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[] | 2016-08-26T12:51:45 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclermontsun.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Fnature-center%25E2%2580%2599s-nature-playscape-celebrates-5-years%2F.json | http://clermontsun.com/wp-content/themes/sun/favicon.ico | en | null | Nature Center’s Nature PlayScape celebrates 5 years | null | null | clermontsun.com | August 25th, 2016 Author: Administrator Filed Under: Community
When the Marge & Charles Schott Nature PlayScape at Cincinnati Nature Center opened its rustic wooden gates in the spring of 2011, it was an unprecedented and forward-thinking move on the part of the Nature Center to connect a new generation with nature. Spurred by Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods, and with a committed desire to encourage children to spend more time outdoors, Cincinnati Nature Center invested in creating one of the largest natural play areas in the country, designed as an environment to intentionally engage children in the natural world.
Loving the Land
Five years and 150,000 visits later, the Nature PlayScape is inspiring, teaching, and charming both children and adults alike. The play area encompasses 1.6 fenced-in acres and with a secure entry/exit way, allows caregivers to relax while children roam free and interact with nature in ways that are, in many instances, not possible in our contemporary lives, or even throughout other areas of the Nature Center. While digging in the soil, running through the woods, making mud pies, building forts and floating leaves down the stream, children make a connection with nature that helps foster a life-long love, respect and desire to care for our world. According to Cincinnati Nature Center Executive Director Bill Hopple, “We could not have imagined a more welcoming reception and appreciation of the intent of the Nature PlayScape from so many factions of our community. It is incumbent upon us that we share and instill a love of nature in those who will someday be keepers of the land. Children are the future – and their experiences outdoors are essential for the development of a conservative ethic.”
Getting Healthy
There is so much more to spending time in nature than once thought. Studies indicate that unstructured play in nature is critical for healthy childhood development, actually increasing self-esteem, creativity, motor skills, fitness and academic performance.
The Nature PlayScape is designed to offer children ages 3 to 11 a variety of elements and features to engage with including winding trails through tall grassy areas, a wetland brimming with pollinator-friendly shrubs and a lush grass-topped hill that is perfect for rolling down. Alongside natural growth over the past five years, many improvements have been made to support the thousands who enjoy the Nature PlayScape annually. Recently, in celebration of its fifth anniversary, the addition of the Mud Zone feature has opened up yet another fun learning environment, nurturing individual and group creativity and exploration. Complete with a water pump, soil, tables and tools, the space provides children freedom to dig, sculpt, bake and frolic with mud.
Playing Dirty
Mud is not just for mud cakes! Studies suggest that playing in soil actually helps children build stronger immune systems. Researchers believe that when children are too clean and their exposure to parasites, bacteria, and viruses is limited early in life, they face a greater chance of having allergies, asthma, and other autoimmune diseases. One bacteria found in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, has been shown to stimulate the production of the brain chemical serotonin, a feel-good, mood enhancer. Hence, there is definitive credence to the notion… being in nature just makes us feel good!
For an upcoming calendar of events that are taking place in the Nature PlayScape please visit www.cincynature.org/events-and-programs/nature-playscape-events-and-programs/ . Nature PlayScape programming is sponsored by our good friend Jungle Jim’s International Market. The new Mud Zone is sponsored by Park National Bank.
Cincinnati Nature Center preserves over 1,600 acres of protected and managed forests, grasslands, ponds and streams for the purpose of visitor experience and education.
With twenty miles of award winning trails on two picturesque properties in Milford and Goshen, the Nature Center provides spectacular experiences for people of all ages in all seasons. | http://clermontsun.com/2016/08/25/nature-center%E2%80%99s-nature-playscape-celebrates-5-years/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | clermontsun.com/2c9196851b093778610337f6ce62f448024a7b90a4599af3581479ac3a8469b4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:48:40 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclermontsun.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Fcounty-park-district-to-be-on-fall-ballot%2F.json | http://clermontsun.com/wp-content/themes/sun/favicon.ico | en | null | County Park District to be on fall ballot | null | null | clermontsun.com | August 25th, 2016 Author: Administrator Filed Under: Community
The Clermont County Park District will be on the November ballot for a half mill, 10-year levy in order to fund its continued operations and improvements. The Park District currently operates 5 parks, 3 nature preserves, the Williamsburg to Batavia Bike Trail, and 6 greenspaces totaling over 600 acres.
The parks receive about 200,000 visits per year. The Park District hosts approximately 500 events each year for 35,000 to 40,000 people. These events include family reunions, weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, Scout campouts, naturalist programs and more.
The Park District operates 17 sites, including the popular Pattison Park with its lodge and gazebo. Pattison is the site of over 130 weddings and receptions each year. Sycamore Park, near Batavia, hosts approximately 85 picnics each year in its reservable picnic shelters, while nearby are the playgrounds, tennis courts, paved walking trails, and more than 3 miles of hiking trails in the Wilson Nature Preserve.
The half mill levy will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $17.50 per year, according to information from the Clermont County Auditor’s office.
Currently, the Parks District budget is approximately $587,000 a year not including grants and donations for special projects. It is funded primarily through a tenth of a mill property tax, (approximately $400,000), rental fees to use Park District’s Pattison Lodge, shelters, and donations.
“The current budget is about the same as the 2005 budget. Through changes in state law and a decline in property tax revenues due to the recession, the park district lost over $100,000 in revenue. The Park Commissioners were able to balance the budget through cost saving measures and increased fee revenue. Staffing levels went from 7 fulltime employees in 2010 to 5 today, along with 4 part time and 3 seasonal employees,” said Chris Clingman, Director of the Clermont County Park District.
“It’s remarkable what the Park District has been able to accomplish with such limited funds. The district has operated on a shoestring budget for years. It has worked hard to obtain grants and donations, nearly $12 million since the year 2000,” said Clermont County Commissioner and honorary levy committee chairman Bob Proud.
“But that is not enough to preserve these parks and add to them, so that all Clermont County residents can continue to enjoy our natural heritage,” Commissioner Proud said. “The Park District needs an assured source of funds for its operations, and this levy, and its modest amount, will help make that happen.”
The levy will not only fund the day to day operations of the Park District, but will also provide for the upgrade or repair of aging facilities such as:
• Restrooms at Pattison and Sycamore Parks
• Playground replacements
• HVAC Replacements
• Complete deferred maintenance of historic buildings at Chilo Lock 34 Park and Hartman Cabin
• Access improvements
• Trail and walking path improvements
It will also fund the Park District educational programs, habitat restorations, natural areas preservation, and new park facilities.
Park Commissioner Dave Anspach added, “The levy will allow us to finish Shor Park in Union Township, open Ten Mile Creek Preserve in Pierce Township, and fund much needed upgrades to the facilities at our existing parks. And it will allow us to continue our efforts in protecting the water quality of the East Fork and preserving natural areas.” | http://clermontsun.com/2016/08/25/county-park-district-to-be-on-fall-ballot/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | clermontsun.com/881e94909bbe8b0bd848864dfea39834a1ff30ad60c78d326cf2e88c6c911cbc.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:53:51 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclermontsun.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Fpierce-township-to-hold-special-meeting%2F.json | http://clermontsun.com/wp-content/themes/sun/favicon.ico | en | null | Pierce Township to hold special meeting | null | null | clermontsun.com | August 25th, 2016 Author: Administrator Filed Under: Community
The Pierce Township Board of Trustees are holding a special meeting to discuss acquisition of properties from Tri-State-Improvement Corporation (Duke Energy, Inc.) as pursuant to the Settlement Agreement of Sept. 30, 1986, and to discuss such other matters as may come before the Board.
This special meeting will take place on Monday Aug. 29, 2016 starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Pierce Township offices located at 950 Locust Corner Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45245. The special meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the Ohio Revised Code, including section 121.22(F).
All interested parties are invited to attend. | http://clermontsun.com/2016/08/25/pierce-township-to-hold-special-meeting/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | clermontsun.com/38e1de10383f933317ae9c3065bad5c030c11ea5bd7ce5257421817dd568e68b.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:50:05 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclermontsun.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Fcolleen-hannah-69%2F.json | http://clermontsun.com/wp-content/themes/sun/favicon.ico | en | null | Colleen Hannah, 69 | null | null | clermontsun.com | August 25th, 2016 Author: Administrator Filed Under: Obituaries
Colleen S. Hannah, 69 years old of Felicity, Ohio passed away on August 22, 2016.
She is survived by her Husband: Michael Hannah. 2 Children: Mike (Donna) Hannah and Missy (Joseph) Durham. 4 Grandchildren: Charles Hannah, Hunter Meade, Nicholas Hannah and Danica Durham. Numerous Nieces, Nephews and Many Friends.
Member of the Clermont #135 Eastern Star and Brown County Master Gardner.
Funeral Services will be at the Felicity Christian Church, 847 St Rt 133, Felicity, Ohio 45120, on Friday, August 26, 2016, at 11:00 AM. Visitation will be on Thursday, August 25, 2016, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, also at the church with Eastern Star services at 6:00 PM.
Arrangements by the Charles H. McIntyre Funeral Home, 323 Union St., Felicity, Ohio 45120.
Burial will be at the Felicity Cemetery, Felicity, Ohio.
Memorials may be made to: Felicity Christian Church, PO Box 102, Felicity, Ohio 45120. | http://clermontsun.com/2016/08/25/colleen-hannah-69/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | clermontsun.com/08d87e305e20cace73194b54b7886641b0131b15fadea9b7a5439f5b6bcfa120.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:52:17 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclermontsun.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Fcharles-rodenberg-64%2F.json | http://clermontsun.com/wp-content/themes/sun/favicon.ico | en | null | Charles Rodenberg, 64 | null | null | clermontsun.com | August 25th, 2016 Author: Administrator Filed Under: Obituaries
Charles “Chuck” Rodenberg, 64 years old of Batavia, Ohio passed away on August 17, 2016, at Mercy Hospital Clermont, Batavia, Ohio. He is survived by his Wife: Kathy Jo Rodenberg. 4 children: Jason (Melissa) Rodenberg, Jill (Bobby Strotman) Rodenberg, Chad (Sarah Barwick) Hannah and Jenny Hannah. 6 Grandchildren: Zac Rodenberg, Tyler Parrett, Blake Davis, Logan Baker, Chad Hannah, Jr. and Jackson Hannah. Mother and Father: Betty and the late Bill Rodenberg. Uncle: Bob (Gay) Norris. Numerous Nieces, Nephews and Many Friends. Member of the Amelia F&AM Lodge #590, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Cincinnati and Syrian Shrine. Masonic Services with funeral services to follow, were at the LifeStream Christian Church, 2170 Bauer Rd, Batavia, Ohio 45103, on Wednesday, August 24, 2016, at 11:00 AM. Visitation was on Tuesday, August 23, 2016, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, also at the church. Arrangements by the Charles H. McIntyre Funeral Home, 323 Union St., Felicity, Ohio 45120. Burial will be at the Felicity Cemetery, Felicity, Ohio. Memorials may be made to: LifeStream Christian Church. | http://clermontsun.com/2016/08/25/charles-rodenberg-64/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | clermontsun.com/286e5a741d6ab3a66a42abccbb2ea117f5bc56c3b1006674f4076740ff3be95d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:49:06 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fclermontsun.com%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fpublic-notices-for-august-25-2016%2F.json | http://clermontsun.com/wp-content/themes/sun/favicon.ico | en | null | Public Notices for August 25, 2016 | null | null | clermontsun.com | Search In Category(s): ALL Clermont Sun Digital Edition Community News Obituaries Opinion Public Notices Read Online Real Estate Special Publications Sports Uncategorized
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[] | 2016-08-26T18:50:38 | null | 2016-08-26T18:19:00 | Paddy Agnew: Villagers in tiny mountain communities left distraught | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fpatience-wearing-thin-among-survivors-of-italian-earthquake-1.2769721%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769720.1472232590!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Patience wearing thin among survivors of Italian earthquake | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Three days after the central Italian earthquake which has so far claimed the lives of nearly 280 people, patience amongst some of the survivors is running thin.
