Ken McGuire

Author: Ken McGuire

  • Amsterdam In March

    Amsterdam

    I was away in Amsterdam for the weekend – great city. Heavily overrun by Scottish football fans for the World Cup qualifier on Saturday, but it’s a great city. I was last in Amsterdam around two years ago, some things have changed, a lot of things stayed the same which was a plus and a minus in itself. While we got to spend yesterday playing the complete tourist, including roaring my head off on a short rollercoaster spin through a dungeon, the weekend was good to disconnect, indulge in too much food, revisit a few restaurants I’d been to before, take in the sun and walk around Amsterdam until my legs ached.

    Fair play to Aer Lingus too… between a combination of putting the foot down and having the wind at their backs, we had two great flights out of Cork airport. Major kudos too to the Cork International Airport Hotel (blog awards hotel) who lay on a help-yourself continental breakfast from 3am onwards. Chocolate croissants at 4:30am never tasted so good.

    For those looking for the photos, there’ll be a bunch live on Flickr likely by this afternoon.

  • Short Film: Attic

    I mentioned earlier in the week that I’d been along to the premiere of The Suitors, the latest feature to be released under the Young Irish Film Makers banner (note: I’m on the board of directors). Prior to showing The Suitors on Monday night, two other short films made an appearance. First up was Sclever, winner of Caffeine, a recently-held 24 hour online film festival co-ordinated by the YIFM gang. Following Sclever was Attic, writting by David Galster and directed by Peter O’Connor.

    If we’re the older generation (not the oldest generation) of YIFMers, then these guys are part of the creme of the current generation when it comes to short film making in Kilkenny. The movie features faces familiar to fans of the Vultures series and was filmed on location in Kilkenny earlier this year. Check out the video above or watch it here on Vimeo (in HD).

  • Pushing DineToRead.ie

    Library
    Creative Commons License photo credit: lgbsneak

    The internet is a great device. Growing up, it was a place to get online, spend hours talking to randomers via ICQ (I still remember my number vividly), the old IRC chat on IOL and knocking together pages on Geocities or Fortune City. That’s what it was for me anyway. Books went out the window, sport went out the window and I immersed myself in the world of the web.

    Flash forward the guts of fifteen years and people are moving away from the web. When I say people, I’m moving away from the web. Sure enough, the chats still take place online, but more often than not, they’re carried on into the real world. Those initial conversations are bringing people together, getting them in large fun-filled rooms for the likes of the Blog Awards and the Irish Web Awards. I’m all for sites that create something in the offline world. We do it ourselves at Kilkenny Music when it comes to running the One Take Sessions in Kilkenny.

    I’ve heard of these dining nights, the couply ones. Pay 70 or 80 Euro, get a call in a few weeks about an invite to get a group of four guys and four girls around a table to “see what happens”. For some people it’s friendship, for others it’s more. It’s not for me. Speed dating is not for me either. No offence to their sister company either, apologies.

    However, Dine to Read is something I would consider as, by the sound of things, your ensured of great conversation and the chance of a good night out. Plus, it’s not going to completely break the bank at 45 Euro when you’re getting dinner thrown into the mix as well. And – you’ve got something to come back to as well.

    DineToRead.ie blends the online and the offline. They’ve got an active online community who love to discuss books, but they’re working at taking the conversation online and putting real people together in a room, over a meal (the supper club), to continue the conversation. For those who prefer to immerse themselves in a book at night (sometimes not by choice), maybe they’ve got difficulty meeting people or finding out where people with similar interests hang out, now they’ve got the chance to get out and about.

    Each month, ten people are invited to get together in a particular restaurant, to chat about the books they’ve been reading or the current book of the month. The next offline event takes place at Viña Mara in Galway where the discussion will be about Aravind Adiga’s ‘The White Tiger’. You can register for free online to enjoy the forums and get chatting straight away. Registering online also gives you access to the online booking and payment should you choose to attend a night out.

    Nights are held Monday to Wednesday in Galway, Dublin, Cork and Waterford.

    If you’re an avid reader, looking to broaden your circle of friends and maybe even get fed in the process, visit DineToRead.ie

  • Mobile Movie: Mankind Is No Island

    I attended the premiere screening of The Suitors in Kilkenny last night, the latest in a long line of feature films to get produced by Young Irish Film Makers. This morning in my inbox (via YIFM) came this gem, Mankind Is No Island. The above short was filmed entirely on mobile phone in New York and Sydney and was the winner of Tropfest 2008, the world’s largest short film festival (so they say). Tropfest NY 2009 takes place this coming July.

