Comments on: Here’s to a place where the classes really do mix

By: Joyce Goodwin

Joyce Goodwin — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:41:20 +0000

hi
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good luck

By: Tia Bailey

Tia Bailey — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:54:55 +0000

hi
za3bmpv11pq36bfl
good luck

By: LC

LC — Tue, 29 May 2007 18:41:33 +0000

Ha ha … funny cos its true !! thats also why its the best place for people watching !!
nd omg people its called sarcaism !!! i think its quite obvious that dublin airport doesnt have a section located in Meath. ha ha
i have to say tho , that this reads like a page out of Ross O’ Carrol Kelly .

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:51:07 +0000

Just found this site and its entertaining stuff (Thats the faint praise bit over with …). However, it is typified by articles such as this which portray the Ireland of today as something almost entirely new and divorced from what went before, when what is actually the truth (and of far greater interest) is the fact that ‘new Ireland’ with its wealth, secularism, ‘death of the meta-narrative’, and all that sophicticated elevator music jazz is pretty similar to Ireland of the 80s, 70s and before.

This article commences with the assertion that pubs are ‘becoming one of the most socially divisive meeting places in our New Ireland’. The key word there is ‘becoming’. You’ll have to forgive my memory but its a long time since I read a study, I think by Chris Curtin of UCG on pubs in Lisdoonvarna in the 70s, which found that the plethora of public houses in an town with a very small population served the subtle social function of allowing different classes and social groupings to avoid contact.

Irish pubs have always been socially devisive and most of the ‘new Ireland’ stuff is just a re-branding – inward migration aside we’re much the same as we’ve always been.

By: Allen

Allen — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:57:00 +0000

Yes, everybody, regardless of their station in life, has to use Dublin Airport (unless of course they choose Shannon). All the more reason for the Dublin Airport Authority to improve the standards of the airport. And also a good reason for the government and the IDA to hassle the DAA into improving the place. And I don’t mean replacing it. It is confusing. It has no traffic plan (they might wish to go to Frankfurt to have a look at an airport with a traffic plan). People are criscrossing each other all over the place. Try getting through the baggage reclaim area in Dublin Airport-people are always crashing. It is a muddle. Anytime of the day. And anything you buy apart from a marked item like a newspaper, has an inflated price. People arrive, get knocked about and ripped off. Then they go the pub and obliterate a few more brain cells before trying to find a taxi, or use an expensive bus to get to the city centre. The perfect anecdoate for modern Ireland.

Eh Billy – I think David’s remark about the terminal being in Meath, was made in context of the amount of walking that is required to get there.

By: laura

laura — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:19:51 +0000

In fairness to Dublin, its not half as grubby as Cork, even with the new terminal. And at least they haven’t built a business park in the middle of the airport (hello again Cork).

By: Noreen

Noreen — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 11:15:09 +0000

There’s one way to avoid Dublin Airport without the private jet: Shannon Airport.

A gorgeous airport, where they’ve actually figured out that the belt-off, shoes-off, laptop-out-of-bag process is the rate determining factor. I was schocked flying out of Dublin lately and realising that what was really holding us all up was that there was one tiny table at the head of each queue! With a man standing there instructing each person individually as they got to the head of the queue. Weird.

At Shannon and most other airports, you have a long table, where several people can do the stripdown process at once – so the rate determining factor becomes how many people can actually be processed through the x-ray machine, not how long it takes one person to empty his pockets, take off the shoes, belt, and coat, and get the laptop out of the bag.

By: SpinstaSista

SpinstaSista — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:54:23 +0000

Thank you David for bringing economics to non-economists. Why not bring economics to primary schools and secondary schools as well? I heard it said that a mother of 10 on a limited income could give any economist a run for his or her money. When times were harder and banks were less willing to lend money we all had a better understanding of economics. Nowadays people seem to run away with the credit card without asking questions as to where the money comes from or how it’s going to be paid back.

Keep up the good work!

By: David Mc Williams

David Mc Williams — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 12:54:56 +0000

Hi John X and Mark, David here. I’m not trying to dumb down, but dumb up! Economics is far too serious to be left to academics and those who would try to make it harder than it actally is. It should be the aim of all commentators to make popular their subject – this is the only way to reach an audience and thus, create debate. So bear with me!

Regards, David

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:59:40 +0000

I live and work in the US and I find it a breeeze in American airports. True, they are all completely full and last Sunday in Miami was like a zoo, but American Airlines allows you to jump the queue if you pay for business class. My company pays extra for one of their corporate programs so that all employees get first class check in and automatic upgrades when available even when they fly economy. Comfortable lounges away from the lousy PA system are also available. As a frequent flyer, I would not be able to do the Dublin airport scrum more than twice a year. Last September, was the limit for me for at least another 6 months! Give me the American attitude of pay more and get better service any day of the week.