In Grafton Street on Monday – the hottest day of the year so far – I was a transfixed by a beautiful female voice singing Dirty Old Town (which was of course written about Salford but has long since gone native here and now speaks with a strong Dublin accent). The busker was Leila Jane, who was also born in England before growing up in Ireland. And hers was a sweet, soulful version of the Ewan MacColl classic.
As such, it suited the mood of a balmy summer evening. But the lyrics were more than usually apt too. Because an unfortunate side-effect of fine weather in Dublin is that it always coincides with the streets and footpaths being at their filthiest.
I’m not talking about mere litter here. I’m talking about the accumulated spatters, spillages, and general effluvia of everyday life. During most of the year, these are regularly removed by the municipal street washing system known as rain.
READ MORE Great but unwashed – Frank McNally on the joys of a dry spell in Dublin A team of two halves – Tim Fanning on the Peru-Chile football team in Dublin On the ball – Brian Maye on GAA president James Nowlan Simon’s swansong – Frank McNally on the passing of a much-loved Dublin café Then, every so often we get a prolonged dry spell, and the results are embarrassing. Our sins accumulate on footpaths for weeks on end until, like guilty Catholics in need of confession, we long for rain so that make a clean start again. Or maybe that’s just me.
*** Old-fashioned litt.
