Author archive: purplerain

Over the summer, I entered the Irish Farmers’ Journal Country Living’s Local Treasures writing competition. They were encouraging people to write about a place that they went to over lockdown that people in general might not know about. When I saw the competition on social media, I immediately thought of Yellow Water, outside the Co…

Autumn is a beautiful season with the trees changing colour, nights getting darker and an excuse to light the fire in the evenings. On the farm, it also means harvest season as barley is cut, silage is made to feed animals through the winter and potatoes are ready for digging. To capture this special time…

Thanks to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Purple Rain had the opportunity to take part in their first podcast appearance. The episode aired on Wednesday 23rd September focusing on ‘Maximising social media’. Alongside Carnmoney Presbyterian’s Creative Associate Jamie Neish and Hill Street Presbyterian Church’s Assistant Minister John Graham, Purple Rain’s Rebecca McConnell joined host, PCI’s…

Over the years I have bought and read many tennis books, including my favourite type – autobiographies. As a tennis fan and a book addict, it is the perfect combination. Reading first hand from the players whose shots I admired on court helped me to get a fuller story of them as a person, behind…

Today’s blog is a bit more personal than business related, but given the current circumstances, I just wanted to share some thoughts to help us through these ‘different days’. This plate was given to me when I was seconded to the Youth Justice Agency to help with their internal and external comms. It was made…

Today, nine years ago, I set up Purple Rain as a PR consultancy. Thanks to my clients and the support of family and colleagues, I am still in business getting to promote companies and organisations and work on some wonderful campaigns. Here is a short video showing some of my work to date and some…

Social media campaigns for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, managed by Purple Rain PR, were recognised at Premier Digital Awards in London. Christmas Means More and Easter Means Everything were created to help tell the story of people’s faith online. They came runner’s up in the Best Use of Social Media category at the UK…

After a visit to St Bride’s Church in London for the 70th anniversary of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), Rebecca reflects on the need to remember journalists who have died in war zones bringing us the news. You’re watching the news with a cuppa and the pictures that you see on TV aren’t…

A cookery school offering classes in practical family cooking has been officially opened on the outskirts of Rathfriland, Co Down. Food Matters at the Barn on the Whitegate Road is the business dream of Heather Henning, a Food Science graduate from Queen’s University, Belfast. From her wealth of experience working in the food industry specialising…