The Big Knit - Little Hats with an Innocent Twist

Up the Deise! The Waterford Colours!

Oh dear I have been such a dreadfully bad blogger lately but now I am on holidays for the next fortnight I have a chance to catch up with no real excuse. Nothing much planned as we are not going abroad on hols this year and we will probably go to Dublin for a few days. Meanwhile the weather is pretty awful - today's the August Bank Holiday Monday and it's a steady Irish Mist outside. Temps equally miserable - 14C - and I have been trying to cycle a bit more than I had been doing in prep for the50km leg of the Seán Kelly Challenge end of August. 

Enough excuses for my non-blogging. Reason for this post is to tell you about the latest crafty business I've been getting up to - a fundraising initiative for charity, namely the Innocent Big Knit for Age Action Ireland. This is my first year participating but it's been on before. The idea is to make little hats for Innocent Smoothie bottles and then they donate €0.25 for every hat and bottle sold. So it's a win-win- Innocent get to sell smoothies ethically and the buyers get a feel-good factor from a) buying a smoothie which is ostensibly good for you and b) supporting a deserving cause. There are patterns on the Website to download and you can join in and post them off by October 14th 2011 if you are living in Ireland - or the UK which has a similar campaign going on for Age UK

A selection to a few days ago!

The benefits for the knitters/crocheters are that creativity can run riot and imagination know no bounds. Plus a hat can be knitted up in no time - about half an hour for a knitted one and about half that or less for a crocheted one. Jany my d-i-l -to-be is a whiz crocheter and has made some wonderful ones, and a whole zoo of crocheted animal bottle toppers - and I've been doing a mix of crochet and knitted ones. There is some fierce rivalry on Twitter over the County Colours (GAA) and I've made a Deise colours hat in Blue/White while the Red/White one I made could be construed as being a Cork hat - or Where's Wally? - or the good old Labour Party red with a bit of white thrown in. You can follow on Twitter at the hashtag #BigKnit and @AgeAction, and on Facebook you can Like the Innocent Smoothies Ireland page here and the Big Knit page here

It's a great way to use up stash scraps, and anything goes - bobbles, tassles, flowers, leaves, beads, buttons, ribbons, you name it, embellishment is the order of the day and you can go with whatever takes your fancy. some of the members of the Tuesday Knitting Circle at the Lismore Design Workshop are knitting hats with great gusto, and Angela will post them all on her Facebook Page which you can check out and Like - here.

Where's Wally? (or Cork, as you prefer!)

Dennis the Menace!

So here are a few of the completed creations - there will be plenty more added to the Facebook and Twitter pages - and my own Twitter stream if you want to follow me @CatherineRotteM here. It's all good fun and the nice thing it they are so quick to do you don't have to set aside your own projects or WIP* to do these little hats - and Jany is great at making baby clothes for prem babies and little blankets for Project Halo which makes keepsakes and blankets for stillborn babies. One of the women at the knitting circle is also making these white blankets and they are welcomed by most of the maternity hospitals which prepare memory boxes for parents who lose their little ones during pregnancy. It must be a great comfort to these parents to know there are so many caring people out there who lovingly make these blankets and clothes. Irish Prems are closer to home and have a Facebook page here - they may be happy to have crochet or knit clothing and blankets too.

From Knitting Stash to Splash - Upcycling through the Recession

My new jumper

 I've just finished knitting this jumper from my yarn stash and am delighted with the result - it was practically a freebie as I bought the original jumper in Shaw's Dungarvan last year and found it didn't do anything for me - in other words I looked frumpy in it when I got home and tried it on. Of course in the shop on the hanger it looked grand and for €7 was a bargain too good to miss. So it was a bit of a disappointment to find it looked so awful on, adding decades to my already mature years! It languished on a hanger on my clothes rail (don't have a wardrobe, just a rail from Argos!) for about a year, till I was doing a charity cleanout and came across it. On mature reflection I decided to deprive the charity and upcycle the yarn. This entailed unpicking the seams and cutting ruthlessly into the jumper from the neckline down - and then painstakingly ripping and rolling the yarn into manageable balls. I probably should have washed and unkinked it but as it was a ribbon yarn it didn't really react like proper wool would have and had an impact on whatever I was going to make. So I just weighed the salvaged yarn and had 350gm. That's like 5x50gm balls so I felt very smug as that would make a jumper even though I couldn't save the top of the jumper from the V-neckline up.

