Dirty, dreary, expensive, nothing to do

Kermit.de.frog · 24-11-2019 2:05am

Irish people moan and bitch more than most.

The city has issues to address but a LOT of hyperbole about it as well. Especially compared to many other capital cities in Europe.

The opinion of British mothers (one from Slough, another from Swindon, another from Birmingham, another from Coventry etc etc) who are in desperate need of a ride shouldn't be the starting point.

And coming from where they come from - you can only laugh really.

randomspud · 24-11-2019 2:14am

wakka12 wrote: »

Good for you, I would hate to live in a rural area. I'll take the mortgage over it. Everyone is different, live and let live

Similarly, i'd hate to live in an urban area.

I've done it before and i ****ing hated it. There's **** all upside to it once you are out of your early 20s but, as you said, each to their own.

If i inherited a property in a city/town i'd just sell it at an inflated price to whatever lunatic that wanted to endure living in that hellscape. Built up areas just drain the humanity out of people.

I work in a city and i can't get out of the ****ing place quickly enough once my shift is over. The people living there are broken, there's something fundamentally wrong with them.

Ready4Boarding · 24-11-2019 2:17am

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Are you sure about that really? I don't see the evidence on the manky streets.

Sorry now.

I’ve seen several times in the early morning a street-cleaning machine leaving a narrow trail of filthy water where it’s supposed to have cleaned, genuinely making the street dirtier than before, as hard as that might be to believe.

JupiterKid wrote: »

Mumsnet posters seem to be the types of people whose worldview is very narrow and very limited.

I agree with the others that something drastic needs to be done about Temple Bar - what was an intimate, quirky and largely bohemian part of the city centre in the 1990s and looking really promising with sensitive and imaginative renewal has turned into a cheapened boozy area full of drunk and stoned tourists being royally ripped off.

Temple Bar is in no way aproper experience of Dublin and what it has to offer. If I was a tourist coming over to visit Dublin for a weekend and all I saw was Temple Bar, I’d also be underwhelmed.

We shouldn’t make generalisations about a whole forum. Something I noticed from reading through some of the comments is that quite a few are Irish.

Temple Bar’s bohemian heyday lasted a matter of years. Before that it was a warren of decrepit streets. I really don’t see how it’s realistic to try to go back to its gritty past, which arose organically and appealed to only a small minority of Dubliners. TB is by no means my favourite place in Dublin, but the area around the IFI and Cecilia Street is pleasant during the day.

wakka12 · 24-11-2019 2:21am

randomspud wrote: »

Similarly, i'd hate to live in an urban area.

I've done it before and i ****ing hated it. There's **** all upside to it once you are out of your early 20s but, as you said, each to their own.

If i inherited a property in a city/town i'd just sell it at an inflated price to whatever lunatic that wanted to endure living in that hellscape. Built up areas just drain the humanity out of people.

I work in a city and i can't get out of the ****ing place quickly enough once my shift is over. The people living there are broken, there's something fundamentally wrong with them.

Ok, so youre not suited to cities, to say the least, but plenty of people are happy in them. Not everyone's broken

wakka12 · 24-11-2019 2:24am

I think Templebars a bit underrated really. I love going to the market on saturday morning, loads of cafes and interesting architecture, love the views down to the river in between all the little lanes. Cows lane is one of my favourite streets in the city, and the IFI is a fantastic cinema.Some of thebars are lovely too, not all of them are just for tourists, I like the Turks Head and Porterhouse. I dont go to many bars in the area or spend much time in the area at night as its a bit messy and hectic but sometimes its nice to walk through the area, rare to see such a vibrant buzz in many other european cities every single weekend

randomspud · 24-11-2019 2:33am

wakka12 wrote: »

Ok, so youre not suited to cities, to say the least, but plenty of people are happy in them. Not everyone's broken

I'll agree that i'm not suited to cities and it is because they are horrible places with zero redeeming qualities.

I actually feel sorry for people living in cities. I hate the fact that i have a job in one and i actually dread having to spend 40+ hours there every week.

Living there would be literal hell on earth for me. I have a job opportunity coming up in my field soon that will have me spending most of my time on my own in the middle of nowhere and i'll be jumping at it rather than spending another second tolerating the lunatics in the asylum that is any Irish city.

****ing dumps, the whole lot of them.

John_Rambo · 24-11-2019 2:35am

randomspud wrote: »

I work in a city and i can't get out of the ****ing place quickly enough once my shift is over. The people living there are broken, there's something fundamentally wrong with them.

