Beset by old-school bedsit blues
Sir — Many years ago I spent some quality time in a bedsit in Clontarf in Dublin. It was on the third floor of a large period house shared with four other bedsits on the same floor.
In modern day estate agent parlance it would be described as “comfortable, in a highly sought after area, good value for money in the current challenging rental market, ergonomically compact with some modern conveniences and nice sea views”.
In reality, the single bed was jammed up against the wall and took up over 75pc of the room. The wardrobe consisted of a length of twine dangling over the bed, one end tied to the curtain rail over the window and the other attached to a six-inch masonry nail partially hammered into the door frame. The cooking facilities included a two-ring gas stove balanced on a box advertising oranges from Seville. There was a small corner sink between the cooker and window. The sea could be seen after walking 100 yards up the road towards Dublin Bay.
Crucially, the main convenience — the toilet — was located on the landing and shared by all tenants. I must confess that occasionally when there was a queue and nature was pressing, I used the convenience in the corner of my own room, which in the circumstances was both necessary and convenient.
Of course, a bedsit wouldn’t be a bedsit without at least a couple of resident mice, but I had at least four. We co-existed for a while, I didn’t bother them and they didn’t bother me after I put down some rat poison.
The real convenience, not to be under-estimated, was that such was the proximity to everything, you could operate all the conveniences without getting out of bed in the morning, like putting on the kettle, brushing your teeth and turning on the cooker with your big toe to make the porridge, thus gaining an extra 10 minutes shut-eye before rising and going to work.
In retrospect, the experience wasn’t all bad, but like the banks, the financial system and everything else, the bedsit suffered from light touch, or more accurately, zero regulation.
Now they now say the bedsit is about to make a comeback. But where have they all been hiding? Or will they have to be built from scratch? Time will tell.
John Leahy, Wilton Road, Cork