Finished jumper detail

I had a plan to make a jumper like a cream one I had made earlier in the best celebrity-chef tradition - also a ribbon yarn and one I wear to lots of gigs here as it's so comfortable and quite smart to wear - you can see it in the photos in this post - and this lovely burgundy yarn was going to make another similar but slightly longer jumper.

I only started it about a month ago and kept it going between other projects to alleviate the tedium of knitting stocking stitch - or stockinette as the Americans call it. 

A ripping yarn!

 I was making Jaywalker Socks concurrently so that kept  me on my toes - no pun intended! These were a nice challenge and I was delighted with the results using the pre-patterned Lidl wool which is brilliant for socks - I  have about 6 pairs in the red and the blue colourways and I am making a pair now in the grey-black colourways. When I'm going on any long car trip as a passenger the socks are a great way to mitigate motorway monotony - bypassing every village and town on the road to Dublin is great to shorten the road but boy is it a dull trip! At least now there are services with decent food and diversions - a good way to part fools and their money but I'm as much a sucker for Supermac's as the next fast-food fan and they do the Carlsberg of Curry Chips - outside of the Perki Chick in Drumcondra and Lennox's of Cork, Supermac's are hard to beat.

After all those deviations from the topic - here's the end result - I am totally taken with my upcycled jumper and I love the cream stripe at the hem - it used a bit of the leftover yarn I had from my first jumper. It's a perfect summer jumper as it's cool and airy, and the three-quarter sleeves are a great compromise - and a great way to mask any hint of bingo-wings!

Stash quantity - 350gm

Weigh-in of salvaged stash!

I'll try to post some more snippets on recent knitting and crochet projects in the coming days, as I've been a disastrous blogger in the past few months. Life's just too busy with work, concert gigs in Dublin and Cork, house renovation in Dublin - a whole other post - and keeping in touch with the kids and grandkids in Dublin and Cork. And as it's summer holidays for the teenqueen in our lives there's a lot of taxi-ing to and fro between friends and sleepovers hither and yon. Never a dull moment, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Summerjam at the O2 - Teenage kicks for a new generation

Summerjam 2011 in full swing.

The night before last I found myself at the O2 Arena/Point Depot for Summerjam 2011 - a teenfest for fans of the stars appearing at the concert who were all unknowns to me prior to the gig - and it was a far cry from the last gig I enjoyed at the same venue in May, Eric Clapton. This was strictly for the teen generation and the long-suffering adults who had to accompany the under-16s. I was there in that capacity, along with teen daughter and two friends - it was a birthday present for one of them. They had a blast, and I kept my distance as befits someone of my mature years with granny status already endowed. It would not have been cool to be a helicopter parent hovering over the charges, and they are old enough to mind themselves at something like this.

The Revolver Big Wheel

We made a two-day trip out of the gig - up to Dublin early on Tuesday, stopping off at the new Services in Cashel at Exit 8 of the M7 motorway. Motorway services in Ireland are a bit like buses - for ages there are none and then along come two in quick succession. So now between Cork and Dublin there are two good services at well-spaced intervals - also near Abbeyleix at Junction 14. Thus we found ourselves bizarrely in McDonalds for breakfast - not a place I'd normally frequent at any time unless in the company of the girls.

When we got to Dublin we were too early to check in to the Skylon Hotel so we met son Martin and a friend of his from his Tanzania days who was over in Ireland from Australia/England for a short break. We'd a nice hour or so with them and then checked in where the girls spent the next few hours getting ready for the gig. They went all out with the fake tan, nails, eyeliner tattoos and fluorescent tops and socks! They were all pretty much clones of each other and when we got to the O2 I saw that the every tween and teen girl in the place was in similar attire! It was like a uniform - funky and colourful and with lots of indie style to make their outfit unique, despite the uniformity of the look.

Looking down the Liffey from Revolver wheel.

