2019 WorldCon in Dublin

I went looking for a thread on the 2019 WorldCon and did not find one so have set this up as a forum for people to share their plans.

I shall be going and I am aware of at least one LT couple who will be attending. Any one else planning to be there?

We will be there.

I've registered (and already have a hotel, not booked through the convention), but plans are still a bit up in the air right now.

When we were told what the hotel prices would be, roughly speaking, I threw myself onto the computer and booked a guesthouse not too far from the Convention Centre. But I said yes to run site selection for 2021, so I don't have much of an option, I must attend. Besides, I'm the sitting European TAFF administrator.

I shall be there. I am hoping to get one of the cheap (or rather cheaper) places rather than the expensive hotels.

As I'm paying my attending registration on the instalment plan, as far as I know I can't book a convention hotel until I'm a fully-paid up attending member, in May. So I went online and found a hotel no further away from the Convention Centre than some of the other convention hotels, and at an equivalent rate. I can always cancel that without penalty if I find later that I can get us into one of the con hotels for a similar price. And I've not had to put the full cost of the hotel up front, either!

So far we have England, Sweden and Ireland LT representation. We should be able to arrange at least a cup of coffee LT get-together, if not a couple of pints, if not a bite to eat...with a couple of pints.

A couple of pints sounds like an excellent idea!

>6 RobertDay: As I'm paying my attending registration on the instalment plan, as far as I know I can't book a convention hotel until I'm a fully-paid up attending member

This sounds very topsy-turvy, as the instalment plan is supposed to help those who cannot afford to pay it all at once, and come May all affordable hotel rooms will be gone. As you already have a room you are fine, but have you double-checked this interpretation?

I'm thinking about but we'll see...certainly a lot of my compatriots are going as I'm part of a SF club that is still interested in con-running.

I am planning to be there -- but then I was planning to be at the last 2 as well and work got a bit crazy...

>11 AnnieMod: Planning is the first step. :-)

>9 anglemark: I read it a few times and I'm sure it said that I'd be unable to book through the convention until I was a fully paid-up attending member. Admittedly, I signed up a bit late (such as last month); if I'd registered earlier, I would most likely have become completely paid up by now and so this wouldn't be a problem.

Working on that basis, I set out fairly early to get a room reserved. It wasn't long before I realised that Dublin is a fairly expensive city (I've only ever passed through Dublin before), and so it was no surprise that I found a hotel where the advertised rate was as good as some of the convention hotels, if not better.

I do find the requirement to pay the whole hotel bill up front a bit counter-productive if you're trying to spread the cost, especially compared with if you book over the Internet where it's fairly easy to select to pay on either arrival or departure.

I'm hoping to be there... Thanks all for the tips on accommodation.

We’re going to be there. No hotel booked yet but we’re going for somewhere outside Dublin as we plan to make the con part of our holiday.

I've paid my membership but not yet booked a hotel. Given I start a new job in March, I'm reluctant to make my plans too fixed until I know how I'm settled.

All my plans have completely changed two or three tiomes, but for the better! Now looking forward to the con, though I intend doing some touristy things as well. (Though my idea of 'touristy' may not match others'.) Arriving Thursday pm via the ferry from Holyhead and staying at student halls at the DCU northern campus - a bit out of the way, but half the price of a city centre hotel, and I'm sure I can manage the odd taxi here and there.

Anyone fancy a meetup over the weekend?

I'll be there so I am up for a meeting :)

We're going to be there - we're staying a full 2 weeks and doing some touring as well. Our ferry crossing is on the 11th and we return on the 23rd. We booked a hotel outside Dublin - paying the same for 2 weeks as we would for 5 nights in Dublin. Our LEAP cards arrived last month - the bus stops right outside the hotel.

Touristy things we're planning are the west coast, Newgrange, Dunsany Castle & Demense,Trinity College Library, Viking Dublin, the National Museum. Oh, and chilling out too - I'll need it after the journey - guess who does all the driving.

I am up for a meet-up.

I'll definitely be there. I'm on 4 panels. I'm happy to meet up.

I'm around too (or should be). I will be staying in Trinity accommodation in the centre of town - which will be a nice walk in of a morning (although probably not if it is pissing it down).

I will be there.

I will be nailed down at the site selection table in the Exhibits area Thur to Sat. Come by and cast a vote!

