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Castlebar Cyber News
Castlebar Web Site in the Future
What should a town web site look like? In the long run we can see that a town web site like this one could become a very useful routine, everyday thing. Already some of us check our e-mail first thing every morning and then a couple of more times during the day - even in Castlebar where this means dialling up on an ordinary telephone line - only a few of us are lucky enough to be hooked up online all day long. It is likely that more and more of us will check our personalised web site on a daily basis. We will use the Web to obtain all those routine bits and pieces of information and entertainment that we in the Information Age like to have at our fingertips. The kind of stuff that at present we mainly rely on newspapers, TV guides and dictionaries for; or hear on TV and radio - this will all become routinely available via the web. As more people come on line web sites will be all things to all people. In the case of small(ish) towns such as Castlebar, there is a chicken and egg situation, however, for the webmaster and content providers. It's simple for a one-topic site which has a potentially vast audience - we just provide every last piece of information that you could imagine about your favourite rock band or computer game or programming language. Then the site becomes a great hit and attracts big banner advertising quids and everyone's happy. But here we are talking about local community issues and providing a wide blend and balance of material which will suit both ex-pat Castlebar and Mayo people and those living in Castlebar. We know that the ex-pat Castlebarites appreciate some information from home - this is reflected in the correspondence that comes into the site. At present the penetration of Internet into Irish homes is quite small so providing the weekly cinema listing for the County Cinema is not going to affect the number of people going to the cinema in Castlebar very much. If, however, we don't make an attempt to start providing basic bits and pieces like that, the rate of growth will not be as fast as it might otherwise be.
It is obvious that we are still at the early stages as we now reach the end of the 20th Century - just like the pooper scooper was 98 years ago. We may not be able to see where this roller coaster is heading to in the long-term. But it may be worthwhile being in the vanguard. With the Information Age Town award Castlebar is already a little ahead of the posse. But if we rest on our laurels we'll be passed out real fast!
Castlebar Computer Boost
The availability of approximately 1500 computers at a knock down price will help to boost Castlebar's Internet presence in the immediate future - and we are looking forward to a big jump in local Castlebar internet traffic to this site as a result. These computers are being subsidised by the £1M Information Age Town prize won by Castlebar last year. This is part of the overall Castlebar Information Age Town Committee's strategy to boost Castlebar's Information Age profile and to bring investment into Castlebar. The schools computers and Internet hookup, courtesy of Telecom, will give a great boost to this town and every other Irish town also.
Sound Footing for Site Future
The site has been a hobby thing so far, run on a voluntary basis. This is likely to change in the near future. To maintain it's long term viability it is necessary to have more local people working seriously on the content. We intend to start an active programme in this area shortly also using some of the Telecom Eireann Information Age £1M prize fund. A proposal was submitted to Telecom in October 1997 detailing plans for this aspect. The details are being ironed out. We hope that this will improve the quality (to an even higher standard than at present, of course); but we also hope that the community basis on which it is built on will not be swamped out by commercialism. Sure, the commercial aspects are very important. But if we put the cart before the horse and don't build on a solid community foundation this site could just end up sterile and uninteresting. We know everything isn't perfect at present - it takes time to keep things up to date and hooked together smoothly - which is difficult on a part-time amateur basis. Nevertheless we hope that even at present there is enough here to make people come back and to attract new surfers. We have great plans for the future using experience gained over the last year - you ain't seen nothin' yet! Commercial advantage will arise naturally if the site becomes one that people want to have a look at regularly for basic information about Castlebar - whether they're in Castlebar or abroad or elsewhere in Ireland.
Any comments? - via guest book or by e-mail.
We have passed the 50,000 mark with requests from over 50 countries
Doras recently awarded their prestigious 5-shamrock award to the Castlebar Web site. Castlebar's very own domain www.castlebar.ie is now serving Internet requests at a rate of over 300 per day from around the world. Over 23,000 successful requests have been served from the site in the first three months of 1998. Since our web statistics began in June 1997 to the end of March there were over 50,000 requests from all over the world. The graph is climbing steadily with 9,500 hits per month in March. These requests have come from 1,100+ different Internet Hosts around the world and over 50 countries.
