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FIRST DIVISION PROMOTION/RELEGATION PLAY-OFF FINAL/Kildare County 0 Mervue Utd 3 (Mervue win 5-2 on agg): Galway is set to have two representatives in the League of Ireland next season after Mervue recorded a stunning victory over Kildare County at Station Road last night.

Swansea 2 Birmingham City 3: Kevin Phillips' second-half brace stole all three points for Birmingham in their Coca-Cola Championship match with Swansea at the Liberty Stadium

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today he expected to move five combat brigades into Afghanistan next year and wanted at least some of them in place before the country's election next autumn, stressing this was a top priority.

The "responsibility to protect" doctrine is one of the most significant conceptual developments in international affairs since the United Nations charter in 1945, Minister for State for Foreign Affairs Peter Power said today.

New York senator Hillary Clinton has accepted an offer from president-elect Barack Obama to become US secretary of state, the New York Times said today, quoting two Clinton associates.

FIRST DIVISION PROMOTION/RELEGATION PLAY-OFF FINAL/Kildare County 0 Mervue Utd 3 (Mervue win 5-2 on agg): Galway is set to have two representatives in the League of Ireland next season after Mervue recorded a stunning victory over Kildare County at Station Road last night.

Swansea 2 Birmingham City 3: Kevin Phillips' second-half brace stole all three points for Birmingham in their Coca-Cola Championship match with Swansea at the Liberty Stadium

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today he expected to move five combat brigades into Afghanistan next year and wanted at least some of them in place before the country's election next autumn, stressing this was a top priority.

The "responsibility to protect" doctrine is one of the most significant conceptual developments in international affairs since the United Nations charter in 1945, Minister for State for Foreign Affairs Peter Power said today.

New York senator Hillary Clinton has accepted an offer from president-elect Barack Obama to become US secretary of state, the New York Times said today, quoting two Clinton associates.

Gardaí tonight seized more than €500,000 worth of drugs after several raids on properties.

A young boy has been seriously injured after he was struck by a car in Co Clare.

An application brought by sex offender Eamonn Cooke to be furnished with a yet-to-be-published book written by a girl whom he was convicted of sexually assaulting as part of his appeal against his conviction and 10-year jail sentence he received has been struck out at the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Former government press secretary and lobbyist Frank Dunlop appeared at Dublin District Court this afternoon to face 16 charges of corruption.

Grant Engineering of Birr - which laid off 30 seasonal workers this week - said it hopes to be able to avoid any further job cuts.

There aren’t many games that let you steal cars, get involved in a cop chase and punch passing pedestrians, all in between picking out a spiffy new shirt and bringing your date to the local bowling alley.

Establishing a successful business presence on the web can be tricky but if you fake it, the online community is unforgiving

As a daily reader of your paper I refer to two recent articles. The first in yesterday's issue (Irish Independent, November 19) by Mr David McWilliams in which he outlined a six-point plan to deal with the current economic emergency.

I read that Brian Lenihan is to implement a new 3pc levy on earnings over €250,000. I say -- that's more like it.

Citi and Lehman Brothers alone dumped 75,000 staff. Yet many bankers still cannot grasp that only by energetically promoting the fluid lending of money can they avoid becoming obsolete. They are denying the fact that the elephant in their own boardrooms is now a very large and very hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Starting a scrap at an hour of the day before most people have properly inhaled their first mug of tea is just plain uncivilised. But then the gang of shouty fundamentalists who represent the anti-abortion, anti-Lisbon group Coir have little truck with mannerly behaviour as a matter of principle.

A 25-year-old father of two was mistaken for his brother when he was shot dead in Dublin last year, a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan discussed "structural" changes and the reform of the banking sector with the top brass of the banks whom he summoned to meetings yesterday.

THE Government will have to find an extra €14m to plough into rural development schemes under EU farm reforms agreed in Brussels.

CONSUMERS will not face higher gas bills in January and Bord Gais may even cut charges next year, the Irish Independent can reveal.

A year or so ago, On The Record predicted that one of the landmark releases of 2008 would be an U2 album. Not for the first time, On The Record was wrong. (more…) Share This

There’s no stopping the Lisa Hannigan bandwagon at present. The latest to fall for the Kilcloon, Co Meath singer are ATO Records, stadium rocker Dave Matthews’s label. They have just added Hannigan to a roster which already includes David Gray, Radiohead and My Morning Jacket and will be releasing her debut solo album, Sea Sew, in the US on January 20th. The album has already sold nearly 14,000 copies in Ireland since its release in September. Hannigan is currently rounding off an extensive US tour supporting Jason Mraz (she’s in Milwaukee tonight in case any readers want to…

What’s that sound? That’s the sound of a dozen community organisations around the country making merry with their IRMA Trust musical starter kits. Each of the 12 groups will get instruments, equipment and a starter fund of €500 to enable them to assist new acts and musicians. Recipients of the kits include the Youghal Youth Project, Co Monaghan VEC, RED South Dublin Arts Centre, Sligo’s Model Arts and Niland Gallery, Roscommon’s Phoenix Youth Centre and Kerry Diocesan Youth Service’s Live Band Project. Share This

The weekly post where you can plug away to your heart’s content. The floor is yours - club nights, gigs, new releases, bands to check out, credit crunch celebrations etc. Please be polite and declare an interest or don’t be surprised if one is declared for you. Bright new Irish talent on show at Club AC30 at Dublin’s Whelan’s this Sunday in the shape of And So I Watch You From Afar, We Are Knives and Lights. The full cast for Other Voices next month in Dingle, Co Kerry is Emiliana Torrini, Duke Special, Billy Bragg, Liam Finn, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Elbow, Richard Hawley, James…

Yep, I have the Mad Men bug too. (more…) Share This

Minister for Foreign Affairs has had his return trip from Georgia delayed due to a technical problem on the Government jet.

