Tralee Thread (No chit-chat)

Wang King

Apparently, we're not allowed attend.

Ciarrai76

Wang King wrote: »

Apparently, we're not allowed attend.

as in anyone who works in retail you mean? (not boardies! lol)

Yeah, heard that alright. I guess its a bit like a focus group so they just want the customers. Wonder if many will turn up!?
Will be interesting to see the results from it, but I'm guessing it will mainly be to do with parking & the cost etc etc. In which case, its not really the fault of a retailer, and all to do with the council!?

Wang King

Not a great lover of the alliance is all I'm going to say,
But yeah, it's going to descend into the normal, manor has everything and there's no parking in town.... And the traffic wardens will get a special mention I'm sure
Expect plenty of hot air from the alliance and not a thing to be done afterwards,
Wish I could go, I need a new watch

kn

Wang King wrote: »

Not a great lover of the alliance is all I'm going to say,
But yeah, it's going to descend into the normal, manor has everything and there's no parking in town.... And the traffic wardens will get a special mention I'm sure
Expect plenty of hot air from the alliance and not a thing to be done afterwards,
Wish I could go, I need a new watch

Go incognito. Maybe wear a prophylactic!

Wang King

kn wrote: »

Go incognito. Maybe wear a prophylactic!

Time to change my name to Dick Head?

delthedriver

Wang King wrote: »

Not a great lover of the alliance is all I'm going to say,
But yeah, it's going to descend into the normal, manor has everything and there's no parking in town.... And the traffic wardens will get a special mention I'm sure
Expect plenty of hot air from the alliance and not a thing to be done afterwards,
Wish I could go, I need a new watch

What can the Alliance realistically do for the customers or indeed retailers?


Seems a pity to prevent retailers from attending , surely they are someone else's customers??

ongarboy

delthedriver wrote: »

Seems a pity to prevent retailers from attending , surely they are someone else's customers??

True, but I guess they want to avoid potential conflicts of interest or vested interest concerns from being raised. Anyway, don't retailers have their own lobby groups such as RGDATA and the Chamber of Commerce themselves within the Alliance that can lobby for demands and changes and progress? This is a forum for consumers with no retail links having a rare opportunity to voice their concerns.

A few posters questioned what was the point? If the Alliance can say they'll come back in a few months time sharing the feedback and what proactive measures have taken place on the back of this forum, then I would see it as a successful initiative.

Ciarrai76

Wang King wrote: »

Not a great lover of the alliance is all I'm going to say,
But yeah, it's going to descend into the normal, manor has everything and there's no parking in town.... And the traffic wardens will get a special mention I'm sure
Expect plenty of hot air from the alliance and not a thing to be done afterwards,
Wish I could go, I need a new watch

the traffic wardens are lethal at the moment!

kn

Garvey's are closing their Newcastlewest supermarket this Saturday with the loss of circa 50 jobs - should we be worried in Kerry? The Tralee shop seems busy enough.

michael999999

kn wrote: »

Garvey's are closing their Newcastlewest supermarket this Saturday with the loss of circa 50 jobs - should we be worried in Kerry? The Tralee shop seems busy enough.

They were fleecing us for long enough. The German shops are brilliant!

kn

michael999999 wrote: »

They were fleecing us for long enough. The German shops are brilliant!

Garvey's were always very expensive on the branded items relative to their competitors no doubt but they have gotten a lot better on their offers over the last couple of years in fairness. I never used to shop there up to a couple of years or so ago but do find myself popping in there every no and then of late.

Kerrydude1981

Wagon Wheel will be getting blasted out again at this years Festival

http://traleetoday.ie/nathans-back-as-rose-of-tralee-street-carnival-line-up-announced/

Ciarrai76

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Wagon Wheel will be getting blasted out again at this years Festival

http://traleetoday.ie/nathans-back-as-rose-of-tralee-street-carnival-line-up-announced/

FFS!!!! :mad:

michael999999

kn wrote: »

Garvey's were always very expensive on the branded items relative to their competitors no doubt but they have gotten a lot better on their offers over the last couple of years in fairness. I never used to shop there up to a couple of years or so ago but do find myself popping in there every no and then of late.

No coincidence the prices dropped when Aldi/Lidl gave us a choice and the RGdata monopoly was broken up.

The Garvey's in listowel also offered a lot of redundancys to there staff last month.

Kerrydude1981

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

FFS!!!! :mad:

Getting sick of it at this stage now as well

"Rock me Mama like a wagon.......fu*k off"

Clab mor

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Getting sick of it at this stage now as well

"Rock me Mama like a wagon.......fu*k off"

In fairness though it's not a music festival!! So I think the line up is pretty decent considering.

kn

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

FFS!!!! :mad:

I take it your not paying the €25 then?

Is it me or is the festival now charging for what was free street entertainment upto recently? There's nothing in that line up I'd pay for anyway.

Ciarrai76

Clab mor wrote: »

In fairness though it's not a music festival!! So I think the line up is pretty decent considering.

It's a festival which has always included a lot of music, but it's been getting pretty bad the past few years & rolling out Nathan Carter every year is getting a bit much! I haven't really a clue what songs each act has, apart from maybe Gavin James who I think is kinda decent enough! I know it's all down to €€€, but still!

Considering I always work most of the festival, I won't really be going out of my way to see any of them!

Ciarrai76

kn wrote: »

I take it your not paying the €25 then?

Is it me or is the festival now charging for what was free street entertainment upto recently? There's nothing in that line up I'd pay for anyway.