There's nothing wrong with them. They're not broken. It's not their fault you're unhappy or frustrated.

Strangers you know nothing about's enjoyment & engagement with their city shouldn't cause you bother or indeed cause you to tell them their day in their city with their children is s**t. I know more about it than you do, I know the nice places, I like it and I and millions others will continue to enjoy it.

Don't let it bother you.

FixdePitchmark · 24-11-2019 2:57am

randomspud wrote: »

I'll agree that i'm not suited to cities and it is because they are horrible places with zero redeeming qualities.

I actually feel sorry for people living in cities. I hate the fact that i have a job in one and i actually dread having to spend 40+ hours there every week.

Living there would be literal hell on earth for me. I have a job opportunity coming up in my field soon that will have me spending most of my time on my own in the middle of nowhere and i'll be jumping at it rather than spending another second tolerating the lunatics in the asylum that is any Irish city.

****ing dumps, the whole lot of them.

I think you have issues with people not cities.

People greater in cities
Your issues greater

We will be delighted to get rid of any of them lads who hate cities , tell you all the time

But live in them
Go to college in them
Come to events in them

Fools

randomspud · 24-11-2019 3:07am

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

I think you have issues with people not cities.

People greater in cities
Your issues greater

We will be delighted to get rid of any of them lads who hate cities , tell you all the time

But live in them
Go to college in them
Come to events in them

Fools

People are generally terrible, i have very little time for them.

I lived in cities when college/work required it and got the **** out when it was no longer required because they are horrible, soul-crushing places.

Paying a premium to live in these awful places is absolutely bewildering to me.

Once i retire early i'll make a point to only visit these kips if absolutely necessary. I have no need of them now beyond work so once i'm done with that they may as well not exist.

twowheelsonly · 24-11-2019 3:11am

Only a blind man couldn't see that Dublin has more than its share of problems. Primarily, in my opinion, these are the shocking level of visible policing, the amount of beggars / junkies around the place and the condition of the roads and footpaths, in particular along the quays which are highly visible and well used parts of the city. Transport links are another biggie, although having said that it's better than anywhere else around the country. Finally, outside of that, O'Connell Street and the bridge have been left to go to the dogs. It's a shame to see what should be the jewel in the crown overrun by beggars, drunks and junkies.

Overall Dublin has great shops, restaurants, pubs (though overpriced they can still be great) museums and events, be they music, theatre or sporting. Comparisons with other cities is pointless. Worry about ourselves and what we want to get right. By all means import some of their ideas but other than that we should be concentrating on sorting all of the obvious problems. For the most part you can't change the buildings or their locations but things can be sorted at ground level by a far greater policing presence and more intense cleaning practices.

I like Dublin (and I'm from Cork !!!) but I can see how much greater it could be with very little effort but more commitment from the powers that be.

Yamanoto · 24-11-2019 9:08am

randomspud wrote: »

People are generally terrible, i have very little time for them.

I lived in cities when college/work required it and got the **** out when it was no longer required because they are horrible, soul-crushing places

Save for the lack of genius, you're pretty much Ireland's own Ted Kaczynski.

zerosugarbuzz · 24-11-2019 9:18am

badabing106 wrote: »

If that is the answer, what is the question?

Wow check out this post by a poster called louis on broadsheet, LMDGA!

Let’s knock off the B.S. and try and be a bit honest here. Dublin as a capital is still a bit of a dump (not as bad as it was in the 80’s, but still a dump) Yes the nightlife is good, but strip that back and think about it objectively and critically, and pretty soon you realise that it’s not much better than Bucharest.

The problem with the city is that there’s a serious absence of civic pride, and I blame that on three parties (1) Central Government for lack of investment (2) City Council for lack of taste and intelligence (3) Locals who have this romanticised version of the “Dirty Old Town” and row against any suggested improvement (if there are any?)

There are lots that can and should be done to improve the place, the problem being that the likes of Failte Ireland are still flogging the same old horse they were flogging thirty years ago (the Book of Kells and the Ardagh chalice)

I’m sorry to have to say this, but Dublin is no better than a drab town in the north of England.

So let me make a few observations as a foreigner who’s lived here for a long-time.