Amatrice in Northern Lazio, the hardest hit town, where 207 people were killed, is surrounded by hills in which are nestled many tiny villages. While the numbers of dead in these villages are much smaller, the destruction is equally grave.
Saletta, just off the Salaria highway, is not so much a village as a line of houses. Fifteen people live there in the winter, rising to 45 in the summer. Twenty-two of those 45 died here on Wednesday.
A man sitting with his whole extended family around a long picnic table in a small field off the road runs at a reporter with a mobile phone who is about to photograph the scene. He is brandishing a large knife, threatening him. The phone is put away.
It is a surreal moment, but an understandable one. People are distraught. They are in the middle of a living nightmare.
Just up the road, outside the village, lies a house which looks like it is owned by an Italian Steptoe and Son. The garden in front is full of a huge variety of objects, including buckets, tins, broken TVs, garden seats, a bicycle and much else besides.
Civil Protection officials say the householder is refusing to leave his home, even though several of the houses on either side of him have collapsed.
The initial rescue work, here as in so many other of the tiny hamlets, was done almost entirely by neighbours. When the first rescue workers arrived, they found people frantically working through the rubble with their bare hands.
A CNN TV crew, which had been blocked from travelling across to Amatrice, stopped instead at Saletta early on Wednesday morning. They witnessed the harrowing nightime scene of distraught neighbours, many of them still in their pyjamas, desperately trying to dig a man out the rubble that was once his house. They had identified where he was and were trying to dig him out, pulling bricks, chairs and wardrobes off him.
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As the slow digging went on, neighbours continued to talk to the man, telling him to hold on, that they would get him out. However, they had no lifting equipment and before the rescue workers and diggers arrived, he had stopped replying. Just one of the 22 dead in the short row of houses.
There were so many dead that the man’s “orto”, his carefully-curated fruit and vegetable patch, was turned into an open air mortuary. Alongside the plants lie small piles of rubber medical gloves, still there from the traumatic night.
Just outside the orto, more rescue workers are gathered around a handsome white Maremano shepherd dog. He has a flea collar, looks well-fed and is clearly delighted with all the attention.
This is no stray dog. But nobody knows where he came from.
In all probability, his master died last Wednesday and the dog is just another of those left without a home. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/patience-wearing-thin-among-survivors-of-italian-earthquake-1.2769721?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/01736d3d6446c4295f71221652901e100298a2cc95a5d845f1ac46fa79b10b66.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T06:52:21 | null | 2016-08-30T05:05:00 | Minister for Finance under pressure to resign is due to visit Interface’s Lurgan plant | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fm%25C3%25A1irt%25C3%25ADn-%25C3%25B3-muilleoir-finds-himself-battling-on-nama-brexit-fronts-1.2772095%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772089.1472506257!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Máirtín Ó Muilleoir finds himself battling on Nama, Brexit fronts | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The North’s Minister for Finance Máirtín Ó Muilleoir will be keen to ensure there are no slip-ups this week during a scheduled visit to the Lurgan plant of an American-owned manufacturer of commercial carpet tiles.
Interface, a key employer in Lurgan, is due to play host to Ó Muilleoir as part of an initiative that aims to give the North’s business community an opportunity to get up close and personal, so to speak, with Executive Ministers.
During the event, organised by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, Ó Muilleoir wants to update local businesses about what his department has been doing recently and probably talk about his own endeavours to, as he puts it, “maximise EU funds” as the Brexit clouds hang overhead.
But probably what the business community would be more interested in hearing about is whether Ó Muilleoir is likely to have the rug pulled from under his feet any time soon.
In the last seven days while carrying out the responsibilities of Minister for Finance, Ó Muilleoir has also repeatedly rejected calls to temporarily step aside – or resign – primarily because of the latest Nama-related drama to unfold in the North.
Leaked Twitter exchanges obtained by BBC NI and the Irish News between former Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay, the previous chairman of the ongoing Stormont inquiry into the sale of Nama’s Northern Ireland portfolio and the loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson, have cast a shadow over not only the work of the previous committee, but also the way Stormont operates behind the scenes.
It is claimed that the Twitter exchanges suggest McKay and another Sinn Féin member Thomas O’Hara coached Bryson before he appeared in front of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee for Finance to give evidence about the North’s then first minister Peter Robinson. Robinson has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
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Ó Muilleoir, who at the time was also a member of the committee that conducted the inquiry, is also referenced in the Twitter exchange.
The Minister for Finance has strenuously denied any knowledge of any communications between McKay, Bryson or O’Hara and has said accusations that he did, are “no more than petty party politicking”.
For Ó Muilleoir , who consistently and very loudly condemned Nama throughout the previous Stormont inquiry, these twittergate revelations are far from helpful as he continues less than four months into the job to try to win the support of the local business community.
One of his first actions as Minister was to release additional information to the current Stormont Committee for Finance relating to the Project Eagle sale in the “interests of transparency and public confidence”.
When he first became Minister back in May he spoke of the “great responsibility” of the job and said it was “not a role I will take lightly”.
He has embraced it with some enthusiasm – there has been no shortage of ministerial visits to small firms and inward investors alike while the North’s Assembly has been on holidays. But Ó Muilleoir is facing into a key period.
First up he has the “Brexit effect” to contend with including the questions about what could potentially happen to the €1.2 billion structural and investment fund programmes that the European Union had pledged to Northern Ireland to run between 2014 and 2020.
Then there is the looming likelihood of further intense budgetary pressures for the North as the UK government continues to regroup after the EU referendum vote. Ó Muilleoir is already hearing in person from firms who are deeply worried that the Executive may not be doing enough at the moment to make sure that Northern Ireland will get its own “bespoke arrangements” post-Brexit.
A coalition of 11 industry organisations, convened by the Derry Chamber of Commerce, have also urged the Executive to step up and provide “reassurance and confidence” at this time of economic uncertainty.
In the short term, however, Ó Muilleoir will focus on holding on to his job. The UUP, Alliance, SDLP and the Finance committee have all called for him to stand aside, as the Project Eagle inquiry takes yet another unexpected twist. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/m%C3%A1irt%C3%ADn-%C3%B3-muilleoir-finds-himself-battling-on-nama-brexit-fronts-1.2772095?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/981a315973bf1c5023332ed3efaa3a6c40b43841be2808135c9875922aea5a43.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T12:53:05 | null | 2016-08-31T12:16:00 | Ireland has never had a tradition of specialised accommodation for students. 65 per cent of students will live at home this year | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Flife-and-style%2Fhomes-and-property%2Fspecialised-student-accommodation-providers-here-to-stay-1.2774244%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2774243.1472642131!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Specialised student accommodation providers here to stay | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Large-scale specialised student accommodation has taken off both in Dublin and around the country, with more units expected over the next three years. The largest expansions in specialised accommodation for students came from UK-based property developers Ziggurat and the Student Housing Company, which between them will build almost 5,000 beds for students by 2019.
Unlike the UK and many other EU countries, Ireland has never had a tradition of specialised accommodation for students. 65 per cent of students will live at home this year and the balance tends to rely on private rental sector and campus accommodation.
“Ireland is quite a small country geographically, so a lot of students live at home,” says housing expert and DIT lecturer Dr Lorcan Sirr. “There hasn’t been that significant weight of demand [for specialised student housing]. If you look at the catchment areas of universities and ITs, a lot of students come from within driving or public transport distances so they’ll tend to live at home. From the property developer’s perspective, they’ve never had the guaranteed annual numbers of students that would make it worth their while developing for. That has changed now.”
Ziggurat, which currently runs the UCD Montrose accommodation facility, recently announced plans to develop 4,000 beds across Dublin, Cork and Galway in a €400 million Irish expansion. The Student Housing Company and Bennett Construction recently launched the 471-bed Binary Hub, the first of three student residences it will launch in Dublin over the next two years. Although there are some Irish providers of specialised accommodation, they exist mostly on a much smaller scale.
“The UK providers coming over know what they’re doing and they know how to do it,” says Dr Sirr. “They know how many apartments they need, and they know what to charge to make it worth their while.”
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The new breed of specialised student housing tends to be a more expensive option for students. For 2016/17 Ziggurat are only offering 12 month leases to students in the Montrose accommodation, having formerly offered nine month leases catering to the academic year. The cheapest room available, a twin room, costs €150 per week including utilities. This leaves students with a minimum €7,650 annual bill for their college accommodation.
Binary Hub’s costs are more expensive. Although they offer 38 week leases catering to the academic year, the cheapest room available - a standard en suite - including bills will cost €206 per week, adding up to €7,828 for the academic year. It is now fully booked and could have been filled “several times over” according to the Student Housing Company.
Sirr says that collaboration between third level institutions and private operatives - as was recommended in the 2015 HEA report on student accommodation - may provide an answer to the future of sustainable specialised student accommodation.
Dublin Institute of Technology currently partner with a number of student housing providers to provide accommodation now by block booking bed spaces. They have co-operated with Chubb Properties to reserve beds on the JBs Student Campus site, which is close to DIT Grangegorman. A bed in a twin room for nine months costs €89 per week, and €3,560 for the year - less than half the cost of a twin room in the Ziggurat complex. “We try to get affordable accommodation as much as we can,” says DIT’s director of Campus Life Brian Gormley. | http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/specialised-student-accommodation-providers-here-to-stay-1.2774244?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/9a7973abc4e680ebdc2004686e20dcdbabfbe5dcd3658f7c19ea2e2206ab7b04.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T16:52:16 | null | 2016-08-30T17:36:00 | Volkswagen to consider multi-suppliers after wrangle with Prevent hits production | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fmanufacturing%2Fvw-reviews-procurement-after-dispute-with-parts-supplier-1.2773329%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773328.1472574890!/image/image.jpg | en | null | VW reviews procurement after dispute with parts supplier | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Volkswagen chief executive Matthias Müller has said he will review the German car giant’s procurement strategy to avoid a repetition of the crippling supplier dispute that hit production at six plants this month.
VW will re-examine contracts that leave the group dependent on a single supplier after the dangers were highlighted by its damaging wrangle with Bosnian parts maker Prevent, Mr Müller said.
“We will of course look into questions such as multi-sourcing, single-sourcing,” he told reporters late on Monday. “We will look at our procurement contracts and try to optimise matters with all suppliers.”
Carmakers generally seek to avoid over-dependence on any one supplier and seek to duplicate critical relationships even at slightly higher unit costs.
But Car Trim and ES Automobilguss, two suppliers within privately held Prevent group, exposed a vulnerability when they halted seat cover and gearbox parts deliveries, triggering stoppages at VW assembly plants.
Diesel scandal
VW’s relationship with Prevent soured after it commissioned Car Trim to develop new seat covers for high-end models including Porsches and then cancelled the €500 million deal in the aftermath of the diesel scandal, refusing to cover the €58 million its supplier had already invested.
Parent company Prevent retaliated by moving some of Car Trim‘s financial claims against VW to Automobilguss, sole supplier of a key gearbox casing for VW’s top-selling Golf compact, said two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Separately, Volkswagen decided against suing South Korea over its decision last month to suspend sales of most of its models and a fine of 17.8 billion won (€14.35m) on the German carmaker.
