Apples in Ireland
By Andrew Roughan
Copyright (c) 1993 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
In a country where the Thunderbirds still have an avid following, instant Polaroid and Kodak disc film are still available in shops, and a flight time to the USA of a couple of hours (rather than nearly 24), I was expecting that the Apple II would still have a popular following.
Upon arriving in Ireland I popped into the local computer store to enquire about Apple user groups. They couldn't tell me directly but suggested I call "FreePhone" Apple. The friendly Apple girl immediately gave the number of the "Apple" club and the following week I arrived at the social quiz night of "Club Mac" Dublin. Well, I suppose I couldn't expect anything more from her, Apple II machines have been off the product list in Ireland since 1990.
Thankfully the January meeting did not involve computer discussion and the night was a great success; Irish stew, lots of Irish political questions and the complimentary wine all took their toll. The eventual winners were the team from Apple (they apparently win every year) who took home the, by now unneeded, alcoholic prize.
I did however meet one person who was also attended Apple II meetings. Voila! Contact. The Apple Users group of Dublin meets once a month at Trinity College in the centre of Dublin. The membership numbers 8 of whom 7 are on the committee! They are unfortunately contemplating disbandment because of lack of interest. However, this small and friendly group lists some serious magazine contributors in its books. Some of Charles Putney's submissions to Assembly Lines and NIBBLE will hopefully be reprinted in Applecations.
In the January meeting I was invited to speak to them about myself and the AUG. I also told them of my experiences at Kansasfest '92. Although they have a subscription with GS+ and order things from Resource Central, they had not heard about new products such as the GNO Multi-tasking Environment, the Apple II video Overlay Card, new announcements such as the EtherTalk card and System Software 6.0.1, and new rumours such as the Avatar. I spent most of my time explaining concepts to them and not enough inspiring some much needed enthusiasm. The one consolation that they do have is that the Irish pound is nearly twice as valuable as the US dollar which makes purchases and subscriptions to magazines extremely cheap.
This session made clear to me that distance obviously wasn't the hindrance in obtaining information; The US is only just across the Atlantic. The fault lies with lines of communication. The group produces an infrequent newsletter, no-one has access to the internet news service which links universities world-wide, and although there is a BBS which has an Apple II area, no-one in the group has a modem to access it. Having a contact inside Apple would seem important, but Apple Ireland only managed to obtain the System 6.0 CD in early January 1993, 10 months after its initial release.
Hopefully I've demonstrated just how lucky AUG members are. We all benefit from a large number of people who are genuinely interested in finding out the latest information, buying the latest software, and playing with the latest hardware. This information is disseminated quickly through the group through the regular magazine, monthly meetings and on the club's bulletin board systems.

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