Overview of Ireland- The good, the bad and the ugly

It was really great meeting up with old friends in Coleraine and also Cork and we were very lucky with the weather and virtually no rain although in places it was quite misty and cloudy although we are not sure that the mist is not pollution as many people still burn coal, Polish at that.

There are some really beautiful views in both the North and South and the Ring of Kerry and also the Giants Causeway are really worth visitng.The Wicklow Mountains which are so close to Dublin are also worth a visit and also the fishing villages all around the Southern Irish coast.

The population of Northern Ireland is approximately 1.7 million compared to England, Scotland and Wales where the population is around 57 million give or take a million and yet this small amount of people cannot get on with each other for very stupid religious reasons.

Due to the history of Northern Ireland where the UK Government has pumped in so much money that in some towns over 70% of the population are working for government and needless to say this will never bring prosperity. When you visit Londonderry where the Bloody Sunday event took place and the recent apologies by David Cameron to the families of the bereaved. The residents who were not caught up in this matter are not happy about the Government‘s apology....

For more info see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1972)

In Southern Ireland the once proud Irish person seems to be disappearing, not all but some, there is rubbish lying everywhere from fly tipping to used drinks cans, empty whisky bottles being thrown from cars in some of the most beautiful landscape you can find.  In Limerick whilst travelling in the bus to the shopping mall it was attached by a group of lads throwing stones and spitting.

A few years ago, Dell Computer used to directly employ about 4500 people and a further 3500 indirectly and this is now down to about 1000 people only being employed. The huge loss of jobs in Limerick of around 8000 people when the working population is only around 35000 is significant and hence major unemployment.

We also noticed all the major housing estates which remain empty and many people being kicked out for failing to keep with mortgage payments is not going to help. The general quality of roads in Southern Ireland, by exception, makes River Road from Weybridge to Walton Bridge seem like a smooth motorway.

There are areas of Dublin, Cork and Limerick where nobody paints a house or keeps the place tidy and you can understand why the Sothern Irish are leaving home in droves to find work elsewhere and then visit an Irish bar and sing songs about home.Humm.

These are purely personal comments and  it is with disappointment that I write them as in my earlier days of visiting Southern Ireland many times per year in the early 2000’s it wasn’t like this I felt.

Oh well, moving on we are beginning to plan our French caravan holidays...Oh it’s a tough life but somebody has to do it..

9th March- Heading home to Weybridge

The alarm went off at 0630, Uhh anyway following a quick breakfast we followed the signs to the Ferry Port where a short while later we boarded an Irish Ferries Fast Craft called the MV Jonathan Swift to Holyhead. Gosh what a difference..the inside was clean and tidy with comfortable  recalling seats and compared with the rubbish craft to Belfast this was heaven and the other was Hell.

One hour and forty five minutes later we arrived in Holyhead and off the boat by around 10.30 and took the route home to Weybridge where we arrived around 4pm after stopping for some shopping and also a quick lunch.

It’s nice to be back...and our own bed again.

8th March- Last full day in Ireland

A good breakfast and off to join the Dublin open top bus tour as this is often the best way to see a city in the first instance and then you understand the areas you wish to visit.

Our Tour Guide Bus Driver

We found the bus stop and joined the bus and the driver was also giving the commentary which was quite good and also humorous but then we discovered it was the last stop and he would not continue for about another 15 minutes. So we opted to stay on his bus rather than listen to a pre-recorded voice and we are glad that we did as his comic side was brilliant.

We passed the Millennium Spire which cost 4 million Euros and is 397 feet high and put up three years late due to planning permission challenges. A complete waste of time and money said the driver and three years late

We also passed a graveyard where the Irish guy who devised what is known as the ‘Crossword Puzzle’ now resides, and as the driver says his grave  is easy to find as he is buried two down and four across.

