I’ll keep it short and sweet. If you know of any family-friendly comedians or mind-trick guys who would be able to perform on March 26th in Bandon, can you get in touch with me and I’ll pass it on to the Rosmini Centre people? They do have some budget for it, so pro or semi-pro is fine.
Also the dog owned by one of the kids who was going to perform has gone missing. Please keep an eye out for a sheepdog in the Crossbarry area. If the same happens to you, I encourage you to post it on LostandFound.ie.
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.
I made a quick mention of the old TB hospitals in a blog post about BCG almost two years ago. As far as I know there were lots of them. Peamount, which we drove past many times, opened in 1912 and there was also Cappagh and others.
I just got a lovely email from someone who was in such a hospital in the 1950s wondering if I’d got any feedback. Unfortunately I hadn’t. So I thought I’d just pop this up with the aim to allow anyone to give their thoughts, reminiscences etc of these places. Good and bad. Feel free to pass on to anyone you know who had TB back then. Of course commenters can remain anonymous/pseudonymous.
For some reason I completely missed that this was coming. Thanks to Mary Wedel for letting me know. From Fri 26th to Sun 28th September, we’re having an Arts Festival in Bandon. Things were actually kicked off on Thursday with the CruX Dance Company in the Town Hall. There will also be an exhibition of local artists in the Miriam Bailey Gallery from Wed 24th.
The line-up next weekend is below. I’m genuinely blown away by all of the events they have arranged. It reminds me very strongly of growing up in Kilkenny with the Arts Festival every year with the added bonus of lots of kid-friendly stuff too.
FRIDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER
10AM -5PM LOCAL ARTIST’S ART MARKET FACTORY LANE / FUCSHIA FRAMING
11AM -6PM LOCAL ARTIST EXHIBITION MIRIAM BAILEY GALLERY
11.00AM CHILDREN’S READING BANDON LIBRARY WITH IAN WILD
6.30PM OPENING RECEPTION TOWN HALL, ART EXHIBITION, KIT FRENCH/CATE MURPHY/LOUIS WILD, CANTILENA STRING QUARTET
8.30PM BAROQUE ENSEMBLE (?20)* ST PETER’S CHURCH OF IRELAND
Aisling from RTE in Cork contacted a bunch of Irish bloggers about a new show they are doing. I’m thrilled she did, considering it’s exactly what I recommended only a few weeks ago in the context of my “Heat” review.
The idea is simple, it’s a 6 part competition show called Recipe for Success that will see 15 home cooks battle it out to have their own gastronomic creations stocked on the shelves of SuperValu. Viewers of the series will see the whole development process of the product.
I honestly think this is the smartest idea for a food programme that RTE has had since they spotted the potential of Darina Allen all those years ago. I can’t wait to see how you take a home-cooked meal and turn it into a shelf-ready product.
If you have a dish you know people love and which has the potential to be packaged, why not give this a go? SuperValu already stocks the wonderful Cully & Sully range so the precedent for high-end ready-meals is there.
The question is, would my Sophie Grigson derived (but still unique) meatballs make the cut or would potential customers just lump it into the same category as the dreaded B***s E*e Spag Bol in a bag (which I ate many times in college)? Sadly my Chicken Tikka, whilst amazing, is just a straight lift from a book.
All details are on the RTE site. G’wan, you know you want to.
The bandon.ie blog has an important post about the Action Plan for the improvement of Bandon town centre. They have full details on what it’s all about but the critical bit is having your say. Let the consultants who are drawing up the proposals know what you think should be done to improve the town. Some off the top of my head are:
Finish the bypass (I know I know, this isn’t in their remit)
Improved street lighting, particularly on bypass
Extended footpaths on all major routes out of town
Changing junction priorities
Traffic lights at top of Glasslyn
Removal of some right turns in the town
Better bus stops
Encouraging the owners of all the land on Glasslyn to develop it
Encouraging a new commercial indoor play area
Presenting Bandon as a great location for hi-tech biz. Lower cost that Cork City and only 30 mins from the airport. I’m afraid Laragh doesn’t cut it. Some EI subsidised units in town or maybe a hotdesking facility like they have in Macroom
Presenting Bandon as a full-service town for people moving to Cork. In particular the great schools and sports facilities
Presenting Bandon as a great location for high-end restaurants. If Otto and Casino House can be huge successes in the middle of nowhere, why can’t we have high end places here?
A toll for trucks that go through town, particularly those destroying North Main Street that could easily go via Baxter’s Bridge
A major revamp of the North side of town with an effort to get more retail businesses and doing something about ease of parking. Revamp of The Shambles should only be the beginning.
So get over to the bandon.ie blog and let the consultants know what you think!
I just had a comment on one of my posts from a girl in Coláiste Na Toirbhirte wondering about summer work vacancies in Bandon. If you have any, or know of businesses that take in summer students, maybe post a comment here or drop me a line at conor AT loudervoice DOT com and I’ll pass the info on.
Are there any sites that provide some sort of service in Ireland for this? Like a lightweight free irishjobs.com? I’d be happy to host one for nothing if there is opensource software available.
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