Fun spot and a connection point for the Dublin tech crowd…read more Had a conference event at Google Ireland and The Foundry. Thoroughly enjoyed the architecture, people, and setting. The Docklands are amazing and something the community can be proud of with its history and success as a startup incubator for some awesome companies. As much as anything, the location and event were defined by superb people keen on collaboration and making communities thrive through technology and connection. It's an energizing setting. The Google Store there-- while pricey-- has some cool stuff you can pick up for your collection of clothing, journals, stickers, backpacks, toys, and the like.

Google visit in Ireland why not? Ok ok so I do have the connect when it comes to Google but I just…read morehad to stop by and see what it looked like in Ireland and of course sample the food! The location was not too far from our hotel. It was about a 15 minute drive and it was definitely in a part of Dublin that is up an rising. With neighbors like Facebook and Amazon this is definitely the Tech hub part of the town. When we arrived we were greeted promptly and had our badges printed to start the exploration. At first glance this location is very nice. I loved the structure of the see through glass buildings, the layout and décor was nicely done. I feel like it's more stylish than the locations out here which was nice to see. It is comprised of about 4-5 buildings but they are rapidly expanding. As the exploring deepened so did the hunger pains as we started to smell the enticing food that was being prepared for the lunch rush. We made our way to the dining area and the fragrance of the variety of cuisines that were awaiting us was tingling at our pallets. There were so many options and they all looked so delicious but the winner for me was the lamb, roasted potato, Moroccan seasoned salad, bread rolls and assortment of hummus. The food was prepped like food made at 5 star restaurant which made our visit that much better. The campus was lovely. They had nice rooms that are cool to visit and the outside sky area is nice as well. Overall it was a great visit. The buildings are beautifully made and its such a cute campus to hang out for a couple hours, grab some lunch, see the area and enjoy a nice cup of coffee made to your liking! If you're a Goggle lover and ever traveling to Ireland this is a must see!

I am pretty much obsessed with Totally Dublin, a free monthly newspaper that is chock full of great…read morestuff. The publication is aimed at a hip crowd that goes on often and always wants to know what events are around the corner. It's been around for 5 years, and I hope it lives to see many more milestones in years to come. The listings are broken up into categories like live gigs, theatre, weekly clubbing and one-off clubbing, so you'll have no trouble finding something cool to do each month. They also have venue, club night and restaurant reviews that are humorous and informative. While Totally Dublin is essential for finding out what's going on around the city, it's also a great read otherwise, with lots of well-written content, articles, band/artist interviews and more. The staff is probably young and doesn't take themselves too seriously, and this is reflected in the style and content, which is funny and interesting. It's the kind of cultural newspaper that I actually read cover to cover and sometimes even keep (it's that good!). It's distributed at businesses around the city and if you spot on, do not hesitate to pick it up!

Every cultural city needs a magazine like Totally Dublin. A free, independent paper, written and…read moredesigned by a team of in-the-know Dubliners who bust their asses just so we can pick it up at the local shop and have something fun to read while waiting for our pizza or drinking our coffee. Each issue features interesting interviews, event picks, reviews and travel pieces, music/culture/art-related stuff and plentiful samplings of local flavour and is therefore useful for locals and a fine introduction to Dublin for visitors. Their listings section comes in handy when in the pub with friends who want to check out a gig but don't know where to go and their website is a great addition to the printed publication with its easy-to-use listings calender. If you join their facebook group you'll get the newest issue in the mail, even before it hits the streets, so you'll never have to miss out on any Dublin event. Whether the issues covered fit your areas of interest or not, the staff deserves a big pat on the back for delivering a cool-looking issue every single month. Hope they'll manage to keep up the good work for years to come!.

S+P is one of Ireland's leading monthly social magazines, dahling…read more Full of the latest fashion, events and social happenings from around the country, this glossy mag is never missed by the ladies who lunch and the latest up-and-coming 'it' girls. Its audience would definitely be the wealthier of the Irish folk and is bought by every hairdresser in the country, as clients love to have a look and 'see who's in it this month.' It's complete fluff - you wont be finding any hard hitting articles in it - but if you're happy looking at 'celebs' posing with champers in their hand at the latest book launch, private members club or horse racing meet, then you wont want to miss it.

