I admit it freely.  Dublin is not my favorite city.  It’s not even one of my favorite cities. Just saying that out loud makes me feel better because Dublin is one of those places that tells you continually and none too subtly that you ought to be enjoying yourself.  Fun (with several exclamation points) is what Dublin is all about. And it’s a particular form of fun – the craic – the type of fun you have with a pint of something in front of you. Now I like a good pub as much as anyone (and there are some excellent ones in Dublin), and I agree with Benjamin Franklin that beer is God’s way of telling us he loves us, but Dublin tries too hard.  Parts of the city center, and Temple Bar in particular , with its countless watering holes and restaurants, have become nasty and squalid to the point that no self-respecting Dubliner sets foot in the place in the evening, leaving it to the stag and hen parties instead.  I have a suspicion that all my Irish literary heroes – Joyce, Beckett, Wilde, and so on – didn’t flee Dublin because of its provincialism or intellectual narrowness, but because they felt guilty they weren’t enjoying themselves enough.

Having got that out of my system, I admit there’s still much to like in Dublin.  Just don’t try looking for those things on a Bank Holiday Monday, as I did on a recent business trip.  The Chester Beatty Library? Closed.  Ulysses bookshop? Shuttered.  Every third rate pub, restaurant, and tattoo shop was open, but not one of my favorite spots.  Even Christ Church Cathedral, open but now charging visitors €7, seemed to be testing my patience. I realize these are tough times for churches, but the velvet ropes blocking access to the nave were telling the pious and the penniless alike “Keep Out.  This isn’t a place of worship, it’s a tourist attraction”.

Dublin’s leaders have worked hard to attract tourists and maybe they have been too successful because the city was crowded during my stay.  As other small cities have discovered (Amsterdam, Venice, etc.), you make a pact with the devil when you commit to encouraging mass tourism.  Much is gained but much is lost also.