The Country Hit List
Choose a country around the world and there seem to be people interested in Castlebar there. We have had hits from at least 52 different countries. Take your pick from North to South:- from Sweden to Australia, Norway to South Africa. From East to West:- Canada to the Phillipines; Neighbours:- like Greece and Turkey, India and Pakistan, Israel and Egypt or Singapore and Malaysia. Baltic countries:- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Indeed all of Eastern Europe seems to be knocking on our door:- Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Macedonia and Yugoslavia. From hot to cold:- Indonesia to Iceland, and Costa Rica to Finland. Hot to hot:- Brazil to Bahrain. High up :- Austria and Switzerland; and low down countries:- Netherlands and Belgium; Island nations:- such as Cyprus, and incredibly, there are even Castlebar people out in the Indian Ocean- Patrick Rogan from Glenhest is married in the Seychelles!. We have oriental visitors:- Japan, Taiwan, South Korea. They even look at our web site in Middle Eastern sultanates and emirates:- Oman and UAE and way down under the New Zealand Antipodeans have a look - there are a few kiwis in Castlebar though (hi! to the Bucktons). our most recent new country is Uruguay. Of course most of our web site hits come from our own native Irish, and emigrants in the USA, UK, Canada and European Union country from countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Italy. That's over 50 countries mentioned! Finally, there are the virtual nations from exotic domains such as dotorg, dotnet, dotedu, dotcom, dotgov and even dotmil (US military). Now why are the US military interested?!
What's in a Name
We had to fight hard to get the pure www.castlebar.ie domain name in the first place - Castlebar is one of the few towns to have managed this. Most other towns were not allowed to register the town name without some qualification. It was achieved thanks to the great co-operation between the UDC and the Castlebar Chamber of Commerce and the magnificent community effort for the Information Age Competition. Now we need to build on this to keep it up to date. So get on-line at home or in the Information Age Centre on Ellison Street (it's still there) or Castlebar Library and have a look yourself. Written contributions of all sorts are welcome to help keep the site up to date and interesting. They can be e-mailed to info@castlebar.ie
Castlebar wants you!
Submit Your CV to the Skills Register
The Castlebar Chamber of Commerce and the Information Age Town Committee is now putting together a Skills Register aimed at promoting new industries in Castlebar.
Castlebar Library Online!
Castlebar Information Age Bid
Castlebar Business Directory
Castlebar Old and New
The Arts - music, cinema, galleries, writing, etc.
Mayo County Council's Arts Programme
The Linenhall Centre
Castlebar Pantomime
Film
Writing and Literature
- The Chip and the Writer: a short piece from Michael Mullen, Castlebar's most prolific author, which was included in Castlebar's CIAT submission.
- Mayo's Writer in Residence, is Vincent Woods, poet, playwright and
ex-journalist. Vincent works in multimedia, using music and visual arts to
enhance the written word (At The Black Pig's Dyke).
Visual arts etc.
- Regular exhibitions in the Linenhall Gallery
- John Coll is Mayo County Council's Arts Officer. Current projects include O Cheann go Cheann - a major artistic undertaking involving secondary schools in Mayo. Hundreds of beautifully crafted heads in celtic style each representing the individual mood of its creator - sad, happy, bemused, etc. - very impressive to see the output from a full class. The grand finale should be something. The project was outlined on Cursai Ealiona recently together with many of the other arts projects being undertaken as part of Mayo County Council's arts programme.
Sports and Leisure Activities
Community Interest
Media
- Radio
- MWR FM
- Radio na Gaeltachta
Newspapers
Connaught Telegraph
Education and Training
- National Primary Schools
- Secondary Schools
- Third Level
- Training / Adult Education courses to take in Castlebar
Health
Places to stay when in Castlebar
Events
Local Government
Environment
Agriculture
- Area Aid forms due in by 15 May 1998
- General Agricultural Background
- Country Markets
- Agricultural advisors - Teagasc, Davitt House,
Philip Farrelly & Co, Church Street
- Farm Development Service, Davitt House.
- Irish Farmers' Association. Ellison Street, Tel: 094-23489
- NCF - North Connacht Farmers' Coop, - Stores off Moneen Road, Springfield.
Other Castlebar and Mayo Sites
Since our counter was last mysteriously reset you are Visitor Number:
50,000+ Requests served between
June 1997 and 31 Mar 1998
Thank you for your visit.
Visit again soon - this site changes quite regularly so hopefully it will be worth your while coming back again. Enter your e-mail address to be notified automatically when this page is updated.
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Additions and corrections gratefully received.
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