I was thrilled to get such positive feedback about the @BandonFEWS Twitter account yesterday. Thanks again to Gordon for doing all the actual work whilst I basked in the glory It was even better considering how sick I am with a nasty tummy bug. The bug means I can do little useful work for the past few days. But I can play with code.
One fantastic outcome from yesterday’s blogpost was John Handelaar and others pointing out that I’d given up too easily on trying to extract the river level data from the Bandon FEWS web-site. And it turns out they were right. A small amount of messing around and I was able to extract out the water level and the date/time.
I’ve been meaning to do more with Google Fusion Tables for ages and this seemed like a good opportunity. It’s...
I’m a big fan of the Bandon FEWS system which sends an SMS when the river at the bridge hits a certain level. It must be a life-saver for many businesses and people in the town.
I have had a few thoughts on other things we could do with that live river-level data for the community. Web-apps, Twitter integration, Analytics, Trends etc etc.
However, despite several communications, I have been unable to get any response from Cork County Council about getting access to the live data. All the OpenData initiatives around the world (including Ireland) are obviously passing them by.
Even something as simple as a Twitter Account could be useful and interesting. So I created one called @BandonFEWS. Of course then I had to get at the data despite the CoCo’s silence. I dug around the...
I don’t know how I missed this when it was announced recently. A superb initiative from Cork County Council. They have put aside €300,000 to help with provision of enterprise centres / hot desk facilities in County Towns. This will include a contribution of up to €35,000 for tech and hot desk provision.
The downside is that is doesn’t cover building rental but surely some joined-up thinker in the Council is already working on a deal with NAMA to get properties for rental at 10c on the Euro or less? What is the point of having unused empty crumbling buildings when they could be generating rental income and be maintained?
There is nothing even approaching hot-desking in Bandon. As I’ve written before, the lack of Fibre is a millstone around the neck of the town but at...
This is a really great initiative by the Bandon Co-Marketing Group. From 12–3PM this Friday and Saturday, the town will be offering an unbeatable range of discounts and special offers on goods and professional services.
More than 63 businesses have signed up to offer deals and there is also the chance to enter Bandon’s Lucky Dip and win one of six vouchers worth €200, redeemable in any member business.
Bandon’s Young Ambassadors will be on the street both days, guiding shoppers to the best bargains and the free refreshments.
Come on down!...
I was very disappointed to miss the inaugural Bandon 10k last year so there is no way I’m missing the first Bandon Half Marathon on May 14th.
My type of running is known, by experts in the field, as walking Last year I did the Courtmacsherry 10k, the Dingle Half-Marathon and the Galway Bay Half-Marathon. All done incredibly slowly and all tough. My dodgy ankle did not help.
My aim for Bandon is to shave at least an hour off my time. It’s not going to be easy since the route is pretty challenging due to hills. But that is balanced by the fact that the views are great. TBH I really didn’t enjoy the Galway race. Urban running, in traffic, even with sea views, cannot compare to something like the Dingle Peninsula. The Bandon run is in some of the lovely back roads...
Very nice piece by Trevor on what the town has to offer. Why not leave a comment over there with your thoughts?
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Just got a mail from Ruth in Urru, Bandon. They have come up with a great idea called bonanza days. It kicks off with all kitchenware half price on Fri 29th/Sat 30th! I’ll definitely be popping in for that.
Future bonanzas will include €1 coffee days, Free Urru Cotton Shopping Bags , Massive Savings on Wines, Cookery Books, Farmhouse Cheeses, Easter Eggs, Lucky Dips and more.
Mmmm, latte.
I love seeing Urru making a mockery of the long-held belief that you can’t do gourmet in Bandon. Now we just need a few more really good restaurants....
I should have posted this weeks ago but I’ve been a wee bit busy. Our friends Haydn and Roos let me know about an event that is on October 29th in The Brogan Inn from 8pm to 10pm.
