(Aside from friends and family that is)

1.  Garlic chips and cheese from Supermacs
2. See number 1 above (but change the consumption time of said delicacy from 4pm to 1am)
3. Battered sausages – at any time
4. The West of Ireland – really is a stunning place. I like knowing that I can go there – I never do but it’s a nice thought.
5. Ryanair have a hub here – it’s a festering pit of an airline, where even a shorty like myself has legroom constraints but it has a plethora of destinations to travel to – although book in advance kids. Oslo anyone?
6. Pubs – or Irish pubs as they’d be called in Amsterdam
7. Theatre – in English. The Netherlands has theatre in English also, but for obvious reasons – language – the choice is more limited than here.
8. Stand-up comedy – true a lot of it is embarrassing, toe-curling tripe, but as that’s the general consensus, you’re in on the joke
9. Sally O’Brien – and the way she might look at you. Okay this is a private joke for the over 40s who remember the Harp lager adverts from the 1980s.
10. The deli counter in the Dunnes Stores on Talbot Street
11. Table quizzes. Having an event? Wedding/funeral/play/kidney operation? Well unless you’ve had a fundraising table quiz then the event won’t be complete. I am quite good at these and they unleash my rarely seen competitive streak.
12. Vicar Street concert venue – it’s no Paradiso that’s for sure, but it has its own charm.
13. The yellow ‘reduced to clear’ stickers they put on the food in the Marks and Spencer Simply Food shop across the road from where I live
14. The word ‘gowl’ – as used in Limerick as a term of affectionate insult – to wit ‘Shut your hole you great big gowlbag’
15. Affectionate insult in general – this is not massively healthy if it’s used as a means of avoiding real emotion but on occasion a comment like ‘The f*cking state of you’ is exactly what the doctor ordered.
16. Larry Gogan’s Just-A-Minute Quiz
17. The all-you-can-eat halal Indian buffet in the Moore Street Mall for 6.99Eur – best to limits your trips. One plate is never enough
18. Guinness – it’s an urban legend that it tastes better in Ireland than abroad. It’s a national myth that it tastes better in Dublin than outside of Dublin. I choose to believe it.
19. The 2^nd hand bookshop underneath the bridge near Connolly Station
20. In 80 minutes you can be abroad. Somewhere exotic.  Like Amsterdam.

Must book my summer trip.