Dublin is a thriving centre for culture and is home to a great literary tradition - its native sons include Shaw, Yeats, Joyce and Beckett -- and is the cradle of many musical talents, from the Dubliners and the Chieftains to U2. Street-side cafes and pubs are always alive with animated conversations and visitors may soon be engrossed in topics as diverse as sport, politics and literature or the old favourite, the weather. It is interesting to note that it was in many of these same cafes and pubs that the literary giants such as Joyce, Kavanagh and O'Casey discussed the topics of the day over a thick creamy pint of Guinness. ...