We declare our resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation
Posted on June 29, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Business, Commentary, Ireland.
I woke up this morning to read about Brian Cowen’s “Innovation” Taskforce and have spent since then utterly enraged.
In a time of crisis when men/women of vision and ability need to quickly agree a strategy and execute it with confidence, Brian Cowen assembles 28 people (plus the heads of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, the Higher Education Authority and representatives from the departments of Education and Science, Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and Finance).
Yes my jaw hit the floor too.
A 40+ person talk-shop and travel expenses generator. That’s what Cowen and Coughlan think this country needs?
Because it’s worked so well in the past? Does the word agile mean anything to these people?
40+ people and two of them are women?
What century is this?
When Sean Lemass and T.K. Whitaker dragged this country kicking and screaming out of a hellhole from 1959 onwards, did they spend months (or years) prattling on with anyone who had on opinion?
I actually have a pain in my stomach with anger over this. These are our leaders? I’m not talking about C&C, I mean the committee. Did anyone who was asked say “NO, get a clue”? Did anyone who was asked question the utter stupidity of assembling this joke? Did anyone who was asked, reply “ENOUGH TALKING”.
Is there any senior person in the Irish Civil Service or Quango-sector who is tearing their hair out this morning and screaming in frustration too?
Yes? Then maybe it’s time for an alternative.
We need (possibly anonymously):
- 1 Senior Civil Servant, non-EI
- 1 Senior Civil Servant, EI
- 1 head of an FDI company with a large Irish operation in non-manufacture
- 1 head of a globally successful indigenous company
- 1 head of a startup
- 1 politician with a business or financial background
2 months. 3 max.
Outcome – a disruptive plan to rebuild the Irish economy and the business environment in a sustainable way around the idea of Constructive Capitalism. And a marketing plan to go with it. If our leaders won’t lead then it’s time to subvert from the bottom-up.
This type of thinking:
Umair Haque @ Daytona Sessions vol. 2 – Constructive Capitalism from Daytona Sessions on Vimeo.
and this:
Anyone? Anyone?
conor AT loudervoice DOT com
3 Comments
West Cork Literary Festival Update
Posted on June 22, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Entertainment, Ireland, Kids.
Just in from the people organising the West Cork Literary Festival:
PJ Lynch, one of the most celebrated children’s book illustrators, will give a special Children’s Talk on Monday 6th July, as part of the West Cork Literary Festival. He will also give a Public Interview with Robert Dunbar on the evening of July 6th.
PJ has won numerous awards including the Mother Goose Award, the Christopher Medal, three times, and the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal on two occasions, first for “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey” by Susan Wojciechowski, and again for “When Jessie Came Across the Sea” by Amy Hest. “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey” has sold more than a million copies in the United States alone, and has recently been made into a motion picture starring Tom Berenger and Joely Richardson.
PJ has designed several sets of stamps for An Post, including four Christmas issues. His illustrated version of “The Gift of the Magi” by O Henry is published in October 2008, and PJ is now working on a book about Abraham Lincoln by Rosemary Wells for publication in 2009. He lives in Dublin with his wife and their three young children. His work can seen on his website www.pjlynchgallery.com
As well as Free children’s workshops ranging from creating a picture to reading and drawing, the Bantry based Festival, supported by RTÉ lyric fm, has a host of children’s talks and readings.
Francesca Simon, creator of the “Horrid Henry” books will read from these on July 7th. Saturday 11th sees an afternoon with writer, television presenter and artist, Don Conroy.
On Wednesday July 8th Sarah Webb will read from her novel “Amy Green, Teen Agony Queen: Boy Trouble” while Judi Curtin will read a selection from her “Alice” series of children’s novels. Sarah has written four children’s books as well as eight bestselling novels including, “When the Boys Are Away”. Judi’s first novel for children, “Alice Next Door”, was published in 2005. One of Thursday’s highlights is a reading by Darren Shan. Darren will read from a selection of his children’s novels which are incredibly popular – selling many millions – J.K. Rowling is one of his more famous fans. For anyone who would like to learn the secret to Writing For Children, poet and author John W Sexton will advise on the subject in a workshop during the festival.
West Cork Literary Festival Booking is on 027 55987 email: info@westcorkliteraryfestival.ie
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Ivan asks – Can we feed ourselves?
Posted on June 16, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Business, Food, Ireland.
Deeply important piece by Ivan on food security and our future. Don’t just read it, leave your thoughts too.
The ability of a country to feed itself and have a sustainable agri-business must surely have been a major motivator of Reddy Brennan and his team in Avonmore in the early 1970s. A man of great vision with incredible negotiation skills, he is one of the heroes of Irish industry. Our family will always be grateful to him. Reddy Brennan 1924-2009, RIP.
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We must never forget
Posted on May 26, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Ireland.
Via Twenty. As he said, no words from us necessary.
