The Ban Bus

The venue that the treaty meeting will take place in is called Croke Park and its Irelands biggest football stadium. It’s also the countries largest conference space so it’s the government’s only option. The interesting thing about it is it’s in the roughest neighbourhood in Dublin. I have visions of deliberations breaking up each day and the diplomats getting mugged by the local drug dealers as the leave each evening. Mette and me rode our bikes through the middle of it last week and were conscious that we were trespassing on someone’s “turf”.

There is a wonderful phenomenon there, the pyjama boozer. It’s really quite the female fashion statement. Never in my life have I seen women at the pub in their pyjamas in the early afternoon. In fact, I’ve never seen women in their pyjamas in a pub ever and I’d include supermarkets and sporting events as well in that. That being said it is a statement worth making and a style unique to Summer Hill. The area of Summer Hill sits between Croke Park and the city and is an area divided between rivalled gangs. The violence there is not imagined but very real and as we get to know the city more, we hear tales of some of the thuggish crime as well as serious underworld goings on. All irrelevant to me but worth knowing about as no interest in treading on any of these jokers toes. Just stay clear of the rough stuff and get on with our job.