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Welcome to September in Ireland - - stay tuned for early pub closings, frosty mornings and daylight that vanishes abruptly around suppertime. And, of course, it's also time to get serious again. No more messing. Take off that floppy sunhat. This month's sites have the news you need to get back in touch, from the film business to the Internet industry, from the quays of Limerick to the shores of Connemara.
For news you can use, check out the new weekly version of the news magazine Ireland Today, featuring stories on everything from Ireland's burgeoning population of asylum-seekers to its Presidential race, all written with a jaunty, more editorial tone than newspapers like the Irish Times. The site is brought to you by the same folks who helped compile IE97, the website that followed the Irish national elections in June, and as with IE97, you'll be able to voice your opinion online, naming your favourite Presidential candidate. You can also throw your tuppence into the well-attended Blah online forum -- current discussions include everything from Zero Tolerance to long-lost ancestors from the West of Ireland.
If it's the West of Ireland you're after, a must is the stylish Clifden and Connemara site, a homage to one of the most cosmopolitan villages this side of the Irish Sea. Favourite holiday haunt for celebrities from politics to entertainment, Clifden is still a townlet with a homespun air, an atmosphere reflected in the site. Full of updated local news and photographs, the site includes a marvelous human touch -- we loved the musings of local poet Tom Lynden ("My girlfriend she's alright/ She'll do until the tourists come") and Eugene Adams's wonderfully personal Letter from Home, written to family in the US about local to-ings and fro-ings. Keep an eye on the site around September 13, when Clifden pays tribute to the San Patricio Battalion: Irish soldiers, some Clifden-born, who aided Catholic Mexico in its 1846 war against the US.
Not quite at war with the US, but competing nevertheless, is the European film industry, waging a noble battle to get its films seen, even as Hollywood pours gur-zillions of dollars into its blockbusters. Emerging from near oblivion in the film world is the now-blossoming Irish film industry, whose ins and outs are comprehensively covered by the slick Ireland Film and Television Net. Peek at the Production Chaser column for news on new shoots, peruse selected articles and reviews from magazines Film Ireland and Film West, or get the low-down on upcoming film festivals. Want to join the film world? Check out the extensive training and education section, complete with a recommended reading list. A site to watch -- rumour has it that plans are afoot to include extensive new content in the site.
Content, style and innovation will all be rewarded at Ireland's Golden Spider Internet Awards, the first awards ceremony to recognise excellence in Irish Internet design. Slated for a live webcast from Dublin's Berkeley Court Hotel on September 19, the Spiders look to be a glittering event, with winners receiving lurvely crystal trophies with which to amaze and delight their friends. The nominees are listed on the site, including the informative Infolive, the fetching Fred Hannas and the rather fine Forfas. Categories include the Young Person's Award and the hotly-contested Web Design Agency of the Year, sure to bring drama to the evening's proceedings.
Drama is the name of the game at Charlottes Quay, a "geographically correct" soap opera set in a real Limerick apartment complex. Penned by Limerick native Fergal Sherlock, the four-month old saga is already awash with corporate intrigue, sexual identity crises and the occasional German poltergeist, a combo that keeps readers coming back despite the clunky prose. Readers are invited to score the episodes on a scale of one to ten, and anyone can enter the site's competition to become the face of a CQ character. If your photograph is chosen, you'll also be asked to record dialogue for inclusion in the site. Yum... we like multimedia!
Not multimedia, but the Internet in all its glory is the remit of Nua Internet Surveys, a weekly digest of any and all reports analysing the state of the medium, many of them from research luminaries like Find/SVP and Jupiter Communications. Wanna know how many Japanese are on-line? What about the value of the Internet advertising market in 1997? The Surveys include an unbeatable search facility, letting you search by keyword, geographic region, topic or date. There's also a facility to subscribe to a text version of the Surveys by email -- according to Nua, the digest is emailed weekly to 12,000 people, all for free.
Speaking of which, you're free to go. But don't forget to check back for the October Picks, which promise to be even bigger, even brighter, and more autumnal than a wheelbarrow full of conkers.
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