This is a thread for all the great missed opportunities of our time or any other time.
I will start with an obvious one. Only in a city like Dublin, populated as it is by its layabout tramps and welfare wasters could one of the greatest literary characters of the ages pass by unnoticed and untapped. Yes, youâve guessed it, I am of course talking about Dracula. What other city in the world, being the crucible of a figure like Bram Stoker, would allow his most iconic work go by with even a cursory acknowledgement or festival? It is the sort of thing other cities would revolve an entire tourist industry around, however not so the indolent Dubs. It is hilarious to see that flute Mary Hanafin prattle on about the literary heritage of Dublin after this UNESCO gong and fail to mention Stoker, the most shamefully ignored of all Dublin writers. Meanwhile the Evening Herald wants toilet roll like Cecelia Ahern and Marian Keyes airport snorefests to be trumpeted from the rooftops because theyâre popular.
In England (because in the book Dracula lands at Whitby) and Romania (Transylvannia) they have Dracula festivals but in Dublin, nothing.
The Bram Stoker Dracula Festival should be bigger than St Patrickâs Day. It would certainly have more credence than a this commercial abortion known as âArthurâs Dayâ. One of the great missed opportunities of our time.
I think the fact that we have yet to develop a decent backpacker travel industry is shocking.
The Aussies and mainlain Europe have been cleaning up on this for years and yet we still havenât even tried an integrated appraoch to raking in some of the money that students from the US and Australia/New Zealand are all too keen to spend.
Very true, with our shite public transport connections between the main tourist areas and very little hostel accomodation we donât do ourselves any favours.
I always thought the greatest missed opportunity was the grave of St. Valentine which is of course in Dublin. They should invent some bullshit about couples kissing his gravestone being happy forever. Yanks etc. eat that shit up.
Crusty backpacker cunts do fuck all anyway bar pad around in their bare feet in the hostel telly room, smoke rolly fags and make huge pots of spaghetti bolognese for the other cunts in their dorm. Theyâre no huge financial loss.
Thereâs a Dracula âmuseumâ in the Westwood gym in Fairview. Bizarre place to put it and Iâd imagine itâs awful.
I think we donât brew nearly enough domestic beer. We import so much of something that we could make ourselves and that we have a global reputation for.
Anyone know what Irelands most visited tourist attraction would be? I realise this could be difficult to judge but Iâd imagine its probably something like the Storehouse?
Ya itâs the Storehouse alright. By a longshot.
I think Dublin Zoo is second. I never get the fascination of tourists in visiting a Zoo. Sure every country has a Zoo.
Unbelieveable to think that its 10 years old now, doesnt seem like its open that long at all. Its a fine job to be fair and credit to them.
As for the Zoo, having brought a few of the nieces and nephews there a while back I can see the attraction in it, and its come on a long way since I was there as a young fella.
Ah yea, fuck no, wouldnt be much interest to me to be heading to London zoo or anything like that. Could see the interest in going on a Safari somewhere though. But Iâd say a large number of its visitors are natives though. The âsafariâ out the back was a huge surprise to me the last time I was there. Had never even heard about it. Youâd think they could market something like that a little better.
Speaking of the Storehouse, how many breweries around Ireland are giving tours now?
Storehouse
Midleton
Bushmills
Must be loads more that Iâm not thinking of, do Beamish or Kilkenny?
Yeah but the figures wouldnât count where youre from. They would be just visitor numbers. Iâd say the vast majority of the zoos visitors are Irish, school tours and lads who canât meet a woman to have kids of their own bringing their nieces and nephews and things like that.
I spent a couple of months building in the Zoo in Sydney. A super place to work, ferry across Sydney harbour in the morning, then a stroll in past the animals, spend the day ogling women, and then the ferry home again. Unreal.
