Much a gawping I've been doing on the A37 recently (made famous by two things, first it goes to Coleraine and second Sir Patrick of Nash wrote a song about it).
The giveaway is that when a structure goes up and it doesn't have any sides then it's more than likely going to be a petrol station. Turns out Tesco Express is coming to Limavady and creating 30 jobs.
Good news, unless you are in petrol/grocery retail around the corner.
Showing posts with label limavady. Show all posts
Showing posts with label limavady. Show all posts
Monday, 18 May 2009
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Derry dole queue figures on the rise.
They are now equal to Limavady with 6.1% of the borough registered as unemployed. Strabane is a little behind at 6.0%. All this has really done is increase the mudslinging MP's have directed at the Executive, blaming them for not doing enough to avert something that couldn't really be averted.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Limavady's answer to tackling anti social behaviour.
The Derry Journal calls them "Street louts" which I think is a bit unfair. I would use the word, "bored young adults" as Limavady offers very little for them to do. Limavady is to get two wardens to look out for anti social behaviour, littering and unauthorised street trading.
So £9000 well spent, that remains to be seen, though some councillors are skeptical about the idea.
I'm wondering how £9000 a year on youth projects would go instead, something to give that age bracket something to be proud of and involved in.
--
In York there was a summer scheme called the Megajam, not council run, it was done by a recording studio. Thirty kids created four or five rock bands. Within four days they had written and rehearsed a set of music to perform in a proper venue, in front of a proper crowd. It was a tall order but there was most of York's muso population on hand to mentor and offer advice. Some of them had never played an instrument, let alone performed in front of a true, proper York muso appreciating crowd.
To this day I still hail Rob Parker (the organiser of all that chaos) the king of community projects. He was sharp as a needle and saw the good side in every kid that came through the doors, showed me where the potential was in these good people. This had it's own benefit, those people came back during the years and then ended up as tutors themselves, giving back into the community what the community had given to them. Some of the kids gave the tutors a run for their money on the talent stakes but we didn't like to talk about that.
It was beyond music, it was about people. It's affects though were life changing and very long lasting.
Okay it was a summer scheme but the same idea could be transferred elsewhere. All you need is people to help. Danny Boy Rox is oh so near to that energy of the Megajam, which is probably why I like Danny Boy Rox so much, but that's a competition. Something is required to pull people together and show that they can make a difference. Music usually does that very well.
So £9000 well spent, that remains to be seen, though some councillors are skeptical about the idea.
I'm wondering how £9000 a year on youth projects would go instead, something to give that age bracket something to be proud of and involved in.
--
In York there was a summer scheme called the Megajam, not council run, it was done by a recording studio. Thirty kids created four or five rock bands. Within four days they had written and rehearsed a set of music to perform in a proper venue, in front of a proper crowd. It was a tall order but there was most of York's muso population on hand to mentor and offer advice. Some of them had never played an instrument, let alone performed in front of a true, proper York muso appreciating crowd.
To this day I still hail Rob Parker (the organiser of all that chaos) the king of community projects. He was sharp as a needle and saw the good side in every kid that came through the doors, showed me where the potential was in these good people. This had it's own benefit, those people came back during the years and then ended up as tutors themselves, giving back into the community what the community had given to them. Some of the kids gave the tutors a run for their money on the talent stakes but we didn't like to talk about that.
It was beyond music, it was about people. It's affects though were life changing and very long lasting.
Okay it was a summer scheme but the same idea could be transferred elsewhere. All you need is people to help. Danny Boy Rox is oh so near to that energy of the Megajam, which is probably why I like Danny Boy Rox so much, but that's a competition. Something is required to pull people together and show that they can make a difference. Music usually does that very well.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
BBC News run a little story on Limavady
Now that unemployment is now at 6.1% in Limavady (or as they like to put it, the highest in Northern Ireland).
The report does play heavily on the Seagate closure but fails to mention that from the 900 made redundant, not all of them were from Limavady. Some were from Derry, some Coleraine, some commuted in from Donegal. Seagate is not single handedly responsible for Limavady's track record.
Construction was a key area and as farming declined construction blossomed. The knock on effect was felt as tilers, estate agents and other related industries gained. Then it stopped and then knock on went into reverse. The subsequent knock on from that, shops went into decline and started to close. Trading was down.
The BBC stats don't paint a pretty picture:
I have a love/hate with this article. It does highlight the positives about Limavady but that's outweighed by the "isn't ever so slightly crap at the moment" attitude of the reporter.
Currently the unemployed need some sense of honour and sense of worth (I know exactly what it's like because I've been there twice over the last three years). Biggest failing in all of this I see is the reliance on the job market to pick up, some experts are not expecting this until a potential peak at the end of 2010. The initiative has to come from you, yourself.
