Dublin won the All-Ireland football final a couple of weeks ago.
This is what the north side of the city looked like:
The south side of the city looked just the same, except there was no bunting. All of Dublin’s inner suburbs were built by people who liked things to match.
The north of the city is GAA heartland. The south, not so much. A friend of mine went, along with thousands of others, to see the Dubliners show off the Sam Maguire cup. The master of ceremonies asked the crowd, “Is there anybody here from Raheny (north city)? The crowd went wild. “Is there anyone here from Dalkey (distant southern suburb)?” Complete silence, this despite the fact that one of the squad is actually from Dalkey.
While not wishing to single out Dalkey for punishment – it is a perfect pleasant place – I must tell you about the ad for “exclusive luxury homes in Dalkey” in the paper the other day. Among the benefits which the developers claim is that “it would be difficult to find a more appealing address”. They also point out that “There is no social and affordable housing within the development”. Do you think that I’m making this up?
Well, the obvious meaning of exclusive is that it excludes people. We are about to leave Dalkey ourselves for our new non-luxury home at the Raheny end of Artane.
If you want GAA bunting you’ll find it just down the road in Glasthule; but Dalkey does have a very popular GAA club. Every Saturday the carpark in front of our development fills up with the 4x4s of proud parents taking their children to hurling.
Raheny end of Artane v. nice, I understand. I take your point re exclusive but isn’t the ad a bit vile all the same?
To be fair, didn’t Dalkey pony up one of the all-Ireland winning squad?