Dublin Feudal System

I was out last night and the discussion arose between myself and Lorcan over the system of recognition that occurs on Dublin nights out. Rio's was the cited example. Lorcan's point is that everybody knows everyone in some way essentially and as a result most of the night is spent talking to acquaintances. Having grown up in dublin and gone to a rugby playing school, this inevitably happens to me on a night out in dublin.I can see Lorcan's point completely that going out in Dublin can be shit because of the need to smooze around with everyone, thus how we are perceived on a night out is very important. Who saw what?Who was there?I didnt get to talk to such and such!

In dublin their is a hierachial system which divides itself into many levels. There are the rugby playing schools and then there are the top rugby playing schools players (leinster schools) who are at the top of the totem to whom everybody wants to be associated with. Then on the other side there is the top girls who are inevitably the prettiest and going out with the top guys. Everything else that occurs on a night out is centred around this fulcrum. This is the social comparison scale of how do you know such and such and this treacles down to the people on the bottom who know nobody and don't care about it. Even know in college this system is intact. What school was he/ she in? How would I know you? It is this system which dictates nights out such as rio's or dtwo and it is why the best nights out are always in places like coppers or flannerys to name a few. It is because the people that populate these places no nothing about the system in place in Dublin because they aren't from Dublin and frankly, like Lorcan, couldn't give too shits about it. Everybody who goes to coppers and is from Dublin loves it because they don't have to attend to the insecurities of who is looking at them or who they should be talking to. They can just exist amongst the people they went with and "let the hair down".

I'm not saying that these aquantainces should be ignored or pretend they don't exist, and in no way do I believe that the system will ever be broken because of the sanctuary that is schools rugby but I just think that the focus should change from hanging out in the right crowds or chatting to the right people to going out with your friends and just enjoying yourself, no matter what school you were in.

Everybody who exists in this system knows about it and deals with it on most nights out and mornings after so it is not a major secret. I'm just sick of going out in Dublin because its the same thing every week. I'm lucky in the sense that in DCU the system is much less existent then in Trinity or UCD. Although the fuckin Gaelic Conspiracy is ridiculous and I may address that in the next post. "The system is sick and we are the cure"

Bad Day in Blackrock, byKevin Power is a good read on this very topic if your interested.