Bray - A kip - And I'm from bray !

live2thewire

bray has so much going for it, but sadly it just won't be same with dun laoghaire.

The Minstrel

MarkHobBray1977 wrote: »

But even since the mid 90's , you have to agree , there has been a decline !?!?!

I don't live in Bray, but am, of course, a Bray man born and bred. Hoban I agree with the sentiment of what you're saying in general, but if you think about it, back in the day Bray had some serious poverty and alot of the shops were boarded up. Back in the early 90s it was all Loppy's, Mud's, Jim's Discount Store, the Brewmaster... Take the Albert Walk for example. At least now it was one or 2 businesses. 15 years ago, it was all boarded up bar Pizzas 'n' Cream.

Step 1: the council need to sanction some sort of tax relief for the urgent redevelopment of the missing building beside the Olde Bray Inn (entrance for the failed Florentine Exchange). If not, surely Ballymore has an obligation to replace the facade (at the very least). I would suggest they do something along the lines of what they did in Dublin on the north side of the millenium bridge (entrance to the Italian Quarter). Here they kept the Georgian facade and built behind it. Even if we can't put anything behind it, the facade could be reinforced and it could act as a pedestrian gate into the carpark behind it.

I agree with your sentiment about McDonalds, but remember the House of James restaurant?

Proliferation of €2 shops reflects the demographic of the town, but the town council have the jurisdiction to limit the numbers of such shops, bookmakers etc. Kilkenny city council actively enforce rules on retailers specific to Kilkenny, preventing any vulgar shop fronts.

As for the Star etc... the amusements play a central role in the spirit of the seafront. One of Bray's great charms is the appeal of the seafront to all ages and backgrounds, and the arcade culture in Bray is a part of the town, the same as alot of touristy seaside towns in Ireland.

Personally, I think alot more could be done with the Mermaid. Look at the Greystones theatre, that has become a focal point for alot of people out that way? Could be alot better than kips like the back bar etc. It could be a focal point that might re-invigorate that end of town.

MarkHobBray1977

Nice post .. I agree 100% with you...Very well said and articulated...Was thinking of buying / moving back to bray , but judging on the way things are going Ill hold off...

Re : Tattoo places in Bray...BIGTIME>>>>> Whats that all about ??? Hardly Miami Ink :P

The Minstrel

As for the councillors, it's important to be mindful of the vested interests at work behind the scenes in Bray. Backslapping and gombeenism going on all over the place.

Look at the Bray Summer Festival for example. It used to have a gig-rig on the main street. Now, everything is focused around the epicentre of the Porterhouse and Martello. Why? Because they are the main sponsors. The Martello even sponsors Bray Emmets.

Answer me this, who's idea was it to put up lamp-posts on the promenade in the shape of the little mirrors that a dentist uses? We've got an Edwardian promenade with alot of charm and potential, only to be spoiled by councillors/publicans with no architectural insight. You wouldn't see that sort of craic in Howth or Greystones. A bunch of jumped-up thicks with no class.

MarkHobBray1977

dont get me started on the Duggans

waves

The Minstrel wrote: »

Look at the Bray Summer Festival for example. It used to have a gig-rig on the main street. Now, everything is focused around the epicentre of the Porterhouse and Martello. Why? Because they are the main sponsors. The Martello even sponsors Bray Emmets.

I don't quite get your point here - is it that you'd rather see the gig rig back on the Main Street or you have an issue with the two pubs being sponors?

Agree with you about the lamposts but Greystones will be unrecognisable when that Marina is there... I don;t think that the publicans have any say in what lights are put up on the beach.

MarkHobBray1977

THink the point being the whole summerfest is a PROMO for the pubs essentially....Now Im not saying is a good or bad thing....Just I think that is the point being made....

waves

The Minstrel wrote: »

As for the Star etc... the amusements play a central role in the spirit of the seafront. One of Bray's great charms is the appeal of the seafront to all ages and backgrounds, and the arcade culture in Bray is a part of the town, the same as alot of touristy seaside towns in Ireland.