Yeah the past few years seems to be all about paying to see a band play in Denny street! I was at the Stunning 2 years ago & that was brilliant, but I spoke to a lot of people who weren't too pleased paying €10 to go past the barrier half way down Denny street & basically stayed drinking at the grand or the imperial & just listened to the music. As I was always a big Stunning fan I wanted to be up there dancing away so we did pay it.

delthedriver

ongarboy wrote: »

True, but I guess they want to avoid potential conflicts of interest or vested interest concerns from being raised. Anyway, don't retailers have their own lobby groups such as RGDATA and the Chamber of Commerce themselves within the Alliance that can lobby for demands and changes and progress? This is a forum for consumers with no retail links having a rare opportunity to voice their concerns.

A few posters questioned what was the point? If the Alliance can say they'll come back in a few months time sharing the feedback and what proactive measures have taken place on the back of this forum, then I would see it as a successful initiative.

Interesting thoughts.

Has there been any feedback from meeting via the bush telegraph today?

delthedriver

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

Yeah the past few years seems to be all about paying to see a band play in Denny street! I was at the Stunning 2 years ago & that was brilliant, but I spoke to a lot of people who weren't too pleased paying €10 to go past the barrier half way down Denny street & basically stayed drinking at the grand or the imperial & just listened to the music. As I was always a big Stunning fan I wanted to be up there dancing away so we did pay it.

The quality of the entertainment paid or free has declined over the last number of years. I usually have visitors from UK staying for Festival time. TBH the last couple of years the whole event has been a bit of a non event.
Warning ! If it does not improve the Killarney folk will get their hands on the festival!!

Kerrydude1981

delthedriver wrote: »

The quality of the entertainment paid or free has declined over the last number of years. I usually have visitors from UK staying for Festival time. TBH the last couple of years the whole event has been a bit of a non event.
Warning ! If it does not improve the Killarney folk will get their hands on the festival!!

Could happen,

Nathan Carter singing the Rose of Tralee to the winner in Killarney

Just seen there a story in today's Kerryman,apparently the Rose Of Tralee committee are close to buying Fels Point should be done and dusted in the coming days,4 million deal.

Kerrydude1981

Hopefully this will get the go ahead as well,would be a good boost to the construction trades around Tralee,

http://traleetoday.ie/50-unit-local-authority-housing-development-planned-for-lohercannon/

Maybe they should just put it out to tender to Tralee based builders with the clause that they sub the work out to Tralee based trades men.

Keep the work local.

Clab mor

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

It's a festival which has always included a lot of music, but it's been getting pretty bad the past few years & rolling out Nathan Carter every year is getting a bit much! I haven't really a clue what songs each act has, apart from maybe Gavin James who I think is kinda decent enough! I know it's all down to €€€, but still!

Considering I always work most of the festival, I won't really be going out of my way to see any of them!

The festival has changed massively in the past number of years. Its now owned by a private company and its main focus is the Roses and the whole competition side of things not so much the street entertainment which is mainly funded separately. As you mentioned below the stunning were performing two years ago for ten euro.....that was heavily subsidised by the festival and street entertainment funds. Likewise this year all concerts are subsidised by the festival in order to make the ticket prices more attractive. Money is everything and the running costs of the stages alone are a huge outlay!! The good news for Tralee is the contract for the Regional Finals usually held in Portlaoise is up this year. So hopefully the Tralee locals, business, and co council will row in behind the regionals moving to Tralee like portlaoise do every year.

Clab mor

delthedriver wrote: »

The quality of the entertainment paid or free has declined over the last number of years. I usually have visitors from UK staying for Festival time. TBH the last couple of years the whole event has been a bit of a non event.
Warning ! If it does not improve the Killarney folk will get their hands on the festival!!

Del it'll never happen that Killarney will get the main festival it goes against everything the festival is about..........the regionals are a possibility alright if Killarney town can provide the right facilities and funding/sponsorship. However I think the fact that the fels point hotel deal is almost complete means that the festival and regionals are safe in Tralee. The hotel is due to be run by a trust made up of ex roses and there families, some families are so blown away by the festival experience that they make a sizeable contribution.

kn

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Could happen,

Nathan Carter singing the Rose of Tralee to the winner in Killarney

Just seen there a story in today's Kerryman,apparently the Rose Of Tralee committee are close to buying Fels Point should be done and dusted in the coming days,4 million deal.

I hope they do buy it because I can see them putting up a permanent 'dome' that would be a magnet for events and concerts that could rival Killarney and drive traffic into the Town. There is plenty of space for a circa 2000 seater over 2 levels arena.

Ciarrai76

Clab mor wrote: »

Del it'll never happen that Killarney will get the main festival it goes against everything the festival is about..........the regionals are a possibility alright if Killarney town can provide the right facilities and funding/sponsorship. However I think the fact that the fels point hotel deal is almost complete means that the festival and regionals are safe in Tralee. The hotel is due to be run by a trust made up of ex roses and there families, some families are so blown away by the festival experience that they make a sizeable contribution.

That's great! I really would love to see the regionals in Tralee, it makes a lot of sense & a much needed add on of the festival to the town!

You sound very in the know about the festival workings! are you involved with them in some way?

hanamandiol

Took my car for NCT today and went for a walk while waiting -three separate motorists stopped in Caherslee to ask for directions to NCT centre - i remember the same happened last year - amazing that a centre used by people from all over the county has no signpost while being tucked away at the rear of both housing estates and the Mart building !!

Ciarrai76

A follow up to the shoppers meeting is on the Tralee today site, I can't seem to link it using my iPad so if anyone else has the link can you post it up!?

Ciarrai76

hanamandiol wrote: »

Took my car for NCT today and went for a walk while waiting -three separate motorists stopped in Caherslee to ask for directions to NCT centre - i remember the same happened last year - amazing that a centre used by people from all over the county has no signpost while being tucked away at the rear of both housing estates and the Mart building !!

That's a good point, which as locals we don't think about as we just know where it is but it is badly signposted now that I think of it!

Did your Car pass?