Not much child's play, TBP

"THE Adventure House", the big, attractive poster about August events in Meeting House Square, behind the Ark in Temple Bar, read: "exploration for children...". It sounded a promising, suitably child centred way to pass some of last Friday afternoon, writes Harry Browne. It turned out to be a modest, noisy portable funhouse, such as you'd see in a small travelling fair - no funny mirrors or thigh tickling jets of air, even two of the four "wobbling walkways" weren't wobbling, rain dripped through, and the padding at the bottom of the slide was torn and worn away. At a push it was worth 10 minutes' - desultory "exploration" for the four kids who were there.

The nearby Ark is a Temple Bar showpiece, Europe's first cultural centre for children. The Ark's receptionist said she was referring complaining parents to the office of Temple Bar Properties, where we got polite guff about "giving something back to the community". Meanwhile, back at the Ark, tourist families were being told that actually, no, there was nothing specifically for kids to see there. Instead, part of TBP's self promoting exhibition on the area's architecture filled the gallery, featuring the lovely one bedroom apartment developments that ensure Temple Bar has virtually no "community" of children to give anything back to.

Not to worry, A Temple Bar criterion was fulfilled: it looked good on the poster.