Pablo Carballada

My next stop is… Dublin!! also known in Gaelic as Baile Átha Cliath (The Settlement of the Ford of the Reed Hurdles) or Dubh Linn (Black Pool). Two Irish names? That’s because that settlement, founded in 988 by an Irish King, was located right beside the existing Viking town of Dubh Linn.

I lived here when I first came to Ireland in June 2003, not so long ago… but my fate brought me to the Midlands, where I stayed most of my time in this country, then to Wexford, and I’m back now to live and work here for another while.

Dublin is a nice city, with a friendly atmosphere, multicultural population and a great night life, but it’s one of the most expensive European cities. It has a few good things to offer to the visitors but this is not London, Rome, Berlin or Paris, although you might be charged as if you were in the most amazing city of the planet. The Dubliners, expert travelers, know that very well and most of them will get away from the city in the next days (Easter) towards the countryside or cheaper destinies in Southern Europe, leaving Dublin empty for the tourists, who will happily pay… 5 € for a pint in the pub around the corner!!

But the fact is that only London are Paris are ahead of Dublin in the ranking of the most visited European capitals. The hordes of visitors, brought by Ryanair and other companies’ cheap flights, can enjoy here some of the world’s best beers, the lively pubs playing U2 around decadent Temple Bar, the Guinness brewery or they may choose between the most expensive shopping street or the largest shopping centre in Europe, if they can afford it. For those with no money in their pockets, the Fair City is also a major European cultural centre and the origin of many prominent literary figures, including James Joyce, Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Seán O’Casey and Samuel Beckett. Having said that, I couldn’t cope with Joyce’s Ulysses.

Apart from the beer, the prices of the transport, housing, restaurants… are also rising, but it is expected a bit of an economic crisis whenever the housing prices get to their top and start to drop in a country which may be too dependant on the building industry. Will my landlord, and most of the property owners, be able to pay their mortgages if they have to face lower rents, lack of tenants, possibly lower wages and definitely higher mortgage fees?

That could be in the next future, but right now Dublin is enjoying to be the Celtic Tiger’s head, the healthiest economy in Europe, targeted by the rest of Europe’s young professionals who look for a better future out of their countries. And they can actually find it here. Dublin’s face and its craic are being changed by the immigrants from all around the world.