If you thought, like my taxi driver, that skateboarding "went out with the Indians", think again. The grande dame of lifestyle sports has meandered in and out of fashion over the past three decades. At the Atlanta Olympics, skateboarding featured in the opening and closing ceremonies, but in Dublin, security guards are hired specifically to keep boarders off private areas such as Bank of Ireland headquarters on Lower Baggot Street, the Conrad Hotel and the Central Bank.
Until today's opening of a skateboarding park, boarders have had nowhere to practise. Mike Keane and Wayne Gallagher have more than 20 years' skateboarding between them. They started building ramps for themselves, learning "how strong rams were and what was wrong with them" as they went along. Fed up with hassle from security guards, they decided to set up an oasis, a park, where skaters of all ages and levels could congregate and practise. "Park", however, is a bit of a misnomer, since the whole project is housed indoors, addressing the Irish issue of climate perfectly. Ramp 'n' Rail provides 6,000 square feet of ramp area with rails to slide, fun boxes and stairs to jump, quarter pipes to get air and, for beginners, mini ramps, and mini half-pipes for beginners - all of which were designed by the pair.
Finding the property was a major hurdle. Estate agents were "useless" - not taking their request very seriously. Unperturbed, they started "scouring the northside of Dublin" themselves. Meanwhile, Keane, a babyfaced 27-year-old with a Marketing degree, worked for Allied Irish Bank and 21-year-old Gallagher worked as a graphic designer. They both had also completed the FAS Start Your Own Business course and were "well able to cost everything and put together a skeletal business plan until we found the right property". When they made an offer on a space on Upper Drumcondra Road, behind the snooker hall between the Skylon Hotel and the Cat and Cage pub, they were politely told "no thanks". However, they won the estate agent's confidence by producing photographs and sketches of their plans for the warehouse. He even agreed to a lease "on their own terms". "Eventually we convinced them," Keane smiles. There was only one flaw in their business plan. They had "not a cent, literally," says Keane, who was still with the AIB and in line for promotion. He told his superior about the lease, but that he was "fifteen grand short of the mark" and needed a decision, "very, very, fast". What impressed the bankers was that Keane and Gallagher were already running a successful business, Borderco, a skateboard manufacturing company. "We'd already created a brand with product on the table and a lot of press coverage and clippings."
Guardian angel-esque, John Kelly, the head of Business Banking, Strategic Development Unit in Ballsbridge, sanctioned the loan. He also gave the entrepreneurs a great deal of guidance, going one better than the average loan endorsement, by introducing them "to a lot of people who could help", which included the Dublin City Enterprise Board.
With this strong recommendation, they submitted their business plan to "numerous parties and the Enterprise Board to raise money for the second half of the money needed". They sold "thirty per cent of the business in shares to five private parties" and managed to get an employment grant which will help by "paying our wages in the first year". David Holden, head of Bank of Ireland's Group Public Affairs, believes skateboarders are a danger to "customers of the bank and passers-by" and is "delighted" that a skatepark is opening in the capital. "Anything would help. Skateboarders behave appallingly. They show very little regard for the safety of the people around them."
Ramp 'n' Rail, 96A Upper Drumcondra Road, Dublin 9. Tel: 086-4057660. It includes a viewing gallery and a shop selling skate equipment. The members-only club is open Tuesday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., weekends, 10.30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Annual membership is £50; members pay a daily rate of £5 weekdays, £6 at weekends. Admission for spectators is £2. Visitors are admitted on a day-pass with a member.