Personally, I think alot more could be done with the Mermaid. Look at the Greystones theatre, that has become a focal point for alot of people out that way? Could be alot better than kips like the back bar etc. It could be a focal point that might re-invigorate that end of town.

You make some great points. It's a pity that the design of the Star and Dawson's (now idle) were not more in fitting with theirs surrounds.

The plaza outside the Mermaid is used during Summerfest and on various days throughout the summer for outdoor entertainment. They have the Europe day celebrations there with music and the also do the summer lights there too.

I think they had planned to have a market there but for some reason the organic market won't move up there which doesn't make sense.

The difference between the Greystones Theatre and the Mermaid is that the GT is a late drinking venue as there is no nightclub in Greystones. The theatre do a lot of dance and studio stuff that is probably catered for in Bray by the number of dance schools and Saturday morning classes.

Again, you have to ask why more people don't attend the Mermaid? I use the cinema and have been to a number of plays... maybe if they (and they may well do this) had specific days for schools to see stuff, the next generation would be more familiar with the venue.

The thing about Bray is that the younger folk will just go where everyone else goes as they want to be seen out... girls dress up to be seen and boys will follow.

It used to be Jim's and the Alternatives..... then it was Dusty's and the Tube.... now it's The Martello and The Porterhouse, two venues who have invested a lot in their properties over the last year.

foxy06

I think having the gig rig on the beach is a much better idea than in the main street. More people can view it for a start.

One other thing that has been pis5ing me off for a while now is that shop where Mitchell Quinn used to be selling drug paraphernalia! I mean who let that go ahead!!!

johnny_ultimate

The weird thing about Bray (my hometown for all of my 21 years) is that any attempts to change it have rarely been successful (although maybe not the Mermaid, which could be better but still does a solid job). But anytime a new restaurant opens, it seems to close straight away. Take the Soprano / Cafe Greko / Cafebardeli building, where the average up market restaurant lasts approximately four to five minutes, depending on quality. Chinese restaurants are the only ones that seem to survive (Jasmine House ftw though :pac:). Hell, even chippers can't make it anymore!

Maybe it is - as has been suggested - the people in Bray who are reluctant to change it. We couldn't even keep a cinema open, and yet we have many many thriving pubs around the place. I will always have a place for Bray - living somewhere for all your life does that, but then again there are the occasional "Want to get the **** out of here" moments - but I fully agree that looking at it from any objective perspective would probably show a pretty grim place.

foxy06

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Maybe it is - as has been suggested - the people in Bray who are reluctant to change it. We couldn't even keep a cinema open, and yet we have many many thriving pubs around the place.

There are very few pubs that are thriving at the moment. It's another struggling trade. The only ones doing any business are the Martello, Porterhouse and probably the vevay. And even these places are struggling mid week.

It was a shame about the cinema and I was annoyed when I heard they were shutting up shop. After thinking about it though....hardly ever went to the place.

Another place that has bitten the dust is Bens mini mart just after Superquinn beside the fishing shop. That place has been going for years.

Catari Jaguar

I'm from Bray, got out 3 years ago.. Would never live there.

I hate small town mentality and gossip. Everyone knows your business. Everyone I went to school with (early 20s) are STILL going to Bacbar/ Koo every Fri/Sat night like for the past 6 years. Although the new Bacbar looks cool.


The Good
Star Amusements/ Bowler is grand apart from when the knacks and Spanish students take it over
Sealife is good
Bray Head is nice in summer - The old fairy lights were lovely
The ice cream at Rainbows (?) on the prom is fab
Pizzas n Cream is gorgeous
Campo di Fiori is good for hot chocolate
Smyths Toystore
The Summer fest food market and events on the prom

The Bad
Too many skobes and dodgy estates.
Can't believe cinema is gone
The shops are bad - City2 for fashion...
Mc Donalds in Townhall
The place is a dirty kip where a lot of the youth look inbred and you can hardly walk around at night
The little miss Bray contest every summer
The fairground on the beach attracts every townie going
The beach is full of stones

In conclusion: Bray is a place where you have kids that go to the local school, they marry their childhood sweetheart from Bray and in turn have kids at a young age, and this goes on and on and on until everyone is related in some way. You can't blow into Bray, you have to put down roots and you can never escape. :eek:

brayblue24

Lil Kitten wrote: »

In conclusion: Bray is a place where you have kids that go to the local school, they marry their childhood sweetheart from Bray and in turn have kids at a young age, and this goes on and on and on until everyone is related in some way. You can't blow into Bray, you have to put down roots and you can never escape. :eek:

Uh oh:o

slavetothegrind

like most towns in our political system it's council is populated with the same group year after year elected by the few bothered to vote. Vested interests and cronieism abound.

