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Helpful Tips for Dublin

Our Senior Director of Communications, Stephen Hanson, travelled to Dublin to confirm CLC arrangements. He files these tips for Dublin CLC attendees, as you prepare for your trip to Ireland:

1. Ensure you have travel health insurance coverage. Check CBIA if you need a great travel policy. 

2. Don’t bring a hair dryer unless it handles 220/240 volts, the standard European electrical current.  Most of the CBA hotels have hair dryers. Some hotels are equipped with a  Canadian 110-115 V outlet (for your laptop or razor), but if you are in an apartment you may want to consider getting a European plug and adapter. They are sold by CAA.

3. Have you checked the temperature in Dublin these past few days? Chances are the temperatures will be in the 16 to 20 degree range. Evenings sometimes dip as low as 10 degrees. Bring a jacket and an umbrella!

4. Flying economy, you should have no more than 2 bags with a maximum weight of 23 kg (50 lbs) each. Airlines watch the weight of baggage like hawks these days. Bring a carry-on bag too with reading material, iPod, any medications, and a change of clothes – just in case your luggage goes astray. 

5. Get me to the airport on time...International flights require check in two hours in advance of departure. You can speed things up by downloading and printing your boarding card prior to leaving for the airport. 

6. Using Canadian cell phones/Blackberry to communicate with Canada? Watch out for expensive roaming and data fees with upwards of $2/ minute voice charges. Hotel long distance rates are also very high. If you want to check your e-mail, try the business centre at the hotel or the Rogers CBA internet café at the Conrad. 

To dial Ireland from Canada: 011-353-1 + local number.

To dial Canada from Ireland: 001 + Cdn area code + local number

7. Euros are the currency in Ireland. Believe it or not, when my bank ran out of Euros on an earlier trip, they referred me to a foreign currency exchange shop where the conversion rate was excellent and there were no service charges or commissions. Check it out. The exchange rate on July 24 was:  1 Euro (1 E ) costs $1.53 Cdn dollars.  

8. Why do folks say Ireland is expensive? My experience is that you can generally expect that what costs a dollar here costs about a Euro there.
 
9. Ireland has value added tax (VAT) on goods and services. VAT is 21.5%; 13.5% on food.

10. All major credit cards are accepted. Few establishments accept debit cards.
If you want to use your bank card (debit card) to get cash in Dublin, there are bank machines about…at the airport and in shopping areas like Grafton Street. There are the “white” machines (which cost more), and machines affiliated with Irish banks. They work the same as here but beware of the extra charges; there are charges for using the bank machine, and a currency conversion fee that could be a flat rate, or may be 2% or higher. Often the transaction slip that the machine spits out with the Euros will not be able to give you your Canadian balance.

11.  Be careful to protect your PIN number from prying eyes - you never know who is watching. Keep an eye on your purse/wallet at all times. You don’t want to be the target of a pickpocket…and Dublin is a tourist destination, so be on guard.

12. It’s recommended you use the in-room safe for your valuables including passport, plane ticket, and extra cash. 

13. When you arrive at Dublin airport, a well worn and busy facility, you will first be directed through customs and immigration before going through the halls to the baggage area. There’s quite a bit of walking. (Note: there’s a bank machine on the way out to get your Euros).

14. The screens in the baggage area will show your Air Canada flight number and the appropriate carrousel for your luggage. Likely they will announce the number of your carrousel. The baggage carts are free. Now it’s outside for the trip downtown…you could take a shuttle bus, but the shuttles only stop at one central point on the St Stephen’s Green, not hotels. For taxis, join the taxi queue.

15. There will likely be a line up for taxis. Your taxi into town will take 25 minutes or so depending on the traffic, and cost 25 to 30 Euros to St. Stephen’s Green downtown.  Although tipping is not expected we suggest rounding up the taxi fare to the nearest Euro as the tip. The bus shuttle downtown circles the hotels but you’d have to hoof it.

16. The time difference will vary depending on where you live. I’m based in Ottawa. There’s five hours difference between Dublin and Ottawa. This means when you arrive at 8:15 a.m. in Dublin, your body time is actually 3:15 a.m. (Ottawa time)… which explains why you may feel “punchy”. Some folks like to walk – others need to nap. It’s up to you. Take it easy. You’ll feel better the next day.

17. Once you’ve settled in your hotel room and are comfortable with the time change, consider walking around St Stephen’s Green. All of our hotels have easy to follow maps. Grafton Street – the shopping district – runs off the North/West corner of the Green. CLC registration (open Thursday at noon until Tuesday afternoon) is located at the Conrad Hotel on Earlsfort Terrace, half a block in from the South/East corner of the Green and opposite the National Concert Hall. If time permits, why not stop for tea or a pint in a pub or hotel lounge?

