smell of shit over dublin
Friday, May 13, 2005, 03:31 PM
13.05.05
dublin used to be famous for the foul smell from the liffey at times but the old river no longer smells. What does smell obnoxiously is the city sewerage treatment plant at Ringsend- Irishtown-Sandymount. As I passed through Sean More (once lord mayor) park, Irishtown this morning the smell was overpowering from the works to its west probably more noticable because of the east wind.
It should be possible to have the foul gases sent up a chimney like the esb generator chimneys and dispersed in the atmosphere. A builder would not be allowed to allow sewerage fumes escape below roof level of a building and the Council should be under a similar obligation to remove the vapours of their massive septic tanks from the reach of the citizens.
It seems that the lawmakers here are above their own laws - 'do what i say not what i do', seems to be their motto.
Even the sea shore at Irishtown doesn't look too healthy with a lot of green stuff growing on the sand, so the treatment plant doesn't seem to be saving the sea either.
how do cities twenty times as big as Dublin deal with their sewerage, I wonder.
I think no place in London or New York would you come across such revolting smells - it would make you wonder if the Paddies can get anything right, as the English always believed.
Sinn Fein we waddle along in our own shit.

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swimming at pigeonhouse, dublin bay
Thursday, May 12, 2005, 02:31 PM
11.05.05
It was a beautiful may summer day in dublin - a good day for making hay as i used to do with my dad on the farm that was once ours = i had a farm in clare once!
there are few places so gloroous as dublin on a summer day but its not because of coffee at eleven or a stroll in stephen's green although they are good too,; its because of the wonderful bay that the city is built around but which it sees less times than it goes to mass.
I took a cycle down to the pigeonhouses and had a swim at the 'half-moon swimming and waterpolo club' sea base with Sylvester my dog and thae water was just perfect there.
It would be great if we could somehow get some present day teams to play in the sea at theses locations to show how enjoyable the sea is to play in. I had a nice chat with a father and his three chuldren who came to have a barbeque at the half-moon building. Two of them were four year old twins of whom the boy was called Alexander. I said all boys called Alexander must find it a big challenge to match up to Colin Farrell, as if!
Couple of old dubliners arrived to lunch there as well - maybe costume will be necessary next time. But, interestingly, one said that there was considerable opposition to what was proposed for Scotsman;s bay, which gave me great heart. It might transpire that the councils leave the bay and the beaches alone and stop trying to wall off the sea from the people.
In the afternoon I took my Rocky dog out to Blackrock and had a short dip there - pity all those people who don't know the delights of the sea - for what else would a person get out of bed a t 5 oclock in the morning as some do.

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sea shore in front of baths Dun Laoghaire
Tuesday, May 3, 2005, 07:36 AM

This picture shows what a beautifu sandy sea shore there is in front of the baths, which would be put out of bounds for people for ever if the Co.co. had their way of building a monstrous building on the site of the baths.

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clean sea
Tuesday, May 3, 2005, 07:05 AM
03.05.05
For the past couple of days i have been swimming at Balscadden bay, Howth just outside Dublin bay, which one would expect to be very clean as its so far from the city. However, i fear the opposite is the case and the water there seems laden with lots of debris which is not found in Scotsman's bay. I don't know why this is so but it may be to do with the fact that sewerage might be pumped into the sea from the northern suburbs such as Malahide and Portmarnock; also the sea may not be so deep near to the shore. It could also have to do with the marina nearby pumping shit out of boats. Many people and children come to place on theses beaches during the summer and it is a shame if the water is contaminated and unsuitable for swimming in.
For all these reasons I hope they see reason in Dun Laoghaire and keep their Scotsman's bay free of shit-producing developments including car and boat parks which they like to call marinas here. The water in Scotsman's bay is deep and never seems to carry debris like at many other places.
The squatters at the Fortyfoot know better than the Co.co. what a pristine and rare resource they are exploiting. Hopefully Co.co. will see the light and open up all of this beautiful bay to the people and not sell it off to some seaside grabbing landlord whose single aim is to make rent out of parking of people in beds, cars in yards and boats in the sea.


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sea behind bars
Saturday, April 30, 2005, 03:19 AM
Its been a while now since I made a blog entry but I feel I should record the events of these past few days as far as the sea goes.
On wednesday we had brillant swim around 11.00 oclock in the Fortyfoot but just before i left one of the 'volunteers' came over shouting at me to get the dog out. They went on with a angry tiread of what they would do to me and my dog.
When I came back to my old bike I fund both tyres slashed and this on the day when the Minister was at Sandycove for a cermony to unveil some plaque or other! When the cermony was over and the path clear I left to walk the whole eight miles home - but it was worth it well maybe not worth the E 70 its going to cost me to replace the tyres and tubes. How we suffer for our art!
On thursday, We returned at 11.00 to the scene of the crime and had another lovely swim in the Fortyfoot.Thanks to the weather being bad and the sea rough there was no one else at the Fortyfoot at the time. I was just admiring the natural looking unbleached state of the Fortyfoot and congratulating myself on getting the use of that acid or alkalai they had been using for 30 years to 'clean' the steps, stopped by the council.
Wonder of wonders our bikes were not interfered with this time and I was able to cycle home this time
Friday, being a nice fine day, brought out lots of people to swim at the Fortyfoot but,,to my disappointmen the place had once again being inundated with the acid and all the natural patina had been cut away and the water tasted of the cleaner.The air had been let out of my tyres this time ; however they had been merciful this time , not puncturing them and I was able to pump them up for my return journey.
The only reason i can think of for this unreasonable agression and enforcement of arbitary laws is that the 'volunteers' of the SBA are reaily only interested in privatising this bathing place like they would like to do with all the others so that they could control who uses the sea and charge for its use. They seem intent on making the Fortyfoot into their kind of outdoor swimming pool and hence all the chemicals proper only to a urine-laden indoor stagant pool.They are the same kind of bastards that have taken over harbours and turned them into marinas for their own profit.

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