Think of S&P as a printed Bebo for Ireland's upper classes…read more Sure, this slick glossy is an excellent reference for style and trends seen only here, and the empire is expanding with Living and Wedding editions... but those society pages seem to get the most attention. I think it's got something to do with the fact that most of S&P's readership appear in those party snaps. There Snochta, Osin and Fiacra are captured in all their style-making glory, grinning for the camera and raising their champers. How very... very. Spot a group of girls flipping through the latest issue and at least one of them will probably be in there somewhere.

Since going national in 2006, Newstalk has gathered steam -today delivering programming that's…read morevaried, entertaining and (mostly) thought provoking. Politics, sport, economy -no topic is safe as Newstalk's stable of bright minds make the sort of radio programmes that are alternately a relief and a challenge to listen to. While George "Hookie" Hook keeps drive-time listeners on their toes with his 4.30 - 7pm "The Right Hook", the station's more recent acquisition of former TodayFM muso Tom Dunne has added a refreshing counter-beat to the staid march of some longer running programmes. Once a great alternative to the repetition of some Dublin music stations, Newstalk is now the national answer to Top 40 blues.

At Newstalk the rich are rich and the poor are poor…read more The presenters are lauded and held on a plynth, kings of Dublin City, respected for anything they say and for whatever donut crumbs they spout while concocting ad libbed nonsense. As long as it's being heard on channel 106 -108fm, it may as well be gospel. Like priests, the presenters on Newstalk; George Hook, Bobby Kerr, Pat Kenny and the Off the Ball team are unmatched at convincing others that their word is the singular and definite one. At the other end of this scale, working the Titanic's engine room are the research interns who do most of the behind the scenes work, get paid a paupers wage and are treated as readily replaceable drones. This leads them morosely to Grogans every evening to have just 2 or 3 pints. All their wages will allow them. Basically, their entire stipend is washed away in a sea of Smithwick's Blonde Ale. Obviously they'd prefer to go to P.Mac's but would likely run into their bosses and they'd prefer to leave feelings of inadequacy to the office and not let it spill over into their social scene. The pretty ladies of P.Mac's are fodder for the Presenters of this world. While the homeless drunken hags of Grogans are a Newstalk interns best chance.

Dublin's 98 FM is addictive: the more you listen to it the more you like it. At the moment, I've…read morebeen tunning in to listen to the morning crew: Dermot, Dave and Siobhan. Their show runs from 6 am to 10 am and it consists of chart music and jokes. Their banter can actually be funny and the perfect way to make a long walk into town shorter. They also do this thing called the Toll Trolls which I find stupid. Toll Trolls are these two fabricated nasally voiced characters that make fun of stuff that's in the news or being talked about around town. Their voices are so annoying and they use all the really stupid Dublin slang. Besides this small segment, the rest of the show is entertaining.

As Donal says Phantom have emerged from the pirate radio shadows and is now Legit and paying the…read more'man' in this case the BCI their pound of flesh. Its great to see that they haven't changed much since the pirate days and are still playing great indie and alternative tunes and unlike most other Irish stations not the usual pop/rock dross. Besides this they still continue to support new and emerging bands and if your an obscure, unknown or just very different sounding band,changes are you'll either listen to or be trying to get airplay on Phantom. I've been listening to the station the last month and really, really like it. Its a bit of musical education. Well worth a listen.

Phantom appeals to me because I'm not the biggest fan of pop or gobshite DJ's. Not to say that…read morePhantom is gobshite free, because it isn't, but it does have a few DJ's with a broad spectrum of musical and local event knowledge as opposed to the Tony Fentons and Gerry Ryans of the world. The music on Phantom is mainly indie, but the odd bit of electro, metal and classic rock can be found meandering the airwaves. It's my favourite station personally but is understandably not to everyone's taste, which I can totally understand. They do try to cover all bases though, while still aligning themselves with the rock idiom. They also have great news bulletins that strike a healthy balance between straight news, entertainment and sport. My two favourite things about Phantom are the support it lends to local acts and the sultry crooning voice of Michelle Doherty. It will melt you. Even you ladies. Give it a go if you're tired of knackers waffling on about early Christmas decorations going up on the Adrian Kennedy phone show.

