Maureen's Blog: Unemployed Professionals Set Up A Group to Support...

Maureen's Blog: Unemployed Professionals Set Up A Group to Support...: I have always said it that if people were to forget the greed and ego's in a recession then there will be some hope of small businesses surr...

Unemployed Professionals Set Up A Group to Support Businesses

I have always said it that if people were to forget the greed and ego's in a recession then there will be some hope of small businesses surrving in this country and low and behold A Group of Professionals who were on a back to work allowance are doing just that, http://www.W3 Projects.org have formed a group to support people in business here in Ireland with web services, social media,networking,business training,social media training, marketing, you name it they are doing it, and the reason they are doing it and doing it well is because they all have something to offer in each of the areas so they put their heads together and hey presto they are flying it and so are the businesses that they are helping.

The W3 Project was formed by individuals who had attended a course to learn up skills in other areas of business when they realised that between all of them they had unreal services to offer as one group rather than setting up on their own.

They bartered with each other and it worked.

On top of that they have formed a networking system that will go all over Ireland enabeling Business people to meet up at events for FREE, no fees will be charged for the networkign groups.

Here is a short biog and list of what www.W3Projects.org have to offer

W3 Projects is a Learning and Training Co-operative composed of Job Seekers. We pooled our skills together to train each other, and teamed up to find work.

We have a wide variety of professional backgrounds, but our common experience is web development and web marketing, Business setup and marketing,

We meet on a weekly basis, every Wednesday in Yeats House, for the following activities:

Technical workshops on web development

Guest speakers on a broad range of topics

Support other member’s efforts to up skill

Social Media training

Media Marketing Training

Web Development

Seo (search engine optimisation)

Google Training

Training in WordPress, Social Media Marketing, Web Marketing

Web site design, development and updates

Graphic Design and Photoshop Work

History

The W3 projects group evolved from the government supported webactivate course run by the Digital Skills Academy in 2010. Participants from a diverse range of work and life experiences, ages, career specialities and nationalities got together, while gaining much valuable knowledge in the areas of web design, starting a business, digital photography, image manipulation techniques, social media, and now we are doing it on a national project [...]

Check out their website http://www.w3projects.org

Maureen's Blog: FashionBay.ie doubles up as a Marketing Tool for B...

Maureen's Blog: FashionBay.ie doubles up as a Marketing Tool for B...: Fashionbay.ie launches in Ireland There are many websites out there where you can sell you items and to the regular Jane on the street it i...

FashionBay.ie doubles up as a Marketing Tool for Businesses

Fashionbay.ie launches in Ireland

There are many websites out there where you can sell you items and to the regular Jane on the street it is a great concept to get money back into the purse while clearing out the wardrobe, websites like Ebay or Amazon and lots of Irish ones also offer selling services, however looking outside the box on this one there is a bigger scoop for businesses to get some major advertising with FashionBay.ie.

For example if you are in the fashion industry or beauty or hair product industry then you can sell on Fashionbay.ie but you can use your own business name to do this, The benefits to you on top of selling your items to clear stock you can also add your business name beside the products that you are selling.

Now if you look carefully at this suggestion that I am making  you will see that each time you upload an Item you are advertising your business as well as selling your stock, this is what I call major branding and it is very important in this day and age when advertising is still expensive, are you getting my drift yet in all of this, it’s a no brainer to add an account in your business name and start selling your product as well as the double whammy of advertising for next to nothing.

On top of this I have learned that Fashionbay.ie will be advertising on a major Tv stations in Ireland, Can’t tell you which one yet but will let you know when they are about to do it, this will ensure that your products are seen by all that see the adverts and Fashionbay.ie also have a massive social media champagne going on so they seem to be everywhere, Now are you understanding yet? They take care of all the advertising and marketing and you just sell and get your business name the attention it needs.

At the moment Fashionbay.ie are offering Free accounts and uploads for a month so get moving and selling and branding, Also after the month it is only €1. To advertise and sell an item, yes thats right €1 one euro! Need I say anymore on Fashionbay.ie and how your business can benefit from joining this amazing website?

If you do join up please do let me know how you are getting on as I intend to keep a good eye on Fashionbay.ie to see how you are all doing,

Personally I think it is a brilliant concept and as a woman who is constantly looking for ways for businesses to get some major advertising at low cost or organically I feel that Fashionbay.ie is worth a definite try, and to all the businesses out there, you have to put the work into the right type of advertising that gets you selling. No sitting back and saying Ohhh I will upload some pictures later and then you don’t do it, instead you go to bed with the sinking feeling that maybe you had a bad selling day? Well if you don’t take the time to get your products onto a free website that will help you sell then I don’t know what else to say to you, Focus on what will sell for you, think outside the box and Go For It! Spend your time marketing in the right area and see your business grow.

