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Dublin

Gluten-free foodies rejoice!

Whether by choice or dietary necessity, the gluten-free food trend has gained a lot of momentum over the past few years and pretty much everyone and their mother has jumped on the bandwagon.

As a result, many Dublin restaurants have began to switch up their menus to accommodate for all customers, but this latest gluten-free offering may just be the most exciting yet.

The Exchequer D2, one of the capital's best established and most loved eateries, has just launched an incredible new menu made up of entirely gluten-free dishes.

The delicious dishes, created by new head chef Marty Montgomery, have been designed for any gluten-free foodies who don't want to compromise on taste. 

The lovingly selected menu offers a host of amazing starters, mains and desserts including cured salmon with cucumber and wasabi dressing, hake with asparagus, mussel and garlic sauce as well as a sumptuous steak tasting board including bavette, flank and featherblade.

Available seven days a week, The Exchequer's new gluten-free menu is the latest in a long line of food innovations at the Gastropub.

Bookings can be made at www.theexchequer.ie – what are you waiting for?

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If there's one thing we love more than coffee, it's free coffee.

And in a move which has us shedding a tear of gratitude this afternoon, 20 coffee shops in our nation's capital will be providing the public with free coffee at various points throughout the day tomorrow.

And why are they doing this, you might wonder.

Well, the gesture is reportedly in response to the news that Starbucks will be opening its 53rd location on 4 Crampton Quay.

So, between 8am-9am, 1pm-2pm and 5pm-7pm, the following 20 coffee shops will be giving tired and thirsty city-dwellers a caffeine hit free of charge, and they are officially too pure for this world.

  • The Clockwork Door
  • Foam cafe
  • Coco Brew
  • Il Fornaio Enoteca
  • Celtic Cookie Company
  • Coffee Cartel Coffee Cart
  • Gallaher and Co
  • Shoe lane cafe
  • Dwarf Jar
  • The Joy Of Cha
  • The Stage Door
  • The Tram Cafe
  • The Bus Stop Cafe
  • Metro Cafe
  • BG Cafe and Deli
  • IFI Cafe
  • Tamp and Stitch
  • Kaph
  • The Yellow Cup

Guys, you may take a bow.

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Getting a taxi home is part and parcel of a night out. 

The buses are long over and the concept of a designated driver doesn't always work out, so hopping into any of the hundreds of available cabs streaming down Dublin's busy streets (or the streets of any county, country, or continent) is a transport option that most people don't think twice about. 

In the aftermath of a recent viral Facebook post, in which a woman detailed her horrifying experiences with a taxi driver, I thought it might be time to share a story of my own that left me shaken, angry, and ultimately made me realise how vulnerable the actions of others can make you feel.

The Facebook post, uploaded by Emma Shiels, recounts how her seemingly fine taxi driver insisted on taking the back roads through an industrial estate to her house, even after she told him he was going the wrong way. 

'I screamed at him ‘Leave me here I’m getting out' and I threw money at him and ran. it was only when I ran out of the car I noticed he had no I.D or pictures or license number on his dash,' she detailed, after he proceeded to drive down a road Emma knew led only to industrial wasteland. 

Emma clearly made the right choice by exiting the terrifying scenario, and chose to share her experiences to warn other women of the dangers of unlicensed taxis. 

My story is slightly similar to Emma's, and like her case, the Gardaí are currently investigating what happened to me on Easter Saturday night of this year. 

It was pretty late in the night, and I had just left a party in Temple Bar, knowing I needed to catch an early train home to Galway the next day to be with my family for Easter. 

I grabbed a Supermacs (typical Galway girl, I know) and threw my arm out to hail down the next taxi. The one passing me didn't have his taxi light on, but wasn't carrying any passengers and pulled over to let me in. 

I hopped in, promising not to eat my curry cheese chips until we'd gotten to mine, and gave him my address. He never turned to look at me, which I thought was odd, but I thought hey, maybe he's just not a friendly guy. 

Things started going wrong pretty quickly. The driver kept turning the music up and down really loudly and he was driving erratically, speeding up the car and then slowing it down. I was weirded out, but probably not as much as I should have been. 

When he took the first wrong turn, I was concerned, but assumed he must be taking a short cut. I've lived in Dublin for a few years now, but don't know all the shortcuts.

It was then that things got truly scary. He proceeded to turn down a dimly lit, narrow residential street, and slowed the car down to a crawl. 

I was freaked at this point, and moved to gather up my possessions and kept my eyes firmly on what I could see of him in the dull shadowy glow of a far off street light. 

He moved his right arm down to the side panel of the door, you know the pocket where it's normal to keep a packet of buttons or your driving glasses, and pulled out a cord.

I had my hand on the door handle at this stage, contemplating jumping out of the slow moving car and running to where I knew the nearest Garda stations was. As he wrapped the cord around one hand, and then around the other, pulling a section tight in the middle, I started panicking, all my muscles tensed and ready to whack him with the iPhone I had clutched in my trembling fist. 

He began to turn towards me with both arms, in a move I perceived to be him making an attack to loop the cord around my neck, and at that moment, the door handle in my sweaty left hand slipped through my fingers and made a soft thud against the door. 