Anyway we enjoyed the bus tour and went via the huge Guinness Brewing plant where they are just about to step up production by thirty percent. There is a strange smell of hops coming from the brewery which is not to nice. One funny thing, the Irish have built a large hospital to treat patients who suffer from the effects of too much alcohol consumption right next door to the largest brewery in Europe, good planning ay? Hic!

We finished the tour and then headed down the main shopping streets as we are not really in to museums and churches etc but looking around is fine. We went down O’Connell Street and then on to Grafton Street which is the more expensive shopping area. We had a bowl of soup in a little shop which was excellent and then continued our walking around until about 4pm when we were both a little tired.

We had originally planned to visit a supposed good Steakhouse but ironically we passed in whilst on the tour bus and were not impressed and so we have decided ,as the food was fine in the Hotel last night, we would try again.

Following a really excellent steak and a bottle of wine we watched the Arsenal Match and Barcelona were all over them and it was disappointing that such a usually good English team failed to provide competition.

Oh well then off to bed for an early morning start.

7th March- Last stop is Dublin

We again took the quieter roads  to Dublin and stopped for acup of coffee in a small town of Dungarvan which was very quiet indeed and then on the very quite roads to Waterford which looks like a very nice town and one to which we would return some time. There is an extremely large Technology Training Centre in this town which we did not expect and it would be interesting to know who funds it. I say that as just about everywhere in this country the EU seems to be funding new roads and water treatment plants and many other developments.

And then on we went to New Ross where there also appeared to be some large companies and finally we briefly stopped in Enniscorth for a few minutes to finalise the rest of the route.

As the weather was not to d and we were making good time we decided to go over the Wicklow Mountains which are quite high and barren and with the moors running on for miles and miles. So with Jennifer’s map reading skills we finally made it across the mountains and in to Dubln.

Its amazing really, in most places in the world Diesel fuel is chaper than petrol and so it it here and also about 12% cheaper than UK. Although there is a huge variance on pricing from Euro 1.399 to 1.499.

We reached the Croke Park Hotel right next door to the famous stadium and checked in and had a light rest before going down for dinner. The food and service in this Hotel is excellent and we had a very pleasant evening particularly when I noticed that Chelsea were playing on Sky Sports but the picture quality on our room TV was less than poor and so I complained and within minutes the manager was ther to fix it and also with a big apology and took us to the Executive Club Lounge where he set up the big TV and wished us well. Excellent.

It was a tough game to watch as Blackpool were all over Chelsea but finally they won the game. Watch out Alex F we are chasing you again.

6th March- The South West Coast of Ireland

After an excellent breakfast in the Hotel we headed out of Cork in the general direction of Kinsale but then changed our minds when w came across the Cork Coastal road which runs alongside the sea for quite some miles. Needless to say the road were still rather bumpy but we have worse. The coast is quite attractive in places with lots of small villages and fishing ports and then up in to the hills where there are still quite a few new housing zones.

We eventually came across a fishing town called Unionhall and something seemed to be happening as the road in to it was closed and there were signs indicating there was a charity event on. So we stopped and parked the car and walked in to the town to be confronted with about 80 Historic cars and also some historic and also some new tractors and then also a large group of motor cycles and all of whom were about to start a rally around the countryside until late evening as they were raising money for a local hospital.

Some of the old cars were in good shape and we saw cars that Jennifer and I had owned when we were much younger, There were a number of Rover and Minis and Ford Cortina’s etc and so we spent some time looking around and taking photos.

We left there about one pm and headed back along the coast and stopped in a little cafe for a sandwich and then headed off to Kinsale which Jennifer and I had visited about 15 years ago when it was rather small and attractive but now it is a tourist twon with new shops and houses and and in our view totally ruined and so we did not stop and headed back to Cork Town.

We drove around Cork town for a while and the centre is quite small and the shops were still open but we both felt a little tired as the one hundred plus miles we had just covered was bumpy and very tiring.

So we got back to the Hotel around 5pm just in time to take a rest before taking dinner in the Hotel restaurant which was good. And then to bed.