(1) No one outside of Ireland gives two sh1ts about Easter 1916 or anything related to it as a tourist attraction.
(2) Viewing The Book of Kells is Boring waste of time.
(3) Templebar is a dive, and not even the locals bother with it.
(4) The Guinness Store House is limited to people who like a drink and not for families. It’s also set in a fairly rough part of town, as was recently demonstrated.
(5) The Poolbeg Chimney’s are not and never will be an attraction for a tourist, particularly for anyone who grew up in an industrial city, where stacks like that were a dime a dozen.
(6) Leaving genuine homelessness aside, there’s a small battalion of professional beggars on the streets of the capital.
(7) Placing an injection room facility near a “tourist attraction” is the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard. Please note I’m all for harm reduction.
(8) The paving of the Grafton Street Quarter is nearly taking as long as the building of Berlin’s new airport!
(9) One Luke Kelly statue was enough, two is overkill considering few people under fifty knows who he was, especially foreign tourists.
(10) A city should be safe for tourists, yet the cops are strangely absent on the ground, particularly in the core tourist areas

So what do tourists want?

(1) Put simply they want interesting, entertaining things to do and see that are affordable. Dublin’s free museums are quite good, but could be so much better.

(2) Hire “Meow Wolf” and ask them to build a world class attraction like they created in Santa Fe. If you don’t know it or never been to it, check it out.

(3) Where’s the huge statue of Gulliver? Something so obviously missing from the city, it beggars belief? Build one, and put a miniature Lilliput around it…..and do it tastefully!

(4) And having dealt with one famous writer’s contribution to world literature, how about getting rid of that giant hypodermic needle on O’Connell street and rebuild the pillar with the viewing platform (yes it actually paid for itself) and put Oscar Wilde’s “Happy Prince” on it. If you don’t know the story, read it. And if the usual hard-leftie republicans kick-up ask them if they ever read a bedtime story to their little princesses (or taken them to see Frozen!)

(5) Refurbish the Rutland Fountain, its a disgrace that it’s left in its current condition. And if some half-witted architect graduate from UCD shouts “Pastiche” ….cover him in fox scent and send him to Shelbourne Dog Track on a wet Thursday in November :-)

(6) Demolish those eyesores on the Poolbeg peninsula and use the space for something truly breathtaking that could become a real symbol of the city.

(7) Make Halloween a true city-wide festival and market the hell out of it abroad…. the Bram Stoker festival is drab, characterless and boring.

(8) Build an opera house. It may not be my cup of tea, but seeing the opera lovers pile into your local omniplex and spending good money, means there’s a market. If anything it will add to the city.

(9) Same for ballet, there’s a market. If you build a ballet hall, they will come.

(10) Encourage people to live in the city, including the one’s with money. There are magnificent houses on Merrion Square, Fitzwilliam Square an even Mountjoy that are subdivided into small offices. Seriously, what an utter waste?

If you dislike it so much why do you stay? Personally I would be gone. I was in the city last night and it is still overrun by tourists and the amount of homeless / down and outs is nothing short of tragic! I remember the 80’s, we had none of that. What we are currently seeing is certainly not progress from the 80’s. We may have been cash poor then, but now we’re tacky.

Dublin is not Disneyland, it is not a tourist attraction, it is a working city and should be for the use and enjoyment of its citizens. Not an ever expanding temple bar for tourists.

Potential-Monke · 24-11-2019 9:43am

murpho999 wrote: »

You should visit Rome, you're missing out. It's got history on every corner.

So what do you think tourists do in cities? They go to museums and view architecture.

They don't just shop and eat all the time.

Why does everyone assume everybody is into architecture and history? I've seen the buildings in Rome, I had to study them for my leaving cert. I don't need to see them in person (aside from the Path of Illumination, but that's due to a book and nothing else, and pretty low on the list of things I want to do). So aside from history and architecture, what is there to do?

My idea of a holiday, or a weekend away, or even a day trip, is to experience something I can't get anywhere else. Theme parks, water parks, general experiences that are not available in most of this country (Tayto park is only meh, rollercoaster is great but no need for a return visit).

And I do agree that tourists seem to flock there, but with it being the capital it's the go to place for tourists in general (that's just the way it is, the capital is nearly always the most popular destination, just because it's the capital). But I'm not a tourist, and I give my opinion on the place, ie: I don't like it.

And therein lies a problem. Everyone who says they don't like Dublin for x, y or z nearly gets attacked by people defending it. Our opinion must be wrong because your opinion is right. Why can't that be accepted, instead of most people jumping at the opportunity to have a dig at the 'culchies' and attack their intelligence, etc. I dislike the typical people of Dublin due to many negative experiences, and this is how it's defended by Dubliners? Not doing much for the cause there imo, just re-enforcing my beliefs.

I still see no one has answered my question as to what they consider a 'cheap' meal in Dublin with an example of what and the cost. I just flat out refuse to believe the assertions that Dublin food is cheaper than outside of it, as previously stated by multiple posters.

