Castlebar Chamber of Commerce

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Castlebar Electronic Commerce Centre

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Castlebar Computer Deal
Computers at Home
Check out the details
for Castlebar and Mayo Residents
Closing date 6 November
FAQ for computer deal eligibility

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The Future of the Information Age
The Future of the Information Age Towns' initiative was discussed at a day-long seminar in Jury's Hotel in Dublin on Monday 19 October 1998. All 46 towns who entered the original competition were invited to the seminar at which progress to date was outlined by the four principal towns and the future path discussed.
Ennis is due to launch its town web site over the next few weeks and no doubt, with £15 million available and some 12 months in gestation, it should be really something else! Killarney outlined their progress in the field of telemedicine and a wide range of other projects. Kilkenny have employed a full-time person to design and develop a Kilkenny web site and also propose a range of other projects.
Castlebar outlined the projects undertaken so far including the Clubs Computers Initiative (which is taking off steadily), Town ECDL (fantastic enthusiasm for this), and the long long awaited "1798-1998 Technology Race of Castlebar" aimed at increasing computer ownership in Castlebar at a proposed cost of some £200,000. Banging our own drum as usual of course, it should be noted, that the www.castlebar.ie domain has not yet been funded by the Information Age Town prize and thus, what you have been reading over the past 18 months since we began has been, and still remains, a purely voluntary effort, apart from ISP costs funded by the Chamber of Commerce. (plug - check out their new draft web site).
We are particularly proud of the fact that Castlebar remains one of a select few towns who not only managed to obtain a top level Irish national domain name, but also display it on their masthead - Malahide and Wicklow are the only other pure domain names that we have seen displayed to date. It is now some 18 months since the Information Age Town submissions were made in May 1997. Perhaps the meeting in Jury's will rekindle some of the enthusiasm and the £10,000 on offer from Telecom to all 46 towns will encourage a few more towns to spend £100 on registering their town's domain name. The main disappointment at this point is that so little of the promised funds has yet been spent, even though outline plans have been there since May 1997 on the competition closing date. The Internet has moved on a lot since then. Sure even Castlebar has e-commerce - way out here in the silicon bogs of the Wesht!!

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Computers at Home Project!
The Castlebar Information Age Initiative is to be widened to the whole of County Mayo. Households and businesses throughout Mayo will be eligible for a special price on new Gateway computers. The Information Age Committee announced full details of the scheme on 14 October. Castlebar Information Age Town Committee together with Gateway have come up with a keenly discounted prices for a range of Gateway computers from £715+VAT. In addition there is a special subsidy of £150 for those living within the Castlebar urban area.. A further training voucher (~£50) is also available for Castlebar residents. Hardware details are in the Connaught and by telephone from Gateway on 1800 200 099. There will also be a roadshow in the TF on Friday/Saturday 23/24 October. To obtain the subsidy computer purchasers must obtain an e-mail address with a recognised Internet Service provider (ISP). A number of finance schemes will also be available from institutions including the Castlebar Credit Union.
Having won £1Million last year in the Telecom Information Age Town competition, the committee is anxious to spread the benefits as far as possible in order to generate employment opportunities and increase the level of computer skills in the town. This scheme will account for a major portion of the prize fund.
Earlier schemes included:

• Information Age Centre (Ellison Street),
• Schools computers,
• Computers for Castlebar clubs and organisations,
• Castlebar ECDL project.

Other related projects include the running of the www.castlebar.ie web domain which has been done on a voluntary basis to date with ISP costs borne by the Chamber of Commerce and Castlebar UDC. The Microsoft Libraries Online! Project at Castlebar Public Library has been a wonderful success over the past year with online terminals fully booked during opening hours. The Dept. of Education / Telecom Eireann £10+£10 million schools IT project has also boosted schools' IT infrastructure in Castlebar as elsewhere. Castlebar is also the base for IT training of teachers in Mayo.

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Castlebar e-Commerce Centre
Check out the special electronic commerce section on the Castlebar Internet domain. e-Commerce is certainly the buzzword of late 1998. Find out a bit more by checking out the Castlebar e-Commerce Centre
We take e-Commerce to include a wide range of activities such as:

Simple listings and advertising on web pages such as the Castlebar directories
More expansive web sites with detailed product information and customer services
Interactive services for customers and feedback of valuable marketing information
Electronic trading where payment is made by credit card over the web on a secure server such as the Castlebar Domain's secure server.

This is a new and expanding area and it is difficult for many companies to appreciate both the opportunities and the competitive threats posed by the growth of e-commerce. The Castlebar Internet Domain will attempt to give Castlebar traders a first hand idea of what is possible today by offering some free services and demonstrations of electronic commerce in action. At present the Centre's activities include:

The Castlebar e-Commerce Centre offers free upgrades to the listings of Castlebar businesses and organisations already listed in our business directories.

We are setting up a register of Affiliate Companies for Castlebar-based companies and individuals who can provide Internet services such as web page design.

We want to stimulate Castlebar people to start thinking about the commercial possibilities of selling goods and services on the Internet from Castlebar.

We offer a consultancy service to Castlebar businesses and individuals who would like to go into a bit more detail.

Examples and Castlebar case histories are also included from time to time

Shortly we will include a demonstration web shop selling goods and services.

Read more about e-Commerce in Castlebar.

Plenty of Castlebar Hot Air?