As we got to the O2 too early for the gig, we decided to go on the Revolver Big Wheel - which was only a fiver - in-keeping with Liveline's Fiver Friday perhaps, or just trying to get a bit of business going - and it was nice to see the city sights from a height. The Wheel is only half the height of the London Eye so not that exciting but then the Dublin Skyline isn't that riveting apart from the landmarks like the Aviva/Landsdowne Road Stadium and Croke Park, Liberty Hall, the Beckett Bridge and the Pringle Box Convention centre. The River Liffey and Dublin Port are the main vistas. After working in Dublin hospitals back in the 70s and 80s there's not much the skyline can offer that's new - from the top floors of Jervis Street and the Mater hospitals you could pretty much see forever!

Looking at the crowd queuing for Summerjam 2011

The gig was noisy but very energetic and lively - the girls were near the stage and I positioned myself near the shop at the back - close to the tea and twix bars for sustenance! I took lots of videoclips for them and as I'd been Tweeting about it earlier I was delighted to meet a fellow-Tweep there - Val who tweets as @magnumlady was there with her son and daughter and we had a mini- tweet-up! She and her kids got to meet and greet the stars as they stayed in the Gibson Hotel in the Point Village beside the O2. She has some terrific photos on her blog - and she's an avid tweeter as well so we connect from time to time.

Cactus display Botanic Gardens

As for the stars - I'd never heard of any of them before the night - though I realised as the night wore on that I was humming along to most of the songs - Ke$ha, LMFAO, Aggro Santos, Alexis Jordan and Fugitive were all headliners - and the quality of the music and rap and dance was impressive. The staging was good with great lighting and props. Spin FM were doing the warm-up disco - though I'm sure it's not called that nowadays (showing my age again!) and the crowd control was good, with a couple of troublemakers picked off early on, when there were a few scraps and turf wars going on. I loved watching the crowd enjoying the gig and it was fun to see all the long-suffering parents there too. It was nearly 11pm when it ended, after over four hours. So it was good value for the punters and they certainly enjoyed it. We were back in the hotel before midnight and went to Abrakebabra on the way home to get some fish'n'chips. You can't beat them when the midnight munchies strike!

Succulents garden Botanic Gardens

The following day some serious shopping was done by the girls, while I relaxed by visiting Martin and meeting up with my friend Darina and her little granddaughter Amelie in the Botanic Gardens - a lovely tranquil oasis in the heart of Glasnevin where you could imagine yourself in the heart of the country. We had coffee and cakes in the light-filled courtyard tearoom and enjoyed a walk around the gardens and the enormous glasshouse with gigantic palms and bananas. The lushness transported me back to the tropics and the equatorial rainforest we knew so well in Tanzania.

The Victorian Greenhouse at the Botanic Gardens

 The girls were all shopped out by teatime and we headed for home - with a pit stop at Supermac's in Junction 14 near Abbeyleix - and we arrived by 10pm - and as they say in the best tradition of the school essay "What I did on my Summer Holidays" - tired but happy!

Darina and Amelie in the Botanic Gardens

Having a Blast in the Home of the Black Stuff - Friends Reunited!

Sláinte! Theo with Jan and me in the Guinness Storehouse

Last Sunday hubby Jan and me travelled to Dublin to a very special musical interlude - our old friend Theo from Deurne in Brabant in Holland was conducting his Dutch Brass Ensemble Mé Tresse (My Tresses in the local dialect) in an afternoon performance in the Guinness Storehouse - the Home of the Black Stuff, as the ads have it - and we planned to be there. Theo had sent us his tour schedule some weeks back and we decided there and then to go to at least one of the shows. The last time we saw Theo perform was in Schouwen Duiveland in 1995, during our leave from Tanzania, when he played with a Jazz Quartet or Quintet in a local venue.

Theo playing to the gallery with Jan & Martin

Sinking the Black!

