RTE 1 Diarmuid Gavin Garden Desgin tonight 8.30pm

Seahorse Aquariums to appear in TV program with Diarmuid Gavin Tonight
Seahorse Aquariums is set to appear in a television program called Diarmuid’s Garden Designs which will be shown on RTE 1 at 8.30p.m tonight Friday December 17th. The program follows the construction of an underground garden and “Seahorse World” in an 18th century coal bunker in Temple street children’s hospital. This space under the road in Dublin’s inner city was transformed from a waste area to a magical location for children in the multi sensory department of the hospital. It was a great project to be involved in so check it out if you have time.
Best Regards,
Kealan

Fairplay to all at Seahorse that were involved in this project. Will be watchin this alright.

Mick...

just watched it guys and just wanted to say a huge fair play to the team from seahorse ........ very professional as always and top quality job

Awesome guys, just saw it, well done, very worthy cause,

great work lads, fairplay
the kids seemed to really love the tanks

Absolutely fantastic job. Well done to the seahorse team. For a great cause too. Well done

Well done to Seahorse just seen the show on rte Happy Xmass To All Regards Johney

Absolutely stunning job lads well done.

It's always nice to know that the Irish Republic still has a soft spot for failures.

Is it 100K to the Taxpayer. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Dave

Well done Seahorse! Great to see the hobby on prime time tv, while helping a good cause!

On another note it was mad that Diarmuid Gavin came out of the meeting with all the people involved and was still looking for a fishman despite the fact that Kealan was at the meeting... Either it was some bad editing or Diarmuid wasn't paying attention to who was at the meeting!

Ok lads......who broke the tank.....

wolfsburg wrote:

Diarmuid Gavin came out of the meeting with all the people involved and was still looking for a fishman despite the fact that Kealan was at the meeting... Either it was some bad editing or Diarmuid wasn't paying attention to who was at the meeting!

Well spotted Rory. I must have missed that on my black and white tv.

Well done lads, great job.

Kealan would you have any video of the tanks without Diarmuid's head been in the shot?

LoL Spotted the editing slip, I am sure this was filmed before the script for the show was finalised and they always try to build up a drama, in this case it was could they find someone that could do the aquariums.... and of course they did, drama added with the broken tank, though that looked more real.

Great work Seahorse and fantastic that this was all done on a voluntary basis.


Daragh

Just watched the show there and what a great job kealan and the boys done
Fair play lads


Mark

Great effort, a worthy cause and great promo material, that worked might I add but...

After watching I decided to go on the Seahorse website. Keelan sort out that site mate, the most frustrating half hour browsing in a long time, the state it is in is surely costing you business as I couldn't buy what I wanted from it myself becuase it doesn't work in parts.









Mark

JohnH wrote:

DJK wrote:

It's always nice to know that the Irish Republic still has a soft spot for failures.

Is it 100K to the Taxpayer. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Dave

Please explain...I can't make head nor tail of your 'reasoning'.

John

yeah, i'd have to agree with you on that one John
it was financed by fundraising, was it not ?
it will do a world of good for those sick children and who can complain about that ?
even if it is taxpayers money, i'd rather see it going into something like that than the bankers christmas bonus...

first off fair play seahorse lads and everyone else involved i havent watched it yet but i'll catch it tonight hopefully!

secondly

It's always nice to know that the Irish Republic still has a soft spot for failures.

Is it 100K to the Taxpayer. Correct me if I'm wrong.

whats this all about?

DJK wrote:

It's always nice to know that the Irish Republic still has a soft spot for failures.

Is it 100K to the Taxpayer. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Dave

You are wrong....
www.vodafone.ie/foundation/how-we-support/partners

Scroll to the bottom of the page. THis project was funded by the Vodafone foundation as well as fundraising.
As for your figure of 100k,not sure if that was ever mentioned,but if it was,its small money in the overall scheme of things and will add alot to the children in the hospital. We take things for granted sometimes, the programme makes you realise what important in life.

On a side note,who now maintains the tanks?

Gavin

It was a decent cause, no shock there that the state didn't shell out for sick children when there are rich bankers to be fed.

I willl point out that there may be a better use of 100k with the state of things right now, especially to a hospital, thats a nurse paid for three years, but better what was done than nothing at all absolutely and I for one minute don't diminish the effort of all involved, but they do get the PR out of it others just did it for the kids. We may get a few future Marine Biologists out of it:) Not exactly over stocked with em are we.

