The guards in Dublin need to work on their image. Personally, I'm intimidated by them because they…read morepatrol the city with scowls on their face. Often, they seem to be on their high horse, looking down on the ordinary folks. My perception wasn't challenged when I visited the Store Street Garda Station with my flatmate. Everything I just wrote above was basically confirmed. My flatmate and I weren't in the station because we're criminals. Instead, my friend need to speak to a sergent regarding a car he used to possess that had no insurance for. There was a lone policewoman at the reception desk. She was chatting away about CCTV footage with an older man and only interrupted that conversation to yell at some knackers who were also queuing to speak to her. I know that as a woman, people often challenge your authority, but this guard totally overreacted and seem to be taking out her hang-ups on civilians. She was grumpy as hell when she got to me and my friend. She was also impatient, not taking the time to comprehend my friend's accented English. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with how she handled the situation. People like her make others fear the guards instead of feeling protected.

Like Alexandra, I also have a bone to pick with the Gardaí of Store Street. Now, I have nothing…read moregood, bad nor indifferent to say about their mode of interaction with members of the public, as I have never dealt with any of them in an official capacity. My gripe is with whichever cretin whose bright idea it was to get rid of the bicycle racks outside the station. What could the rationale possibly have been? It is true that there is always a load of brass monkeys outside Store St, and no doubt bits and pieces went missing from bikes occasionally, but I'd rather lock my bike up outside a Garda Station than in other parts of the north city centre. And there isn't really anywhere else suitable to lock a bike up in the surrounding area. The nearest place that I'd feel comfortable locking up is outside Pearse St Garda Station (where you also see junkballs trying locks, so be careful). It's true that Pearse St is only an extra two minute cycle, but if you have some business near Store St but have to lock up in Pearse and walk all the way back.. well, it'd be a right pain in the bum. So put back the bike racks, please, and don't use my use of the word "cretin" as an excuse to ticket me if you catch me breaking a red or whatever.

There really isn't a time when giving in aid of the world's children isn't a good idea. Right now,…read moreUnicef is working hard to ensure the safety and well being of thousands of Haitian families and children still waiting for basic supplies for survival. It's time to get your shopping bag out. The toys and early learning resources for sale at the front of Unicef's Dublin HQ just scratch the surface of ways you can take part in this charity's work in Haiti and around the world. If you don't have a little person to buy for, take a few extra steps to the front desk and the good staff will be happy to help you help the world - even a little bit.

Taxes are something that confuse me. It's especially confusing since I just moved to Dublin a few…read moremonth ago from Canada, on a working holiday visa. But I did find out that I'd need to get a tax certificate in order to not have to pay an emergency tax of 41%, which would be awful. And I needed one anyone. Plus if you're looking to open a bank account and don't have a utility bill in your name (because you sublet) then a tax credit certificate is one of the only proofs of address that a bank will accept. To get your tax credit certificate you need a PPS number, which is easy enough to obtain (see my review for the PPSN Registration Centre here: http://bit.ly/2f11be7). I went in because I thought I had to fill out a form in person, but one of the employers came up and asked if I needed help. When I explained I need to fill out the form for the tax credit certificate he said that was all done online. He explained how to set up an account on line, and where to go to get that done. Registering online gets you your PAYE information for paying taxes too, which is important (I guess). So I went online, signed up for an account. When you first register you won't be able to fill out the tax credit information right away because you'll need to wait for a temporary pin number to arrive in the mail. When it arrives you can log into your account, change your password, and then fill out the information you need. For the tax credit certificate I was told it would arrive within the week,. A week came and went, and no certificate. I waited a few more days, but was starting to get worried. What if my tax credit certificate went to the wrong address? What if it got stuck in limbo land? So I went back to the Revenue Office to make sure everything was okay. The man I talked to was very friendly. He double checked that I had the right address (I did) and saw that it was in the system as having been sent out. He said if it didn't arrive by the following week to come in again. Luckily it did arrive within a couple days. I was able to get a bank account with my proof of address on the tax credit certificate and best of all I didn't have to pay emergency tax. While it took a while to do and there wait time was longer than expected it wasn't too bad. The staff were friendly and answered all the questions I had. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions when it's time for me to file my taxes.

