Skanger City
August 11, 2003
The good weather over the weekend brought out much of Dublin's skangers. For the few frequent readers of this blog from overseas, a skanger is Dublin slang for a knacker, which is slang that has become part of the vernacular. A knacker is like poor white trash, only worse.
Over the weekend Sky News showed scenes of the heatwave all over Europe. Beaches throughout the continent were packed as people tried to cool off. In London people were throwing themselves into the fountain in Trafalgar Square. Even the chic Parisians were to be seen standing under water sprays.
In Dublin, the good weather brought the skangers out, and they celebrated by getting pissed. On Saturday afternoon I passed a woman who was crashed out on a bench outside the Gaeity Theatre, can of beer in hand, large white belly protruding, hardly an appetising view for the diners at the Gaeity cafe. Two men were leaning against a wall, empty beer cans lying around them, near Stephens Green. They couldn't just let me walk by unnoticed, they had to harass me, calling lewd comments as I attempted to go about my business. And a group of skangers had even taken to dining al fresco - leaving their empty pizza boxes, chip containers, and plastic bottles on the newly pedestrianised street at the bottom of George's Street. This slice of skanger life was all in the space of about 10 minutes. There's plenty more out there, believe me.
On Sunday, at Dollymount beach, the HB kite-surfing and MTV dance event took place. What could have been a great day out for Dublin's teenagers turned into riots thanks to the proliferation of drunken skangers. The sand-dunes were set on fire and bottles were thrown at the few police who tried to keep the peace. On buses back to the city afterwards, whole families of skangers were there - elated after their brushes with the law, drunk and stoned - what a fine example for their poor kids who were with them.
Skangers are a part of Dublin life that I never missed when I was away. How refreshing to live in cities where public events do not turn into fights with the law. Where large numbers of people can gather outdoors and leave no trace and remove all their litter with them. Where simple bus journeys are not filled with skangers smoking and making rude comments. If it's the sun it takes to bring them out and roaming around the city, let there be rain. Let there be misty grey skies and low dense clouds. Let there be snow.