Bring broken bits from home to Leixlip Library for a morning of repair, chat and climate action with volunteers from TOG Hackerspace.
On Saturday, 13 December 2025, from 10.00 to 13.00, Leixlip Library will host a Repair Café in partnership with TOG Hackerspace and the Kildare County Council Climate Action Office. Skilled volunteers will help you give worn and broken items another shot at life, instead of sending them to the landfill.
Multiple 30-minute slots run through the morning. Booking is through Leixlip Library, so contact the library desk or check the library website for full details.
What you can bring
• Clothes and accessories • Toys • Small electrical appliances and electronics • Small furniture
If you are unsure about an item, bring it along on the day. Volunteers will take a look and see if a repair is possible. Safety testing (PAT) for electrical devices will be in place.
What happens at a Repair Café
You arrive with an item, sign in, then wait for a fixer to free up. A volunteer sits down with you, opens things up, and talks through options. You get to see how the repair works, ask questions, and pick up a few skills for next time.
The aim is not a drop-off service. It is a shared repair session where everyone learns something, has a chat, and heads home with more confidence and, hopefully, a working item.
Why take part
Repair Cafés support a circular economy in a simple, local way. Every item repaired keeps resources in use for longer, cuts waste, and saves money. Events like this also build up local skills and give people a chance to share knowledge across the community.
Where and when
Date: Saturday 13 December 2025 Time: 10.00 to 13.00 Venue: Leixlip Library, Captains Hill, Leixlip, Co Kildare Cost: Free, booking required for a 30-minute slot
If you would like to help out as a fixer on the day, drop us an email at TOG and we will be in touch.
This event runs in partnership with Leixlip Library, TOG Hackerspace and the Kildare County Council Climate Action Office as part of local climate action work in Kildare.
We’re delighted to share that Tog Hackerspace will have a community table at PyCon Ireland 2025, taking place in UCD O’Reilly Hall, Dublin, on November 15th–16th, 2025.
PyCon Ireland is sponsoring a number of Community Tables this year for local tech groups, and we’re chuffed to be one of them. You’ll find us alongside:
Python Ireland
Coding Grace / PyLadies Dublin / The Python Software Foundation
Tog Hackerspace 🛠️
The Celbridge team (Chris Gregan)
Drop by our table to:
Find out what actually happens in a hackerspace
Chat about electronics, hardware hacking, 3D printing, IoT, amateur radio, and Repair Cafés
Learn how to get involved with Tog, whether as a member or a casual visitor
Tog members on stage
As well as minding the table, some of our members will be speaking at the conference:
Jeffrey Roe – “Stopping Time with Python: Building an Interactive Art Installation”
Peter Nolan – “Flattening the Curve: How Ireland Modelled COVID”
If you’re heading to PyCon, be sure to swing by the Tog table and say hello – we’d love to chat about your projects and how a hackerspace might fit into them. 🐍✨
Friday, November 14th, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm Tog Hackerspace, Dublin 8 No experience needed — Ages 18+
Air pollution affects many people’s daily lives, not just those living near industrial centres. In Ireland, most official air quality monitoring is carried out using a limited number of government sensors spread across the country. As a result, we often rely on modelling to estimate current pollution levels. This can miss out on local or seasonal sources such as coal fires during winter or short-term event-based pollution.
In this hands-on Science Week workshop, we’ll explore how to measure local air pollution and take part in a global citizen science movement. You’ll build your own particulate matter (PM2.5) sensor system using a simple kit of off-the-shelf components. The device uses consumer-grade hardware to give a reasonable indication of local air quality — not as precise as professional lab equipment, but accurate enough to spot trends and patterns in your community.
The workshop introduces participants to IoT (Internet of Things) devices, data collection, and environmental monitoring. You’ll learn how to assemble the hardware, connect it to the network, and share your data online through the Sensor.Community platform — an open global network of more than 13,000 citizen-built sensors contributing over 10 million data entries worldwide.
By the end of the evening, you’ll have built your own working air quality sensor and joined a growing international community helping to better understand our environment through open data.
Come along, learn something new, and make a real contribution to citizen science this Science Week!
🎟 Tickets available via Eventbrite – €70 per person This covers the cost of materials and includes a donation to Tog Hackerspace.
This special Repair Café is only possible thanks to the support of The Climate Action Team, The Community and Culture Department and the Just Transition Team of Offaly County Council.
What can you bring?
We’ll be ready to tackle repairs on a wide range of household items, including:
Clothes and accessories
Toys
Small electrical appliances and electronics
Small furniture
…and more!
Each repair is limited to half an hour. Bring up to a maximum of three items. We will see what we can repair in your time slot. Ticket holders will be given priority.
We’ll even have PAT (Portable Appliance Testing) available to ensure repaired electrical devices are safe to use.