    You can also get a sneak peak at The Suitors, here.

  • Wing Your Way To A United Game for the Irish Society for Autism

    Keith nudged a few of us about a charity auction taking place for the Irish Society for Autism. I’ve done the road trip to a Premier League game. I’ve taken the bus to Dublin, got the ferry, the bus to Liverpool, spent silly money on taxis, the bus back to the ferry, the ferry trip itself, the long road home…

    Forget that.

    Solicitor to the stars, Gerard Keane has provided a prize of a chauffeur-driven trip to the airport, a private jet to Manchester, overnight accommodation, match tickets to *any* Manchester United game at Old Trafford between now and the end of the season and the same chauffeur and private jet home.

    Bidding on the prize closed out yesterday at €1,200 and to make a bid, you’re asked to email Carl at carl@reviseonline.ie before the auction closes on Sunday coming at 8pm.

    Keith’s original post…

  • Am I Getting Closer To An iPhone?

    iPhone 3.0 OS

    I managed to remain reasonably disconnected over the weekend thanks to the multitude of other things happening in the real world but did get to catch up with the announcement of the 3.0 version of the iPhone OS. I can usually be found with three mobiles on my person at any one time, plus my iPod Touch, and an O2 broadband dongle not far behind either. My primary handset (N95) is due an upgrade in the next few weeks and I’m starting to wonder am I getting closer to picking up an iPhone.

    The N95 is a workhorse of a phone, for me in particular. The 8 gig internal memory is chock full of photos and videos thanks to the 5MP camera within. Every few months I clear 2-3 thousand text messages. Every now and again I fire off a QIK video. But it’s the browsing that lets me down. I’m just not fond (outside of QIK) of using data applications on the N95 which, for the most part, surrounds the likes of Twibble (for twitter) and the mobile browser. Where possible (read: in a wifi area) I’ll switch to the iPod and pull my mail, tweets and everything else there.

    The ideal situation is to pick up an iPhone and have it unlocked, jailbroken, call it what you like. It would need to juggle a few sim cards but out and about act as the holder for my O2 data sim, in the process saving me from hitting three different sims with three different data charges.

    So with a new spotlight, the ability to copy and paste without a third-party app, 3G tethering for using the iPhone as a modem, a landscape keyboard, added Bluetooth A2DP support, MMS (welcome to the party, Apple), push notification for IM apps and a whole lot more.

    Of course, I’m not surprised to see Apple charging $9.95 for iPod Touch users to get the OS (hell, they charged us for the MacBook Pro firmware upgrade for wireless N) but when the OS lands, I’m guessing I’ll be another step closer to picking up an iPhone.

    Check out details of the iPhone 3.0 SDK here.

  • Tinkering With Muzu.tv

    I’ve been enjoying some downtime since Friday afternoon and until Wednesday I’m on self-imposed exile from the office, something that doesn’t come along or take place all that often. I endured a long drive to Sligo on Friday, sang my head off at a gig on Saturday, listening to all the Premier League action on Newstalk on the drive home on Sunday and today has been spent dedicating some much-needed time to extending the arms of Kilkenny Music.

    There’s a lot coming up for KKM in the coming weeks and months, including the launch of a busking competition we’re running, with over €3,000 in cash up for grabs. Before the weekend, the One Take Sessions kicked off for 2009 and while the first of the videos hit YouTube from a McDonalds at the Kilmartin N6 centre outside Athlone on Friday, today saw some tinkering with Muzu.tv.

    I’ve been doing a lot of viewing on the site, in terms of videos, but have only now gotten around to shifting content onto Muzu. I must upload the videos in a higher quality (mental note) next time around but I’m liking it so far and hope to use it as another strong portal for the artists and acts we’re putting through the ‘Sessions for 2009. Also, you won’t have any problem watching “official” music videos on Muzu, unlike the news hanging over Youtube in the last few days.

    By the way, if you’re looking for some free music from some great independent Irish acts in April, join us in Cleere’s Theatre in Kilkenny on Thursday April 2nd at 9:30pm.

  • Tuesday Push: MyMunster.com

    Stringer doing what he does best!
    Creative Commons License photo credit: danid330

    The latest Tuesday Push is for rugby social networking site, MyMunster.com which allows you to chat and share views with other Munster rugby supporters, view club photos and videos, get the latest news and get your hands on some Munster goodies and match tickets through competitions. They’ve also got their own blog where this evening I learned that Peter Stringer has finally been elevated to the pitch for the Six Nations clash against Scotland in Edinburgh this weekend.

