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Jane Jacobs, the doyenne of urban planning, believed that the success of any city owed a lot to the “intricacy of pavement use, bringing with it a constant succession of eyes”. She wrote, in The Death and Life of Great American Cities: “There must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street. The buildings on a street equipped to handle strangers, and to ensure the safety of both residents and strangers, must be oriented to the street. They cannot turn their backs or blank sides on it and leave it blind.” However, what happens when the residents and strangers are themselves blind to the

Although the Irish Writers Centre has long been a place for keen readers and writers to attend readings and launches, or to take part in one of the many writing classes on offer covering every topic from memoir to ghostwriting to autofiction, the centre can at times be overlooked because of its location, tucked away as it is away from the bustle of the city, beyond the trees of the Garden of Remembrance.

The jewel of Dublin’s music scene Sometimes the queue for The Ruby Sessions is so long that it snakes down the stairs of Doyles 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 €10 charity donation, you too could be part of the intimate gathering that surrounds the candlelit stage

They’re a group of lads from around the Liberties. Late teens to early 20s, bustling with animation. Bit of slagging about who is going to talk to Dublin.ie. Probably a bit of slagging about the guy from Dublin.ie. But these are decent guys. You could probably place a safe bet that one or two of them might be no stranger to a bit of mischief in their day. So what they are up to takes you a little bit by surprise. If someone outside the gate told you that these guys were making salad bowls inside the yard, “get up the yard!” would be your likely response. But this is the Yard Crew, part of the Solas Project. The

Walking through Temple Bar on a midweek afternoon, the sounds of céilí bands and lads on guitars belting out U2 covers tumble out onto the street every time a pub door swings open. Buskers are so much a part of Dublin culture that Glen Hansard starred in an Oscar winning film about them. Phil Lynott’s statue off Grafton Street is often draped in rocker pilgrims from around the world, a replica of Rory Gallagher’s rusty guitar hangs over his own designated corner near Meeting House Square, and Whelan’s is a mecca for any serious music lover. Dublin’s rock heritage is as legendary as its literary one, with the city punching well above its weight on the international scene

On a quiet corner in Stoneybatter, behind a quaint but unassuming shopfront lies renowned Dublin publishing house, Lilliput Press. The door is wide open when I arrive, and the sunshine falls in on a room lined with bookshelves. Two men sit on a sofa by the window, leaning over a coffee table covered in books. The door of founder Antony Farrell’s office sits ajar, and inside there is the busyness of a thoroughly active office; heaped manuscripts, teetering book stacks, handwritten letters taped to the wall. After he ensures I have a coffee and a bit of fruit to snack on, I sit on a chair in amongst the chaos of the heaving room. Antony sits behind his desk, peeling a mand

You may not realise it, but Capel Street is one of Dublin’s most historically significant streets. It doesn’t appear in tourist guides as much as O’Connell Street or Grafton Street, but it’s definitely worth spending some time here. The history of Capel Street Back in the 17th century, Capel Street was a fundamental part of Dublin’s expansion north of the river Liffey by Sir Humphrey Jervis.

Combining visual art and long distance swimming When Vanessa Daws moved to Dublin in 2011, she did something that might seem unusual to most people, but has become a habit for her. “The first thing I did was arrange a swim down the Liffey at dawn. What I normally do when I go on art residencies or move somewhere, I find the nearest body of water and I swim in it.” The idea of swimming across the M50 was quite interesting, but it was scary. She tells me that she does this to feel more at home in a place: To bond with a place. To be accepted by the city. Connecting, submerging, in the city. “If I swam, I just knew I’d

Meet Oliver Cunningham of Wall & Keogh, Dairine Keogh of Clement & Pekoe and Anya Letsko of Joy of Cha. These three are in the vanguard of Dublin’s tea-house renaissance, a movement that’s three parts infusion of leaves to one part charmingly quirky interior decor. Are they operating on a higher spiritual plane than their coffee-fuelled counterparts? Where are they on the vexed question of sugar? Dublin.ie finds out. Dublin.ie: You people are making a bit of a song and dance about tea aren’t you? Why so? Oliver: We do take it seriously at

Dublin residents are by now familiar with the UNESCO emblem on programmes and posters for the city’s many literary events, but it was only on the 26th of July 2010, that Dublin was designated a City of Literature by the cultural arm of the United Nations. The fourth city to receive such a designation, after Iowa City, Melbourne and Edinburgh, it was a recognition of Dublin’s lively contemporary literary scene built on the strong foundation laid by past masters.

Most people who visit Bull Island from week to week probably don’t realise that it’s part of one of the biggest biospheres in Europe. So, what’s a biosphere? Quite simply, a biosphere is an environment where people, nature and culture  connect and co-exist. Imagine the biosphere as the perfect cup of tea, with people as the water, nature as the tea leaves and culture as the milk. The tea leaves are rich and unique, but need the water to be hot so they can release the flavour, while the milk is added to make it more drinkable. In the same way, nature and culture within the biosphere can add value to people, but only where it is protected and

One of Rathmines’ smallest buildings happens to be one of the most distinctive, for it houses a Dublin art collective, MART. The old fire-station, with a classic engine-red door facing the main street, was built in 1847 soon after Rathmines became an independent “township”. Like the magnificent Rathmines Town Hall, the station was a symbol of township independence and civic pride. The fire crew based here played a big role battling the inferno, which blazed around Sackville Street during the