Outside the steamed up windows, the first white wisps of autumn's icy fingers sidle along the River Liffey in a city where it is always the weekend.

I am in Dublin, Ireland's banging, buzzing, laughing, and dancing capital that swamps visitors with its edgy irreverent swagger and style.

In the vast, packed bar lounge the size of a small aircraft hanger, the air is thick with conversation and, of course, one of the city's most enduring and endearing qualities, drink.

Here, the gargle, as it is affectionately described, comes in solid black pints of stout with a head as white as newly scooped double cream.

Or, then again, in almost bottomless squat glasses holding deceptive measures of whiskey laced with flavours of a salty peat bog.

But one thing is absolutely certain - whatever your tipple, it comes in never-ending quantities.

After an hour, the table I shared for some instant bonding with tourists from America and Australia was covered in a carpet of glasses.

Meantime, my boisterous companions all declaring their Irish ancestry, sang and almost wept with joy as the band of local musicians battered out international anthems including Wild Rover and the Fields of Athenry.

Suddenly a team of high-kickers skipped on stage and almost to a man (and the occasional woman) the room erupted to the hammering hooves of the Celtic dancers.

All this and it was still only Monday night.

Much later during my visit, when my eyes did not resemble strawberries rotating in buttermilk, I was reminded of my rowdy initiation when I visited the world famous Guinness Storehouse by the Grand Canal which offers stunning views over a city.

Our guide, with a twinkle, glanced up to tell us: "The gargle has been a potent force here for over 250 years ..."

Other visitors in my party, like me, felt their heads gingerly and sighed knowingly.

Dublin's rollicking success was a theme I discussed with one time wild man Ronnie Drew, lead singer with the trail-blazing Dubliners who shot to international fame with the hit tune The Black Velvet Band.

Toying with a glass of sparkling mineral water (he gave up the hard stuff after 40 years on the road) in a downtown bar, Ronnie agreed that his city certainly is an upbeat and, to an ever-increasing degree, an upmarket tourist destination.

But again, the mischievous, gritty humour kicks in and he added: "Ah well, at least the rest of the world now has a chance to join in!"

How very true ... But Dublin's real measure it not always seen through the bottom of a glass.

Elegant shops gently shout for your attention on Grafton Street.

A taste of serious money here, mixed with the inviting aromas of biting cups of coffee and baguettes on sale in tiny, almost invisible, eateries.

Traffic though is a growing nightmare with cars and the city's infamous buses, bumper to bumper almost 24 hours a day.

However, the city balances its highly-rated visitor attraction status with some wonderfully tranquil parks and gardens.

St Stephen's Green, for example, gives an illuminating snapshot of the city's noble history.

The imposing Fusilier's Arch is dedicated to those brave men from the city who fought and died in the Boer War.

Yet, here again, there is another curiosity - a decorated stone trough and drinking fountain for parched horses that pull jaunting carts around the city sights during the summer months.

There are lifelike busts to James Joyce who set some of the conversation in Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man in a house on the Green and Countess Markiewicz who fought at the head of her battalion in the 1916 Rising.

In fact, almost every step you take on your journey leaves you with the distinct impression you are truly stepping back in time to the lives of the great writers and poets.

However, for real peace and solitude, a visit to The Old Library at the city's fabled Trinity College is an absolute must.

It houses the Book of Kells, the story of the Christian church partly chronicled in the 9th century by the monks of Iona on Scotland's west coast.

Other monks compiled the rest after the order moved to Kells, in County Meath, in Ireland, after AD806.

And you can't fail to be smitten with the Long Room, built in the early 1700s and housing around 200,000 books, many dating back to the Middle Ages.

But out on the bright streets again I am reminded by the manic fiddler racing through a famous Irish reel that Dublin is here.

And very much now.

By the way, it is still only Thursday.

Happy days, roll on the weekend!

Ken Bennett flew to Dublin courtesy of Ryanair.

Check your local airport for flight times and details.

He stayed at the Arlington Hotel, Bachelors Walls, O' Connell Bridge, Dublin 1.

The hotel offer short break and longer holiday options.

Write to them for details, or call: +3531-804-9100.

For further details about holidays in Dublin and the rest of Ireland, call Tourism Ireland: Freephone 0800-039-7000.