Teresa Dingavan of Pearse Street, Fermoy, has been found not guilty of dangerous driving causing the deaths of two men.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has warned the Government against selling Irish banks to vultures trying to make a quick buck.

The inquest into the death of 14-year-old Brian Rossiter has heard he told a friend that he had been beaten by gardaí.

A Dublin man has been found guilty of murdering a 26-year-old man after a row last year.

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Ireland's banking sector poised for radical restructuring Rumours of private equity interest in stricken banks Gap between deposits and loans hits €33,000 ...

Agreement paves the way for the Conservatives and the UUP to field joint candidates in elections in Northern Ireland , Friday November 21 2008 10.20 ...

Published: November 21 2008 21:23 | Last updated: November 21 2008 21:23 Irelands three largest banks are coming under mounting government pressure to merge ...

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A County Down aerospace firm blames global economic conditions for considering up to 95 redundancies.

A house in the County Antrim village of Cullybackey is scorch-damaged during a petrol bomb attack.

Jim Fitzpatrick takes a look at the education debate

A County Down man who raped a girl and sexually abused her sister is jailed for 16 years at Belfast Crown Court.

More than a hundred workers at a car parts factory in Campsie wait to hear if they are to lose their jobs.

On his first trip to the country he revealed that he had Irish roots. Hilfiger, one of the most successful clothing brands in the globe, has 12 stand-alone shops in the country.

Pre-tax profits at fast food group McDonald's in Ireland rose by 32pc to E15.7m last year as the group opened more restaurants, accounts just filed show.

Angry students are planning a blockade at Trinity College Dublin today to coincide with a planned visit by Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe. The protest group Free Education for Everyone says it hopes to ...

An Air Canada flight attendant took over some cockpit duties earlier this year when the flight's co-pilot had a nervous breakdown, an official report said Wednesday.

Republic of Ireland v Poland. Click here to bet. Keith Andrews admits he has to pinch himself when he looks back over the last few months.

When the Irish Times opened up their Ireland.com domain to free email registration recently I quickly nabbed the novelty address of primeminister@ireland.com reckoning that would be far more beneficial to the cultivation of international relations than the parochial taoiseach@ireland.com ;-)I sent a few test emails without trouble and drafted a concilliatory message to Sarkozy before.... real world email got in the way. Sadly it appears I didn't read the Term and Conditions of use too well (who the hell ever does?) because I missed this bit -In particular, "c. impersonate any person or…

Image via Wikipedia - Alan's FineTuna got a really nice mention on TechCrunch UK & Ireland - "Now there are as many image sharing services on the web as there are fish in the sea. But FinaTuna is one I could actually see myself using. It’s simple, intuitive and an absolute delight to use."- Walter has announced Pixenate-on-Demand, "a low-cost and convenient way for web publishers to provide image-editing right from within their own websites." I did a screencast of Pixenate for Intruders.tv a while back. - You too can have a LouderVoice than George Hook!! Conor was on…

Image via CrunchBase Introduced to the market in October 2006, Cisco TelePresence has become the company's fastest-growing emerging technology, with more than 100 customers globally. Telepresence is of course the very high-end of the video-conferencing market using large high definition screen, spatial audio and even matching room decor among remote offices - all designed to deliver the illusion to participants of being present, in the same room together. At the low-end of video-conferencing we have 'video-calling' where services like PalTalk, TokBox and Sightspeed have been picking up the…

... this post and comments, the most illuminating discussion I've ever read on the topic of entrepreneurship in Ireland.

Image via WikipediaIreland’s Leading Innovators Honoured at Annual Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards as NTR plc are announced as official partner. Ireland is now officially in a recession, credit is more difficult to come by and the current financial crisis will inevitably put state services under increasing and unprecedented pressure, with the most vulnerable in society suffering as a result. Now more than ever we need the innovative solutions that social entrepreneursprovide to tackle such social problems. This was the announcement at the annual Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards,…

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Better quality here

I'm listening to the MySpace stream right now. Are you?No record can be worth all that moolah.

The awesomeness that is Erol Alkan hits Andrew Lane Theatre (ALT) on December 5th, and I've got two double passes to give away. To win tickets to what will be a savage night, just email your answer to this question to jacksgraff@hotmail.com with EROL as the subject line. As per the t-shirt, what does E.R.O.L. do?(a) Meets kids parents(b) Keeps kids dancing(c) Beeps kids swearing(Winners will be chosen at random using a blind kitten with a laser pen and will be notified by email on Monday.)

