Sam Field Corbett, chief executive of City Canal Cruises, speaks to
SANDRA O'CONNELL
AT THE moment most of my time at City Canal Cruises is focused on our new barge, the Cadhla, which connects the Luas station at Charlemont Place in Dublin with the new Grand Canal Theatre. It's going to offer one and a half hour pre-theatre dinner cruises and tours. Our first is booked for April 15th. Last night I was up until 3.30am, putting in the sound system.
I live in Harold’s Cross, right beside the canal. I get up at about 6.30am and work while it’s quiet – mostly accounts work for the music acts I book. I have a DJ business for weddings, too. I also run La Peniche, the cruising restaurant and party barge on the Grand Canal, and the Killarney, another floating bar and restaurant, outside the new conference centre.
I just like boats. I lived on one for five years, until 1997, at Grand Canal Dock, back before it was trendy. I liked not having to worry about neighbours. It was an old 1930s gentleman's motor yacht built in the same yard as the Asgard. I took it around Ireland a few times.
Where I live now is fine, but I have to keep the music down. I still have a boat in the Netherlands, which I love to visit. It’s a great place for design ideas, and I do all my boats’ interiors myself.
I’ve just bought a harbour in Galway, right in the city centre, so I’m trying to think how to do something similar down there.
What’s great about having parties on boats is that a crowd of 30 or 40 isn’t lost, as it would be in a larger venue. It’s nice and compact, and with the decks up above there is always a nice flow of movement.
Most evenings I go to bars and clubs to see acts we’ve booked. I saw a great band yesterday evening called All Folked Up, so they’re my favourite this week.
I cycle most places, unless I’m going to the outer reaches of the city, in which case I go by motorbike. I was cycling through Dublin on a recent Monday night and couldn’t believe how empty it was. Bars empty; restaurants closed. The only people who go out at night now seem to be tourists. The Irish are all at home with their giant beer cans and 60-inch TVs.
Another problem is the computer, which I hate with a vengeance. The entire population seems to be doing their socialising online. Facebook is the face of modern loneliness. Luckily, people will always want a special night out, and that’s what we cater for – that and tourists.
Anyway, I’m in bed very late. Okay, so maybe I don’t always get up at 6.30am.