In Dublin again

I haven't posted on this blog for a while as I've been incredibly busy with meetings, both down the road in Geneva and then abroad. As you know, I work on wildlife trade issues and the two main bodies that provide the scientific input to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) are the Animals and Plants Committees of that Convention.

The Geneva meeting of the Animals Committee ran from 15 to 20 March (with just the Sunday off) and discussed (among other things) trade in marine species, especially sharks. This is something I've talked about before on this blog (if I recall!) and will return to again. Then, on 21 March, most of the people who attended the Geneva meeting got on a plane to Dublin. I had never seen so many CITES experts on one plane so thankfully it didn't crash! From 22 to 24 March there was a joint meeting of the Animals and Plants Committees, in the Convention Centre on Spencer Dock, Dublin. Then, after another free Sunday, the Plants Committee met for five days in Dublin Castle.

It was weird being at a CITES meeting in Dublin. Here I was, circulating with colleagues that I normally meet in in Geneva, Brussels or more exotic locations (Bangkok, Doha, Johannesburg, Windhoek, San José or Santiago, Chile). In the meantime, I hear Irish accents in the background and walk out into familiar Dublin Streets. It was like the collision of two parallel universes.

However, while Dublin is neither my favourite city nor my favourite part of Ireland, I was pleased that most people liked it - a lot, in fact. Granted, most of them were staying in one of the nicer parts, near the Powerscourt Centre, and the weather was glorious. However, the raved about the food, how friendly people were and how cheap everything was (well, a lot of them had come straight from Geneva). On the food and the good value for money, my experiences too were positive. I also have to put in a word for my good friend Karen Gaynor who, with help from other colleagues in the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of Public Works, did a super job on organising the meeting.

Speaking of positive experiences in Dublin, on recent visits I myself have been impressed about how much the buses have improved. many bus stops offer real time information; most routes are frequent and many cross the centre to the other side, instead of stopping in the centre as they used to. Of course, the real time information isn't always accurate and Magdalena did have to wait 40 minutes for a bus when she was coming into town (she joined me last Friday) but still the service has come a long way from the abysmal level that I remember for decades on end.

I was fortunate in getting out to Howth twice and enjoying good seafood on both occasions, as well as glorious weather. So here are a few pictures from those trips.