Whether it’s a toaster that won’t pop, a lamp that’s gone dark, or a favourite toy in need of TLC—don’t bin it! Our volunteers will work with you to diagnose and repair your items, all while sharing tips and advice to help you learn new skills.
While you’re waiting, soak in the warm and welcoming atmosphere of Tullamore Library.
Event Details
🛠️ When: Saturday, 11th October 2025⏰ Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
This special Repair Café is only possible thanks to the support of The Climate Action Team, The Community and Culture Department and the Just Transition Team of Offaly County Council.
Together, let’s keep things out of the landfill and build a culture of repair in Tullamore!
This year’s IRTS Hamfest, our member Jeffrey cycled down to Mullingar and wrote this post.
Instead of taking the train or car, I decided to cycle the 95 km from Dublin, following the Grand Canal out to Adamstown, cutting across, and then joining the Royal Canal all the way west.
The journey had its challenges, with closed sections, impassable barriers, and detours that stretched a 10 km road section into 17 km. But there were plenty of highlights too. I love a good bundle, so along the way, I decided to take photos for the Wiki Loves Monuments project, trying to make sure everything on the national monument registry has a photo. That had me stopping at landmarks such as Ballyfermot Bridge and the 12th Lock Bridge, and enjoying a lunch break at the Boyne Viaduct, complete with a battery swap on my e-bike. I was even joined from Leixlip by a fellow club member for the journey.
By late afternoon, I arrived in Mullingar and settled into Hamfest.
Activity at Hamfest
Hamfest this year was buzzing with activity, with a wide range of groups and demonstrations:
Collective Communication Radio Club had their trailer-based mobile station on show. It’s a fantastic setup designed to bring amateur radio right into the heart of communities, complete with HF and VHF/UHF capability, antennas, and a neat operating position. I had a great chat with their members about how they deploy it for outreach events.
The Galway Radio Experimenters Club showcased Morse code trainer kits based on ESP32 boards. These little devices allow budding operators to learn and practise CW with built-in keyers, displays, and sounders with modern microcontrollers helping keep the oldest digital mode alive.
The RAYNET Emergency Communications Group gave a live demonstration of AREDN mesh networking (https://www.arednmesh.org), linking radios into a network carrying VoIP, messaging, and data services. Seeing voice calls and file transfers moving seamlessly over amateur microwave links was a great reminder of the role radio can play in resilience.
The EIDX Group had a stand full of stories and photos from their DXpeditions. They’ve activated rare locations around the world, giving thousands of operators new countries in the log. Their passion for bringing remote places onto the bands was inspiring.
My own club, Tog Hackerspace (https://www.tog.ie), had a stand showing packet radio from Ben (EI9IUB). We had good discussions about how the hackerspace community overlaps with amateur radio with experimentation, DIY builds, and curiosity.
For me, a real highlight was sitting down to do some hands-on soldering. I had people drop in to chat while learning how to solder for the first time, and with others who were more experienced, sharing advanced techniques and discussing why we should all be switching to lead-free solder.
Social Side
Hamfest is not only about radios and equipment, but also about community. On Saturday evening, I joined the YOTA Ireland team and their invited guests. We played games late into the night, before moving on to share stories well past midnight. While there was no campfire this year, we improvised with hot water bottles (thanks to Ana!) to keep warm.
On Sunday morning, the car boot sale was a highlight. After rummaging through the tables, I found an adjustable bench power supply for just €15, a proper bargain, and a reminder that Hamfest always has surprises in store.
The Return Journey
After two full days of activity, it was time to cycle home. I had company on the way down for the chats, and an audiobook kept me going on the solo cycle back. The return trip began under grey skies, with a 45-minute rain shower outside Kilcock. After a battery swap at 54 km, the sun reappeared, and I made good progress along the Royal Canal. I arrived back in Dublin about an hour quicker than on the outbound trip, helped by fewer photo stops and no sit-down lunch.
Thanks also to Ben (EI9IUB) & Conor(EI3020) for bringing down the soldering gear and my tent, which allowed me to cycle bag-free. It made the whole adventure a lot more manageable.
This being the first-ever IRTS Hamfest, it was fantastic to see such a strong turnout, a variety of engaging stands, and plenty of opportunities for learning and socialising. It was a fitting start to what I hope will become a regular highlight of the Irish amateur radio calendar. You can see even more photos of the event in our gallery.
We’re packing up our tools (and a few stories) for the EPA Circular Economy Conference 2025 on Wednesday, 24 September, in the Aviva Stadium.
You’ll find us in the exhibition area, flying the flag for Repair Cafés and the workshops we run at Tog. We’ll be chatting about how fixing the things you already own is good for your pocket, good for the planet, and good craic altogether.
And since we’re on the topic, we’ve got not one but two Repair Cafés coming up this October. Keep an eye on the details here: tog.ie/repair
So if you’re at the Aviva, swing by our stand for a natter. We’d love to see you there.
