Irish blogs

SUNDAY TRIBUNE -- Ed Power went surfing into the blogosphere, returned with a "Big Read" story and somehow failed to find the active Irish blogosphere during his research. Instead, his three page article in the Sunday Tribune magazine exposes Belle de Jour and Bitch, Ph.D. while giving Irish blogs short shrift as being "less radical" and "monosyllabic musings" of a geek world. Is he pointing the finger at Sean McGrath, the longest-running Irish blogger? Or cryptic Brian Greene? Has he read EirePreneur or Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day or looked at John Smyth's stunning photography? Power judges that "Irish blogs ... mull over technology's bleeding edges (and) deliver a palpable sense of the future unfurling." That could be a thumbnail description of our technoculture seen through the kaleidoscope of Irish blogging. Speaking for myself, Irish blogs form part of the Long Tail. They recommend things that enable me to venture confidentally down the Tail into what would otherwise be a bewildering array of choices.

John Fay told Power, "I don't think blogging can have a big impact in Ireland, yet, but someday it certainly will." I think there's an strong undercurrent in the Irish blogosphere already and it's a shame that a Sunday magazine item doesn't share that conclusion.

The evidence is in my Irish Bloglines--the saved content from those Irish authors reveals a wealth of knowledge much more substantive than the pass-around chatter cited before in articles about blogging. Here's a short snapshot of a dynamic realm that helps to generate my weekly column for the Irish Examiner as well as keep the reading material in my academic courses relevant:

• Tom Murphy's PR Opinions has 16 items waiting to be incorporated into the Public Relations course I teach in Tipperary Institute.
• Antoin O Lachtnain's economy of words delivers a better signal-to-noise on important elements of our technologically-dependent world than any mailing list, discussion board or formal proceedings in Ireland.
• Diego Doval gives me books to read and code to consider.
• Patrick O'Beirne saves IT managers time and money with his tips on best practise.
• Diego Doval saves me gobs of time and money through his concise and exacting book reviews.
• Micheal O Foghlu often uses his posts as shortcuts to important industry events.
• Gavin Sheridan does the same with expensive magazines.
• Dick O'Brien covers everything important written in the Irish Independent so I can avoid buying that title.
• Richard Delevan does the same for the Evening Herald.
• Dervala Hanley holds sway as the best Irish essayist online.
• Justin Mason beats the drum against software patents.
• Janine Dalton illuminates the working world of Irish web development and her sister thinks penguins rock as does Caoimhe.
• Liam Noonan offers a sneak peek at his PhD research as he slaves away programming network processors.
• Feargal McKay slips in enticing information about Sigla magazine, along with sophisticated analysis you would normally find in The Guardian or the Observer.
• Vicky Lee Wei Kay collapses technology across more than 12 time zones and three languages.
• Bernard Michael Tyers continues yammering about coffee, which I take as a hint that I owe him a cuppa.

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Ed Power --- "The blog revolution and how it changed the world" in the Sunday Tribune Magazine, 6 Feb 05.
Bonus Link: Bloglines results for "Ireland"
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Comments

[John McCormac]

I was reading through the Sunday Tribune and Irish Times articles and both seem to have just glanced off the outer surface of the Irish blogosphere. Some of it could be down to the blogosphere evolving in parallel with the normal web from a search engine point of view. Journalists are used to researching articles using Google and other search engines but many blogs don't show up well in the noise of the normal web because bloggers are often more concerned about getting their message across than placement in search results.

[(deletia)]

what do we need the papers for? blogging is gonzo-journalism, anti-journalism and DIY journalism all in one.

[Paqui]

My friend Lee is from Dublin, she's been living in Spain for the last year and now she's back in Ireland. She wrote in this blog about her experiences learning Spanish and travelling in Spain.
http://www.spanish-teaching.com/blog/Studentdiaries/Lee

[melissa]

PLEASE CROSSPOST TO ALL GROUPS INCLUDING IRISH CONTACTS

DANNY ON DEATH ROW AND IN DANGER!!! CAN YOU SAVE HIS PRECIOUS LIFE??

SWAP team have received this very urgent appeal for a gorgeous Boxer dog 'DANNY' who is on death row at Meath dog pound in Ireland. Please call Meath Dog Pound now - Peter Whelan- PHONE: 0035387 941 9866 if you can save his life.
DANNY IS ONLY THREE YEARS OLD AND IS VERY AFFECTIONATE. LET'S SHOW HIM THAT NOT ALL HUMANS BETRAY HIS TRUST!!
Please see the email below for full details
Many thanks SWAP team
'EVERY LIFE COUNTS'

From: Lisa.Kavanagh@friendsfirst.ie
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:38:19 +0000

Can you help?? If you can’t then can you please please take 2 minutes to
pass this on to everyone in your contact list, someone might be able to help.
This little chap is Danny.
DANNY urgently needs a home! He is with Meath Dog pound and will be put to sleep if no home is found quickly!

AGE: 3 Years Old
SEX: Male
BREED: Boxer
LOCATION: Meath Dog Pound
DESCRIPTION:
Danny is a 3 year old male Boxer who was give up by his owner on January
22nd, 2008 . He is a very affectionate dog and is looking for a home where
he could be an indoor dog as he doesn't like to be kept outside.

Danny is not a fussy eater and will eat anything. Like all Boxers, Danny
needs plenty of exercise. He has a very good temperament and came from a
family with children.

If you can offer Danny the kind of home he wants and needs, please contact
the Meath Dog Pound directly.

CONTACT: Meath Dog Pound - Peter Whelan
PHONE: 0035387 941 9866
Many thanks