>19 Maddz: Newgrange is wonderful, do go inside. It's like going through the birth canal of Mother Earth. I see you've already booked a hotel near Dublin. If you hadn't I would have recommend the Scholars in Drogheda, a former monastery it's both elegant and cheap. I would also recommend the Rough Guide to Ireland. We travelled around booking hotels and restaurants on the fly and it never put us wrong.

>25 justifiedsinner: I plan to (assuming there's minimal steps). >7 pgmcc: recommended a hotel west of Dublin which is a good base to get into Dublin and drive elsewhere in Ireland.

I think I am the only Dublin local on this thread so far so I will propose a few times & places for a meet up. The programme is over 150 pages so I am sure some of you have been browsing it to see what you want to attend or otherwise. I have managed to review up to Saturday evening. Only Sunday and Monday left.

As with every schedule for any multi-stream meeting many of the panels/events I want to attend coincide with other panels/events I want to attend. This is forcing serious decision making but it is also giving me swathes of time to meet people or transfer money from my personal coffers into those of the dealers in the Dealers' Room.

Let me know if anyone has any particular day or time that does not suit. Given the variety of programme events and the breadth of interests people have it may not be possible to pick a date/time that suits everyone. I think the solution to this is multiple meetings for sub-groups. The less formal the better.

I shall post a few ideas over the weekend and await comments.

Hope to see you all next week for at least a few minutes, if not several pints.

>27 pgmcc: Like you, I'm only up to Saturday... I was thinking it was the usual London Bus timetable - nothing for an hour, then 3 at once... Oh well, that's about par for the course. We're probably going to register on Wednesday or Thursday depending what we feel like doing. There are some panels on Friday I'd like to do.

Our ferry docks 6 am Monday (weather permitting) and we'll be heading for the hotel then (but probably won't get into our room until later in the day). The alternative is to head for the beach or somewhere to the south of Dublin where I can rest and we can get lunch. So we'll be kicking our heels a bit that day - I won't want to be driving much. (We're heading to N Wales tomorrow, spending a night there and mooching around on Sunday.)

>28 Maddz: Safe journey. I have your first-day cover safe and sound. I hope you find the hotel to your liking.

Did you say you were getting Leap cards? They are the cheapest and simplest way to use the public transport. I have an annual Leap card for the buses and the Luas (trams). I pay a monthly fee and I have unlimited use of the buses and trams.

Enjoy your mooching around in North Wales. Safe crossing and enjoy winding down.

>28 Maddz:

By the way, watch the programme timetable; some events are 110minutes rather than just the hour.

In relation to your London Bus timetable, I was late for my bus yesterday. I missed it by 15 minutes. The bus I caught left me in 15 minutes ahead of my usual arrival time.

>29 pgmcc: The LEAP cards arrived last month.

Fortunately, I don't catch buses - in London or locally. Drive to station & park (20 mins vs over an hour), train to London 56 mins, walk across platform for my connecting train (assuming they took us into the correct one), 2 stops, 5 mins walk to office. I usually leave at 7:10 and am at my desk and set up by 9:00 (hot desks & laptops). I'm usually home by 18:40 assuming I don't miss my connection (leave by 17:05 at the latest to catch the 17:13 for the 17:24 onward train). I can just make my train if I catch the 17:17 but the Moorgate services are a bit flaky with cancellations...

If pushed I can use the tube at the office end but I have to tap out and in again on my season ticket. My season ticket covers me to London Zone 2 National Rail around London which includes tube journeys. If I want to go into Zone 1, I can do and it just automatically charges my card. I have an Oyster card, but have no real reason to use it.

The reason we're stopping in N Wales is that my great aunt lived outside Llandudno and it's a bit of a trip down memory lane for me. Plus I get to rest after driving from E England.

Where's a good place to chill and get breakfast & lunch drivable from the ferry port? I don't want to drive through Dublin, just to have somewhere to potter for a while before we can check into the hotel.

I'm not arriving until late Thursday afternoon; although I've pencilled in things I want to see, and some tourist time, and perhaps a bookshop crawl, all plans are open to change. I'm staying all Monday (the only ferry that connects with trains to get me back in one day to Leicester is the 08:10 departure, and there was no way I was going to miss a whole day of the convention...)

I arrive lunchtime on Thursday and leave around noon on the Tuesday. I'm on 4 panels during the con. See https://iansales.com/2019/07/30/me-at-worldcon-with-apollo/

>31 Maddz: Where's a good place to chill and get breakfast & lunch drivable from the ferry port?

