Befitting St. Patrick's Day, Behold the Tower Cranes of Dublin

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Tacos and Tower Cranes. As befitting the day, this installment is for Dublin, Ireland. Dublin is an amazing city, full of vibrancy that shines through the otherwise overcast weather typical of February. The skyline is dotted with tower cranes, spread across the city depicting a strong construction activity without a definable center of gravity. Landing in the airport, you are immediately greeted by two hammerheads trying to keep up with the rapidly expanding facilities. Once downtown, it becomes pretty clear that the visible tower cranes are supporting high rise multi-family construction. On a free morning, I decided to walk as much of the city as possible. Knowing this could be a physically-demanding endeavor given the number of cranes, I started by purchasing a breakfast sandwich from a coffee shop busy with craft labor, identifiable by their personal protective equipment. Skilled labor always knows where the affordable good food is. The Irish are known for their enormous breakfasts, and I found this out first hand when I could only eat half of the “small” breakfast sandwich I purchased. With food for sustenance, I set out on foot to explore.
 
Dublin as a metropolitan area, is expanding, taking full advantage of many technology companies using the city as the international headquarters and a tax arbitrage from their home countries (principally the United States). Many of the projects are beautifully designed luxury apartments, the natural outgrowth of a vibrant tech industry known for high wages. And while I like to view tower cranes, and the economic activity they represent, as a sign of progress, not all is well in Dublin. Some of the construction I observed involved new glass towers rising between public housing (council housing or council estates in local parlance), leaving the only plausible conclusion that older, affordable housing being razed in favor of gleaming towers that are less so. This has led to movements such as the creation of the Dublin Renters’ Union and the “Raise the Roof” demonstrations. That’s the bad news. Pivoting back to what excites me about tower cranes, it is inspiring to see modern structures, such as Camden Yard, raising adjacent to ancient structures like St. Kevin’s Church, dating back to 1226.
 
There is plenty of construction in the healthcare, high tech and office sectors, but housing represents the majority of the projects, at least as far as I could observe. All told, I could clearly see 34 tower cranes, with several more on the distant horizon.