‘Sunlight Chambers’, it says over the door of the office building on the corner of Parliament Street and Essex Quay. What a lovely name! But why is the building called that? Facing north across the Liffey, it certainly wasn’t catching many rays when Dublin.ie visited on a day in December. With its arched windows and overhanging eaves, it looks like an Italian palace, built perhaps for a cadet branch of the Medici family c1500. But hang on a second, what’s with the strange 3D decorations stuck on the walls of the first and second storeys? There’s nude babies, a donkey, a man building a boat, two men constructing an arch, a bunch of Renaissance-styl

If you live in Dublin, it’s almost impossible not to be aware of the shortage of affordable housing. If you haven’t joined the back of a long queue to view a property in recent years, chances are you know a lot of people that have. And for many the consequences can be far worse; about 140 people sleep rough every night, there are some 3,000 homeless who are dependent on hotels and B&Bs, and a further 100,000 are on social housing waiting lists. It’s something that’s garnered a lot of media & governmental attention, and often the solutions proffered are quite grandiose; build up and build quickly. As a nation, we tend to have a penchant for the new when it comes to housing. While that may be a part of the solution, it’s certainly not the only approach. In every corner of this city, there are spaces going to waste.

A seaside town that’s worth its salt all year round. North of Dublin city in Fingal you’ll find the seaside town of Skerries. Bustling in summer months, the beaches are full to the brim with tourists and city dwellers looking to dip a toe in the sea. But Irish seaside towns take on a different vibe during the autumnal months and Skerries is still worth the excursion beyond September. At this time of the year, you’ll find plenty of people braving some wind for a good ol’ stroll along the seafront. The sea air, a tried and tested cure for what ails ya, feels just as good in your lungs in November as it does in July. The name Skerries originally comes from the Norse w

The bedding in your local park, the roundabout at the end of your road, the planter on the quays: Dublin’s famous for its bursts of floral colour. Any journey you make in the city is likely to take you past some cheery display. But did you know that every plant you see comes from a single nursery, lovingly grown from seed to flower? St. Anne’s Park on the northside of the city is an embarrassment of riches. Its the second largest public park in the Dublin area, the grounds of the former estate of Lord and Lady

Sometimes the queue for the Ruby Sessions is so long that it snakes down the stairs of Doyle’s pub and out the door around past the old plaque on the wall that says “Good times are coming/Be they ever so far away” and down into the dark and puddles of Fleet Street. If you find yourself that far back, your chances of getting in are very far away indeed. These are the nights when word has leaked out into the world that a ‘Very Special Guest’ will be taking to the mic of the renowned live music night, and for the price of a six euro charity donation, you too could be part of the intimate gathering that surrounds the candlelit stage. Ed Sheeran, Damien Rice, Paulo Nutini, T