If you're tired of traditional jewellery and want to give yourself a treat, check out the Talisman Gallery in Brown Thomas. Weir's, just across the road on the corner of Grafton Street and Wicklow Street, is one of the largest and best known jewellery and accessory shops in the city. Johnson's Court brings the shopper to the Powerscourt Town House Centre converted from a 1774 mansion built by Lord Powerscourt. Well worth a visit if only for its architecture, this is a delightful place to spend some time. For visitors accustomed to subway systems as the natural escape from the clog, the news is that there ain't no underground in Dublin.
Plans are afoot, however, to develop a two-line tramway, with limited underground stretches.
The likelihood is, though, that the construction of the system will make matters on the streets worse for a time. They have a point. The authorities, however, have vowed to go on with the plan. With wild optimism the new system has been named Luas, which is Gaelic for speed. Dubliners earnestly hope that this will not prove to be a misnomer.