Late Late Show presenter Pat Kenny
The Ideas Campaign was featured on 27 March on The Late Late Show, Ireland’s most watched TV programme with an audience that reaches 90% of the Irish adult population.
Three citizens were interviewed in the audience about the ideas they had submitted to the campaign website. Fionnbar Walsh from Kerry spoke about his idea of replacing prefab buildings in new schools with new buildings which would be funded by local communities. He said that this would result in savings for the Exchequer.
Fionnbar Walsh
Many of the schools in the country which have been awaiting government funding for either their construction or renovation, have outline or defined planning permission and are currently using temporary rented facilities to tide them over until the government will approve construction. We need the communities where these projects are currently “approved” to invest in them. If 100 persons invest in the project with about €10,000 with a 1% share there is €1 million available for the project immediately. As a school in a local area with 100 investors offering the government the use of the facility, constructed, at a 7% cost to the government per annum, it will work out as cheap as or cheaper than the current rental cost for the temporary facilities currently in use. This project will also get some of the construction sector back in action and gain much needed revenue back into the economy.
- Fionnbar Walsh
Tess Kane said that she, and many other older citizens like her, who have lived through previous recessions would be prepared to give home-making skills classes to younger people.
Tess Kane
There are thousands of grannies and an older generation who have lived through recessions and hard times and survived. My idea is to get them together in their local communities and teach the younger wives, mothers and partners. This can be done on a voluntary basis and the benefits would be enormous to everyone:
1 How to serve up fantastic nutritional meals - all home made
2 Using leftovers: cooked potatoes - meat - vegetables, etc.
3 Local produce… growing it yourself
4 Home baking… i.e. when had you potato cake last?
- Tess Kane
Una Heaton from Limerick spoke of creating a new arts business to enable local artists to promote and sell their works.
Una Heaton
Our idea is that eight artists, sculptors, photographers and painters will form a group and set up their own art gallery and art school. Each artist in the group takes 100% on their work. Invited artists will pay 20% on each sale to the gallery, the gallery will be part-time staffed, with the group taking alternative weeks. Also within the building will be a tourist attraction, the Angela’s Ashes tour. The building used to be the Leamy School in Limerick where Frank McCourt went to school… I think this is a great opportunity for artists to display their work in a great environment. Art will always sell.
- Una Heaton
Aileen O'Toole
Campaign Director Aileen O’Toole was interviewed in studio about the citizens’ campaign and said that the response had been unbelievable, with “hundreds and now thousands of ideas” for economic renewal and recovery being posted to the campaign website.
She encouraged others to log their ideas on the site before next Tuesday, 31 March, the deadline for the submission of ideas.
The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan TD
Eamon Ryan TD, Minister for Energy Communications and Natural Resources, another guest on the show, praised the campaign as a medium to promote positive ideas for economic recovery.
Tags: Aileen O'Toole, ideas, Ideas Campaign, RTE
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