Smart move as festivities given a global audience

Technology and mobile devices will play a key role in Cork’s St Patrick’s Day festivities this weekend.

Recession-busting deals will be “pushed” directly onto parade goers’ smartphones.

The parade will be streamed online and a traditional Irish music concert tonight will be simulcast via the web between Cork and sister city San Francisco.

Goldenpages.ie launched its Mobile Deal app last night to deliver special offers and coupons to peoples’ mobiles based on how close they are to the businesses. The firm plans to roll the initiative out nationwide over the coming months.

Among the participating businesses are Fota Wildlife Park, Centra, Glanmire Ice, the Thomond Pub, O’Brien Sandwiches, The Wholy Grain, Door 51, Pizza, Ginos, O’Flynns Gourmet Sausages, Gloria Jean’s Coffee, and Monkey Maze.

No personal data will be passed on to any third party and the deal notifications can be tailored to the phone owner’s personal requirements, or switched off entirely, a spokesperson for goldenpages.ie said.

The free app is available to download now and is preloaded on Samsung’s Galaxy S2.

Users can search the ‘deals’ section on the home page to see what’s available nearby. They can redeem coupons by saving them on to their device. It is hoped that in the coming weeks, users will be able to redeem the deals by scanning a QR code at the point of purchase.

Meanwhile, Cork City Council is streaming the parade live online on corkstpatricksfestival.ie.

It is also being screened live by Cork Community Television on UPC digital channel 803 from 1pm. Over 27,000 people tuned in online to watch last year’s parade.

The head of the council’s tourism unit, Damien O’Mahony, invited people to email their St Patrick’s Day wishes to [e-mail], and they will be read out on the live stream.

And tonight’s Pulses of Tradition showcase of traditional music at Triskel Christchurch will be beamed to those attending the St Patrick’s Day festivities in San Francisco.

They will be able to watch the performance on their cell phones and on 3G/4G enabled-tablets live in the Civic Centre Plaza outside San Francisco’s City Hall.

And Cork concert goers will be able to watch the San Francisco parade wind its way from Market St to the civic centre. The simulcast can be viewed on ustream.tv/ciscotv.