I am only seeing your question now. The ferry port is in the middle of Dublin so you will have to drive through some Dublin traffic. To avoid the city centre as much as possible when you come out of the port turn left, i.e. head north. Howth is a nice fishing port with plenty of parking and options for eating, strolling, observing the world, and enjoying the scenery. I assume you will have a satnav. That is probably the best place on the outskirts of Dublin. You could head further north to some of the other coastal towns such as Skerries and Balbriggan.

>34 pgmcc: Does she mean the port in Dublin or in Dun Laoghaire, though?

Suggestions for meeting points and times. It will not be possible to pick a time that suits everyone. I am going to list some locations and times where and when people can join me or not.

If people are up for it I can set up a Whatsapp group and we can make additional arrangements on the fly. If you want to do that you can PM your mobile number to you and I will add you to the group.

Friday 12:30hrs: I will be in The Ferryman having lunch. It is a pub right across the river from the convention centre.

Friday 18:00hrs: The bar in the convention centre. I am assuming there will be a bar. The are having "Literary beers" so I presume they will be near a bar.

Sunday 15:00hrs: The bar in the convention centre.

I will be registering on Thursday and will see the geography of the convention at that stage. I will then update this post with the specific location of the bar.

All other suggestions gratefully accepted.

The advantage of a Whatsapp group mean we can arrange smaller encounters on the fly and at short notice.

I hope to see most of you over the days of the convention. >24 anglemark: I shall pop along and vote and will hopefully get to meet both of you then.

>23 StormRaven: clamairy asked me to say, "Hi!".

I was actually hoping to have a trip out to Howth on Sunday afternoon (weather permitting), but your Friday suggestions fit around my schedule (though I'll have to hotfoot it back from the Point to make 12:30 - don't rush your lunch!)

>35 anglemark:

Maddz is a she. I think the passenger ferry goes across to Dun Laoghaire and there are plenty of places to grab some food there. There are also plenty of things to do to kill a few hours there - although I doubt it is beach weather, a walk along the front or along the pier might be in order.

The Dun Laoghaire ferry terminal closed in 2014.

>37 RobertDay: I am a slow eater. I suggested 12:30 to get ahead of the lunch rush.

They do a nice carvery if someone wants a full meal or a sandwich.

I can testify that the Guinness there is good if anyone is interested.

>39 pgmcc:

Oops it seems I am a bit behind the times. It has been a while for me since I last visited.

>41 andyl: It was quite a shock when it happened. I think the people of Dun Laoghaire were wondering what was happening.

Irish ferries stopped using Rosslare last year and all their ferries now depart from Dublin also.

Last time we came to Ireland we travelled out Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire (we’d been staying with my great aunt on N Wales) and came back Rosslare-Fishguard. This was in the late 60s. Paul came over a bit later in the early 70s.

The journey wasn’t too bad; we left the house about mid-day and arrived in Llandudno about 5:30, breaking our journey at Keele services. Stayed over night, went to the Great Orme Bronze Age copper mines (new since either had last been there), then drove to Anglesey and pottered around. Paul was well choughed - we ended up at RSPB South Stack and had a good view of a pair. The crossing was smooth and we’d taken the precaution of booking club class.

Got into Dublin at 06:00 and went to sleep in the car park at Howth by 06:30. Paul saw the last of the British Isles corvids on the way - hooded crows. Between the choughs and the hoodies, he’s well pleased. Got to the hotel by 14:00 and am now relaxing watching the downpour!

Apologies for the misgendering. I keep associating Maddz with the Danish men's name Mads. And I had no idea that there are no more ferries out of/into Dun Laoghaire!

>43 Maddz:

I am glad you got over safely and are relaxing in the hotel.

My wife messaged me about half-an-hour ago that it was lashing in Lucan. It was dry and sunny here on O’Connell Street. It has started rain here now and the sun has returned to Lucan. You are located half way between Lucan and O’Connell Street.

No problem - here I’m Maddz, other places Maddye.

THERE IS A FAN BAR!

I registered this evening and was informed there is a Fans' Bar so I propose that our meet-up times of Friday at 18:00hrs and Sunday at 15:00hrs happen there.

To help identification I will have a LibraryThing "L" logo on an A4 sheet that I will endeavour to make obvious. Failing that I shall have the logo on the back of my Worldcon badge.

