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Laura Kostin Seeks Democratic Party Nomination to Challenge Camillo for State Rep in District 151

Cos Cob mother of four Laura Kostin, who won a seat on the RTM in District 8 last fall, is seeking the DTC’s nomination to run for State Rep District 151, the seat held by Republican Fred Camillo, who is seeking a sixth term.

Kostin, who has the executive committee’s endorsement, will present to the full DTC on Wednesday.

Whereas Alex Bergstein received Democrats’ endorsement to run against Scott Frantz in the 36th district, which includes Greenwich, New Canaan and Stamford, there will be no caucus for Kostin, as District 151 is entirely in Greenwich.

Referring to the longtime RTM district 8 leader Chris von Keyserling who was charged by Greenwich Police with Sexual Assault 4th degree in January 2017, Kostin on Wednesday explained why she ran for RTM in 2017.

“I decided to enter because I did not want Chris von Keyserling representing my district or my family,” she said.

Kostin said at the time she was recovering from a Caesarean section after giving birth to her fourth child, and took her preschooler door to door for petition signatures.   “It was a lesson for both of us,” she said.

And while dozens of women were inspired by March On and Indivisible Greenwich, Kostin said neither group recruited her, and that she was at the time unaffiliated with a party.

“I didn’t even know about either of those groups until I read about them on Chris Fountain’s blog,” she said. “It was an eye opener to the dirtier side of politics,” she continued, referring to that blogger’s call to his readers not to vote for women petition candidates and her letter to the editor denouncing Fountain as misogynistic. “To be the subject of personal attacks is reprehensible,” she said.

Kostin, whose oldest child is 12, left a job as a breaking news producer at MSNBC in January 2018 after having her fourth child, said the shift she worked was 4:00pm until midnight.

“I covered everything from Trump rallies that went south to plane crashes to mass shootings, which there are far too many in our country,” she said. “It was gratifying work, but I wouldn’t get home until around 1:00am.”

Sharing more on her background, Kostin said she comes from a family of immigrants.

“My mother was born here, but her parents are Armenian genocide survivors. My dad came here before the revolution in Iran and went to college here. My mom is Christian. My dad, while not a practicing Muslim, came from a Muslim country,” she said, going on to describe her husband as a very nice adorable Jewish man from West Hartford.

“We have all three religions in our family and somehow we survive Thanksgiving dinners,” she said.

Referring to a crisis in civility in US politics, Kostin said, “I knew once I heard Donald Trump criticize John McCain’s military record that he was not somebody I could support. I don’t believe we should be governed by a volatile Twitter feed.”

As for the upcoming November 2018 elections, Kostin said she has no reason to believe behavior during the election season will be any better. “All you can do is control your response and try to rise above,” she said.

Asked to comment on State Rep Fred Camillo’s record, Kostin, who said she has never met Mr. Camillo, said she’d studied his voting record.

“I don’t feel Fred has accomplished a lot,” she said. “We’ve had more of the same for a very long time.”

“I know he likes dogs, and 5 out of 15 bills he sponsored this legislative session were all related to animals,” Kostin said. “That is admirable, but that is not a platform for a legislator.”

Kostin questioned Camillo’s support of HB5009, which would exempt car washes from the sales tax. “Why are we playing favorites with the tax code?” she asked. “If our budgets are so stressed, why take money out of the coffers?”

Kostin said the state’s failing infrastructure should be more of a priority.  “It’s unfortunate that legislators this session were too cowardly to bring tolls to a vote,” she said. “I think our state desperately needs investment in infrastructure in order to keep and grow jobs.”

“My opponent calls tolls a tax, which they are not,” Kostin continued. “On the train you ride, you expect to buy a ticket and pay for the use of that asset. Right now people use our assets for free. I’m from New Jersey and tolls are a way of life and they’re pretty lucrative. They brought in $1.6 billion in 2016. There is a pricing structure that is pretty palatable.”

Asked what would be her priorities in Hartford, Kostin said she’d push for an equal pay law to close the gap between salaries for men and women.

“We have a pay gap bill that has been passed which prohibits new employers from asking your salary history, but does nothing to close the gap between genders when it comes to pay,” she said. “Women make 86¢ on the dollar compared to men. In this day and age seems ridiculous.”

Kostin also supports legalizing marijuana. “According to Sacred Heart University poll, 76% percent of people in Connecticut support legalizing marijuana, which is already decriminalized in the state. They not only support legalizing it, but they support taxing it. It could be a lucrative source of income.”

Kostin said she also favors a bill that would ban ghost guns.

“Ghost guns are minimally assembled online and there are YouTube videos on how to assemble them,” she said. “Then you finish making them in your home. Often they don’t have serial numbers so they’re not traceable or regulated.”

Kostin acknowledges she is a newcomer to politics, but hopes voters will remember that she has been an advocate of testing soil in town, and opponent of artificial turf.

“I feel that soil testing was a hot button issue that shouldn’t have been because it involves our kids’ safety, and it seems a huge liability for the town as more fields come up contaminated,” she said.

“We’ve pivoted against crumb rubber but there’s a lot of it left in town,” she said. “Cardinal stadium has Envirofill, which is a less studied surface, but I’m grateful they did not install a crumb rubber surface when they redid that field.”

“I have to knock on a lot of doors and introduce myself and hope that as voters people will get to know me, come to coffee gatherings, and that they will see that maybe it’s time for new fresh voices,” she said.

Kostin will speak to the full DTC on Wednesday and hopes receive their nomination.


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Archive for the ‘Irish Politics’ Category

St. Patrick’s Day and looking in the Covid rear view mirror

March 18, 2021

So, the ISAG (Independent Scientific Advocacy Group) last December were advocating for an approach (mostly known as Zero Covid), that they said would have us out of lockdown and enjoying some return to freedom on St. Patrick’s Day.

They were talking about a similar approach to how New Zealand had dealt with Covid, whereby we could potentially be enjoying a mask free life in our country, meeting friends, eating in restaurants, drinking in pubs, celebrating our special national day and most importantly getting “Back to Normal”.

I myself was a big advocate for the approach they were taking, as I believed it made total sense and was the only way for us to get out of our grave situation with minimum loss of life, health, jobs, damage to the economy and mental health.

I went as far as blogging about it, tweeting about it and even giving their team some pro-bono strategic guidance about their communications – we even did some design work to help simplify their messaging. I am not involved now, but I do support what they are doing.

Note: I was quiet surprised at the abuse I took in some quarters for supporting that approach and was even targeted by the “brilliant” Gript crew (…very strange). The “we are all in this together” horse bolted in April 2020 and still hasn’t come back!

On one hand we can now throw our eyes up to heaven and say the ISAG crew were talking rubbish and isn’t where we are right now proof that they were totally wrong

OR ..we can now look back and say they were spot on all along, and if only we had done what they said then, we would be in a pub with a creamy pint of Murphy’s toasting our national day and the end to the hardship we have all endured at varying levels.

So…were they right or were they wrong?

Let’s take a look..

What they were advocating for was:

  • An aggressive suppression of the virus by going into a sharp, decisive lockdown
  • Quarantining all visitors to the country for two weeks to ensure those entering were not introducing even more Covid and possible new variants
  • Some cooperation with Northern Ireland (who were in a worse mess at the time) about people moving between jurisdictions
  • An effective contact tracing regime to focus in on any cases that happen
  • A sensible opening up of the country on a county by county basis

While all of this initial effort seemed very extreme, a sacrifice by the population for two months or so could have us in a much better, enjoyable place for 2021 while we all waited for vaccines.

Initially many of the usual suspects argued that this “Zero Covid” crew were a bit nuts and what was being suggested just wasn’t possible here – as I said I took a small amount of that abuse for my small part in advocating for the approach.

When we look at what has happened since then until this St. Patrick’s Day (our supposed “freedom” day):

  • We came out of the October/November lockdown when there were still too many cases in the community (we stupidly allowed schools to stay open despite outbreaks)
  • We never controlled international travel or the border with the North
  • Christmas shopping and entertaining kicked in
  • The UK variant came to Ireland with all of the thousands of people returning home for Christmas and….

BOOM !!!

We had an explosion of Covid with an incredible amount of cases and the inevitable deaths that followed.

Suddenly that aggressive and inevitable lockdown was needed and there was no issue with the general public, we knew it was necessary and with that more and more people were seeing the sense that the ISAG crew were advocating for, except instead of a “hill” of Covid cases in the community that we needed to suppress it was suddenly a colossal “mountain”.

OK, we could still do what the ISAG were suggesting, but the scale of the problem meant the St. Patrick’s Day target was now unrealistic, but instead a few weeks later if we did the right thing.

What did we actually do?

  • We took the tough lockdown on the chin, including home schooling (sensible and necessary) – the only exception is that the lockdown period needed to be longer (how long will it be?)
  • And…a token effort to restrict “unnecessary” travel (as we know there are still thousands travelling each week unnecessarily)
  • And….despite the talk about hotel quarantining we still haven’t managed to put an arrangement in place
  • And….schools will return and the community spread will kick off again
  • And….we are stumbling through a vaccination programme (my 85 year old mum will receive her 2nd vaccination next Saturday , my 47 year old brother in New Jersey received his two weeks ago!)