Teen kills self on Justin.tv - WiredThe rise of extreme beer - New Yorker25 things you never knew about the Strokes - NMEGender is not black and white, but a colour wheel - JezebelTwilight is silly but gorgeous - SlateBlacks, gays, and Prop 8 - AdvocateWhy JFK is still the king of conspiracies - Vanity FairObama's cabinet picks reviewed - New York MagazineGood TV on the Radio article - The Fadernot acceptable in the 80s, not acceptable now - StateTwilight star's Letterman disaster - GawkerChick monkeys talk more than dude monkeys - New Scientist

LAST night I received a very interesting (chokes) message on Facebook from a complete and utter ignoramus and I thought I would share it with you. I won't be a complete pig and publish her details, much as I am tempted to. But lets just call her by her first initial, G. To me G represents the worst of the smoke-screen arguments being uttered on this vaccine.She says: "I wonder why you invest so much of your time promoting this vaccine. If you are so worried about your daughter's health shouldnt you be spending time with her instead explaining to her that sex at 12 is not a great idea? I am…

SORRY sorry I meant to post about the weekend rally before now but things have been really busy, this is really my first chance to. About 100 people turned up and while I would have loved to see thousands turn up I am also (mostly) realistic and see Saturday as the beginning of a broader campaign, more action will be planned which of course I will post here. I should also say (cos it kinda read that I did) I didn't organise the rally, I set up the Facebook group, got details of the rally and publicised it through the group. Then again while the group may not have decided on where, what and…

THIS afternoon I'll be meeting with, hopefully, lots and lots of other angry people at the rally organised to tell Harney that we want our daughters to receive the cervical cancer vaccine. Are you going?We are meeting this afternoon at 2pm at the Spire on O'Connell Street, Dublin and then going to the Teachers' Club at 3.30pm for a public meeting. You can read more on the Irish Times.Are you Facebook? If so please join the group where the campaign continues.I have to give a massive shout out of thanks to Gavin who has been absolutely brilliant giving lots of help and more with the group. At…

You always see this guy sleeping in the doorways around the Dail. I spotted him one morning holding up an article, I think about him, up to his face.

Defend Women's Health Rally: Save Cervical Cancer Services for Girls and Women. Saturday, 15th November (this Saturday) at the Spire, O'Connell Street at 2pmJoin the Facebook group

The death has taken place today of Shannon Rugby Football Club legend, Frankie O’Flynn at age 77. Mr. O’Flynn died at 0500 hrs on Friday morning at Milford Hospice in Plassey. Probably best known for his rendition of his club’s anthem “There Is An Isle,” Frankie O’Flynn dedicated his whole life to his love of rugby. In 1953 he lead Shannon to Senior Club status and captained the team to beat Highfield of Cork in October 1953.  He also lined out for the team when they won the Munster Senior Cup in 1960. He went on to be club president in 1976 and saw the…

UPDATE: @ 0150 A serious assault on Michael Street has left a man seriously injured. Initial reports indicated that there had been a fatality, however this is now not the case. It is understood that a man was attacked by a number of other men on Michael Street at approximately 1830 hrs yesterday evening.  The street was sealed off for a time and there was a heavy Garda presence.

Smart Ass, a game where players are required to identify places, people or things before other players, is produced by University Games Corporation. The game originated in Auistrailia but has been redeveloped for the European market. However, one of the 500 cards contained in the game asks “Where am I,” giving ten clues relating to Limerick. One of them is “This place is nicknamed “Stab City.” In interviews with the Limerick Leader newspaper, a representative of University Games Corporation said that questions would have been checked by three different people…

According to RTE Business…. Up to 50 new jobs have been announced for Limerick. They are being created by the entertainment technology company DTS which is to establish its European headquarters at the National Technology Park in the city. The new Limerick company - DTS Licensing Limited - will have responsibility for licensing, management, administration, business development, marketing, sales, finance and potentially research and development and gaming. Recruitment has already begun for the IDA-supported initiative.DTS first introduced its audio technology in 1993 with the release of…

If the cut in City Council funding by €800,000 wasn’t bad enough for the businesses in the City Centre to deal with, they will now have a €200 per anum, per parking space levy to contend with. And with all their talk of leading any example and taking a pay cut, the Government have made themselves exempt from the parking tax. It was initially planned to introduce the parking levy in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford Cities in January, but it is said to be pushed back to April. There is some good news in the finance bill though. The emigration tax has been modified so that…

Nokia has struck a deal with IBM to provide Lotus Notes across a number of its S60-based smart phones, creating an immediate market of 80 million mobile phones.

Dublin-headquartered mobile domain provider dotMobi has launched version 2.1 of its DeviceAtlas, which it describes as the world's most comprehensive mobile development database.

The science of search has gotten a whole lot more interesting now that Google has given users the ability to customise and order their search results with its new SearchWiki tool.

Dell, which once pipped Hewlett-Packard to the post as top PC maker in the world, last night reported a 5pc drop in profits and a 3pc fall in revenues.

Queen's University Belfast is to become the UK's leading centre for the developing technology to counter malicious cyber attacks, after receiving a £25m sterling funding boost from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

You don’t need to be smart to have a bright idea, just a Posca or paint and a blank wall. Related PostsBlack and White TractorMisty Morning BirdLeading lines and bright lights Tags: Black and White, Canon 40D, cars, Cork, Cork Photos, graffiti, grafitti, Ireland, Irish photos, irishblogs, lightbulb, Photography, Photos, posca, Sigma 18-200, Street, Sunday's Well, Urban, Vehicles

A running girl is framed by a hoop thrown into the air alongside her in Bishop Lucey Park during the “Peace in the Park” event 2 months ago. Related PostsHula hoop dancerLittle girl goes shoppingSt. Patrick’s Day Tricolour Girl Tags: Bishop Lucey Park, Canon 10-22, Canon 40D, children, Cork, Cork Photos, girls, hoop, Ireland, Irish photos, irishblogs, oil, People, Photography, Photos, Street, Urban

