Current committee stepping down on June 9th 2007

jwt · 01-05-2007 4:33pm #1

On the 9th of June the current committee will resign their positions in
IrelandOffline.

The current committee has been running for nearly three years and took
IrelandOffline to new heights and professionalism.

However it has been a long and tiring road and the current committee
feels that now, with massive changes in the market, it is time for new
fresh and invigorating blood to take up the reigns and lead
IrelandOffline to greater successes.

The committee would like to thank the previous committees that lead
IrelandOffline and in particular thank the volunteers, members and forum
posters who contributed to the current
successes of IrelandOffline.

Between now and the 9th of June the committee would like volunteers for
the new committee to step forward either in public on the forum or in
private by email. In the event of no one stepping forward the committee
will then vote to dissolve IrelandOffline.

In that event a number of steps will take place to ensure the privacy of
member mailing lists etc which will be detailed in public should the
need arise.

Regards

John

Vice Chairman IrelandOffline

Slaanesh · 01-05-2007 5:30pm

*Loud applause*

Well done to all.

smellslikeshoes · 01-05-2007 7:13pm

Very big shoes to fill. Fair play to the current committee for their fantastic work.

lucernarian · 01-05-2007 8:06pm

They've left a big mark on the Irish internet landscape, with IO being the main source of unbiased information on the provision and access of competitive broadband to the media.

Comreg, however, have only hindered consumers and IO in the last 2 years IMO (e.g the most expensive line rental in EU). ComReg have also completely ignored IO's many press releases and treated the committee and the organisation with utter contempt. And in the face of the passive-agressive crap, the committee still built up a significant media presence. Something Comreg couldn't replicate.

I hope that John and Damien will continue to enjoy the success that IO had on many occasions. My best regards.

dahamsta · 01-05-2007 8:34pm

Well done to ye all for the nth time. I hope people will step up to the plate to take over, as I believe there's still plenty of room for a pressure group in the area. And the last thing ye want is some tit as interim chair again.

adam

oscarBravo · 01-05-2007 8:44pm

I'll echo the sentiments above, particularly with regard to Damien's and John's future success. You and the rest of the committee have done a sterling job over the past few years.

It would be a shame if no-one stepped in to carry on the fight, as it's far from over. Having built up a superb media presence, it seems only right that the work should continue.

Xennon · 01-05-2007 9:05pm

Bravo!

FunkyChicken · 01-05-2007 10:00pm

Good work guys

watty · 02-05-2007 8:13am

Great work lads.

But there is certainly more to do!

bk · 02-05-2007 8:35am

Great work guys, you all did a fantastic job.

surveys · 02-05-2007 3:17pm

dahamsta wrote:

Well done to ye all for the nth time. I hope people will step up to the plate to take over, as I believe there's still plenty of room for a pressure group in the area. And the last thing ye want is some tit as interim chair again.

adam

Well done Damian and all the Committee. We all owe you a massive thanks for the work you did which literally got us on the internet map. Goodness knows where we would be without your considerable efforts on our behalf..

No doubt the 'Tit' referred to above was only doing his best as well. ?

jwt · 02-05-2007 9:48pm

surveys wrote:

No doubt the 'Tit' referred to above was only doing his best as well. ?

dahamsta was the 'tit' errrr interim chair

dahamsta · 02-05-2007 11:19pm

Mmmm, tits.

ChrisJefferies · 03-05-2007 6:40am

Thanks for fighting for us...

surveys · 03-05-2007 8:46am

jwt wrote:

dahamsta was the 'tit' errrr interim chair

Blaster99 · 11-05-2007 7:45pm

It sounds like Ireland Offline will be committee-less in a few weeks and therefore presumably defunct. In the event that this is the case, are you taking down the forum and site?

clohamon · 11-05-2007 9:38pm

If Minister Dempsey is still in place, he will make hay with this.

damien · 13-05-2007 11:27pm

Blaster99 wrote:

It sounds like Ireland Offline will be committee-less in a few weeks and therefore presumably defunct. In the event that this is the case, are you taking down the forum and site?