18. Speaking of time, the five hour difference means when it’s 5:00 p.m. in Dublin, it’s noon in Ottawa. So if you feel like calling home after a “busy day in Dublin”, say at 11:00 p.m., it will be 6:00 p.m. in Ottawa. So while you’re slowing down your crew at home will be at dinner and still pretty perky. 

19. Dublin is very easy to get around by walking although buses, taxis, light rail and trains are all available. Light rail fares and schedules are available on the LUAS website: www.luas.ie.  A 1 day pass for unlimited travel on the Luas and buses is 7.5 Euros.

20. Full breakfast is included with your accommodation if you are staying at a CBA hotel. For those in apartments, see the below list of suggested locations for breakfast, or where to buy groceries. Full breakfasts will not be served as part of the CLC program.

a. Insomnia coffee shops
b. Marks and Spencer on Grafton street (full grocery store below the department store)
c. Spar shops (convenience stores) . Some locations near St. Stephen’s Green area include:

i. 2 – 4 Merrion Row
ii. Grafton St.
iii. Nassau St.
iv. 19 – 20 Dame St.
v. 10 Parliament St.

21. When returning from Dublin, plan to get to the airport at least two and a half hours ahead of time…sometimes the line-ups at Dublin International are monstrous.

Scheduling Highlights

• The Board meets all day Friday at the Conrad.
• Saturday the Council meets at the Conrad. Luncheon at Trinity College Dining Hall.
• The Saturday Evening Reception (6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) at the Mansion House is open to all registered.
• Saturday evening you are on your own for dinner.
• Sunday Council at the Conrad.
• Sunday Opening Ceremonies at 1:00 p.m. in the National Concert Hall (across the street from the Conrad).
• Sunday evening you are on your own for dinner – but eat early – see below! 
• Private performance of Riverdance at the Gaiety runs 8:00 p.m. -10:15 p.m. and includes a sponsored reception at intermission.
• Following Riverdance, Sunday evening, the Young Lawyers party is at the Kobra Bar.
• CLEs at the Conrad Hotel and RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons Ireland) around St. Stephen’s Green Monday and Tuesday mornings.  (Coffee breaks included.)
• Monday and Tuesday afternoons are open.
• Monday night at Dublin Castle will include a full dinner served reception style (i.e. standing - in Ireland called “a fork buffet”) with wine and beer. Business casual dress required.  **Footwear alert** There are a hundred feet of cobblestones to cross in the courtyard of the Castle. (Bus transportation provided to and from hotels.)
• Tuesday Closing Ceremonies and buffet at 12:15 p.m. at the Shelbourne Hotel on St. Stephen’s Green.
• The Closing Festivities Tuesday night is at the Guinness Storehouse will wrap up the Dublin CLC experience with flare. Full buffet dinner and drinks for all. Casual attire. (Bus transportation provided.)

Tourist Sights

The Book of Kells on display at the Old Library, Trinity College attracts many visitors. It is the most richly decorated of Ireland’s medieval illuminated manuscripts. It is thought to be the work of monks from Iona who fled to Kells in CE 806 after a Viking raid. An exhibit explains the designs used in the manuscript before visitors view the work.

While at Trinity College, take a moment to visit the Long Room (1732), which houses antiquarian texts, marble busts, and the oldest surviving harp in Ireland.

Drop in to Christ Church Cathedral at Christchurch Place, central Dublin, which was built in stone 1186 (in 1038 it began as a wooden Viking Cathedral). It was remodeled in the 1870’s.

Check out the painting Taking of Christ of 1602 by the 17th century Italian painter Caravaggio, which hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Dublin Museum (downtown, an easy walk). The picture was discovered in a Jesuit monastery in Ireland and subsequently restored by Sergio Benedetti.

If you’ve got a day, consider a bus tour to Newgrange (outside Dublin), a “passage grave” – considered one of the most important in Europe.  Thought to have been built around 3200 BCE  for the kings of Tara, it was discovered in 1699, and excavated in 1960’s.  On Dec. 21 (winter solstice), rays of sun enter the tomb and light up the burial chamber, making it the world’s oldest solar observatory, all recreated for the visitor. The tour goes by the site of the Battle of the Boyne (1690). A full day!

If you go to Belfast, make sure you take a black cab tour. Designed for small groups and narrated by your driver, the tour includes City Centre, the Shipyards where HMS Titanic was built, and most striking, the political districts which have borne the brunt of conflict (The Troubles) over the last thirty years.  Be warned, avoid talking about Irish politics.

Tipping

A normal tip for good service in Dublin restaurants is between 10% - 15%. A service charge is normally included for groups of 6 or more. Although it is not officially necessary to tip for taxis, bellmen, concierge etc., rounding up to the next euro is appreciated.

For more information on Dublin, visit www.visitdublin.com/Information