Well, Hurrah!

Have added to my schedule on Grenadine. My programme item is at 10:00, so the only thing that might prevent me from making it is dinner.

Registered this morning so we’re good to go right off tomorrow.

I am in tge queue for the talk at the Science Gallery. Quite a crowd.

I am so envious of you all! Have a wonderful time!

What >53 Sakerfalcon: said! I remember buying my Hobbit poster in Dublin, so I'll recommend visiting the International Books near Trinity College if you're anywhere near it. Or visit their website if not: https://www.internationalbooks.ie/

The book damage so far after the first day of WorldCon 2019 Dublin:

>48 pgmcc: By fan bar, do you mean Martins?

>56 Maddz: Yes! Martin's on Level 1. I will position myself by the coffee/tea truck on the right as one enters Martin's.

Currently in The Ferryman pub with soup, sandwich and pint. Sitting in the middle of the floor.

Met RobertDay at lunchtime and again at 6pm when we were joined by Maddz and Angelmark.

In advance of the meeting time I was chatting to another WorldCon attendee. When she was heading away she suggested we link up on facebook. When we did that I noticed we had a mutual friend; jillmwo. It turns out the arr great friends in the real world. It is, indeed, a small world.

Sounds like a wonderful event - started drooling after looking up the definition of “carvery”. Hope everyone has a great time!

>60 DugsBooks:
Worldcon is proving great fun for me.

I only had a sandwich from the carvery. I had the choice of turkey, ham or beef roast. I took the turkey which proved succulent and full of flavour. The chef included stuffing, coleslaw and gravy in the sandwich. You were right to drool. It was very droolworthy. :-)

I had a great time at Worldcon in Dublin. See my haul of books.



I met a lot of friends I only see at such events and made new friends. My inner fanboy was happy once I got to meet S.A. Chakraborty, the author of The City of Brass and The Kingdom of Copper. These are books that you will be aware I was well impressed by.

In terms of meeting with LT people I managed to meet up with:

RobertDay
Maddz
anglemark (both parts)
imyril, and
a real life friend of jillmwo. The story behind this will have to wait. All I will say now is that T.J. gave me all the gossip.

I will provide other bits of convention updates in the coming days, including some of the gossip about jillmwo. Talk about good value. :-)

Well, I had a super time too. This has been my sixth Worldcon and I think I've enjoyed it the most since Seacon '79 in Brighton (but in 1979 I was still fairly new to fandom and a Worldcon had novelty value). I met up with quite a few old friends and chatted with a lot of interesting people. The venue helped, of course - Dublin's been on my bucket list for a good ten years, and although I did almost none of the touristy/non-SF things I wanted to, I've had enough of a taster for me to contemplate coming back as soon as possible. I now feel I know enough of the ropes to make a return trip successfully, which is a good step to have taken. Many thanks to pgmcc for his hospitality and friendship this weekend.

A full convention report has been promised to Wolf von Witting for his fanzine CounterClock, and there will also be a blog post and some pictures on Flickr in due course (links to follow).

It was my 4th Worldcon (2 x Glasgow, and London). Very little in the way of books - Medicine Road - the Tachyon edition with the Charles Vess illustrations, and a free copy of Foundryside. (We’re trying not to buy pbooks - we have too many as it is.) I might have made an exception if Gollancz had any of their nice leather bound editions - but the only one I saw was the Dune trilogy on another stall.

My inner fangirl was satisfied with meeting P C Hodgell - I got the last 2 places in her kaffeklatch for myself and Paul. I also introduced myself to Charles Stross (I’ve delurked on his blog) and asked Ben Aaronovitch when he was going to publish his short story collection.

>62 pgmcc: That pile of books is a thing of beauty!

I'm glad you all had a great time and each got to see or do something special. Sounds like some great adventures were had.

>65 Sakerfalcon: I must say I enjoyed the five days. I have photographs to post but the coming days are bit busy at work so it will be a while. It appears my work was not done for the five days I was not here. Imagine that.

>66 pgmcc:

Well unfortunately I missed you all - well I said hello to Maddz when I saw her in a corridor waiting for a panel. But it just goes to show just how big and busy the con was.

>67 andyl:. It was big: 5,500 attendees; 155 page programme of events; three sites.

Did you have a good time? I enjoyed my five days at the con.

