Barrack Obama's Visit

Is Féidir Linn!

These wise words were spoken yesterday by the American President Barrack Obama when he encouraged us in these hard, recessionary times that 'Yes We Can!'. Grinning from ear to ear yesterday in College Green in front of Trinity College, Barrack reached out to thousands of admiring, Irish followers. He was charming, polite and as expected, a true gentleman. People of all ages had queued since the night before to come see this inspirational man and listen to his heartwarming speech. He mentioned our country's great relationship with America, the historic connection between the two countries and his Kearney ancestors from Moneygall. He spoke about his hopeful belief that this country can battle through this terrible recession and come out of it as good as we were before it hit. He only graced our Irish soil for a mere 24 hours but it was enough to bring hope and spirit back into the hearts of our people.

Barrack and Michelle visited Moneygall in Co. Offaly on Monday afternoon before the big gathering in College Green. While there they met Barack's cousin 'Henry the 8th', had a quick pint of Guinness in Hayes' pub, took a trip into the local shop and chatted timelessly to the local villagers. They were greeted with enormous welcome from the locals and were treated as one of their own.

May the 23rd 2011, is a date that will surely go down in history for Dublin, when the American President brought hope and life back to the Irish people. It will certainly be a while before Dame Street, Temple Bar and the areas that surround it will see such an iconic figure in its midst which will atract such an enormous adoring crowd.

President Obama..after your visit, it is without a doubt that the thought on every Irish mind today is the creed: Is Féidir Linn!

Bridges over the Liffey

Dublin City is divided by the River Liffey and while there is the obvious need for bridges to transport traffic, the most important function of bridges is to link and connect people according to Michael Phillips, City Engineer with Dublin City Council. In a recent talk at the Central Library, The Ilac Centre, Dublin entitled ‘Bridges over the Liffey’ Michael gave listeners a historic insight into the 20 bridges that connect North and South Dublin city and as he explained the erection of bridges has a lot to do with what is going on at that current time. With just a lunch time hour Michael gave a brief yet interesting overview of each bridge.

Some interesting snippets:

• The current width of the River Liffey is about three times shorter than back in the 13th Century due to land reclamation
• The iconic Ha’penny Bridge got its name from the fact that is was originally built as a toll bridge and yes you guessed the price of the toll!
• O’Connell Bridge is unique in that it’s width is nearly the same as the length

The Central Library is a ten minute walk from Temple Bar Hotel.

Castleknock Barbeque

A beautiful hotel in a countryside location, good company and great food...what more could you ask for? That's what i was thinking last week when i was out in Castleknock Hotel and Country Club with my work colleagues. We were invited out to our sister hotel in Castleknock last Thursday to join the staff and their corporate clients for a great night of entertainment. They hosted an amazing evening that included a selection of games and even a falconer who displayed a very interesting collection of birds for our amusement-some of the guests even got to hold them on their arm!!

We helped ourselves to some wine and the array of salads and meats that were laid out for us.Their location for a summer BBQ is perfect. They have a huge outdoor patio area which has outdoor heaters and sheltered areas. There's plenty space for people to sit out with big gardens to roam around in. It's the ideal place for a birthday or a post-wedding day party celebration.

To top it all off we were serenaded for the evening by a fantastic Dublin based singer, Sean Boland, who sang songs by Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra. It really added to the overall atmosphere of the hotel and it made everyone very much at ease. My overall opinion of the hotel was it was classy, stylish and very elegant and overall a definite must see!