A: On September 18th, 2012, with no warning or published statement of intent, a significant change to the Houses of Oireachtas website housing the public record of Dail and Seanad debates was made when publication of XML data ceased. This effectively killed KildareStreet.com for the foreseeable future.
Donations so far: €7946.55 with to go!
Join the Undead...
Please join our generous donors to help us raise funds by October 31st.
Donate today with Paypal payments or by credit card (no Paypal account needed). Or donate by cheque or EFT using the details below!
Survival Depends on You!
Every donation, large or small, helps fund our revival. Thank you.
FAQs
Q: Why is KildareStreet being starved of new data?
Q: What will the re-development do?
A: Rather than depending on the Houses of Oireachtas to begin re-publishing the XML we have used to generate records for the past three years, the new parser will scrape the data KildareStreet.com needs directly from the Oireachtas website.
Q: What do I get for my donation?
A: We'll bring KildareStreet back to life, with new records from the start of term, fresh RSS feeds, and a resumption of email alerts. Switching from XML to direct scraping of data may also mean a few more services become possible, including publication of voting records.
Q: What else can I do to help?
A: We are entirely dependent on social media to spread this campaign. Help us spread the word - join us on Facebook and share with your friends; tweet a link to this campaign and get more people involved. Thanks so much!
What is KildareStreet.com?
KildareStreet.com is Ireland’s largest open data project to date. The site makes it not only easy for people to keep tabs on their elected representatives in the Houses of the Oireachtas, but actually possible for them to do this - quickly, clearly, and electronically - for the first time ever in the history of the Republic.
What does the site do?
KildareStreet a non-partisan website which provides a readable copy of the parliamentary record, allows voters to finally search for and find information within it, get RSS feeds for TDs and Senators and set up email or RSS alerts for people or search terms. It also allows active commenting by visitors on what was said.
How is KildareStreet funded?
KildareStreet receives no government funding and has been run for three and a half years on a single private fundraising bequest of €5,800, raised from 67 heroic private citizens in 2009. We are hoping there are a few more heroes out there to help us rebuild for the future and keep KildareStreet alive.
Who does the site serve?
We have served 2,633,823 pages (971,399 in the past 12 months) to 570,486 unique visitors, 86.24% of them in Ireland, with 7,871 of them receiving automatic email alerts for specific topics. The KildareStreet site serves significantly more visitors than the official Oireachtas Debates site because it's easier to use, provides excellent search, and delivers real transparency in government.
Thank you for your support. With the help of people like you, KildareStreet can rise from the ashes of the Zombie Apocalypse!