The most significant problem since December is that the flights kept coming with all sorts of visitors from everywhere including new Covid variants from Brazil and other places.

A simple question may be asked: how bloody stupid are we in this country?

Basically, we can’t go beyond 5kms in Ireland, but you can go to Lanzarote!

As far back as last summer Ireland has been “so good” at putting restrictions on it’s citizens, but for some stupid reasons that I will never fathom we have to leave the back door open, which leaves us on this St. Patrick’s Day, not free but looking into a fog of uncertainty with no plan, a shambles of a vaccination rollout and staring down the barrel of a 2021 and even more hardship and economic devastation.

As well as the high number of deaths and sickness since December, the other very serious problem now is that people have lost patience and lost faith and compounded by extremely poor communications a very depressed country is ready to explode.

So, a big salute to the dedicated ISAG crew who persisted with their very simple, spot on approach that could have had us raising our glasses together in our favourite watering holes.

You were right, all along and for whatever political reasons those in power did not do the “5%” that would have us out of this mess.

Greg Canty

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications who offer Marketing, PR, Graphic Design and Digital Marketing services from our offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

Ireland, Visitors and Closing the Schools

October 21, 2020

Schools - lockdown

Another severe lockdown in the depths of winter, full of confusion, anger, worry and concern for all cohorts of society that are being severely damaged by a cruel disease that doesn’t really care how we feel about it – it’s just quite happy to have new homes to visit, while we can’t !

This leaves us facing into six weeks of varying degrees of misery, depending on your circumstances, so it better be damn worth it and deliver a result that will allow people to recover both their lives and livelihoods when it is over.

I feel metaphorically speaking we have all had the Covid virus (In saying that I am not belittling anyone who has suffered directly as a result of having the disease).

To make sure these six weeks are as effective as they can possibly be (does anyone want 12 weeks??) it’s vital that everything that can be done, is done right now and for me besides Irish people adhering to the rules and the spirit of the rules, there are three stand out measures that are an absolute must:

  1. The island of Ireland must work together
  2. People coming into Ireland cannot add to the spread that is already here
  3. The right decision needs to be made about schools

Getting these things wrong will totally diminish the benefits from the six weeks of hardship.

But that’s not possible” is what I hear people say when we talk about the island of Ireland. This is bullshit and we need to call it out – we have a common problem that deserves a common solution, and the cooperation that happened with foot and mouth disease needs to happen again.

People coming into the country should be tested before they get on any plane or boat and shouldn’t be allowed to wander freely in Ireland until we know they are not carrying a virus. Quick tests that are in other jurisdictions would make a big difference.

The final measure is possibly the very contentious one, as it really effects us because we have a lot of young and old students and their families, all with a vested interest in their education and their health.

Hey teacher leave those kids at home!

I would love to believe that our precious children, young and old, are largely immune from this horrible disease and play no part in it’s spread to others in the general community.

On that basis they could safely go to school, continue with their development and in truth allow their parents to get on uninterrupted with their work and lives – That would be a fantastic scenario, one that is great for society but is it the case?

I for one, don’t believe it..

I know from my own Twitter account and from texts and messages that I have received from people including a national journalist, I am getting lots of vitriol for daring to suggest that the reopening of schools followed by colleges could be a contributing factor to the sudden spike in cases that happened in Ireland in August and has continued and has been replicated across Europe.

My hunch was based purely on the story of the pandemic timeline (very few cases, schools open and then cases spiked – this was before wet pubs opened) in Ireland. I’m sure people returning from overseas holidays (Green or non-Green list countries – flights continued to and from both) was also a contributing factor but that would have been a gradual thing on the timeline.

With the schools you can pinpoint the actual date they reopened and the timeline of the cases at that time.

I hear the arguments against my position:

But…young kids are not likely to get Covid and spread it?

But..older kids are more likely to get Covid and spread it but they are most unlikely to be sick from it?

But …colleges. They are adults who will hang out and party like we all did back in the day, so that’s a fairly straightforward argument.

But…the data from our test, track and trace system and the resulting published stats hasn’t been identifying schools as being a problem?

Maybe my hunch is totally wrong and the decision or choice by the government to keep schools open unlike in Northern Ireland is a justified one – lets think about it and see what the experts are saying and figure out what we know and don’t know?

Do we know that young kids cannot get Covid? – we don’t

Do we know that young kids if they do contract Covid are most likely to be asymptomatic (just like many adults are)? –  likely

Do we know that asymptomatic kids cannot pass Covid onto others? – definitely not

Older kids, teenagers will be more likely to contract Covid than younger kids, but will be more likely to be asymptomatic? – likely

At this point we need to ask ourselves a simple question..

Will asymptomatic kids (of all ages) who contract Covid pass it to others who then get sick, test positive and we NEVER know who the source was

In my simple mind, that’s quite plausible and it stacks up my hunch about schools opening and the spike, but lets see what the professionals are saying about schools, children and young adults

In the U.S. this is what is being said:

Yes, children can get COVID-19..

Dr. Lisa Gwynn, an associate professor of clinical pediatrics and public health sciences at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, said that yes, children can get COVID-19.

However, according to Brian Labus, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the infection rates in children are low.

When children do get infected,” explained Labus, “they tend to have a very mild disease compared to adults.

Gwynn said that children can transmit COVID-19 to adults.

She noted that children ages 10 and older are especially able to transmit the illness to the adults around them.

While there’s limited information regarding children younger than 10, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report Trusted Source on September 18 indicating that younger children can transmit the virus to adults as well.

The report cited one case in which an 8-month-old child transmitted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, to both parents. Another child at the same day care facility who contracted the virus was 8 years old.

Both children had mild signs and symptoms, including runny nose, fatigue, and fever. The report included information about 12 children who had developed COVID-19 at three different child care facilities.

Transmission, either confirmed or probable, was shown to have occurred to 46 people outside of the facilities, including one parent who had to be hospitalized. Also, two children who had confirmed COVID-19 but were asymptomatic were shown to have transmitted the disease to adults.

There was even a more concerning article that says

Asymptomatic children can spread coronavirus for weeks, study finds

New US studies show viral loads of the coronavirus are especially high among children and youths, who can unknowingly spread it for weeks.

The article went on to say:

A new, unsettling study on children and the coronavirus pandemic has just been published as countries around the world reopen kindergartens and school classrooms. The study’s findings are sure to further fuel already heated debates over the risk of infection in institutions of learning.

Doctors at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC have found that infected children can spread the SARS-CoV-2 virus for weeks even though they themselves show no COVID-19 symptoms. That means that children with only mild symptoms, or none at all, can unknowingly infect people around them.

In an earlier study, researchers in Boston showed that children and youths they observed had surprisingly high viral loads.

This led to an inevitable question:

Are asymptomatic children spreading the virus?

It went on:

The new study, which was published on August 28 on the website of the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, was conducted by Roberta L. DeBiasi and Meghan Delaney, who analyzed data from 91 children in 22 hospitals across South Korea. “Unlike in the US health system, those who test positive for COVID-19 in South Korea remain in the hospital until they have completely recovered from their infection,” says DeBiasi.

According to the study, roughly 22% of the children developed no symptoms throughout their infection, 20% began asymptomatic but later developed symptoms, and 58% tested symptomatic. The study also showed great differences in the length of time children remained symptomatic, ranging from three days to three weeks. One-fifth of the asymptomatic patients and roughly half of the symptomatic patients were still passing on the SARS-CoV-2 virus three weeks after initial infection — though this did not directly reflect their contagiousness.

The authors readily admit that there is still much to be learned about the role of children and youths in the spread of the coronavirus, and that their findings will further fuel that debate.

With our testing and tracing system would we even discover that an asymptomatic child (no temperature, cough etc) was the possible source for the spread of Covid in an outbreak – it’s impossible unless there was mass testing.

Moving away from the Korean data:

Researchers in Boston, meanwhile, found surprisingly high viral loads among the youngest patients they observed. For their study, they took nose and throat swabs from 49 children and youths under the age of 21. The study found far more SARS-CoV-2 virus presence among them than among adults being treated in intensive care units for COVID-19.

According to the Boston study, which was published on August 1 in the periodical The Journal of Pediatrics , scientists found far fewer ACE-2 receptors among smaller children than in youths and adults. Those receptors are thought to be SARS-CoV-2’s gateway into the body’s cells.

Read on:

They talk about tiny “superspreaders”:

The role of children and youths in the spread of the coronavirus has been hotly debated since the first infections were registered. One thing is clear, children and youths can infect others. It is also clear that infected children and youths often show few or no signs of being ill. And it is also just as clear — though most people prefer not to talk about this — that children and youths can also die or suffer lasting damage as the result of a COVID-19 infection.

