Southside People report for InRathmines website

By Jaime Deasy; Southside People

Media students launch new website

MEDIA students at a Southside college are preparing to launch a new community website advertising local events and businesses next month. The nine students who are completing a Higher National Diploma in Journalism at Rathmines College of Further Education have created inrathmines.ie as part of their final year project.

Lorcan Allen, editor of the hyper local website, said the students had been surprised by the positive reaction they have received from local business people and others in the community.

He said that traditionally students in their final year at the college had produced a magazine but they had instead decided to create a local website that included local history, events, news and business listings in Rathmines.

The students realised there was a gap in the market for such an initiative in Rathmines after noticing that entrepreneurs had already established successful local websites in other city suburbs such as Clontarf and Malahide.

“There are 18 in our class split up into groups,” Lorcan explained. “For our final year we have to do a substantial media project. Usually the two groups produce a magazine. Our group this year decided that we would produce something online.

“So we went with this local website and it has just taken off. Some people in the community have really got behind us. We have had huge help and a lot of enthusiasm.”

The students received a lot of assistance in establishing the project and making vital connections in the community from local man, Michael O’Dea, who is also a lecturer in the college.

Members of the InRathmines Team

Another local man, Sean Byrne, who had been the manager of the local branch of the Bank of Ireland until recently, also helped the project team to establish contacts. He added that the Rathmines Chamber of Commerce had given the project €1,000 seed funding.

“So far we have spoken to local businesses and told them we would offer them three months free advertising to show them that it works and that people are looking at it and the website is being used,” Lorcan continued. “We are hoping to have the website live in February.”

Lorcan said the project had provided the students with invaluable experience in terms of working with digital media and he hoped they could apply this experience to their prospective careers in journalism.

“It’s been an excellent experience and it just shows how quickly things can take off,” he added. “We have been in meetings with different groups every week. It is a very strong project.

“Our college is very excited about it.They want their logo on the website. The way that journalism and the media are going it is important to have something like that on your CV now to show that you are able to work in a digital environment.”

The website’s Twitter account and blog spot can be followed by logging on to twitter.com/InRathmines and inrathmines.blogspot.ie