Theo the Musical Director

A bit of background mightn't go amiss here for those of you who mightn't know who Theo is or where our friendship developed. We met in Iringa in Tanzania in 1993 when he came to be a "manny" - male nanny or au pair to two Dutch boys whose mother worked for an international aid agency. As everyone knew everyone, especially expats, in Iringa, it didn't take long for us to meet up. Our kids were already friendly through the Danish School where they all went for sport and music and craftwork, subjects not covered by the homeschooling we were all doing to some extent or another. The Danish school catered for the MKs (Missionary Kids) of the Danish Lutheran Pastors around Tanzania, and the Danida (Danish Bilateral Aid) kids from the area - Iringa was a prime recipient of Danida largesse. Thus we got to know Theo very well over the year he was there, and we had a lot of fun together - not least because he was and is a brilliant musician and entertained us all at Christmas and parties with impromptu concerts on the trombone and piano, and his warm extrovert personality endeared him to everyone. We even first saw Riverdance in his house, on a video of the Eurovision that someone sent out to Iringa weeks after the event took the country and world by storm.

Mé Tresse with Theo directing in Guinness Storehouse

Not surprisingly, we kept in touch - albeit erratically - in the years that followed. He visited us on a number of occasions when we were in Holland and when we were staying in Liessel with Addie in 2002 we had a memorable evening around a campfire with music and craic into the small hours. A few years ago he turned up on our doorstep in Lismore and we had a lovely few days with him and his friend Liet, and relived a tradition of beercan building from floor to ceiling that had begun in Iringa on a memorable Good Friday back in the 90s.

Jan and Martin - pints and Peelneutjes!

Since then we've had sporadic contact until now, and we were delighted to renew the links with this great performance in Dublin, having collected son Martin before heading to St. James's Gate and the Guinness Storehouse, the iconic shrine to the national drink (besides tea!). The band played under his direction for about an hour and a half and the crowd loved them. Theo played trombone and conducted all his own arrangements, and included a number of Irish songs including Molly Malone and The Fields of Athenry, and they finished up the show with a rousing rendition of what we know as The Red Rose Café - in Dutch, Het Kleine Café aan de Haven. He welcomed us in his speech as old friends from Tanzania and he even played a bar of Mungu Ibariki Afrika (the Tanzanian National Anthem - God Bless Africa, the universal Anthem of Africa that we all know from South Africa as Nkosi Sikelele Afrika,).

Theo and me having a laugh

We repaired afterwards to the Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness Storehouse - where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were offered a pint - and enjoyed the panoramic vistas over Dublin. We had a lovely afternoon together catching up on old times, taking some photos of the reunion.

All the boys have fond memories of their time in Iringa with Theo when they were young and homeschooling, and his flamboyance made him easy to remember. If the others hadn't had work Monday I think they'd have come from Cork to meet him.

In fact, Jan went to Galway tonight to see them play in the Augustinian Church with the Galway Choral Society which was a terrific show. I was working and couldn't go, but our friend Fran who lives in Galway went and thoroughly enjoyed it, I had texted her earlier this evening to tell her about it.

I will post a few photos and a video clip if I can upload it to YouTube, and hope you enjoy them and get a sense of the fun and enjoyment of the show as much as we did. Here's a clip from the band from YouTube.

Trying out a new Blogging Platform - Tumblr Time

Darragh Doyle, Rolf Potts, Manchán Magan, Áine Goggins & Karen, me

The Immrama Festival of Travel Writing 2011 was held in Lismore from June 9-12 and one of the highlights was the Bloggers' Clinic with Manchán Magan, Darragh Doyle, Áine Goggins and Rolf Potts.

Some people who'd been in contact on cyberspace were meeting up in person for the first time - Susan from Clonmel and Susan from Kilkenny were both there, fellow-bloggers and tweeters and book clubbers, and it was a great meeting of minds. I enjoyed it immensely and as I normally work flat out during Immrama covering Health and Safety at all the events, it was a real treat to take some me time for this clinic.

Susan and me

 Darragh Doyle from Boards.ie introduced Tumblr and I am giving it a trial and if it works I might divide my loyalties between it and Blogger - or they might work in symbiosis. Time will tell. I need to be adventurous and not get stuck in a rut with Blogger which has the comfort of familiarity.

The crew at the Bloggers' Clinic

So it goes...how we verified the news

Irish people can relate to this!