    When people think hurling, they should think Kilkenny. When people think rugby, they’re likely to think Munster, such is the success of the club in recent times (also spotting here that 12 of 22 of the panel for the Irish game ply their trade at Thomand Park).

    When there’s such a vibrant offline community and “family” for Munster supporters, it’s good to see an online source getting developed for fans of the club at home and abroad, considering it’s also being developed in association with Munster Rugby. Word has you can also hit the site during game time for updates and notes on games as and after they happen and if you’re a Twitter user you can follow MyMunster here.

  • Tis The Season For BarCamps

    Tis the season for BarCamps, surely. Tomorrow I’m off to BizCamp in Dublin where I’ll join in the region of 200 other entrepreneurs, freelancers and free thinkers in the first business-focused BarCamp to be held here (nice to see another “themed” BarCamp running). Registration starts from 9am tomorrow and with the early train leaving Kilkenny pre-7am I’ll be hoping to make breakfast in Dublin. Talks are scheduled for between 10am and 5:30pm ish and there’s a draft schedule here.

    BizCamp Limerick follows on March 21st for those who can’t make Dublin tomorrow (it being “sold out”) or are looking for another helping of talks from more business people. The Limerick session is being held in UL and at time of writing there are currently 71 attendees and 19 speakers registered.

    Two events that I’m going to miss (will be out of the country) are the ACE (Awakening Creative Entrepreneurship) in Derry running March 25th – 27th and OSS BarCamp in Dublin on March 28th which runs in DIT’s Kevin Street Campus. While all the speaker slots have been filled, if you’re interested in going to OSS BarCamp, leave a comment on the attendees list.

    Finally, in April we’ve got BarCamp Belfast coming up. I haven’t been to Belfast since August 2006, catching Steel Pulse in the Andersontowns Leisure Centre (what a gig!) and it will be good to get across the border and meet some more web heads for the weekend. It’s going to be held in The Black Box on Saturday April 25th and already there’s over 110 signups, the makings of another great day.

    The best thing about all of these events is that they are free.

    If you’re looking to get out and meet some likeminded people – business types, designers, web heads, geeks, startups, entrepreneurs and more – then get yourself to one of these events because that’s where you’ll find them hanging out.

  • Live Blogging Irish Dragons Den

    Live blog for the Irish Dragons Den, Thursday March 5th on RTE 1 at 10:15pm.

    Full URL: http://www.scribblelive.com/Event/Dragons_Den_Ireland_S01E03

  • Kilkenny Open Coffee, Tuesday March 3rd

    Kilkenny Cafe

    We’re down a few regulars (regulars being those who were at the first two gatherings) but Kilkenny’s third open coffee is set for tomorrow, Tuesday March 3rd at 11:30am.

    The venue, as on previous days, will be the Kilkenny Cafe at Market Cross Shopping Centre, High Street, Kilkenny. Check IGOpeople.com for more.

    Each of the previous mornings have seen new faces introduced and hopefully tomorrow will bring more of the same. If you’re involved in the tech / web / a startup or want to come along and meet people working in those spaces then join us tomorrow morning from 11:30am.

  • Jason Roe on RTE News (Video)

    I was looking for this during the week (having missed the initial broadcast). While Ryanair are still in the headlines over charging people to use in-flight toilets, last week it was all about the comments flaring upf on Jason’s blog.

    Video here.

  • Creative Entrepreneurship UnConference for Derry

    ACE Awakening Creative EntrepreneurshipI like creative things. I like creative people. I like people who get up off their arse and start something, creative or otherwise. So it’s great to see word of the Awakening Creative Entrepreneurship UnConference hitting Derry at the end of March. With recent BarCamps, CreativeCamps and Unconventions hitting Belfast, it’s great to see another UnConference heading North, this one taking in the full weekend of March 25th to 27th.

    What is it?

    “Awakening Creative Entrepreneurship [ACE] is a collaborative unconference, a showcase, and a multi-track Creative BootCamp for creatives, business leaders, support agencies, students, developers, technology providers, and VCs looking to develop and/or discover the next big thing. ACE revolves around a multi-track creative business development programme which offers the opportunity to win on several levels – for traditional businesses, support agencies, and creatives alike! ”

    Speakers over the weekend include Edward T Colligan (CEO at Palm), Andrew Shorten (Platform Evangelist at Adobe), Sean Melly (Chairman of PowersCourt), Brian Kelley (Senior Advisor for Deutsche Bank), Greg Rewis (Creative Suite Evangelist Worldwide at Adobe), BarCamp favourite Martha Rotter (Microsoft Ireland).

