New Mayor of South Dublin County Council

At the Annual Meeting of South Dublin County Council held on Friday 19th June, 2009, at County Hall, Tallaght, Councillor Mick Duff (Labour) was elected Mayor of South Dublin County. Councillor Paddy Cosgrave (Lab) was elected Deputy Mayor of South Dublin County. Read the full Press Release
Courtesy:South Dublin County Council

Disabled must be given equal digital rights

Depriving visually impaired people of access to books is but one illustration of the need for copyright law to be rewritten, writes DANNY O'BRIEN

TWO DECADES ago, hardly anyone but a handful of intellectual property lawyers paid much attention to the letter of the copyright law. Now, like it or not, we’re all caught up in the fight over what copies we can make, how, and for what purpose.

Every act of creation or communication online seems to make some copy that we need to double check isn’t infringing. Can we copy our CD collection onto our iPods? Can you stop someone from forwarding the e-mail you sent them? Is someone ripping off your website? Your idea? Or are you copying their idea? Everywhere you look, it seems, copyright law looks in need of an overhaul. Read More

Celebration of Bealtaine: The Festival celebrating Creativity in Older Age

On Monday 18th May 2009 at 11.00 am in the Big Picture (located beside the last Luas stop in Tallaght) Mayor Marie Corr will launch South Dublin County Council and Connects contribution to Bealtaine, the festival celebrating Creativity in Older Age. Bealtaine is co-ordinated by Age and Opportunity, the national organisation working to promote greater participation by older people in society. The name "Bealtaine" comes from the ancient Celtic festival of that name celebrating springtime, freshness and renewal. Todays event was organised by Connect in partnership with The Social Inclusion Unit and Community Services Department of South Dublin County Council.
The population of the County in 1994 when the Council was established was approximately 208,000. It now stands at 238,835. As part of the celebration of Bealtaine, Connect and Community Services Department today announce the winners of a photographic competition, and launch two films. The photo competition concerns the theme of Positive Images of Older People in the Community, and received over 100 entrants, detailing the varied and full lives lead by older members of our community. This was also the theme of the two films, concerning the clients of Trustus, (formally known as Tallaght Welfare Society) in Tallaght, and Liscarne Court in Clondalkin.

Contact person: Su Clarke
01 414900 ext 3380 / 086 6063688

BlueZone equips buses for Internet

While local companies' offers of putting Wi-Fi on our trains may yet to come to fruition, bus travellers will soon be able to enjoy free Internet access thanks to technology from Wexford-based company BlueZone Media.
Using a bluetooth enabled mobile phone, travellers on a range of bus routes can now check their Facebook, read news and send and receive e-mails.
The service will be rolled out early next month on a number of coaches from Cork company Butler Buses and will initially benefit those on their chartered and sight-seeing tours. Read More

Courtesy: RTE News

Digital media bucking the recession

Companies located in Dublin's Digital Hub expect to create a total of 250 jobs this year, a growth of 25% of the present combined workforce. That's according to the second annual Enterprise Survey of Digital Hub companies published by the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA).
The survey was conducted last March amongst the companies located in The Digital Hub, the Government enterprise and regeneration project in Dublin's South West Inner City.Its findings show that Digital Hub companies are expected to grow strongly during 2009, with almost 54% expecting to expand their operations. This is in stark contrast to the general Irish economy, where only 19% of companies expect to see workforce growth this year. Read More

Courtesy:RTE

Over 2,000 Students Take Part in SciFest 2009

More than 2,000 secondary school students are due to participate in SciFest 2009 over the next two weeks as schools from around Ireland exhibit almost 900 science and technology projects at 14 Institutes of Technology nationwide.

SciFest is a one day festival of science, which includes a competition and exhibition of projects, a selection of science talks, science demonstrations in the college laboratories and a prize-giving ceremony.The programme aims to encourage the pursuit of science through an investigative approach to learning and to provide an opportunity for students to display their scientific discoveries.
203 local students took part in the Dublin event which took place today at DIT Kevin Street with 97 projects on display in total. Read More

Courtesy: RTE

Bealtaine Festival 1st - 31st May

Bealtaine is the national festival celebrating creativity in older age. Over 55,000 people took part in Bealtaine in 2008, making it one of Ireland’s biggest arts festivals.

http://bealtaine.com/

From dance to cinema, painting to theatre, Bealtaine showcases the talents and skills of both established and first-time older artists and performers. It is a chance to make new and challenging work, a chance to communicate traditions between the generations, a chance to delve a little deeper into a new area of understanding. Bealtaine creates the space to discover talents until now unseen. Read More

No Grey Bin collection on Bank Holiday Monday

BALLYMOUNT CIVIC AMENITY
CENTRE OPEN ALL DAY

South Dublin County Council is very sorry that some householders have not had a black bin
collection service in recent weeks. We hope that everyone’s bin will be collected, as normal, this week. Thanks to the fortnightly green bin collection, householders are really reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. A lot of households only put out the grey bin once every three weeks. There will be no grey bin collection on the May Bank Holiday Monday or on future Bank Holidays. Householders are asked to put their bin out on the week before or the week after bank holidays from now on.

No Bin Collection on May Bank Holiday

Courtesy: SDCC

Dell no longer top selling brand in Irish PC market

DELL HAS lost its long-held number one spot in the Irish personal computer (PC) market following its decision to cease manufacturing in Limerick with the loss of 1,900 jobs over the next year.
Provisional first-quarter data from market research firm IDC shows that HP is now the biggest- selling brand in Ireland with Dell in the number two position.
Dell’s years as the number one exporter from Ireland boosted its local sales and it was the number one brand here at a time when it could not replicate that feat in other European countries.
The data show that PC sales in the Irish market collapsed in the first three months of this year, with just 124,835 units being shipped,
a drop of 37.9 per cent compared to a year ago. Read More

Courtesy: Irish Times

Arts & Culture Week at the Big Picture

April 20 -25th 2009

Artist’s films and multi-media projects from South Dublin County Council’s
Per Cent for Art Programme, In Context 3.

Short films, photographs and website projects from South Dublin County’s innovative public art programme will be on show for a week at the Big Picture, the new multi-media exhibition space in the heart of Tallaght.

Entry is free and all the films and photographs will be on view continuously – just drop in to see a selection of these exciting projects. The artists worked closely with the people and landscapes of South Dublin County – so look out for familiar faces and places!