Very valid point. I think it might be good to leave the forum in some form, no matter what happens. The community around the forum has shrunk massively over the past few years but there's still a good one here.

Fergus Cassidy · 14-05-2007 4:45am

It's been a remarkable journey from the IOL No Limits fiasco, which, lest we forget, was only six years ago. That carry-on was the catalyst which brought people together to form IrelandOffline.

A lot has changed since then and while there are many who still can't get broadband, I've no doubt whatsoever that the current situation would be much worse if IrelandOffline had never existed.

There were difficult times but there were significant victories along the way as well.

Supporting IrelandOffline (as much as I could) was always important. The internet is a radical technology and anything standing in the way of access to it has to be removed.

Now that there is some light at the end of the broadband tunnel, it seems to me that there are newer, fresher obstacles appearing. Not as big a blockage as broadband access, but barriers nonetheless.

The quality of service from many ISPs is atrocious. 12 month locked-in contracts; arbitrary and extremely punitive download caps; price gouging; filtering by ISPs and prohibiting use of VoIP are just some of the issues. From other threads on Boards, I've seen an increase in frustration and anger caused by ISP behaviour.

'Stop complaining, haven't you got broadband!!!', seems to be the mantra of many of them.

Perhaps the time has come to consider forming a watchdog organisation to engage with the ISPs, taking them on when necessary. Such a group could also maintain a watching brief on the broadband roll-out situation.

It would be a fitting evolutionary path for the great work carried out over the years by everyone involved in IrelandOffline. Well done and thanks.

Fergus

dahamsta · 14-05-2007 7:02am

Fergus Cassidy wrote:

It's been a remarkable journey from the IOL No Limits fiasco, which, lest we forget, was only six years ago.

Six years, and the company still hasn't a clue.

rahtkennades · 14-05-2007 8:01am

Fergus Cassidy wrote:

It's been a remarkable journey from the IOL No Limits fiasco, which, lest we forget, was only six years ago. That carry-on was the catalyst which brought people together to form IrelandOffline.

A lot has changed since then and while there are many who still can't get broadband, I've no doubt whatsoever that the current situation would be much worse if IrelandOffline had never existed.

....

Now that there is some light at the end of the broadband tunnel, it seems to me that there are newer, fresher obstacles appearing. Not as big a blockage as broadband access, but barriers nonetheless.

.....

Perhaps the time has come to consider forming a watchdog organisation to engage with the ISPs, taking them on when necessary. Such a group could also maintain a watching brief on the broadband roll-out situation.

It would be a fitting evolutionary path for the great work carried out over the years by everyone involved in IrelandOffline. Well done and thanks.

Fergus

All,

To be honest, I'm pretty new to the whole IO thing, so my comments must be taken with this in mind. I must also say that I wouldn't be able to do the job myself, so hats off to the current committee.

In terms of broadband access, I can see where Fergus is coming from, assuming that you actually have broadband. But it's also obvious that there are large swathes of the country that have no broadband, and as has been shown since the announcement of the 'National Broadband' scheme, there will continue to be large swathes that will never get broadband.

I think that it would be playing straight to the hands of the lazy politicians and civil servants if IO effectively disbanded or morphed into something else. Their m.o. for most things seems to be to starve the dog, then throw him scraps, and wait for him to lick the master's hand with gratitude for whatever he gets.

There is certainly a case for a 'consumer watchdog' to police the sometimes shabby implementation of broadband services, but there is surely also a role for a group to campaign for actual nationwide coverage.

I know there's no shortage of good ideas out there, and there are certainly more experts in the broadband field reading this forum than there are in government.

damien · 28-05-2007 9:42pm

jwt wrote:

Between now and the 9th of June the committee would like volunteers for
the new committee to step forward either in public on the forum or in
private by email. In the event of no one stepping forward the committee
will then vote to dissolve IrelandOffline.

So far, one person has emailed us asking about this. Any other takers?

flogen · 29-05-2007 6:34pm

damien.m wrote:

So far, one person has emailed us asking about this. Any other takers?