“It Must be the Music” is a night of Musical entertainment in aid of Action Breast Cancer, brought to you by Laoise O’Hanlon, joined by a variety of Cork women singers, including Kay Deering, Jamie Harper Kingston, Roos Demol, Bernie Harrington, Sinead Tracey, Jenny Bradley and Molly Lynch.
The accompanist is Deirdre Long and the MC is Ciarán Bermingham
Tickets are only €15 and are available from Roos on 086-8508548 or An Tobairín on South Main Street, Bandon.
Lots of discussion about it over on Facebook if you want to know more....
A few months ago I stuck some tomato plants that my sister gave me in the veg patch. I then ignored them entirely. This evening Catherine pointed out that I had a few tomatoes.
I really am a disgrace. I can count on one finger the number of gardening days this year. And every Autumn I swear it’ll be different next year....
One of the most powerful blogs I read in recent years was Roos Demol’s One Breast Less. I’m thrilled she has re-started it and she is involved in an Action Breast Cancer fundraiser.
Please head over there and show your support.
The concert, which still has no name (ideas welcome) will be held on October 29th in the Brogan Inn in Bandon. At the moment we are practising a barbershop song. It is quite challenging, but we’re having a lot of fun with it....
Brilliant job by Andrew Kingston of Arkutech.ie in building the new bandon.ie site.
A quick poke around confirmed that it is built on the same fantastic Wordpress foundation as this fine blog.
A certain person named Donncha O’Caoimh is one of the main developers of Wordpress and just lives a few miles away in Blarney. Bandon is clearly commited to buying local. OK Wordpress is free but you get my point!
The site is now much easier for Trevor and the crew to update regularly and most importantly of all, the site now has comments. This might seem a small thing to you but the importance of giving people the ability to have their voice heard online about local issues should never be underestimated.
The site is a superb local community resource, so head on over right away and check...
I was thrilled to get an email from Tara O’Donoghue to tell me that Bandon allotments are up and running.
The allotment garden is located in Cloughmacsimon – a short distance off the bypass, right behind Coláiste Na Toirbhirte.
Plots are available in 2 sizes 5×7m for €80pa or 5×10m for €100pa. There are plenty of plots available so call 023 8852922 or 087 9567452 or email bandontransition@gmail.com for more information.
Bandon Community Allotments Open Day Sunday 16th May 1.30 pm
Plenty of family entertainment on the day with music, face painting, fun games and competitions like Wellie Throwing, Wheelbarrow Races, Tug O War, Make your own Scarecrow, prizes and more.
All the details over on www.bandoncommunityallotments.com.
They are also at Transition Bandon on...
The cold seemed to reduce the numbers quite a bit this year but still a great display by the locals. Fire engines and tractors still firm favourites in our house with the Steam Tractor being my own personal highlight·
Lots more photos over on Pix.ie....
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....
Every year the great people who run the Rosmini centre for adults with an intellectual disability organise a fun and interesting event to promote community integration and inclusion for everyone. This year they are organising a community variety show.
It’s on Friday the 26th of March in the GAA Hall in Bandon. Doors opening at 7.15, show starts at 8 sharp. It is not a fund raising event so tickets will be at the very affordable cost of €5 each.
The show will include:
A DJ
Singing & Music
Magic and Tricks (both kids and adults)
Bingo
Dance & Comedy
Raffle
Street Dancers
There will be spot prizes between performances.
Sounds like a great fun night for all the family. You should start seeing signs for it around the town soon....
Well Bandon Film Society has gone and done it again with this brilliant idea.
In association with Partnership for Change they are organising a Special Christmas Charity Screening for Bandon Flood Appeal on Wednesday 30th December 2009 in St Peters Church, Bandon at 8pm
The movie is one of my top 5 of all time, The Princess Bride, starring the angelic Robin Wright.
If you don’t live in Bandon, get into your car and drive here for this. If you don’t live in Ireland, fly here. The recent showing of the original Phantom of The Opera in St Peter’s was a tour-de-force.
