Random Waffle Thread

Agent Coulson

Carlow taked about on This Moring on ITV.

The IT is offering a degree in social media influencing.

https://www.tiktok.com/@thismorning?lang=en

Nokia6230i

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121170196#Comment_121170196

They kind of did a trial run for this for 4th Year/TYP to 6th Year/Leaving Cert students back in Summer 2021 with a graduate of their Media & PR course; she's quite the influencer herself on the various platforms; would be curious to know if any participants on that short course, introduction, sign up to this one next September and how many who do take up the course last the pace.

Nationalist article re same https://carlow-nationalist.ie/2021/06/14/social-influencer-course-at-it-carlow/

We've plenty of influencers of varying degrees of success; financially via sponsorship, benefit in kind, kickbacks by local, regional & national businesses locally & beyond, Podcasters, vegetarians/vegans/healthy eaters, foodies, gym bunnies, vloggers, world travellers, as it is; a course like this allows for our Insta Huns/Influencers/Bebo Stunnahz/Social Media Gurus/Digital or Citizen Journalists etc. to get some real guidance from those who've been there in past 5 years since the industry has exploded and've made mistakes in our cancel culture which has stymied debate in such cases; ASAI occasionally, rarely indeed, rebuke such luvvies but aside from that there's the usual light touch regulation, few guidelines and basically anyone with a social media platform such as Tik-Tok, YouTube, Instagram & a phone can legitimately call themselves an influencer these days & so many want to; it's the Arthur Daly factor; get away with it for as long as you can & as much as you can get away with in a lot of cases.

Plenty of spoofers, shysters, cowboys like in any industry though; hopefully a course like this might sort the wheat from the chaff.

Remember when Penneys relocated to its Kennedy Ave. location Summer 2022; amount of such influencers who were on site by invite & otherwise was odious; Tik-Tok this, Instagram that, hashtag the other; everything it seems must be live-streamed & recorded; Homesavers in Penny Lane launch was similar; those two could easily feature as case studies; the Al Porter situation in terms of the PR disaster & relaunch is another one; we've seen many locally & nationally alone; they happen on a daily basis & the whole "viral" thing has lost all meaning now too.

Would imagine there'll be input from Terry Prone/Carr Communications/Anton Savage & MD Media & probably some talent agencies like NK Management or similar.

The 2 Johnnies, Happy Pear, Vogue & Joanne McNally, the Fleming Family in Tralee, Nathalie Lennon etc.'re all influencers & have come to the party from various backgrounds they're all examples of positive influencers who've monetized their influence to their benefit & collaborated with brands; it's arguable they've sold their soul in some cases but f it puts bread in the jar..........???

They've hordes following them; when you breach the ten, twenty thousand mark it's massive but having hundreds of thousands is the goal at national level before breaking the million & more mark internationally.

But fair play to those who'll design this course & deliver it; hope the likes of Lauren Whelan herself is involved & there are others locally & nationally who could deliver some modules & one off talks; we need guidance & not some idiot with a selfie-stick & who learned their editing skills from a 13 year old gamers YouTube tutorial on their Atari.

Not a course I'd be interested in but certainly the case studies that might feature, the salient tales, the PR disasters & advice/redemption stories would be fascinating to sit in at the back of a lecture hall on.

Nokia6230i

Ukrainian Culture Market is on THIS Sunday the 1st of October from 11am til 5pm in the Exchange @ Potato Market in Carlow town centre.

Organised by Ukrainian community, Ukrainian cafe & Methodist Church.

Bake Sale for Ukraine, Ukraine music, national food, workshops for the kids.

Nokia6230i

Folks am I out of the loop or is, for example, €9 for a cocktail not mad money; vodka & a bottle of orange I think it was (Britvic I think) tonight in an establishment in the town............and €6.30 for a Rockshore (Cider).........it's €6 in another establishment & €5.75 in another; all town pubs.

I know there's a lot of variables like overheads, excise, wages, investment, licencing, rates etc. but that's off the scale to me.

Any wonder Wetherspoons/Tullow Gate cleans up; pizza & a pint is 10 Euro I think.

I'm practically teetotal from one end of the year to the other & but for I was in company wouldn't go near a pub; those prices don't exactly encourage me.

I presume the 5 Euro Cider is only a pipe dream much less 5.50?

Ivefoundgod

Fairly average prices these days in town, €9 for a cocktail is actually cheap enough. Its not all the pubs though, Diageo and Heineken have upped their prices several times in the last few years which is why pints are €6 most places. Guinness is €5.50, not long ago it would have been €4. Until the breweries drop their prices I'd say we'll have to get used to it. I don't go out at all really either so makes no odds to me generally unless i'm at a wedding or some sort of event.