That doesn’t automatically mean that all children and youths are potential “superspreaders,” driving infection rates around them. Still, children and youths — through kindergarten, school, friends and sports — often have far more social interaction than adults. The past few months have also shown that young people are just as likely as adults to ignore social distancing and hygiene rules if they are not compelled to do otherwise.

Amid a flood of returning vacationers, along with parties and crowded events, German infection rates are now the highest they have been since April. A great number of those testing positive for COVID-19 now are young, driving down the average age of infection to the lowest figure registered since the pandemic began.

Still, despite high viral loads and the ability to pass on the virus for weeks — even if a child is asymptomatic — young people can still act decisively to stop the spread of infection.

Centre of Disease Control

In a report by the CDC in Sept based on research, they arrived at the following conclusion:

To be sure, the best available evidence from countries that have reopened schools indicates that COVID-19 poses low risks to school-aged children – at least in areas with low community transmission. That said, the body of evidence is growing that children of all ages are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection (3-7) and, contrary to early reports (1112), might play a role in transmission (71314).

World Health Organisation

In a report by the WHO in September they also addressed the role of schools:

The role of children in transmission is not yet fully understood. To date, few outbreaks involving children or schools have been reported. However, the small number of outbreaks reported among teaching or associated staff to date suggests that spread of COVID-19 within educational settings may be limited.

As children generally have milder illness and fewer symptoms, cases may sometimes go unnoticed. Importantly, early data from studies suggest that infection rates among teenagers may be higher than in younger children.

Closer to home

Closer to home Dr. Tomás Ryan, Assistant Professor at the School of Biochemistry & Immunology, Trinity College Dublin chats with Eamon Dunphy on his podcast – he welcomes the six week lock down as he believes it is necessary to correct the course of the disease, but he does feel that schools should be part of this as we should be doing everything to make this period work.

He also speaks about the need for cooperation with the North and controls with those visiting Ireland from abroad.

He is also a big advocate for a ZeroCovid approach just like in New Zealand, who are now enjoying international rugby matches in packed stadiums – that sounds nice!

Click here to listen.

While all of this information is confusing and inconclusive, none of it has eased my concern about schools and while we are  taking brutal action against other areas of society then we should be absolutely sure that schools are not part of the problem.

  • Coordinate with the North
  • Carefully control visitors to Ireland
  • Close the schools

Lets’ get to zero and start living again,

What do you think?

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications, a full service Marketing, PR, Graphic Design and Digital Marketing agency with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

Zero Covid and the “Future Green List”

October 5, 2020

New Zealand lockdown

This is not working, this is not living and we shouldn’t accept any plan that doesn’t have us working towards a return to our normal lives – shopping without masks, having people to dinner from more than one household, having parties, going to gigs and the theatre… looking at others without judgement 24/7.

We need to go for Zero Covid just like they have managed it in New Zealand, but this can only happen if we do everything to starve the virus and ONLY do this if we have international cooperation with other countries that wish to be part of a “Future Green List“.

But it’s easy for them in New Zealand….they are different.” (Really?)

I hate when I hear people saying this is not possible “because of politics“.

When we think it’s not possible this is the first problem, because it is absolutely possible.

Which country in the world is sailing through this pandemic without people living in fear, getting sick, dying and their economies in free-fall?

We all have something in common, don’t we? – The prize for getting this right is big, it is GIGANTIC.

Please listen to some excellent podcasts hosted by Eamon Dunphy, The Stand with various guests who give some valuable perspectives to support this argument/approach:

Dr. Niall Conroy, Consultant in Public Medicine in Queensland, talks to Eamon about how the combination of strong leadership and listening to the doctors suppressed Covid-19 across Australia.

Prof. Gerry Killeen, Chair of Applied Pathogen Ecology in UCC – Unless We Abandon Our Defeatist Strategy We’re Looking at 35,000 Deaths

Tomás Ryan, Associate Professor in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience – Get Real or Get Ready for a Terrible Winter

So…how do we do this?

  • We find out which countries want to be Covid free and want to restore normal life and their economies again – anyone interested?

Some strong common sense leadership is required for this part!

  • Then we agree a ‘Future Green List’ and put a target date for this to happen.
  • Let’s say 25th December, Christmas Day is the goal and at that point the objective is that countries in this ‘Future Green List’ are 100% back to normal: YEP – 100% BACK TO NORMAL!

Imagine living normally and being able to travel freely between these countries and doing all the things that we are dangerously close to forgetting?

For some stupid reason that idea seems preposterous right now, the most ridiculous, rubbish thinking by a mad man….right? It isn’t, listen to podcast with Dr. Niall Conroy, about a place with a population larger than Ireland.

  • Once we agree who is in that ‘Future Green List’ each country closes their borders except for essential travel and a proper 14 day quarantine programme is put in place for other travellers.
  • Then each country goes about doing the hard yards to bring us to Zero Covid and try desperately to get everyone back to a “We are in this together” place, which has long since disappeared.

The 25th December, Christmas day, seeing friends and family normally might be a great motivator?

If we believe in the goal and witness the progress, people will hopefully stay the course.

I’ll gladly take that, if it is leading us towards a tangible worthwhile goal that we can all believe in, which certainly is nothing like where we are now, society is choking as we drift rudderless towards nowhere.

  • When Ireland hits Zero Covid we maintain our borders and start living again, fully living (not this current version)
  • When Spain hits Zero Covid we can open our borders to Spain and vice versa.
  • When the UK hits their Zero Covid we open to them and so on and so on

The countries outside the Green List will work hard to be on the list and will know how to get there from those who have got there – New Zealand have shown us what is possible.

If there are (inevitable) bumps along the way, just like in New Zealand you hunt them down and stamp them out just like they have done.

Are we in?

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications, a full service Marketing, PR, Graphic Design and Digital Marketing agency with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

Why there should be Election Posters!

January 28, 2020

Election Posters - General Election Ireland 2020

Where I live we are really lucky to have a talented, determined and really successful Tidy Towns organisation which means we get to enjoy a beautiful, well maintained place that people take huge pride in.

As part of the keep our town tidy the Tidy Towns folk seem to have made an agreement with the political hierarchy that it would be a  poster free zone for the General Elections.

You can totally buy into this arrangement in particular when you see other locations that are totally destroyed with a proliferation of posters, inevitably dominated by those candidates and political parties with the biggest budgets!

While many agree with the arrangement in our town, which without a doubt does help to keep the place tidy, I think it’s wrong.

I believe the election candidates should be entitled to allow the electorate to familiarise themselves with them and more importantly it hands a huge advantage to established, well known candidates who people are already familiar with and the very opposite to any less well known new faces.

Maybe a sensible quota of posters that each candidate is allowed in each location, relative to the size of that area is a better way to go with a strict regime about removing them post election.

Clearly posters aren’t the only way a candidate has to communicate to us, and they do have the options of literature through the letter box, social media, and the very best way of all to connect is by knocking on the door and chatting face to face.

While there is a tight election window, do we really want to hand anyone an unfair advantage, in particular to those who have been around the block already?

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications, a full service Marketing, PR, Graphic Design and Digital Marketing agency with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

Orange Pride?

August 11, 2019

Orange Parade

When I received an invitation from Niall Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland and President of Dublin Chamber to attend a very small gathering in Belfast to observe the Orange Parade on the 12th July, I must admit I was quiet surprised.

This initiative is something that Niall has been working on for a number of years to build bridges and trust across communities.

After some consideration and diary juggling, I decided to make the trip, mainly out of curiosity and to get a deeper understanding of the political climate in the North.

I was warned by many to be extremely careful where I drove, where I parked the car and not to wander out of the hotel alone for any reason.

I must admit to feeling some trepidation as I drove into Belfast on the afternoon of the 11th watching the many Northern reg cars going in the opposite direction.

My Google Maps took me safely to the door of the newest hotel in Belfast, the superb Grand Central and I chose the valet parking to avoid any risk of going down a wrong street!

On the evening of the 11th there was a mini gathering in the breathtaking Observatory Bar at the top of the hotel, which was a spectacular location to look over the city and the various bonfires that could be seen in different parts.

The gathering included our small group, representatives from Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, some tourism officials as well as Rev. Meryn Gibson, Grand Secretary of the Orange Order and some business people from the city.

As we enjoyed the wine and tasty treats we watched as the crowds started to gather close by, at a site where they were getting ready to set their bonfire alight at midnight.

It was a very strange and uneasy feeling watching the huge structure, higher than a house, with our Irish flag on top and an election poster for a female Sinn Fein candidate tied onto it… I understood why people left the North for these few days.

One of the group who lived in Belfast left the function briefly with her niece to observe the bonfire from the street and I asked if could I tag along … I did ask if it was safe first !!

The scene around the bonfire was strange with couples, families, friends and a random but large assortment of people of all ages all with their smartphones ready to capture the moment when the fire was lit.

For some it was a mini party and they had their bottles of beer and cider on the go.

I felt more than a little strange witnessing what was going on and I was careful not to engage with anyone as the Cork accent might just be difficult to disguise!