Xx I will keep you updated on this Fashionbay.ie but I can see where it is going and its all the way to the top and you can go with it. Get my drift?

Http://www.fashionbay.ie 

Maureen's News: Cannon Law under threat from new Law of the land i...

Maureen's News: Cannon Law under threat from new Law of the land i...: There are some major changes going on in Ireland and this time I am not talking about the IMF or the mortgage situation of many Irish famil...

Cannon Law under threat from new Law of the land in Ireland

There are some major changes going on in Ireland and this time I am not talking about the IMF or the mortgage situation of many Irish families and the massive debt that hangs over their heads.

This time I am talking about the changes that are taking place between the Catholic Church and the laws of the land, the Cloak and dagger laws that were created by the Catholic Church are under threat. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is the catholic religion slowly losing its grip in Ireland, Remember it is not that long ago that the government was run behind the scenes by the church?

Who rules the roost, the government & the law of the land or the Catholic Church?

Of all the topics for me to talk about there are none that get me as riled up as much as sexual abuse and especially where children are concerned?

For a few years now we have heard horrific stories of child abuse at the hands of priests in the Catholic Church, Stories that were kept hidden for decades are coming out every day and rocking the very core and foundation of the Catholic Church, each story is  more horrific than the other, and the sickening things is that the men and some women(nun’s) who inflicted this abuse were in the eyes of God and society The protectors of innocence and life, Protectors of a faith that was meant to guide us to be good moral Christians and citizens of a society and culture to always do good and abolish evil,

Well now we see that some of those who preached this ethos to us are the very ones who broke every rule of the written word that they claimed to represent.

A group of Irish priests have announced that the country’s Catholic clergy will refuse to comply with any law requiring them to break the seal of the confession. The statement of defiance comes in response to proposed legislation announced by the government late last week, under which priests could face up to five years in prison for failure to disclose sexual crimes against minors admitted by penitents.

The Irish government said that under the legislation confessions would not be exempt from rules on mandatory reporting of child abuse, claiming that the move is a response to Ireland’s clerical abuse crisis. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that the Catholic Church’s canon law would not be allowed to supersede state law

Well I was on a roll tonight with my blog on this subject when I decided to take a short tea break and listen to the radio and some relaxing music.

I Like to listen to 4FM Classic Hits but normally do not tune in after 9pm on a week night, however this time I did and the presenter Niall Boylan was in the full throws of a debate with callers on the fact that the Clergy should be forced by law of the land to break the code of confidentiality that exists around the confession box, They were discussing the exact topic to which I was writing my blog on.

To say the discussions between Niall and the callers were getting heated would be an understatement, Niall was adamant that the clergy should have to break the code of  silence and the callers were defending it, much to the annoyance of Niall Boylan. But this is the old Irish thing where some people still protect the Church even if it means covering up serious crimes against children, that is the power the Catholic Church still holds from its power inflicting days.  Now I am known to be objective and I had to agree with Niall Boylan on this one where children are concerned, and from what I can tell from Niall’sreaction to the callers, it was the fact that children are being abused and priests should not be allowed to hide behind a church law that protects an abuser, This I do agree with, But it’s not as simple as that and it never is. Do we abolish the church confidentiality law entirely or just on sexual abuse cases where children are concerned?

Confessions are good for the soul and as humans we do need to talk and express ourselves, if we didn’t then we would end up going demented holding things in but what if you have done something wrong and are living with it in your mind every day, who can you trust to talk to without it going out like a Chinese whisper because that is the fear that many people have when they are holding something in, they need to turn to someone, even the murderer has to blurt out what he has done at some stage weather to brag or be remorseful everyone has to talk.

The Catholic Church has a law that states that whatever is told to a priest in the confession box can never leave the confession box; this law has worked well for quite a few people who have committed minor crimes and Major ones.

The confessor feels that he has been cleared of his or her sins and gets on with their lives, some priests may have encouraged the offender to go to the legal authorities and make a statement and some priests may not have encouraged this at all, this is where the bigger problem lies for us that live in a society that has had its religious beliefs rocked with all the scandals that have emerged.

Priests are not the only ones who have this type of confidentiality law.

