Dublingrad

My wife and I have just returned from a long weekend in Dublin, courtesy of Irish Ferries. A couple of nights b & b in the four star Burlington Hotel, and the crossing were covered, so we just had to feed and water ourselves....neither are too much of a problem in that fair City.

We visited Wicklow, Arklow and the Wicklow mountains on Saturday, and generally chilled the rest of the time.

I need to give the City a 'heads up' though, and how much I hate that expression. The joy of visiting the City is as much about the people as it is the surroundings, particularly the serving staff who take a real pride in being Irish and doing their job well. Imagine my disappointment then that many of the bars we visited had non-Irish staff behind the bar.

Now I have never had a problem with the Aussie and Kiwi population of London who traditionally came over, worked their passage in bars and restaurants and funded the next part of their round the world trip accordingly. They were kind of British, so had an understanding of the culture of the British pub, could give the banter as much as take it, and generally speaking laughed and joked their way through their shifts, keeping the regulars happy.

The problem Dublin has is that the immigrant staff they are employing have limited English, and much less Irish, don't really understand what the Craic is all about, or the special relationship they should have with their punters. If it becomes endemic, the atmosphere of the traditional bars will be lost and the bar tender profession, so revered in the Country, will become a thing of the past.

So rant over.....and that said, we did find some cracking bars full of the Craic and people prepared to chew the fat. Kehoe's remains a favourite, as does O'Donohues in Baggot Street. Over the road is Doheny & Nesbitt which we must add to our rugby pub circuit, and O'Briens in Leeson Street was a local lively bar.

We had a very pleaseant evening in Bijou, a restaurant in Rathgar, but kitty's next to O'Donohues promised much but came up a bit short.

Three hurling contests at Croke Park made for a lively city, not withstanding the usual 'hens'.

Roll on the Six Nations!!!