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Ex-hack Michael Cunningham on everything.....
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Life's a riot

You can tell that Dublin is already a city under siege for the May Day demos when you get the following in your incoming email and your letterbox...

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Tesco.ie May Bank Holiday Delivery Restrictions
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Due to traffic restrictions and road closures set by Dublin City Council over the May Bank holiday weekend, we will not be able to deliver to the following areas at the times outlined.

17.00hrs on Friday 30th April 2004 to 18.00hrs on Sunday 2nd May 2004.
All areas inside the North Circular Road up to the quays including; Aughrim St.,Manor St., Stoneybatter, Prussia St., Wolfe Tone Quay, Ellis Quay, Arran Quay, Ormond Quay, Batchelors Walk, Eden Quay, Gardnier St., Talbot St., Marlborough St., Parnell St., Summerhill, O Connell St., Parnell Square, Dorset St., Capel St., Phibsborough Road, Mountjoy Square.

So that's the earthquake zone. And as for its epicentre...

AN GARDA SÍOCHÁNA

Dear Resident,
EU Accession Talks will be held in the Phoenix Park on the 1st of May 2004. A Traffic Management Plan will restrict the movement of traffic in your area. Proof of identity may be sought and you are advised to carry some form of identification, driving licence/passport or other identity cards.

Meanwhile here are some more signs of the times:

• they've been stacking up the crowd-control barricades at the Park gates and the bottom of Infirmary Road
  
• it's all being watched by a camera on a very tall crane
  
• before you even get to the razor-wire fortresses in the Park, look up at the trees and you can see freshly installed CCTV cameras everywhere
  
• queues of uniform gardai ordering sangwidges and rolls in the local supermarket
  
• piles more Army vehicles whizzing up and down the street
  
• the bookie shop has already been boarded up - and these people tend to know about bets and probabilities
  
• there's a huge electric sign at the entrance to the Park warning that it will be closed from 5pm this Friday
  
• the concrete is already set on the patches where every bin on Parkgate Street - at least six or seven of them - used to be
  
• and this morning they also removed all the glass (or whatever transparent substance it is) from the two bus stops on the street.
  

Next they'll be getting rid of all the ammo, sorry, rubble that's been scattered around the Luas works for the past 2+ years. Or probably not - the Luas works are a law unto themselves.

It's a turkey shoot. I was seriously thinking of getting away from it all to somewhere a tad quieter, like Andersonstown.

Posted by mick cunningham at April 29, 2004 05:24 PM | Email a friend this entry | TrackBack

 

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