site map

Towards the end of 2004 we had found the busyness of Book STEPs prevented us from taking our stall out and about as much as we'd have liked.  When we decided to open the shop in Bantry in April of 2005 we were sad to realise that we'd have to really cut back on our stalls.  Despite this we continue to hear about and advertise green events throughout Ireland and you can find a listing of events past here. You can also find events we've highlighted but didn't manage to attend here. In January 2005 we took our stall and Sustainable STEPs workshop to The Organic College, Dromcollogher, County Limerick. We'd heard a lot about the college but never visited so we were delighted to be asked to have a look round and it seemed a great way to start off the new year. In September we visited the Graiguenamanagh 'Town Of Books' 2004 weekend at Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny.  Joe Fox and his family kindly cleared a massage room in their Holistic Healing Centre for our shop and looked after us extremely well, pointing out sites of interest and supplying us with tables, cups of tea, soothing background music, warm aromatherapy fragrances and entertaining chat.  After the excitement of having a whole shop to ourselves had died down we set up and settled in to a steady stream of book enthusiasts. The downside of mail order is that I get to meet so few of our regular customers and Graiguenamaragh provided another opporunity to put faces to names, one of the things I enjoy most about getting out to events!  And amidst all the flurry we also found time to sing a few songs in the sunshine.  In fact we had a splendid time all round and have already booked our spot for next year.  I have to recommend this event to anyone with an interest in books - tens of thousands of volumes of new and second-hand books in a small compact town with bargains galore for all.  This year saw 22 second-hand, bargain, antiquarian and specialist bookshops for bookworms to potter through & I suspect next year will see even more. For more information see the Graiguenamanagh Town Of Books website.

In July we attended one of the Village's visitor weekends in Cloughjordan, North Tipperary.  For the next few months The Village is offering weekends away for people who want to learn more about their exciting sustainable community and housing project.  These weekend trips cover:  Examining the architectural plans, drawings and models of what the new eco-settlement will look like;  Include a guided tour of the lands that the company intends to develop; Incorporate time to visit and explore the village of Cloughjordan;  Explore questions like, What does it mean to have a Sustainable Community?;  Provide detailed information about becoming a member and the time-frame for development.  See their site for more details.

At the beginning of June we were exhausted from all the stalls and events of the previous month!  We were just back from John Jopling's splendid Retreat Lodges after participating in a three day workshop examining sustainability and sustainability measures with specific reference to the Village.  The Village is about people planning and creating community for themselves, building affordable ecological homes and generating local enterprise.  They have secured an option to purchase 67 acres of land beside the village of Cloughjordan in North Tipperary and our workshop looked at ways to measure the sustainability of the site development and of the resulting community.

		The end of May saw us at the Killarney Earthwatch Seminar, featuring Jack O'Sullivan, the key speaker, talking on Zero Waste (pictured left); Tim Cremin illustrating his Cremin Tank (up to 50% fuel savings), and; Muriel Lumb from Book STEPs exploring steps towards sustainability using ecological footprinting tools.  With seven speakers in all, videos, stalls and lunch included this was an excellent event we hope will be repeated annually, if not more often.
Jack O'Sullivan speaking on Zero Waste

Mid May we attended the South East Social Forum's Alternative Environment Summit And Demonstration entitled ‘People and Planet Before Profit: Another Europe Is Possible’ at Waterford.  The lineup included SIPTU, Zero Waste, The Green Party, AFRI, Feasta, DAPSE, CHASE, The Waterford Council of Trade Unions, Sustainable Ireland, Busworkers Action Group to name but a few.  A very well organised, well attended and enjoyable event which also included a peace march through the town.

In April we attended The Earth Fair at Convergence Sustainable Living Festival, an annual event we are keen to support.  Part of Convergence, lasting ten days, this unique festival celebrates the development of an exciting 'New Culture', one that celebrates creativity, offers solutions to economic, social and environmental problems and builds enduring community.  A multi-faceted programme of over 100 events makes Convergence the largest & most diverse festival of its kind in the world.  Mixing content from researchers, policy makers and business with that of artists, poets and designers, Convergence takes a multicultural and inter-disciplinary approach to sustainability.   You can see details of this and previous year's events at Sustainable Ireland's website.  Really well worth attending. 

While at Convergence we had time to take in a seminar called New Directions for Business: The Natural Step.  The Natural Step is a learning, motivating and strategic planning tool applicable to businesses of all types and scales, which re-orients the organisation toward a truly sustainable future. This insightful presentation was led by Mark Cahill, CEO of the Natural Step UK.  An extremely sound sustainable strategy for business with numerous examples already in practice, we've been interested in the Natural Step for some time so were delighted to meet one of the leading proponents.  Anyone interested in knowing more should read the inspiring Natural Step Story and/or The Natural Step In Business (both supplied by Book STEPs).

Mid-March we attended the Green Party Annual Convention at the Galway Bay Hotel in Galway.  The event was well attended and televised by RTE for the first time and our stall attracted a lot of interest.  Their Convention web page can be seen here.  (We'd like to point out that Book STEPs is not affiliated with any political party - however, only the Green Party has been interested in having our information at their Convention).

The 21st/22nd February saw us at the Friends of the Irish Environment Allihies Weekend, 'Dealing With The Backlash' in Co Cork. Aine Ryall of UCC Law Department did a particularly interesting talk and workshop on enforcing European environmental law. Loads of interesting workshops were crammed into the short time available and this year we fitted in a few hours break to explore the scenic surrounds.  There will be reports from the workshops appearing on Friends webpages as they're completed - we're doing the write up on Education and will include that on these pages too (thought it'll be another few weeks yet).