5th March- We plan two nights in Cork

We left Kenmare and headed through the mountains and hills again and eventually arrived in the very touristy town of Killarney with lots of big and small hotels and you can just guess what this would be like in the summer with thousands of tourist everywhere.

By late morning on a slow’ish drive via Macroom and we arrived in Cork and went to the Hotel where we met up with Dermot a good friend of ours for many years where we spent two hours just catching up with all our past events. Dermot finally left at around 1500 and we had a quiet afternoon which we thought would be good in view of all the very bumpy miles we have covered in the last two weeks or so.

At around 7pm we met with Dermot and his wife Deidre and daughter and went for dinner in downtown Cork and it was very nice indeed but when we left the centre of town the pubs and bars were bouncing with lots of people haveing a good time or celebrating the position of no government.

We had a quick drink in the bar before restring for the evening as we are planning a trip down the coast tomorrow.


No photos today as ir was very grey and not really suitable

4th March-Just movin’ on

Port Magee

The weather was a little grey this morning when we left Limerick and it got even foggier within then minutes and so we needed fog light back and front for perhaps the first hour. We arrived in Tralkee and then took the road to Killorglin where we take a country route and we also wanted to do the Ring of Kerry. So we continued until we came to the start of the route and the sun had burst through and after a while there seemed to be an awful lot of smoke in the sky from stuff burning on the mountains it appeared. We continued our drive through a variety of villages and eventually came to the road to Port Magee which had been recommended by Terry Wogan on his recent Irish Travels. This is a quiet fishing village again and it seemed pretty much closed until we came to a pub which had some activity in it and so we had a sandwich lunch and then continued on the very bad and bumpy like hell roads and we lost several teeth from all the jolting. We climbed up and down an and around and around the hills and finally late afternoon arrived in Kenmare where swe stayed at the Brook Lane Hotel which was very nice.We asked about the burning and this is another stupid EU law which requires farmers to burn gorse on the footpaths as if the paths are not free they do not get their cash. This creates many problems as some farmers seem to burn everything in site even endangering towns and vilages We had a nice dinner in the evening and then spent some time watching some 4OD repeat programs for a while before heading for bed. Tomorrow we go to Cork.

3rd March- Next stop is Limerick

Leaving Westport we had decided that if wanted to get to the Flying Boat Museum and meet up with the other couple we need a reasonably direct route, and so we headed in the direction of Galway and the journey was very good apart from the quality of the roads. Potholes, and the building of, appear to be am important part of Ireland and we think the various counties have a competition to see who can build the worst possible road. The signs everywhere showing that EU money is being spent make me think that perhaps monies received are spent in the pubs and betting shops and not on the roads, but I have been known to be wrong.

Oops, wow a new motorway leads to Limerick and past Bunraty Castle and a pub that I used to visit when working there called ‘Durty Nellies’ or something like that, and on this very smoot and virtually empty motorway we speeded to Limerick and under the Shannon we had to pay a toll for the tunnel and then finally back to normal bump roads out to Foynes to see the museum, only it was closed due to renovation, damn. We were all a little fed up as the leaflet clearly stated March till October or something but it was defiantly closed.

We headed back to Limerick and the Clarion Hotel, nice on this, and then walked down town looking for good photos but as time was getting on and as we wanted to go the cinema tonight we started looking but no success but then a man in a yellow jacket who was controlling the buses and he said there was a omniplex cinema about 1.5 miles in a shopping arcade. We could take a bus or walk, but knowing that sometimes an Irish mile and half could entail 3 miles walking plus a train and bus ride and then thrity minute flight we decieded to take a bus. It was at this point where he asked the usual question, where do you come from and we said Weybridge Uk and he said well I used to live in London and my brother lives in Chertsey, it’s a small world.

The bus took a diversionary route through a bad looking area where at one point groups of teenage boys starting throwing stones and spitting at the bus, umm nice we thought.

We eventually came to the complex and found the cinema and went to watch a film called PAUL which is  about two British tourists in America come across an ET looking chap and help him get home. Good film and quite funny.

