It seems that 4.5 billion gullible mugs visited the capital in 2007, with only 4 million expected this year. That's still a lot of mugs.
The ITIC suggested promoting Dublin's rich literary heritage - no bad thing, considering the huge contribution Dublin's authors have made to English literature. Something lost on the gobshites at Dublin City Council who recently relegated the vernacular on tourist signage by making Gaelic more prominent - a language with little real historical or literal connection to the city for most people... and none at all for tourists. That's Irish alright.
The ITIC have also suggested that Dublin's outdoor amenities be promoted more vigorously- the Dublin mountains on its southern borders, for instance.
Funny that. I was out that way for a spin yesterday and took the pics you see here. They feature the closed car park at Tibradden Forest where people are forced to park around the mouth of a shut gate and at the sides or a narrow country road if they want to savour the area's rustic attractions.
I have driven past here on other weekdays and have seen far more cars clustered in this haphazard fashion, what you see in the pic is mild. My car, by the way, is not in shot - it's at the side of the road behind me.
The car park only opens during weekends, and even at then it closes at "5pm sharp". If you don't complete your circuit of the woods in time you will find yourself forking out €75 for your jalopy's release.
If you want to park on a weekday - and there are plenty of tourists around on such days - you have to take your chances as above. What do tourists think of this, I wonder?
Whatever about the Voluntary Rangers cited on the warning sign, the semi-state forestry body, Coillte, employed 1,021 staff as of 2009. Surely enough to open and close a few gates during a weekday in areas with sufficient demand for parking?
Apparently not.
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Soooo the CRAIC is not all it's cracked up to be? A bit of the diddlyi not wowing the Tourists? GM, what is the world coming to? It's senses perhaps?
ReplyDeleteThere are some happless Tourists to this day GM, from the U.S. in particular, who arrive with emerald tinted shades and leave thinking how the hell does anyone actually live there? Any Americans I know, always, mention the traffic and the inane public transport. They just can't understand it from any viewpoint.
Yes, D... what kind of guff were they fed about the auld sod?
ReplyDeleteHi GM,
ReplyDeleteWhat don't get: Why would you close a forest (car park) at night in the first place? I cannot remember seeing this on the continent.
Wolf
AAAAAHHHHH GM the air is so rare you can bottle and sell it at a PPPPREMIUM.
ReplyDelete@ Wolf. I've never seen it anywhere else myself. Another first for Ireland!
ReplyDelete@ Dakota. If only you could park your car and breathe it in during a walk around the forest..
I don't know why they need gates on those car parks in the first place, it's not as if people are going to use them for free parking to commute into town...
ReplyDelete