Donations Thank you for considering making a donation to our website. Since 2004, www.irish-showbands.com has been a labour of love. The site had it origins in a handful of band handouts I collected in my days playing relief to the big bands in the Silver Slipper in Strandhill and the Astoria in Bundoran. I posted them on the website, www.kimnewport.com back in 2000 and from those humble beginnings, the collection started to grow. People started sending us scans of handouts they had saved from the era and finally on March 26, 2004, we officially became the first website to use the name "Irish showbands" in our web address. We do not sponsor or allow any advertising on the site as this is an historical archive in the purest sense. In the past 15 years, I have spent countless hours building the site word for word, photo by photo (not to mention the daily maintenance of examining spam guestbook entries). In addition to constantly adding new photos and features to the site, I am working on several major projects on the showband era which will be introduced on the website over the next few months. Although it would be nice to have the site pay for itself, I have resisted any commercial partnerships or advertising which could bring in some money. However, some of my friends have suggested allowing fans of the era to make donations to help fund the maintenance of the site and assist with the costs associated with collecting and maintaining archival materials (photos, records, magazines, memorabilia, etc.) which we are trying to save for future generations. These include: 1) Our annual web hosting fees which have increased 33% over the last few years 2) Annual subscription to several online Irish newspaper archives. 3) Miscellaneous costs of sending and receiving photos, scans, etc. for the site. I have decided to add this page and I appreciate any and all donations, no matter how small, as they will all go towards maintaining and building the site. I have set up an account with Paypal which will process the payments securely. I am hesitant about adding this page, as I fear people might think I am trying make money off the accolades of a generation of musicians who changed the social and cultural landscape of Ireland, but nothing could be further from the truth. Whether or not I receive any donations, I will continue to fund and work on the site myself, hoping to double its size in the coming years. If you are interested in donating objects other than money (i.e. records, magazines, band handouts, etc.), please click here and email me directly. Otherwise, thank you for your time and whether or not you choose to contribute, I hope you have enjoyed visiting the site and will tell anyone remotely interested in the showband era about us!     Regards,               Gerry Gallagher Back to Home Page To donate, click on the button OR LINK below. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9V5WWV96A6WY