It is, in these times, important to get the funds into the area that will have the biggest impact.

If given the choice would the hospital admin have spent the money on staff equipment or the aquatics?

Mark

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The SA-Team.

Fair play lads for all the effort, was a very enjoyable watch.

just watched this on rte player, well done keelan and seahorse, a true gentleman and he is surrounded by a professional friendly and dedicated team. kudos to all involved... keelan you'll be charging public appearance money soon

Hi Folks,

Sorry i am just getting to respond to the thread as we are out the door with the Christmas rush at the moment.

Firstly Mark you are right that it is a little hard to find stuff on the web at the moment. We have been working flat out on the new site over the last couple of weeks and it is not quite there yet, however we should have it sorted over the next few days. Please can anyone mail any feedback on the site once finished in a few days so we can learn what people do and don't like and we can make modifications accordingly. We hope that it will be a valuable education / reference tool in relation to dry goods and livestock.

I have to say that for me working on the Temple Street underground "Seahorse World" was one of the most rewarding projects i have ever been involved in. We are all understandably worried about our own problems due to the current economic climate etc. However, once you get involved in something like this they all go out the window, especially when you meet kids and families with horrendous problems and yet remain remarkably positive and upbeat. There was one kid from Connemara who is there over 3 years as there are not the facilities or resources down west to look after him. His parents take turns to visit him on a weekly basis and try to maintain a normal family life. We became great friends during our time there.

There was no green or proper play area in temple street hospital and it was the staff that fought long and hard to try to get such an area. The main purpose is for treatment reasons for children in the multi sensory department and they particularly wanted an aquarium and light, colour, fish and movement are particularly therapeutic for children with such issues.

Funding of the project – the following was something that was private to Temple street and Seahorse Aquariums but due to the misunderstanding on the forum I feel I must correct the situation. Vodafone Ireland initially donated the funds for the garden and aquarium room. We then approached our suppliers and we were overwhelmed by their generosity in funding everything from glass, metal stands, all equipment including computer control systems, skimmers etc - we donated our time. There was a shortfall of €3,125 which was to cover some equipment, live stock, live rock etc – Seahorse Aquarium decided to donate this. The buzz all of us got in house when we were able to go back to temple street and tell them that we were not using any of the Vodafone fund and instead it could be used for equipment or another project. We also offered to maintain the aquariums and we drop in every two weeks to do so. We are looking for zero brownie points as I have no doubt that any of us would do the exact same once involved in such a project. Being honest our payback was the enjoyment working on the job and everyone of us got such a high from working with the kids and staff who are truly amazing people.

Just in case I am not back on line over the next few days, I just want to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their custom during 2010 and also to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and the very best for 2011.

Many thanks

Kealan and all the crew at Seahorse Aquariums

well done to seahorse and all involved in this project and tv program. it was great to see the dedication of the nursing staff and the pleasure the garden and aquariums gave to all the staff and the little patients.

Having just watched the program on RTE Player I feel compelled to congratulate all involved in the Temple Street garden project. Fair play to Seahorse Aquariums for their invaluable contribution. I consider the project and the contributors as an inspiration to us all, and a refreshing story amongst all the greedy bankers, politicians and cronies. Their work, in their own time into the wee hours of the night, will definitely improve the life of children and families working through tough times. As one parent said, her boy now has a place to get fresh air. We can all empathise with seeing the kids gravitate towards the fish tanks ...

Regarding any concern about the optimum use of 100k - in my opinion you'll find it far easier to find voluntary contributors for a defined project such as this than private contributions to pay the salary of 3 nurses. I think it would be wiser to shift some surplus pen pushers in the HSE to make room for front line staff. Its hard to quantify the benefit of the garden and aquariums to an accountant but any human/parent/person with experience of battling serious illness will vouch for the importance of mental attitude. What price would any parent pay for the opportunity to give their seriously ill child access to fresh air and an environment gauranteed to provide a daily smile?

Once again congratulations to all involved!!!!!!!

Paul

All I can say is you have really brought home what christmas is all about, I am amazed at the generosity and selfless acts I have seen on the forums in the last few weeks, you have humbled us all. Thankyou and keep up the great work you are doing,
Siobhan

PompeyBill wrote:

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The SA-Team.

Genius!

Well done lads, a truly wonderful project; and from someone who had a close family member spend a huge amount of time in hospital when he was younger, i know how appreciative all of the patients, staff, and family members in the hospital will be.

-Brian