Just look at the various planning decisions over the years in every town.

In bray's case Dawsons is the most obvious and pathetic failure. A fcuking barn at the end of the town next to what could be the feature property of the seafront in the old bray head.

What is the answer? I think there is no case for the continuation of local government as it stands and the planning process should be interactive and public ( internet published in detail, all submissions to be in pdf format also)

I am going to stop ranting now...m medication needs topping up....

MarkHobBray1977

good points foxy and lil kitten,,,,, that "NIRVANA" shop in the main st ... WTF is that about ?!?!?!? crazy

John Mason

foxy06 wrote: »

I have worked in The Ardmore bar

me too:)

20 years ago, i was involved with a group trying to improve the towm - the main complaints we got was the amount of 2e and knick knack shops

the loss of the cinema, IMO was the final nail in the coffin for the town

John Mason

MarkHobBray1977 wrote: »

THink the point being the whole summerfest is a PROMO for the pubs essentially....Now Im not saying is a good or bad thing....Just I think that is the point being made....

i remember many years ago - the summer festival included the bray pub crawl. you got your t-shirt with the names of the 40 pubs in town and you had to get it signed by every pub you went into - finally ending up in the alternative.

the summer fest was always just a promotion for the pubs

all these problems you are talking about at 20 plus years old - i personally, cant see change happening in my life time

The Minstrel

The problem in Bray is that the town area is in need of rejuvenation, rather than seafront. Nevermind the state of Dawson's etc., we need to plough cash into the main street to keep it alive.

The parking situation has to be sorted out. I'd say that's why the cinema is gone. Nobody is arsed walking to the cinema when they can park in Dundrum and take a lift.

Maybe that florence road carpark could be converted into a town square, with mixed use commerical developments around the sides with some sort of central feature (a park or something like that). Get a public forum going on the issue, and exhibit ideas up in the council chambers.

As for the gig-rig, I'm not saying I'm in favour of moving it back to the Main St, as I recall that there was a riot up there one year, so the garda won't allow it. All I'm saying is that the Bray festival needs to get funding elsewhere instead of lining the pockets of the porter and martello.

On that note, I'm off out on the gargle.

projectmayhem

I do like Bray, I really do. But only because I live in suburbia and it's nice to visit. Most of the area does need a major facelift just to stop it from being just "ballymun at the sea", and for the sake of driving a bit of tourism into the area.

As for the scumbags, there's not much that can be done there. The fanciest, or most Garda-patrolled area's of Dublin still manage to be riddled with scumbags. They're just a human eyesore that will always stand out. Even 1 in a crowd of 50 "normal people" will make a place look awful.

But yeah, Bray has some major potential, it just needs investment. Having said that, everywhere does at this stage...

Tippex

pink fluffy bunny wrote: »

me too:)

20 years ago, i was involved with a group trying to improve the towm - the main complaints we got was the amount of 2e and knick knack shops

the loss of the cinema, IMO was the final nail in the coffin for the town

I worked there 2 and it wouldve been about 20 years ago as well.

Christ thats scary.....

John Mason

Tippex wrote: »

I worked there 2 and it wouldve been about 20 years ago as well.

Christ thats scary.....

LOL, really

I would say it was about 15-16 years ago that i worked there.

who knew the ardmore bar was the biggest employer in bray.

my mam used to work for his wife when she was a teenager, they had a newsagents on the main street, across from the pub:)

foxy06

It's about 10 years since I worked there I would say and Paddy and his family were lovely to work for.

