The Irish Centre

Once every two or three months, I like to spend an afternoon in Liverpool with my good friend, Bob. Sometimes it's just me and him, and sometimes some of his other friends - whom I like to think are now at least a little bit my friends, too - come along. Often it's hard to find a date that suits us both, so once it's in the diary, I like to stick to it.

The plan today was to meet at the Crown pub opposite Lime Street Station but my train arrived earlier than advertised on the timetable, so I told Bob I'd walk up and meet him and John at the Philharmonic. On the way up Mount Pleasant, I passed this splendid building. If you've read a sufficient number of my blog posts - in which case, thank you - you'll know that I like a building that is falling into disrepair, and I particularly liked the plants sprouting out of this classical looking fellow.

I asked Bob about it when we met up and he reminded me that we used to go there during our university days. To be honest, I couldn't remember that at all but when I said it had been called the Irish Centre, well, that kind of rang a bell. To be honest, though, I think I only went there once or twice (it had a bar). 

Later, I Googled to find out more and came across this article from the Liverpool Echo, which also has some pictures of the inside. It mentions that it'd take two and a half million pounds to make it safe so I guess it'll be staying in its current state for a while.

Anyway, we didn't dwell on that for too long but had a splendid afternoon, firstly at the Phil and then at the Pen Factory, just along the road, where we met up with Richard and Paul, had some food and more drinks. By the time I had to leave to catch my train we were knee deep in a vigorous and very enjoyable debate about Jeremy Corbyn. I wish I could have stayed longer!