One big change since my departure is the erection of a 120 metre spike in the middle of O’Connell Street. It is surprisingly striking, though some have questioned the wisdom of putting a very large hypodermic syringe in the area. For more about the spike, click here.

Ha’penny bridge. Undoubtedly the most attractive bridge over the River Liffey. Sadly frequented on a permanent basis by beggars. Not sad that they choose to hang out there, but that Ireland, with its booming economy, has beggars at all.

Another view of Ha’penny bridge.

Trinity College – beautiful buildings as well as being the home of the Book of Kells, an amazing very early religious manuscript. An oasis of calm amidst the roaring Dublin traffic.

And it still looks pretty good at night.

Grafton Street – Dublin’s main shopping street. Indistinguishable from a British city centre?

At the top of Grafton Street is St Stephen’s Green, a lovely little park.

The River Liffey is the main river flowing through Dublin. Note the size of the buildings at the side of the river. Dublin is not a normal capital.

A number of statues appear around Dublin. In this case, the wheelbarrow-pushing Molly Malone. Dubliners, with their great humour, have given nicknames to the various statues with Molly being known as the ‘Tart with the Cart’.

These two ladies, on the north side of Ha’penny Bridge, are known as the ‘Hags with the Bags’.

Fans of James Joyce might not be too happy to hear he has become the ‘Prick with the Stick’.

Far more comprehensible than James Joyce, Pat Ingoldsby, a wonderfully eccentric poet who sells his books on the street. Ex TV Star, Pat writes from the heart – sometimes moving, sometimes wickedly funny. Look out for him selling his books of poems on the streets of Dublin. Buy them all, they’re wonderful – as is Pat.