Eventually the bonfire was lit and in no time at all the fire was raging, smoke bellowing into the sky and a strong blast of heat made it to us , even though we were across the street.

There was some cheering when the bonfire was lit and a small group started to chant something that I couldn’t make out – while everyone was busy capturing the “moment” on their smartphones. I really didn’t get a sense of huge celebration from the onlookers and I wondered was there a degree of discomfort with them as well, watching a flag burning that represented their neighbours and the poster of a female politician?

We returned to the hotel with our thoughts, had a nightcap and headed to bed.

The following morning there was a breakfast reception at the hotel with some of the leaders from the different Orange Lodges.

Before we sat down for breakfast there was lots of chit chat as the various people arrived in our private room at the hotel. It was clear already that this was a very special day for the ‘Orange Order’ community as they started to give us insights into their day of marching. Some were from Belfast and others had travelled from places as far away as Scotland and they spoke with pride about what this day meant to them.

Needless to say they were all turned out immaculately for this special day.

Finally the group sat down for breakfast and we had a chance to chat in more depth with those sitting either side of us.

I was sitting next to a very nice gentleman called William Hughes, The Deputy County Grand Master of the Belfast Grand Orange Lodge.

I shared with him my lack of knowledge about the day and the warnings that people had given me about a visit to Belfast.

He used some of the promotional material on the table for the “Twelfth” to describe the day to me, what it meant to the Orange Order and what collectively they were trying to achieve with the day.

There was a square beer mat with the campaign key message “Its about the Battle, not the Bottle”.

Basically, it’s about the significance of the Battle of the Boyne and the celebration of this and not a day for getting drunk!

On the other side of the beer mat there was an image of people standing at a bonfire with the words “Heritage, Respect, Remembrance, Tradition and Culture”.

The overriding idea is that this is an ‘OrangeFest’ for everyone to enjoy and instead of it being an occasion that would make people avoid the North, it should be the opposite, an attraction that people would want to experience and enjoy.

He explained to me how the Orange Order and the Orange Lodges worked, how they are rooted in religion and good living and how they are an important part of people’s identities and lives.

He did explain that from time to time they clash with the church, as the view is that if they really are upholding the values of their religion then they should be attending church regularly, which is not the case.

It did strike me that they were a very close knit community and that there was a huge tradition around the Lodges that passed from generation to generation and the Orange Parades were the ultimate expression and celebration of this.

I asked about the significance of the bonfires and I was given lots of rational explanations about a guiding light, about warmth and a sign of life. I shared my extreme discomfort about the Irish flag and the election posters as part of the fire and expressed the view that this seriously clashed with how the Orange celebrations had been explained to me by him and that it felt quite disturbing to witness.

His response to me was that this was very unfortunate, definitely not in the spirit of the occasion and it was effectively the work of some hooligans.

While I was glad to hear this explanation, I rationalised it by comparing it to hooligans at soccer matches who can chant and do stupid things and give all fans a bad reputation.

However, it did niggle at me that if the bonfires were so significant and a key symbol to mark this time of the year, then there should have been a huge effort to remove these emotive symbols from the bonfires. Where there is a strong will, there is a way?

Of course the TV crews picked up on these symbols as part of their coverage of the occasion, which sends a poor message to everyone, possibly confirming what many people have in their heads about this society and the unease in the North.

As part of the format of the breakfast everyone present introduced themselves and said a few words. Everyone was made feel very welcome and without doubt the hands of friendship were offered openly.

When it came to my turn I explained how much my opinion had shifted as a result of the experience and I thanked them for their hospitality.

Orange parade

Outside our window along the route we could see people gathering, getting in position for the few hours of marches. These people were organised, with their fold up chairs, their British flags and their refreshments.

As time passed by, the Orange Lodge members were starting to get anxious as they were checking their watches as they all had to be ready to take their position and march with their Lodge.

Our new Orange friends put on their sashes, there was a presentation, photographs and very brief speeches and they headed off to join their respective Lodges.

I took my beer mat and the souvenir programme as momentos of the occasion and to study them in detail later.

We left the wonderful Central Hotel and we were led down the road to a spot which was deemed good for observing the marches.

The walk towards our “spot” was a little embarrassing as the street was lined on each side by eager people all waiting for the marches to begin.

I suspected that many thought that our smartly dressed group were VIPs of some sort as we walked in between them – there was a lot of attention on us and many had their cameras and smartphones ready, just in case there was someone worth snapping!

You could get a huge sense of community as we walked and many of those watching seemed to know the guys who were leading our little group and there was plenty of friendly banter between them.

We finally settled at a spot to watch the marches and waited.

I was observing the people around me waiting – there were old and young, families, couples, bunches of friends and just the very odd person walking by with a drink in their hand – It’s about the Battle, not the Bottle I thought!

Orange parade

In particular, I was observing two young girls in front of me, 20 years of age at most. They were well prepared with their refreshments, their seats and the British flags in hand and they were enjoying their day. One of them had a baby and she held it in her arms getting ready for what was probably the child’s “first” parade – another tradition begins.

After a while we could see the first Orange Lodge appearing with flags, band and other members all marching proudly.

Our wait was a short one, but for many of the people who were waiting it must have been quite a while – it surprised me that when the marching bands did eventually reach our area there was no one cheering or even clapping, just watching.

Orange parade

Band after band marched by, some large and some small, predominantly male and a big mix of ages. The one thing they all had in common was the sense of pride and honour that they carried with them with each step.

Eventually all of the bands had passed by, possibly after an hour and a half and that was that.

As part of our itinerary there was an option to visit the new James Connolly Visitor Centre on the Falls Road and in a way get a sense of how the “other part” of the community in Belfast treated these few days.

I was really impressed by the little Visitor Centre and cafe and we had the opportunity to chat to the manager there, Séanna Walsh and one of the local political representatives for the area.

They explained to us all of the hard work that is being put in year after year, to keep people away from trouble and to give them positive things to do. We heard about the free music festival ‘Feile’ that has been going on for decades and we also heard about the activities on the ground to ensure trouble does not break out.

The Falls Road in the ‘Gaeltacht Quarter’ was not at all what I was expecting!

Before I knew it my Orange visit was over and I had lots to mull over about the very positive experience on the long drive home.

The following morning with a cup of coffee in hand I took out the programme for the “Twelfth” which I had from the breakfast the day before,

I turned the pages and started to read the foreword, which was written by a senior member of the Orange Order.

Two paragraphs in I found myself reading about the “disgusting Sinn Fein politicians” and further on I read about fascists and it got worse.

As much as I had heard about an OrangeFest, celebrating “Hertitage, Respect, Remembrance, Tradition and Culture“, the deep wounds and raw hatred are still very close to the surface witnessed by this rhetoric being used by the leadership in the “souvenir” programme.

I reflected on the bonfire, the Irish flag and the posters of the female Sinn Fein candidate and it made sense to me that many would be quite truthfully more than happy to see these go up in flames.

Maybe it wasn’t a few hooligans after all?

It is hard for us to properly understand what it is like in the North, the deep divisions and the deeper scars.

I do fully understand why people leave the North, and their plans next year and the year after will be no different.

I can’t see how this time will be a festival that attracts visitors anytime soon, which is very unfortunate for the fine place.

Orange parade

I do admire the great work that many are doing to keep the peace and to reach out, but more leaders will need to show more leadership and change their rhetoric for the sake of future generations.

I do sincerely thank the people I met for their hospitality and for sharing their special occasion with us.

Finally, I do admire the huge sense of pride and identity that they have for their history, culture and way of life and wish that maybe we should have more of that about Ireland and our Patrick’s day.

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications, a full service Marketing, PR and Graphic Design agency with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

Local Elections, old codgers and phone zapping…

May 21, 2019

Old codgers - Inniscarra Bar, Cork

We were in our local, the Inniscarra Bar, one of the most authentic old style pubs you will find in the country, part of that dying breed where the walls will talk warmly to you about everyone who has sat there before you and before them.

It was early on a Saturday evening and we were having a sneaky pint before heading home to cook some grub.

The two old codgers sitting at the bar sipped quietly on their  pints and every now and then there was some chit chat between them. One of the guys had a battle weary black dog with him who was busy going from one patron to the next, sniffing and being friendly.

For some strange reason there was a large election poster leaning up against the wall for one of the local candidates, Shane Fallon. I’m not really sure if this was a practical joke or if it was a serious election tactic by the candidate?!

Out of nowhere the two men got very animated and their conversation got louder and louder..

Those f##king posters are a f##king disgrace and they should be banned as they are ruining the environment

Wow….it went on..

Sure, don’t they have email and don’t they have the internet and..and don’t they have, you know yourself, can’t they just zap phones the way they do?

You are so right, a f##king disgrace!“, followed by lots of huffing and puffing and then back to their pints.

Were they right??

It’s funny …just a few days beforehand I was standing in front of my Dublin Chamber Council colleagues presenting them an overview of our business sector.

