back from Dublin

[Deckerd]

Interesting city with some lovely bits (we were staying on Trinity College campus) but every single tourist we met, and they were there from all over the world, said it was shockingly expensive. We were working so we can claim it back on expenses, but be warned, travellers. It spoiled the whole visit for many we spoke to.

The prices make London look almost reasonable and Edinburgh's practically giving stuff away.

[Zion Ravescene]

I've never been to the Irish Republic - it's one place I'd definitely like to visit one day.

Funnily enough, I'm about to head to London for a meeting tomorrow lunchtime. [Have fun! - someone] Thanks!

[Deckerd]

Have fun!

[trampledamage]

Dublin is crazily expensive. It's even worse if you want to try living there and factor in property prices.

It is a wonderful city though. I do miss it.

[Goliath]

Zion Ravescene wrote:

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I've never been to the Irish Republic - it's one place I'd definitely like to visit one day.

Just a small correction here.

There is no "Irish Republic." The country in question is simply called "Ireland"--or sometimes, the "Republic of Ireland", to distinguish it from the island of Ireland.

The "Irish Republic" was the name of the revolutionary counter-state proclaimed by the rebels of 1916. It ceased to exist, even in the minds of most Irish republicans, in 1923, when the Irish Civil War ended, and the Irish Free State was established.

Nowadays, the only people who talk of an "Irish Republic" are IRA supporters. Of course, if you're an IRA supporter, then feel free to ignore what I've just said.

But if you're not an IRA supporter--well, just keep in mind that some Irish people can be sensitive about names.

A colleague of mine visited Northern Ireland during the early 1990s, and had a gun stuck in her face after she made the mistake of referring to Derry City as "Londonderry."

[Zion Ravescene]

Camelopard wrote:

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Just a small correction here.

There is no "Irish Republic." The country in question is simply called 'Ireland'--or sometimes, the 'Republic of Ireland', to distinguish it from the island of Ireland.

The "Irish Republic" was the name of the revolutionary counter-state proclaimed by the rebels of 1916. It ceased to exist, even in the minds of most Irish republicans, in 1923, when the Irish Civil War ended, and the Irish Free State was established.

Nowadays, the only people who talk of an "Irish Republic" are IRA supporters. Of course, if you're an IRA supporter, then feel free to ignore what I've just said.

But if you're not an IRA supporter--well, just keep in mind that some Irish people can be sensitive about names.

A colleague of mine visited Northern Ireland during the early 1990s, and had a gun stuck in her face after she made the mistake of referring to Derry City as "Londonderry."

Sorry.

[Goliath]

Deckerd wrote:

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Interesting city with some lovely bits (we were staying on Trinity College campus) but every single tourist we met, and they were there from all over the world, said it was shockingly expensive.

Yes. That was my experience as well. Two weeks in Dublin cost me almost as much as six weeks in London.

I did research at Trinity College, in their archives. The route to the archives was very strange--it involved going up to the Long Room, stepping over a rope, and then going through a bunch of back hallways and stairs. I almost felt like I was sneaking in.

[Goliath]

Zion Ravescene wrote:

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Sorry.

Don't be sorry! I was just trying to keep you out of any potential trouble.

[john titor]

Camelopard wrote:

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Just a small correction here.

There is no "Irish Republic." The country in question is simply called "Ireland"--or sometimes, the "Republic of Ireland", to distinguish it from the island of Ireland.

The "Irish Republic" was the name of the revolutionary counter-state proclaimed by the rebels of 1916. It ceased to exist, even in the minds of most Irish republicans, in 1923, when the Irish Civil War ended, and the Irish Free State was established.

Nowadays, the only people who talk of an "Irish Republic" are IRA supporters. Of course, if you're an IRA supporter, then feel free to ignore what I've just said.

But if you're not an IRA supporter--well, just keep in mind that some Irish people can be sensitive about names.

A colleague of mine visited Northern Ireland during the early 1990s, and had a gun stuck in her face after she made the mistake of referring to Derry City as "Londonderry."

yeah unfortunately there are a lot of boneheads in NI. As to the OP, yar Dublin in ridiculously expensive, though train tickets are cheaper I believe in comparison to London. The main expenses are food and drink among other things. It ranks at no.2 in the most dangerous cities in EU below London. There is a definite public disorder problem. The transport system sucks ass aswell. Oh well I hoped you liked Dublin.

[Goliath]

john titor wrote:

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It ranks at no.2 in the most dangerous cities in EU below London. There is a definite public disorder problem.

Really? Things must have changed since I was there. I didn't get the impression that it was unsafe. The football fans, in particular, seemed much less menacing than their English counterparts.

Mind you, nobody tried to sell me drugs in London.

[trampledamage]

Camelopard wrote:

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A colleague of mine visited Northern Ireland during the early 1990s, and had a gun stuck in her face after she made the mistake of referring to Derry City as "Londonderry."

That makes it sound like all people in Northern Ireland carry guns and will shoot you for any mistake.

If your colleague is talking to the sort of people who are carrying guns in Northern Ireland then she probably should have had more awareness of what she was doing and what she should say.

[Deckerd]

I don't think the Irish people give a toss what people call Ireland quite frankly. They get called everything and take it with equanimity. There is a problem in Norn Iron but that is localised to two cities as far as most people are concerned. People in the Republic don't give a toss. If you're paying a king's ransom for a pint of guinness, you can call them any damn thing. There is a difference in social care and educational standards south of the border but from my last visit 5 years ago to this one, they've improved markedly and I expect they'll get up to UK standards within a few years.

[john titor]

Camelopard wrote:

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Really? Things must have changed since I was there. I didn't get the impression that it was unsafe. The football fans, in particular, seemed much less menacing than their English counterparts.

Mind you, nobody tried to sell me drugs in London.

There is a large population of tracksuited ones. Yes, nothing is quite as intimidating as a British hooligan.

[Goliath]

trampledamage wrote:

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That makes it sound like all people in Northern Ireland carry guns and will shoot you for any mistake.

What? I didn't say that at all. All I said was that some Irish people are sensitive about these things--and then provided an extreme example of such sensitivity.

As Deckerd said, people in the Republic itself are actually some of the least sensitive on this subject. People in the Irish diaspora are much worse, in my experience--and in many ways, the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland resembles the Irish diaspora more than it does the Republic.

If your colleague is talking to the sort of people who are carrying guns in Northern Ireland then she probably should have had more awareness of what she was doing and what she should say.

Well, she didn't really have any choice in the matter. A group of masked gunmen had set up a roadblock, and stopped her on the road to Derry City

Few Canadians know anything about the fraught history of this community, and would naturally refer to it by its official name. In fact, Edmonton, Alberta has a district called Londonderry. I visited Londonderry Mall quite often when I was child.

So I really think there's an element of "blaming the victim" in your response.

[trampledamage]

Camelopard wrote:

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So I really think there's an element of "blaming the victim" in your response.

No. You didn't say she was stopped at a paramilitary road-block at the time. All you said was she said "Londonderry" to a person in Northern Ireland and got a gun pointed at her.

Your way of telling the story made it sound like she was just having a conversation with people and then got attacked for saying the wrong words. Which is what I was reacting to.

Obviously if she's been stopped at a roadblock then it's a whole different situation and I'm glad she was all right.