No walking home for us and we got a taxi and the driver told us about the sorry state of Irelands and Limericks finances in particular. We also understand that the Irish are leaving home in droves to find new opportunities elsewhere.

Sounds a bit like the Easter European and Iraqi's and Afghan's flocking to Britain

2nd March- Light rain in the air

Prior to leaving Killybegs we did a thirty minute walking tour of this town which seems to survive on its fishing business as there were quite a few large trawlers in the dock and of course fish was in abundance in restaurants around the town.

We left town in the direction of Donegal and then on to Ballyshannon and Sligo and finally arriving in Westport. The journey was very good  and spoilt only by the huge amounts of rubbish dropped by car drivers and also a light rain and a heavy mist which obscured much of the mountain scenery.

We stopped for lunch in a wayside diner which was good and continued to look at the ever increasing amount of new, but mostly empty, houses in groups or in large estates.

En-route we noticed large areas of peat bog which had been cut some recently and some quite some time ago but obviously this is an important business down here.

We finally arrived in Westport but missed the Hotel in the first time around on the one way system and then located the Clew Bay Hotel which describes itself a little differently to what I would do. The room was very dark and I had to order an extra light so as to be able to use the pc and the plugs and Internet plug where too far away from the desk to be easily accessible whilst the Loo was not man friendly and thoughts of castration come to mind if you don’t hold the lid up.

We had checked Trip Advisor for restaurant advise and checked out the top four and felt that Mango, the Number 2, was what we wanted and the food was really good. We had sea bass filets cooked in a white wine sauce and other goodies in a foil wrap with fresh veggies and a nice bottle of wine and pricing was not to bad. Generally we are finding restaurant prices here about 15% lower than Weybridge and the quality much better than some of the Weybridge eateries.

So back home to the Hotel and met a couple doing a similar thing to us who gave us a leaflet for the flying boat museum  near Limerick which had also been mentioned by friends in Florida and New Zealand.

And so to bed.

1st March- We head on out

It was time to leave Jerry & Mura and so we headed out at about 0930 and went West towards Londonderry where stopped for about two hours to look around.

Initially we walked through the large shopping arcade  and then up to the old walls and was very surprised to see them covered with high metal wire frames for protection, either to stop people throwing things and or being hit from below, we guess. You could see on the sides of the houses in the distance the famous drawings depicting ‘Bloody Sunday’ and also the other significant events of the longstanding religous war.

The sun was shining again today and the temperature around 10 degrees and so it was very pleasant to walk around. After a coffee and cake in the Costa Cafe we headed towards Killybegs where we have a hotel booked. The roads were extremely bumpy and very uncomfortable indeed and we also noticed lots of rubbish on the roads either items being thrown from car windows or just careless waste material collection people. We stopped for lunch in a little wayside cafe and enjoyed a nice bowl of soup and then drove through the hills but unfortunately it started to rain and with the mist we could not make out the best features of the drive, we guess it may have been very pretty but we could not see.

We arrived in Killybegs rather shaken not stirred from the bad roads and relaxed before having dinner in the Tara Hotel bar where the fish was very good indeed.

This is not a bad Hotel and the staff are helpful and the rooms very comfortable.

Just as we were beginning to settle back in our room there was a commotion outside and a pipe and drum band marched past playing some Irish music and we subsequently learned that this was in honour of the local independent candidate who had one a seat in the recent election. However there were more band members than people on the street to clap, this might tend to indicate something.

28th February- Another good day for a walk

The weather is still holding up and not so breezy today compared to yesterday and so we left around 10.00 and went first for a walk along  the beach at Blackrock and then of to Mussendem Temple, a National Trust property located right on the cliffs with great views. Of course the Castle is derelict and has been partly brought back to order and on the tip of the coast there is a small chapel where marriages also take place.

