Ireland
DUBLIN IS THE CENTRE of the skate scene in Ireland. The best skaters
and places to skate are to be found here in the capital of our fair isle.
Skating really started here about maybe eight years ago when a small
bicycle shop in a rough part of town started stocking a few 10x30 inch
completes on the counter of accessories which were at this stage full of
BMX parts.
Skating really took over where BMX left off with most of the stunt bicy-
cle riders (including myself) selling off their bikes and using the cash to buy.
a nice new complete, usually a Variflex or something similar.
Skating really grew to huge popularity, probably peaking around '89/'90
with shots of skaters appearing in national newspapers, TV ads and numer
ous features on national TV.
Clive's Cycle Centre, the shop where it all started, has now become
Clive's Skateshop and stocks mostly skate stuff along with a small amount
of BMX gear.
Street competitions were held every couple of months in a small bingo
hall just outside the city and were attended by hundreds, both skaters and
spectators. At this point there
were no public skate ramps or
parks anywhere in Ireland
apart from the few illegally
placed quarter-pipes on the
road outside the skateshop,
so the competitions were a
great opportunity for most of
us to skate for hours without
having to dodge the traffic in
the process.
The summer of '91 saw the
biggest thing that ever hap-
pened in Ireland with a full
international competition
being held in the biggest
indoor venue Dublin has to
offer. It went down really well
with probably a couple of
thousand people piling in to
either watch or participate in
this big time event which was
shown on RTE, Ireland's
national TV station. With big
prize money and big crowds,
it turned out to be a lot of
crack! Credit is due to Clive's
Skateshop's owner for his involvement in the organization of this event along
with really helping the skate scene in Ireland in many other ways. His shop is
now called Skate City and is now located in a cool part of town called Temple
Bar. So, if you're in Dublin, check it out!
Since the competition in '91, we've had two skateparks (indoor) come and
go. The first one closed down for a variety of reasons, and the second one,
the owners were evicted. Both parks were run by skaters, and the second
one only closed a couple of months ago. This is a real bummer because it
was run really well and was really good to skate good one to Trev and Mike
for making the effort!
Well, looks like it's back to the streets for summer, so if you like street
skating and you're into a good time, come to Dublin this summer-the crack
will be mighty.
-Peter Rowen
Clockwise from
opposite top:
Paul floats a
rather large
ollie over a
huge gap in
downtown
Dublin. Stunt
man Jono sits
back as his
board 360 flips
the hip. Paul
flips his stick
over the drive-
way. Rosie likes
fat ollies and
watch while he
does one. The
old meets the
new-Dublin
City Centre.
Mike (ex-
skatepark
owner and
rod skater),
sweet half-Cob
heelflip over
the fun box.