In Dublin for #biall2016: conference diary

Team ICLR is in Dublin this week for the annual conference of the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians. With a packed programme of talks and discussions, and a chance to meet some new subscribers and catch up with all our existing friends among the publishers and librarians, it promises to be a memorable event.

Wednesday 8 June: first make your stand

Gatwick at sparrow’s fart does not feel like the best place to be greeting your work colleagues of a morning, but needs must. For Paul Hastings (Account Manager) and Paul Magrath (Head of Product Development and Online Content) the trains ran on time, but for Holly Powell (Marketing and Events Coordinator) a cab took her on a bit of a runaround. Still, we all checked in on time and boarded for what we thought would be an early takeoff. Sadly not: fog at Dublin pushed us back in the queue and we eventually took off about 40 mins late. Arriving in Dublin around noon, we caught a cab to the hotel with Mr Opinionated Motormouth himself it seemed. Still we got there in one piece. Were the rooms ready? Up to a point, Lord Copper. Two of them were but one of them, ominously, wasn’t. Cue a pint of Guinness while they sort it out. Finally, the third room was found, conveniently located on a different floor. No worries. Dump the luggage then on to the next thing. The conference centre is in the hotel itself, which always makes life easier. Had our freight arrived? It had. Now to set up the stand. Here it is:

Phew! Now we can have a drink.

Later…

You can’t come to Dublin without sampling the hospitality on offer. But to get to where we’re going, we need another taxi and this time your man was rather more polite and softly spoken. He also seemed to enjoy acting as a bit of a tour guide, showing off the fine Georgian houses along the way, the splendid open squares, and, less enthusiastically, the poorly managed roadworks around Trinity College and the O’Connell Bridge there. At one point we almost had to get out and walk. Finally, we got to our restaurant, The Winding Stair, which is on the north side of the river overlooking the Ha’penny Bridge. And a fine place it is too. Fabulous food and a very interesting wine, from Australia, called the Innocent Bystander. (Lawyers will remind you of the concept in contract law of the Officious Bystander, but this was an altogether different kind of fellow. And not half so innocent, after a glass or two, as you might think.) Here he is:

On the way home, we stopped in at O’Donoghues Bar for a bit of live music and a Guinness or two. But first, we crossed the river again, banked in glory, resplendent in mist and mystery.

To be continued….

(Link to the next instalment here.)