We then took a short drive up in to the hills for further great views across the inlet and you could see Londonderry from here, pausing only for a few minutes we then headed back home for a quick lnch.  Jerry and Mura were giving a VSO Ethiopia Presentation in Port Stewart and so we had decided to try the famus local ice cream in the same location before going on to Portrush and finally to Bushmills, the home of the famous Irish Whisky to do a distillery tour.

Bushmills Factory

The tour lasts about 40 minutes and finishes with a reasonable taster of whisky which went down very well and it was here that we met a couple who working in Hunan Province in China but were back for a short break and so we had an interesting chat for about 25 minutes before being thrown out as they were closing everything down .

A quick journey back to Portrush where we met up again with Jerry & Mura and then had dinner in a great restaurant called 55 Degrees North and the service and food were both excellent and at quite a reasonable price.

Then back home and Jen and I spent time looking to book a Hotel for the next night before retiring for the evening  

27th February- A busy day

We had a good look around the new house and were duly impressed with the design and innovation and all the ecological bits and pieces and certainly housing technology has come a long way in the last few years with rain water gathering and heat pumps etc.

The Giants Causeway

We left the house around 1030 and went along the coast to a car park whwre we walked across fields to the area where you can get to the ‘Giants Causway’ which was most impressive and also quite busy. We then walked back and sat in a wind sheltered space where we had a picnic lunch before heading down the coast to a number of small towns and ports where we could take some photos. This area of Northern Island is very rough and very attractive at the same time what with wild beaches and rocks and with strong winds blowing the sea at an incredible rate allowing great photos of sea smashing against the rocks.

Finally we ended up waling to the rope bridge at Carrick-A-Reda which is a a most dangerous looking bridge located near the village of Ballintoy, and it connects the mainland to where in the past they used to catch fish and walk across this bridge. The bridge is now a tourist attraction and thank god it was closed as there was no way Mr Groves was going to walk across this boy scout bridge.

The back home for dinner and some more wine and then off to bed and boy were we tired after all that fresh air and walking

26th February- A ship to far

We were up quite early and hit the breakfast room before anybody else and left the Hotel around 0800 for Birkenhead to catch the ferry to Belfast.

We arrived in ample time at the ferry terminal at around 0845 which was in plenty of time fot the 0930 cut off and waited in line on a cool and damp morning on the Mersey. There was about 15 cars, which is not a lot really, but there must have been loads of trucks hiding somewhere as later when on board the truck area seemed very busy.

Never ever travel on this Ferry

The website of Norfolk Line talked  Club Class and we asked about this and the lady shook her head and gave us a piece of paper which said that Norfolk Lines which is owned by DFDS have now sold this ferry route to Stena Lines including all vessels and staff and on this ship the Mersey Seaway there was no Club Class. Oh well we looked for the lounge, there was no lounge and comfortable seats to talk of in fact I can safely say it was the worst ferry we have been on for as many years as we can remember. The food was appalling and expensive and the seating for an eight hour journey was not what we expected, I would have preferred to sat in my cars comfortable seats. On top of that the ship was cold and we had to wear coats all the time and try to get warm. Never ever again will we travel on this route. In the meantime once we get home I will write a letter of complaint to Norfolk Lines , DFDS and Stena Lines, we don’t care who is responsible but for a ship of 5 years old this is not cricket.

So eight hours later we arrived at Belfast Docks and we finally got off the ship and headed North towards Coleraine and then on to Anticlave where Jerry and Mura live. We arrived around 8pm and had a nice meal and some wine and even tested some whisky before hitting the bed at around midnight after a good evening catching up on events since we last met.

25th February- A day out in Liverpool

A good Premier Hotel breakfast sets us up for that day, well until lunchtime that is, and we head off along the sea front passing the many beautiful old buildings including the famous Liver Building. We also pass a tribute in flowers to somebody who must have died recently on the spot but apart from the flowers there were also tins and bottles of beer as part of the tribute, strange.

We see that a considerable amount of money has been spent by the City Council on redeveloping the large open area along by the sea and of course they have one of the best old building for themselves, no obvious shortage of government/council money here.

