My first recollections of Dublin are rooted in its legendary docklands: building sandcastles on neighbouring Sandymount Beach and riding a borrowed bike between the 'two-up-two-down' redbrick terraced rows in Ringsend, the district of Dublin where my grandparents lived.
Every time I visit, the low-lying urbanisation and the way it seems to sink into the serene shallows of its Unesco-listed Biosphere Bay, filled with species, expand my sense of belonging.
I have a lot of feelings for a place I've never lived in yet am attached to. Dublin was selected by the European Commission to be the European Smart Tourism Capital 2024 in part because of its creative efforts to strike a balance between human demands and those of the environment.
Another is that the city has produced a plethora of novel experiences that delve into "what it means to be Irish"; these cater not only to the millions of people who are connected to Ireland through the diaspora but also to those who simply want to immerse themselves in the local way of life and experience what it means to be Irish. "Putting locals and people at its heart" is how Dublin City Tourism Unit head Barry Rogers describes how the city has tried to change the conventional tourist experience.
One excellent illustration is the recently released Dublin Discovery Trails app, which takes users from the streets of contemporary Dublin back in time to significant occasions that influenced the history and culture of the city. In addition, there are poignant tales told by former tenants of the inner city, where one townhouse could accommodate up to 100 people, and guided tours available.
Then there's the "Stargate"-esque portal that allows viewers hundreds of miles apart to communicate via live streaming with New York, an Irish-American city. Dublin won the coveted title by defeating 30 rivals from 17 different nations.
The participants were judged on sustainability, accessibility, digitalization, cultural heritage, and originality. According to Rogers, the 1,100 locals who responded to a survey were essential in helping to select the activities. These people, who number 592,000, will value these experiences just as much as the 8.6 million tourists who visit Dublin each year.
Getty Photographs A thriving, long-standing community with a strong sense of identity may be found at Ringsend.
(Source: Getty Pictures) People in Ireland become really excited when I tell them that my mother is from Ringsend, a place with bittersweet historical significance. Oliver Cromwell landed in Ringsend in 1649 to offload men for his invasion of Ireland. And that's where the millions he drove away went to hide abroad.
Tech giants brought mountains of glassy modernism into the historical-industrial dockland skyline in the early 2000s, causing a seismic transformation in the region's social and economic landscape. However, Ringsend's appealing old-meets-new suburb still has a strong sense of community.
Dubliners' quick-witted banter (craic) warms me up in rural shops and gastropubs; this is why the city is frequently ranked as one of the nicest in the world and Europe.
My first recollections of Dublin are rooted in its legendary docklands: building sandcastles on neighbouring Sandymount Beach and riding a borrowed bike between the 'two-up-two-down' redbrick terraced rows in Ringsend, the district of Dublin where my grandparents lived. The low-lying urbanisation and the way it seems to slip into the placid shallows of its wildlife-teeming, Unesco-listed Biosphere Bay awaken my sense of belonging every time I visit.
I have a lot of feelings for a place I've never lived in yet am attached to. Dublin was selected by the European Commission to be the European Smart Tourism Capital 2024 in part because of its creative efforts to strike a balance between human demands and those of the environment.
Another is that the city has produced a plethora of novel experiences that delve into "what it means to be Irish"; these cater not only to the millions of people who are connected to Ireland through the diaspora but also to those who simply want to immerse themselves in the local way of life and experience what it means to be Irish.
"Putting locals and people at its heart" is how the capital has attempted to change the conventional tourist experience, according to Barry Rogers, head of Dublin City Tourism Unit. One excellent illustration is the recently released Dublin Discovery Trails app, which takes users from the streets of contemporary Dublin back in time to significant occasions that influenced the history and culture of the city. In addition, there are poignant tales told by former tenement dwellers who describe living in inner-city tenements where one townhouse may accommodate up to 100 people, as well as guided tours.
And then there's the "Stargate"-style portal that allows viewers thousands of miles apart to communicate via live streaming with New York, a city rich in Irish heritage. Dublin won the coveted title by defeating 30 rivals from 17 different nations.
The participants were judged on sustainability, accessibility, digitalization, cultural heritage, and originality. According to Rogers, the 1,100 locals who responded to a survey were essential in helping to select the activities. These people, who number 592,000, will value these experiences just as much as the 8.6 million tourists who visit Dublin each year.
Getty Photographs A thriving, long-standing community with a strong sense of identity may be found at Ringsend. (Source: Getty Pictures)Getty Photographs A thriving, long-standing community with a strong sense of identity may be found at Ringsend. (Source:
Getty Pictures) People in Ireland become really excited when I tell them that my mother is from Ringsend, a place with bittersweet historical significance. Oliver Cromwell landed in Ringsend in 1649 to offload men for his invasion of Ireland.
And that's where the millions he drove away went to hide abroad. Tech giants brought mountains of glassy modernism into the historical-industrial dockland skyline in the early 2000s, causing a seismic transformation in the region's social and economic landscape.
However, Ringsend's appealing old-meets-new suburb still has a strong sense of community. Dubliners' quick-witted banter (craic) warms me up in rural shops and gastropubs; this is why the city is frequently ranked as one of the nicest in the world and Europe.
