Business Contacts
Mobile phone hire: Rentaphone Ireland on 087 683 4563, www.rentaphone-ireland.com
Car hire Budget Car Rental on 844 5150 or email reservations@budget.ie
Office rental: Premier Business Centres on 639 1100 or email: pbc@premgroup.com Secretarial services Abbey House at 872 4911 or Aardvark at 678 7350
Excursions
Whether you’re planning a trip to the Wax Museum in Parnell Street or a hike up the Wicklow Mountains, the place to get all the relevant information is the main Dublin Tourism office in Suffolk Street. www. visitdublin.com
Dublin City Bus Tour: This hop on/hop off service includes Parnell Square, Trinity College, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Guinness Brewery among its 12 stops. Tickets priced €12.50 are valid for 24 hours and include discounts to a number of attractions. www.dublinbus.ie The Viking Splash (64 Patrick Street, D8): Tel 707 6000 is a hugely popular tour that combines traditional sightseeing with a trip on the historic Grand Canal. There’s also an open invitation to roar at landlubbers as the Second World War amphibious vehicles, which make the feat possible trundle around town. www. vikingsplashtours.comTel: 707 6000 If you fancy a blast of sea air, Dublin’s most picturesque harbour, Howth, is just a 30-minute bus or DART train ride away. For fresh seafood, landed daily by the local fl eet, visit Wright’s on the pier or continue up the hill to the village. Energetic types should ask for directions to Howth Head, a spectacularly scenic three-mile walk which weaves its way in and out of the cliffs. Crucially, there’s a pub at the end of it where you can replenish lost fl uids.
England has Stonehenge, Egypt has the pyramids and Ireland has Newgrange.
An easy 90-minute drive from Dublin, the preserved collection of tombs dates back to 3200 BC. Believed to have taken a workforce of 300 at least 40 years to construct, the site is remarkable for the way the central passage and chamber are illuminated just once a year by the winter solstice sunrise. Tours run on Thursdays and Saturdays, departing the Central Bus Station (Busaras) at 10am and returning at 5.45pm.
Weather And Climate
There’s a good reason why Ireland is so green – it rains a lot! The average rainfall as high in August as it is December when temperatures also regularly dip below freezing. On the plus side, Dublin is renowned for its mild Spring and Indian summers that often run well into September.
LOCAL PRESS
There’s been an explosion recently of free listings magazines with In Dublin, Dublin Event Guide and Totally Dublin all keeping tabs on what’s happening on the local scene entertainment-wise.
There are also excellent listings sections in the daily Evening Herald newspaper and Hot Press, Ireland’s rock ‘n’ roll fortnightly which was the first magazine to champion a spotty-faced bunch of youths called U2.
If it’s a more serious read you’re after, The Village and Magillboth mix hard news with arts coverage and restaurant reviews.
Tourist Traps
While it can be fun earlier in the week, visiting stag and hen parties can make Temple Bar a no go area on Friday and Saturday nights.
You’d also want to be a hardcore Darby O’Gill fan to take in one of the Irish cabaret nights staged at the more traditional hotels like Barry’s and Jury’s in Ballsbridge. Food-wise, be suspicious of any restaurant that gets dewy eyed about tripe, pig’s trotters and boiled bacon and cabbage. It was only eaten a hundred years ago because there was no foie gras and filet mignon on the menu!
Tipping Etiquette
There’s no real tipping culture in Ireland other than leaving the standard 10% to 15% if service isn’t already included.
While bar staff certainly won’t complain if you leave money for them on the counter, it’s only the ones waiting tables who’ll expect a gratuity. Curiously, it’s rare to tip taxi drivers unless they’ve helped with bags or performed extraordinary heroics in getting you somewhere on time.
Internet Cafés
The first easyInternetcafé opened recently on Aston Quay, D2, with more to follow in the near future. The Global Internet Café (8 Lower O’Connell Street) and The Central Cybercafé (6 Grafton Street) are two of the best independent operators.
Gifts To Buy
Unless you’ve your heart particularly set on a green leprechaun hat, avoid shops with tour buses parked outside and head instead to a designer outlet like Kilkenny (Nassau Street, D2), whose range of glassware, ceramics and jewellery is Irish, as distinct from Oirish.
The Design Centre in Powerscourt Town-house (59 South William Street, D2) is known for its support of such fashion brat-packers as Louise Kennedy, Helen McAlinden and Synan O’Mahony, while Avoca (11 Suffolk Street, D2) has a basement crammed with gourmet Irish foodstuffs.