Nokia6230i

Courtesy crossing gone in at the Little Barrack St. end of Barrack St.; people were crossing there anyway instead of walking back down/up a few metres to the traffic lights either side all the time anyway so this way it makes it slightly safer.......if pedestrians realise it works both ways & they have to stop & look & try make eye-contact, almost request a driver to stop; it's why it's called a courtesy crossing.

Separately a local Cllr. was at an event today; handing out his calling card like snuff at a wake; you'd know the locals are coming up relatively soon; the time for shaking babies & kissing hands is nigh..........

doughef

Any idea what is happening to the Capuchin Friary ??

Agent Coulson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121186710#Comment_121186710

It was bought by a publican who by all accounts is going to turn it into accommodation.

I'm not religious however I always loved there little chapel it was just such a peaceful place and the Capuchins were just very genuine men to chat with it's big lose for the town.

Nokia6230i

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121190568#Comment_121190568

Spot on; features on page two of this weeks paper albeit it refers to "The purported new owner of the Friary, a well known businessman....."

Carlow F&RS said that it had not been asked to carry out a fire inspection at the Friary...............A spokesperson added that the fire service would monitor the situation if the building becomes occupied.

Am wondering does this mean there was, or wasn't, a fire safety certificate in place when the Capuchin Friary Monks were on site & it wasn't in compliance with fire safety regulations such as Fire Safety Acts 1981 & 2003 (as named in the article) along with various pieces of building control legislation?

Property was put up for sale in May this year through Thomas M. Byrnes Auctioneers/Estate Agents on Dublin St. & sold in August.

It's a 3 storey Victorian building incorporating an earlier campus dating back to the 1700s & it is designated a protected structure; much like the Freemasons it's unlikely many of us will get to see much of it or ever have beyond the Oratory due to it having been private property for decades, centuries even; it was a bank before the Monks came to town also so again that would've been ground floor only for customers.

But the building already has seven en-suite bedrooms; were there 7 Monks remaining when they vacated it & sold up? Or 14 or somewhere in between?

Multiple storerooms which will be needed for luggage I'd imagine, kitchen & a dining room (may need to be knocked through if adjoining depending on how many're going to reside there) and the former chapel (Oratory is what I'd call it).

Dublin St. is becoming Ukrainian St.; this will be third such accommodation centre there; am surprised no enterprising Taurus type shop has opened up; Taurus was in Castlegate; the end unit there & sold mainly non-Polish but Eastern Europe products; maybe Moldova & Polonez fill that gap sufficiently though.

Good to see new life coming to Dublin St. anyway; two big hospitality & retail units need occupying now too; Coolanowle & Hanleys for Men right beside each other; one's for sale, other's for auction; can't remember which is which.

doughef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121191798#Comment_121191798

Wicklow publican makes sh*t of Carlow town so …

it appears he wasn’t content with demolishing one of the oldest buildings on tullow st, he now wants to turn it into a ghetto.

Nokia6230i

Local TD calls for funding for St. Clares Hospitality Centre/Soup Kitchen in Budget 2024 https://www.carlowlive.ie/news/home/1314445/local-td-asks-taoiseach-for-funding-in-budget-for-volunteer-run-soup-kitchen-in-carlow.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1cKWTPLiqucNehO_6WK59D5NTQK_g512QfSD0fwe9cTNx7psY2MeHYj8o

Now imagine we'd a TD in Govt., in an actual Govt. party whose policies've led us to needing a soup kitchen in the first place & whose party could actually do something to eradicate the need for such centres..................oh wait now.........!!!

People in this town, county & constituency have horrifically short memories; it'll be shown next May at local election time & sure as I expect "Team Jen" to get back in because she has her syncophantic odious fanboys & girls on & off line locally who won't call out her being a TD in a Govt. which causes austerity & can reduce, eradicate it even depending on their policies which she supports; our local media too need to get tougher; there's no reason not to; they've no other competion so she'll needs our radio & print media; BEAT is no good for constituency TDs.

Joint worst FF TD in Carlow in my lifetime.