Don't be intimidated - Try our new automated guestbooks/comment pages on the Castlebar site. Your submissions are registered instantly on the Castlebar site. There's great potential for a good row here - so dive in! To start with there are a few broad groups e.g. -

• Castlebar greetings,
• Castlebar Roots search,
• Computer problem solving - for Castlebar clubs and organisations especially,

To take part you simply navigate to the topic of interest (click the links above), register with the group by giving your name e-mail address and make up a password that you can remember when you come back again (don't bother about the other details and use a pseudonym if you prefer). You can post a message as a response to a previous query/discussion or you can post a new topic if you have something new or different to add. When you have registered click the underlined topics to read previous postings. Click the graphic "Post New Topic" or "Post Reply" to start a new topic or to add a message to an existing one. To post a message then enter your name and password followed by subject and text.

We haven't been getting a great response to these in comparison with the simpler system in use up to this - so it's up to you.

ECDL Comes to Castlebar

The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) is a European standard for competency in computers. Castlebar is the first town in Ireland to vigourously promote ECDL in a whole-town context. The Travellers Friend Hotel was packed out on Wednesday 17 Sep at the launch of the Castlebar ECDL Initiative which was promoted by the Castlebar Information Age Town committee. Interest in the initiative was very keen indeed following a full page publicising the event in the Connaught Telegraph. The presentation was launched by the County Manager Des Mahon and gave full details of what is needed to obtain your ECDL. The ECDL examination may be undertaken by anyone - there are no prequalifications needed. The ECDL covers 7 principal areas of computer usage - it is not too difficult if you have some experience already. There are a number of courses available in Castlebar plus a self-teaching CD-ROM for those who need to brush up or start from scratch Click for more on Castlebar and ECDL

Sean McDonnell runs his 20th Marathon

Sean McDonnell, the well-known building contractor in Castlebar, is running in the New York Marathon on the 1st of Nov 1998, in aid of Cerebral Palsy Ireland. If you wish to sponsor him please forward all donations to Sean Mc Donnnell, Spencer Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Ireland. This will be his 20th Marathon, and all donations will be greatly appreciated.

Help is at Hand for Castlebar Clubs and Societies Currently Setting up on the Web!
A major computer presentation ceremony took place at the Travellers Friend Hotel on Thursday 27 August 1998. Almost 50 clubs and societies received brand new Gateway computers under the Information Age Town Committee computer scheme. They are now setting up these computers and getting on-line in advance of establishing their web pages.
Over the next few weeks we will be providing tips and advice to those setting up web pages. A special web site offering help to clubs has already been set up here. In addition a self-help mailing list set up specifically to deal with getting your computer up and running and creating your web pages. This services are additional to the normal Gateway and Tinet help lines.
So join in the discussion group which allows you to request help from other individuals or to offer help in reply to such requests. It will take a while to pick up steam so give it a chance. Obviously the Information Age Committee will pitch in with advice also. Anyone can join - you don't have to be a club computer recipient. Further details

ANGLING REPORTS
Now that the '98 season is over read over the summers reports from the River Moy, Lough Conn, Lough Beltra, Newport River etc. See who caught what. Definitely something FISHY about this one!

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Hope you didn't miss these: Celebration of the Senses
The October Bank Holiday Weekend is heightened senses time in Castlebar. Benefit from that extra hour in bed when the clock goes back and stay up late at the Festival of the Senses. From Friday to Monday last weekend in October (23-26 Oct in 1998) Castlebar rocks for the Celebration of the Senses Festival. An event celebrating the five senses of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell through the medium of art, music, drama, dance, food and drink presented and performed by people of different nationalities and cultures. From Salsa Bands to Gypsy Groups to Piano and Flute Trios to Childrens Events, Food Tasting - check it out in Castlebar's autumnal setting - a truly multinational gathering takes place - the perfect pick-me up as we head into the winter months.

the big event - The 4 Days' Walks Festival - July 2 to 5 1998 - a great success this year again with thousands of walkers from all over the World.

If you missed this year's you can come next year which will be the 33rd year of the walking festival at Castlebar. Festival or not you can walk the beautiful Castlebar country side at any time of the year.
For one person's detailed account of her experiences on the 1998 walks.
contact Castlebar Chamber of Commerce for details.

Hope you didn't miss the Castlebar Blues Festival!
Bank Holiday May 29 to June 1 1998

Try this for size - umpteen useless and entertaining bits of info about Castlebar - there are some WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
new bits and pieces coming in to 'populate' this list all the time - get ready for this winters round of table quizzes - gen up on Castlebar trivia!

Use our search engine - this allows you to search through, e.g. all the old Parish Newsletters which are kept on the site.

A Mall by any other name - but this MALL is not a shopping mall - far from it - the heart of Castlebar!

Roots Search List

Visit Moore Hall and Lough Carra - experience the calm that is the West of Ireland

A web-site award!

Need a Place to Stay when in Castlebar?

Let us keep you up to date with a FREE automatic reminder when this page is updated. If you register with the free netminder service you will get an e-mail reminder every time this page is updated. It's a good service and can be used to track other pages on the Castlebar web site - or indeed anywhere on the WWW.

Read our most romantic entry on the guestbook

A quirky account of a flight from Castlebar to Connemara

For one person's detailed account of her experiences on the 1998 four days walks in Castlebar.

Read one person's view of what's worth seeing and doing in and around Castlebar while on holidays

• Let Castlebar help to find your friends and relations

• Castlebar dwellers - Please Help by Reading the Requests for information about Castlebar friends and relations. If you can help please forward information to those requesting it.

• Then read the guest book. (for general greetings, Easter Greetings, Mother's Day and Patrick's Day greetings) to see who else is out there thinking home thoughts from abroad.

• Remember that week by week the Parish Newsletter provides an ongoing record of life and death in Castlebar.

Wanted! e-mail addresses for the Castlebar E-Mail Directory.

Say Hi to
CASTLEBAR

Read the Castlebar Guestbook

Seeking Castlebar Relatives and Friends - can you help?

Let us help you find relatives and friends in Castlebar.

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