How Dublin Works

The last Typewriter Shop in Dublin On Dorset Street in Dublin’s north inner city, there’s a typewriter shop that’s been there as long as I can remember. Founded in 1983, it’s run by Joe Millar and his son, who’s also named Joe. It’s the last typewriter shop in Dublin and the only one in the Golden Pages where it’s listed, simply, as ‘The Typewriter Shop’. A million machines, but no more manufacturers Before setting up the shop, Joe Sr. had worked in the typewriter trade for the American manufacturer Remington. “They had offices in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway and Limerick,” he says. They sold typewriters to offices and serviced

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.

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

Graphic designer Niall McCormack has been interested in record sleeve design since he was a child. In the nineties, he began to design record sleeves for his friends’ bands, and for his own band, Jubilee Allstars. He’s now designed over a hundred record sleeves and CD covers for an array of record labels in the UK and USA. So, in co-curating Green Sleeves, an exhibition of Irish record sleeve design in the National Print Museum with Dr Ciar�

I moved to Ireland from Togo back in 2005, when I was 15 years old. I studied accounting and finance in DIT and then went on to train as a chartered accountant with EY. Last year was busy for me: I was one of the founder members of the African Professional Network of Ireland and I took a big leap out of the corporate world to move into a start-up. The Economic and Social Research Institute has shown that black African people have a more difficult time finding jobs, and are more likely to experience workplace discrimination. APNI is an important way of addressing this: if you know someone working in an

I didn’t really like school that much. I’m dyslexic and I couldn’t handle it. I hated even reading at the time. I left school when I was 16 and got into a trade in air conditioning and refrigeration. I bought my first house when I was 19, my second when I was 22, my third when I was about 24. I rented out the houses and was involved in different businesses, investing money as well as working in refrigeration. In my early 20s, I had nice cars, everything was going great, I travelled all over the world and had a ball! I realised I liked the hustle and bustle behind the camera. It was being creative but it was still business, and I like dealing with people

This is no occupation for old men – to twist what Yeats said. Wouldn’t mind but I’m not even that ancient. Climbing up all these flights of scaffolding. Then the scaffolding gives way to ladders. Ladders for a couple more floors. So the sweat is breaking out when we get up here: this windswept top floor with stunning views – if it was safe to stop watching your footing and look out on the city and the Liffey flowing into Dublin Bay.

What happens when you choose the road less travelled and forgo a full-time college course on leaving school? We chat to Craig Andrew about what he did instead. The Leaving Cert can seem like the biggest thing in the world when you’re 18. It’s going to define the rest of your life. You’ve got to work hard if you want a job. You’ve got to work even harder if you want a well-paid job. And you’re just lucky if you enjoy it. That’s how Craig Andrew and many others felt when they were that tender age. “It’s not like I didn’t try,” Craig says. “But nothing really spoke to me that much. So I applied for stuff I thought was relevant, with help from guidance co

The eyes of the city: Andrew Harris, Dublin’s traffic control room supervisor. ‘There’s always someone looking at you’ sang Dublin band the Boomtown Rats in 1979. Today in the city that someone is Andrew Harris and his staff at the Traffic Control Room. They monitor the screens in their room in Wood Quay, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They’ve got 300-odd cameras in locations all over the city – with forty more on the way. Some of them you can see – up at the top of street lights, for instance. But it’s the ones

Half way down Dawson Street, nestled away in an old Georgian building, is the Design House – a thriving hub of creativity. The Design House was founded by Irish fashion designer, Bebhinn Flood. It’s the creative home to several in-house designers. With design and retail under the one roof, it’s like buying straight from the studios. The hallways host a gallery of art. Over 60 designers, mostly Irish, sell their creations here. Cutting-edge fashion, jewellery, bridal, vintage and a variety of crafts all in the one beautiful Georgian building. Not to mention the authentic Italian café in the basement, which has just

Dublin based illustrator Fuchsia MacAree has a range of work full of unusual characters, bright colours and quirky maps. She’s been freelancing since finishing college, working with a regular client base, taking on bigger projects and teaching part-time in NCAD. Dublin.ie sat down for a chat to find out more. Dublin.ie: How did you get into illustration? Fuchsia MacAree (FM): I’m from Killaloe originally. I studied Visual Communications in NCAD. I thought I wanted to do graphic design, then outside of college, I was illustrating for local magazines. I realised, illustration didn

We all know Grand Canal as the home of Google but unbeknownst to many, tucked among the tech giants is a building where ancient crafts are still practised, THE DESIGN TOWER. The Tower’s seven stories of studios play host to jewellers, fashion designers, conservationists and more. Dublin.ie is going behind the tower’s walls to meet the craftspeople working there, including Tony O’Connor of JewelleryRepair.ie. I’ve been here longer than my own house. I started my apprenticeship here in a different jewellery company