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Systematic Evil
Posted on May 23, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Kids.
I can’t bear to read the report. It sickens me to think what those evil scum covered up over the years.
I’m not a religious person but I take some comfort in imagining everyone involved in the systematic abuse of children in the 20th century burning in the eternal fires of hell.
Some comfort in imagining every priest, every brother, every nun, every bishop, every arch-bishop, every cardinal, every papal nuncio, every pope who knew anything about what was happening in this country and DID NOTHING, being raped by satan every day for eternity.
The Catholic Church in Ireland should have all of their lands seized immediately, held by NAMA and sold off when the economy recovers. That money should be ring-fenced to build the best system in the world to take care of children in need in Ireland.
14 Comments
How Pirate Bay could be the next News Corp
Posted on May 23, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Business.
Those of us who are watching much less broadcast TV and more time-shifted or downloaded programmes are starting to become very uncomfortable with the monthly Sky tax just to get some intermittent BBC2/Ch4 etc.
Media companies everywhere try to stop piracy and block those outside of their borders from watching programming online on sites like Hulu. This is a battle they cannot win.
The problem they have at the moment is licensing. If broadcast rights to House MD are sold to Channel 6 in Ireland then the licensor cannot allow Irish people to watch the same media for free (and Irish-ad free) on Hulu or similar as they’d be subverting their own customers.
There are thousands of production companies, studios, TV stations and distribution companies involved in this mess. The thought that one company could do all the deals necessary to create a global on-demand PAYG online site for all media to be downloaded seems an almost impossible dream.
Unless we start offering them money.
What if Pirate Bay (or Mininova or Isohunt) provided a scheme whereby every time someone downloads an episode of House or Celebrity Apprentice or Top Chef etc, they are given the option of paying 50c? Once a month, they tot up the totals for each show, cut some cheques and send them to the production companies to carve up however they see fit with their partners/customers.
There would be no deals here, no agreements, no pricing arrangements, no permission sought or given. They’d just get the cheque in the post.
At what point would all of the players be getting sufficient income from this source that they are forced to join the 21st Century and realise that this is one global market and media should go to those who want it, when they want it.
Just an idea.
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Tis Bloomin’
Posted on May 20, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Gardening.
The Bloom Gardening Event is back and it looks fantastic. On in the Phoenix Park from 28th May to 1st June, it seems to have something for everyone.
Presented by Bord Bia, there are show gardens, craft centre, artisan food market and a family fun and learning zone.
If you are on Facebook, follow em here. On Twitter, they hang out here.
I wish I was in Dublin to check it all out.
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New Competition For Amateur Cooks, Growers, Bakers and Smallholder
Posted on May 19, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cooking, Cork, Food, Gardening, Ireland.
This is just a superb idea, well done to everyone involved! Why not enter?
The inaugural Grow Bake Cook Awards Ceremony honours and celebrates the skills of amateur cooks, growers, bakers and preservers – in fact anyone with a talent for creating good food!
Supporting local communities throughout Cork city and county, these awards aim to give our hidden food heroes the opportunity, tools and encouragement to sell their wares through farmer’s markets,country markets, local supermarkets and food fairs.
Award winning and shortlisted produce will be displayed at Cork City’s Midsummer Festival Feasta market on Sunday June 28th , with the Award Ceremony taking place that evening at a city venue tbc.
For further information and entrance criteria contact Dianne Curtin 086067 6249 or Elke O’Mahony 087 3168855or email to grow.bake.cook@gmail.com.Deadline for submission is 23rd June 2009
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Relief For What Ails You
Posted on May 1, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Health.
My old college buddy Eoghan Whelan has more metal in him due to sports injuries than the average Terminator. As a result, he knows more about pain and injury than most. For the past while he has run a Pain Relief & Injury Rehabilitation Clinic in Dundalk and he now has the beginnings of a blog to go with it.
You can expect to see a lot of information about the treatments in which he specialises (particularly Frequency Specific Microcurrent) appearing on the site in the coming weeks.
If you are in need of services like this, Eoghan is a real pro and you won’t regret having a consultation.
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Fenn’s Quay is a gem
Posted on April 23, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Restaurants, Reviews.
This won’t be a long review, it doesn’t need to be. Fenn’s Quay gave us a fantastic meal last Saturday night with wonderful service in a lovely room. You can’t ask for more than that.
My lovely parents were down in Cork for the weekend for the GAA thingy and offered to bring Catherine and me out for a meal. We’d heard great things about Fenn’s Quay from my sister and Julian Alubaidy and, wanting somewhere new to us, booked it.
Luckily we found parking at the door of the Mardyke and walked the few yards to the unassuming door. Inside was quite large and broken into two rooms. The service from the very first minute was friendly, light-hearted and helpful, exactly the way I like it.