Instead, Volkswagen will try to achieve certification for the affected models and resume sales quickly rather than taking on a lengthy legal process, a spokesman for Volkswagen’s South Korean unit said.
Last month, Korea revoked certification for 80 model variants of VW, Audi and Bentley vehicles on grounds that the German automaker fabricated certificates of vehicle emissions and noise-levels. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/manufacturing/vw-reviews-procurement-after-dispute-with-parts-supplier-1.2773329?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/b7d34a91ae20df5f4c008f54541809527bf748c0fb4679e7bd00e555243bbae5.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:03:49 | null | 2016-08-26T06:25:00 | Employees can be cynical about a ‘day out’ for staff but it can help if done properly | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fwork%2Fhow-playing-games-can-really-help-to-build-teams-1.2765779.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2765774.1471961492!/image/image.jpg | en | null | How playing games can really help to build teams | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The opportunity to pelt an irritating co-worker with paint might seem like the answer to a prayer. But paintball, a military-style game in which participants shoot paint-filled guns at each other for fun, can turn nasty and end up polarising the teams it was supposed to unite.
Opinion is divided between those who say that activity training adds little to the bottom line and those who believe it makes a contribution even if that contribution is difficult to quantify. And there’s the rub. It has proven very difficult to establish if employees make the connection between an activity and their job, if they bring the learning back to their workplace and if they can apply it in different circumstances.
What seems clear from sifting through the arguments on both sides is that activity training is more likely to work when there is clarity around why a company is doing it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with treating employees to a fun day out as a reward for achieving certain targets or to boost morale after a major restructuring, for example, but don’t confuse socialising with team-building.
Assuming there’s an underlying strategic objective to the “day out,” then it is likely to be most successful if the activities are “real” and related to key business areas such as defining strategy or improving process or accountability. Reality matters because adults generally learn best by engaging with relevant tasks.
Groundbreaking theory
In 1984 University of Leicester academic David Kolb published his groundbreaking theory on experiential learning. At the heart of the so-called Kolb cycle is the concept that for an individual or a team to learn effectively they must “do” rather than be passive receptors. Activities such as problem-solving and team games facilitate learning that is far more likely to be used on the job.
Activities must also suit the teams they’re aimed at. The adrenalin rush of whitewater rafting may appeal to the confident, outgoing types typically found on sales teams, but could be highly divisive for more reflective groups.
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“You have to be careful with the exercises chosen as it’s not in anyone’s interest for people to fall flat on their faces or feel diminished by the process,” says Patrick Flood, professor of organisational behaviour at DCU Business School.
“It’s also important to work with an experienced facilitator, ideally someone specialised in team dynamics, to ensure you ‘can bring people back’ during a debrief after the event. There is always the potential for major bust-ups, especially within management teams, as people at senior level are often individualistic, highly motivated and tend towards rivalry. Do you really want this to spill over in front of a general audience?”
Flood, who is also co-director of the Leadership and Talent Institute, has experienced activity-based team-building first hand.
“I’ve been on a high wire between trees where you are totally dependent on the people below. When you get to the other side in safety, the beneficial impact on trust levels is enormous and this can be used to foster alignment – always one of the most difficult things to achieve – within a team,” he says.
Flood says activity teambuilding can also show up strengths in employees that managers were not aware of.
“It’s about recognising the skills and leadership in others and using it,” he says. “You will always get some who are reluctant to participate, but if there is a genuine commitment at the top, most people will row in.”
Pulling together
Sarah Anderson is service coordinator at the Cheshire Ireland facility in Shillelagh, Co Wicklow . Earlier this year she arranged an activity day for the 80-strong staff.
“The facility had been through a lot of upheaval with changes in personnel and the stress of a Hiqa audit so the objective was to break down barriers and say thanks to everyone for pulling together,” she says.
“We included all staff but there was an option not to participate. A small number availed of it, but I think some regretted their decision afterwards, as it was a great day. People are already asking when are we doing it again.
“For us it definitely achieved the objective of people getting to know each other and appreciating that everyone who works here makes an equally important contribution to the quality of the service we provide.”
Joe Hayden set up The Orchard activity centre in 1999 to run conferences and corporate training events for Irish and international clients on a 300-acre site in Co Wicklow. Domestic sales took a hard knock during the recession, but Hayden says local business is now picking up dramatically and The Orchard is on course for a 40 per cent growth in bookings this year.
“What we’re seeing is a big demand from Irish companies that downsized during the recession for help with building new, cohesive teams from those who remained,” he says. “Companies also want help with energising and motivating these teams and we build our activities around achieving these objectives.
“Companies either come here or we travel to them and fit an activity around a conference or other event. What we’re doing is serious in nature, but we also try to inject humour into the programme. Setting teams the challenge of rounding up wild Wicklow sheep on a hillside without the help of a dog is a great ice-breaker.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/work/how-playing-games-can-really-help-to-build-teams-1.2765779 | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/3b9749bf3a7711b9fbd8779e91bba8fe51179e1e2184825ae489188c1436bc28.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T22:51:11 | null | 2016-08-28T23:08:00 | Hundreds of supporters greeted Ireland’s first-ever Olympic medallists in rowing | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fother-sports%2Fo-donovan-brothers-return-home-after-historic-win-1.2771425%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771422.1472423593!/image/image.jpg | en | null | O’Donovan brothers return home after historic win | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Olympic silver medallist rowers Gary and Paul O’Donovan received a rapturous reception as they arrived home at Cork Airport on Sunday night.
Hundreds of supporters gathered at the airport to welcome the brothers home, with many donning T-shirts with the slogans “Shteak”, “Spuds” and “Row Like a Dog”.
Cork Airport had arranged for a special welcome for the rowers, as their Aer Lingus plane taxied through a water arch created by two fire brigade units.
Paul said the welcome was “great craic”.
“We’ve been looking forward to coming home to west Cork and Skibbereen since we left Rio. It is incredible.
“Every kid in west Cork will get their hands on one of these medals at some stage.”
Gary said he was anticipating the homecoming in Skibbereen.
“We’ve heard lots of rumours about the homecoming. From what we’ve heard, most of Ireland is going to be moving to Skibbereen. We are really looking forward to that. It will all be mighty craic.
“Hopefully everyone will enjoy the celebration and, who knows, if it persuades some young fella or young girl to try rowing as a sport, it will all have been worth it.
Gary and Paul won Ireland’s first-ever Olympic medal in rowing when they came second in the lightweight double sculls final.
Paul O’Donovan also came first in the men’s lightweight sculls final at the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam on Saturday.
He is only the fourth Irish sculler to win a gold medal in an “A” at senior World Championship level.
Celebrations
Skibbereen is set to come to a standstill on Monday, with up to 10,000 people expected to attend the homecoming celebrations.
A civic reception for the brothers will also be held in Cork County Hall later this week. | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/o-donovan-brothers-return-home-after-historic-win-1.2771425?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/4ad56701c8940e119f42154f2aefad260f9c3edd44c9567571943a1387e45218.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T06:52:22 | null | 2016-08-30T06:00:00 | Regular users of toll roads should consider their tag options | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fpersonal-finance%2Ftaking-its-toll-how-motorists-can-cut-the-toll-of-road-tag-costs-1.2769383%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769379.1472539246!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Taking its toll: how motorists can cut the toll of road tag costs | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | It came, not quite at the last minute, but close enough that thousands of motorists have already switched their toll tag provider. From tomorrow, August 31st, drivers on motorways around the country were expected to face extra delays because their electronic tags, which allow them to fast-track the tollbooth, were no longer expected to work on certain roads controlled by the Celtic Roads Group (CRG), including the M7 and M8 (Portlaoise to Castletown, and Portlaoise to Cullahill).
It was thought that up to 80,000 drivers would have been affected by the disagreement between toll service provider eFlow and motorway operator CRG, which meant that their eFlow electronic tag would longer have worked on certain roads.
These eFlow customers would have had to pay cash at these toll plazas, while their tags would have continued to operate as normal on the following motorways: Dublin’s M50; M3 (Clonee-Kells); M4 (Kilcock-Enfield-Kinnegad); N6 (Galway-Ballinasloe); N8 (Rathcormac-Fermoy Bypass); East-Link Bridge; Dublin Port Tunnel; and Limerick Tunnel.
However, late on Friday agreement was finally reached, as CRG agreed to accept eFlow tags on the following roads: M1 from Gormanston to Monasterboice; the M7 and M8 (Portlaoise to Castletown, and Portlaoise to Cullahill) and the N25 (Waterford City bypass).
The dispute is understood to have arisen because of a failure to renew a contract between eFlow operator Transport Infrastructure Ireland (formerly the National Roads Authority) and roadbuilder Celtic Roads Group. It is understood that Celtic Roads Group was not happy with the level of charges and had delayed renewing a service agreement that expired earlier this year.
Minister for Transport Shane Ross welcomed the agreement, saying it was “good news for road users and it means eFlow tags will continue to be recognised at all toll points across the country”.
In the run-up to the agreement however, anxious motorists around the country had already started to make the switch, fearful of being stuck in tailbacks at the toll booth. If you’re used to just driving through the “easy pass” lane on roads such as the M7, taking the time to pay at a booth will likely frustrate you, while some drivers who try to use their tag in the “easy pass” lane may find that they have to turn around, potentially causing further delays.
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Indeed, alternative tag provider Easytrip says that visits to its website soared by 400 per cent in recent weeks, with some 20,000 eFlow customers having made the move by August 24th.
But, while the onus on motorists to switch has now been removed, could there still be a case to check out your options and save money by switching? And if you’ve never had a tag, is it worthwhile getting one to make savings of as much as 33 per cent?
Should I
get another tag?
If you have never had a tag and are considering getting one, it may be worth your while if you’re a user – even infrequent – of roads such as the M50, which charge tag users less. For example, if you pay as you go, you’ll be charged €3.10 each time. If you sign up for either a video account, where the toll is debited from your account and you don’t pay a monthly service fee, the toll drops to €2.60, or €2.10 if you have a tag.
Another factor is late payments. If you use the M50 but forget to settle the payment before 8pm the day after you have travelled, either online or at a Payzone outlet, it’s likely that you will receive a penalty letter.
These can quickly add up. If you miss the first deadline, you’ll be liable for €3; should you leave it more than 14 days to settle up, you’ll face a fine of €41; and if the fine isn’t paid within 56 days, the penalty soars to €150 (€41+€103+€3+€3.10) and you may face legal proceedings.
However, infrequent users should note that they will face costs in either buying, or renting a tag, and this may mean they could be better off simply paying as they go, provided they remember to always settle their bill on time.
What are my options?
There are four providers of tag accounts in Ireland, including eFlow.
Deciding whether to use a tag depends on how often you use a motorway. If you use the M50 just twice in a year, for example, it’s hardly worth paying the monthly administration charge of about €1.25 most providers charge.
Pay-as-you-toll options require you to pre-fund your account, while those that charge a monthly administration fee typically automatically top up your account without you having to do anything.
But you can also pay upfront for a tag, with a provider such as ParkMagic. It charges €30 for its tag, and the only additional charges arise when you use the tag, at a cost of 10 per cent of the toll. It’s convenient but costly.
Another option is a tag from Easytrip, which costs €25, but its actual cost works out at about the same as ParkMagic, as you will also pay a monthly fee of €0.62 for the tag, which makes a total of €32.44 a year.
On the other hand, if you’re a frequent user the frustration of queuing will likely mean that you’ll pay this fee for the ease of using the fast lane. This generally means “renting” a tag by paying a monthly administration fee. Easytrip, for example, charges €1.23 a month, as does eFlow, while DirectRoute charges €1.25. This is about an extra €14 a year.