To do this I reached out to many of the member companies, both large and small and looked for their feedback about trends in the sector.

A BIG MESSAGE was that there was a huge shift from traditional media to digital but this was loaded with a gentle warning that clients need to be very careful not to put all of their eggs into this one channel as you just won’t reach your audience in a way that your message will land.

As I walked back from the pub I noticed all of the election posters – who do I like the look of?

When I pushed opened the front door open I looked at the flyers that had been pushed through the letter box – who are you and what are you promising?

And if I believe you really care about the location I do expect you to knock on my door and chat to me.

I tweeted three of the candidates who had dropped in their literature and two responded. One just took herself out of the running!

It’s great that the old codgers got so animated about the environment (there probably should be a limit to how many they put up), but unfortunately a candidate who relies only on email (GDPR has that one squeezed to death!!) and zapping phones (I’m taking this to mean social media) will not be successful.

The candidates need to integrate their social media with their traditional media and however they manage it, they need to be recognised, liked and if possible connect in some real way with the voters.

Get out and vote this Friday!!

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications, a full service Marketing, PR and Graphic Design agency with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

BAM BAM …. Leo versus Theo

February 18, 2019

National Children's Hospital

The lyrics of the Lloyd Cole song “The sickest joke was the price of the medicine” is ringing in my head for some reason today.

It’s pretty much accepted now that the Children’s Hospital project is our latest and proudest Irish debacle; before it’s even begun it’s running at pretty much three times the originally projected cost … money that could easily be lent to Donald Trump who desperately needs it for his wall or maybe even some affordable housing here in Ireland?

The media and the opposition benches scream for answers and an expensive enquiry and while we are at it I think we would like to know how this is possible in an era of “transparency and accountability”.

Simon says (that was a kids game we all played, maybe it’s still a game?) very little except sorry – really puzzling why he seems to be protecting people he should be exposing and why he is so slow out of the communication blocks.

Leo is bold and brave and points accusing fingers at certain contractors he won’t name (he knows they have great solicitors) and accuses them of gaming the system “These low balling tricks are too much for our idiots to handle” (my interpretation of what he said!)

Pascal the man with the cheque book suggests that in future tender rules will be tightened up !!! (Doh …. as Homer Simpson would say!!)

Theo the contractor fights back at Leo with a big “you talking about me??” and bravely looks for clarity and offers to step away from the contract as he knows this whole insinuation is extremely smelly for his company.

All of this talk is really damaging to their reputation and he should fight to protect it.

It’s very likely that he knows full well that any cancellation of contracts will earn the company penalties that us mere mortals could live lavish lifestyles on.

So… what should happen next ??

The most likely scenario is that the contract will plough ahead and Leo will be nice to Theo and insist he didn’t mean them when he spoke about “low-balling contractors that should be banned from tendering” and no one will believe him.

However if Leo believes what he said he should show some balls, fire the team who wrote the tenders (this is a big part of the problem), pull the plug on the existing tender and start again with a water tight tender and a rigid process that is fair to contractors in the event of any legitimate changes to the work.

As for penalties for dismantling the current tender contracts they should most definitely be paid, but these amounts should be fair compensation for any losses incurred to date and nothing else – the PwC fee note might be better used officiating over this figure rather than on a report, which in all likelihood will go nowhere and will lead to nothing.

These penalties, valuable taxpayers money, will be the fault of those who were paid to oversee the tender process, not the contractors who were awarded them and they should be held accountable.

If Theo and his crew are still interested in doing some great work on a badly needed hospital then go for it and make your fair profit, you deserve that.

We need that hospital built as soon as possible but at a price that we can all believe was fair.

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications, a full service Marketing, PR and Graphic Design agency with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

Protection for (or from) Whistleblowers!

November 29, 2017

Protecting the Whistleblower

Frances Fitzgerald, the Tanaiste has resigned “for the sake of the country“..

Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach has thanked her, for her service and has declared that it is a shame that a good woman who has done nothing wrong has resigned..

Fianna Faíl have got their way and they will quietly sit in the wings waiting, waiting, waiting until the perfect moment to pull that trigger.  They exercised their power in a big, public gesture and won this power battle..

Noel Waters, Secretary-General of the Department of Justice has decided to take early retirement and he is angry about the witch hunt against the organisation that he has been in charge of..

Noírín O’Sullivan, the Garda Commissioner, who was publicly supported by the Government retired in September (after her holidays!)..

A devious, nasty campaign against Maurice McCabe, the Garda Whistleblower, Parking Fines, Breath Tests – the whole thing is a shambles, a debacle of monumental proportions and yet at this moment in time no one is saying sorry and no one seems to be doing anything to sort anything out.

One of the critical instruments of the State, our police force, is totally out of control and no one is taking any responsibility – “I did nothing wrong“…The problem is that you did nothing!!!

But, phew..the crisis has been averted for now and there will be no General Election this side of Christmas – we can all get on with our shopping.

But..what about the Whistleblower??

Somewhere in the mix, the whole point of all of this seems to have gone over everyone’s heads.

What about Maurice McCabe??

Have we heard anyone in authority saying (in a manner that we believe them) that we will not put up with any corruption in our State organisations as it will not be tolerated and any whistleblower will get all of our protection?

Have we heard anyone apologising publicly to Maurice McCabe?

Instead we have listened to horrendous stories of legal strategies against him and “it wasn’t in my jurisdiction to interfere“.

In this country we have legislation that was enacted in 2014 to protect Whistleblowers.

The Protected Disclosures Act 2014 aims to protect people who raise concerns about possible wrongdoing in the workplace. The Act, which came into effect on 15 July 2014. It provides for redress for employees who are dismissed or otherwise penalised for having reported possible wrongdoing in the workplace.

Some of the detail:

(from the Citizens Information Board website)

Under the Act, you make a protected disclosure if you are a worker and you disclose relevant information in a particular way.

Information is relevant if it came to your attention in connection with your work and you reasonably believe that it tends to show wrongdoing.

This wrongdoing may be occurring or suspected to be occurring either inside or outside of the country. Even if the information is proved to be incorrect, you are still protected by the Act provided you had a reasonable belief in the information.

Wrongdoing is widely defined in the Act and includes the commission of criminal offences, failure to comply with legal obligations, endangering the health and safety of individuals, damaging the environment, miscarriage of justice, misuse of public funds, and oppressive, discriminatory, grossly negligent or grossly mismanaged acts or omissions by a public body.

The definition also includes the concealment or destruction of information about any of the above wrongdoing.

The Act gives people anonymity, it describes how people should go about making a Protected Disclosure and it outlines how the Employer must act when presented with a disclosure.

All of this sounds great in practice, and there will be a poor sod who actually believes it and goes about reporting something they feel morally bound to do!! (Ssssh..if he/she was a friend or work colleague of yours what would you whisper in their ear?).

The Big Question?

So, taking the whole recent circus into account, lets be really honest here for a moment.

If you were in the scenario, working for a State body and who felt strongly about some bad crap or “wrongdoing” that was going on where you worked what would you do?

I’m guessing you would either shut up and say nothing (and perpetuate the problem) or just leave.

We have all learnt a big lesson – don’t complain!!

This is a wonderful country..

Greg Canty

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications, a full-service agency that offers Marketing, PR and Branding  services from our offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

Incite or Insight?

April 19, 2017

Ena Kenny and Donald Trump, Patrick's Day

Enda Kenny’s St.Patrick Days trip to the U.S. costs the taxpayer €35,000” read the headline in this newspaper article I read at the weekend.

The article documented blow by blow how and where these costs were accumulated as well as the costs of the other Ministers who travelled overseas for our national festival, that day when the whole world acknowledges and celebrates our little country.

St.Patrick would be a great Marketing/PR trick for Ireland if we had planned it!!

The article was designed to incite the reader in a way that we are seeing all too frequently – It is supposed to get us thinking…

This is a total disgrace

What a waste of money

Typical politicians, on a jolly while the rest of us are paying for it

Why does it cost so much, you can fly to the States and back for €500?

Rage, rage and more rage – thanks for exposing this abomination!!

In my humble view, Enda Kenny’s U.S. trip was well worth every cent and much more as he flew a flag for illegal Irish immigrants and our continued trade in the very delicate Trump era. This simple visit will help to preserve our special relationship with an economy that is more than vital to us.

In terms of the cost of the trip do we really expect the leader of our country to travel Economy, take public transport and book into 3-star hotels?!!

Come on guys, less of the headlines that are designed to incite the typical anger and let’s focus on the insights.

Greg Canty

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion Communications, a full service agency that offers Marketing, PR and Graphic Design services from our offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

Trust and restoring broken reputations

February 11, 2017

Maurice McCabe

If things weren’t bad before, they became even worse this week for An Garda Síochána when it was revealed that an “incorrect” sexual abuse file was held against Maurice McCabe by Tusla, the family and child protection agency.

Everyone in the media is being extra careful to avoid stating the obvious conclusions as they risk getting into trouble legally. However, they have published the various statements by those parties involved and reported the facts as they came to light and they keep probing and probing for the truth in this sinister mess to reveal itself fully.