As a gaelgóir, I give TG4 a big thumbs up. It's not the best channel on tv, but for a small channel…read morebased mostly in rural gaeltacht of Co. Galway, they do pretty damn well. They have a lot of home produced shows, produced both on their own and in connection with RTÉ and they have big series'like Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill, shows that RTE don't even have. They've been on the air since Halloween night 1996, and it continues to go from strength to strength.

The only Irish-language TV channel in Ireland, TG4 spreads it's net pretty wide - sports, drama,…read moresoaps, news...they kind of have it all...and predominantly as Gaeilge too. Actually, that's my main gripe with them - they do show US dramas such as CSI and that, but don't even bother to subtitle them. Now, I realise that if they didn't have some of the big name programmes that they could well go under, but at least put up a front of keeping up the Irish end of things. On the other hand, and this is by far their redeeming feature...there's nothing like listening to Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh ag déanamh a rud leis an CLG...priceless...

Oh no I've been outed! A friend gets into the car with me, and as I turn the engine on it…read moreautomatically starts the radio. She gasps in horror "you listen to Q102!... what is wrong with you?" What's wrong with me is this: when driving I lose any sense of taste when it comes to music. Sure at home I listen to the likes of Radiohead, Beck and Tori Amos, but when it comes to driving I want cheese cheese cheese all the way. Preferably, and this is important, cheese that I can sing along to, and that is where Q102 comes in. Q102 are really an easy listening station... basically it Karaoke classics 24/7. I know that my 17 year old self would roll her eyes in disgust! I know it gives me all the street cred of an aged librarian, but I don't care. When I'm in a singing mood it's Q102 all the way... you'd just better hope I don't have the windows rolled down!

I'm with Maire; when it comes to my driving soundtrack, there's plenty of room for some pungent…read morecheese. Thank goodness Q102 has no qualms in supplying my Co. Dublin drive time with the boppy dance hits and sing-along ballads that make other divers I share the road with look over in wonder at the flapping jaws and over-emoting happening behind my wheel. The playlist gets a little repetitive -I think they buy one Top 40 list at a time -and the studio produced ads are flat out obnoxious, but when it's camp and fluff I'm in the mood for, Q102 provides.

Very organized station and train staff. I was impressed at the lunch and snacks menu. A lady came…read morearound taking everyone's orders. Just light cold snacks and refreshments for our trip but that's ok. Comfortable seating and we were able to reserve a table for four. A nice fast way to travel through Ireland. My first trip on a train in Ireland!

Most of my travels in Ireland were with the rental car but for the first couple of days in Dublin,…read moreit was Iarnród Éireann which in English is Irish Rail. The train operator for the Republic of Ireland with its main hub in Dublin but spokes leading out to much of the Republic. I did not take any of the long distance trains, just commuter hops on the line between Connolly Station and Maynooth (Maigh Nuad in Gaelic). Most of the time, the trains were on time. Smooth running, clean, efficient, with wifi on board. Never completely crowded except the rush hour schedule which is understandable. I did once almost miss a train because it's nearly time to depart but the track is empty. I learned from one of the staff in Connolly Station that the app might indicate one track number (in this case, Track 4) but the displays in the station show a different track number (Track 7). And it's the ones in the station that you should believe. Thankfully, I rushed over to Track 7 and boarded with a minute to spare. [Review 1813 of 2024 - 74 in Republic of Ireland - 22835 overall]

Great printers! No hassle, can-do attitude and quick…read moreprinting! Such a relief after dealing with Reads!

As a promoter constantly working with bands and needing printing done to get the word out, these…read moreguys saved my life. Now I come here for everything from business cards to flyers to A3 gig posters, and they're doing my custom Christmas cards this year. The printing is great and they can get it done fast. WIN!