We passed an advert for Wallace and Gromet with their little car, see main photos on Phanfare, before arriving at a Church where there appeared to be an important occasion taking place what with the Mayor and several other high local dignitaries being present.  It would appear that HMS Liverpool and Royal Naval Ship is being scrapped following the defence review and the crew will do a parade through the streets following the Church service. We watched the parade lead by horses and then the ships band and crew march past, not really in time though and they are in dire need of practise. Most Boy Scout troops would parade better than this lot.

We then visited the building where Noels ex company had an office in one of the old buildings which he used to visit and it had been recently spruced up and it looks really good.

We found a sandwich shop in an area called Liverpool One which is a modern outdoor shopping area with cinemas, major shopping brands and places for kids to play. There was also a recently erected tribute to John Lennon and some nice words from his son Julian, again see main photos, but photographically it was not to good as the council had left a large scissor lift partly in front of it, great. 

We continued walking all afternoon and visited the China Town area and then dinner in Wagamama Asian food and then went to the cinema to see ‘True Grit’ a film by the Cohen Brothers and yet again it was excellent. These guys really produce some good films.

Then back to the Hotel as we have an early morning tomorrow to join the ferry to Belfast and we have heard that the main tunnel under the Mersey is closed.

Link to PHOTO BLOGhttp://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5029152

24th February-Liverpool we are on our way

After a good breakfast we took all the non motorway roads going to Liverpool by way of Telford, Shrewsbury and Wroxeter (see later comments) and then via Chester and on to Liverpool.

We stopped for a nice bowl of homemade soup in a little village outside of Shrewsbury and then found ourselves near the Roman Historical site of Wroxeter where a group of normal? British Builders had recreated a Roman Villa complete with bath house. This was recently featured on a 6 part documentary which is now available on Channel 4  recently called ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. The builders as you will see from the photos have done a very good job indeed considering they had no experience in using tools of a bygone age, for more info watch the programme on 4OD.

We did some shopping in Chester and then headed through the Mersey Tunnel to Albert Docks where we had booked a room in the Premier Lodge. We had chosen this Hotel due to its location but first impressions were not good because after we had checked in we found that the elevators were not working and we were on the 3^rd floor and we had to lug all our baggage up the stairs with little help from receptions.

Anyway after a nice cup of tea we went for a walk around the Docks primarily to choose a restaurant for later in which we succeeded and had a good but cheapish dinner. We then walked over to the big wheel and noticed that hundred of youngish girls were heading to the arena to see a pop star and their dress was beyond belief for this old pair of eyes what wish miniskirts and very high heeled shoes and very little else, it was quite interesting really but boy they must have been cold.

We then headed back to the Hotel for a well earned rest as we have to be up early to start our day of looking around the town
Link to Photo Bloghttp://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5029148

23rd February -We are off again on our travels

Well it’s that time of year again and so off we go again. We are attending the Caravan and Boat show at the  Birmingham NEC for the day and so we left home just around 09.00 and headed up the dreaded M40 which was actually fairly quiet and we arrived at the NEC at a good time of 10.45.

We spent many hours around the show looking at the new caravans and all the associated bits and pieces and decided that pretty much our caravan is still right for us.

The only other one we went through was a Bessacar which looked really nice and was quite expensive but anyway we will stick with what we have got. Later this year we are joining friends in Spain, as per the last two years, and have decided that this time we will drive down and then extend out trip down to Malaga and Cadiz and in to Portugal but to enable us to do this as cheap as possible we have purchased a new tent at this show which we will use on our travels down through France and on to sunny Espagne.

After the show we headed off to the Hotel where we have stayed several times before called the Moxhull Hall Hotel which is about 20 minutes from the NEC.

We had a very nice meal in the restaurant with a free bottle of wine from the owner; this is as a result of a complaint when we last visited, but the Hotel is great  and the food excellent.

And so to bed