Book Review - The Dubliner Diaries by Trevor White

The Dubliner Diaries by Trevor White (The Lilliput Press, www.lilliputpress.ie; €9.99)

As memories of the Celtic Tiger fade into the clouds of dirt it kicked up as it disappeared over the horizon, there’s a poignancy to reading Trevor White’s funny, perceptive, bitter-sweet diary of publishing his thinking person’s magazine, The Dubliner, through those crazy years.

Trevor writes brilliantly and it’s a great read on all sorts of levels. And, while even the most energetic verbal gymnastics could hardly persuade anyone that this is a food book, it certainly has relevance to Irish hospitality. How could it not have, given Trevor’s background: his parents, Peter and Alicia White, owned that great 1980s Dublin restaurant, Whites on the Green, and he could hardly have failed to be influenced by the high standards of culinary excellence they nurtured.

As has been observed elsewhere, Trevor’s self-deprecating style is very appealing and it’s interesting to see those strange ‘Tiger’ years through the penetrating gaze of someone who knows the city, and just about everyone of consequence in it, intimately - and has no qualms about drawing uncomfortable and (usually) true conclusions about people and events of the time.

Even when he gets it wrong – especially when he gets it wrong, as he would say himself – it makes fascinating reading; paradoxically, the satirical tone of the magazine reflects back most engagingly on its founder. As the chronicle of a decade that most of us would like to forget as soon as possible, this little book is destined to become even more interesting with time, and it is fitting that it ends on a high note – with our hero’s exit from involvement with the publication he created, and the birth of his son.

Whatever about the frequently lamentable goings-on of the noughties, a constant that beams out from The Dubliner Diaries whether he likes it or not is Trevor’s love of, and commitment to, his native city, warts and all. If there were any doubt about this, the proof is in his more recent enterprises: the recently launched City of a Thousand Welcomes is a not-for-profit idea that, quite literally, aims to connect visitors with real Dubliners (‘Ambassadors’) who are knowledgeable and passionate about their city and will welcome them to it over a complimentary cup of tea/coffee or a drink. The response from an interested public has been fantastic, Trevor reports, “ In just over two weeks we've had over 2,000 applications for the voluntary, unpaid position of Dublin Ambassador... we were hoping to get 1000 in three months!”

The Welcomes initiative is set to begin in early June 2011, and it will shortly be joined by a sister project, The Little Museum of Dublin. This new non-profit museum at 15, St Stephen’s Green will tell the story of Dublin in the 20th Century; it is to belong to the people of Dublin, and the collection will be completed by public donation. “We want to create something that Dubliners will always be proud of” Trevor explains, “and curious visitors cannot afford to miss.”

Sponsors and partners of this admirable civic initiative include Dublin City Council, Dublin Regional Authority, Fáilte Ireland, the Merrion Hotel, Porterhouse Bars and TV3.