This article is from page 17 of the 2012-06-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
LAHINCH has made it to the twenty-first century by becoming the first town in Clare to have its very own app. The app, which can be downloaded free from the App Store, was developed by local man Matthew Kelly.
Once downloaded, the applica- tion gives its user two different live video feeds from Lahinch, as well as a large amount of information about the town and its businesses.
“My idea was to make it easy for people to get information about Lahinch quickly. So if a group of golfers or surfers or even locals wanted to take a trip to Lahinch, one quick look at the app and they could see the webcams, or the surf report or any amount of other information,” said Matthew. “If someone wanted to go surfing, let’s say, it takes one click to see are there any waves, another click to book a lesson from one of the surf schools, and another to book a hotel or B&B. It is about promoting Lahinch and making it easy for people to plan their weekend.
“We haven’t come across something like this for any other town in Ireland. People have already suggested to me that I should start making these for other towns in Ireland, but we will have to wait and see how this one goes first before I look at that idea,” he said.
Both the Lahinch Surf Shop and the Ocean Scene Surf School have allowed Matthew to use their webcam images for free.
“The whole idea is that it is free for the users to download, and it will always remain that way, but maybe if it takes off I may consider selling advertising on the site in the future,” continued Matthew. “At present, this app is only for people who have iPhones. They can download this for free by going to the App Store and searching for Lahinch but I will be developing a version of the app for android phones in the future.”