Nokia6230i

Councillors raise tweaking of CW 1 & CW 2 frequency & other issues https://carlow-nationalist.ie/2023/10/06/frequency-of-bus-service-needs-to-be-increased/?fbclid=IwAR3wpJG1No6kZH31eBcVJTYI4ioJZtFAEz6AbzzV7TFEsZcINK64SN42KLg

mickeybrowne1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121186710#Comment_121186710

I saw a photo on social media recently with beds put inside looks like some kind of accommodation but for who??? I did personally see a couple of lads going in and out there

doughef

I’ve heard since it’s for Ukrainians :(

Agent Coulson

I wouldn't care who the accommodation is for to be honest myself.

The whole thing is just games for a couple of local millionaires buying up the town and making more money and they don't care who goes into it all they care about is who will actually guarantee the rent payments go into the their bank accounts and right now that is the Governemnt & EU funded refugees.

A decade ago the Polish were being blamed for the lack of accommodation and for getting everything for free.

Nokia6230i

Family friendly Samhain Festival event hosted by Visual in grounds of Carlow College on Sunday evening the 29th of October with 2 shows; 7 O'Clock & 8:30pm; tickets're 6 Euro https://visualcarlow.ie/whats-on/mobius-by-rogu-visual-carlow?fbclid=IwAR1t7QC-_lI74te7LDSAgTPYK5ODSJQCroCfFFwNCfAB0QWn7mlvgFph7uM

Have no recollection of it from last year but will take their word on it; looks good anyway & since Scarefest @ Haymarket few years back I don't think there's been anything organised that's not Bounceland in the Exchange?

Nokia6230i

Back in June of this year ABP approved SETU Carlows dome; a condition was it had to be deflated from May-September; depending on how that's interpreted it means 3, 4 or even 5 months.

https://www.planningalerts.ie/list?cref=cw57FA80884BC69F702333073EFD001094

"SETU said there was precedent for year-round air domes, citing Connacht GAA’s facility. On this point, the inspector for An Bord Pleanála said a permanent structure would be more appropriate if SETU wished to have use of a facility all year round."

https://carlow-nationalist.ie/2023/07/07/setu-gets-green-light-to-install-carlows-first-air-dome/

So SETU had another go this past couple of weeks to amend the ABP condition for all year round use https://www.eplanning.ie/CarlowCC/AppFileRefDetails/2360215/0

Submitted on Friday the 29th of September; Invalidated Tuesday the 3rd of October..........!

No f*****g about with the planners on this occasion; were SETU Carlow being a bit sneaky in this or'm I missing something?

Nokia6230i

Berlin Hair Salon withdraws change of use planning permission submission https://www.carlowlive.ie/news/home/1320092/popular-hair-salon-in-carlow-submit-planning-application-for-new-premises.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1CagIOm7YeX2hEiUvEYQNeJFLRSXQyyPJ7udPGDXFE5mJ9yhmOMZS6Dgw

Nokia6230i

External investment, and perhaps ownership reqd. to preserve Ducketts Grove as per Carlow MD meeting https://carlow-nationalist.ie/2023/10/13/call-for-talks-with-opw-to-renovate-ducketts-grove/?fbclid=IwAR0hYnA_uGW0g0B3_A_5A9Nin3Rz3fFJ8fJjQVir40Td8108PVxF0ICSZSg

Nokia6230i

New Nail Bar has opened in Carlow town @ 1, Kennedy St.; The Nail Parlour https://www.carlowlive.ie/news/home/1322364/carlow-town-welcomes-new-nail-salon-as-they-open-their-doors-this-week.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2xdqM7HCtD8ViRvJIpYcNE1yywYOi3AdfzuZ2OUDn60rUqtEgrsKdtNu8

Agent Coulson

Ducketts Grove would cost millions to renovate & restore and I doubt it would generate those millions back from being a tourist attraction.

RossGeller

Still problems with those new traffic lights at Hanover by Aldi. Had a near miss there yesterday.

Shamrock Plaza traffic lights also bad.

byhookorbycrook

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121235282#Comment_121235282

I've had this debate with lots of people. Most agree that it should be left as is. I would, however, start making a lot more use of it. Hallowe'en is an obvious one, party games etc, for children at dusk. More vintage events, fill the shop units, set up a permanent orienteering trail or similar around the grounds. Advertise it properly, there are literally bus loads of tourists whizzing by on the motorway from the Guiness Store House to Kilkenny. All the tourists I've brought there have been totally blown away by it.

Isthisthingon?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121247718#Comment_121247718

I would be in favor of restoring/ securing/ utilizing what buildings are left and opening them up. I think you could even open up / make secure the main house as an outdoor concert venue - imagine what it could look like at night light up. Reading a bit on the nationalists - apparently there are tunnels under the house? Also if memory serves me correctly you could pay to go up to the tower but that is stopped now.