I'm still having difficulty to believe that I have just 1) sat down and written a review for the…read moreInland Revenue 2) given them a five star rating. Generally, each country I travel to in the world, seems to become more and more awkward when it comes to governmental departments. It normally goes like this; Emily: Hi I'd like to speak to xyz about xyz Government Dep: This is a recording. You will never get to speak to a human no matter how hard you try Emily: What if I try one of the other four numbers? GD: You will have to wait in line for at least 27 minutes on each number. Then you will most likely be kicked out Emily: I'm prepared to put the graft in, I just really want to get this sorted GD: Fine. Just know that when you have wasted three and a half hours of your time, whoever picks up will be just as uninterested and unhelpful as this recording Emily: I'm prepared for that, once I get the correct form at the end of it all GD: You will eventually get the correct form, but it will mean filling out 13 other forms first in other to achieve this. In trying to get my PAYE sorted, I put it off and put it off until I could no longer put it off any more. I took a deep breath, a glass of wine (for calmage purposes) and called the Inland Revenue. I had to make one choice on the touchpad, then I was put through to a real person after three minutes. The conversation went like this: Emily: Hi I'd like to speak to xyz about xyz Inland Revenue: Sure, what are your details Emily: My details are xyz IR: That's all sorted for you now. Emily: (after falling off chair) Are you sure? Don't you need me to do anything else?! Anything at all? You're sure it's sorted? IR: Absolutely, all done, can I help you with anything else? Emily: No forms?! NO FORMS?!!! That's IT?!! ARE YOU SURE?!!| IR: I am sure. WOW. Amazing. I was all sorted in less than five minutes. Bravo Inland Revenue. You are my heroes amongst the black cloud brigade of red tape madness.

An imposing old building just off O'Connell Street, which handles your tax affairs. Sound like fun?…read moreDidn't think so. Bearing that in mind, the Tax Office while busy is bright, airy and welcoming. If you want a face to face with those who can answer your income tax questions, then this is a one stop shop. If you want to catch up on some reading it's an ideal place for you also, as you could be waiting some time to be seen. That said, for civil servants who deal with the public, the staff are friendly and helpful.

The tax office used to be really stuffy and crowded. The first time I had to come here I decided…read moreto show up at 9am so I would be one of the first ones in the queue when they opened at 9.30am. When I got here the queue was all the way around the corner past Burger King already and it wasn't until nearly 11am that I got to talk to one of the guys to sort out my taxes. Oh how it has changed. Since the renovation, there is no counters downstairs anymore and instead there is a big self-service counter where you can fill in your forms and just drop them off. Upstairs is where you get to talk to one of the civil servants. As long as you avoid going to the tax office in the early morning and around lunchtime you can be in and out within 15 minutes- yes, that's happened to me a few times! The only downside is that the security guard won't let you wait with a cup of take-away coffee for security reasons.

I woke up and the first thing I thought was "awah crap, I've fallen asleep in the queue and missed…read moremy slot". sadly this was not the case, I was still in bed, dreaming of the unpleasant ordeal ahead as I took my number and waited the prerequisite 300,00,000 years to get to the counter only to be told I am in the wrong line and did I bring my DNA sample and no sir we have no public toilets..... nightmare. So, imagine my surprise when I walk into a big brightly lit space with sure enough a line that turned out to move quickly and when I got to the counter the guy smiled... really, a for real smile and sorted out the car tax quicker than I could say "are you sure you don't want to send me to another line or something?" It was so painless it was almost disappointing. Still, bring a book in case someone is having a bad day!

It was an honor, you all are heroes and I'm grateful for our memories. Russ, Jake and myself miss…read moreyou all. Looking forward to 2016!!! Ireland Rugby rules! We sent an American flag to your memorial.