A CALLER TO Liveline today highlighted the often stark contrast between the reality of life in Dublin city and the picture presented in a glossy new video created to promote the capital.
The caller, Aisling, who lives in the Netherlands, said she had spoken to a group of Dutch tourists who told her a story of encountering two people having sex on the city’s boardwalk, near O’Connell Bridge, “at four o’clock in broad daylight”.
What struck the tourists most was that other people in the area were just going about their business ”they couldn’t see what was going on right next to them or maybe they did…”.
“As liberal as the Dutch are, with their red light districts in Amsterdam, they said at least in Amsterdam they close off the curtains and you don’t see what’s going on.”
The tourists were “stunned” Aisling said, adding that she herself was “embarrassed”.
“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I was just sort-of shocked in silence.”
The boardwalk area along the Liffey has long been a trouble-spot for drug use and anti-social behaviour in the city.
Today’s tale of “broad daylight” sex comes just days after a new tourist logo was launched for Dublin with the tagline ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’.
Liveline presenter Joe Duffy, who recently said the city centre area was “an unadulterated kip” that had been “taken over by pound shops” pointed out that the boardwalk area also made an appearance in a new video unveiled today to tie-in with that initiative.
As it runs through the attractions of the city, the video also highlights Dublin’s close proximity to the mountains, the sea and other natural beauty spots in the course of its 80-second runtime.
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