24-11-2019 9:44am

kowloon wrote: »

Can someone tell me why Mumsnet is so bad? I know nothing about it.

It's women talking to each other without the supervision of men, and specifically women who really aren't supposed to have opinions but instead look after hubby and kids.

Thread is dripping with misogyny - and I love Dublin

John_Rambo · 24-11-2019 11:07am

Potential-Monke wrote: »

And therein lies a problem. Everyone who says they don't like Dublin for x, y or z nearly gets attacked by people defending it. Our opinion must be wrong because your opinion is right. Why can't that be accepted, instead of most people jumping at the opportunity to have a dig at the 'culchies' and attack their intelligence, etc. I dislike the typical people of Dublin due to many negative experiences, and this is how it's defended by Dubliners? Not doing much for the cause there imo, just re-enforcing my beliefs.

Because the haters are usually clueless about the city.

They helicopter in every now and then for a match or a concert, eat in some dreadful fast food joint and head straight back home and then go on to the internet to tell everyone how much of a kip Dublin is. And you're the only one that has mentioned culchie on this thread by the way, nobodies having a dig at you, and nobodies questioning your intelligence, that's in your mind.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I still see no one has answered my question as to what they consider a 'cheap' meal in Dublin with an example of what and the cost. I just flat out refuse to believe the assertions that Dublin food is cheaper than outside of it, as previously stated by multiple posters.

You flat out refuse to believe because you simply don't know about the city.

If you head down to the Capel st. area there are plenty of restaurants that can't be beaten for price. Good, fresh, healthy food for next to nothing. Myself and my little boy ate for under €12 in one of them.

Also, there's a burgeoning early bird and pre-theatre menu scene in the city. The competition is rife and restaurants have exceptional offers with various course combos, some offering three courses of high quality food for under €30.

There's also a oversized tapas scene popping up around the city. I think it started in Market Bar where large plates of meatballs, meats & cheeses, olives, chicken and chorizo skewers, prawn skewers are on offer for exceptionally good value made even better by sharing the keener priced larger plates. Two people can eat for around €20.

jrosen · 24-11-2019 11:13am

Dublin is expensive, yes a lot of other cities are too but while you may pay a lot the service, standard tends to be better. I think we can also all accept dublin is dreary, we dont have good weather and its certainly not reliable.
We also have **** public transport, i did some city breaks this year with my kids and in other cities the public transport and the connections available made sight seeing a dream.

Potential-Monke · 24-11-2019 11:31am

Nah, not dealing with you again.

FixdePitchmark · 24-11-2019 12:04pm

John_Rambo wrote: »

Because the haters are usually clueless about the city.

They helicopter in every now and then for a match or a concert, eat in some dreadful fast food joint and head straight back home and then go on to the internet to tell everyone how much of a kip Dublin is. And you're the only one that has mentioned culchie on this thread by the way, nobodies having a dig at you, and nobodies questioning your intelligence, that's in your mind.

You flat out refuse to believe because you simply don't know about the city.

If you head down to the Capel st. area there are plenty of restaurants that can't be beaten for price. Good, fresh, healthy food for next to nothing. Myself and my little boy ate for under €12 in one of them.

Also, there's a burgeoning early bird and pre-theatre menu scene in the city. The competition is rife and restaurants have exceptional offers with various course combos, some offering three courses of high quality food for under €30.

There's also a oversized tapas scene popping up around the city. I think it started in Market Bar where large plates of meatballs, meats & cheeses, olives, chicken and chorizo skewers, prawn skewers are on offer for exceptionally good value made even better by sharing the keener priced larger plates. Two people can eat for around €20.

This is spot on.

I think a significant amount of the "Dublin is a kip" merchants , don't know Dublin.

I think a few posters going on about nothing to do, need to explore their own mind a bit more.

You literally could do anything you like or can imagine.

I won't even look online, but I could probably go to a salsa dance tonight if I wanted

One suggestion that Tayto park in Meath is not great, is a particular classic.

On the cost thing. You could spend a full day in Dublin and spend nothing.
And have an amazing day for about 20 quid too.

Botanic Gardens
Dublin Zoo
Glasnevin Cemetery
St Anne's Park
Dollymount
Dún Laoghaire
The Libary In Dun Laoghaire
Watch some street art around Stephens Green
Take a Dart to Howth - walk to the head
Catch a fish
Eat it
Take a swim
A cycle
Visit a location from a Kavanagh poem
Walk the Bull wall

"You might be poor, your shoes may be broken, but your mind is a palace"
F McCourt.