Windsor Castle, as seen from the pavement outside with benches going off into the distance like a moat stopping the tourists trampling on the lawn. More corrupted images this evening and a few I didn’t want to lose including family shots and a couple of long exposure night scene. Email sent off to Warehouseexpress looking for a replacement. Will keep you posted. Related PostsTourists outside Windsor CastleWindsor LeavesLone plane over Windsor Tags: back and white, benches, Canon 10-22, Canon 40D, Castle, irishblogs, Photography, Photos, seats, Street, United Kingdom, Windsor, Windsor…

Sign spotted on a garage door in Taplow, in the UK. Related PostsNo related posts Tags: Canon 10-22, Canon 40D, irishblogs, Photography, Photos, Signs, Taplow, United Kingdom, Urban

If you live anywhere north of London it seems you’re in the flight path of one airport or another. Windsor, despite having a great big castle, is no exception and a number of flights flew over in the few hours we spent in the town. Related PostsWindsor LeavesWindsor CastleTourists outside Windsor Castle Tags: airplane, alone, Canon 10-22, Canon 40D, flying, irishblogs, Look up, Photography, Photos, plane, Sky, United Kingdom, Urban, Windsor

Heaven 17 - Temptation. Cheesy: Off to football this evening and then the lads have a game out in Goatstown tomorrow morning. Series 3 of The IT Crowd also starts tonight at 10pm. Hopefully I’ll be back on time. Enjoy your weekends.

As seen at an apartment complex in the Italian quarter

It’s coming in January. Legendary.

Future of Web Apps, a conference ran by the folks at Carsonified is coming to Dublin on March 6th 2009. Speakers confirmed so far include David Heinemeier Hansson from 37signals, Mike Butcher from Techcrunch UK and the lads from Contrast. I was at the London event in October 2007 and met some great people. I was only remarking to Robin Blandford how it had only been a year since that event when I met him at the IWAs. A lot’s happened in the intervening year for us both (including Decisions for Heroes). Looking forward to it.

For those of you who don’t know, I train and manage a football team for Dunboyne AFC. We’re the fourth team at the under 12s age group. To be honest, I’ve never really felt I’m good at it but I’ve stuck with it for the past few years. It’s quite difficult to get a result with the side we have as most of them haven’t come up through years of playing ball. They’re the kids who like the game and are enthusiastic. I suppose that’s why I stick with it. We had a game this morning out in Knocklyn. We lost 10-0. They were all over us from minute…

Busy, busy, busy. As with everyone involved in fundraising, November can be a crazy month. We’re flat out here getting Christmas campaigns done and dusted. Just this month, we have nearly a million door drops, half a million newspaper inserts and tens of thousands of cold mailing packs. And not to forget the most important donor mailings of the year for each of our clients. No doubt you’re busy with your own stuff as well. Sometimes it can feel a bit like a non-stop production line. So it’s really important to take a step back every now and then, catch your breath, and…

Our Minister for Health’s latest attack on the health of the nation, the cancelation of the cervical cancer vaccine programme is inspiring the good people of Ireland to take action. It’s an absolutely outrageous decision. (the cutback that is, not the upsurge of activism!) Red Mum and Ray Darcy have been calling on parents to email Mary Harney photos of their daughters to show her the girls and young women who will be affected by this. Her email is minister’s_office@health.irlgov.ie. If you feel strongly about this email her now. EDIT: Or you could blog about like…

Jesse Jackson in tears, Obama referencing MLK, Virginia, Indiana and maybe North Carolina going blue, Anne Nixon-Cooper. What a night. Here’s what Barack (surely we’re still on first name terms?) sent me in the early hours: Conor thinks that we won’t be hearing much from our favourite email correspondent now that he’s President-Elect. I disagree. Obama has built a movement. Everything he has said and done suggests that he intends to maintain it. He’s going to have to. Obama has just changed political campaigning, political fundraising and restored hope to the…

I was planning to write a post about fundraising in a recession, but plenty of other people have done it already, so rather than reinventing the wheel, here’s where to go for information. But the main points to remember are: - don’t panic, donors are still giving - invest in strengthening your relationships with existing supporters - your organisation is probably needed more that ever now. Make your case. People will support you. Here’s the links: Sean Triner has set up an excellent blog on fundraising in a recession. Conor Byrne has been running a series of articles over…

First, watch this. Kay Sprinkel Grace tells us we are Dream Brokers. Just because the economy is going down the tubes doesn’t mean donors don’t still have dreams of a better world. ‘Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning’ - Gloria Steinem There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done. Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung … It’s easy. Technorati Tags: ifc, fundraising, allyouneedislove

I came across the transcript of Libertas' appearance at the Oireachtas Sub Committee hearings on the Lisbon vote over at the CedarLounge Revolution. The meeting was interesting and once more we were treated to the spectacle of Ganley's ability to talk out of both sides of his mouth with not-quite-able help from fellow Libertas campaigner Caroline Simons. The full transcript is worth a read, but

Rupert Murdoch is a busy man. Most days he's too busy eating babies and burning widows to notice what's happening on this fair isle. It would seem that the Lisbon Treaty changed that. Writing in the Irish Times, Sarah Carey, formerly of the Murdoch owned Sunday Times lifts the lid on the Murdoch media's coverage of the treaty. For anyone relying on the Sunday Times for information on its

