This is the Dublin I remember in 1982. The lighting gives it a slightly dour feeling, and you need to stop it every now and then to get the detail. The old cars, VW Beetles were once ubiquitous on southern roads in a way they never were north the border.
GM cars were sold in NI as Vauxhall were badged in the Republic as Opel, with each model having different names. There generally seems have been much more French and German built cars on the road, which were all driven for much longer than we did in Northern Ireland.
In my first job at the semi state NIES, it was a point of pride amongst middle aged employees that they bought brand new which often meant changing the car every couple of years. 
The number and modest size of the filling stations, the decrepitude of some of the older buses (inn fact my memory is the that the public transport busess were in better conditions than ours). But most of all, compared with even the Dublin of today, is the relative scarcity of traffic.
What a difference thirty odd years makes.. Do people think the place is more or less different to NI these days?
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