While it’s a difficult thing to do, considering you’ll likely have it stuck to the inside of your car, beware of losing your tag. Easytrip, for example, charges €15.25 to replace a tag, and it charges €8.61 if a direct debit is returned unpaid.
Some providers, such as DirectRoute and ParkMagic, seek a €20 deposit, which is typically fully refundable but still leaves you out of pocket by that amount while you use the tag.
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Another option for M50 users is a video account, which saves €0.50 each time. While the savings may not be as great as with a tag account, no monthly administration fee applies. So, for example, if you use the M50 10 times a year, you will pay €26 with a video account, compared with €31 if your car is not registered. For light to medium users, then, a video account can make sense. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/personal-finance/taking-its-toll-how-motorists-can-cut-the-toll-of-road-tag-costs-1.2769383?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/bac2bb835a7607843d8bcb5c40bf19c79d7b36e032416935815225ffc706492f.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T14:51:43 | null | 2016-08-29T15:21:00 | Record goalscorer expresses gratitude to everybody who has wished him well after announcing his international retirement | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Finternational%2Frobbie-keane-ireland-has-a-special-place-in-my-heart-and-it-always-will-1.2772006%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772002.1472482071!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Robbie Keane: ‘Ireland has a special place in my heart and it always will’ | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Robbie Keane says he is grateful for the opportunity to end his international career at home in Dublin but that the game against Oman will be a bitter sweet occasion for him and his loved ones.
“I’m grateful to the manager for calling me a few weeks ago and asking me to play in this game. I’m going to take it all in as much as I can and enjoy it – everything I’ve done – but it will be an emotional night for me and my family.
“Physically, I feel I can go on for another couple of years and I’ll keep on playing as long as I can, but in terms of international football this is the right time for me to go. It’s important to focus on my club career for a couple of years; after that we’ll see what happens.”
Keane expressed his gratitude to everybody who had wished him well during the 18 years of his senior international career and said that they could rest assured that he had always been absolutely dedicated to the cause.
“My dad died and three days later I was on a plane; my son was born and two hours later I left the hospital (to fly home for a game). I think that would suggest that Ireland has a special place in my heart and it always will,” he said. “All I ever wanted to do was be a good team-mate, be as good as I could for the national team and do my best for Ireland.
“I played for a lot of teams, wore a lot of shirts, but it always seemed to be the Irish one that fitted me the best.”
He said that he had enjoyed every minute of it and recalled the excitement that he had felt aged 17 when Mick McCarthy had capped him for the first time. “You lot probably have kids now who are 15, 16 or 17 and I was just a kid when I got the chance to play for Ireland.” But, he said, “the finest moment of my career was when I was given the captain’s armband at 26.
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“It changed my perception about how I should talk about things. Up until then I’d always done my talking out on the pitch; I was old school like that but with the armband came responsibilities and that changed me.
“I was always a confident player,” he added, “But if I didn’t have a bit of brashness about me, I don’t think I’d ever have scored 67 goals. But I never imagined that I would get 145 caps.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/robbie-keane-ireland-has-a-special-place-in-my-heart-and-it-always-will-1.2772006?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/21396e938948161f93bd61464e04da4b4f166dae8e5261b41bede6519b68d452.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T12:53:19 | null | 2016-08-31T12:30:00 | This lakeshore house, on 1.4 acres in Co Tipperary, has sheltered patios, rolling lawns with mature oak and native trees - and comes with fishing rights | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Flife-and-style%2Fhomes-and-property%2Fnew-to-market%2Fdream-holiday-cottage-on-the-shores-of-lough-derg-1.2773244%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773243.1472571295!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Dream holiday cottage on the shores of Lough Derg | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | They wouldn’t be the first, and they undoubtedly won’t be the last, but when Joachim and Margot Schernikau first came to Ireland in the 1980s, they fell in love. “I came for business,” says Joachim, speaking from Germany where they now live full-time, “and, from then onwards, we spent all our family holidays in Ireland, in the countryside”.
Exploring Ireland from Cork to Killarney and up through Lough Derg, they realised that they wanted to put down firmer roots. “I love to fish so when, in the late 1980s, we decided to build a holiday home, we wanted a lakeshore and chose Lough Derg.”
With the kind of dedication his countrymen are noted for, Joachim studied plans of traditional Irish cottages at both Muckross Park in Co Kerry and Bunratty, Co Clare.
“I looked at the old plans, so it’s derived from them. The construction is symmetrical, with a void in the centre, then there are added wings. So it’s old-style. But using the most modern techniques.”
The house was completed in 1994, and at 264sq m (2,842sq ft) it is also pretty supersized for an Irish cottage. As the mod cons include a built-in sauna off the master bedroom, and en suites for each of the two other bedrooms, plus highly efficient heating and security systems, it satisfies nostalgia about contemporary comforts.
Brendan O’Connor, of BOC Properties, is looking after the sale of the house, which is priced at €750,000. “Knowing the area well, I always admired this house and I thought it was the nicest property on the lake,” he says.
“Its detailed building standard is the best I’ve seen for the year it was built, and it has been meticulously maintained.”
From the outside, the house is charmingly whitewashed, with timber framed windows, a rich thatched roof, and windows peeping out of the eaves.
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Sheltered patios
It sits on 1.4 acres, with sheltered patios, rolling lawns, and mature oak and other native trees, leading down to the water. Joachim’s love of fishing ensures that fishing rights come with the house.
“I like fishing, but not very successfully. I fish the lake for pike and trout, but I’m not as good in comparison to my Irish friends.” There’s real warmth in his voice as he speaks about the house and the area, which they are leaving because their age prevents them from travelling as much as they used to. “It was more than a holiday home for us,” he says. “For our kids and grandchildren, it really was our home.” While the master bedroom has that sauna, and its own dressing room; and the two bedrooms upstairs have gorgeous views; plus there’s a lovely open-plan living area at the heart of the house; Joachim’s favourite spot is the square table, with bench seating, off the kitchen.
Made of pine, reflecting the rafters and other detailing, I can just imagine morning coffee here and plans being laid.
Meticulous research
There are other cosy seating spots throughout, as well as a sun room set in the corner, with French windows leading to the patio – so it’s good for all types of weather.
The gardens are super, kept first by Margot, and later by a gardener, but when I ask Joachim for his favourite memory of the place, it’s not the house, but the people. “It’s the nice Irish people. I know a lot has changed over the time, but to be with Irish friends, out in the pub, and in their houses, that’s my best memory.”
Another memory is of taking a motor cruiser from Killaloe and exploring Lough Derg.
With Joachim’s meticulous research, and working alongside Elliot Maguire Architects, Derry Oak Cottage is a really sweet spot. Less than 10 minutes to the lakeside villages of Ballina and Killaloe, and 10 minutes from the M7 – putting Shannon Airport 40 minutes away and Dublin Airport just two hours away – it could well be the perfect holiday home.
But, if you work from home, or are at a stage in life where you’re in charge of your own time, it’s also a house to enjoy year round.
From what Joachim has to say, you will be in very good company. | http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/dream-holiday-cottage-on-the-shores-of-lough-derg-1.2773244?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/f85ba4ecbae05b08d3bc58be2f3594713e6427300a84747c8f68795622ab887e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:53:59 | null | 2016-08-18T08:35:00 | Tell your news in a way that keeps relationships intact and is respectful of office politics | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fwork%2Ffive-things-to-do-after-you-inform-your-boss-you-re-leaving-1.2758000%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2757998.1471353252!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Five things to do after you inform your boss you’re leaving | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | You’ve decided to leave your job, and you’ve told your boss. But once you’ve gotten through that difficult conversation, you have to figure out how to tell others.
Here’s how to leave with class:
1. STRATEGISE WITH YOUR BOSS
Have a rough game plan that you’ve discussed with your manager before you start telling people that you’re leaving. That way you can address questions about what might happen to your portfolio, your team or your clients.
2. TELL PEOPLE IN PERSON
Email may feel like second nature these days, but there’s no substitute for telling people face to face, especially those closest to you at work and those who work under you. The same goes for work mentors, close friends on the job and peers whose jobs may be affected by your departure.
3. FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
If the reason for your departure isn’t the most positive, resist the urge to vent or bad-mouth people on the way out. When people inevitably ask why you are leaving, respond with answers like “It was just time for me to move on.”
4. LEVERAGE YOUR INFLUENCE TO BENEFIT OTHERS
If you have someone on your team that wants more responsibility, tap them and encourage them to step up.
5. WORK HARD UNTIL YOUR LAST DAY
Don’t sully your hard-won reputation by slacking off in your final few weeks. Go out on a high note by making sure that files and clients are transferred in a timely and organised fashion and that deadlines won’t be overlooked in your absence.
(Adapted from “What to Do After You Tell Your Boss You’re Leaving” at HBR.org.) – © 2016 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/work/five-things-to-do-after-you-inform-your-boss-you-re-leaving-1.2758000?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/0857d4d4964304234d063678d9edc24e6f508b21c02540c73ef58db2e7092171.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T00:50:41 | null | 2016-08-27T01:01:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Fswallows-1.2769571%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/assets/images/favicons/irishtimes.png | en | null | Swallows | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Sir, – I see the swallows have started to gather on the telephone wires. My sympathies are with them, having to plan a journey online. – Yours, etc,
JAY MURPHY,
Rosscahill,
Co Galway. | http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/swallows-1.2769571?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/b499b0b291e1923d1d74f4b574465c045ab08330b825066172b9aaa4731e1cdc.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T06:52:03 | null | 2016-08-30T07:00:00 | Here are the stage times for the Electric Arena, Cosby, Little Big, Theatre of Food, Mindfield tents and more | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Fmusic%2Felectric-picnic-stage-times-the-latest-schedules-revealed-1.2772158%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772157.1472487055!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Electric Picnic stage times: the latest schedules revealed | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | ELECTRIC ARENA
FRIDAY
22.45-00.00 Super Furry Animals
21.00-11.15 Todd Terje
19.30-20.30 Broken Social Scene
SATURDAY
00.15-01.15 Years & Years
22.30-23.45 The Shins
21.00-22.00 The Avett Brothers
19.30-20.30 Jack Garrett
18.15-19.00 Walking On Cars
16.45-17.30 Lindsey Stirling
15.15-16.00 Wyvern Lingo
13.45-14.30 Neon Wolf
SUNDAY
23.00-00.00 Skepta
21.15-22.15 Bat For Lashes
19.45-20.45 Wolf Alice
18.15-19.15 Wild Beasts
16.45-17.45 Editors
15.30-16.15 Aurora
14.00-14.45 CC Brez
COSBY TENT
SATURDAY
23.00-00.00 King Kong Company
21.30-22.15 Daithi
20.00-20.45 Kevin Morby
18.45-19.30 Otherkin
17.15-18.00 Whitney
15.45-16.30 Mothers
14.15-15.00 Pleasure Beach
13.15-13.45 Tanjier
SUNDAY
22.45-23.45 Phosphorescent
21.30-22.15 Oh Wonder
20.15-21.00 Ezra Furman
19.00-19.45 Kano
17.45-18.30 Blossoms
16.30-17.15 Frankie Cosmos
15.15-16.00 Meilyr Jones
14.15-14.45 Wild // Youth
LITTLE BIG
SATURDAY
01.30-03.00 Daniel Avery
00.00-01.20 New Jackson
22.45-23.30 Jessy Lanza
21.30-22.15 Mura Masa
20.15-21.00 Little Simz
19.00-19.45 Rusangano Family
17.45-18.30 Lemaitre
16.30-17.15 Hare Squead
15.25-16.00 BarQ
14.30-15.00 Fangclub
13.30-14.00 Aine Cahill
SUNDAY
23.00-00.00 Pantha du Prince
21.30-22.30 Mount Kimbie
20.30-21.30 Shit Robot
19.15-20.00 Nao
18.00-18.45 Pumarosa
16.45-17.30 Saint Sister
15.30-16.15 Talos
14.30-15.00 Tim Chadwick
MINDFIELD
FRIDAY
20:30-20:40 Waterford Whispers News: Live
19:10-20:20 See: Hear-Nick Kelly
18:00-19:00 Avant Gardaí
14:00-17:50 Salon du Chat
SATURDAY
20:30-20:40 Waterford Whispers News: Live
19:20-20:20 Leviathan: 3D Debate with Colm O’Regan and 3pin Audiovisual
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18:10-19:10 Twenty One Sixteen Parliament hosted by Blindboy Boat Club
17:00-18:00 The Experts Bite Back hosted by Pat Kenny
15:50-16:50 History Ireland Hedge School: A history of festivals, from Uisneach to Electric Picnic
14:10-15:40 Soundings Podcast with Dylan Haskins, Sharon Horgan, Aisling Bea
13:00-14:00 Amnesty Hour hosted by Audrey Carville
11:00-12:50 Salon du Chat
SUNDAY
19:00-19: 10 Waterford Whispers News: Live
18:00-19:00 Paddy Cullivan: The 10 Dark Secrets of 1916
16:50-17:50 Leviathan 3D Debate with Colm O’Regan and 3pin Audiovisual
15:40-16:40 What the Fuck is Culture Anyway? Hosted by Blindboy Boat Club
14:30-15:30 History Ireland Hedge School: The Battle of the Somme: Heroic Sacrifice or Senseless Slaughter?