He promptly dropped the cord and put his foot down on the accelerator, swinging out of the residential street and onto one I recognised. I clearly wasn't as drunk or unaware as he may have thought I was originally. 

I had no idea what to do. I was scared to tell him to let me out or to scream or shout, in case he then realised that I had seen what he was going to do to me, and decided that he had to go through with it to shut me up. 

We got as close to my address as I could stand to go, I threw the money at him and scrambled out of the car. My legs were shaking so much I didn't know if I would make it down the road and to my door. 

I had taken down his name and driver number and texted them to my friend after he had dropped the cord, in case he tried anything else and I needed someone to know who had done whatever it was he was possibly planning on doing to me. 

The first thing I did when I got home was Google 'taxi driver strangling Dublin unsolved' on my laptop with trembling hands. Nothing came up. 

The next day I left my house to catch my train, and walked past a flurry of seagulls eating the discarded remnants of my Supermacs that had fallen out of the car when I jumped out. 

I told my mum what happened as soon as I saw her, and we decided that I had to call the Guards.

He hadn't touched me or physically harmed me in any way, but I still worried about reporting the incident. 

What if they didn't believe me? Or asked me how much I had to drink? But I knew what I had seen and knew I had to tell them what had happened, just in case it happened to someone else. 

Thankfully, the Garda who took my statement and gently talked me through what had happened never asked me anything that made me feel like I wasn't to be believed. 

The incident is currently under investigation, and while again, nothing actually happened to me physically, I was reassured by the guards fortification that there was something seriously wrong with this situation. 

It was also suggested that the driver had his lights off as he was looking for a suitable passenger, aka a woman alone, and wanted to avoid being flagged down by a group or a bunch of lads. 

I looked up the taxi driver on the Check My Driver app, and I didn't think that the picture it showed resembled what little I had seen of the driver that night. 

It could be been a copied licence, or a stolen licence, or someone driving the legitimate driver's car, or maybe I just didn't see enough of him in the moment he turned towards me to have that jolt of recognition.

Either way, while reminders to check that your driver is legitimate are necessary and valid, the fact that there are ways around it is terrifying, and more needs to be done to make sure that people can get from A to B without being taken advantage of, or worse. 

I have gotten taxis since, but now every time I use the My Taxi app, which has an option to send your journey to a friend, so they can track your journey and check you get home safe. I use it religiously in a morbid ritual, just in case. 

I'm still waiting to hear back if there has been any resolution from the Gardaí, and until then and probably long after, I can foresee myself taking every possible precaution when hopping in a post-night out taxi. 

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Cocu has been one of our favourite foodie spots to grab lunch this summer, but sadly the epic Dublin eatery is closing it's doors.

Renowned for their hearty salads and healthy treats, Cocu is the perfect myriad of delicious ingredients and a heath conscious attitude. 

The Chatham Street location will serve its last customer today, before moving on elsewhere. 

 

A post shared by CoCu (@cocu_kitchen) on

'We are sad to announce that our short tenure in Chatham Street has come to an end, ' reads a recent Insta post.

'Cocu Chatham St will be closing its doors on Wednesday 30th August.'

'We’d like to thank all our lovely customers for their continued support.'

 

A post shared by K A L E + C O C O (@kaleandcoco_ie) on

Thankfully we don't have to be too devastated, as the Hatch St unit is still going strong, and is a mere five minutes away from the current location.

In more excellent news, this is more of a see you later than a goodbye, as Cocu announced that they will soon be setting up shop elsewhere.

The delicious foodie concept will be making a permanent home for itself in the IFSC in the coming weeks. 

The Kale & Coco smoothie bowl pop-up will also be finishing up this week, but Rebecca and Jen have promised that they will be running some amazing special offers in the remaining days. 

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We could listen to James Vincent talk cosmetics for hours… and hours… and hours. (No seriously, we're obsessed.)

A make-up artist of incredible acclaim, James' list of clients includes the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Lady Gaga, so we were all ears when he decided to give an appraisal of Irish woman and their techniques.

While appearing on Today FM's Dermot and Dave Show in recent days, James provided a professional insight into the cosmetic trends currently doing the rounds in Ireland, and it sounds like we could all do with an injection of creativity.

While James acknowledged that "Irish women are considered to be some of the most beautiful in the world", he's noted that we appear to have a paint-by-numbers technique (our words, not his) when it comes to our faces.

"The thing that is strange to me is that everyone starts to look alike. I just walked through the department store on the way here and everyone has the same face," he surmised.

Joking that this may cause problems on the city's dating scene, James added: "I can only imagine how confusing it is for straight guys at the pub when you meet a girl. She walks away and then comes back over and you don't know who you were just talking to."

James did, however, say that cosmetic trends do tend to sweep major cities meaning that it's not surprising we tend to sport similar make-up styles, with James confirming that New York also has 'a look'.

Delving further still, James has noted the particular features we tend to accentuate in a similar way. saying: "I think if you look at Dublin right now, the brow is very specific, the bronzer is very specific, and it creates a look where people start to look similar."

"That's why I say individuality is really what it should be all about. You know, make up should make you feel individual," he advised.

