Totally Dublin turns 100 next month, and we’re celebrating by dipping our fingers into our dusty archives to feature our best articles and give you a little snapshot of that month in Dublin. This piece ran in the first-ever issue of TD, dated October 2004.
Totally Dublin Issue 1
Cover star: Annie
In the reviews section: The Libertines – The Libertines, Interpol – Antics, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
On our mind: “Mainly we hear people complaining about the horn, which some say is the kind of thing you would hear if Ireland had just scored in the World Cup final.” – Anne McIntyre on the recently arrived Luas.
EAMON DUNPHY’S DUBLIN
Words: Amanda Brown // Photos: Ewart Mouton
His parents moved to the city from different parts of the country but Eamon Dunphy is born and bred Dub. Amanda Brown takes him for a spin down memory lane and gives him a grilling about the future of our city.
What part of Dublin did you grow up in?
I grew up in Richmond Road, Drumcondra. I pass it on the way to the airport. I always have a look and see what’s going on. It’s different now, slightly, because it’s flatland a little bit. The house is gone. Knocked down.
There’s a field there now but yeah – I never pass it without. Yknow, remembering the bad ole days (Chuckles) I grew up playing football out on the street and things were a bit more equal. If you didn’t have any money it wasn’t so bad because no one else had any either.
No one else had a gameboy – homeboy – whatever you call those things. We just hoped the football didn’t land in the garden of the woman who wouldn’t give it back. That, or a puncture, were our worst traumas.
You grew up playing soccer and went to Manchester United. The culture shock…
…was huge because English lads were so much more advanced. It was a liberating thing cos Ireland was very, very conservative, very grey. We didn’t have a TV for example; everyone had a TV in England.
The food was lousy in England where as it was really good here. My mother cooked steak and stuff where as in England it was meat pies and (sighs) ….the fish and chips were nice though. But English boys were much more advanced. It was a huge shock to go there. They were way way ahead of me in everything from fashion to… You know we were as green as grass.
George Best actually came to Manchester United from Belfast the summer after I’d been there one year and George came and he was a green horn as well so we knocked around together for a while and I showed him the ropes – by that stage I knew the ropes. I’m a quick learner.
