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LAUNCHED IN 2005 WEBSITE MAKING BIG IMPRESSION
The homepage of thewicklowway.ie.
A WEBSITE offering all you need to know about Wicklow is not only making waves with Irish web-users but is also causing quite a stir over in America and the UK.
The website www.thewicklowway.ie was first launched by Roz Kelly in 2005, with her dog Skippy also lending a helping paw.
Now the site offers a wealth of information on all the towns and villages, places to go, bus times, cinema listings, restaurants and the best places to go for walks in the Garden County.
Forums allow people new to Wicklow to source important information, such as where are the local schools situated and what sort of sporting organisations are nearby. A social network club has just been established as well.
It's all a far cry from when Roz first began the site in 2005.
'I went back to train as a website designer and the site really started as a course project,' explains Roz.
'I was born in Bray but was brought up in Dublin and only moved to Rathdrum in 1999. I used to bring Skippy out for walks and people were always saying how cute he is. So I visited a few locations and wrote a few articles through the eyes of Skippy. What his likes and dislikes are. Everyone in the course really liked it and things just progressed from there.
'We went to an Astronomy Ireland BBQ in Roundwood and the Chairman recognised Skippy from the site straight away. That was very funny' recalls Roz.
Nikki Hayes of 2FM has just joined the recently formed online social network and over the next year it's hoped to organise meets for members to enjoy social occasions such as BBQs, swapshops, dinners and much more.
Over 100 local businesses have already availed of the free listings directory available on the site.
This offer remains open until January 2009, after which a small fee of ¤20 will be required to cover costs. Once the add is in place then the advertiser can edit it whenever they please.
- Myles BUCHANAN