Incidents like this demonstrate once again why we need professional, intelligent journalism to bring us the truth as we can’t rely solely on social media to deliver this. Social media is fantastic as it gives us a powerful voice to demonstrate our dissatisfaction as loudly as we feel is appropriate.

We heard the statement by the Garda Commissioner, Nóirín O’Sullivan, the leader of the organisation who has claimed that she know nothing of the sexual abuse shenanigans with the whistleblower, Maurice McCabe.

Tusla in the meantime have issued their own statement claiming that their file against Maurice McCabe with the atrocious false claims against him were a ‘clerical error‘.

The comical little addition to the Tusla story was that their official apology to Maurice McCabe was sent to the wrong address!

The public are no fools and the generally held, unsurprising conclusion about this story is that senior members of the Gardaí who were unhappy with their whistle blowing colleague tried to smear his reputation in the worst possible way to punish him and protect themselves.

Even worse in this sorry saga, Tusla were obviously happy to play ball with their Garda acquaintances.

This stinks to high heaven and leaves all of us with two awful conclusions:

We cannot trust An Garda Síochána and we cannot trust Tusla.

When you consider the crucial role that both of these state bodies are paid to provide, ‘trust‘ is not a negotiable, nice to have attribute. Trust is everything.

What next?

To begin the long road of rebuilding trust in both organisations there can be no more fluffing about and decisive action and clear communication is required.

Our strong advice to those in charge would be to get ahead of the story, remove all doubts and demonstrate in no uncertain way how important regaining trust is.

This is the time for An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny or Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald to take decisive action and remove Nóirín O’Sullivan from her role and get the investigation started immediately.

This is the time for Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone to demand a 100% honest statement from the CEO of Tusla, Fred McBride as to what actually happened. If this is as farcical as the ‘clerical error’ statement, he should also be removed from his role.

The reputation of these two state organisations is not negotiable – start demonstrating it.

Greg Canty

Fuzion provide Crisis PR services from our offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

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How to use a blog post template for your newsletters

If you have been developing a newsletter template that will help you reach your subscribers, you may have noticed that it is not exactly as simple as it seems.Many of the templates in the market, such as this one from eCommerce Magazines, offer a lot of boilerplate and confusing features, such the fact that you […]


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Google launches Android One smartphones at Rs 6,399

1 view Reading Time: < 1 minute

Tech giant Google today launched its much-awaited Android One smartphones, priced at Rs 6,399 onwards, in India in partnership with domestic handset makers Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, a move that will further fuel the fiercely competitive multi-billion dollar market here.

Greyhound Research CEO Sanchit Vir Gogia feels Android One is going to be a game changer in India. Google’s goal is to reach the 5 billion people in emerging markets, including a billion in India. This gives them an edge as compared Microsoft, Apple and Blackberry, he added. “Android One gives Google tighter control over the Google OS which means standardised UX. Support for seven regional languages is going to be a solid plus over competitors. This will not only help consumers use vernacular, it is also likely to help promote apps in regional language,” Gogia said.

On the competition to Android One, Gogia said Google can expect competition but none has the wherewithal like Google to be as aggressive and invest heavily in the ecosystem.

FireFox and Tizen are competition but far from reaching critical volumes. Firefox (in partnership with Spice and Intex) launched two new smartphones, priced below Rs 2,300, aimed at those looking to upgrade from feature phones to smartphones, he added. “Both Microsoft and Apple are not eyeing this market at all, so we can safely expect Google to pretty much own this market. Eventually, Android One will touch Tablets as well,” he said.

To read the Full Article, click here: DNA

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Coffee Grounds in the garden / Sustainable Living

Some Dos and Don’ts of Worm Farming

Once you’ve become aware of the sheer volume of material we send to landfill day in day out, you soon become wary of throwing anything away, even if it can’t be recycled.

Food waste, for example, generally makes up a large part of what we end up sending to landfill sites. Whilst, we can’t ‘recycle’ food waste as such, we can still find alternate uses for it.

One of the most common solutions amongst the environmentally minded is composting, which sits very well with other sustainable lifestyle choices, such as growing your own food.

Of course, this is all well and good if you actually have a garden, if however, like me, you live in a city apartment, where space is very much at a premium, it’s not a particularly viable option.

vermicast compost wormsHowever, worm farming (or vermiculture as it’s also known) can allow you to make good use of your plate scrapings, and doesn’t take up much space, especially if you go for a mini wormery, which is essentially just a small plastic bin in which your worms will live, with a tap at the bottom so you can drain away the nutrient rich liquid that’s produced.

With this in mind, I purchased myself a worm farm and, for a while, all was well. The inhabitants seemed perfectly happy with their home until, suddenly, a couple of months later I found that, sadly, something had gone wrong, and all the worms had died.

Having learnt some important lessons, I am currently embarking on my second foray into vermiculture. Here are a few dos and don’ts I’ve picked up which you’ll find helpful if you’re thinking of starting a worm farm;

Pay Attention to Temperature and Moisture Levels

Probably the biggest reason for the failure of my first worm warm was that I inadvertently allowed it to dry out. I bought the farm in January when the days where very short and generally overcast, so it didn’t occur to me that where I’d placed it (next to my kitchen bin) might be problematic.

When we had an unexpected burst of bright, hot weather in the spring, it turned out that whilst I was at work, my worms where sat directly in the sunlight coming through my window.

This undoubtedly caused problems as, for one thing, most species of worm you’d use in vermiculture (red worms or tiger worms) will only breed in temperatures between 18-25 degrees Celsius (64-77 degrees Fahrenheit).

By the same token, you shouldn’t overcompensate by watering the farm too much. You’ll know if it’s too wet as it will start to smell and you’ll probably find the food rots quicker.

Use Coffee Grounds

Of all the waste I’ve used in the farm, used coffee grounds have been one of the most successful.

The worms love it as a foodstuff and, as the grounds are wet, they help keep the farm moist. I even found that if I mix things up so that the coffee grounds are a sort of top layer, the worms will eat through the other scraps to get to them quicker.

A bucket of coffee grounds prior to being used...

I have a friend who works in a café near my house who brings me a small bin bags worth of used grounds at the end of every shift, and if you go into your local coffee shop, they’ll usually be willing to let you have used grounds as they will only throw them away otherwise.

This means more landfill dodging!

Use it as a Shredder

paper for worms

I was really pleased to learn that worms will eat small pieces of wetted paper, which is great as, even in this supposedly paperless age we all have documents that we need to dispose of now and again, and throwing them in the recycling can potentially leave you open to identity theft from unscrupulous individuals if they contain personal information.

One more benefit of keeping worms!

This is very tempting, especially when you first get your farm and it is still something of a novelty. Worms can eat over half their body weight in a day, which is pretty impressive, but is no license to go crazy.

a handful of worms in used grounds

Only refresh food supplies once they are running low. Keep an eye on the population, though. If numbers are dwindling it could be that more food is needed.

Use Acidic Foods

I made some freshly squeezed orange juice one morning and assumed the pulp would make a nice, zesty addition to the farm.

Pineapple and its cross section

Worms are not fans of citrus, or even slightly acidic vegetables, such as tomatoes and onions. Pineapple is a killer and definitely one to avoid as it contains an enzyme that is fatal to worms- indeed, doctors often recommend consuming pineapple as a tapeworm cure!

Forget to Mix the Soil

Worms need oxygen, so remember to get in there and give your wormery a bit of mixing up every now and again.

This will also help to stop the soil compacting into inhospitable clumps.

Steve Waller writes on a number of environmental topics on his blog, all based from his personal experiences, from problems with wormeries to eating a low carbon diet.

18 thoughts on “Some Dos and Don’ts of Worm Farming

  1. Pingback: 4 Tips On How To Recycle Used Coffee Grounds In Your Garden | Backyard Garden

  2. Thank you for such a plain and simple DOS n DON’TS.
    I am always concerned about the health of my worm farm.
    I am now more relaxed and reasonably comfortable after reading your in depth explanations.

  3. Pingback: Darebin ‘Café to Garden’ Program diverts coffee grounds from landfill – Darebin Food Harvest Network

  4. 40 plus years ago we lived out in the country. My folks bought two old claw footed bath tubs and we buried them in the ground up to the curl of the sides. We covered the holes and filled each tub with a mixture of sawdust, peat moss and potting soil. My father ordered a few thousand English red worms which we split between each tub. We placed an old sheet of tin across the top secured by a cement block to prevent rain from drowning the worms. We fed them a healthy sprinkling of bone meal each week. After a year, the tubs were teeming with worms and eggs. We bought some bait boxes and went into the worm business. We filled an old snuff can with worms for each bait box. Inside each bait box was a handful of wet peat moss wrung out by squeezing. People used to stop by the house every Friday- Sunday to buy our worms. Those unsold were returned to the main tubs. We did that for many years. It allowed us the money to buy our first console color TV when they came out. The only real issue was you had to be careful whenever you flipped the tin off the tubs as sometimes there would be a copperhead snake underneath enjoying the warmth. Really enjoyed raising those worms. We fed a few to our chickens as well as a treat on occasion. Ah the good old days…

  5. Help, my worm farm has been infiltrated by pincher bugs. They are really bad this year and there are nests with larve in the worm farm. how do I get rid of the pincher bugs without harming the worms? I heard diatomaceous earth will kill the pincher bugs but not the worms? Another site said the opposite? what can I do, does Anyone have a solution? I need to know what to do before fall comes so I don’t bring these critters into my basement in the winter.