Journalists

If I was a journalist and I get a story from a person that I will print for all to see then I have a right to protect that person from ever being named, some journalists have gone to prison to protect their sources, If the journalists was to get a story from a man who has sexually abused a child would he go to the Gardai? If he knew an informer had killed a person would he notify the gardai and jeopardise his story in the papers? I don’t think so.

Psychiatrists

Then you have psychiatrists they are also bound by doctor patient privileges, will they also be looked upon to break their own law of ethics to divulge information to the authorities that could lead to the arrest and conviction of a child sex offender or any criminal for that matter?  

Gardai/Police

It’s a well known fact that the Gardai and Police have informers and they will never divulge the name of their source, In a lot of situations an informers life could be lost if the Gardai or Police were ever to let the informers name out to the public and let’s face it a lot of crimes and criminals would get away with murder if informers did not exist, So will the Gardai now have to abolish their own informer protection laws? Supposing the informer was part of a child sex ring and decided when arrested to turn his friends in and give evidence in Camera(private only to the judge) that could convict the other major players in the ring do you think the Gardai should entertain the law of protecting the source even though the source(informer) is part of the ring but will now get away because he is giving evidence? Is this right or wrong?

Ireland was always a strong hold for the Catholic faith and some may say that it kept moral rules and regulations in place to enhance the survival of our culture however we now see that these rules were a power of man, A power that the church created to instil fear in the hearts of every single man/woman and child, people assumed that while the catholic church was at its strongest all those years ago that no rules were ever broken by those who lived under the stronghold of the catholic religion, this of course we now know not to be true, girls still got pregnant and were sent away, forced to do long hours in laundries taking care of priests the very men that were abusing them then their babies were forcibly taken from the mothers arms and given up for adoption, some of these pregnancies were even brought about by a male family member but of course Man had the power so he was forgiven but the woman was not. Children were being sexually abused and tortured by the priests who were meant to protect them and let me remind you the Catholic Church has a law of abstinence, a very strict Law and one that no man should ever undertake as it is not a normal existence for a man or woman to not engage in a sexual act during their lifetime. Crimes were still committed by people who stole to feed their families; the church had so much money and continued to build up its bank while the majority of its congregation were kept as lower classes in poverty. Is this the religion we are now trying to defend on radio stations and TV debates?

I do think that where child abuse crimes are committed then the priest has to go to the Gardai and report this crime, this is an offence against a minor who society has to protect at all cost, there should be no question or doubt about this at all in our society or churches and with all that has gone on in the Catholic church with child sex abuse then they of all organisations should not have the privilege of hiding information that could lead to the apprehension of a child sex offender, these are heinous crimes against humanity and all that we are meant to uphold as human beings.

What is your view on the Church confidentiality law being abolished?

If I may add a personal note I will be tuning into Niall Boylan on 4FM Late Show, he seems to be a man who shoots straight from the hip and boy can he get a debate going.

Are Curls In Or Out? Stylists Personal Views

Are Curls In Or Out? Stylists Maureen O Halloran & Georgina  Heffernan Debate The Topic

With all the debates going on in the country at the moment with the IMF bailout  and the presidential election one would be forgiven for thinking that nothing else could be going on in our minds however with life in the Fashion world things change at an even faster pace, last season,this season and the next seasons trends all can go un noticed for everyday people, and rightly so considering what this country is going through, that is except for those who work in the fashion industry who have to keep abreast of it all so that they can keep you up to date on whats available to you for all your occasions. Stylists Maureen O Halloran and Georgina Heffernan take on the challenge and debate the topic of  Curly hair Verses Straight hair, Now I am aware that this is not as important as the IMF or the presidency but it is a nice distraction so Read on and vote for your choice, Curly or straight?

MAUREEN O HALLORAN: TV Fashion Stylist and Business Marketing Consultant.
"I’m holding my curly head high."

For those who know me from my fashion styling on TV, they may have noticed that I have very unruly, curly hair. I love it, I grasp it willingly in my daily life and it is a BIG part of my bubbly personality, including my sometimes black sense of humour and very honest approach to styling, but I have not always liked my hair, In fact, as a young girl I hated my hair. I grew up with curly, frizzy hair and I disliked it with a passion, I would be called names and to be honest it could be a bit of a confidence knocker. I envied the girls at school with straight shiny locks. I remember as a teenager someone told me that if I got a brown paper bag and put it on my hair and leant over the ironing board that I could Iron it straight but I’m afraid that manovure almost cost me my scalp. Then, I was advised to brush it 100 times every night and every morning, as it would help to unfurl the curl but all it did was to expand my mop until I resembled a yeti.