    The Official Blurb

    “The technology world will converge in the North West from 25 to 27 March when Silicon Valley comes to Derry/Londonderry for the ACE UnConference, which has been funded through the Arts Council’s Innovation Fund. The not to be missed three day UnConference for Creative Entrepreneurship will see senior figures from the world’s leading creative technology and communications companies visit the region including Palm, Adobe, Powerscourt, Deutsche Bank, Nokia, Microsoft and DemonWare among others. The delegate driven industry event provides an opportunity to showcase the talent of local creative industries and will act as a platform for local entrepreneurs to access global expertise within an open innovation environment. Tickets for ACE are free, and with demand expected to be high, it is essential you register your interest to avoid disappointment.”

    I found more on it here or check the official site for details .

    Booking & BizCamp

    Tickets are FREE so if you’re thinking on heading along, book now before it winds up like BizCamp – sold out. There’s no way I’ll make it to Derry on the weekend (giving a course in Kilkenny on the 26th before heading out of the country) but I will be at BizCamp for the most of the day on March 7th. Registration for that is closed but if you’re in Dublin for breakfast on the day, let me know. Rumour has there’s breakfast nibbles on offer.

    Registration, however, is open for BizCamp Limerick. If you’re around on March 21st, get booking for that too!

  • Tuesday Push: Tuesday Push

    Pushing
    Creative Commons License photo credit: Valerie Everett

    Some say you should crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, look before you leap. On a Tuesday, it’s nice to push before you’re pushed. The Tuesday Push is a chance to shed the light on a company or service in Ireland, introducing those getting the push to the Irish blogosphere, tech readers, blog readers, tech journalists and the public at large. As the site itself says, it is “a way for the small but growing tech community in Ireland to make some noise about ourselves by picking a good example of an Irish Tech Company and highlighting their product(s) every second Tuesday”.

    While it’s nice to see companies getting “the push”, it’s nicer still when they push back. It’s all about the community involvement. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Or in this case, it’s technology startups in Ireland helping each other out. Since it’s launch last year I’ve managed to push a few of the names including Twitter Mosaic (Sxoop), DownloadMusic.ie, IGOpeople to name a few.

    One of the great things about the growing tech community in Ireland is just that, the community. The spirit is seen in blogs, comments, through Twitter, LinkedIn, referrals, BarCamps, PodCamps, BizCamps, CreativeCamps and the likes. We’re great at helping each other out, which is why Tuesday Push is a great initiative for having the community highlight the rising stars within.

    Of course, not everybody can get featured. The service in question has to be unique, has to be new, has to be different. Not sure what I mean? Check here for details.

    I’ll keep on pushing where and when I can. Maybe some day I’ll need a push with something. But I’ll keep pushing because it puts another mark on the map for Irish tech companies. And it’s not only me that’s doing it. Dozens of great posts have been written about the ten companies featured since last July, across dozens of blogs, who have hundreds of readers each… do the maths.

    Request a Tuesday Push here.

  • Up Close With a Twitter Mosaic Mug

    My Twitter Mosaic mug arrived in the post yesterday evening. If you’ve not yet seen one and wondering what the buzz floating around the Irish Twitosphere was in the past week or two, check the video or read my last Tuesday Push post.

    Update: Neville Hobson (@jangles) has another video review here.

  • Surprises and Familiar Faces at the Irish Blog Awards

    Blogging in the lobby of the 2009 Irish Blog Awards hotel in Cork

    It’s back to grindstone this morning after a great weekend in Cork at the 4th annual Irish Blog Awards. Whether you’re nominated for an award or not, it really has become one of the “must attend” nights of the year in Irish web circles. The extra perk for me was in representing The Devious Theatre Company who had been shortlisted for Best Arts & Culture Blog, the gong going to Fiona of Pursued By A Bear.

    I had debated on Twitter all my transport options – train, bus or drive via Waterford or via Clonmel, turns out the best way (suggested by Bernie and Mike) to get to Cork from Kilkenny is heading out the Urlingford direction. You don’t get into Urlingford but hop on the M8 a few minutes outside the town, motorway all the way to Mitchelstown, a hop skip and a jump on the N8 before linking back up with the M8 into Cork. If going down was quick, coming back was great, leaving about 12:30pm only to be sitting in the Newpark for lunch by 2:10pm. One of the top roads the country has to offer at the moment.