Annasopra

joeclif wrote: »

like most towns in our political system it's council is populated with the same group year after year elected by the few bothered to vote. Vested interests and cronieism abound.

As for the councillors, it's important to be mindful of the vested interests at work behind the scenes in Bray. Backslapping and gombeenism going on all over the place.

Well this time out people have the opportunity to change that - There are lots of new candidates running for Bray Town Council this time - If people genuinely want change on Bray Town Council then they should vote for all new candidates on June 5th
[SNIP]

ilkhanid

Bray is not too bad,but it's always been a bit tatty, as far back as I can remember. But it has worsened in the last two years. And if it couldn't improve in the boom ,what chance does it have now?. There have been some improvements:the whole, Mermaid/Civic centre is great as is the restaurant/entertainment area on the seafront,but the council must be blind as well as stupid..I suspect the worst about them. How could they have let the Esplanade build that monstrosity on it's back lot?
True, the cinema going was a blow but it was doomed after the Dun Laoghaire cinema came. I rarely went, it was pokey, did'nt have much (even by the poor standards of cinemas....that ice-cream with the lurid green and pink stipes..yeuch!)to eat, and the individual cinemas were tiny.
Lower Main street is dismal, but although Quinsborough road is better that is not saying much. And why can't Quinsboro' Road support some decent pubs? Apart from Goldsmiths, they are dreadful kips. The one that kept changing it's name near the station, always turned into a den of low-lifes and some of the eh...people.. standing smoking outside Clancys bar would put the fear of God into you. And that's only the women.:eek: They really are a blight on a fairly decent street.

waves

ilkhanid wrote: »

but the council must be blind as well as stupid..I suspect the worst about them. How could they have let the Esplanade build that monstrosity on it's back lot?
.

You could also ask how they could have allowed Smyths (close to the business of a local councillor) to have been built on such a decent old street as Florence Road - the toy store design is unbelieveably out of kilter with the rest of the street. .

The council though aren't voted in for their ability to judge asthetics - which is a pity - it's all about "progress". McDonalds in Bray was seen as a good thing.... I have been to two lovely towns (In Oz and in the U.S.) where the council voted against McDs because of how it would adversely effect the towns.

What gets to me is the councillors who turn up with their pictures in the local papers pointing out litter or graffitti instead of actually doing something about it.

I mean, if your job is to improve the town, how can you drive into the town and see graffitti and rubbish and not get a council worker to go and sort it out... they are either blind or just stuck in the job too long.

As for Florence road, well, Dusty;s used to be grand - I can't understand why the litter warden doesn't just stand outside Clancy's fining every smoker who flings their butts on the street...

Annasopra

waves wrote: »

What gets to me is the councillors who turn up with their pictures in the local papers pointing out litter or graffitti instead of actually doing something about it.

I mean, if your job is to improve the town, how can you drive into the town and see graffitti and rubbish and not get a council worker to go and sort it out... they are either blind or just stuck in the job too long.

As for Florence road, well, Dusty;s used to be grand - I can't understand why the litter warden doesn't just stand outside Clancy's fining every smoker who flings their butts on the street...

The thing is that councillors are up against the bureaucrcay of the town council management - I genuinely do believe that those elected onto the council want to improve the town but find it difficult to do so because of the way it is run

boggerboy

Johnnymcg wrote: »

The thing is that councillors are up against the bureaucrcay of the town council management - I genuinely do believe that those elected onto the council want to improve the town but find it difficult to do so because of the way it is run

johnnymcg, who is on the town council management? is it not elected councillors?

Tippex

I would imagine that there are members of staff on the council (not the elected representatives) who have been there for years and are "comfortable"

mikedragon32

Folks, Boards is not here as a platform for party political broadcasts, nor is it a means to take cheap shots.

Keep the thread on-topic (IE about Bray) and abuse free. No more warnings.

Calibos

I was wondering why Ronan appeared in the Wicklow News beside his Dad at a council meeting....it all becomes clear

I can see some cross party non partisanship work being done between Mick Glynn and Ronan McManus. They were best Buds in Pres.