13:00-14:20 Late Late Sunday Show with Miriam O’Callaghan and Al Porter and special guests
11:00-12:50 Salon du Chat
THEATRE STAGE
SATURDAY
16.30 Just a Shot Away (Just a Kiss Away) with Oonagh Murphy, Maeve Stone and Moira Brady Averill
15.00 From Eden with Stephen Jones and Seána Kerslake
13.30 Always Alone Together with Cathal McGuire
12.00 Made Up by the Fast Food Collective
SUNDAY
17.00 After 62% by Una Mullally
15.00 Rebel Rebel with Anu Productions and Robbie O’Connor and Aisling O’Mara
13.30 16 and Rising Project with Super Paua
12.00 Love and War with Bewley’s Cafe Theatre and the Delmaine String Quartet
THEATRE OF FOOD
FRIDAY
19:15 Diva Cocktails with Shannen Butler Keane
18:40 Real Bread Rising with Patrick Ryan
18:00 Salted Fish with Caitlin Ruth
17:00 Cork Cooking with Takashi Miyazaki, Gautham Iyer and Kate Lawlor
SATURDAY
19:20 Classic Bacardi cocktails with Alan Kavanagh and Paul Flynn
18:40 Food as medicine with Gearoid Lynch, Katie Sanderson, Gautham Iyer, Derry Clarke and April Danann
18:00 Smoke with Birgitta Curtin and Leslie Williams
17:30 Chef’s Debate with Gary O’Hanlon, Paul Flynn, Caitlin Ruth, Niall Sabongi and Kate Lawlor
16:40 Kev and Sham go Coconuts with Kevin O’Toole and Sham Hanifa
16:00 Gulp 2.0 with Jonathan McCrea and Ivan Varian
15:20 25X4: A musical food performance with Kevin Thornton
14:40 Clodagh McKenna and Goatsbridge Trout
14:00 Natural Born Feeder with Roz Purcell
13:20 Virtuous Tart with Susan Jane White
12:40 Happy Pear: David & Stephen Flynn
SUNDAY
18:15 Euro-toques party with Caroline Byrne and members of eurotoques
17:45 Star chef hacks with Ross Lewis, Stephen Toman, JP McMahon, Derry Clarke and Kevin Thornton
17:00 Levis’ Corner Bar music and drinks session with Joe O’Leary, Caroline O’Donnell and musical guests
16:40 Classic Bacardi cocktails with Alan Kavanagh and Paul Flynn
16:00 Our Table: Michelle Darmody and friends. Living under Direct Provision
15:00 Soul cookie tasting and drum session with Ralph Rolle 14:40 Fermentation with Dingle Cookery School
14:00 Regional Irish food with Graham Neville, Wade Murphy and Robbie Krawczyk
13:20 Funky foods and sounds with Audrey McDonald and Tom Dunne
12:40 Two continents, one world with JP McMahon & Sunil Ghai
12:00 Canteen brunch with Paul Williams and sounds by Aoife McElwaine and Nialler9
The Ticket will be there for the get in, the get up and the get down all weekend in Stradbally. As the Electric Picnic’s official media partner, all this week we’ve been giving you the first look at the stage times. Tomorrow we’ll have the times for Jerry Fish Electric Sideshow, Comedy Tent, Salty Dog, Trailer Park, Global Green, Trenchtown and more.
From Friday we’ll be onsite at Stradbally proper, with our live blog for all your get-in news, traffic and weather updates, and those essential first-night reviews. We’ll have daily editions of The Ticket on-site on Saturday and Sunday, as well as online video, blog, news and feature content all weekend.
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And if you need a little break from the musical affairs, we’ll have a full programme of talks at the expanded Irish Times Ticket tent in the Mindfield section. There will be discussions with the best arts and sports writers, panels with experts in film and TV, and a look at the state of our 100-year-old nation.
For more visit our Electric Picnic page here. | http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/electric-picnic-stage-times-the-latest-schedules-revealed-1.2772158?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/c6cc2e447492893a34eab30fb401b6359e3555b3bc6afd75c5779c617665ca01.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T14:50:36 | null | 2016-08-27T13:58:00 | Daniel Sheridan (13) from Finglas died after crashing motorbike on Co Derry sand dunes | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fmy-hero-brother-of-boy-killed-in-motocross-crash-pays-tribute-1.2770774%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2770772.1472302702!/image/image.jpg | en | null | ‘My hero’: Brother of boy killed in motocross crash pays tribute | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The brother of a teenager who was killed in a motocross incident has paid tribute to him.
Daniel Sheridan (13), from Finglas, Co Dublin, died of his injuries after crashing his motorbike on sand dunes in Co Derry on Thursday.
The incident occurred at Magilligan outside Limavady at a location popular with motocross enthusiasts.
He was airlifted to Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry, where he was later pronounced dead.
His brother Dean posted on his Facebook page: “My hero my world I’ll never forget you bro you were a superstar in the making you never gave up I’ll race u again someday up there so I hope your practising buddy love u with all my heart my hero.
‘Miss u so much’
“This can’t believe this gonna miss u so much lil man I’m gonna be lost whitout [sic] you.”
Motorcycle Ireland Motocross convenor Michael McGinn said the Sheridan family had been closely involved in the sport for the last six years.
He said Daniel Sheridan was a very promising rider who could have represented Ireland at motocross next year. Both Dean and another brother Jake also represented Ireland in the sport.
Mr McGinn maintained fatalities in motocross are “very rare” and it was the first he had come across in 16 years working as an official in the sport.
He stressed that though children as young as six participate in the sport, they do so on motorbikes that are low-powered. Daniel Sheridan was on an 85cc bike when he crashed.
“It has got the whole sport in complete shock,” he said. “It’s a tight-knit community. Anybody who is into it is fully dedicated to it. It takes so much work.”
Approximately 3,000 people are involved in motocross in Ireland.
St Kilian’s Senior School
Daniel Sheridan was a pupil at St Kilian’s Senior School in Tallaght. A St Kilian’s Parents Association statement said on Friday: “The Parents Association would like to extend its deepest sympathies to Daniel Sheridan’s family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.
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“St Kilian’s Senior School will be open tomorrow at 12pm midday for those of you who would like to gather in remembrance. May he rest in peace.”
Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald said she wanted to send his condolences to the family and friends of the teenager.
“The community is in shock following the tragic death of a 13-year-old boy,” she said. “My thoughts are with his family and friends of this at this difficult and sad time.”
SDLP East Derry MLA Gerry Mullan said it was a profound tragedy that had touched the entire community.
“Daniel had his whole life ahead of him, and the cruel way that his future was cut short will be totally devastating for his friends and family.
“We cannot begin to imagine the grief they must be feeling at this time and our thoughts and prayers are with them.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/my-hero-brother-of-boy-killed-in-motocross-crash-pays-tribute-1.2770774?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/ce38b1c6bf024a3b73ef32e66503b5f3b5f0f9840d69422e1d12c8f29614c1aa.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T20:51:41 | null | 2016-08-29T21:36:00 | Impeachment trial expected to remove Brazilian president from office this week | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fdilma-rousseff-says-charges-are-plot-by-opponents-1.2772348%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772345.1472502941!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Dilma Rousseff says charges are plot by opponents | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | A defiant president Dilma Rousseff warned Brazilians on Monday that her conservative opponents were trampling on democracy by using trumped-up charges to oust her and roll back the social advances of the past 13 years.
The leftist leader, appearing before the Senate in a trial expected to remove her from office this week, said Brazil’s economic elite had sought to destabilise her government since her narrow re-election to a second four-year term in 2014.
Ms Rousseff calmly denied charges of breaking budgetary rules and said the impeachment process that has paralysed Brazilian politics for nine months was a plot to protect the interests of the privileged classes in Latin America’s largest economy.
A future conservative government would slash spending on social programmes that helped lift 30 million people out of poverty in the past decade and sell off state assets, including massive offshore oil reserves, Ms Rousseff warned.
“We are one step away from a real coup d’etat,” the former leftist guerrilla said. “I did not commit the crimes that I am arbitrarily and unjustly accused of.”
Ms Rousseff (68), an engineer who served as head of the state oil company Petrobras, was hand-picked by the founder of the Workers Party, ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to succeed him when he stepped aside in 2012, despite her lack of experience.
After riding the commodities boom in her first term, Ms Rousseff saw her popularity dwindle to single figures this year amid a deep recession that many Brazilians blame on her government’s interventionist policies and a huge corruption scandal involving Petrobras under the Workers Party government.
Military trial
Brazil’s first female president told senators that history would judge them and recalled her trial under the military dictatorship, which ruled from 1964-1985, when officers hid their faces to not be recognised in photographs.
She began to choke back tears recalling how she faced death when she was tortured day after day in detention in 1970. “Today I only fear the death of democracy,” she said.
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If the Senate convicts Ms Rousseff on Tuesday or Wednesday, as expected, her vice-president Michel Temer will be sworn in to serve the rest of her term through 2018.
Mr Temer (75) has been interim president since mid-May, when Ms Rousseff was suspended after Congress decided it would continue the impeachment process that began in the lower house.
Twenty of her former cabinet ministers were in the Senate gallery to support Ms Rousseff, including Lula.
With the odds stacked against her, Ms Rousseff’s testimony appears to be aimed at making a point for the history books that her impeachment was a travesty, rather than a bid to sway the 81-seat Senate to block her ouster.
Ms Rousseff said she never pocketed public money, and yet her impeachment was led by the former lower house speaker, Eduardo Cunha, who is facing charges of corruption, including taking bribes and having millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts.
“Curiously, I will be judged for crimes I did not commit before the trial of the former speaker who is accused of very serious illegal acts,” she said.
Her appeal to the Senate is unlikely to alter the outcome.
Mr Temer is confident he has the two-thirds majority needed to remove Ms Rousseff, and he has planned an address to the nation on Wednesday before heading to China to attend the summit of the G20 group of leading economies.