    I’m hoping the 5th ‘Blog Awards return to Cork. My God, that hotel is great. Quirky, funky design, great rooms, great staff, great selection of 90s music playing in the restaurant, top notch food (had dinner in the restaurant) and they were willing to let 300+ bloggers and friends have the run of the entire downstairs for the night. There aren’t many places who would do it! Then again, was there anyone staying in the hotel that wasn’t there for the awards? I’d heard at one stage that 130 of 150 bookings were for the awards, with only 2 rooms in the hotel by midnight. If it gets announced for Cork again, get the bookings in early! Plus, breakfast rocked the following morning as well and I’m looking at staying down there in May before heading away for some foreign wedding celebrations.

    Across some of the categories I felt there were a few surprises, a few blogs I also didn’t know or read (yet) and one or two firm favourites coming to the front. Nialler9 made it three-in-a-row for Best Music Blog (can he make it four, or do you duck out after three as others have done?), Blacknight bagged Best Blog of a Business, Trust Tommy nicked Best Newcomer and Suzy Byrne took the gong for Best News/Current Affairs Blog before going on to scoop the Grand Prix prize for Best Blog.

    There were recognition awards too for Brian Greene and Damien Mulley, without whom nights like the Blog Awards just don’t happen.

    I did manage to avoid the dancefloor and resist the temptations of giant Twister (rather adamantly), spending part of the second half of the night swanning (sitting) around the lobby. The expanse of the hotel did make for a different atmostphere. Compared to memories of 2008 and 2007, things seemed a lot more spread out, creating a much relaxed atmosphere as things got later into the night. People were able to find their own corners, start their own conversations and take their own space.

    It was great to catch up with the usual suspects of Darragh, Darren, Niamh, Deb, David, Liz, Anto (I DO know Anto), the Belfast connections of Phil, Andy (proper pintage next time around), Keith and more besides with Niall, Campbell, Jason, Robin, Conn, Johnny (who I didn’t get back to after, sorry!) and everyone else I managed to get to say hello to in the run of the night before sneaking off about 1am. Also, after two years of looking to say hello to the man it was high bloody time I said hello to Pat Phelan (and cheers Keith) who had his snazzy Google phone on display. I want! If you’ve heard about the intro videos, but haven’t yet seen them, they’re all available now in glorious technicolour. Surprised to see my own face in one of them… grrr.

    Some great conversations, some great introductions – not as many as I would have liked to have made or had but such was the scale of this year’s event that it really was hard to get to everyone you wanted to see. That said, I’m going along to Bizcamp in Dublin on March 7th for the day where hopefully I’ll get to catch up with a few more people.

    A full list of winners in each category and links out to all nominated blogs can be found here.

    Update: more links to come in a bit…

  • Kilkenny Alive Launches

    Kilkenny Alive, launch edition

    I mentioned earlier in the week that Kilkenny Alive was on the way. Conor O’Neill reckons it’s the future. I reckon it’s a good start, there’s (hopefully) a lot more to come and hopefully too it’s going to stick around.

    KilkennyAlive.com is the latest addition to the media ranks in Kilkenny. Conor also makes a good point – if your business isn’t online these days, it’s headed for extinction. In terms of delivering a newspaper, this is harsh reality and something that traditional media folk need to get moving on. Despite the ups and down the Voice Group had with the Kilkenny Voice newspaper, I still feel one of the reasons they didn’t succeed is that after three years on the go as a printed publication, there was still no website. For as long as I remember (and I was at the launch of the Kilkenny Voice as well), it was a holding page for some registration company before disappearing completely.

    A newspaper needs an online presence. Just like a magazine needs one. A radio station needs one.

    With the demise of the Voice in Kilkenny, we’ve got two printed titles in circuilation – the Kilkenny People (only ABC rated paper) and the Kilkenny Advertiser. Both of these papers are operated by groups. The Kilkenny People, while recently being touted as being up for sale, is under the control of Johnston Press while the Advertiser is part of a larger network (Galway Advertiser, Mayo Advertiser, etc.).

