Award-winning journalist – and natty dresser – John Burns tells us all his Dublin...
You’re a journalist. Who are your favourite writers?
Fintan O’Toole is the wisest and best newspaper writer today. He turns me into a leftie for about 20 minutes every Tuesday. I shouldn’t read Eoghan Harris, but I can’t help myself. Tom Humphries, Gene Kerrigan and Kevin Myers have produced great individual books, but no-one has produced a great body of work.
Who are your heroes?
Everyone under 30 thinks Gay Byrne is some old fogey who tells them to slow down when they’re driving. My generation remembers him as a broadcaster of hallucinatory skill who entertained, enraged, educated and modernised us all at once. We’ll eulogise him when he’s gone; we should do more to acclaim him while he’s here.
Dublin Villians Bertie Ahern.
How did he get away with it? He left office under a cloud, having allowed his secretary to be mauled at the Mahon Tribunal and having blown the boom. He used our money to buy his party’s way back into power three times, and yet most Dubliners would have him back as taoiseach in a heartbeat.
Where do you eat?
For a quick lunch, the Village on Wexford Street. If I’m ravenous, steak and chips in Fallon & Byrne. For a posh meal on an expense account, Bang – although I wish they’d bring back the scallops and the hot lemon meringue.
Where do you get fresh air?
Parks are Dublin’s saving grace. I use Phoenix Park for running, Bushy Park for relaxation, and work Stephen’s Green into my itinerary whenever I’m going into the city centre.
And drink?
Sinnott’s on South King Street is my favourite. I like big, generous open-plan pubs, not ones filled with nooks and crannies. Café En Seine on Dawson Street is perfect for a posh pint, but it’s so expensive that I can’t afford it any more.
where do you buy your clothes?
If forced to fend for myself, I’ll go to Lynch Menswear on Camden Street, an old-fashioned tailor who treats his customers with old-world manners and attention.
Are you into sport?
Nothing matches a sunny day in Croke Park with the Dubs in full cry on the Hill and in full flight on the pitch. Is it any wonder so many uncommitted thousands like me go along just to gawk, soak up the atmosphere and feel the lovely tingle of the hairs rising on the back of your neck?
Best thing about Dublin?
Bank holiday weekends, when culchies clear out, are heaven.
And the worst?
The traffic, of course, made worse by selfish cyclists who refuse to obey the law and inconsiderate motorists who think yellow boxes are designated parking bays. It’s a pedestrians’ nightmare.
Favourite area?
Rathmines was where I first lived in Dublin, and it’s carried emotional baggage ever since. But the suburb’s faded grandeur is a sorry sight these days, with the effective closure of the College of Commerce sucking the students and all the life out of it.
Your Prized Possession
My house – purchased in 1992, just before the property boom took off. We survived 18 per cent interest rates for a year, and now the mortgage is about €200 a month, and anyway it’s nearly paid off. You can’t imagine how smug that makes me feel.
Any pets?
Four rabbits in two years (please don’t tell the ISPCA).
John Burns is an Associate Editor with the Sunday Times. His first book – Sold! The Inside Story of how Ireland got Bitten by the Art Bug – is published on November 17th
Leave cyclists alone you rabbit slayer!
Posted by: Mark | November 19, 2008 at 16:15