Speaking at an engagement in the US, Gerry Adams has attacked what he referred to as the "Afrikaner" wing of Unionism. The An Phoblacht website carries large sections of Adam's speech: Partnership, equality and working together is the only way forward for our people. And when I say our people, I mean all our people, and that includes the unionists. It is my strong

Last week, the Irish Times reported that Cardinal Sean Brady has advised Brian Cowen's government that it should not award 'marriage rights' to cohabiting couples. The call is reported as having been made at a conference organised by the Ceifin centre. Unfortunately, Dr. Brady's speech is not available online yet, however according to press reports, he claimed that 'marriage rights should not be

At this stage, you probably already know that Barack Obama has won the American presidential election. His election is being hailed as historic, and rightfully so, though the likes of George Hook tend to overstate the importance of Obama election in terms of world history. The president elect has a tough job ahead of him. The world economy is in crisis, the US is committed to two difficult wars,

"The necessaries of life occasion the great expense of the poor... The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess... It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion." - Adam Smith

"If money isn’t loosened up, this sucker could go down." - President Bush"As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes" - Paul Krugman"Gonna be an interesting afternoon for Western civilization" - Daniel Drezner

It's more than a year old, but it's just as funny today."I'd buy anything if it said 'enhanced'".

I've noticed anti-immigration graffiti cropping up in my area recently. The spelling says it all.Categories: Dublin, Graffiti, Immigration

...when you can revive two. More blogging going on here.

PIRATES OFF THE AFRICAN COAST are facing blasts by highly focused acoustic devices from American Technology Corporation. The one shown is a medium range device that can be used to bark out verbal warnings and if that doesn't achieve the result, it can be used with a deterrent tone to influence behavior. These devices have highly unique direct acoustic outputs, using efficient, customized capacitive transducers. They achieve full output with less than 400 watts. MRADs (shown) and LRADs can blast targets with a precise beam of sound. They can be connected to MP3 players and then cranked up to…

ONE OF THE BEST features of the internet since 2006 has been the ability to see what others have written alongside some pages and Google has jumped into this space with the public launch of SearchWiki. By logging into my Google account before I start to search for something through Google, I can see the results of my past searches and I can also see comments made by other people on search terms. It's like having a personal Digg account without every leaving the Google search page. I believe I can see through the noise generated by people with bogus accounts and make my own mind up about the…

On 10th November 2008, it will be exactly two years since the cruel assassination of Nadarajah Raviraj, a Tamil politician and human rights activist. No one has been brought to justice for his murder. In the spirit of citizens’ journalism, unionblackcolombo remembers his friend. thanks to http://pact.lk for the link.

Stream videos at Ustream After tonight the next Leviathan is: “Moral Money: The Future of Capitalism?” hosted by David McWilliams Wednesday December 10th, 8pm, The Button Factory. Tickets €15 + booking fee from Tickets.ie

I blip here http://blip.fm/briangreene

Isn’t it great to see pirates back in business? No, seriously, I mean that.  Isn’t it a great thing to revive the old traditions, as they’re doing in Somalia?  I’d love to visit that town, Eyl, where all the Somali pirates live.  Ahoy, me maties, I’d say, even though that would probably be the wrong thing to say, and possibly in Somali means your father fucks pigs, and then they’d probably cut me into little pieces and feed me to the sharks, so no, on second thoughts I won’t say Ahoy, me maties when I go to visit Eyl.  When I…

Soweto Connection (http://www.sowetoconnection.org ) is an Irish-registered charity set up after a Limerick couple spent a year living in South Africa, and became involved with township community groups  who don’t normally get access to funding from overseas. These are small groups - women’s groups, daycare centres for AIDS orphans, shelters for street kids, run by Africans for Africans and badly in need of cash. Soweto Connection is a purely voluntary organisation with no overheads at all which means every cent donated goes to help the townships. There’s a fundraising…

Is Munster the best team in the world to follow? Well, let me put it to you this way: do you know of another team where every man will put his body on the line rather than disappoint the supporters?  Where every man will fight to the death for his team-mates?  And as Mick Galwey once put it, where every last supporter in the ground is ready to pull on the Munster shirt and line out alongside them if needed?   (Pic by C’est la Craic)     This is a phenomenon you won’t see often.  Last night was an experience we should all savour, because it revealed so…

You might be wondering what sort of people we have in Limerick. Well here they are:                  These are Limerick people. You might also have been wondering about the lowlifes who hit the news with depressing frequency.  The kind of scum who have earned our town such shame even though they aren’t our people and are held in utter contempt here. Do you know what?  Unusually for me, I don’t have any words to throw light on the question.  I look at these people and I’m as baffled as you are. I might as well be…

UPDATE 19th November 2008:  Munster 16 — All Blacks 18 ____________________________________   I have the tickets here in my hand.  I’m looking at them. They’re saying, You know what, Bock?  You could probably sell us for a large amount of cash. And I’m replying  Yes. You’re right of course, but I’ll never sell you.  I’m going to hold you close.  I won’t let you out of my sight because you’re … well, you’re like a … like … dammit, you’re like a ticket to me. I wipe away a manly…

This is a 10 minute sketch from my notebook of Russell Brand. I drew him because there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE GOING ON IN THE WORLD anywhere at all at all. I think the real controversy here is that such a banal story as this has been given such long, drainpipe-wearing legs. It’s still floating around the BBC website today, and even made mention in the Houses of Parliament. Now what was that about global economic something or other? And wasn’t there some mention of an altercation around the Middle East? I seem to have been distracted by eyeliner and big/floppy hair, and a few…

I love Americans! Americans are great! Yes, that’s what I said, and no, I haven’t been flown by the CIA to Singapore…

Got a lot of traffic from the University of Puerto Rico’s Blackboard sytem for this post. I must have made someone’s lecture notes. Nice. Quiet down the back.

