Louth County Council launch #LoveLouth photo competition

To celebrate reaching 4,000 followers on Twitter, Louth County Council are holding a #LoveLouth Photo Competition, with three One 4 All gift vouchers up for grabs for the winners.

Simply Tweet @louthcoco with a photo of your favourite spot in Louth with a brief explanation of why you love it. Add the tag #LoveLouth and you could be in with a chance of winning one of three One 4 All gift vouchers.

Closing date for entries is August 24^th and the winners will be announced on August 31^st.

Further details are available at www.louthcoco.ie/photocompetition

Louthhour seeking new host

The soon to be launched #louthhour Twitter group are looking for hosts at present.

If you are interested email quickfoxmarketing@gmail.com for details.

 

More than half of students in Louth feel they won’t find work in their own county – the highest figure nationally

More than half of secondary school students in Louth feel they won’t find work in their own county, according to a new survey from Studyclix.

Considering the range of multi-national companies in the Wee County, it might come as a surprise that teenagers are the least likely in the whole of Ireland to find work close to home.

More than 4,822 secondary school students took part in the survey on the Studyclix website but students here were the least optimistic about finding work locally when they progress into the workforce.

Overall the survey found that 56% of second-level students were stressed about school, with four out of 10 admitting they feel they will have to emigrate in order to get a job.

More than half of the students surveyed (55%) feel they are ‘addicted’ to their phones. Some 49% admitted to checking their phone in class once the teacher’s back was turned.

While just 3% of students smoke, more than four in 10 said they drink regularly. Some 88% of first-year students say they never drink and 6% claim to drink only on special occasions.

For Leaving Certificate students, 19% said they never drink and 65% drink on special occasions.

A quarter of all students said they have witnessed cyberbullying in the last school year.

The most used social media platform among students is still Facebook, with 81% of those surveyed active on the platform. The second-most popular channel is picture-sharing app Snapchat at 80%. Instagram is third at 68%, while Twitter trails in fourth at 53%.

Some 13% of students surveyed have a profile on the online-dating site Tinder; 6% of students at junior level (12- 15-year-olds) also have a profile on the site.

Silverware, silverware everywhere in Dundalk

Not a bad haul!

Former Armagh footballer Steven McDonnell posted this pictured on his Twitter account earlier today of the silverware recently won by Dundalk FC, Dundalk Rugby Club, St Patrick’s GFC, Clontibret and Sean O’Mahony’s.

With the exception of the Monaghan side, all these trophies were won on a local level with the Point Road, Carrick Road and Mill Road all well stocked with silverware for at least the next few months.

The snap was taken at Servisource Recruitment’s Dundalk office in Quayside Business Park, where McDonnell works.

Death threat made against Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams

Local TD Gerry Adams has said he has been warned of another death threat.

The Sinn Féin president claimed at the the weekdn that he was told by officers from the PSNI  that a threat had been made against him and other senior Sinn Féin figures by someone purporting to speak for the outlawed loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF).

Mr Adams used his Twitter account to break the news.

On Saturday night he tweeted: “Just been told by PSNI of death threat against me & SF leadership by someone claiming 2 speak 4 UFF.”

Speaking on Sunday morning Deputy Adams said: “The PSNI contacted me last night to make me aware of a death threat against me and the Sinn Féin leadership.

“This is a worrying development but it will not deter me or Sinn Féin from moving forward with our campaign for a new, independent Ireland of equals.”

Last week the 65-year-old was forced to apologise for using offensive language to describe some unionists during a public meeting in Northern Ireland.

He used the term “bastards” while answering a question at a gathering in Co Fermanagh but insisted it was aimed at bigots.

In May, he was told there was a “credible” threat against his life after his release from police custody where he had been questioned about the murder of Belfast mother Jean McConville in 1972 and other alleged links to the IRA.

He blamed opponents of the peace process for the threat which was passed to members of his family while he was detained at Antrim police station for four days.

Brubakers to make a major announcement this weekend

Local pub Brubakers has hinted at a major announcement, which they are expected to make some time today.

The Park Street venue posted a picture to their Facebook and Twitter pages yesterday with a save the date for this day next week ‘14.11.14’.

The “big announcement” had the hashtags ‘#newbrubakers’ and ‘#bigchanges’ on its Twitter feed. It is, however, less than 12 months since the venue was revamped.

Keep an eye on their Facebook and Twitter for the big announcement over the weekend.

 

O’Donnell 1 Trolls 0 – Dundalk captain has last laugh

The Twitter exchange today

Stephen O’Donnell’s return from injury to score the goal that set Dundalk on their way to the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title on Friday night has already secured the midfielder legendary status at Oriel Park.

However, he has certainly gone up in the estimations of all of us here at Talk of the Town today after hitting back at two St Patrick’s Athletic supporters who celebrated his potentially career-threatening knee injury, which he sustained against Shamrock Rovers on Good Friday.

At the time Anto Hayes and Aaron Alford took delight in O’Donnell’s misery. The former described the Galway man as a “dirtbird” while his friend added that it “couldn’t of happened to a nicer bloke’.

O’Donnell would ultimately have the last laugh though.

He took to Twitter today saying: “And now for a tweet that I have been waiting to send since the final whistle last Friday night.”

He then messaged Anto and Aaron directly, saying: “thank you to these gents for the motivation of getting back before the season finished. Much appreciated!!!”

It’s fair to say it’s O’Donnell 1 Trolls 0

The Dundalk captain is a winner on and off the field.

Adams named fourth most influential Tweeter in Ireland

Gerry Adams

Louth TD Gerry Adams has come fourth in a Twitter ‘power list’ that purports to rank Irish users according to the influence they exert on the “political and policy landscape” through their social media presence.

The Sinn Féin leader was the top ranking TD, with only economist David McWilliams, broadcaster Matt Cooper and website Politics.ie ahed of him.

Adams’ account has around 65,000 followers but is as well known for its quirky tweets about everything from rubber ducks to song lyrics as it is for its political messages.

The “Power100” list was compiled by the public relations agency Wilson Hartnell and political researchers Electionista.

Adams is one of only two TDs in the top 10, with the other being the sixth-placed Shane Ross.

Illustrated tweets of Gerry Adams’ ramblings now available

A sample of one of the illustrations

A new Twitter account has emerged recently with illustrations of tweets by Louth TD Gerry Adams.

The Sinn Féin president has become almost as famous for his trivial tweets as for his political background and the hilarious sketches capture them superbly.

You can check out the range of them at @GA_Illustrated.

Hat-tip to local journalist Niamh Kirk for spotting the account.

Local teens create new app that posts across several social networks at once

Cian Martin Bohan and Cormac Kinsella at the launch of their new app, Open Share

Two local CoderDojo pals, Cian Martin Bohan and Cormac Kinsella, 13 and 14 respectively, have created an app that allows a user to share a post across several social networks at the same time.

Their app, Open Share, works across Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Hangouts, WhatsApp, Viber, Gmail, Tumblr and SMS.

Open Share is available in the Google Play store and a version is coming to iOS and Windows Phone before the end of the year.

The two pals were regulars at the CoderDojo coding club since it began in Drogheda three years ago, and they spent more than a year working on their app.

Cian and Cormac collaborated at CoderDojo, stayed over at their homes in Drogheda and Dundalk for all-night coding sessions, and collaborated over a distance using Face Time and Skype to get their app to market.

Drogheda CoderDojo founder and local tech entrepreneur Graham O’Rourke recognised the teens’ achievement and told Silicon Republic: “You both have worked so hard to get to your first commercial launch … remember be proud and if you need to pivot, you will succeed!”