Stylist contributor Johanna Derry returns to the Irish capital to meet the generation of young creatives putting the recession behind them

Guinness. Dancing. Pubs that open at seven in the morning. Like many visitors, the first time I visited Dublin, I never made it past Temple Bar. This time around, I was determined to delve a little deeper than booze and blarney, and experience Dublin’s hotly discussed cultural resurgence. Today most young Dubliners agree that one good thing to come out of the dramatic decline of the Celtic Tiger (as the booming Irish economy was known) was that rent settled at sane levels again, which in turn created an abundance of opportunity for enterprising start-ups, artists and designers. Today the scars of recession are largely healed, and just two years after an emergency rescue by the IMF, the Irish economy is once again on the up.

And nowhere is this more evident than in Dublin’s regenerated docklands, where I check into my hotel, The Marker, a luxury design hotel that has become a symbol of the city’s design and tech revival. Dominating Grand Canal Square, it’s across the water from the gleaming Google HQ, and a pedestrian walkway of bright red resin and glass marks the way to the waterfront along the River Liffey. This area – dubbed ‘Silicon Docks’ – feels refreshingly untouristy, but you’re just a 20-minute walk to the National Gallery of Ireland, the shops and galleries of Grafton Street and, indeed, Temple Bar.

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