Eoin will be walking/kayaking/cycling from Merlin Park to Oranmore and back again on Saturday to raise funds for the Irish Kidney Association. Here’s the route: It’s 18ks in total. Brave man! If you can, donate.

You eagle-eyed West Cork drivers may have noticed a big new sign on the back of one of the units behind Great Gas on the Bandon Bypass. It is the retail/warehouse outlet of newly launched Curious Wines. Mike Kane, the owner, has put together a brilliant selection of wines which are not your usual supermarket generic stuff. Their web-site has just gone live and it’s a corker (boom! boom!). Another stunning creation by the shockingly talented Ms Dent. I think it’s probably the best looking and most effective wine web-site in the country and puts the major chains to shame. The wine…

When the Irish Blog Awards nominations open early next year, I’m pretty sure Ivan McCutcheon’s recent post about local West Cork abbatoirs and butchers will be the one I pick. If you care about the food you put in your gob and appreciate the work of people with a passion for their craft, read Ivan’s piece, print it off and give it to those you know. For so many reasons, it is imperative that businesses like Dan Maloney’s in Bandon survive and thrive. Supporting local food production is good for community, business, the environment and the economic independence of the…

I have no excuse for the lack of posting here other than the usual busy-ness of life. I’ll get back into writing mode very soon. Lots of blogposts and book reviews in my head, I just need to get them out through my fingers. Speaking of reviews, I hope my loyal readers don’t mind me doing a very quick bit of blatant promotion of LouderVoice. We have just kicked off our 2008 BES offering. If the mayhem of the markets has you spooked, then you may find our tax-efficient offering interesting. All details over on our corporate blog. So for my next post, should I do a rant on Annaghmore…

Fishy Fishy Cafe, Pier Road, Kinsale, Co Cork, Ireland I’ve just had an absolutely perfect seafood lunch in Fishy Fishy with my parents. Incredible fresh seafood at reasonable prices with attentive staff. The only downside was an excess of ladies-who-lunch trying-too-hard. I have never ever heard a bad word about the original Fishy Fishy. Everything about it sounded great except the small number of tables which resulted in long waits. As we are usually with-childer, that’s not an option. My parents popped down for a visit and brought me out for lunch today to their new location…

Mio Restaurant, 1-3 Connolly Street, Clonakilty, Ireland We’ve had a couple of very good reviews of Mio on LouderVoice and finally got a chance to try it out last Sunday. A brilliant meal in a beautiful but shockingly empty restaurant. We’ll be back soon. Granny Mary shooed us out the door at 5pm on Sunday and we tootled down to Clon to Mio’s. Owned by the same people as the brilliant Gleenson’s, it is two doors up and upstairs. The room is beautifully done with a nice Italian feel to the whole place. It was empty on arrival so we got the full attention of the very…

It is enough to make me hungry!

A priest, a minister and a guru sat discussing the best positions for prayer, while a telephone repairman worked nearby. “Kneeling is definitely the best way to pray,” the priest said. “No,” said the minister. “I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to Heaven.” “You’re both wrong,” the guru said. “The most effective prayer position is lying down on the floor.” The repairman could contain himself no longer. “Hey, fellas,” he interrupted. “The best prayin’ I ever did was when I was…

Last week I had a good response to the tips I gave.I was pleased to see some put into action.So today I bring you some more. With the dark colder evenings, the thought of a warm fire gladdens the heart.Pine cones are a simple form of kindling to start a real fire.They heat up quickly and burn for a long time. To clean a microwave oven, add four tablespoons of lemon juice to one cup water in a microwave-safe, four-cup bowl. Boil for five minutes in the microwave, allowing the steam to condense on the inside walls of the oven. Then wipe them with a soft cloth. To get more juice from lemons,…

I wrote a few weeks ago about my experiences while out shopping, I described a fellow shopper who was trying on a beautiful coat.She did as we all do on such occasions, button up the coat and stand in front of a mirror, twisting this way and that to try and see the back before walking up and down the floor to get the ‘feel’ of the garment.In a high class store there are normally several mirrors strategically placed to allow us a proper back view of any garment.Alas the shop where I was that day had only the one mirror and it was on the shop floor and not in the fitting room.The assistant…

Mediterranean Chicken Today I share Food Monday with another of my blogging friends.Steph is always cheerful despite her complicated medical story, all documented at The Biopsy Report.I love to share meals with friends and when I am here at home alone having a friend’s recipe to prepare, cook and eat brings them a little closer.Over to Steph: $$$$$ This all-in-one meal is easy to prepare and serve. It’s a handy dish to leave ready to cook on a timer, on those occasions when you want to head to the pub with friends and have something ready to eat on your return. (Serves 4) 4 chicken…

Update 2:Thanks to John Breslin, here's the full list of winners, (before of course they're on the Golden Spiders website). Congrats on the win for Boards.ie, John!Also a big congratulations for the well deserved best recruitment site goes to Gary and the team at Prosperity Recruitment. They're the best I've used both as candidate and client and deserve the recognitionPost update:It was a spur-of-the-moment experiment - could I live blog an event I wasn't at, based soley on the tweets from those I follow who were at it? Answer this time is no, unfortunately.It's 00:24 and it doesn't seem…

