LovinDublin.com/Niall Harbison in a spot of bother

Endure what?

This perhaps?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUxs5YW5dYI

I used to read that website until I realised that every time he wrote about the Northside he felt compelled to write a load of sterotypical nonsense. Once? Sure. Every time? I just can't be bothered with it. I wouldn't even mind if it was especially funny but it's just a lame Ross O'Carroll Kelly style thing with a few f words.

i.e.:

On Avoca : "North side folk will have to continue eating their deep fried tripe batter burgers or whatever is considered all the rage over there these days. Although in a move similar to the US army putting a Mcdonalds in the Green Zone in Baghdad I see there is an Avoca in Malahide now. Presumably you have to chopper in if coming from the South side."

On Di Mimmos: "The first issue is that it is on the North Strand Road just under the shadow of Croke Park and for those of you who haven’t been here I’d advise renting one of those PSNI trucks they use in the riots and being escorted by a water cannon and police on horseback to ensure safe passage through the Amiens Street area on the way here. This is the Dublin you see in The Commitments with children on street corners sniffing glue and Nidge threatening to pour acid over hooker’s faces. I found a parking space down a side street only to be told by a rough looking fcker that I couldn’t park there. When I said in my best Ranelagh / Tyrone accent that there were “no signs indicating parking restrictions” he pulled out a parking cone (stolen I presume) and told me “this is how we do it around here”. Not wanting to be nailed to a wall by my balls I decided to back down and found another place down the road and kissed goodbye to my car."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Saw a load of them in wetsuits on Sunday, this was up towards Inchicore. Aldi and Lidl have been selling cheap shorties wetsuits for the past couple of years. The kids should be more concerned with getting weil's disease though
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis

Never seen it myself, although I have to say you wouldn't get me into the canal in a biohazard suit, never mind a wetsuit! Maybe in the midlands or ner the Shannon or something, but not next nor near Dublin. It's filthy!

Robbo wrote: »

Tis an interesting battle; one one side you have this Nathan Barley character poncing about as some kind of "self facilitating media node" and on the other you have those who toil long and hard in the Twitter outrage factories.

I propose it's solved with a jousting tournament on fixies, somewhere in the greater Ringsend/Silicon Dicks area. Pulled pork sandwiches and craft beers for all. Minimum beard density of 40 foliciles per square centimeter. Instagram have bought the sepia-drenched broadcasting rights.

Most of the people on boards are dicks but that's top notch post.

anncoates wrote: »

Not arguing with that generally as Dublin has an issue for sure, more so the drinking/eating near these swim spots.

I am not sure why drinking and eating is a problem near these spots?
It's not like they are an official swimming area?
There's also no reason why they can't co-exist - in fact I would argue that the problems only usually arise when the groups of kids get fed up with their "normal" fun and revert to attempting to make everyone else's life a misery.

Shops, Diners, Restaurants, coffee shops etc. across the road, provides economic gain and employment to the area and shouldn't be seen as a bad thing, kids can continue to enjoy splashing about in the water, which shouldn't be seen as a bad thing. The anti-social problems, like this, are not confined to that part of the city either.

Uriel. wrote: »

Of course it's not. What happens when the same kids get tired of swimming and fill plastic bottles of water and throw them at diners across the road?

Or decide that it's fair game to shout abuse at people who are minding their own business?

Then it's a social problem,primarily because some of these kids are knackers and some others, who perhaps are normally alright, act the knacker with their peers.

At worst, it's anti-social behaviour and quite frankly, it's not warranted.

You're dead right, there's only 1 solution. We'll have to fill in the canals and ban plastic bottles - statistically speaking, when combined they are the number 1 cause of anarchy in the western world. And before any of you pansies says it - fúck the swans, they only attract foreigners like shíte does flies. In fact while we're at it, lets ban foreigners, shíte, flies, swans and pansies too.
Problem solved

Oh wait, what I meant to say was - are you tripping or what?

People don't like to have to face up to the truth of their drinking. They believe they're in control but they're not. Brainwashed would be more like it.

Most people in this country have a slightly (at best) unhealthy relationship with alcohol.

Some people have an unhealthy relationship, not most, probably more than the EU average but there are also a lot of people who drink responsibly.

I think the 18-30 year olds tend to think they are in control when they aren't, but then most people grow out of it. I look back at what I used to drink and think I had a bit of a problem but nowadays, on the rare occasions that I drink, I know when to stop and don't bother with getting skulled. Back in my 20's I thought I was just an average bloke, and I probably was but with hindsight, being average or not, I was definitely drinking far too much.

anncoates wrote: »

Because you're conflating city-wide violent anti-social acts with the specific area(s) that the blog is talking about.

Nobody really has priority use of public space in the city unless the kids are actually committing crime.

I like the fact that somebody is doing something with the docklands and providing employment and places to go but I don't mind kids being near there unless they're specifically hassling me.

I don't mind kids being anywhere. I have never said anything of the sort either. You're right nobody has priority use of public areas, but that doesn't excuse some of the behaviour that goes on. I really can't understand why anyone could think it is acceptable for professionals, tourists, families, couples, no matter what class they are etc. being subjected to abuse for no reason. It's a weird attitude.

And you are right, it's not an issue specific to this area, it is a cross city problem. But the focus of the blog was this specific area and I have highlighted some of the things I have seen there. But apparently I imagined it.

anncoates wrote: »

Friend of mine lives near the canal in Drimnagh and there's tons of kids swimming there at the locks in summer, as they've done for many years. To be fair, they've never said anything to us waking by save making noise and messing about among themselves.

Think an awful lot of the press of late is because of the dynamics of gentrification. You've a lot of professional people moving into formerly so-called working class areas and regeneration of dockland areas (all good in most ways) and the result can sometimes be that people want the original residents to just cease to exist.

Like I say, I'm sure some of them act the bollocks but a lot of the time the complaint boils down to the mere fact of the kids being there because somebody has arbitrarily decide to open an office and toney bar in their backyard,.

Yeah I've no issue with them being there (save for when they nonchalantly walk across the road when I've a green light), I was just highlighting that these wetsuit wearing inner city kids do in fact exist.

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Most of the people on boards are dicks but that's top notch post.

Aw. Show us on the doll where the bad man touched you.

drumswan wrote: »

Oh ask my bollix, kids swimming is not a social problem

No, ask my bollix, in fact. I have no requirement to be looking at their malnourished, reddened carcasses or listening to their nasal yelping while I enjoy a rib-eye with a rather decent Claret. Are there not places for those people, like Finglas and such?