On a much longer scale, the house could indeed be rebuilt/ refurbished - Kilkenny castle effectively was bit by bit.

Either way its Shoot or get off the pot - the work that has been done will only fall back to disrepair if not acted on.

Be well and win

Council would get rid of Ducketts grove tomorrow and hand it over to the OPW if they could. They simply don't have the money to invest in it and to turn it into a proper destination tourist site would cost millions. The gardens, cafe and craft shops are nice but not mind-blowing.

Nokia6230i

Four years after opening in Carlow Wetherspoons're pulling out & selling up; Cork city pub, the Linen Weaver on Paul St. & Waterford city pub An Geata Arundel on Arundel Sq., in their stable're also on market through Savills as well as a Galway premises which never began trading but has planning permission for licenced premises & restaurant trading.

https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/local-news/wetherspoons-pulling-out-cork-carlow-27931587?fbclid=IwAR1YrE-jIJb9LSIiU8bKRYcWjtcyn9e6HjBXf0uhLYO0SqOfRe522oePhJk

Update on story from Carlow Live/Iconic News https://www.carlowlive.ie/news/home/1326079/popular-pub-in-carlow-goes-on-the-market-after-only-four-years.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3zA1oNdvDZwk8uzsG0G65UaSqLbLF1S8FYI6edohbN0hvbvyiyvrGngd4

(Remember some local politicians & their hangers on, fan boys, fan girls & various social media gurus, Insta Huns, influencers etc. were front & centre when it came to town; some even cut the ribbon........sycophantic oafs who'd go to the opening of an envelope.......)

Bog Man 1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121235282#Comment_121235282

It was bought by career building public servants that then moved on and left the council with a millstone . While I admire the building it serves very little useful purpose for the people . The Gardens are a credit and a nice place to wander but the edifice serves no purpose except as a backdrop to nice garden and countryside . The rebuilding cost would be €1000 / sq ft . The resources and energy to restore it would far outweigh the potential benefits . The rebuilding and development would not fit in with the carbon neutral future being proposed to us . How would the thousands of punters needed to make it economically viable be conveyed to it in a Carbon neutral way . The sites use as a leisure shopping area is probably not going to generate the footfall in the online world . If someone made a Netflix drama featuring it as a backdrop it might lead to footfall .

byhookorbycrook

I disagree that it's a millstone , I'd prefer a ruin than another golf hotel etc. Kilkenny Castle was never ruined to the extent that Ducketts' Grove is and it is very much on the tourist trail.

Be well and win

Harsh and cold reality is that the council don't have the money to upgrade Ducketts grove and unless the state pays for it, it will never happen. You can't compare 900 years of history in Kilkenny Castle with a couple of hundred years of history on a much smaller house owned by a rich family. Houses like Duckets grove are all over the country, especially after the War of Independence when many were burnt down

It does need a tidy up and could be used as a base for some events but if I was a tourist in Carlow and was taken to the Dolmen first and then Ducketts grove, even after it was done up, I'd find it a bit of a let down

Isthisthingon?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257766#Comment_121257766

You raise some interesting points,

1. I agree fully that the money and therefore will is not there by the council so it is unlikely to happen. I think the ' clean up and make safe/ safer' option is the only real runner.
2. I merely raised Kilkenny castle as an example of what can be done. OPW stepped in and rebulit it and are still doing so short of the 4th wall. Portumna castle is also being effectively rebuilt ( and is worth the visit) . I'm not sure what relevance 900 years vs a few hundred years brings to whether a building should be refurbished or not, its the amenity itself which is now in public hands that should be judged on its merits . After all Duckets grove is on our doorstep and is carlow history, granted not as glamourous as a castle but short of rebuliding carlow castle which even I concede is pie in the sky stuff , duckets grove could be our ' Kilkenny castle'
3. Only recently I took a friend of mine and his family to see the dolman. it is nice to see but once you've seen it , that's it. To be fair to the council the path is well laid out and signage and parking is good. The problem is that you are in effect looking at a huge boulder on top of smaller boulders, the irony here is that given its the largest of its kind in Europe, the archeological significance of the dolmen is lost or underrated but unfortunately I don't think there is much more you can do . They loved duckets grove because of the grounds/ playground and general building and history behind it.
4. Carlow doesnt really have that landmark attraction that so many other towns and cities do, whereas in the south east you have Kilkenny castle and the medieval mile & the Viking Triangle in Waterford .