Despite intending to take a break from stalls for a while, on 19th January 2004 we couldn't resist attending the Inaugural Meeting of The Irish Food Market Traders Association at Grant's Castle Hotel, Cashel, Co. Tipperary. This inspiring and well attended meeting saw the birth of the Association. We'll have more details soon but in the meantime contact Caroline Robinson for more information.

December was hectic with stalls at Bantry, Skibbereen and Inchigeela markets and at the Dublin Food Co-op. It was so hectic, in fact, that we planned taking a break from stalls through January and February 2004 - but that was not to be...

For the most part November was a quiet month on the stall front as we spent time on our catalogue and stock. But we saw November out in style at the Ballingeary Christmas Craft Fair and Farmers Market.

After the success of Bantry market we attended Skibbereen Farmers' Market for the first time on Saturday 18th October. Another popular venue with plenty of delicious organic foods including fruit & veg, meat, cheese, bread, crèpe pancakes and jams & preserves. Also clothes stalls and hand made home & garden furniture. Well worth a visit if you're in the area.

The Pachamama Gathering was in Cummerstown, Collinstown, Co Westmeath on 2nd-4th October 2003. We were hoping to make it up there but had other commitments. This is likely to be a regular annual gathering so email Pachamama for more information.

About the Gathering:
"Pachamama is a consciousness, an awareness of the Web of Life. It find an expression in different ways in Indigenous cultures throughout the world. The challenge for those who hear this call is how to articulate this awareness in the time & place in which we live. There are many individuals attempting to live lives which reflect Pachamama values. This gathering is an opportunity for people to come together to reflect, to share & to explore ways of furthering Pachamama, developing a sense of common purpose and belonging."

On 19th September we held our first stall at our local market in the Market Square in Bantry, Co Cork. We've been wanting to do this for a while but have only recently got our hands on a weather proof stall. We had a great day in the sunshine (so we didn't really get to test the stall's weatherproofness!). And it was made especially enjoyable by our friends entertaining us (and other market goers) with music & song throughout the afternoon.

Early August saw us basking in the sun alongside our mini Book STEPs Stall at the Frog Fair 2003. The Frog Fair is a very special summer camp experience set in the beautiful unspoilt grounds of the secluded An Sanctoir retreat. There's always a varied programme of inspirational & practical workshops for children and adults, evening entertainment, live music, cabaret & spontaneous acts of pure theatre. This year's fair had a focus on environmental issues and peace. And the evening lineup was particularly good (though I'm biased - I sang with Charlie's Alibi on the Friday).

Mid July saw us at the Dublin Food Co-op again. We'll be returning in October and in mid December. Can't keep away!

In early July we attended the first meeting of the Cork section of the Irish Social Forum. The social forum movement has spread rapidly across the world in the last 2 years. Dialogues held by forum participants draw together a wide spectrum of groups and individuals who are active in their local and global communities. In round table discussions, those present get to air issues, share ideas and resources, and help each other to act effectively to make a difference.

The movement began in Brazil, where the World Social Forum was formed. From that grew the European Social Forum, and at the last forum meeting in Florence, an Irish Social Forum was proposed. Many countries involved in the movement have their own national and regional forums, to enable a much wider cross-section of society to take part. Now, as well as the Irish Social Forum in Dublin, there are regional forums in the Northwest and Donegal. And it looks like Cork is not far behind.

In the run-up to the Iraq War, the peace, environmental and anti-globalization movements were described as “the other superpower”. If we communicate and help each other, it could be true.

In June we spent a day in the sun at the Agriculture & Food Forum hosted by Caroline Robinson (021 733 0178) at her organic farm in Templemartin. Got a bit sunburned in the process but excellent speakers, lively music and delicious food made it all worthwhile. We also attended the Inchigeela Farmer's Market again which looks to being a successful, regular event. Already the Creedence Hotel is bulging at the seams to accommodate the array of stalls attending (contact Fred Lehay on 026 47985 for more details).

In April we had a break from stalls but May was hectic to make up for it. We hosted our Sustainable STEPs workshops as part of the Convergence Festival's exhibit on Ecological Footprints at ENFO and had a stall at their Earth Fair. Organised by Sustainable Ireland this is really the environmental event of the year in Ireland. This year’s themes included plant medicines, traditional knowledge, slow food, education for sustainability, natural health, appropriate technology, ecotourism, renewable energy, urban food production, eco-design and community building and featured conferences, workshops, films, theatre, music and exhibits. An inspiring week & one that we already have in our diary for next year!

In May we also revisited Dublin's Food Co-op with our book stall and enjoyed it so much we're planning to make it a regular venue. Similarly, the Inchigeela Farmers Market was a great community event (the Southern Star had the photos to prove it!) with the associated music session an added bonus. We hope to attend the Farmers Market on a monthly basis (with books & song).

In March we had stalls at the Allihies Environment weekend, at the Green Party Conference in Ennis and at the West Cork & Beara Women's Network launch of their Women's Health Information Pack on International Women's Day. A busy month of workshops, networking & great enjoyment.

In February 2003 we hosted our Sustainable STEPs workshop and held a Book STEPs stall at Dublin's Food Co-op. It was an excellent & inspiring venue. We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend and hoped to return sometime during the year.

Over the festive season 2002/03 we hosted stalls at several events, including craft fairs, in Co Cork.