>66 pgmcc:

Sounds like at least everyone had fun - even if I did not manage to make it to any of the meetings. Oh well. Next time. :)

>68 pgmcc:

It was grand. I went to quite a few panels, drank lots of beer and did lots of walking*. Met a load of people both old and new, fan and filthy pro. I was restrained in my book-buying (I only had hand baggage for the plane) so only bought 5 books, including some from the Newcon book launch.

* And would have walked a lot more if I did more at The Point.

>69 AnnieMod: Yes, the next time.

>70 andyl: I met Ian Whates for the first time. We have been in contact on-line since the time I chaired the Phoenix Convention. It was great to meet people who I have known for years but never met.

I missed everyone as well, although if you purchased a membership for DisCon III on Monday, there is a decent chance that you interacted with me as I was working the table taking payments for much of the day.

>72 StormRaven: I bought mine on Saturday. So near and yet so far.

>71 pgmcc:

I've known Ian for quite some time as he is fairly local to me. Been to a few cons he has organised and far more book launches than I have fingers.

>74 andyl: I think I was first in contact with Ian when I was planning to go to NewCon (I think that is what it was called) but did not make it.

I shall have to keep an eye out for Ian’s events; like >74 andyl: he’s local to me - in fact he used to live in the same town. I had hoped to get to the NewCon book launch but it was down at The Point and I had panels either side, so ended up not going.

Made it to Newgrange and Knowth today, we’re going to try for Tara tomorrow.

>76 Maddz: How did you like New Grange and Knowth?

I have never got to Tara.

>77 pgmcc: Wet and windy!

They were very interesting and made us go looking for more detailed information - the visitor centre is being rebuilt so the only information available was a small leaflet in a tent in the car park and the guides. At Knowth, they’ve now got an electronic display of the passage and the central chamber. The passage is way too small to get down (Newgrange is bad enough).

I will say the central chamber at Newgrange reminded me of a tholos tomb.

>67 andyl: You bumped into me a couple of times. Sorry I missed the LT meet-up, despite being reminded of it by anglemark, but I was out with friends eating at the time it was scheduled.

As someone closely associated with the con committee thanks for the help! The only reason I'm not on the con committee is that I'll be chairing the local DC convention with whatever bodies I can scrape up.

>77 pgmcc: We made it to Tara - another windy day but fortunately not as much rain (although my feet will beg to differ - the long grass was wet and soaked through the tongue of my walking boots). Historical and mythological considerations aside, I didn’t think it as physically impressive as Newgrange. There’s a sculpture in Cambridge that’s reminiscent of the megalithic art: http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/walks/sclines1b.jpg & http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/walks/sclines2b.jpg

We then drove through Dunsany (but didn’t visit) then followed the Boyne Valley route to Drogheda before turning down the coast to Dublin. We stopped a couple of times to give me a break from driving - the first time after Ballybriggan on top of a cliff with a path to the beach, the second time just on the outskirts of Rusk where we had a stroll on the beach before heading back to the hotel. Saw a pair of gannets, cormorants, a heron, oyster catchers and assorted gulls, also ringed plovers and turnstones at Rusk. Paul also spotted a bunch of swans surrounding a parked car closer to Dublin.

Tomorrow we’ll head to the Liffey Valley shopping centre - we want to go to Eason’s there and I’m not masochistic enough to drive in Dublin. Although the gift shop at Tara was well stocked and cheaper than Dublin (we both got Aran jumpers for the winter), we still haven’t found a good guide to the Neolithic monuments. They seem to be very New Agey or very out of date. Then back to check out and we’ll probably go to Howth again for a fish dinner before heading for the ferry home (nothing to do with A Fish Dinner in Memison sadly).

>81 Maddz: A fish dinner at Beshoff's, perhaps? (I'm told the founder was a refugee from the sailors' mutiny on board the Potemkin) (of Eisenstein fame).

>82 RobertDay: Actually, no. They closed at 6pm. We ate at the Something Oar further along. We ate at Beshoff’s the day we arrived - very good fish & chips.

I managed to make contact with five LibraryThing members. The evidence is here:

RobertDay joined me in the Ferryman pub on the Friday. The Ferryman is just across the river from the CCD where WorldCon was based.


At 6pm on the Friday I met Robert again and we were joined by Maddz and the Johan side of anglemark.




I caught up with the Néa side of anglemark at the Swan River Press stand on the Monday.


I also managed to meet up with Imryl and had a great chat with her.