Susan, Manchán Magan and me

Here are some photos from the clinic - they include Karen, an extreme couchsurfer from Tramore, Manchán, old friend of Immrama on his third visit here, and the clinic "Docs" who presented - Manchán, Aine, Darragh and Rolf, in the group pic. Susan (Queen of Pots!) and me are with Manchán.

Lismore - and one of its citizens - in the Spotlight of Immrama and beyond

 I want to share these few YouTube video clips from a local Waterford company called Waterford First - they have been around for a while now promoting the beautiful county of Waterford and its beautiful people!

They came to Lismore this week and shot some footage of Lismore in glorious sunshine which shows it at its best and at this time of year it certainly looks stunning.



 There were some small clips made of hubby Jan in his capacity below here as coordinator of Immrama the Lismore Festival of Travel Writing,



and in two further short clips, from a personal perspective, where he talks about his life and work in overseas and community development and his role in local government and politics.





I hope you enjoy them - they are brief enough to hold the attention span of a proverbial gnat, yet long enough to give some insight into the place and the person, as well as some background to Immrama from one of its founder members.

This year the ninth festival takes place from June 9th to 12th in Lismore, so this time fortnight it will be all over. We are looking forward to it and I am particularly anticipating a lot of craic as well as information at the Bloggers' Clinic which is hosted by a former speaker at Immrama, Manchán Magan, who frequently writes about the festival in his Irish Times column, most recently here when he wrote about the Bloggers' Clinic.

Co-hosting is Áine Goggins from TG4's Irish Language series Ó Tholg go Tolg (From Couch to Couch) on Couchsurfing, the latest backpackers' global phenomenon which has some local participants who will host couchsurfers for Immrama weekend. Lastly, Darragh Doyle from boards.ie a discussion forum will co-present the Clinic.

I usually hover at all the events in a Hi-Viz jacket as a Health & Safety person and often miss the events but this is one gig I am looking forward to as I enjoy blogging - bad and all as I am at it lately, sorry! - and social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter have revolutionised communications.

TV programmes have never been the same since I started following their hashtags on Twitter, and they make the political programmes and some entertainment shows far more fun to watch if you read the comment stream simulataneously. Multitasking writ large I know, but that's what we're supposed to be good at! I will post about the gig after Immrama.

A night to remember - Clapton in Concert and Dublin's Docklands

The O2/Point Depot

A couple of weeks ago we had a real treat as we went to see rock legend and guitar hero supreme Eric Clapton in concert in the O2/Point Depot (can't use these commercially driven sponsorship product-placement names without a ton of cynicism and the original name) in Dublin. It was hubby Jan's birthday treat as he has been a fan since forever, and has some of his old vinyl LPs (remember those?!) which must surely be collectors' items by now.

Birthday boy and me!

We went up to Dublin in the early afternoon as we had some business to attend to - and then we called out to see middle son Martin in Drumcondra. We had a lovely early bird meal at the best pizzeria in Dublin - in my humble opinion - The Independent Pizza Company on Dorset Street, beside Drumcondra Railway Station. This was my first time in its current location as it used to be a few doors up the road above Quinn's pub, an iconic landmark, along with nearby McGraths pub, particularly for punters going to Croke Park to the hurling and football All-Ireland qualifiers and finals. I had a delicious Caesar Salad and Chorizo pizza while Jan had a Calzone closed pizza, something I first encountered on our Italian honeymoon almost thirty years ago! Along with a few glasses of house red, we were ready for the road.

Martin and Mammy

Scrummy Caesar Salad

 Chorizo Pizza

We walked over to the venue at the end of the Dublin Docklands at the old Point Depot which has undergone a transformation in recent years to become the O2, a nod to telecoms sponsorship and an anodyne ubiquity which irks me as I loved the uniqueness of the old Point - it meant something and referenced its original incarnation as the depot at the point where the River Liffey meets the sea and where goods were offloaded and stored.

We walked down long-familiar streets which were a trip down memory lane in itself as we lived in Dublin many years ago, at the start of our lives together. I spent six happy carefree student years there, living in flatland Rathmines and Rathgar, as well as the house in Drumcondra where our son is now staying. So I have many fond memories of Dublin and there are many landmarks that have a resonance for me. Down Belvedere Road, Gardiner Street and Mountjoy Square, and onto Custom House Quay past Busáras bus depot which housed the Eblana Theatre in the basement - I went to many plays there in my student days.

