DUBLIN DELIGHTS

Dublin is the welcoming, happening place to be—and don’t just take my word for it. Various international studies revealed Dublin to be a top notch tourist destination. Failte Ireland also brought forward a new brand for Dublin. They introduced two delightful, promotional videos to launch their new marketing campaign. I took a peep at the videos and also, in my search of Dublin-oriented footage from You Tube,I came across a rich source of videos to be shared, relating to my native city. One sixties (the sixties? I know, I know, I’m an oul fella) recording stood out for me; it brought back pleasant memories.

TOURIST STUDIES

Dublin is the friendliest tourist destination in the world to visit, according to users of Twitter. Ebookers.com analysis of countless tweets also found Dublin to be second in the ‘most enjoyable destination in the world’ category. Nice, France, came first. A survey from the highly respected US magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, deemed Dublin as the second friendliest city in the world. Dublin was pipped to the post by Sydney, Australia. Satisfying to know two different studies appreciated the unique qualities of Dublin.

FAILTE IRELAND

The distinctiveness of Dublin was further enriched by Failte Ireland’s recent launching of a new brand for the Capital city.   Dublin—A Breath of Fresh Air “seeks to communicate Dublin’s unique position as a vibrant capital city bursting with a variety of surprising experiences and a destination where city living thrives side by side with the natural outdoors. In other words, Dublin is a city but more than just a city and, nestled alongside mountains and sea, it provides an experience not found in other cities,” according to Failte Ireland’s website. The GDTA (Grow Dublin Tourism Alliance) also supplies two fast-paced videos, with a little over two minutes of energy, excitement, pulsating outdoor activities including ceol and craic, to illustrate the uniqueness of Dublin. Interesting.

DUBLIN: TAKE A DEEP BREATH

One video, DUBLIN: TAKE A DEEP BREATH, begins with a refreshing, invigorating (or so I heard) sea- plunging, and the aquatic enchantment of Dublin’s famous Forty Foot, and ends with outstanding mountain and sea views. The one minute-twenty-second footage manages to capture the Dublin Viking tour; cycling and hiking in the Dublin mountains; water sports; street festivals; performing musicians; iconic landmarks like The Spire and Trinity College--and even screaming seagulls on the Liffey boardwalk. Cramming all the goodies in one, rapid audio-visual spectacle certainly requires a deep breath. Yes, entertaining and Informative.

DUBLIN: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR-LETTERS

The second video, DUBLIN: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR-LETTERS also captures the dynamic Dublin city, with a renewed emphasis on its attractive sea and mountain scenery. Merrion Square Park’s famous, coloured statue of the renowned Irish playwright, Oscar Wilde, makes a brief appearance. The joys of fishing and hiking are also exhibited. Dublin families and tourists are shown to revel in the bustling city and also its relaxing environs. Enthusiastic snappers with extendable selfie sticks, smart-phones and cameras play a prominent role in radiating a liveliness that transmits throughout the footage. The new Dublin brand,in giant size letters, features conspicuously in the video.  Overall, the fleeting film is a Dublin delight in a blink of an eye. Nice one.

DUBLIN TOWN IN 1965

The LIFFEYBANX VIDEO, DUBLIN TOWN IN 1965, triggered memories of my youth. This memory-jogging 1965 video footage begins, rather dramatically, with a daring, double-decker bus driver seemingly behaving like a teenage joyrider doing 360 degree handbrake turns. The C.IE bus, complete with strangely silent, unmoving, upstairs and downstairs passengers (either paid stuntmen or worker volunteers with an admirable devotion to duty) skidded scarily. Ably assisted in his risky endeavours by a person water-hosing the bus’s path, the driver skillfully managed his dicey duty. Essentially, though, the swirling, skidding bus was part of a C.I.E training exercise. Kudos to the driver’s intrepid competence. Anyway, the rest of the film is less exciting albeit more interesting for personal, nostalgic reasons. The year was 1965 and I was a pre-teen Dubliner back in those clamper-free, Traffic Warden-free, halcyon days.

I thoroughly enjoyed the music, Dublin City 1962 and Rare Old Times that accompanied this tape. A few childhood reminiscences were evoked.The film’s evidently laissez faire attitude to traffic flow prompted my memory of this curious, traffic tolerant era. I recalled my time as a messenger boy who cycled hastily, in a sometimes haphazard fashion, through Dublin traffic in order to deliver my stuff on time. And I wasn’t the only one with death wish behaviour! Although the Gardai directed traffic at various junctions, there was a sort of kamikaze approach to traffic etiquette exercised by pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike. On the tape, you’ll observe cyclists riding two abreast on busy streets and other scary stuff; car and delivery vehicles double-parked, parked on footpaths, junctions and corners, and pedestrians exercising a somewhat adventurous attitude to road crossing. Yes, those were the days.

Notice a messenger boy in Dame Street (wasn’t me but it reminded me of me) pulling out in the middle of traffic, on his front-loaded bicycle, without signaling with his hand. Those messenger-bikes, with weight at the front, were tricky to keep balanced; therefore, the handlebars mostly required two hands. In my experience, your stated ability to ride a bike was the only requirement requested by employers--and traffic experience was way down the list. But we messengers didn’t care. We loved the open-air, freedom of the job. The absence of single and double yellow lines, parking meters, and other traffic restrictions is apparent on the video.

A couple of other things stirred my recall of the sixties. Bus conductors and telephone kiosks, for instance, brought a wistful smile to my face, with both now redundant. But the one thing that stood out for me was Nelson’s Pillar. Blown up by Irish republicans, a year after this tape was recorded (1966);”The Pillar” had particular albeit hazy memories for me. With 121 feet of Wicklow granite and 166 steps to the viewing platform, this iconic monument offered a panoramic view of Dublin. I was very young, maybe four or five years old at the time, when I was brought to the top. Six old pence (or a tanner as we called it) gained you entrance. Although my recollection is a bit imprecise, the foggy memory still resides in my head. Somebody once said, “One who has a clear conscience has a foggy memory.”

CONCLUSION

The GDTA promotional videos manages to convey its message that Dublin is a vibrant city nestling alongside mountains and sea, which makes it unique among the cities of the world. The tapes succeed in accentuating the positives of Dublin, although if you blink twice you might miss half the action. The international studies don’t lie, and they also remark on the welcoming, friendly and enjoyable aspects of the city. From my own perspective, notwithstanding the social ills that sometimes beset Dublin, I always found Dublin and Dubliners to be warm, friendly, good-humoured and welcoming. And I’m not biased (UP THE DUBS).

The DUBLIN TOWN IN 1965 footage reminded me of a slower-paced, relaxed Dublin (if you disregard the mad bus antics). The Clubmen’s Dublin City 1962 and the Dubliners Rare Old Times are particular favourites of mine, and they went well with the video, in my opinion. Despite the official (and unofficial) attitude towards traffic in those days, everything still appeared to flow smoothly. Nowadays, with frequent traffic congestion, you could change a tire without losing your place in line.

Have a happy day!

Tomas O’hArgadain