Brookies

During my entire grammar school career, my dad used to make me buy him a paper every morning. Without fail. Over the years, this varied from a newsagent at the Knock traffic lights to a petrol station in Ballyhackamore, but when these closed, it was the turn of Brookies to step up to the mark as newspaper-​purchasing emporium.
Located at the very edge of Ballybeen estate, in an an area known as Brooklands (hence the name), Brookies is by far the handiest of all the newsagents we ventured to. Of course, this made my dad even happier. Every morning out I hopped from the car («to see yer big mate») and dashed back. Ever morning I was greeted with «hullo love» from my «big mate», and the way was made for me to grab my paper and leave him with 30p.
Brookies is most popular with school kids from the neighbouring high school, so each morning between 8 and 9am, and in the afternoon between 3 and 4pm, the place is manic. Otherwise, its custom is really quite limited, and apart from newspapers and magazines, there’s only a small selection of confectionery, a few cartons of milk and limited numbers of groceries.
Great for the morning paper pickup though…