Hi all, sorry about the lateness, but my job is pretty time consuming. Such is the love of theatre. Also, i apologise for any errors in this statement. Thats my doing writing this at 6pm on a friday when I'm being called to go to the pub.
In short, yes, Gaelcon 2009 will be held in a new venue - the D4 hotel, Ballsbridge. Their website is www.d4hotels.ie. I'll raise a couple of concerns here that people may have: Why? Clontarf was a distance out of town. The D4 is approximately 20 minutes walk from Stephens Green. When we decided to look at new venues, the golden rule was City centre. Now, the D4 is not in the city centre, but it is very close. There are buses, the place is always swarming with taxis, the LUAS to Charlemont and Ranelagh is walking distance and the DART stops nearby at Lansdowne road. Also, while we had a history with Clontarf Castle, the price we were paying was far more than the quality of service we recieved. Shopping around, we have found a much more reasonable and pratical venue. At the end of the day, Gaelcon gets no external funding and has to be self-sufficient in its costs. Parking? Its pay parking on site. There is disc parking around, but this should be free on Sunday and bank holiday monday. There is a special deal in D4 for overnight parking. What about the Womens Mini Marathon? yes, it will run right outside the venue. This is a problem for car drivers and some bus routes. Sadly, this is something out of our control, as the Gardai will have checkpoints out as far as Rathgar. The best transport to the venue is the DART. While we could have picked a venue in the city centre, we chose the venue that was best suited to a con and also the best value for money. Accommodation? The D4 has a number of rooms available, starting at €99 a night (though there may be deals for booking, check on their site). There are a number of hotels in the general vicinity of the D4. There aren't many B&Bs or Hostels, these are mostly located in Dublin city centre. However, there are several on or near Gardiner Street, which would put you right next to Connolly station and a DART to Lansdowne road. Food? There are several bars on site, and the D4 has a coffee shop open 7am - 6pm. Sadly, the legendary Coffee Dock with its 23 hour opening is gone, but the bar will be serving food until 10pm each night. Shopping? There's a Tesco quickshop about 5 minutes walk up to Leeson Street. There is also a Tesco on Baggot Street, on the way from Stephens Green. There's a number of Centras and Spars in the general vicinity also. Transport? As raised above, its about 20 mins walk from Stephens Green . The distance is 1.8 km. For a quick comparison for people unfamiliar with Dublin, its a little longer than the walk from UCC - Grand Parade route (1.2 km) and about the same as Eyre Square to NUI Galway (1.9 km). The Aircoach link from Dublin Airport stops at the front gate. Lansdowne Road DART is 5 minutes walk away. A Taxi rank is situated at the hotel entrance. Any other concerns, please either reply here or contact me directly. If anyone has any concerns regarding Gaelcon 2009, feel free to contact me directly at [email protected], and I will either pass your concerns on directly or try to respond to them myself. If you could put "GAELCON CONCERN" in the subject, that'd make it a little easier to spot and prioritise. On a side point, if there is anyone having any difficulty contacting anyone involved in Gaelcon, please contact me directly. I would much rather you all knowing I'm here and responding to your concerns than have you feel that we are unresponsive and disinterested. Here's a link to the Google map route from Stephens Green: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Stephens+Green,+Republic+of+Ireland&daddr=D4+Hotel,+Ballsbridge&hl=en&geocode=%3BFcnILQMdeN-g_yHGr56Oc0vrOA&mra=ls&dirflg=w&sll=53.33741,-6.246925&sspn=0.011659,0.038624&ie=UTF8&ll=53.335409,-6.245856&spn=0.01166,0.038624&z=15 As I said above, any concerns, any issues, drop me a line. - Baz Nugent Gaelcon / IGA PRO. -- "If I can't dance I don't want to be part of your revolution" ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/igaming/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/igaming/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