The convention was great fun and what I enjoyed most of all was linking up with people I seldom have a chance to meet. Meeting these five LTers certainly added to the enjoyment of the convention for me. The convention was so big with so much going on it would have been impossible to get everyone together at the same time in the same place. I was delighted to get to meet these people who I have interacted with on-line and whom I would not bump into as part of the normal run of things.

>84 pgmcc: Good to see so many happy faces. Meeting fellow LTers is always great.

>85 Sakerfalcon: Sorry I was unable to meet you in 2017. I hope that did not destroy the whole visit to Dublin for you. :-)

No, my sister and I managed to contain our disappointment and carry on regardless! We thought of you a lot though as we followed your recommendations.

Was hoping to make the LT meet-up but was out eating at the time. And never managed to bump into any LTers other than anglemark (but we live in the same town anyway).

>88 iansales: And me, Ian...!

>89 RobertDay:. Ah yes, of course :-) And I passed Andy in a corridor and said hello, IIRC

The Flickr album of my trip to Dublin:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30301546@N06/albums/72157710738004048

>91 RobertDay: Great pictures and running comments.

>91 RobertDay:

The big question is how did you manage to catch the lobby that empty :)

>91 RobertDay: Nice

>90 iansales:

You chatted to me in the bar for a while too Ian. Talking about one of the panels you moderated.

>95 andyl: Ah yes. So I did. Much of the con is a bit of a blur.

What >62 pgmcc: left out was that I was sitting at work one afternoon when my phone suddenly beeped. There was a tremendous shock (and a certain sense of disorientation) to see a photo in a text message -- one showing our pub's favorite secret agent standing right next to a friend from my youth. Somehow or other, the man managed to sit down and chat for two hours with a woman I've know for 30 years. (She was at my wedding; I was at hers.) As you might imagine, it's a bit nerve-wracking when one's online life and one's past come together. I have been keeping a low profile in the hopes that anything that she told pgmcc pertaining to green jello might have been forgotten.

>97 jillmwo:
Jill, you can make a bid too. If yours is the highest bid your secrets will be safe from publication, at least by me.

By the way, do you mind if I refer to you as "jellmwo" from now on? :-)

No, you may not address me as jellmwo but only because that is my super-super-secret password for a number of important web sites, such as my bank, my Amazon account, and half a dozen other things. It would just be awkward. You will have to continue with jillmwo or my nickname of "Information Goddess".

>99 jillmwo: “Information Goddess” is good! “Data Deity” scans too.

>91 RobertDay: Neat photos, lots of interesting people it must have been great experience. I had never heard of Darcie Little Badger and am fascinated by her biography.

Finally got around to writing my convention report. A slightly different version (with more name-dropping) will appear in Wolf von Witting's fanzine 'CounterClock' in due course.

https://robertday154.wordpress.com/2019/09/14/fantastic-voyage/

>102 RobertDay: That is a great report. I am glad you enjoyed WorldCon and Dublin and look forward to your return to these shores.

Your description of Dublin is spot-on, especially the bit about the docklands and how it is difficult to know which European city you are in. This has been a hobby-horse of mine for a while, i.e. the anonymisation of Dublin and other cities, but particularly Dublin. I am very much in agreement with John Ruskin's views on architecture as expressed in his talk, Traffic. He believed a building's architecture should have a heroic element, not simply be about money. While I find some modern architecture can be quite striking with its perspectives and geometry, I find most of it is an adoration of "cheap" and is measured by its investors in terms of Return On Investment per square foot.

Sorry, I did say it was a hobby-horse of mine.

Your comment on Dublin being expensive is very true and it is not just the Euro/Sterling exchange rate. Accommodation is very expensive not just for visitors but for residents, as demonstrated by the growing number of homeless families and individuals. The current government takes great delight is saying how great the economy is doing and that the homeless figures are unfortunate but are small for an economy like ours. If it is such a small number relatively speaking, then why can't some of the wonderful economic performance be used to tackle it; to date all the government's housing initiatives have been aimed at increasing the demand side for housing rather than the supply side. One would almost think the homeless people, and the people on hospital trolleys in public hospitals are not people who would vote for a business friendly government party and therefore garner little attention from the ruling party.

Oops! We stumbled on another of my little hobby-horses.

Robert, I loved reading your report. It brought back memories of a great weekend. I look forward to seeing you again on your next visit, and with a bit of luck I will see you in Glasgow in 2024.