Lipstick on a pig: Dublin's tallest building has its day

Liberty Hall in Dublin gets a lot of stick for being ugly. I can agree on many points - though it has a certain offensive charm.

However, at the moment it is being lit up beautifully at night.

Each window on 2 sides of it has alternating coloured lights inside. They act like huge pixels which means short movies and other shapes can be produced on it. Quite dazzling and pleasant.

See playhouse for more.

New interactive MAPS: Click to compare any place with its neighbours

Better maps are now LIVE. The new maps let you compare - in a simple visual way - any place with its near neighbours.

For example, in the screengrab below I searched for Tralee.

I then used the map (at the bottom of the Tralee page) to compare it with places nearby. Tralee is shown with a RED pin, everywhere else with a YELLOW pin.

Well done Ronan for getting this working.

More map-based solutions & navigation options will come soon.

(Note - the current default radius for all yellow pins is 50km.)

Live near Lough Tay or Lough Dan in Co.Wicklow? Lucky you!

Lough Tay and Lough Dan in the Wicklow Mountains must have the most beautiful river valley walk in Ireland.

Although I like mountains, there is nothing quite like an offroad hike through a farmed landscape.

The walk proceeds down a private estate road (to the left of the picture) to arrive above the lake at the bottom. Then it winds its way along a beautiful, gravelly path beside a small river to Lough Dan (just out of view).

From KILCUMMIN? Read the conversation about ratings for your village

You certainly seem proud of your village.

However, the number of 5/5 ratings received in such a short period has set alarm bells ringing. Such activity usually indicates spam and an attempt to artificially bump up rankings.

Of course, it is possible that Kilcummin could be thought to be 5/5 by everyone. But it is unlikely.

As such, we have marked many entries for review and will continue to keep an eye on it, at least until things calm down (or we see some alternative opinions being logged).

Click here to read the conversation about ratings for your village, or to add your own comment.

New VIDEO: Off to Mallow on the train

I took the train to Killarney, via Mallow, from Heuston recently.

The last time I was on a train, it was like being on a mobile lunatic asylum - the train was full of drunks and oddballs.

This time however was a pleasure. Except that I left my goddamn book on the train at the change. As such, "Contact" by Carl Sagan continued on its journey to Cork City.

New VIDEO: An annotated cycle through Dublin City

Last night I recorded a short cycle (on my way home) from Merrion Sq to the Grand Canal. On the way I pass by Leinster House, the National Gallery & other sites (all annotated in the video).

It was after rush hour so the street have manageable numbers of cars.

Wouldn't it be great if the streets were like that all day? It is possible - but requires VERY tough decisions. NAMA is a walk in the park compared to telling an Irish man or woman not to use his car.

New VIDEO: Around 'The Basin' in central Dublin

It is surprising just how many hidden areas there are in Dublin City - places you just don't go unless you have a reason to.

'The Basin' is one of those.

It lies slightly to the west of the Mater Hospital.

Its name comes from a large artificial lake that used to be a water source for the Royal Canal.

Surrounding it are some lovely Victorian, red-bricked, terraced streets. As well as the lake, the area has a nice park and a well kitted-out playground for kids.

Overall a good place to live I'd say.

Hello – do drugiej co do wielkosci grupy fanow z ‘LikePlace’

Tak, mamy na mysli wlasnie Was/Panstwa – naszych polskich fanow!

Wasza/Panstwa opinia o zakatkach Irlandii jest dla nas szczegolnie wazna. Teraz maja Panstwo okazje wniesc swieze spojrzenie na Irlandie jako miejsce do zamieszkania.

Wiec wyrzuccie to z siebie – I wyrazcie swoja szczera opinie.

What I am saying here is that the many Polish people who have lived in Ireland over the past number of years could have revealing insights on what Ireland is really like. So make sure to share it, if you do.

(Thanks to Ella for the translation.)

New VIDEO: Leenaun (Co.Mayo) the village where "The Field" was recorded

If you are familiar with film "The Field", passing thru Leenaun leads to some weird deja-vu. This is where the village sequences of the film were recorded, e.g. the public auction outside the pub.

The well known play "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" is also based here.

Pretty much just a cross roads, it is a tidy enough place with a fairly good view of Killary harbour. Annoyingly, (like many other places) it has 2 spellings: Leenaun & Leenane.

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