Ms Rousseff is accused of using money from state banks to bolster spending in an election year in 2014. She says the money had no impact on overall deficit levels and was paid back in full the following year. – Reuters | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/dilma-rousseff-says-charges-are-plot-by-opponents-1.2772348?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/1cd783a430b72e340fcd149d6dd1da64144495d5b73af3a5e80bddb0852fc715.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T06:49:15 | null | 2016-08-31T07:00:00 | Partially occupied office portfolio has five units | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fcommercial-property%2Fblanchardstown-office-portfolio-for-sale-at-1-8m-1.2773075.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773072.1472563941!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Blanchardstown office portfolio for sale at €1.8m | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | A partially occupied office portfolio located within Blanchardstown Corporate Park in Dublin 15 is to be offered for sale at around €1.8 million through QRE Real Estate Advisers on the instructions of receivers Deloitte.
Providence House, a three-storey block with a floor area of 1,104sq m (11,881sq ft) and basement car parking is currently occupied by Arvato, who will be moving out at the end of the year.
The second lot includes a first floor unit of 260sq m (2,796sq ft) and an own-door ground floor area of 97sq m (1,045sq ft). Both have their own car parking facilities.
The sale also includes 257sq m (2,776sq ft) in Block 1 which is occupied by iCom Technologies on a 25-year lease from 2004.
The fifth unit is located on the first floor and shares the access with one other tenant. The unit has a floor area of 112sq m (1,207sq ft).
Blanchardstown Corporate Park has a range of attractive amenities including a childcare centre, Spar convenience store, an O’Brien’s sandwich bar and bagel factory and the Bell and Bear restaurant. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/blanchardstown-office-portfolio-for-sale-at-1-8m-1.2773075 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/18ac0fac8b23c186d83166ffe6a7e096c854001710b57cc11ff1510229f644c6.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:53:32 | null | 2016-08-19T09:27:00 | The accommodation-facilitation website is actively cultivating a business clientele | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fwork%2Fairbnb-for-business-travellers-more-wifi-fewer-hosts-in-towels-1.2760503%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2760501.1471518617!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Airbnb for business travellers: more wifi, fewer hosts in towels | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Whether travelling for business or pleasure, Tad Milbourn, chief executive of US technology start-up Payable, stays at an Airbnb property whenever possible.
“It’s absolutely the coolest, being in someone’s house as opposed to a hotel,” he said. “And it’s superior, from the price, experience and novelty standpoint.”
Because Payable helps clients manage payments, Milbourn is particularly attuned to the services Airbnb has developed for business travellers, and he encourages his two employees who travel to use Airbnb and its services, too. These include the ability to track employees’ whereabouts and spending and to charge expenses to a corporate credit card.
Milbourn is one of many business travellers now choosing Airbnb or other home-sharing services, like HomeAway, over conventional hotels.
A report issued last month by Concur, a travel and expense-management company, found that the number of nights that its 42 million business travel customers spent in home-sharing accommodations rose more than 50 per cent from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of this year.
Agreements
Airbnb is actively cultivating this clientele, having recently reached agreements with three big business travel management companies in the United States: American Express Global Business Travel, BCD Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
Under these agreements, Airbnb will send data on travellers’ expenditures and itineraries to the travel management companies, which in turn will share the information with the travellers’ employers, their clients. The employers can then use this data to monitor employees’ spending and travel and to track them down, as needed, if there is an emergency.
But some business travellers who have used Airbnb, especially those whose bosses booked the accommodations for them, warn that bad surprises can sometimes await.
Alexa Pothier, a Boston-based consultant software company, who has used Airbnb occasionally during holidays with generally positive results, had a different outcome on a business trip in 2014 when she stayed at a one-bedroom apartment in the Shoreditch neighbourhood of London.
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The host owned a small business in a shopfront on the ground floor, which Pothier had to walk through to reach the stairs to the apartment. Although the apartment had a large living space, where Pothier said she could work comfortably, she was startled by a mouse that “early on scampered very quickly across the couch”.
And the bedroom window overlooked a noisy street, which forced her to use earplugs that the host had left in a bowl next to the bed.
When Katie Gilligan travelled to London last year on business, her boss put her up for a week each at two apartments booked through Airbnb.
The second apartment, in the King’s Cross neighbourhood, was owned by a woman who shared the living space and would not let Gilligan use the water or flush the toilet after 8pm. The host also walked around wearing only a towel, Gilligan said, “talking to me about her life experience and about aliens coming down and probing people”.
Business travel-ready
All the more reason, perhaps, to use Airbnb’s business travel services that include “business travel-ready” listings – accommodations geared toward business travellers’ specific needs.
To qualify, a lodging must meet various criteria, including high customer ratings; 24-hour check-in; accommodations that are an entire home or apartment, not shared with the owner; the availability of wifi and a laptop-friendly workspace; and an iron, a hair dryer and other amenities.
Chip Conley, head of global hospitality and strategy for Airbnb, said that more than 70,000 companies had made bookings through Airbnb for Business, a programme introduced last year that features listings and travel-management tools.
Some professionals in the business travel industry acknowledge the potential benefits of using services such as Airbnb, and see some of the drawbacks.
Airbnb’s affordable offerings could help budget-conscious attendees of conventions and meetings, Deborah Sexton, president and chief executive of the Professional Convention Management Association, said. Home-sharing accommodations can also offer an attractive alternative when hotel rooms are sold out, she said.
Depending on its location, an Airbnb property might not be the most convenient option for a business traveller, particularly someone attending a conference or convention, Sexton said.
“One of the biggest perks of a host hotel is its central location,” she said. “For attendees who stay at Airbnb properties in different neighbourhoods, getting to an early-morning conference or attending a late-night evening reception may be more difficult.” – (New York Times) | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/work/airbnb-for-business-travellers-more-wifi-fewer-hosts-in-towels-1.2760503?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-19T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/ca159cfa703d6fc52519a83e5199023cd06837ae60d27f7ec43c5f81fda8a0b2.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:51:40 | null | 2016-08-29T15:22:00 | Olympic medallists say bowl of cereal was first thing they ate when they got home | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fgary-and-paul-o-donovan-overwhelmed-by-welcome-1.2772005%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772004.1472486587!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Gary and Paul O Donovan ‘overwhelmed’ by welcome | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Olympic silver medallists, Gary and Paul O’Donovan spoke of their astonishment at the reception they have received in west Cork since returning home from Rio de Janeiro where they narrowly missed out on gold in the lightweight double sculls.
The brothers from Lisheen in west Cork arrived at their base at Skibbereen Rowing Club to a tremendous reception from friends and neighbours as they proudly displayed their silver medals at a press conference.
Flanked by their coach Dominic Casey and Rowing Ireland’s high-performance coach Morten Espersen, Gary and Paul spoke of their surprise at the reception they had received and their hope that their success in Rio would encourage others to take up rowing.
“Which camera do I look at it?,” began Gary to loud laughter when asked about the reception that they received after arriving into Cork Airport on Sunday night from Rotterdam where Paul had won gold in the Lightweight Single Sculls at the World Championships on Saturday.
“It was overwhelming – people were still sending us messages as we were boarding the plane in Rotterdam, telling us there were going to be huge crowds. We got messages from the lads in the club telling us there were buses coming up from Skibbereen and it was going to be insane,” Gary said.
“After we landed the pilot invited us into the cockpit as we were going through the water cannons on the tarmac at Cork Airport and he told us that as he was landing, he could see the crowds at the other side of the airport and he said ‘Lads, it’s going to be huge’ and really it is overwhelming.”
Paul explained that travelling all the way down from Cork Airport through towns and villages such as Innishannon, Bandon, Ballinascarthy, Clonakilty, Rosscarbery and Leap, and then into Skibbereen, people were out to greet them with flags and messages of congratulations.
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“We had a bowl of cereal when we got home,” Paul said.
“Christ, it’s hungry work, celebrating and waving at people. The Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery had a bonfire blazing and as we drove past, we stuck our hands out the window and they gave us a bag of sandwiches – we were delighted!”
“We never thought this would happen. We were just being ourselves and talking s**te, answering questions and then it all escalated pretty fast but what harm – it’s all good for the club and for the sport – it’s just a reflection of what it’s been like for us for the last few years down here.”
With timing almost as perfect as their rowing stroke, Gary took up the theme: “That’s why we were so happy – there was such a good atmosphere for us here when we left for Rio and we were delighted to be able to keep it going by coming back with medals.”
Thousands are expected to turn out on Monday evening in Skibbereen when the two brothers will parade through the town on an open-top bus before proceeding to the Fair Field in the town where they will be interviewed by RTÉ’s Jackie Hurley about their achievement in winning silver in Brazil. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/gary-and-paul-o-donovan-overwhelmed-by-welcome-1.2772005?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/083953eb48a675a938411cdd35d6049f1be3795b6753197ef690e89ee45275ae.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T06:52:32 | null | 2016-08-31T06:50:00 | New office will employ 50 people by the end of the year | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ftechnology%2Ffitbit-opens-new-european-headquarters-in-dublin-1.2774069%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2774068.1472622604!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Fitbit opens new European headquarters in Dublin | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Wearable technology firm Fitbit has opened its European headquarters in Dublin, aiming to employ 50 people by the end of the year.
The firm has appointed former Philips and Harman International executive Des Power as managing director to oversee the new office, which will include sales, marketing, operations, finance and customer support staff along with senior management roles, and will support the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The company said it has room for up to 100 staff by the end of 2017 based at its Baggot Street office.
“We’ve seen Dublin become a strategic hub for the technology industry as a centre for innovation and sourcing top talent in the region, and we look forward to building a strong team here to complement our offices around the world,” said Fitbit chief executive and cofounder, James Park. “I’m excited to welcome Des to the team and back to his native Ireland. I have great confidence in our ability to further expand our business and help people across EMEA lead healthier, more active lives.”
The decision to open the Dublin office came following significant growth in Europe, with revenue rising 150 per cent year on year in the second quarter of the year.
The news was welcomed by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor.“Today’s announcement is a further recognition of Ireland’s appeal as an international hub for successful companies such as Fitbit,” she said. “Fitbit is one of the world’s most popular and fastest growing health and wellness companies, and I am delighted that they have selected Ireland as the location for their EMEA headquarters as it will provide exciting employment opportunities for our skilled workers.”
Fitbit was set up by James Park and Eric Friedman in 2007. The US based firm has since grown its fitness and sleep tracking devices to a global brand, with the most recent figures showing the company has shipped almost 49 million devices globally. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/fitbit-opens-new-european-headquarters-in-dublin-1.2774069?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/8237a39340ccfceec250372c10c20c78eaac9b89888ed7f59ce9483192fee422.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T18:50:47 | null | 2016-08-26T18:51:00 | Work, inspired by UK case, was written from perspective of a gender curious teenager | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Fstage%2Fstacey-gregg-s-play-scorch-wins-a-fringe-first-in-edinburgh-1.2769781%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769780.1472233867!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Stacey Gregg’s play Scorch wins a Fringe First in Edinburgh | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Stacey Gregg’s play Scorch, produced by Belfast’s Prime Cut Productions, has won a coveted Fringe First Award in the final round of awards for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Judged by the reviewers of the Scotsman, the most influential newspaper in Edinburgh during the festival season in August, the Fringe Firsts are awarded specifically for new writing.
It brings benefits beyond the handsome plaques that are presented to a handful of winners each week: the effect of the award is usually felt most keenly at the box office and in generating a further international life for winning productions.
First staged last autumn in Belfast as part of the Outburst Queer Arts Festival, and winner of the 2015 Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play, Gregg’s monologue was hailed by the Scotsman as “beautifully observed”.
Inspired by a real UK court case and written from the perspective of a gender curious teenager named Kes, who is accused of deceiving a friend into an intimate relationship, it is directed by Emma Jordan and performed in the round by Amy McAllister.