Jeannie Johnston Famine Memorial Ship

The evening was lovely, and the IFSC, birthplace (probably) of the Celtic Tiger, looked suitably impressive, if not majestic like the Custom House. The Jeannie Johnston seems to be permanently berthed around here and it looks lovely, but the highlights of the walk had to be the harp-like Samuel Beckett Bridge and the "Pringle Box" Convention Centre, so-called because of its backwards-tilting circular glass wall. They are beautiful architectural landmarks of the modern city, and have made the Docklands the vibrant place it is today. The Famine Memorial on Custom House Quay is a recent sculpture and is very haunting and evocative of our darkest days. I was taken with the World Poverty Stone, a UN commemorative stone.

Samuel Beckett Bridge

The Concert was wonderful even if Clapton isn't the most communicative singer around - as Jan said we are there to enjoy the music, and that was great. He sang lots of songs I didn't know as I'm not as diehard a fan as hubby, but the perennial faves like I Shot the Sherriff and Layla and Wonderful Tonight raised the roof of the revamped O2. He looked well for his 66 years and I hope we all wear as well given the hell-raising life he led in his young rock years - he has had his share of tragedy as well with his 4 yr old son falling from a 54th floor apartment in 2002. That inspired Tears in Heaven which he didn't sing - there wouldn't have been a dry eye in the house.

Claption in action on the big screen

I loved the people watching before the gig started and decided that ageing rockers attract a certain demographic - ageing rock fans! We had good seats and the big screens captured the detail we couldn't see from our dizzy heights. Clapton's crew was terrific, with backing singers, keyboard and piano players, and drummer and bass player.

Revolver by night

The crowd at the concert

He was supported for the first hour by Andy Fairweather-Low and the Low Riders - and I hadn't a clue who he was as we'd no programme - but the lighting was dire for that hour and he was like a skeletal underlit shadow - though I loved the two hits he sang - (If Paradise was) Half as Nice and Wide Eyed and Legless - I don't thing the setting did him justice. Eric played for over 2 hours and came back for an encore, which helped us forgive his being detached. There was a great atmosphere in the O2 but we were constantly being trodden on by people in and out for booze - I will never understand why people go to concerts and spend their time there in and out to the bar. Dublin's Big Wheel, Revolver, beckoned temptingly but I couldn't persuade hubby to overcome his vertigo to give it a go and see Dublin by night. That's something for the bucket list.

We were on a high after it and got a taxi back to Drumcondra where we'd left the car. We were back home by 3am - I slept for most of the journey and had the Tuesday off to recover. I went to the morning session of my knitting circle, and enjoyed the company of a bunch of formidable women with good chat and tea and cakes enhancing the quality of the knitting.

There are a few  more gigs I'd have on my bucket list, Springsteen being tops and one I hope to fulfill this on his next Irish visit. 

A Historic Week - and Conference Craic in Kilkenny

Having a laugh with colleagues from the Waterford Branch

Getting ready to party at the Gala Dinner

This past week has been memorable for many reasons - it was a bit of a rollercoaster as Friday saw the Royal Wedding where all commentators suspended reasoned judgement and went into sycophancy overdrive. In Ireland where we scorn such monarchic shenanigans as unworthy of a republic there was a dip in ESB Electricity usage for the duration of the broadcasting - indicating that the only appliance in use was the TV - nary a kettle or a cooker in sight! Seems they can monitor such things, and it reflects our ADLs (as in the Barthel Index used in nursing assessment) - our Activities of Daily Living! Despite that little aside - I did watch what was on view in the various homes I visited and saw the bride's arrival at the altar. Kate did look good, but her sister Pippa looked better. True to form, within hours there was a Facebook fan page set up for her rear-end attributes. The sheath dress she wore called for a total ban on any surplus adipose tissue (=fat) or cellulite - or the Spanx-type compression undies that haven't been seen since Victorian corsetry and wasp-waists were the order of the day and which many of my generation can't live without at functions and weddings. I have refused thus far to be reined in by such a garment and WYSIWYG in my gladrags. Comfort rules above convention and at my age I will endeavour to look good but to enjoy myself as well.

