#Dublin Visit Ireland PT3

We had a short time in Dublin but enough to form an impression. (warning - my observations might be totally wrong - ha!)

In no particular order here are a few things that come to mind :-

The fabled River Liffey which runs through central Dublin - is indeed dominant. Its powers are claimed to give Jameson whiskey and Guinness of course their unique taste. What surprised me was there was little or no boat activity - commercial or pleasure. I guess it all happens nearer the estuary mouth.
Dublin is a compact city - of human scale. There are no what you would call skyscrapers - and a real mix - Georgian to brutalist 1960's and a great deal of modern glass building. Taken together it is reasonably attractive but not impressive in large city terms.
The Liffey divides Dublin North and South. Apparently the North was working class. South middle class. I would say there is not much evidence of that in central Dublin although there is much south of the river including the Temple Bar area (vibrant party area) Grafton Street for shopping and of course Trinity College and Dublin Castle.
I liked O'Connell Street (north of the river) - a wide bustling boulevard - with the new and ultra prominent Spire. Our hotel The Gresham was located here. Very central. Smart. Fantastic wide ranging breakfast buffet. Highly recommended.
The Spire - a huge metal pin was erected in 2003. I like it. It certainly helps the tourist get their bearings as it is so high and prominent. It was built on a site that formerly had a statue of Nelson - but it was blown up by Irish nationalists in 1966.
Almost everyone we spoke to in Ireland were friendly although generally they keep themselves to themselves I would say.
Gaelic is commonly spoken. All signs are in Gaelic and English. It takes a lot more letters to write it in Gaelic!
Is there any music as infectious as loud Irish traditional music! Found a great music bar called the Celt in Talbot St Dublin - but there is plenty on offer in Dublin itself. It is NOT just for the tourists.
There are many beggars/drinkers on the Dublin streets but they were not threatening.
There definitely are a lot of bars in Ireland.
There is virtually no discernable difference between Guinness and Murphy's. Guinness ever so slightly more bitter maybe. Not all Irish drink black stout - far from it - but the tourists do. One Irish guy told me he stopped drinking Guinness when they started serving it chilled.
In order of prominence I was told - Gaelic Football, Football, Rugby Union, Hurling.
Dublin indeed Ireland is quite an expensive place to visit. Nothing is cheap. Guinness typically 5 euros.
After lots of Irish fare we were looking for something spicy (and cheap). We were lucky to come across a kitchen in the back of a food supermarket called Super Asia Foods. What a find. brilliant cheap food indeed.
Economy : the burst property bubble in the global financial crisis of 2008, massive sovereign debt - the Irish economy was thought to be a basket case almost of Greek proportions. See below :

Background :

The Irish economy entered severe recession in 2008, and then entered into an economic depression in 2009. The Economic and Social Research Institute predicted an economic contraction of 14% by 2010. In the first quarter in 2009, GDP was down 8.5% from the same quarter the previous year, and GNP down 12%. Unemployment rose from 8.75% to 11.4%. The economy exited recession in the third quarter of 2009, with GDP growing by 0.3% in the quarter, but GNP continued to contract, by 1.4%. The economy grew by 1.9% in Q1 and by 1.6% in Q2 of 2011 but contracted by 1.9% in Q3. Unemployment The unemployment rate rose from 4.2% in 2007 to reach 14.6% in February 2012.

Current :

BBC article - A new forecast from the European Commission predicts that the Republic of Ireland will continue to have the fastest growing economy in the Eurozone in 2016.
The Commission said GDP growth in 2015 was 6.9%, off the back of improving public finances and sustained employment growth.
Irish GDP figures are distorted by the financial activities of multinational companies and many economists think the real growth rate is probably 3.5% to 4%.
That still makes it one of the Eurozone's best performing economies.
The commission forecasts growth of 4.5% in 2016 and 3.5% in 2017.
Unemployment is expected to fall to below 8% in 2017.
It has also forecast that inflation will pick up slightly, to 1.4% by 2017, driven primarily by a projected recovery in wages.
The commission said that, while the recovery started in the external sector, domestic demand is now driving GDP growth.

and now some more controversial observations/opinions from me - ha! :-

They Irish economy has bounced back - how and why ? A comparison with the UK.

Ireland broadly has political stability - and not much of a socialist tradition.
Ireland has a good infrastructure. Road links are good - not clogged up as the UK.
Irish education is good. Ireland's secondary students rank above average in terms of academic performance in both the OECD and EU; having reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy test scores better than average. Ireland has the second best reading literacy for teenagers in the EU, after Finland.
Economic improvements in the 1990s attracted a number of global pharmaceutical, information and communications technology companies to the city and Greater Dublin Area. Companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, Accenture and Pfizer now have European headquarters and/or operational bases in the city, with several located in enterprise clusters like the Digital Hub and Silicon Docks.
See above. Ireland has the lowest corporation tax rates in the EU. It is why the multi nationals pay their tax there. They are not breaking any laws. It is complete nonsense for politicians like Corbyn to say we can tax these companies more. And it is also a fallacy that we can put up corporation tax further to increase our tax revenues. We will not. Companies will register for tax elsewhere - like Ireland - and it would be legal too - unless there is worldwide agreement to change the rules. It cannot be achieved unilaterally - our tax take will fall if we are not reasonably competitive with corporate tax rates and the legal framework in which large companies have to operate.
Ireland has space and is not overpopulated. GDP per capita is much better than the UK's as a result. The statistics are obvious. Area of Ireland approx. 27000 square miles. England 50000 square miles. So England is twice as big as Ireland in area terms. Population of Ireland - less than 5 million. Population of England 53 million. So we have 10 times the population in an area twice the size. There is not enough room in England to function properly. We are on top of each other and it is getting worse. Ultimately bad for business. Bad for society. Bad for the soul!
Population growth in Ireland - about static. In the UK - the fastest increasing in the EU and on course to have the biggest population in the Europe by 2035. Madness.
Ireland feels like a united country. They have knuckled down with their financial woes. They have had a broadly united cohesiveness.
We admire Irish tradition. Irish folklore. They export it all over the world with great success. Tourism is massive in Ireland. The Irish know who they are. By contrast the English are embarrassed by their nationality. Flag waving is a no no. We no longer know who we are and what we stand for. We are lost. We are sliding. We are not united. We are multicultural and trying to go in all directions in a pc world driven by social media and too often - a victim mentality.
I read in an Irish book "the Irish should forget their history more - the English remember it more". It was referring to the long Irish struggle with the British for home rule and independence. At times this was a very vicious and cruel struggle as we know - atrocities on both sides. The Irish remember it and it unites them in common cause - but maybe they do need to move on. I have been to many countries where the British Empire has had massive impact - some bad by modern interpretation but certainly not all bad. We are increasingly hung up with it - almost afraid to say we are British. We need to look deeper. In so many ways we have been a force for democracy in the world and done a lot of good too. We should remember our history is quite extraordinary and that it is a mistake to judge everything by today's standards.
On Irish antipathy - even hatred towards the British - as I have said I found the Irish people I spoke to as warm and friendly. However in one of the Dublin bars we got caught up with some Irish football supporters (Ireland had just played Austria in a world up qualifier in Dublin). They were very nationalistic - wearing green and draped in their flag. A couple of guys were not very friendly to me when they heard me speak - its me first at the bar English! Also the lead musician asked is there any English in the bar tonight? No one put their hand up - including us. The musician said "that's good then!" to laughs and cheers!