Universal Innovations at Ashford Film Studios

Today members of the Wicklow Chamber were invited along to a tour at Ashford Film Studios, located at Ballyhenry, Ashford. The film studios are situated beside the Glanbia garden centre on the Dublin Road out of Ashford village ( just before the N11 entrance)

Joe O’Connell and his daughter Shelley divided the group into two halves and took us on a spellbinding tour!

The Ashford Film Studios work on an ethos of minimum wastage, local product sourcing and environmentally friendly power. This was explained in detail and quite obvious to us during the tour where we were shown the solar power sources, wind turbines ( pretty and small but enough to power the Lots’ street lighting) , water tanks,  system layout and so so much more!

I am not an engineer but even I could see the amazing planning and attention to detail that has been put into this project.

With 3 studio stages, 2 of which are equal in size to Ardmores’  largest stage, and one that is big enough for both indoor and outdoor set filming, the Ashford Film Studios have been carefully developed to cater for (and attract) multi million pound movie making! ( and all that it brings)

With the Irish Tax Breaks (Section 481) appealing to overseas film producers, having a top facility such as Ashford Film Studios in the garden county has the potential to create hundreds of local and national jobs, opportunities and economic growth.

The tour included a visit around these facilities which were very exciting – you could imagine the buzz of the studio in the throes of a movie!

There are individual rooms for the day actors to rest in, with small living areas practically for the Stars, hairdressing studios, makeup departments, design etc.  Very inspiring stuff!

Shelley explained how they worked alongside film makers, crew, engineers etc to focus on their needs to the point where the actual layout of the rooms have been preplanned to reduce time wastage and increase productivity

An example of this is how the costume making area is leading to the fitting area and then to the extras’ changing area.

The technical aspects were also given extreme attention to detail with the 3 stages being close enough for the engineers above to rig them out easily and efficiently and a ‘no cables on the floor’ rule that sees them neatly run across shelf-type fittings above ones’ head. Every pipe, lead and power source is labelled and named clearly to allow the film crews a clear understanding of whats what and what goes where.

I think everyone on the tour was astonished, delighted and invigorated about such a wonderful project, however there was one point that I believe the people of Wicklow, and indeed Ireland should shout about, and this was the frustration being felt at the seemingly lack of support from the council planners in speeding up the approval of the development of the workshops (amongst other things) which would allow the studio  to begin attracting the service providers that it needs in order to remain a viable and sustainable business.

Finally we were treated to a short talk wth Morgan O Sullivan who explained how himself and Joe O’Connell got together in the first place to create a film hub for Ireland  with the creation of a modern film studio, one to compliment that of Ardmore studios, in order to be able to facilitate a larger number of movies being created here in Ireland.

As Morgan himself said ‘It’s a people business’ and I think we all know real people who could benefit greatly from this project. So make your voice heard and get on to your local TD and ask them to help this projects’ vision become a reality.

Step one would be for them to get the local planners to physically go out and visit the place before they make any decisions….(Seriously!)

p.s. Well done to the Wicklow Chamber – and new president Roy Conway – for making this tour possible and best of luck to all at Ashford Film Studios from us here at The Wicklow Way Of Living.
Ashford Film Studios, Ballyhenry, Ashford, Co Wicklow, Ireland
SatNav: Lat: 53.021030,Lon: -6.104793

View Ashford Film Studios in a larger map

Pre loved designer and vintage clothes sale

Pre loved designer and vintage clothes sale this Saturday in Greystones St.Patrick’s church hall

A Pre-loved and Unworn Designer, vintage & high street clothes sale is taking place on the 28th of April in Greystones St.Patrick’s church hall from 11-5 pm

There will be many ladies from the fashion industry, Designers, Stylist, Models and stylish women clearing out their overflowing wardrobes and flogging there beautiful wares at a great prices so drop in and pick yourself up a dream outfit at a fraction of its cost.

Just some of the Labels that will be on offer are YSL, Alexander McQueen, Lainey Keogh, Diane von Furstenberg, Jimmy choo and vintage clothes and furs along with some high street lines so something for everyone with every budget.

There will be a rock n roll dj and a tea rooms serving afternoon tea and cakes.

Traditional Ginger Beer Stockists in Wicklow

Sullivan’s traditional Irish ginger beer is the first alcoholic Irish ginger beer to be launched on to the market from the new Sullivan’s range.

This distinctively Irish range specialises in producing traditional and nostalgic beverages for the modern day refreshment connoisseur.

Without doubt the mere suggestion of ginger beer will evoke numerous happy memories for many people, which in itself is a great incentive to enjoy a chilled glass of Sullivan’s. At Sullivan’s we are taking time to ensure a revival of such unforgetable drinks are not lost as a distant memory.

At Sullivan’s we encourage our consumers to actively engage with us via our email address on our ”contact us” page, and to keep an eye on our ”where to buy” section of this website for our ever growing list of retail outlets where you can purchase Sullivan’s.

Furthermore, give us a ‘‘like” and ”share” on facebook, or ”follow” us on twitter to keep up to date with upcoming promotions, events, competitions, prizes and all things beer!!

