I’m a big fan of Brendan O’ Connor. I’m a big fan of his television work, his easy way with guests on his former Saturday night show covering items of frivolity or high seriousness. I’m a big fan of his Cutting Edge series where he elicits all manner of insight from a wide array of… Read more »

So, there I was the other day leafing through The Guardian trying to look cool when I happened upon something very interesting. It was an article by Kim Stoddart which touched upon a few ways in which gardening, in the U.K. at any rate, is slowly but steadily developing an appeal for younger generations. Now… Read more »

It’s never dull round my way.  A look across my desk this minute reveals a lovely array of projects at various stages of development. Some are mere ideas taking some sort of shape, some are designed and ready to go, some are ongoing, some are wrapping up. Then there’s the pile of miscellaneous bits and… Read more »

So that’s a wrap for another year. Last Tuesday saw us complete the breakdown of the Bloom 2017 garden. A process which began before Christmas when the initial submission invitation e mails started to arrive culminated in the past week with the careful dismantling and relocation of all the elements of the garden to the… Read more »

Wherever you stand ideologically on wind turbines there is no denying their epic presence. I’m thinking primarily of the commune of turbines which was constructed in, what is essentially, the middle of the bog in Mount Lucas, Co. Offaly a few years ago. Pretty much wherever I go in my van in the midlands I… Read more »

In my mind Portmarnock had glory days. In my mind Portmarnock was in its pomp back in the nineteen eighties. This is due primarily, I’m sure, to the Carrolls Irish Open as it was then. The Irish Golf Open was held at Portmarnock links course back then, when tobacco companies sponsoring prestigious sporting events didn’t… Read more »

It’s a funny old designed world all the same. The next you go to a performance in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre I urge you to stop and have a good look around the, eh, toilets. Yep the jax. And to enjoy the spectacle in all its glory be sure to do two things; a)… Read more »

So, we have reached the end of our leg of the project. Last Wednesday we had the Multi- Denominational blessing in the Cemetery and reception in St. Vincent’s Hospital to mark the culmination of the Community Education strand of the work in St. Mary’s Burial Ground, Ballintubbert Road, Athy. I call it a strand because… Read more »

So, what do you know about hyperlocalism? Not much, if anything. Well in that case you are in the same boat as I was in up until last Saturday. Last Saturday night at about quarter past nine when most fully functioning adults are out in pursuit of some form of real world alcohol related cultural… Read more »

When I lived in America there was a popular SUV on the road, the Toyota Sequoia. At the time, being young and misguided, I didn’t know what a sequoia was, what it meant. I presumed, just from the pronunciation and spelling of the word, that there was some Native American connection. Anyway, long before I… Read more »