In the play, gender codes are subtly laid bare: Kes, a young girl who identifies implicitly as a boy, is an online gamer, well versed in sci-fi movies - watching “through the dude’s point of view” - and the alternative identity allowed by Internet avatars. “She thinks I’m a guy,” Kes says of an online acquaintance. “And I don’t correct her.”
Kes is already going places - as winner of the Holden Street Theatres’ Edinburgh Award, Greggs’ play is now headlining the Adelaide venue in February next year.
Among other Irish successes at the Edinburgh Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world, is Al Porter, whose current show At Large has been nominated for Best Comedy Show at the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
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Other stand outs, such as Emmet Kirwan’s Dublin Oldschool and Thisispopbaby’s High Heels in Low Places, have gathered a constellation of five-star rated reviews from the international media.
Irish audiences will have an opportunity to see Scorch as it tours Ireland this September and October, with another of Stacey Gregg’s plays, Override, making its Irish premiere at this year’s Tiger Dublin Fringe. | http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/stacey-gregg-s-play-scorch-wins-a-fringe-first-in-edinburgh-1.2769781?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/924d7a41033df4c4558ffb16efa9a4fe86ef72cff858d728530203392649dc35.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T14:49:07 | null | 2016-08-30T15:38:00 | Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations ‘have failed’, says Germany | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Ffrance-joins-calls-to-halt-trade-talks-with-us-1.2772911.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773173.1472567907!/image/image.jpg | en | null | France joins calls to halt trade talks with US | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Current transatlantic trade talks should be halted and a new set started, France’s trade minister said on Tuesday, adding his voice to some calls from Germany for an end to the negotiations.
Matthias Fekl said he would request a halt to negotiations with the US over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on behalf of France at next month’s meeting of EU trade ministers in Bratislava.
“There should be an absolute clear end so that we can restart them on a good basis,” he said on RMC Radio, adding he would suggest that course to fellow ministers.
German economy minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday that TTIP negotiations had effectively failed after Europe refused to accept some US demands.
Mr Gabriel is the chairman of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), who share power with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives. Many Social Democrats have serious reservations about TTIP but Dr Merkel backs the talks.
Her spokesman insisted on Monday that talks should continue, while Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier – also a member of the SPD – said on Tuesday that both sides were still far away from agreeing on standards and procedures.
Discrepancies
Mr Fekl’s and Mr Gabriel’s highlighted discrepancies between the views in the EU’s two biggest economies and the official line from both the European Commission and the US Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman.
Three years of talks have failed to resolve multiple differences, including over food and environmental safety, but the USTR’s spokesman told German magazine Der Spiegel the negotiations “are in fact making steady progress”.
The White House has said this week it aims to reach a deal by the end of the year. “It’s going to require the resolution of some pretty thorny negotiations, but the president and his team are committed to doing that,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington.
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The commission also remains upbeat. “Although trade talks take time, the ball is rolling right now, and the commission is making steady progress in the ongoing TTIP negotiations,” the executive’s spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, told a news conference in Brussels on Monday.
Consumers
Supporters say the TTIP could deliver more than $100 billion worth of economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic, but critics say the pact would hand too much power to big multinationals at the expense of consumers and workers.
Paris threatened to stall further negotiations as long ago as April, but there are national elections due in both France and Germany in 2017, and before the summer experts were saying that this year – ahead of the US presidential election – may be the best opportunity to strike a deal.
That prospect looks less likely now, and Britain’s June vote to leave the EU has further clouded the picture, even though the commission has a mandate to finalise TTIP talks on behalf of all EU 28 members. – Reuters | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/france-joins-calls-to-halt-trade-talks-with-us-1.2772911 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/296b28a53d8513cc0e7f90032f9777cb78f27dae628ae4039d635bc7ed61f16a.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T06:49:25 | null | 2016-08-31T05:25:00 | Private ambulance operator service reports a €101,231 profit for year ending June 2015 | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fhealth-pharma%2Fdavid-hall-owned-ambulance-service-lifeline-in-rude-health-1.2773441.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773439.1472579887!/image/image.jpg | en | null | David Hall-owned ambulance service Lifeline in rude health | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Lifeline, the private ambulance operator service owned by businessman David Hall, reported a €101,231 profit for the 12 months ending June 2015. This compares to a €436,412 loss the previous year, newly-filed abridged accounts show.
The company, recently involved in a high-profile court action involving employees, had net assets of €106,794, as against just €5,563 a year earlier.
Turnover rose to €4.3 million as against €4.1 million the year before, having halved between 2008 and 2014.
Established by David Hall in 1998, Lifeline is the largest private ambulance operator in the State with a fleet of 49 vehicles. Based in Leixlip, Co Kildare, the company employs 66 people.
Mr Hall is also founder of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO), which last year helped over 2,500 people to come to an arrangement with lenders over their debts.
HSE contract
Lifeline has a framework agreement with the Health Services Executive (HSE) through a service level contract for patient transport services. However, the company has previously taken legal proceedings against the HSE for alleged breaches of the agreement and Mr Hall told The Irish Times that additional proceedings were currently “on hold”.
Mr Hall said the return to profitability was partly due to better compliance with the Lifeline contract by the HSE.
“We won the tender to be the number-one provider nationally and that contract hasn’t been adhered too and, while it is not being fully complied with, there has been an improvement. If we don’t see further improvement though we will end up back in court,” he said.
“The need to injunct the HSE to comply with the contract is currently under review, as is seeking to recover monies not given under it, which were given to third parties.”
Mr Hall added that the turnaround was also due to him being back at the helm again. “I’m back running Lifeline again after being more focused on the mortgage stuff over the last couple of years, “ he said. “There has been a restructuring of the company and a better focus on how it is being run that has involved us looking at our cost base and so on.”
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Mr Hall and his wife Susan Wiseman Hall are listed as directors of Lifeline. Directors’ emoluments for the year ending June 2015 totalled €209,966, down from €217,817 a year earlier.
The accounts show Mr Hall previously provided a guarantee to the value of €377,000 for the company’s banking facilities.
Lifeline operates from a premises owned by Mr Hall, paying him rent in the year to the end of June 2015 of €116,379.
Future viability
The latest set of accounts said restrictive practices in the sector, the state of the economy and a decline in the number of people with private health cover were all concerns that threatened the viability of the company.
However, Mr Hall said that conditions generally had improved over the last year. “All health-related businesses were under pressure for a long time and I wasn’t around. I expect the 2016 accounts will post a higher profit than the 2015 ones. I’m back doing what I think I do well, which is running the business and we’ve acquired an additional 10 ambulances this calendar year and taken on 17 extra staff in the last number of months, so things are going the right way,” he said.
Two managers at Lifeline recently became the first employees in Ireland to win court protection under newly introduced whistleblower legislation.
The Circuit Court ruled late last month that Mick Dougan and Seán Clarke, who were made redundant after accusing Mr Hall of “serious wrongdoing” in a disclosure to the Revenue Commissioners, should continue to be paid until their unfair dismissal case is heard.
The men claimed in affidavits opened in court, that staff were paid mileage expenses in place of taxable pay and alleged they were subjected to bullying and harassment. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/health-pharma/david-hall-owned-ambulance-service-lifeline-in-rude-health-1.2773441 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/f3a751e316531c19bdb98c0e51ab6d2fc3ce011593356a84c853cfd19da4cfba.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T04:52:39 | null | 2016-08-31T05:10:00 | Rebranding follows the 2015 global merger of Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fcommercial-property%2Fdtz-sherry-fitzgerald-to-trade-as-cushman-wakefield-1.2772907%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772905.1472571942!/image/image.jpg | en | null | DTZ Sherry FitzGerald to trade as Cushman & Wakefield | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Leading commercial agents DTZ Sherry FitzGerald are to trade from today as Cushman & Wakefield.
The rebranding follows the 2015 global merger of Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ. Sherry FitzGerald Group had been DTZ’s Irish partner since 1998.
The newly announced arrangement brings together Cushman & Wakefield’s global platform and Sherry FitzGerald’s considerable expertise across Ireland’s commercial property market.
Under the new arrangement Cushman & Wakefield will hold a 20 per cent stake in the commercial arm of the Irish business.
The company, which was previously linked to Lisney, is a top three global real estate services firm with 43,000 employees in more than 60 countries and recorded revenues of over $5 billion.
In the UK it has 2,000 employees in its London headquarters and in offices in key UK cities.
The Sherry FitzGerald Group’s business has 650 employees in 97 offices and a presence in every county in Ireland.
The newly branded Cushman & Wakefield office will have a 100-strong team working out of offices in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway.
Aidan Gavin, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield Ireland, described the rebranding as “a very significant watershed”.
It was more than a rebranding exercise, he said, which gave it access to many new services and opportunities driven by the scale of the merged Cushman & Wakefield business. Being the Irish arm of one of the top three global firms gave it access to many more occupier inquiries, finance market intelligence, research and experts than ever before.
Mr Gavin said one of its new service areas would be the substantial debt advisory facilities which were now an integral part of every property transaction.
Colin Wilson, head of UK & Ireland for Cushman & Wakefield, said Ireland had emerged from the recession stronger, and was a very important market for it. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/dtz-sherry-fitzgerald-to-trade-as-cushman-wakefield-1.2772907?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/bd430fe36b2d12c61db6ad9f5f8b6442b19a118cb99cbef51755b17de1b77403.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:10 | null | 2016-08-26T13:24:00 | Gerald Dawe’s tribute to the late poet at a celebration of her life and work at Ballina Arts Centre this month | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Fbooks%2Fdorothy-molloy-a-powerful-statement-of-self-worth-in-being-in-the-world-at-large-1.2769415%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769414.1472214255!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Dorothy Molloy: ‘a powerful statement of self-worth in being in the world at large’ | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | During the early 1970s I used to spend a lot of time on the CIE coach between Galway and Ballina as my girl was from the town. Occasionally I travelled by train from Athlone via the mysteriously named Manulla Junction. Ballina intrigued me. Especially the wonderful River Moy, but also the stories that attached themselves to various arts and parts nearby, including the stone-clad boat, the Crete Boom, and the naming of Boher-na-Sup, and the story about Ardnaree, also known as Abyssinia, as it was the last place in the town for electrification – a metaphor I’ve been musing over as a book-title for more years that I care to admit.
Over the many years of spending summers and winters, springtime and autumn, it perplexed me that, so far as I knew, little had indeed been written out of this terrain. Now it is different. One only has to think of Michelle O’Sullivan, the curator of this special event on Dorothy Molloy, and her captivating poetry as proof. But back in time there seems to have been an absence, a little like the sense of absence that emigration brings in its wake.
Often those who left towns like Ballina throughout the country took a little of the imaginative light with them and I could certainly name several women from this town as proof of that too, including, of course, Dorothy Molloy.
For me, however, Dorothy Molloy and her poems do not represent a loss. Instead I read them as a powerful statement of self-worth and self-confidence in being in the world at large. There is no self-pity here but rather a concentration on making out of what came her way – her roots, experience, education, travel, love, marriage, friendships, her tragic illness, her religious inheritances, her reading, her love of painting – of making out of this fabric of living, a vivid and challenging form of literary art.
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Her poems are full of the energy that comes from not sitting back but of embracing the world in all its multifarious reality; what Louis MacNeice heralded as “crazier and more of it than we think/incorrigibly plural”.
I hear this loud and clear in Dorothy Molloy’s poems, so I hope the two poems I have selected illustrate my point – they are The dream-world of my pillow from Gethsemane Day and, from Long-distance Swimmer, Waiting for Julio.
