Dublin Port Open Day

    I've been today to Dublin Port Open Day. Nice weather: cloudy and showers, and cold!! Good organization, they had some hampers for kids and for adult, with a snack and some souvenirs, face painting, balloons, bus tour and boat tour around the harbor. I took only the bus tour because of the rain. Maybe next  time :)
    Some interesting fact about Dublin Port, which Gary, our guide, told us:

   Ireland is an island, and will be an island forever :) So, the only way of trading is through seaports and airports. In this case, Irish seaport handle 99.5% of Irish foreign volume. Dublin Port is the second biggest industrial estate in Ireland with over 4.000 people employed in the Port area. 78% of all imports and exports through Dublin Port are transported in containers, that's why Dublin Port, being 300 years old, had to adapt over the years. All the shares are held by the Government, and the Ministers, so all the tax payers have a little part of the Port. The largest cruise liner to dock in Dublin Port was the Grand Princess which first visited the port in August 2004. This liner is 290 meters in length, has a gross tonnage of 108,000 tones and carried 4,000 visitors. Six ferry companies operate up to 17 sailings daily to the UK from Dublin Port. Bull Island, with its 5.63km of beach, two golf courses and world famous bird sanctuary was created by the building of the Port's two walls - the Great South Wall and the North Bull Wall. Carlisle Bridge was built in 1794 and it was a narrow hump backed bridge leading on the wide Sackville Street. The bridge was rebuilt in 1880 to the design of the Port engineer Bindon Blood Stoney. When completed it was renamed O'Connell Bridge after the liberator Daniel O'Connell. This bridge is quite unusual in that its width is almost the same size as its length.

    I think that's all for now. I dunno when this opportunity will be again, but you should go.