One of the names synonymous with the Northern Ireland Peace Process for me has been Colin Parry. Colin's twelve year old son Tim was killed following the detonation of two bombs hidden in dustbins in Warrington, Cheshire by the IRA in March 1993. Among the 50 people injured by the bombs which exploded on a busy shopping street the day before Mother's day was three year old Johnathan Ball, who died from the blast.Tim survived the impact with multiple injuries but died in hospital five days later. In a moving tribute to Tim, Colin tells how he and his wife Wendy were in Manchester for the day…

Pat Ingoldsby's new book of poetry has recently been published. Once again, he presents a unique, individual record of Dublin life in poetic form. From the sublime to the ridiculous, the poignant to the ludicrous and the inane to the dubious, it's yet another collection - his 19th of poetry and 23rd overall, for his fans to treasure and for new readers to discover and enjoy.COOOOOOL!!!The way they arrive at your house,wet and wretched, homeless and abandoned.Within months they're giving out to youfor moving in your own bed!With poems ranging from childhood memories to his love for a woman,…

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."- Norman Vincent PealeBefore The Apprentice and before Penny Apples, I knew who Bill Cullen was. The mere mention of his name sent Michelle, the lady I was dealing with in the Irish Youth Foundation into a flurry of adulation every time we tried to arrange a meeting for the Indo. "He's a gentleman", I remember her telling me "But he's very busy. I'll see what I can do." The meeting never happened.Fast forward seven years and I'm here sitting in the Kelly Theatre of the National College of Ireland awaiting…

I'm off to London for a few days to work on the Chain Reaction event. I may not be going through Dublin airport's terminal 2 just yet, but it won't be long by the looks of things.The Chain Reaction event looks very interesting. There are some amazing speakers lined up from the world of charity and social entrepreneurship. I'm looking forward to meeting and hearing Richard Branson, Mark Thompson, DG of the BBC, Nipun Mehta, Founder of Charityfocus.org, Colin Parry, Founder of Foundation for Peace and a personal hero of mine, John Bird, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Big Issue.For the…

Will Crawley has a good post [and links] on the apparent identification of the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus in Poland - assuming that the hair found in a book once owned by the astronomer was his.  But there’s an interesting caveat to the story in this Cambridge University hosted Copernicus biography.  Btw, Heidemarie Stefanshyn Piper says ‘thanks’. Galileo Galilei, maybe not so much.Copernicus is often portrayed as a revolutionary figure who advocated a heliocentric system, overthrowing existing systems and institutions. Yet, his monumental work, the De…

Is gra liom ar an mead seo ar an suíomh gréasáin ríoga Briotanach nua seo: “Tapadh leibh airson tadhal air làrach-lìn oifigeil Monarcachd Bhreatainn...” It is Gaelic, but not as we know it Jim…

We’re having the election in June next year,” Peter Mandelson, the business secretary, told journalists at a drinks party last week, with a stage wink. In case anyone missed it, he added: “That was a joke.” But around Westminster, the idea is now being discussed with utmost seriousness. It was the long time Brown mentor and bank roller Geoffrey Robertson who fuelled the speculation with the Evening Standard, said Standard stable mate Mail pol ed Ben Brogan in his blog today, while over in the news pages he ran Brown’s denial on Radio 2. No repeat then of last…

A few years ago I received John Lee Anderson’s epic biography Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life in my Christmas stocking and to be honest, regardless of the detail and it’s billing as the seminal work on a figure I’m reasonably interested in, I just never had the time or dedication to finish it. This year I’m setting the bar a little lower and hoping someone dear to me will splash out on Spain Rodriguez’s graphic novel Che: A Graphic Biography. I’m sure some may think a ‘comic’ on the life of a major leftist icon seems a little trashy or cheap but this…

On the right side of British politics there has been a long term tussle over taxation in play for some time. Some seem to think it has been resolved now, but the solution they appear to have chosen (fiscal tightening of public expenditure) looks as though they could be missing some more pressing issues in the global market place. Over on Brassneck I argue that there is a cultural problem attached to the fiscal issues the Tories want to address in government… In the meantime, decrying the appalling fiscal irrectitude of Brown only gets you so far. But you don’t have to dig very…

What would James Madison have made of Strictly Come Dancing? The question is whimsical, I’ll admit, but it’s not altogether surreal. If you go back to the Federalist Papers, which is always worthwhile anyway, you’ll notice that Madison and Hamilton spend an awful lot of their time wrestling with the question of whether democracy invariably leads to dictatorship. It’s an old concern of classical political philosophy - you’ll recall that the Roman republicans opposed Caesar not only because of his dictatorial proclivities but because he was the candidate of the…

Here’s how it is. Following the latest fudge deal, the Procrastination Committee at Stormont is back in business after a four-month break. In fact, our leaders reckon the Executive is going to have weekly meetings to get its backlog red up. This will of course come as a great relief to the pundits who have been calling for the Executive to be restored so it can deal with the economic crisis, although what Stormont can do in this global situation is unclear. Perhaps they can look into the threatened job cuts at UTV, as the proletariat risks being deprived of Logie, Frank and Tina Arena.