If you have an idea then go for it. Whether it be an online venture or what, a shop, a home based business. Big investment coming in takes time. Putting time aside to help rural startups is something that's never addressed. Rest assured that Invest NI will not give you money for the Start A Business Programme but you might get valuable support.
If you are stuck for an idea, well there's over 1000 listed on OneForTen. It was the very reason I put the site together in the first place. I can't do every idea that's listed so it makes sense to distribute them to people who can. You have nothing to lose, go have a look :)
For the full BBC article, that's online here.
The report does play heavily on the Seagate closure but fails to mention that from the 900 made redundant, not all of them were from Limavady. Some were from Derry, some Coleraine, some commuted in from Donegal. Seagate is not single handedly responsible for Limavady's track record.
Construction was a key area and as farming declined construction blossomed. The knock on effect was felt as tilers, estate agents and other related industries gained. Then it stopped and then knock on went into reverse. The subsequent knock on from that, shops went into decline and started to close. Trading was down.
The BBC stats don't paint a pretty picture:
- 22,000 people of a working age in the borough.
- 6.1% unemployed.
- 23.6% of redundancies were in Limavady (but does not say how many of that 23.6% are resident in the borough).
- 1,348 are currently looking for work compared to 611 a year ago.
I have a love/hate with this article. It does highlight the positives about Limavady but that's outweighed by the "isn't ever so slightly crap at the moment" attitude of the reporter.
Currently the unemployed need some sense of honour and sense of worth (I know exactly what it's like because I've been there twice over the last three years). Biggest failing in all of this I see is the reliance on the job market to pick up, some experts are not expecting this until a potential peak at the end of 2010. The initiative has to come from you, yourself.
If you have an idea then go for it. Whether it be an online venture or what, a shop, a home based business. Big investment coming in takes time. Putting time aside to help rural startups is something that's never addressed. Rest assured that Invest NI will not give you money for the Start A Business Programme but you might get valuable support.
If you are stuck for an idea, well there's over 1000 listed on OneForTen. It was the very reason I put the site together in the first place. I can't do every idea that's listed so it makes sense to distribute them to people who can. You have nothing to lose, go have a look :)
For the full BBC article, that's online here.
Monday, 30 March 2009
Danny Boy Rox commeth....
The Danny Boy Festival is running from 30th April to 3rd May this year. You can view the programme of events here. For those in a band, you'll be glad to hear that Danny Boy Rox is running again.This time it's being held at the Limavady Show Grounds. First the Gorteen, then Rock The Valley and now the showgrounds.
If you want to enter you look at the terms and conditions and grab and application form from the Limavady Borough Council website. The standards are high, very high, every year. You have been warned.
Translink layoffs in the North West
Translink are looking for between 20 - 24 voluntary redundancies in the North West, looks like they'll be in Derry and Limavady.
If voluntary ones can't be found then it'll go to compulsory payoffs.
More from the Derry Journal.
If voluntary ones can't be found then it'll go to compulsory payoffs.
More from the Derry Journal.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Culture, Arts and Tourism Grants Programme 2009/2010
For the creatives out there:
Applications are invited from Constituted Organisations planning an event, festival or cultural arts project within Limavady Borough Council area in the period 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010
for grant aid under the Council’s Financial Support Programme.
The following grants are available:
1. Community Festivals Funding
2. Events and Cultural Arts Projects
3. Small Grants for local community events or cultural projects.
There will only be one call for applications within this financial year.
THE CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY 27 MARCH 2009.
You can download all the forms from the Limavady Borough Council website.Friday, 27 February 2009
The Foyle Ferry Discussion, Part 38
The saga continues in the press about the Foyle Ferry Company. So the company has been experiening difficulties over the last two years. Some of the reasons I can completely agree with, the weather did kill two years of tourism, the economic downturn but the price of oil going up.... sort of agree with that but that's variable.
During the summer last year (08) the crude price hits $147 a barrel and everyone pushes prices up for everything. Hauliers went out of business or sold their businesses on, it was horrific to watch. The rising oil price was blamed for the price rises of everything. People even started walking again. Foyle Ferry had raised its prices a few times in quick succession, if I remember rightly, to the point that £15 for a return ticket was okay when oil was at that price.
Today, the return ticket stays at £15 but the oil price has dropped back down to between $37-$45 a barrel depending on several factors. So you can't use that as a reason for the current state of the ferry, it was compounded over the two year duration that I can accept.