I was thrilled to see they were quite busy for the entire night but that didn’t impact on us at all. The menu had something for everyone but for whatever reason we all picked fish mains and 3/4 picked fish starters.
To go with the meal, diligent wine-student Catherine picked a lovely Sancerre which improved quickly with opening.
I need say little more other than to highlight that this is in the top tier of restaurants in the country and if you are in Cork it should be top of your list to try. Whilst other local establishments appear to be resting on their laurels, Fenn’s Quay isn’t letting-up for a minute. The pictures can do the rest of the talking.
3 Comments
A thriving democracy
Posted on April 23, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Commentary, Ireland, Politics.
relies on an informed electorate.
Now you can be informed.
What John Handelaar has done over at kildarestreet.com with the help of some other great people is deeply important. Quite simply, the Dáil record is now properly accessible rather than just available. The site enables you to do the following:
- Read a dramatically-more-legible version of the Dáil Record going back to January 2004
- Search that record by speeches or written questions, or by speaker, or by date or date range
- Sign up for email alerts for when a search query you’re interested changes
- Sign up for email alerts whenever a TD of your choosing says something or asks a question which generated a written reply
- Subscribe to RSS feeds for individual TDs or for search queries
This isn’t just important for the content you find but also for the content that you don’t find. I will not be voting for any sitting TD in any future election unless I see continuous active engagement by them in the Dáil. If they don’t have anything to say, they shouldn’t be there.
The days of some gobshite getting elected because he got your daughter a job in the Civil Service or claims to be responsible for every penny spent in your constituency have to come to an end. kildarestreet.com will hopefully help usher the beginning of proper national politics involving those who care about our country and what it can become.
We all sat idly by as those running this country ran it into the ground. It’s time we started paying attention.
UPDATE:
I just used the site to check on our three TDs in Cork South-West. Summary as follows for the past year:
- Christy O’Sullivan (FF): Has spoken in 5 debates in the last year — well below average among TDs. Has received answers to 8 written questions in the last year — below average among TDs
- PJ Sheehan (FG): Has spoken in 81 debates in the last year — above average among TDs. Has received answers to 101 written questions in the last year — average among TDs.
- Jim O’Keeffe (FG): Has spoken in 51 debates in the last year — average among TDs. Has received answers to 173 written questions in the last year — above average among TDs.
After seeing this, I take back any ageist comments I made in the last election about PJ Sheehan and I’m disappointed to see my predictions about Christy O’Sullivan have proven true.
2 Comments
C103 loses the plot
Posted on April 14, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Entertainment.
You don’t need to be an economist to know that media companies are suffering hugely in this recession. Their reliance on advertising makes them incredibly sensitive to downturns.
When you have a radio show that addresses a focused engaged specific audience, you would think that it would be a gift both for the broadcaster and those advertising to that audience. Thus C103’s decision to axe David Young’s “West Cork Today” programme frankly boggles the mind.
Radio broadcast licences have been a goldmine for companies like UTV over the past few years. But at the first sign of a downturn, it looks like they take the short term view and run for the hills? With those licences come legally binding terms and conditions. Perhaps the BCI would like to use this case as an example to Comreg on how a regulator should actually conduct itself.
Having said all of that, the idea of one company having the sole rights to broadcast to a particular niche or geography belongs in the 20th century. The internet makes a mockery of this partitioning. If C103 is unwilling to meet its customers’ needs then the customer needs to take back control.
I’ll be honest, I rarely listen to “live” radio any more. I download podcasts and music in which I am interested and then listen whilst driving with them playing back to my Lidl car stereo. Everything from food to technology to politics. Many of them are actually radio shows, mainly BBC Radio 4 and 5. I’d happily pay for a daily or weekly roundup of local West Cork information that I could listen to when it suited me, not the broadcaster.
How many of David Young’s listeners would be willing to pay maybe €3 a month to subscribe to an internet version of his show (and other West Cork programming)? Both live-streamed and available for download to iPods, mobile phones or PCs? Of course traditional broadcast is the most efficient way to get to the maximum number of people but needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle (to quote Edmund Blackadder).
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alphaomega Breads in Bandon
Posted on April 13, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under BandonFarmersMarket, Cork, Food, Ireland.
I love bread. Can’t put it any more simply than that. So when I hear that someone who lives just up the road from me is now making craft and organic breads and they are selling them at the Bandon Farmer’s Market every Saturday, well that make me very very happy.
Check out the alphaomega blog for a list of their current products. I’ll be checking out the bread.
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Launch of ‘Bandon – Working Together’ group
Posted on April 4, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Cork, Ireland.
The ‘Bandon – Working Together’ group seeks to promote the strengths of the town through communication and activities. Their first activity is the creation of a ‘What’s on in Bandon’ newsletter. If you want to get a mention in it, head on over to the Bandon.ie blog for all the details.
I’m shooting them a quick email now about doing a blog and email list.
