My sister took me to Kildare Village today. It’s essentially a shopping centre in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a car park.
It was a bizarrely antiseptic experience walking around the streets of this spotless, tiny, artificial town. No civic architecture, no life or purpose other than neat little shops in this lifeless, manicured space.
We went for a cup of tea and through the window we saw an old abbey; surprising, but very pleasing.
“We can go and look at it, if you like,” said my sister.
“But we haven’t seen all the shops yet,” I said.