    Decisions that impact the way these papers operate online have to be fed all the way back up the chain. All the Advertiser sites look the same – sure wouldn’t they have to when you’ve got a brand to promote. The Kilkenny People site, while functional, is lacking. Lacking content, lacking a decent looking design (this being my opinion). With Kilkenny Alive, we’ve got something different. The “newspaper” is the site. They’ll have their journalists, their photographer and they’ve got a strong team behind it all in the forms of Jimmy Rhatigan, Sean Hurley and Mark Brennan. It’s an independent publication that has a strong chance to shape its own future and do something constructive online in terms of news delivery for Kilkenny city and county.

    Though they’re only up and running to the public since yesterday, there’s some good content on the site. Breaking news will roll as and when it happens (unlike the other papers who are still “edition” based) and it does, with news from yesterday afternoon and the draw for the McCalmont Cup appearing just after lunch today. Yes, Kilkenny Alive is also publishing a Wednesday “edition” but there’s also talk of a free PDF download of the weekly editions, there are currently RSS feeds available for individual categories though you won’t see this from the front page at present.

    I’m sure there’s plenty more to do for the site in terms of improving visibility, titles, URLs, seeing them indexed in Google News etc but the main thing is, it’s launched, it’s available and I do hope it lasts. Maybe they could take a leaf out of the book of the Munster Express, another solid online resource from an independent publication in the South East.

  • Irish Blog Awards: Technology Bloggers

    The short lists for the Irish Blog Awards have been announced thanks to the trojan work being put in by the judging group for 2009. On average each blog shortlisted was scored by seven judges. Having seen KilkennyMusic.com and my own blog here drop off at the long list stage (i.e. not shortlisted), I’ll be delighted to “fly the flag” for Kilkenny as The Devious Theatre Company have been shortlisted in the Best Arts and Culture category.

    The top drawer of Irish technology bloggers this year contains

    As in previous years, each individual shortlist has turned up some gems. There’s some regular appearances by certain blogs in their respective categories again joined by several new faces, a great indication of growth in blogging in Ireland and the quality of output of those blogs.

    I’ll be in attendance at the Awards myself on Saturday night and I’m staying over in the hotel so there’s

  • New Online Newspaper For Kilkenny Launches This Week

    The Times are Changing
    Creative Commons License photo credit: Edgar Zuniga Jr.

    “The countdown has begun to February 18, 2009 – A historic day for Kilkenny which will then boast Ireland’s first on-line provincial news paper.”

    Kilkenny Alive, a new online newspaper for Kilkenny city and county is set to launch this week. The paper, or site in this case, is being managed by Jimmy Rhatigan, former editor of the recently collapsed Kilkenny Voice along with Sean Hurley, both cornerstones of Kilkenny print media. I missed the launch of the newspaper on Saturday evening but caught up with Mark Brennan, who will look after the day-to-day running of the site, via email.

    The site itself should “keep a nice flow of content” while every Wednesday will see a new “edition” posted to the site. You can also get a PDF download of the weekly edition which will contain everything one would expect in a newspaper with news, sport, theatre, arts updates etc. There’s also talk of some “nice surprises” which I’m sure will be revealed from this Wednesday onwards. The site is being designed and run inhouse and will launch at KilkennyAlive.com.

    Given the loss of the Kilkenny Voice and some noticable content-shifts of late at the Kilkenny Advertiser (bring back your business section, please!), it will be interesting to see where Kilkenny Alive will go and what gaps it can fill in local media.

  • Gerry Adams On Music (and his iPod)

    KCLR96FM are a great bunch. They’ve had me on the air countless times over the last three years to promote everything from Kilkenny Music to the Blog Awards, PodCamp to Devious Theatre and beyond. I’ve had guest slots on shows on the station (used to do a regular gadget slot with them) and more recently was on air with Sue Nunn talking up the evolution of the mouse. So when I heard that Sue was going to have Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams as a guest on her show yesterday I thought I’d ask him a question – or have them ask a question for me.

    I missed the majority of the show due to this week’s PodCamp Podcast and was amazed to hear him still on the air about 11:50am, having gone live just after the news at 11.

    Anyway – the question was posed to him “from Carlow Music and KilkennyMusic.com was simple and completely (one would hope), non-political. “What’s your favourite band”.

    In his own words, here’s Gerry Adams talking up his favourite band, music and his new iPod, the clip provided to me by KCLR96FM. You can listen to On The Record with Sue Nunn Monday to Friday from 10am to 12pm, streaming live via KCLR96FM.com.

    [audio:http://www.kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/kclr_gerryadams_music.mp3]