K i l d a r e . i e NEWSLETTER Issue 8 Subject: Kildare Community Network update 8 Date: 29/05/2000 Greetings from Kildare. The warm weather and the scent of holidays are in the air. This is the time of year when we all head for the beaches of Ireland and even though Kildare has no beaches there is lots of surfing to do. Our foreign subscribers can join us too on our cybertrips as we surf right to the heart of Kildare and its diverse range of websites. Access to The Net in Kildare is expanding at top speed. More and more organisations and individuals are using the net and publishing to the net. We at the Kildare Community Network aim to include and highlight as many of these sites as possible. Send us yours! This e-mail newsletter is to inform you of developments on the County Kildare Community Network. ___________________________________ Kildare Tourist Guide http://www.kildare.ie/tourism The Kildare Community Network has developed the most comprehensive and dynamic tourist guide and listings for the county of Kildare - www.kildare.ie/tourism. The site contains detailed information on tourism in Kildare and it is subdivided into the following 10 main sections: About Kildare, Heritage, How To Get Here, Food & Drink, Accommodation, Events, Attractions, Useful Information, Things To Do, Towns & Villages. The Kildare Tourist Guide provides potential visitors to Kildare and Ireland with detailed information on where to stay, what to do, where to eat, and much more besides. The Kildare Tourist Guide is updated many times each week, and it is the natural gateway into County Kildare on the web. The site was designed and developed by the staff of the Kildare Community Network with assistance from KELT and Kildare Fáilte. ___________________________________ Statistics Ranking high on the lists of all major search engines when looking for tourist information on the county, The Kildare Community Network is winning new visitors daily. Each month tens of thousands of pages are requested and visitors return again and again to find out more about County Kildare. Page Requests: Monthly - 125,000, Average Daily - 4,100 Visits: Monthly - 42,000, Average Daily - 1,450 ___________________________________ Kildare County Council Website http://www.kildare.ie/countycouncil/ Kildare County Council's website has been active for approximately a year and a half now. Information on the site is constantly improving. Information available includes: - Weekly press releases - Current job vacancies - including adverts, conditions, and application forms. - Councillors Section - Personal page for each councillor - Application forms section - Contact Numbers - Publications Sections which includes documents such as Traveller Accommodation Programme & - Environment Impact Assessment - Heath Mayfield Motorway - Services - this includes a wide range of information on the various services of the Council Statistics The Council's website is one of the most accessed sites on kildare.ie. Monthly Page Requests: 19,070 Monthly Visits: 4,500 New Design The Council's website is currently being re-designed, using as much database driven information as possible. In view of this re-design it is hoped to provide an even better service to the public via the internet. ___________________________________ Starfish Swimming Club & North Star Club. http://kildare.ie/starfish/ Swimming therapy for people with disabilities The aims of the Starfish Club include teaching water-happiness, pool-safety and swimming to all people with a disability, emphasizing ability and mutual encouragement allowing swimmers and helpers to grow in knowledge and skill, and building a club with a unity of purpose, good company and friendship. The Club also gives people with a disability the opportunity to take part in an activity in water, and link up with and help other similar clubs and form new clubs wherever there is a need. All work is voluntary and people do what they can. Whatever they can give/do is appreciated and there is no pressure to do more. The club is for all ages and for most types of disability. Water only reacts to two factors: density and shape. Because it is so much denser than air, it helps to ease pain, is a gentle and effective medium for physical exercise and by slowing up the normal rhythms of movement in air, it can help ease stress. Check out this beautiful site for more information. ___________________________________ Leixlip Virtual Town & Leixlip Town Commission http://kildare.ie/Leixlip/ The Leixlip Town Commissioners launched their website in April. Leixlip Town Commission is Ireland's youngest local authority (founded in 1988) and Leixlip is one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland. It is the home of Guinness, Intel, Hewlett Packard, salmon fishing, only 17 kms from Dublin on the main route to the west of Ireland. To find out more about this town and its activities (including the Leixlip Festival 1 - 5th June) pay them a visit. ____________________________________ Kildare Archaeological Society http://www.kildare.ie/archaeology/ The Kildare Community Network has designed and hosts the web site of Kildare's Archaeological Society, which was founded in 1891and whose stated aim is "the promotion of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and objects of interest in the county and surrounding districts." The site includes information on the Society's Journals, a programme of events, the Council and its Officers and how to join. Well worth a visit for those interested in the protection and preservation of County Kildare's rich archaeological heritage. ___________________________________ Monasterevin Online http://kildare.ie/monasterevin/ Yet another town is now online in Kildare. Monasterevin has its own website on the Kildare Community Network. The site is designed and maintained by the people on the Monasterevin Newsletter Project. The Project is co-sponsored by the Community Council and FAS. Local groups, Clubs, Societies, Businesses, Schools etc. are encouraged to get in touch and become part of Monasterevin On Line. People both at home and abroad can now keep in touch with life in Monasterevin. Photographs will become a feature of the site as it grows. Check it out now and be sure to get in touch with them if you have links with the town of Monasterevin. ___________________________________ Kildare Links http://www.kildare.ie/links/ - Kildare Links http://www.kildare.ie/BestofIrish/ - Best of Irish As your gateway to Kildare, a new links section for Kildare websites has recently been added. This contains links in the following categories: Arts & Entertainment, Business, Community, Education, Heritage, Services, Sports, and Tourism. If you wish to have your site or any site that relates to Kildare added, just email webmaster@kildare.ie The Best of Irish section contains links to some of the best websites in Ireland. And don't forget you can search the web from the kildare.ie front page using Webcrawler, Excite, Lycos, Yahoo, Alta Vista and Magellan search engines. ___________________________________ As always, we are happy to receive comments and suggestions for inclusion of information in both this Newsletter and in the pages of the Co. Kildare Community Network. Archived versions (text files) of the kildare.ie Newsletter are available online at: www.kildare.ie/newsletter e-mail: *** webmaster@kildare.ie *** kevinkelly@kildare.ie *** website: *** www.kildare.ie *** Tel: 045 - 873 849 Fax: 045 - 876 875 Mobile: 086 - 80 95 623