Sullivan’s now available in Wicklow in;

• Quinn’s Spar Supermarket, Main Street, Baltinglass
• Morrin’s Centra Supermarket, Main Street Dunlavin

If you would be interested in stocking our Ginger Beer Please contact us today on +353(0)59 9175220 or via our contact page here >>

French Polishing Services Wicklow

With the current economic climate not only are people looking ot enhance their honmes rather than buy a new one, there is also a surge in restoring old furniture and making the most of what we already have.

Adams and Daughter are a french polishing & furniture restoration professionals based in Dublin and servicing counties nationwide.

Adams provide a team of experienced French polishers in our workshop. Our in-house polishing and finishing facility provides high specification finishes to all products.

Within the polishing process we offer a wide variety of colours and finishes as well as being able to provide antique, distressed or other specialised techniques.

If your looking to restore an old piece of furniture to it’s former glory or would like a new look for your kitchen then why not give them a call on (01) 6771960 and see what you can do!

Visit them online at www.adamsanddaughter.com

Wicklows’ Local Heroes Campaign

Well folks, many of you may have heard of an initiative to Brand Wicklow Town with the aim of encouraging local business and community involvement.

Here at The Wicklow Way group (which includes whatsonwicklow.com) we decided to put our weight behind this initiative and do what we can to help promote awarenss of the tasks and objectives being carried out by the volunteers from local businesses in Wicklow.

Official Local Heroes Wicklow Town page:

The brand Wicklow initiative is now running under the guise of the Local Heroes Wicklow Town campaign - this is not to be confused with the previous local heroes wicklow facebook page or any other.

We ( local heroes wicklow town) need your likes on facebook where we will be posting updates on the progress and initiatives taking place over the next 3 months (as part of the 100 day campaign)

So please like us on facebook and help Wicklow Town stay in business and encourage tourism, sports, community living and youth projects.

Want to grow your business in 2012?

Make a positive change and invest in your business for 2012 – reach the online market for as little as €5.20 per blog with our 2012 rates -

click here  for details >>

LittleScrap – Unique Range

Childrens clothes, quilts and accessories designed and handmade in Ireland!

We at Little Scrap believe in recycling as much frabric as we can whilst creating a bright, fun and happy new range of hoodies, dresses, skirts, hats, hair accessories and quilts.

Available at selected craft fairs in Ireland during the year and by appointment at the studio.

To make an appointment or for more information, please contact us!
You can also buy online! Visit www.littlescrap.ie

Titanic Tours to Belfast 2012

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Titanic. The new titanic centre in Belfast opens from April 2012 and the lovely Terry of Hilltop Treks has now included Titanic Day tours to his services!

The tour leaves Dublin daily for Belfast and the New Titanic Visitor Center:

We will visit the new Titanic Visitor Center in the heart of Belfast city.

We will also visit many interesting locations along the way giving an insight to some of the events that lead to Belfast becoming the ship building capital of the British Empire.

Pickup Locations:

• Dublin Tourist Office, Suffolk St: – 7:55am
• Gresham Hotel, O’Connell St: – 8:10am
• Other Pickups locations are available upon request.

Please be at your pickup point 10 minutes before departure. Return to Dublin for approx 6:30pm
For more information visit www.titanicdaytours.ie

Damien Mulley gives FREE tech talk sept 22

The popular blogger and tech expert Damien Mulley will be giving a Free seminar as part of the Wicklow CEB seminar programme for September. Well worth going along to if you can.

Damien gave our wicklow site the thumbs up a few years ago (2009!!) with a link to our muddy matches dating walk which we were delighted with and , as avid followers of his we recommend this seminar to anyone considering how social marketing can benefit your business.

details below:

[quote]

Well known technology expert Damien Mulley makes a welcome return to Co. Wicklow for this IT trend watching seminar. *Topics will include Mobile Commerce, including the use of QR codes and developments in mobile payment technolgy; Data Protection; new modes of Social Media that businesses need to be aware of; and an in-depth look at website Analytics – watching how users engage with your site and making use of that knowledge. Damien will be joined by a panel of expert speakers on the day.

[/quote]

Join us next Tuesday for an informal presentation of how our business can help yours:

Invitation to Open Presentation with Wicklow Ireland.ie
“An introduction to the Services provided for Business by WicklowIreland.ie”

Date: Tuesday 05^th July 2011

Time: 12 noon – 1pm

Place: Arklow Business Enterprise Centre, Kilbride Ind Est, Arklow ( www.abec.ie)

Click here for map >>

AGENDA:

Introduction:

WicklowIreland.ie – Who we are, What we do , Why we are here

Websites overview

A run through of our websites inc:

www.WicklowBusiness.ie

www.WicklowTourism.ie

www.WicklowNews.ie

www.WhatsonWicklow.ie

Google Result Samples

A live demo of google search results for our clients

Introducing our Mobile App Explore Wicklow

An introduction to our GPS driven Mobile App and how it can work for your business bringing customers to your door.

www.ExploreWicklow.ie

Looking Ahead

Failte Ireland, BBC, US Ambassador, Local and International Press

Special Offer

June Special offer extended to July €199 – All Sites and Mobile App
www.WicklowIreland.ie

Q&A

RSVP Please to office@thewicklowway.ie