Feisar · 24-11-2019 12:05pm

Ballymahon - where hope goes to die.

FixdePitchmark · 24-11-2019 12:14pm

Feisar wrote: »

Ballymahon - where hope goes to die.

As for lads who can't wait to get back to some of the towns in the midlands and further afield. I've traveled a fair bit around Ireland. They would want to mention the the town they are talking about.

Because most of them , genuinely, have nothing to do and very little food options, entertainment or hope. Most of the pubs have been sadly left behind.

Is there even 10 great towns/small cities outside Dublin ?

Like sorry for picking one - but a lad saying I can't wait to get out of Dublin to get back to Portlaoise, would want to think that fully over.

Heckler · 24-11-2019 12:34pm

Whatever about the content, this from a supposed newspaper of record....

"Fte Ireland disputes tone of much of criticism from Mumsnet readers on capital "

tone of much of criticism ? Wtf.

wakka12 · 24-11-2019 12:47pm

Heckler wrote: »

Whatever about the content, this from a supposed newspaper of record....

"Fte Ireland disputes tone of much of criticism from Mumsnet readers on capital "

tone of much of criticism ? Wtf.

That article seemed very unprofessional. They even personally named the poster who made the thread about dublin being bad, sounds like an article on lovindublin

Ready4Boarding · 24-11-2019 12:54pm

wakka12 wrote: »

That article seemed very unprofessional. They even personally named the poster who made the thread about dublin being bad, sounds like an article on lovindublin

If you look at the thread, the majority of comments are defensive of Dublin, and many of the negative ones are from the same people, especially someone called Jenny, whom others posters are mocking by the end. Really weird decision by the Irish Times to report on a thread that had been dormant for a month as though it was in any way authoritative.

Of course, that doesn’t matter to many Irish people who will take any opportunity to gripe about Dublin.

coolshannagh28 · 24-11-2019 2:06pm

Dublin as a city is a conundrum ; it is essentially a drab provincial city which has had a cascade of new money which is slowly transforming it and in a few decades may be a world class city if the money stays .

Ready4Boarding · 24-11-2019 2:18pm

coolshannagh28 wrote: »

Dublin as a city is a conundrum ; it is essentially a drab provincial city which has had a cascade of new money which is slowly transforming it and in a few decades may be a world class city if the money stays .

What exactly will need to change in those few decades to bring it from drab, provincial city to world-class city?!

Fritzbox · 24-11-2019 2:24pm

Dublin is not a "drab provincial" city. It's a capital city, a metropolitan area. Some parts of Dublin are drab perhaps, but much of Dublin is quite beautiful - the weather is to blame really.

coolshannagh28 · 24-11-2019 2:34pm

Ready4Boarding wrote: »

What exactly will need to change in those few decades to bring it from drab, provincial city to world-class city?!

Architecture , infrastructure , weather

ChikiChiki · 24-11-2019 2:51pm

Ready4Boarding wrote: »

What exactly will need to change in those few decades to bring it from drab, provincial city to world-class city?!

Much improved public transport and modern multi purpose high rise residential/commercial buildings would be a start. Build up in the docklands and people could actually walk to work instead of having to travel from Mullingar or Portloaise.

This approach is needed. Dublin has great potential to be a major European Fintech Hub and it seems we are shooting ourselves in the foot in regards to infrastructural failings.

completedit · 24-11-2019 2:58pm

People have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about with nothing to do comments. All European cities are fairly boring if you’re whole idea isn’t to go out and get twisted or there isn’t some sort of cool outdoor event on. They’re just things I value, I like museaums and stuff but they don’t make a city imo. History is a weird one for a foreigner, Dublin has a lot of history but Ireland has been such a peripheral country that it would seem hard to get the average non Irish American or whatever tourist truly interested. I imagine it’s the more mythical ancient and Norman and Viking history that would really be the most interest to them.
Dublin is a cool city for a few reasons
Different from other European capitals, has a unique touch. It’s Northern Europe but with a catholic twist.
Interesting English speaking country.
Capital of an island nation
The sea
Good fun most nights of the week

I’ll never understand Irish aversion to temple bar, know some foreigners who pride themselves in never having gone either while living here buuuut, it’s good craic for what it is. They’re are better places but it has its place.

MrMusician18 · 24-11-2019 2:58pm

Feisar wrote: »

Ballymahon - where hope goes to die.

Centre parcs is in Ballymahon, so there a lot more to do there than in most towns and cities in Ireland for families.

Dirty, dreary, expensive, nothing to do

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