Minister for Health Dr. James O'Reilly's Address

 Which brings me on to the social events that went with the Annual Delegate Conference of the INMO - tge Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (some day they'll have to put in apostrophes - I know, it pains my inner grammar geek). This was held in Kilkenny and we had a busy 3 days of motions, debate, addresses, keynote speakers (the new Minister for Health, Dr. James O'Reilly) and lots of card-waving to pass or reject motions. That was by day - come evening and we let our hair down as only nurses know how - and we partied into the night. It always amazes me that regardless of how much partying nurses get up to they are fresh and ready the following morning - whether for duty or for another round of debates.

I had a motion to speak to from our PHN (Public Health Nursing) section and unfortunately it didn't get an airing until late on the last day by which point everyone's motioned out and there was no time for debate - just voting. It was carried unanimously so there was no problems bar my difficulty in limiting my address to the requisite max of 3 minutes - even after judicious editing I was timed out by the bell.

Claire and Mary (with the Gobnait O'Connell Award for Outstanding Service to the Branch) with Liam Doran Gen. Sec. INMO

Me and my new Twitter friend Dean

 On a lighter note, I was tweeting a bit during the lulls in the debates and between speakers and discovered another tweeter at the conference - a young student nurse from the Sligo branch. We met up at the Gala Dinner on the final evening and had a bit of a laugh at the joys of Twitter, as he had been chatting with Fergal Bowers, the RTE Health Correspondent, who was reporting on the Minister's address. The media got a hammering over their negative reporting on the public sector - we have been so vilified in recent years that you'd  think we were responsible for all the woes in the country.

Nicholas Mosse Pottery Shop, Bennettsbridge

Kilkenny is a lovely small city with narrow streets and a lot of lovely old buildings. It rained almost incessantly for the duration of the conference but on our free afternoon the sun appeared so I went to see the Nicholas Mosse pottery in Bennettsbridge and the gallery in Kilkenny Castle. The Kilkenny Craft Exhibition was on and had some lovely pieces on display. Unfortunately I was too late to see inside the Castle and one of the main galleries, the Butler, was closed but I enjoyed the bit of culture - there were lots of ceramics on display.

Dessert mmmm.....!

As is now the norm at these conferences we had a Table Quiz for local charities on the opening night, which was a good laugh even though we didn't win. The following night we were entertained by the Kilkenny Gospel Choir which was upbeat and uplifting. That was followed by an Irish Dance troupe who were brilliant - none of the wigs and fake tan that's become synonymous with Irish Dancing Championships like the recent World Championships in Dublin which brought down the wrath of the public over the homogenisation of the dancers - like Oompah-loompahs with mop heads, all distracting from the marvellous skills they have. Thankfully our troupe were more Riverdance than St. Tropez and their elegance was matched by their expertise. To everyone's delight, one of the student midwives, Danny Oakes from Alaska and Dundalk put on a spontaneous show of spectacular skill. You can enjoy the video clip below. Michael Flatley won't want for a successor if this guy decides to do a nixer from the labour ward.



The final evening's Gala Dinner was good fun though everyone was pretty exhausted by that stage. We had lovely food and danced if off afterwards, and the camaraderie and craic made it an enjoyable few days which has become a bit of an annual reunion for the nursing diaspora of Ireland.
 
Given the goings on in the rest of the world - Osama taken out by Obama - what a difference a letter makes!- and the triumphal euphoria of the West being slowly replaced by cautious optimism as the radicals threaten revenge, it  has been a strange week of polarisation. Ireland awoke on Saturday morning to the prophet of doom Morgan Kelly's diatribe against the Central Bank director Patrick Honohan over the bank bailout - he predicted bankruptcy for Ireland in the coming year or two as we struggle to bring our head above water let alone keep it there. It was so vitriolic and personal that I wondered - as did most of the Twitterati - what agenda is being played out.

Today hubby and me are heading to Dublin to see Eric Clapton at the O2 - a birthday treat for Jan who loves Clapton forever. I'm looking forward to it too, one of the rock stars I'll enjoy seeing before he hangs up his Stratocaster.