race was Katerina Stetsenko from Ukraine at a time of two hours, 32 minutes, 45 seconds.
Annette Keeley, from Raheny, was the first Irish woman to cross the finish line.
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Tags: Sports | marathon | dublin | Sergei | Sokolov | aleksey | Katerina | Lilisa | Feyisa | Stetsenko | Ciobanu
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The U2 Graffiti Wall at Windmill Lane Studios
October 18, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The U2 Graffiti Wall at Windmill Lane Studios is where U2’s music began. They recorded their first three albums there. They continued to use Windmill Lane throughout the 1980’s. The wall outside the studio has been marked with chalk, pens and paint over the years by U2 fans from all around the world. Although the studio is no longer located there, the wall still stands as an amazing tribute to the “greatest band on the planet”.
Artists such as U2, Van Morrison, Sinéad O’Connor, and Elvis Costello have recorded there. U2 recorded their first three albums at Windmill.
The site of the old studios is covered in graffiti from fans who have paid pilgrimage from all over the world. For U2 fans wishing to visit the site please note it is not sign posted at all and continuously tourists get lost looking for it..
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U2 Graffiti Wall – Dublin Docklands October 2009
October 14, 2009 · Leave a Comment
On Hanover Quay, the wall towards the concrete works has become the new ‘U2 Wall’, featuring graffiti by fans.
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Dublin Docklands – Luas Tram System Extension
October 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment
This project extends the Luas Red Line for 1.5km from Connolly Station, through the Docklands to the Point, serving existing and planned high-density commercial and residential developments.
This extension is provided for in the Dublin Transportation Office’s strategy ‘A Platform for Change’ which recommended an integrated transportation network linking the Docklands to the city centre. It is also provided for in the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Master Plan 2003.
Employment in the area served by this project is forecast to increase by almost 50% and population is forecast to more than double, by 2016, resulting in a large demand for trips both to and from the area. Line C1 adds an additional 3 million trips to the Luas network and removes over 1 million trips from the road network by 2016.
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The Lisbon Treaty Referendum Mk II
September 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Photos
The Lisbon Treaty Referendum (re-run)
In December 2008 the Irish government agreed to hold a second referendum by November 2009 and in return the EU provided a set of “legal guarantees” aimed at addressing the various concerns raised by campaigners during the 2008 campaign. The EU has promised not to impose rules on Ireland concerning taxation, “family” issues – such as abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage – and the traditional Irish state neutrality. Under Lisbon “every member state will have a commissioner” – a major concession to Ireland. The original plan was to have fewer commissioners than member states, from 2014 onwards.The Irish “protocol” will be bolted onto some future EU accession treaty – most likely the one for Croatia when it joins the European Union.
According to the Irish Government:
Ireland, and all other Member States, will keep a Commissioner.Ireland will remain in control of its own tax rates.Irish neutrality will not be affected … no conscription, no defence alliances.Ireland retains control of sensitive ethical issues such as abortion.Workers’ rights and public services are valued and protected in Ireland and across the EU.
In 2008 the “No” side ran a much better campaign than the “Yes” supporters and their posters were much more interesting and to be fair they did highlight some important issues.
This year the “No” side got off to a better start, mainly because they were the first to put their posters on display but as they have depended on irrelevant or totally false slogans they have failed the get the same sort of public support that they had last year but it is possible that things could change by October 2.
The “No” side also appears to have attracted some strange and unusual supporters who are not really helping the cause. For example, Jim Corr (of the Corrs) distributed the following letter to the media here in Ireland:
Written by Jim Corr Saturday, 19 September 2009 20:13Now is the time, for all good men and women, to come to the aid of their Country!
Dear all,
Within the next few weeks, we have coming, the most important vote of our lives. I will outline my main concerns in relation to this 2nd referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Guarantees: Not worth the paper they’re written on. Denmark’s stronger protocol promises after their Maastrict no vote have since been over ruled and nullified by the European Court of Justice!
Article 48: The self amending clause or escalator clause. Allows the EU to escalate it’s power into new areas WITHOUT coming back to the people for a vote on any changes. So what we have in fact is a treaty that is not set in stone like our own constitution. It is a flexible treaty free to be amended by the EU elite as they wish. This leaves our country and the other individual member states extremely vulnerable! Would you sign a contract on a deal with someone who could legally adjust that contract to favour themselves AFTER you’d signed it ?
Article 2 ECFR: Under Lisbon, The European Charter of Fundamental Rights AND the European Charter of Human Rights become legally binding. Both of those charters are intertwined and will merge.Article 2 ECFR “Nobody shall be condemned to death, everybody has a right to life” Article 2 protocol 6 of the ECHR which will merge with the ECFR, “A state may make provision for the death penalty in times of war or imminent threat of war”. There you have a ‘backdoor’ whereby the main article can be diluted or negated entirely and this is typical of the deception we will find upon study of the treaty and it’s additional charters. Who’s to say we are under threat of war, could we trust Tony B’liar who led his nation into war under false pretences and who is in the running to be SELECTED, not elected, as the president of the EU ?
As was stated by our own Charlie McCreevy: 95% of Europeans would vote no to this treaty if given the chance. We the people of this country are their voice, and we owe it to them to make the right decision on Oct. 2nd.
Hasn’t the EU been good for Ireland ? We gave the EU 200 Billion worth of our fishing stock. The fishing industry has been decimated as a result. Now our farming industry is under attack, where our farmers are being forced because of EU law to sell milk cheaper than cost, while at the same time becoming ever increasingly crippled under EU bureaucracy. With this pattern in mind would you trust the EU with the Irish economy and our Government ?
I’m all for co-operation with our European neighbours, I just don’t want them telling us what to do. I am for co-operation, not domination!
Creeping EU Tip-Toe Totalitarianism: Have you noticed how with each successive EU treaty it has gradually moved from economic integration into political integration ? Watch how civil liberties globally are being incrementally eroded due to this fraudulent ‘War of Terror” and now via Phoney Environmentalism. Visit my web-site for more on this. Is it democracy to keep coming back to the people with the same treaty that we’ve already voted on ? Is it democracy not to allow the individual member states a referendum on something so crucially important to their futures and the futures of their children’s children ? Was it democracy for most individual member states to ratify the treaty against the wishes of the vast majority of their own people even though it was ILLEGAL for them to do so due to We the People of Ireland having already voted this treaty down ?
Where is this progressing towards ? The agenda is World Government, for the many of us that are awake to see, which is clearly outlined in the books written by the elite and their insiders, books they don’t count on the general population reading. World Government would not be a bad thing if Angels were going to run it, but the people striving for this are anything but. We are NOT ready for World Government yet, not by a long shot. Again more on this on my web-site.
What this is simply about is POWER going into yet fewer and fewer hands, and those that forget history are doomed to repeat it, because Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely!
This progression MUST be stopped dead in it’s tracks, and we can help scupper this agenda by voting NO on the 2nd of October.
There is no question of Ireland being sidelined or pushed out of the EU or the euro-currency if we stand by our No to Lisbon. As Ireland’s EU Commissioner Charlie mccreevy said last December : “There is no provision in the existing treaties to isolate anybody. There is no provision to throw out anybody, unless unanimously all the existing members of the club agreed to throw you out. And I doubt, now or in the future, any Irish Government is going to unanimously agree to throw them selves out.”
Let’s be on the right side of history…
God bless you all,
With respect,
Jim Corr
http://www.jimcorr.com/
Tags: Ireland | World | European Union | referendum | Lisbon Treaty | Jim Corr | The Corrs | Political Posters
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