Dublin community

Once upon a time, being a Dubliner simply meant being one of two things. A ‘Northsider’; good, down to earth working class stock Or a ‘Southsider’; wealthier, middle class and more ‘refined’.

Today, however, the ‘Celtic Tiger‘ economy that has propelled Ireland close to the top of the European wealth league table has all but done away with the old divisions.

The River Liffy no longer marks the sharp divide between the poor north and wealthy south.

And Dublin itself has become something of a cultural melting pot as an influx of people from all over the world adds Asian, Mediterranean, Australian and Eastern European influences to the city’s traditional character.

Stroll down Grafton Street or visit Temple Bar and you’re as likely to encounter Jamaican, African or Thai cuisine in the restaurants there as you are the cockles and mussels for which Dublin is so famous.

Head for any of the numerous markets in and around the city centre and you can take your pick of clothes, fabrics, music and art from a huge variety of cultures.

And listen out at the city’s hundreds of live music venues and you’ll hear anything from salsa to soul, hip-hop to Senegalese rhythms.

What hasn’t changed, though, is the warmth of the welcome extended to strangers wherever they’re from by this multifaceted, multicultural modern city.