DUBLIN'S SKYLINE GETS A NEW FEATURE

If you're afraid of heights then stop reading this and move on...it will have little interest to you. Croke Park, the home of the GAA, has launched a sky walkway high above the hallowed turf of the famous venue. Offering super views of Dublin City, the Skyline will be an interesting addition to the attractions that are already on offer in the sunny (well it was at the time of writing) capital. Skyline makes Croke Park a must from visitors to Dublin. The GAA museum and just the chance to see this fantastic stadium were already reason enough to venture beyond Mountjoy Square. For those reasons put plenty of time aside for the visit to Croke Park. Before you ever set foot on the walkway, you spend around 15 minutes in a dressing room below, a place normally occupied by the Dublin footballers mid to late September :), where you are required to put a safety harness on and are shown how to clip the harness to the steel wire running alongside the walkway. Not that this would make a great vantage point for watching a football or hurling match. At 44 meters you would hardly be able to distinguish between the two teams jerseys. And I'm speaking from experience. I managed to get myself and a couple of friends tickets to see U2 in the venue a couple of years back but ended up at the back of the top tier of the Cusack Stand. I could see more detail on planet Venus on the night than I could of the band. There are plans to add a zipline from the Cusack Stand to Hill 16 and they are also considering permitting abseiling off the 44 metre-high platform on to the pitchside. Hmm that may be a bridge too far:) Skyline Facts: * The platform for the roof top tour is 33 meters or 17 storeys above the ground. * It took 100 tonnes of painted galvanised steel, turning into 132 support trusses spanning the steel roof, to make the 0.6km walkway manufactured in Portarlington. * The suspended walkway extends six metres out over the pitch. * The visitor attraction, which created 10 jobs, cost €1.4m to build. * Among the landmarks that can be spotted from the Skyline tour are Glasnevin Cemetery, Guinness Brewery, Dublin Mountains, Poolbeg Lightghouse, Mountjoy Prison, the Spire and the glasshouses at the Botanic Gardens. * The two-hour tour will be available in six languages. * Visitors must measure in at 1.2 metres in height to take in the tour. * It opens to the public from Friday June 1 and closes at 6pm each day. * Tickets are priced at €25 for adults, €15 for children and €65 for families. Discounted tickets for the GAA Museum will be available for those taking the Skywalk. Ollie.

10 TEN THINGS TO DO IN DUBLIN THIS SUMMER

Summer has finally arrived and the numbers are coming back to the beautiful city of Dublin in there droves.

Theatre, gigs, museums, festivals, comedy and attractions...there is no shortage of things to do in Dublin. With so many things to do I've decided to put together a top 10 things that you can't miss this summer.

1. Failte Dublin Horse Show at the RDS - the country's premier horse event takes place in the RDS from the 3rd to the 7th of August. A celebration of Ireland's affinity with the horse, from the best show horses to the best international show jumpers. It is one of Ireland's largest events, a highlight of the summer, each year welcoming tens of thousands of people from Ireland and all over the world. Special discounted offers are available, with up to 20% discount on longer stays.

2. Riverdance - one of Ireland's greatest exports, Riverdance, kicks off its annual residency at the Gaiety Theatre on the 28th of June and runs till the 28th of August. This show has evolved over the years so even if you've seen it years ago it is probably very different. The hotel are offering theatre packages to include pre-show meal, ticket to show, night's accommodation and full Irish breakfast from just €109ppps.

3. Bloomsday - a celebration of one of world's greatest writers, James Joyce, Bloomsday, runs from June 16th - 19th in various part of Dublin city. June 16th is BLOOMSDAY, the day in 1904 on which all the action of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses takes place. It is celebrated every year on 16th June by Joyceans all over the world. In Dublin, where the novel is set, Bloomsday celebrations go on for a week from the 16th to the 19th June, with most of the attention on the day itself. It is traditional to dress up and go out for the day, visiting the locations of the book and taking part in readings, walks and convivial activities of all sorts which in some way connect with Ulysses, its author and its world.

4. The Script - Ireland's golden boy's of pop-rock RnB return to their home town for the biggest show of their impressive career. The Dubliners are set to grace Aviva Stadium on the 2nd of July for a once off show. The "Breakeven" stars have had a remarkable career thus far but this will surely be the highlight.

5. Rugby Internationals - After a very mixed autumn series and start to the Six Nations Irish rugby finally found its voice with a stunning victory over England at the Aviva Stadium. The provinces maintained the momentum with Leinsters' amazing Heinekin Cup victory in Cardiff and then Munster's Magners League triumph in Thomond Park. Now we are all excited about our prospects in September's World Cup in New Zealand...the dream is still alive. Brian O'Driscoll, Paul O'Connell and the lads have two warm up games in August with France (27th) and England (20th) both visiting the Aviva Stadium.

6. Dublin Super Cup - Without meaning to offend any of our Portuguese friends out there we were all a little dissapointed with the finalists of the Europa Cup Final in May...or at least all the Manchester City and Liverpool fans were. But there is light at the end of the tunnel with a new two day international club tourmanent taking place at the Lansdowne Road venue at the end of July. Inter Milan, Manchester City, Celtic and an Airtricity League Selection will all battle it out for the Dublin Super Cup on July 30/31.

7. Dublin Zoo - It is one of the oldest and most visited Zoos in Europe and for good reason. Located in the largest city centre park in Europe this zoo is a stunning site. Every kind of animal imaginable, bar the dinosaurs, are in here and there is plenty of picnic areas and things to keep the children, and adults, busy. Well worth the visit.

8. Grease - Dust off your leather jackets, pull on your bobby-socks and take a trip to a simpler time as "bad boy" Danny and "the girl next door" Sandy fall in love all over again. It’s the original High-School musical, featuring all the unforgettable songs from the hit movie including You’re The One That I Want, Grease Is The Word, Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted To You, Sandy, Greased Lightnin’ and many more. So throw your mittens around your kittens and Hand Jive the night away with the show that’ll make you want to stand up and shout, “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop A-wop-bam-boom!” Package includes pre-show meal, ticket in teh Upper Circle, night's accommodation at the Grand Canal Hotel and Full Irish Breakfast from just €119pps. The show runs from August 9th - 27th in the Grand Canal Theatre.

9. Cricket International August 25th - Ireland v England. After the heroics of the world cup the star studded English cricket team come to Dublin to play their Irish counterparts. Cricket is not exactly a major sport in this country but if we were to put Ireland's victory over the English into context it would be like Andorra beating Ireland in Gaelic football. Interest in the sport is on the rise and over 2000 people attended the recent clash with Pakistan. The game takes place in Clontarf. If the weather holds up this could be a very enjoyable occasion.

10. All Ireland Hurling Final Croke Park, September 4th - Concluding on another sporting theme this really should be the first thing on the list to do this summer. Having attended the 2010 final between Kilkenny and Tipperary I can attest to the awe inspiring site of 30 amateur sports men slamming a tennis ball sized sliotar around the hallowed turf of Croke Park in front of 82,000 people. There are not too many places in the world where you would see such an event. The Hurling Final really epitomises what it is to be Irish...and you don't have to be Irish to appreciate it.

Feel free to let me know what I've left out.

Enjoy the sun.

Cheers,

Ollie (OMG).