Fair enough.

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Following a number of terrorist attacks across Europe over the course of the last 18 months, authorities are considering the introduction of retractable bollards in Dublin's shopping districts.

According to The Independent, Dublin City Council and the Gardaí have convened to discuss measures to counteract potential terrorist attacks in the Irish capital.

It is understood that risk assessments are being conducted around the city in order to identify areas to vulnerable to potential targeting.

Grafton Street and Henry Street are among the areas likely to see the introduction of the bollards.

"Meetings have taken place between Dublin City Council and An Garda Siochana on the issue of retractable bollards and a risk analysis of areas in the city centre is being undertaken," confirmed a spokesperson.

The plan follows the death of hundreds of individuals in attacks across Nice, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and London among others.
 

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In an effort to highlight the State's shortcomings in the handling of the Magdalene laundry cases, a rally is being held to honour the survivors this morning.

The Director of the National Women's Council of Ireland, Orla O'Connor, made reference to the government's failings while speaking ahead of the event in the city-centre  today.

"The government have promised there would be consultations with the survivors in terms of how they wanted to be remembered and memorialised and this has yet to happen," she said.

Orla insisted that the NWCI would show solidarity with survivors and urged the government to make a connection with those who have bore the brunt of their unfulfilled promises.

"We are very much in the National Women's Council, standing with the survivors of the Magdalene laundries today to say that the government need to start this, they need to talk to the survivors and see how they want to be remembered."

The rally comes days after campaigners called for the removal of a statue dedicated to the Sisters of Mercy outside a former laundry in Dublin.
 

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The only thing that could improve the festival experience would be dogs.

In fact, puppers improve pretty much any occasion.

So imagine our delight and excitement when we heard that a dog festival was coming to Dublin.

If you are a fan of canine pals, then you need to check out Dublin's doggie fest 2017. 

The Doggie Do is landing on September 10, in Herbert Park D4. 

The festival is in association with The Dogs Trust, so there will be a strong focus on responsible dog ownership. 

There will also be a Doggie and Soul area, where dogs and their owners can relax and de-stress.

The highlight of the day will be the Canine Costume competition, for puppers who love to show off their trendiest threads.

As for the owners, there will be plenty of food stalls and vendors to keep them entertained. 

Think of all the opportunities to pet happy doggo's heads and nab your tickets here.

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Gardaí are appealing for witnesses following a serious road traffic collision yesterday evening.

 

The incident occurred at the junction of Adelaide Road and Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2 at around 6pm yesterday evening.

A Saab convertible car collided with four male pedestrians, all of which were taken to hospital.

 

One of the pedestrians is described as being in a serious condition at Beaumont Hospital.

 

The female driver of the car and one pedestrian were taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital with non life threatening injuries, while a second male pedestrian was removed to Tallaght Hospital with non life threatening injuries.

 

Investigating Gardaí are appealing to any person who may have witnessed this collision or to any motorists with dash cam to contact Pearse St Garda Station on 01- 666 9000, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

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If you were hoping to catch Gavin James in person this festive season, but feared you'd struggle to nab a ticket , we have some amazing news for you.

The Dublin-native has revealed he will be playing a second night at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on December 7.

Taking to Twitter this morning, the Bitter Pill singer celebrated his upcoming gigs, writing: "Dublin!! Tickets are on sale now for the Bord Gais. Get em here. Go, go, go, go!"

Excited fans have wasted no time sharing their delight over getting their hands on tickets for the first night of the singer's performances.

Tickets are priced from €38.50 including  booking fee, and are on sale now via Ticketmaster outlets.

See you there, ladies. 

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Two people are fighting for their lives this morning after a car struck several pedestrians in Dublin city centre yesterday evening.

Four others are believed to be seriously injured following the incident which took place at the junction of Adelaide Road and Earlsfort Terrace at around 6.15pm on Tuesday.

It is understood the driver of the car in among the injured, who were taken for treatment at Tallaght Hospital, St James's Hospital and St Vincent's Hospital.

Victim details have not yet been released.

Despite online speculation, authorities were quick to rule out any link to terrorism, saying it was not a hit-and-run incident.

It is not known what caused the vehicle to spin out of control, however it is due to undergo an extensive examination in order to determine whether any kind of mechanical failure was at fault.

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When you think of getting a piercing, Claire's Accessories and tattoo parlous are probably the first places that spring to mind. Brown Thomas? Not so much. 

However, all that is about to change. 

If you're in the mood for an up-market ear piercing, Brown Thomas will be playing host to a pop-up with none other than the iconic piercing concept Maria Tash. 

 

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Known for the cultivation of the 'curated ear,' Maria encourages her clients to make the most of their ear piercings through an individual combination of intricate, interloping jewellery and unique piercing placement. 

As outlined in Brown Thomas' Insta story today, the piercer has created individual ear looks for tonnes of celebs, from Beyonce to Britney to FKA Twigs to Miley Cyrus. 

Global piercing specialists from Maria's studio will be piercing in a week-long pop-up at the Brown Thomas store on Grafton Street, from September 2 to September 9. 

Check out some of their amazing work below, and book your appointment online. 

 

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