Damien - you hardly expected people to jump at the chance of heading up an organisation like IoffL unless it paid well, did you?

You seem quite keen to get out the door yourself - not anything to do with the eircom job I heard you were offered, is it?

viking · 29-05-2007 9:58pm

flogen wrote:

Damien - you hardly expected people to jump at the chance of heading up an organisation like IoffL unless it paid well, did you?

Just looking back on Damien's and John's posts and clearly neither of them asked for anyone to head up the organisation, in fact they clearly state that "volunteers for the new committee" are required. If and when a committee is formed then a chairman (or woman) would be chosen from the committee.

IOFFL is a voluntary organisation without ANY funding, so no salary or remuneration is offered. Its funny how when the last committee (and all previous committees) put themselves forward as volunteers there was no pay on offer yet they still put themselves forward?

flogen wrote:

You seem quite keen to get out the door yourself...

Christ, the guy is 3 years at the helm of IOFFL, the longest serving chairman and arguably the most hardworking and you describe him as "keen to get out the door". You're having a laugh right?

flogen wrote:

Not anything to do with the eircom job I heard you were offered, is it?

Jaysus, if thats true then he's probably the best man to sort out eircom from the inside... what job was he offered?

dahamsta · 29-05-2007 10:53pm

CBO, arf arf.

flogen · 29-05-2007 11:46pm

viking wrote:

Just looking back on Damien's and John's posts and clearly neither of them asked for anyone to head up the organisation, in fact they clearly state that "volunteers for the new committee" are required. If and when a committee is formed then a chairman (or woman) would be chosen from the committee.

Well the committee itself heads up the organisation, doesn't it? The chairperson doesn't had complete power over its direction.

IOFFL is a voluntary organisation without ANY funding, so no salary or remuneration is offered. Its funny how when the last committee (and all previous committees) put themselves forward as volunteers there was no pay on offer yet they still put themselves forward?

Maybe times have changed and people are less charitable.

Christ, the guy is 3 years at the helm of IOFFL, the longest serving chairman and arguably the most hardworking and you describe him as "keen to get out the door". You're having a laugh right?

I'm not having a go at his work over time or saying he aught to stick around forever - just saying since he made the decision to step down he's been very keen to make the move quickly.

Jaysus, if thats true then he's probably the best man to sort out eircom from the inside... what job was he offered?

Not certain on the exact title but if what I've heard is true (and I've no reason to believe that it's not) it's far from a tea-boy position.

jwt · 30-05-2007 10:06am

Hardly quickly, it's been under discussion for 9 months, the last 6 months agreeing when the committee should step down. The current date was agreed once the General Election date was set so as not to conflict with that and that any new volunteers would have an idea of who would be in power and what Ministers were doing what.

As far Damien wandering off to eircom, it's news to me.

For all of us IOFFL has cost us money. No-one has made money from this. Taking time off work, travel expenses, phone bills etc all add up. TBH I would guess I have spent a few thousand euro all in all over the 3 years and thats ignoring loss of revenue on days where I could have been makng money but was attending meetings etc.

On the other hand I have made some good friends, useful contacts and learned a lot. So for me it's been a break even imho.

John

dahamsta · 30-05-2007 11:05am

Lies, lies, lies. We all know ye all did it for the money and the hoors.

watty · 30-05-2007 11:37am

The biggest issue for me is time. I just don't have any. I'm 100% behind what IOFFL is trying to do, but I feel if I was on the committe I'd only be apologising all the time for doing nothing. However hopefully the "day job" helps.

damien · 03-06-2007 5:31pm

Heh. I'm not joining eircom. Nor BT. I'd have loved that ComReg Broadband Manager job though but the person who I believe got it is dead on and should do a good job though doing it under ComReg rules might not get the results we all want.

ALTO might be getting back into the fight though. Heard they have had a change of staff in there.

Well, with 6 days to go it seems IrelandOffline will now fade away. It's been fun. Ah well.

Boston · 03-06-2007 5:40pm

Flogen, shut up.

Sorry to see this go. I remember when it started up, I was one of those esat people.

Current committee stepping down on June 9th 2007

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