      • Thanks, I was waiting till cooler weather to do just this. My basement is at 60 degrees and the larve aren’t turning into full grown ones, I guess because it isn’t warm enough for them? But I figured this is the only way to take care of them….Thank you for your suggestion. It reinforced what I thought I may have to do…

  6. Pingback: A worm in the Hand… | Coffee Grounds to Ground

  7. Pingback: Worm Farming with Coffee Grounds – Video | Coffee Grounds to Ground

  8. I also keep a worm farm. I have kept one for years both at home and in my classroom. I use a large rubbermaid container and keep the lid on it. Solves the sunlight problem and I frequently have so many worms that I split them up to start friends with their own farms. One thing I have learned is that they love shredded paper but any paper with colored ink will make them ill, make sure to only use paper with black ink.

    • A large container is a great idea and something I am trying now for myself. Can’t say I have used shredded paper that often but will give it a go along with all the coffee grounds thrown in there. Normally use cardboard but will try the paper…

  9. I’m wondering–how do you keep a more or less stable population of worms on a farm? What is the lifetime of an individual worm? What happens when a worm dies? (I’m not currently doing this, obviously, but am interested.) Thnx

  10. hi I am feeding on almost 100% coffee grounds. I sift them first and what I find is when they are finished they simply fall though to the drip tray. I dont get any liquid with this system as if you do your research this worm wee (lechtate) may actually be doing your plants harm

    Liked by 1 person

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mbarek Akaddar

Grapholite - Online Diagramming and Flowcharting Tool - 37 views

    Grapholite is an easy-to-use and still comprehensive online and desktop solution for designing professional-looking flowcharts, organizational charts, mind maps, Venn charts, database structures, web-site structures, etc. that can be used online and offline, in and out of browser; created diagrams can be stored locally and on the server.
Steve Ransom

The Heart of Innovation: 23 Reasons Why Nothing Happens After a Brainstorming Session - 41 views

    This would be excellent to discuss prior to initiating new initiatives.
Frances DiDavide

Exploratree - Exploratree by FutureLab - 34 views

    A good site for projector use. Easy to use, lots of templates or make your own.
Jessica Becerra - 5 views

    Free web application for brainstorming or to help students organise their ideas.
Danny Nicholson - Collaborative mind mapping in your browser - 0 views

    Isn't 42 the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything? Well, in this case it means FOR TWO and indicates the collaborative character of mind42. Manage all your ideas, whether alone, twosome or working together with the whole world - collaborative, browser-based and for free.
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I am ready

Wade’s sermon this past Sunday was entitled “I am ready.” The preaching passage came from Romans 1:14-17 where, among other things, Paul states, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto Salvation for everyone who believes….”
You know it got me to thinking about the question ‘What is the Gospel of Christ and are we guilty of acting like we are ashamed of it?’ I think that in this age of cultural relativity we sometimes are guilty of trying to package the good news of Jesus Christ into a palatable version of truth, (a ‘Cliff notes’ version of the gospel or what one of my friends refers to as ‘Gospel-Lite’).

While we should make every effort to make the gospel plain and simple for all to understand, I think there is a danger of assuming that people need us to ‘dumb-down’ the truth of God’s word in order for them to understand it! Paul was absolute in his contention that the clarity and simplicity of the gospel message of Jesus Christ was more than adequate to do the job it was designed to do. As a matter of fact, he proclaimed that it “IS THE POWER OF GOD…”. It seems to me that Paul understood that in the simple proclamation of the word of truth, something unique and wonderful happens as a person hears and believes it. The word of God will ignite in their heart and will kindle the fire of salvation to burn within! The challenge for each of us, is to be that spark. I believe our challenge is to be ready to say like the apostle that I am not ashamed to share the story of what God has done for me in saving my soul from sin!

The Gospel is still powerful today and contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a polished public speaker, a rock star or a stand-up comedian to get people’s attention. God can use each of us sharing our unique story to touch the lives of those around us who are searching for a better way!

It’s nice to sing the old song, I love to tell the story, but are you ready to actually tell it? Let’s not be ashamed to let the world know where we stand and boldly share the ‘good news’ with someone we care about this week!

John Phillips, Jr.

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Three key moments that led to Grow still

In early 2018, I went to see an acupuncturist for ongoing physical pain and walked out with some new wisdom; that my lifestyle up until that moment, wasn’t serving me.

As a student, I spent a lot of time partying. I was known as the lovable “party girl”, had a solid group of friends that I would go out and drink with, like many students do.

For the longest time I didn’t think my drinking was a problem because I thought it was totally normal and I’d just deal with the hangovers, get back on the horse with school and work, and then do it all over again on the weekend.

My acupuncturist explained to me that my alcohol consumption was actually making my physical pain worse – and for the first time I actually opened up to a professional about how I was really feeling.

Speaking to her made me realize that I was and had been physically in pain for a long time. I was also emotionally stressed and financially not doing so well… and I hadn’t really dealt with that.

To add salt to the wound, I had just graduated university and was in the process of finding a new job. I had been to multiple interviews to only be met with continuous rejection.

I had good grades, the amount of experience a new-graduate would have (like a lot of volunteering and customer service part-time jobs) and good references. So what was the problem?

I began thinking that I was the problem. That I wasn’t doing enough. That I wasn’t working hard enough. That the assumptions many people had made about me were true.

This added a lot more pressure onto me and I felt because I wasn’t working full-time, that I had to pedal harder to stay afloat.

My pain also became so bad that I had to stop doing something I truly loved — playing sports.

Throughout my entire life, I always identified with being an athlete and this not only made me sad, it really challenged my sense of self and my self-esteem and I started to feel confused about my identity.

The culmination of all of these things led to a burnout that worsened my health issues, which had become full-blown at that point.

I decided to take some time for myself at that moment, to slow down, re-evaluate and start caring for myself.

So, I decided to go sober.

Just two weeks after deciding to stop drinking, I began writing out the basis of GROW’s 4-step program over the next six months between traveling and handling a lot of conflict and changes in my life.

I thought back to my last year in my undergrad where I started to understand that many other people around my age were in similar or even worse situations than me.

I started to see that this specific population (emerging adults) was completely underserved by society.

They were missing guidance, resources and often a community that our institutions were failing to provide.

They were scared about the future, navigating heavy circumstances and feeling all of the pressure that comes with transitioning into adulthood while knowing that this was when their choices counted the most.

The pressure to perform, please and get ahead is real in today’s society and has severe impacts on our everyday choices, our health and our well-being.

But if we really know ourselves and our potential, we can go on to serve our communities in amazing ways.

I thought:

What if there was a resource that could fill this gap and soften the harsh realities emerging adults face in this transition?

What if we could empower people to be proactive while creating balance in their lives?

What if we could address systemic issues like stress, mental health, growing suicide rates and the lack of care towards people in the margins?

What if we could take this beyond Montreal?

I was also done with trying to convince other people and employers of my worthiness and it prompted me to take things into my own hands.

At first, I didn’t really know how my initial idea of GROW would take shape but I soon heard about Jeunes Volontaires – a government grant program in Quebec, that provides young people, a chance to run a pilot project.

I originally planned for it to be an app but quickly realized that a face-to-face program was better given we spend so much time online already and began finding the key people to help me start putting things in motion to launch the project.

The minute I decided to do this, it felt like the universe was aligning to make things happen for this project and we even managed to get some funding from a kind donor to keep us going in between!

A year later, in fall of 2019, we got the grant and were able to expand our team of young and caring professionals to a group of seven people who now make up GROW’s support centre.

I felt called to start GROW and had no real idea whether it could become sustainable yet, but I followed through with my intuition and ideas.

To this day, it has led me to so many incredible connections, opportunities, and widened my network of support personally and professionally.

I’d never really known what community really felt like till launching this project. To me, it means that you are never really alone even if you are experiencing things that can make you feel alone.

A supportive community will be there to hold you, no matter what.

We’ve really seen the impact we’ve had on the people we’ve had the pleasure to work with and support – people who have come from all kinds of backgrounds, circumstances, situations and experiences.

Finally, within all of this, my own health started to improve as I was able to gain the right awareness and access to the resources I was in need of.

I just want every young adult out there to know that you are not alone, that you are enough and that you deserve to be happy and healthy.

That’s what GROW aims to do here – provide hope and understanding on these things that matter and to uplift and motivate people to reclaim and move through their own hardships. If you’re looking for a sense of community and for any kind of support, please keep an eye out for our upcoming workshops and events!


