Lucinda welcomes the news that Rathmines swimming pool and leisure centre will finally open on 27th September. Swan Leisure, as it will be known, will be open to the general public and will offer a 25 metre swimming pool, gym, fitness studios and a sports hall.  The Centre  is operated by Dublin City Sports and Leisure Services Ltd. on behalf of Dublin City Council for the community of Rathmines and the surrounding area. The pay as you go swimming rate for an adult will be €6. Please click below for more pricing information.

Opening hours:

• Monday to Friday – 7am to 10pm
• Saturday & Sunday – 10am to 6pm

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Today is my last day in the VSO Uganda office, and so far the internet is down. Technology here is pretty basic, and very unreliable. Just when you urgently need to send an e-mail or get some stats from a website, the whole system will seize up. Between the internet and the traffic situation, I have had ample opportunity to develop my levels of patience over the past 10 days. Oh, and my problems with 02 and my mobile ‘’roaming’’ network have also contributed significantly to my patience levels. I will take that matter up when I get home!

I am glad to have finished all of my meetings, and finally have some time to sit and reflect on the progress made and the challenges which lie ahead. It has been such a fascinating process and I hope that I have helped VSO and the National Alliance for Volunteering Efforts in their ambitious agenda to get Government to commit to introducing a strategy and a legal framework for volunteering. (more…)

Busy week so far with lots of productive meetings and some frustrations! I have learned so much about Uganda and the whole sphere of development aid in the past week – most of it from speaking to both Ugandans and Mzungu informally, rather than in the formal meetings which have been arranged. As is always the case, especially in politics, people will always speak more candidly in an informal environment.

I mentioned that I moved in with Charlotte on Sunday when we returned from Jinja. She is volunteering with the Uganda Wildlife Conservation for two years and the office is in the house she is staying in. I am really enjoying living in the volunteer environment because of the opportunity it affords to find out much more about the country, development work and of course the local knowledge comes in handy too. (more…)

Lucinda welcomed the news today that the application for planning permission to build a McDonald’s restaurant and drive-thru in the area of Sandymount and Irishtown has been rejected by Dublin City Council. The application to develop the fast-food restaurant on the site of Winfield Motors and the Maxol station was refused permission on the basis that this was not a permissible use under the zoning of the site, a point which Lucinda had made in her objection to the application.

Monday August 30th 2010

Three years ago I visited Kenya and Tanzania with a friend of mine. I immediately fell in love with East Africa – not just the climate, the glorious African skies and the amazing wildlife, but most importantly the people, the culture and the unswervingly positive attitude. So when VSO asked me to travel to Uganda, the other large East African country, on an advocacy mission for volunteers and NGOs, I really didn’t have to think twice.

I left Dublin at 6am last Wednesday and arrived in Entebbe airport at 8pm that evening. I was greeted by Benon Webare, VSO’s Country Director, who drove me to my lodgings in Kampala, a guest house called the Banda Inns. The hour-long journey seemed a lot shorter, as we chatted about everything and anything and Benon filled me in on some of the objectives of my stay and the meetings which he had arranged for me. I had received my final itinerary the previous evening, and it was clear to me that Benon meant business! I was to begin with a tour of the VSO office on Tank Hill at 8.15 in the morning.

On Thursday morning I was collected at 8am by VSO’s logistics assistant Sam, who drove me to the office. I was met with a genuinely warm welcome by the VSO staff. Daniel Walusaga showed me around the office and set me up on my computer. I was delighted with the prospect of catching up on some home news on the internet, as well as my ever-expanding bank of work e-mails. However, the opportunity was short lived. Ten minutes later Sam informed me that it was time for Benin and I to leave for meetings in Kampala city centre.

This was my first experience of driving in the city, which was not unlike my experiences in Nairobi and Dar Es Salam! The driving is pretty unruly in Kampala, and the roads are generally in shocking condition. I was assured by several people that the road conditions are the direct result of corruption, with contractors winning government tenders on foot of bribes. (more…)