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Don’t mess with the Irish
Posted on April 4, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Food, Politics.
I was enraged on Thursday whilst listening to the latest Restaurant Guys’ podcast. They were interviewing a New York restaurateur who is being picketed by fois gras protestors. These ugg-boot-wearing idiots think they can intimidate a small business owner and effectively put him out of business. These cowards don’t have the balls to go after large fast-food chains who sell industrially produced chicken and figure they’ll go for easy marks instead.
Unfortunately for these hypocrites, this restaurant owner is Irish and (like the rest of us) he doesn’t like people telling him what to do. I was then thrilled to discover who he was. The restaurant is Knife + Fork and he is Damien Brasel. He was made head chef in Peacock Alley in Dublin at the age of 20! Two of my top ten meals of all time were in Peacock Alley in its heyday before it all went pear-shaped.
His response to these lazy cause-of-the-week nitwits? Put a fois gras tasting menu on! The outcome? His business has improved. Result 
If you are in New York and wondering where to eat, can I recommend you try Knife + Fork? Bring some chicken nuggets with you to throw at the wastes-of-oxygen picketing outside at the weekend.
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Peter Schiff and why we’ll remain screwed
Posted on April 3, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Business, Commentary.
Many of you have seen this video on YouTube where investment expert Peter Schiff is shown many times on US TV in 2006-2007 explaining why the US was in a property bubble and why it was all going to collapse. If you haven’t seen it, it’s hilarious and depressing at the same time.
I don’t claim to know much about investing but when we were moving from Dublin to Cork in 2003 and saw that our house had increased in value more than 400% in 9 years, we took the money and ran. Even in 2003 the valuations seemed idiotic. By 2007 they were in the realms of fantasy land. Of course many people told us we were stupid and if we’d rented the house out in Dublin we’d have made another €200k minimum when we went to sell. But when would we have sold? 2005? 2006? Or, gawd ‘elp us, 2008? Did I mention we sold our Eircom shares after 2 weeks? Maybe we do know what we are doing!
Then today I listened to this podcast of Peter Schiff speaking at the 2009 Austrian Scholar’s Conference. It’s long but utterly riveting. You think the worst is over? You think G20 is going to sort it all out? Listen to this and be afraid, be very afraid.
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How not to waste an hour
Posted on March 29, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Food, Gardening, Health.
We’ve just had the third annual waste of time known as Earth Hour where millions of people worldwide pretend to do something useful about global warming and turn off lights for an hour. For 99.999999% of those people, that’ll be it for another 365 days. End result for the Earth, big fat zero. Perhaps if we take all the energy expended by the media covering this story, we may even have a net negative?
Imagine if, instead, those millions of people went outside, dug up a square metre or two of their perfect lawns and planted some vegetable seeds? Or if they lived in an apartment in Ireland, they contacted Irish Allotments about organising patches in their locality?
Then instead of some silly hour-long nonsense they could:
- Reduce CO2 throught the action of the plants
- Reduce petrol consumption through less shopping
- Reduce fuel miles by not buying foreign vegetables
- Save money
- Get their kids outside
- Take part in Seed Saver schemes
- Eat healthier
- Get fit
We could call it Gardener’s World
Of course taking care of this veg patch takes a wee bit longer than one hour a year and isn’t news-worthy so maybe we should just turn off the lights and keep playing mushroom instead.
21 Comments
Whatchoo Readin’ For?
Posted on March 27, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Cork, Entertainment, Ireland.
(In the immortal words of Bill Hicks).
Just got an email to tell me that the West Cork Literary Festival will run from July 5th to 11th.
Now I’m not the most literary person in the world. My last three books were “Presenting to Win”, “Bad Science” and something by Harlan Coben. Next up is “On the Origin of Species”. But even I’ve heard of some of the heavy-hitters who’ll be attending the festival. Annie Proulx, Roger McGough, Francesca Simon and Louis de Bernières are just four of the writers appearing at this year’s event which features some of the best writers, poets and illustrators from Ireland and abroad.
The Official Festival Launch is in Bantry, leading to a top few days of readings, seminars, workshops, children’s events, exhibitions, music and good old-fashioned hospitality.
Booking for the Festival is on 027 55987. All info on the web-site.
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Brian Cowen now available as a t-shirt
Posted on March 25, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Commentary, Politics.
I’ve ordered mine, have you?
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Dear Brian, welcome to the Internet
Posted on March 25, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Commentary, Politics.
Fianna Fail may be able to censor RTE and turn it into a toothless Soviet-era Pravda but luckily we have the internet to enable democracy and freedom of speech and expression.
Here is the original RTE piece on the Cowen nudes that they removed from their site and then apologised for mentioning. Thanks to Mr Mulley.
“Against us are… all timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty… We are likely to preserve the liberty we have obtained only by unremitting labors and perils..”
