We're not sure that the picturesque, affluent south Dublin village of Dalkey quite needed it, but Matt Damon put it on the map during the lockdown. Suddenly the bakeries, coffee shops, and Super Valu of the small village became national landmarks and the people of Dalkey and its 2km surroundings became willing extras in the media movie of Matt Damon in Ireland.
But the truth is Dalkey was just fine before Hollywood visited its shores. According to the 2018 Daft.ie Wealth Report, Dalkey has the highest concentration of millionaires in the country with 609 and is the fourth most expensive town to buy in nationwide. Damon explained what made it so desirable during his interview with Spin103.8 last month.
Oh it's incredible. This is one of the most beautiful places we've ever been.
Even in the lockdown, you've got to stay within two kilometres of your house. I mean two kilometres of here, there's trees and forest and woods and ocean, and I can't think of any place you'd rather want to be in a two kilometre radius of.
Also, it's changed just in a the last couple of... now it's blooming. I thought it was incredible two months ago, but now, it's ridiculous. It feels a little like a fairytale here. It's gorgeous.
I see why all these people... you know when we came in, they were like, 'Bono lives over there and Enya lives over there.'
But now Matt has gone back to America, and it turns out he's left a hole in the village that can't be filled. Maybe Dalkey had too much of a good thing. Because it's caving in on itself.
Yesterday evening, pictures surfaced online of a sinkhole in the village's Castle Street. As the day went on, the hole appeared to get bigger with Gardai forced to close the street.
Oh look, a large hole has appeared outside a bank in Dalkey. pic.twitter.com/LjUS2SDNtK
— Emmet Riordan (@emmetrd) June 2, 2020
The reasons for the road collapse has not yet been made clear.
But we all know it's very simply Matt Damon karma. Sorry Dalkey, the good times are over.