Let’s kick off today with an old chestnut from the late John Pepper. It involves a rural child addressing its mother. Child: Ma, the yo has lambed. Mother: It’s not yo, it’s ewe. Child: No, it’s not me, ma, it’s the yo. It used to be here, in the not too distant past, that a certain kind of upwardly mobile parent, usually the mother, would place great importance in packing the kids off to an elocutionist to learn how to talk proper, and in particular to efface the Norn Iron accent. Only ten years back I used to work alongside perfectly ordinary women who would happily subject their…

As ever at this time of year, my attention is taken up with Strictly, which is why I’ve been taken slightly by surprise by the outburst around X Factor. I have no strong feelings about whether or not Laura should have gone, and I do understand that people will feel aggrieved when their favourite goes, but get a grip! This has never been about the music, it’s about finding acts who will make money for Simon Cowell. This is why I think the wee lad from here will do well - he’s not the strongest singer, but he’s extremely marketable. And what have we had the past week? A…

I tell you what, George Galloway must be scundered. He’s been all happy since his mate Barack O’Bama won the US presidency, and now what? Barack wants an extra 2000 British troops for Afghanistan. Well, at least he can’t say he wasn’t warned. We’d be talking here in terms of selective vision. It’s the same way that O’Bama won the Democratic nomination largely because of his opposition to the Iraq war, while at the same time promising anyone who’d listen that he’d escalate the war in Afghanistan. A lot of folks ignored that on the basis…

Over the past few days I’ve been involved in some very deep discussions around how to make web visitors buy. In my opinion it doesn’t really matter if it’s the web or the real world - People Buy Benefits. Reading the SBP yesterday I saw this ad: Spread Betting Ad The ad didn’t rotate or animate. The above image was all there was. Would you rush over to their site? View Comments (5) Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this!

I’m using the new GA segmentation, and all I can say is WOW. This is going to blow you away. Prepare to see your data in a whole different light. Previously you’d be looking at enterprise-grade analytics to get into this level of data manipulation, so this is going to be a game changer. Google Anaytics Advanced Segmentation View Comments (3) Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this!

Search Engine Registration Even in 2008 there are still some ‘Online Marketing’ firms who offer the fantastic service known as search engine registration: This is slightly reminiscent of Omniserve’s Google Rapid Inclusion ‘process’, but at £500STG this latest one sure aint cheap. To anyone who might be seriously interested in search engine registration I suggest you take a look at Free Search Engine Rapid Inclusion Service. Oh, and in case anyone (God knows who still reads any of my tripe…) is interested - this might be related to a certain Bord Failte…

Some great videos recently released by Google. If you’re into the search area then this one is worth a view: One comment I found interesting was Jeff Dean’s mention of text size as something they record. There are two other videos in the same Google Technology RoundTable series, both well worth a watch: Human Language Technology I think we’re soon going to have the ability to view any document in any language, and by ’soon’ I mean months not years, judging from this video: Map Reduce Map Reduce is Google’s distributed computation infrastructure. It’s…

People who know me would, I hope, consider me to be straight-talking - I call it as I see it. But I can say hand-on-heart that self-interest doesn’t particularly drive me, so I hope people read my general commentaries in that light. But back to calling at I see it. I’m not completely bereft of all tact, but my mother always noted that I had a certain ’sledge-hammer diplomacy’ which might from time-to-time get me into trouble. I know also that a golden rule of business is not to ‘poo-poo’ on the competition. Unfortunately the world of SEO is highly prone to…

Photo Credit darkmatter First off - a big apology to everyone who is subscribed to this blog for the lack of postings in the last number of months. I haven’t stopped blogging, it is just that since I started working for RedMonk, the focus of my writing has changed and it is now more appropriate that I write more on GreenMonk, than here. Having said that, anything I write about Social Media, will still be written here, I’ll just not be writing about Social Media as often Why am I writing here now? Something has been bubbling away at the back of my mind the last couple of months and…

I logged into my Windows Live email account yesterday only to find all my email deleted. Not even a single solitary spam message left. I should be livid. Should be tearing what little hair I have left out of my head. Instead I am simply moderately furious! Why? Well this is not the first time Microsoft decided to delete all the email from my (then Hotmail) account. So I learned after losing valuable email the first time, not to trust any important email to Microsoft. What makes it more annoying is that if Microsoft allowed POP access to Live Mail accounts, the way Gmail does, you would be…

WordPress launched it’s long anticipated WordPress app for the iPhone and iPod Touch this morning. See http://iPhone.wordpress.org for more. I downloaded to my iPod and am writing this post using it. The write screen seems quite bare. I don’t yet see how to add links, emphasis or photos to posts. I am sure the functionality is there I just need to look around more. Ok there was some kind of bug when I was using this first and the bottom Menu bar was missing. I hit the Home button quitting out of the app and opened it again. This notified me that it had recovered a post (good, I…

Photo Credit technokitten We have been in Spain for nearly two weeks now. Most of the boxes and bags are unpacked. We have a phone line, gas, broadband, mobile and electricity accounts in our names and we put a deposit on a car (a Prius). It has been busy. The most difficult thing to deal with has been the banks - both Spanish and Irish. Bank of Ireland have been particularly unhelpful and inflexible. My brother-in-law has a time share in Almeria he couldn’t take up this coming week so he offered it to us. This afternoon we are heading to the beach for a week! I’ll be the one…

Photo of a previous blogger’s dinner in Proby’s Conor O’Neill has very kindly decided to organise a goodbye Cork blogger’s dinner in honour of my imminent departure for Spain. Conor is calling it the Hasta Luego Blogger Dinner (Hasta Luego is Spanish for Goodbye, in case you didn’t know)! If you would like to join us for a bite to eat, a few drinks and a good time the dinne