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We Caught Up With GOSSE au COEUR Creative Director Benjamin Kyei [@bkyei_] On Creating Your Own Reality and The Upcoming ‘Forever Daydreaming’ Collection

gosse au coeur
GOSSE au COEUR launched in 2017, offering ready-to-wear menswear collections, fusing streetwear aesthetics with luxury sensibilities. French for kid at heart, GOSSE au COEUR’s founder Benjamin Kyei describes the brand as as minimalist, clean and timeless.
gosse au coeur

Underpinned with nostalgic references, showcased on Kyei’s personal instagram page, GOSSE au COEUR speaks to contemporary youth culture and Kyei’s experiences growing up in East London.

I caught up with Benjamin about all things GOSSE au COEUR as well as his upcoming collection which you can expect by the end of September.

gosse au coeur

Hey! Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Benjamin Kyei, I am a 23 years old Ghanaian, born and raised in East London and the owner and Creative Director of GOSSE au COEUR.

What led you on the path of fashion and branding?
I feel like I have always been in fashion. However, I haven’t always realised it. As a kid, I always loved dressing up and designing different outfits and accessories; not only for me but for my toys as well. My favourite childhood superheroes and TV characters growing up were always the individuals I thought were best dressed. So, when I had the idea of starting my own business, starting a fashion brand was the thing that felt most natural to me.

GOSSE au COEUR translates to kid at heart in French which is a beautiful sentiment. How do you think keeping the child inside you alive helps your creativity?
The idea of being a child is so important to me as a designer because a child has the benefit of not knowing what is not possible. There is a feeling of faith and freedom within when you accept, you’re a child. Having faith and freedom allows my imagination to run free giving me the boldness to imagine making the “impossible” possible.

gosse au coeur

What’s the story behind the ‘Forever Daydreaming’ collection?
The story behind “Forever Dreaming” is a story of freedom, hope, inspiration and belief. The collection focuses on a young boy who created and found freedom in his dreams to create his reality.

However, the collection is about a bigger picture. We all have dreams but along the way we may let go and quit on our dreams because we lose belief in ourselves or someone tells us our dreams are unrealistic. However, we must continue daydreaming even when everyone else has stopped. Our wildest dreams will help us get to where we want to be and most importantly our dreams will inspire the people around us.

What is it about 90s grunge culture that inspires you?
I have always loved the effortless, messy yet comfortable style and aesthetic of the grunge subculture. I always wanted to be a Rockstar because I loved the way they dressed. That is where a lot of my inspiration comes from.

See Also
russian seasons in the backyard

You’re colourblind and this is a defining theme in GOSSE au COEUR which utilises a monochrome palette – what are the benefits of being colourblind?
Being colour blind has given me one less thing to worry about as a designer. When designing, I don’t focus too much on colours because the GAC colour palette is simple. This has allowed me to focus more on other details of my designs such as the branding, materials used and fitting of my garments to create timeless pieces for my consumers and a unified community for the brand.

Do you plan to introduce more colour to the brand at some point?
To be honest, I don’t really like colours. However, I do understand the importance of them and how colours help to portray a message. Therefore, in upcoming collections, I do plan to experiment with different colours and shades, whilst keeping the brands minimalistic aesthetic.

Where do you think the future of fashion and branding is heading?
I think we are already starting to see the future of fashion. Fashion is becoming more involved and relevant in different aspects of life. Fashion brands and fashion designers are collaborating with everything now. It’s exciting to see because it shows the possibilities are endless.

Do you have any advice for aspiring designers?
Keep learning and always find ways to improve yourself as a designer and as a person. Make sure you have strong vision and enjoy the process.

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OAP Narrates How Toke Makinwa Gifted Him Entire Stolen Salary

Media personality and best selling author, Toke Makinwa is celebrated her birthday yesterday and many of her loved ones and well-wishers have been sending in their positive messages about her but this one surely caught the eye.

Osikhena Dirisu III who works with Beat99.9fm Lagos, has narrated how Toke Makinwa gifted him his entire salary which was stolen from him. This was surely a very kind gesture which, Osikhena Dirisu III can never forget. He wrote on his Instagram page;

“7 years ago. I was doing my NYSC at 93.7fm Lagos and Toke was an OAP there. That is how our friendship started.

After my NYSC i got my present Job at the Beat 99.9fm and Toke was so happy for me as we still stayed in touch. I was required to open a GTB or diamond acc at Beat for my salary. And i only had my NYSC access account. So that first month i was paid in cash 😂

It was a lot of money for a 23 year old and i stupidly kept it in my back pack and went for some event that required i drop my bag at the security post.

Long story short my entire salary was stolen and i cried ehn. I cried to toke and she drove me inbtwn telling me off and chiding me to an ATM in her black honda accord and gave me everything that was stolen. She probably doesnt remember. But its something id never forget. As you add another year today @tokemakinwa may God’s blessings be never far from you. May his grace follow you on every side. Happy birthday baby girl.”


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From WeHo To Downtown, Your Guide To Sunday's Amgen Tour Street Closures

by Alex Gilman · May 18, 2012

    It's probably not really fair to say that we hate bicyclists on the streets of L.A. (and if you yell that out of your car window, you might get arrested and/or sued), but let's just say that cyclists and motorists don't exactly happily cohabit here. Unfortunately, with the Amgen Tour Of California race rolling through town on Sunday, that uneasy peace might not get any friendlier, as the Beverly Hills-Downtown race route means rolling closures of major streets across the many of the neighborhoods that we call home. In other words, you may want to consider passing on your Sunday brunch invitations.

    Courtesy of Total Traffic Los Angeles, we know that the route will run from its starting point on Rodeo Drive up Doheny, where the racers will then traverse the Sunset Strip, cutting up to Hollywood Boulevard just in time to completely eff up the "Sunday bus tours & movie theater" traffic and also to put the cyclists at risk of being assaulted by a crazed Jack Sparrow, Batman or Spongebob. The race then cuts back down to Sunset for the run past Dodger Stadium, and then enters Downtown for a long finishing loop down and around the Staples Center that should combine with the afternoon Kings and evening Clippers game to create a traffic situation that will make grown men openly weep. As you can see from the map below (click for a larger version), not only does this effectively sever most peoples' easiest way to get across town, but depending on where you live, the planned times for reopening the "sectors" of closed streets vary wildly, so read those multicolor boxes along the top of the route to see when your part of town will be open for business again. And if you live downtown, seriously, don't be a hero. Either only go out in walking distance (even the trains will probably be obscenely packed due to the games) or just stock up and stay home.

    Here's the full list of closures, in order of the route (again, courtesy Total Traffic):

    Rodeo Dr

    Doheney Dr between Burton Way and Sunset Blvd

    Burton Way between Rodeo Dr and Doheney Dr

    Sunset Blvd between Doheney and Orange

    Orange Dr between Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd

    Hollywood Blvd between Orange and Vermont

    Sunset Blvd between Vermont and Cesar Chavez

    Cesar Chavez between Grand and Alpine

    Alpine St between Broadway and Cesar Chavez

    Spring between Cesar Chavez and 1st

    1st between Spring and Hill

    Hill St between 1st and 11th

    11th between Hill and Flower

    Flower between 11th and Pico

    Pico between Flower and Figueroa

    Figueroa between Pico and Olympic

    Olympic between Figueroa and Olive

    Olive between Olympic and 1st

    1st between Olive and Grand

    Grand between 1st and Temple

    Temple between Grand and Spring

    [Top photo: 2012 Amgen Tour leader Peter Sagan during Stage 2 in Santa Cruz via]

    [map via]


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How to Build a PC Gaming Station

Gaming Feature 560x219

Console gaming is fun, but if you want to be a really serious gamer, a desktop gaming system is where it’s at. The ultimate in desktop gaming is a multi-monitor setup like you see above, which some call a Battlestation. Advanced games like The Elder Scrolls Online are taking advantage of this multi-screen setup, so you’ve got to get on-board to fully immerse yourself in the game play.

MC Large 04 300x292Back in the day, we used to build our gaming rigs from scratch after a trip to the Computer Show, but that’s old school. These days, the good folks at Best Buy have everything you need to build the ultimate PC gaming system, including a gaming desktop, which is most crucial. You’re going to want a new Windows 10 machine with plenty of memory and graphics power to keep up with the latest games. You’ll also be able to find the monitors, gaming keyboard, mouse, headset and even Philips hue LightStrips for customizable backlight.

The monitors are clearly the stars of the show, and when you’re not playing a multi-monitor enabled game, they can be utilized to multi-task while you dominate. We’re also pretty fond of that desk and the lighting effects, as they really set the mood and can set your gaming space apart. This sweet Battlestation is just one part of Best Buy’s Ultimate Man Cave, which has been constructed to give you ideas of how you can take your space to the next level with the latest tech. Turn your tired old basement into something man-tastic!

Man Cave GIF 2

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card.