Transition Town Kinsale

Hallowe'en Party:

In November, we held another raiser of funds, spirits and awareness in the form of a Halloween Fancy Dress Party in the elegant and atmospherically medieval function room of the Lord Kingsale.

A happy crowd of horrifically and wackily attired individuals showed up for a fun-filled night of music courtesy of DJs Robin Renwick and Ger Butler and local band Karma Parking, juggling by Will, Cian, Petra and Guillaume, games by Naomi and Caoimhe and some hilarious impromptu compereing by Fintan Lynch.

A big thanks to Maureen Mortimer for the use of the room for the night and for heating up the sausages. Prizes were generously donated by Musgraves Ltd. Cash and Carry, the Thai Cottage , Kinsale Bookshop and so a huge thanks to them all for helping make it grand night out.

Film Screenings

Also in November we held a screening of ‘Escape from Suburbia’, sequel to the award wining ‘The End of Suburbia’. The new film goes further by looking at responses and solutions to Peak Oil including community gardens and sustainable communities. Hey, we’re already doing that here!

Summer Festivals 2007

TTK has been making appearances at a number of festivals over the tail end of the summer.

At the inaugural Irish Green Gathering which took place in the grounds of Woodbrook House, Kilanne, Co. Wexford, 17th-19th August, amidst the rains and howling winds of mid-August, the TTK stall found itself nestled in a barn surrounded by all manner of renewable energy and building stands.

Much networking and exchanging of information was assiduously carried out with other like-minded people, spreading the word on community and sustainability.

At Sustain West Cork: 24th - 26th August, in Bantry, Co. Cork during a day-long series of workshops and presentations, Klaus Harvey spoke about TTK, its origins, achievements so far and plans for the future. There was a great deal of interest in the initiative.

In the afternoon Jonathan Porritt, Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, mentioned the huge global significance of the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan and how it was being used a as blueprint all around the world for achieving community resilience and sustainability.

A great weekend also including international speaker David Puttnam: "Making Legislation for Climate Change"; workshops on Climate Change, saving energy and saving money, life post-peak oil. Also featuring Mark Edward’s Hard Rain photo presentation: a series of unforgettable and sometimes disturbing pictures accompanied by Dylan’s prophetic lyric written more than 40 years ago.

Peter Bourke, Dan Benn, Liz Creed and Eddie Farren at Irish Green Gathering

Finally, at the Electric Picnic in Stradbally, that hippest of hip boutique festivals, there was a discussion on the Transition Towns process in the Cultivate tent, with members from sister groups FADA in Newbridge, Sustain West Cork in Bantry and newcomer Ballydehob.

The experiences of TTK were shared with the other groups and we’ll keep in touch about the possibility of a conference sometime next year.

JULY 2007: TABLE QUIZ @ Swell

What percent of Ireland’s energy requirements comes from renewable sources?

This was one of the questions in the ‘Sustainability Round’ during TTK’s first table quiz held in Swell on Tuesday 24th July to raise funds, awareness, spirits and a few laughs. The turn out was excellent for a filthy wet night (surprise, surprise) and fourteen teams took part, fusing together their collective intellects and memories to answer questions such as the one above.

There was one main prize of four tickets for the Spirit of Kinsale Harbour Cruise, four bottles of wine from Next Door and Fishy Fishy Café and a box of chocolates from Quay Food Company.

A special prize for the highest score in the ‘Sustainability Round’ was a crate of cider courtesy of Swell, who were very helpful in setting up and letting us use the venue and whose staff also took part in the quiz. The inevitable raffle produced prizes galore ranging from numerous gift packs, to vouchers, bottles of wine and even a barbecue for those long hot summer evenings!

Many local businesses in town contributed prizes for the event and we’d like to thank the following for their generous support: The Candle Shop, Mange Tout Delicatessen, Stone Mad, Daisy Chain Florist, Jim Edwards, Next Door, Miley Murphy, White Lady Inn, The White House, Fintan Lynch Hairdressing, The Greyhound, Finishing Services, Swell, Spirit of Kinsale, Acton’s Leisure Centre, Granny’s Bottom Drawer, Supervalu, Quay Foods, Book Stor, Fishy Fishy and Director’s Cut.

Thanks also to Kinsale Further Education College for the use of a white board to keep the scores and to Oisin for a microphone lead. Thanks finally to all who supported the event and we look forward to the next one with baited answer sheet.

The answer to the question, by the way, is 2%.

March 2007

• Transition Towns Spring Fayre Fundraiser
• Q&A, Actons Hotel, Kinsale
• Cork Environmental Forum: Film Screening

February 2007

• Energy Forum
• Film showings: End of Suburbia and Power of Community.