There are several variables that are missing from any argument at the moment:
Assuming that time is no pressure to the traveller then there's no real case for me going on the ferry, it costs me more. I love the ferry, don't get my wrong, but while every household is saving the pennies.... people won't want to spend more than they have to. Another issue that's swept under the carpet, the cross border petrol price has risen to the point there's no real cost saving to jump on the ferry and fill at the other side. It used to be the Sunday afternoon outing for some families: Go the Point Bar, have lunch, jump on the ferry, drive to Muff and fill up with cheap petrol. Those days are gone. Eating out is in decline, cross border fuel is up and the cost of the ferry? Well you get the picture.
If the loss stems from 64,000 EUR to an estimated 250,000 EUR then the oil price has increased the loss but it was losing prior to that anyway.
A doom and gloom picture, let's cheer it up.
The first thing to look at it reducing costs. The main cost is obviously fuel, first cost saving, does the ferry have to travel every fifteen minutes? Why not every 30 minutes and reduce the bill by up to half?
If Limavady Borough Council are to fund/aid the ferry then it has to be to the benefit of the Limavady economy. If you think of the Newry effect. Cross border traffic comes in to shop, that's the sole intention, shop and save on those Euros. Coleraine has Asda which is cheaper than Limavady Tesco's. Limavady needs something else to pull the crowds..... then the ferry would be worth having.
During the summer last year (08) the crude price hits $147 a barrel and everyone pushes prices up for everything. Hauliers went out of business or sold their businesses on, it was horrific to watch. The rising oil price was blamed for the price rises of everything. People even started walking again. Foyle Ferry had raised its prices a few times in quick succession, if I remember rightly, to the point that £15 for a return ticket was okay when oil was at that price.
Today, the return ticket stays at £15 but the oil price has dropped back down to between $37-$45 a barrel depending on several factors. So you can't use that as a reason for the current state of the ferry, it was compounded over the two year duration that I can accept.
There are several variables that are missing from any argument at the moment:
- Staffing costs for the two year period
- Passenger/Vehicle numbers (broken down into their fare type) ie, what is the income of this loss making enterprise?
- The actual direction the vehicles are travelling in once they have disembarked at Magilligan (is there a case for Limavady to aid the ferry when everything turns left to Coleraine at the end of the road). Why should one council bail out (bad pun) the ferry when another council is benefitting from the increase revenue to the economy?.
Assuming that time is no pressure to the traveller then there's no real case for me going on the ferry, it costs me more. I love the ferry, don't get my wrong, but while every household is saving the pennies.... people won't want to spend more than they have to. Another issue that's swept under the carpet, the cross border petrol price has risen to the point there's no real cost saving to jump on the ferry and fill at the other side. It used to be the Sunday afternoon outing for some families: Go the Point Bar, have lunch, jump on the ferry, drive to Muff and fill up with cheap petrol. Those days are gone. Eating out is in decline, cross border fuel is up and the cost of the ferry? Well you get the picture.
If the loss stems from 64,000 EUR to an estimated 250,000 EUR then the oil price has increased the loss but it was losing prior to that anyway.
A doom and gloom picture, let's cheer it up.
The first thing to look at it reducing costs. The main cost is obviously fuel, first cost saving, does the ferry have to travel every fifteen minutes? Why not every 30 minutes and reduce the bill by up to half?
If Limavady Borough Council are to fund/aid the ferry then it has to be to the benefit of the Limavady economy. If you think of the Newry effect. Cross border traffic comes in to shop, that's the sole intention, shop and save on those Euros. Coleraine has Asda which is cheaper than Limavady Tesco's. Limavady needs something else to pull the crowds..... then the ferry would be worth having.
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
BBC Spotlight Programme: How Safe Is Your Job?
First shown on BBC1 NI last night, you can watch it again on BBC iPlayer. There was a segment on Limavady and the plight of the jobless in the area.
It says something when 350 people go for one job in Coleraine. A good programme on the whole but it did gloss over some of the details. When there's an upturn in the economy don't expect the job situation to instantly improve, companies are very nervous about spending now.
It says something when 350 people go for one job in Coleraine. A good programme on the whole but it did gloss over some of the details. When there's an upturn in the economy don't expect the job situation to instantly improve, companies are very nervous about spending now.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Music: Limavady band Furlo have download from nichart.com
Free download of "Logic To Late" (uber Furloheads will more than likely have it already).
View the nichart.com site or you can go straight to the download.
Rush Hall Care Home creates 70 new jobs in Limavady
Sort of a "news just in". Belfast Telegraph reports of 70 new jobs at the Rush Hall Care Home.
Full story here.
Full story here.
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Job Update: 17/02/2009
Total jobs listed: 1358
Total jobs for Limavady: 18 (1.32% an increase of 0.05%)
To view the Limavady opportunities click here.
Total jobs for Limavady: 18 (1.32% an increase of 0.05%)
To view the Limavady opportunities click here.
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