Eventually I chopped all of it off and it stayed that way for years, as it was easier to manage but when I got into my twenties, I decided to let it grow again and the curls did not seem so bad however Quite a lot of people would tell me: "You should straighten your hair," although I had beautiful curls the whole fashion scene that I was involved with had changed yet again and Straight Hair was the latest craze, but I saw no point in it, it seemed like too much hassle to have to go through all those hours of hot irons and serums and sprites’ and a load more products and I was also unsure if the straight look would suit my face shape as I had lost so much weight. 
As my career branched off into even more & more TV work, I gave into the pressure and started to straighten the curls, as I was being constantly told that it looked more professional. Looked more professional? I am a professional in my field of work so why would I be judged on my straight hair as opposed to curly? I was bemused by this assumption; Apparently Curly hair meant I would not be taken seriously? It was all about following the latest craze and you dare not be different.Anyway I went against my own judgement and straightened it .This meant that even my own neighbours did not recognise me when it was straight. I had a lady say to me one day: "You remind me of someone?" I said, "Mary, It’s me, Maureen!" You should have seen the shocked look on her face.
I found wearing the straight hair very false for me, I felt I had to behave differently and hide my own personality,I had to look like others expected me to look rather than being myself and this did not suit my honest confident nature, so after a while this got me thinking and I realised that with a good hair cut and some products I could wear my hair curly and avoid all the hassle of straightening it, which took at least two hours at a time, every day and I was constantly buying products that were costing me a fortune - and to top it all off all the heat was destroying my hair at a rapid rate. I realised all I needed was to expand the confidence I had in my work to my hair and to wear my hair the way I wanted to wear it and the way It was meant to be worn, Natural!! I’ve learnt to embrace the curls and the life that goes with it and so too have all those people who asked me to straighten my beautiful curls,  My career has never been better and my professionalism is taken very seriously indeed, the curls are stunning, nourished and healthy and these days I get so many people stopping me to tell me how beautiful my hair is – so you see  I couldn’t be happier! Bring on the Curls.. 




Georgina Heffernan: Fashion journalist , stylist and PR consultant
 

"I’m staying straight – good riddance to curls!"

When I was five my hair looked like something Goldilocks would be proud of. But as I've got older those cute ringlets have turned into willful waves with a mind, and frizz, all of their own. As a result, I’ve spent a large portion of my time straightening my hair - but whyare we with naturally curly tresses so obsessed with making it straight? Even as fashion magazines trumpet this season’s tousled looks or bouffant updos, women line up to have their hair flat-ironed, blown out and chemically relaxed.
Google "curly hair" and you will find message boards, blogs and products set to offer a sort of support system for untamable, frizzy, disorganized bad hair days. There are, of course, similar guides for women with straight hair, but the first page of Google results for "straight hair" are almost all on how to achieve it. Why? Because straight hair looks more controlled and professional. I have yet to see as much as a wave on the heads of the immaculately groomed newsreaders on SKY news or, come to think of it, any Oscar winning actress.
When I was just 14, I purchased my first professional blow dryer and I have been straightening my hair, pretty much, ever since. I locked myself in the bathroom, and, with my blow-dryer set on high, painstakingly blow-dried my hair and emerged, 53 minutes later, straight. I blissfully walked around, a curly-head incognito, until it rained. Rain melted me like the wicked witch of the West. "I'm frizzing, I'm frizzing!" I shrieked and dove into the safety of the nearest store.After that, I discovered hair straightners and there was no going back...
My hair was pressed through the iron once and I sat there mesmerised by my glossy new mane - the closest thing to a miracle that I had ever seen. Having your first HD experience is like taking a first tentative sip of shandy and before long you're a full- blown alcoholic. There are no Priory Clinics for people trying to come off hair straightners. But the effect is so fast and effective, that when I looked at myself in the mirror afterwards, I felt like a magician who has pulled a bunch of flowers from his sleeve. I wanted to say: 'Tadah!' with theatrical flourish.
The great thing about ceramic straighteners  is you don't have to be any good at hairdressing to use them. They are idiot proof. Even if you do make a mistake, you simply pass the irons back over it to make it disappear. On the down side, my hair is very dry and will not grow past my shoulders – a result of practically frying my hair on an almost daily basis. But so what? At least I have straight hair. And where previously my locks had been a messy mop of frizz, now they are straight, polished and, dare I say it, professional. The straight hair suits my face shape and suits my personality – I’m a straight talking girl after all.