Not only will you enjoy a genius movie but you’ll be helping by contributing to the Irish Red Cross and St Vincent De Paul.
Further Information Contact:
Declan Waugh Tel: 023-8841933 M: 086-3853363...
Trevor Collins is doing a phenomenal job over on the Bandon.ie blog with updates on the floods and plenty of guidance/links. If you live locally or travel through here, you need to be following it. If you are on Twitter, I auto-post links to all his posts over on twitter.com/bandon....
Our thoughts are with all those families and businesses damaged by the horrendous floods in West Cork this week.
We were lucky. Apart from the inconvenience of no phoneline and some bad leaks in a bay window, we managed to escape pretty unscathed.
If you have any detour tips for those trying to get in and out of West Cork, please leave them in the comments. This route was still working at 2pm yesterday so hopefully it’ll work for you. (Click on it for larger size):
Bandon had been doing a large marketing push for November. Now more than ever, we should shop locally and help those businesses get back on their feet....
I’ve just been contacted by a someone organising a lovely local event. They are looking for a folk choir or an upbeat church choir to get involved.
It’s on 29th Jan 2010 in Bandon.
They also need an audio system if you know of anyone willing to loan for the night.
Mail me on conor@loudervoice.com if you want to help out and I’ll pass on your details....
I’m always happy to see local initiatives get an online presence to extend their reach. My attempt to create a blog for Bandon Farmer’s Market three years ago fell flat due to my lack of consultation with the standholders to ensure buy-in. So it is great to see the new site launch with all the details you need. Check it out here and don’t forget it is on every Saturday morning....
Trevor and crew have done a big revamp of the bandon.ie. Tons of useful information about the town and area and the beginnings of a local business directory. You should definitely be subscribed to the blog if you want the latest news. I push all their blog updates to Twitter here too.
The best way you can help the site is to make sure you let them know about everything that is happening in the town. It’s a resource by the community for the community....
I haven’t tried their meat yet but the thought of locally-reared organic pork has me salivating. They sell directly to the consumer and are based in Teadies near Enniskean. The pigs are a mix of Old Spots Gloucester & Saddleback. Give Liam a call on 086 604 1208 if you want to order. More details on their web-site.
Rough location here:
View Larger Map...
I put up some vids and pics of Friday night on the Engage Posterous Blog. If you have similar from all the other events on Friday/Saturday, would you email them to me and I’ll post them there too (with full attribution of course)? conor AT loudervoice DOT com...
The second year of the Engage Arts festival is fast approaching and it looks fantastic. Something for everyone, no matter what their interests or age.
I’ve put together a simple mini-blog for the event over here on Posterous. The aim is that people can upload information, pictures, videos etc very easily over the weekend.It has the full line-up for the two days and contact details too.
It’d be fantastic if you’d take part in this exercise. It’s as simple as emailing me on cwjoneill AT gmail DOT com. I then add you as an author on the blog and all you have to do is email text, pictures, videos, links etc to post@posterous.com and they will automatically appear! Yup, that easy. You can even do it from many phones.
So c’mon, Engage is about engaging with the...
Catherine FitzMaurice from Kilbrogan House just contacted me about an awesome night that is happening as part of the Engage Arts festival over the weekend of Sep 25th.
They are showing the 1925 version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with, and this is the genius bit, live organ accompaniment by Dr Eric Sweeney who is head of Music at Waterford School of Technology. Not only that, but they are showing it in a church. The atmosphere should be amazing!
It’s on in St Peter’s Church, Bandon on Friday, 25th September at 9pm. The film runs for 90mins. Tickets are only €10 and I think they are going to sell out well before time. Call the office on 087-1205022 or Film Society on 086-3689939.
Check it:...
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...
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....
Fantastic day for it. Hopefully some more music/bands next year?...
Sinéad Cochrane of Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology is doing a survey of bloggers and those who read blogs. It would help her a lot if you took part. It’s very short and you could win a prize! Start here...