Gerald Dawe’s most recent collections include Selected Poems (2012) and Mickey Finn’s Air (2014). He teaches at Trinity College Dublin | http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/dorothy-molloy-a-powerful-statement-of-self-worth-in-being-in-the-world-at-large-1.2769415?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/6d49ca3292cbb75861af315b5ecff2f2907dc63bb16411ca5955593bbfd9be74.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T04:52:50 | null | 2016-08-31T05:35:00 | Brokerage poaches Canaccord’s head of European equity capital markets, Piers Coombs | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ffinancial-services%2Fgoodbody-plots-uk-assault-with-new-investment-banking-unit-1.2773417%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773414.1472578608!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Goodbody plots UK assault with new investment banking unit | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Goodbody Stockbrokers is setting up a new investment banking division as it plots to win more business in the UK, where it has poached a senior executive from financial services group Canaccord Genuity.
The Irish brokerage, led by managing director Roy Barrett, set up a London office last year under a plan to move from being a local Irish broker to a sector specialist. The company has expanded its research coverage in recent years to include overseas companies in the gaming and leisure, construction materials, airlines and financial services sectors.
Its rival, Davy, has engaged in a similar strategy to lower its dependence on the Irish market as a series of companies have moved their main stock market listing to London from Dublin.
Under a plan communicated to staff on Tuesday, Goodbody has decided to merge its corporate finance and capital markets divisions into a new unit, called investment banking. This will be run by two co-heads, Stephen Donovan, currently head of capital markets, and Brian O’Kelly, head of corporate finance.
Goodbody has also hired Piers Coombs, currently head of Canaccord’s European equity capital markets, to take up a leading position by the end of the year in its London office as head of corporate business in the UK.
The appointment, together with the creation of an investment banking unit, is designed to position Goodbody to pitch for UK corporate brokerships and equity capital market mandates in future, Mr Barrett said.
A spokesman for Goodbody confirmed the contents of the email.
Recent transactions under Mr Coombs’ role at Canaccord include a £230 million (€270 million) equity raise by UK gambling software development company Playtech and online payments company Paysafe’s £450 million share sale last year.
Subsidiary
Meanwhile, Finbarr Griffin is set to become the new head of corporate finance at Goodbody. It is understood that Goodbody intends to wind up its incorporated subsidiary, Goodbody Corporate Finance, as the business is subsumed into the group.
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Following the overhaul, the group, which is 51 per cent owned by Kerry-based financial services group Fexco, will comprise three divisions: investment banking, wealth management and asset management.
The move comes a month after Mr Barrett told staff that there was no substance to industry speculation that Goodbody could be taken over by Investec.
Fexco acquired control of Goodbody in January 2011 from AIB, as the bank was selling off non-core assets in the wake of its Government bailout. At the time, Fexco took a 75 per cent stake, leaving staff and management at Goodbody with a 25 per cent holding. Staff and executives at the brokerage have since almost doubled their stake, after reaching incentive targets set at the time of the deal. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/goodbody-plots-uk-assault-with-new-investment-banking-unit-1.2773417?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/3cf1d740b91d0900e62f20a32c7687f8092d51b9ce033a035199892c59a7cae8.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T06:49:05 | null | 2016-08-30T05:55:00 | Modest increase will come as disappointment given expensive marketing campaign | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fretail-and-services%2Frevenue-from-lotto-s-online-channel-climbs-mere-4-1.2772274.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772272.1472501894!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Revenue from Lotto’s online channel climbs mere 4% | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Recent figures show revenue from the lotto’s new online channel grew by a modest 4 per cent last year.
Not particularly great when you consider sales in scratch cards, a relative dinosaur of the trade, rose by 4.5 per cent.
And not when the newly privatised franchise spent heavily on a marketing campaign, involving a sequence of expensive TV adverts featuring a guru high up in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks comically failing to predict the next day’s lotto numbers.
The figures show the online channel only accounted for a meagre €23 million or 3.4 per cent of overall revenue, which is only marginally higher than before the channel was opened up as part of the privatisation process.
The franchise was sold in 2014 for €405 million to Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) principally on the untapped potential of online.
Under the old system, operated by An Post, online registration process was cumbersome and the operator was forbidden from marketing the online channel.
The Government did away with these restrictions in parallel with the privatisation process.
However, PLI’s Canada paymasters Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan won’t exactly be popping champagne corks on foot of these numbers.
PLI’s sister group, Camelot, which operates the lotto franchise in the United Kingdom, had a similar growth for online but their online offering accounts for nearly a fifth of overall revenue.
The operator will, of course, point to the growth in interactive players, which rose by 61 per cent to over 225,000 in 2015 but hoped for revenue windfall from online hasn’t materialised just yet.
Total Irish sales across all platforms last year was €670.4 million, representing a drop of 2.5 per cent on the €687.6 million in revenues throughout 2014.
This suggests the lottery is not benefitting from the pick-up in consumer spending and remains mired in recessionary metrics.
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Has the new minimum ticket price of €4, albeit for a two-line play, been a factor?
Either way, PLI will have to halt this spiral if it is to justify the €405 million shelled out for the licence. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/revenue-from-lotto-s-online-channel-climbs-mere-4-1.2772274 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/888af8e9653aaae3706cfb6213dd19ded13ae5129774a3746c6240bc2ac8d03f.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T00:48:43 | null | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | Consumer sentiment picks up as businesses remain wary, says Bank of Ireland report | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fsentiment-in-ireland-partly-recovers-from-brexit-vote-shock-1.2770984.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2770982.1472392404!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Sentiment in Ireland partly recovers from Brexit vote shock | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Irish consumer and business sentiment has partly recovered from the initial shock of the Brexit vote, according to the Bank of Ireland.
The bank’s Economic Pulse monitor rose 2.5 points to 93.7 in August, recouping a quarter of the ground lost in July immediately after the United Kingdom’s referendum result.
“While last month dipped significantly following the Brexit vote, August saw the Economic Pulse recover a quarter of the ground it lost in July,” said Loretta O’Sullivan, chief economist at the bank.
“Although there has been a rise in sentiment, many consumers and businesses are still assessing the potential impact of Brexit. We will be closely monitoring the situation over the coming months.”
The bank’s gauge is based on a survey of 1,000 households and 2,000 businesses on a range of topics including the economy, their financial situation, spending plans, house price expectations and business activity.
The sub-index for business rose 2.4 points to 94 in August on the back of a pick-up in confidence among firms in the industry, retail and construction sectors.
The industry and retail pulses saw the largest increases in August (7.7 and 6.1 respectively), while construction was up 4.6 and sentiment among service firms was down marginally by -0.3.
The August findings indicate most firms do not expect to change their selling prices in the near term, the bank said, while pointing to some easing in input costs, excluding labour costs, in the industry and retail sectors over the past three months.
The consumer index rose 2.8 points to stand at 92.5 in August, with households more upbeat about prospects for the economy and unemployment.
Jobless rate
The Irish jobless rate stood at 8.3 per cent in July, revised up from the previous rate of 7.8 per cent, largely because of changes in the size of the labour force. The rate of job creation in the Irish economy continues to accelerate, however.
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Half of the consumers surveyed said they expected a general improvement in economic conditions over the next 12 months, while 28 per cent expected no change.
Just over a third said there were confident of a pick-up of their own financial situation over the next 12 months, with 49 per cent expecting no change.
Buying sentiment remains fragile with only slight pick-up in the August figure, with some 34 per cent considering it a good time to purchase big-ticket items such as furniture and electrical goods, up from 32 per cent in July, while two in three indicated they were likely to save some money in the next 12 months.
The bank’s housing index remained largely unchanged with most consumers anticipating price increases over the next 12 months.
At the regional level, Dublin continued to lead the way with 74 per cent expecting price gains, compared with 64 per cent per cent in the Rest of Leinster, 70 per cent in Munster and 54 per cent in Connacht/Ulster.
Similarly, the percentage of respondents expecting rents to rise in the coming year was greater in the capital and Munster.
“Rents are now back above their previous peak and the widespread expectation is that they will rise further over the next 12 months. House price expectations remained in positive territory in August,” Dr O’ Sullivan said. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/sentiment-in-ireland-partly-recovers-from-brexit-vote-shock-1.2770984 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/e995d902c33fdaa386b24bf4c90a2f11e3e73bac4e9e42c8f91ae36cba191d0e.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T14:51:56 | null | 2016-08-29T14:00:00 | Anxiety presents itself to many on a daily basis but support services are there, as are measures to reduce it | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Flife-and-style%2Fhealth-family%2F10-practical-ways-to-ease-your-anxiety-1.2767128%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2767125.1472225496!/image/image.jpg | en | null | 10 practical ways to ease your anxiety | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Whether it’s the back-to-school panic that is invading many homes, the “Monday fear” following a weekend of excess or the crippling anxiety that forces you under your duvet for days on end, many people have found themselves on the scale of anxiousness at one stage in their lives.
More and more, thanks to our increasingly frantic and demanding lifestyles – not to mention our dependence on technology and all things digital – anxiety is no longer just something we feel momentarily before we give a presentation or go for an interview. For many, it’s an affliction that presents itself on a daily basis and, frustratingly, it requires long-term management. There are support services available and anyone suffering from anxiety should speak to their GP about options.
There are also practical ways to help to ease your anxiety.
Step 1: Understanding It’s doubtful that you’d think to read up on anxiety and all of its nastiness until you’ve actually experienced a panic attack or two. However, not understanding what anxiety is, why it’s happening or how to handle it, can often worsen the experience when it first presents itself. It’s the not knowing what’s going on that, for many sufferers, is the most unnerving.
Having an idea of your body’s inner workings on a very simple, physical level will not only be a relief to the part of your mind that questions whether or not you are having a heart attack but knowing that your body is merely working too hard to protect itself will be somewhat reassuring, and thus reduce the symptoms.
Simply put, though our lifestyles have evolved hugely since our cavemen days of hunting animals for dinner, our biochemistry has not. Our fight or flight response was essential for our survival back then; without it, we wouldn’t have experienced the fear necessary to drive us away from danger and keep us alive.
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These days, though we no longer face the same threats to our survival – unless of course you still chase down wildebeest for your Sunday roast – that very same warning system is still consistently stimulated by the everyday stressors we face.
Understanding that your body is trying to warn you that perhaps it’s time to take your foot off the gas is the first step to coping with and overcoming anxiety.
Step 2: Assess your current situation Okay. By now you understand what anxiety is and you have a newfound respect for your body and the ways in which it tries to protect you. Now you need to assess precisely why your body’s internal alarm system is ringing.
Maybe you’re working yourself to exhaustion at work, have had something on every evening and, in between that, you’ve had pretty hectic weekends.
Something awful doesn’t have to have happened in your life to justify a more intense bout of anxiety. In this incredibly common case, you’re running on empty and your body wants you to take a breather, but chances are you didn’t listen to the first warning or two. Or maybe you’re stuck in a toxic work environment that goes against your own core values; your conscious mind may want to keep the head down and plough through for money’s sake but your more intuitive subconscious is telling you to get the hell out of there for the sake of your mental health. If your eyes are wide open, this part’s usually easy to conquer.
Step 3: Acceptance This is where it gets tricky. You know why you’re feeling anxious and you now face an internal conflict wherein you naturally try to run away from it and, as a consequence, you feel it more.
Your body does everything in its power to resist and stop the anxiety; understandably so as it’s a truly crap experience. Stop what you’re doing and accept it. Accept that anxiety is something that every single one of us is managing; some just feel it worse than others.
Accept that it’s not a permanent thing. Most importantly, if you’ve had a really bad bout, stop looking at your anxiety as something to be cured and never experienced again. Instead, accept that you’re human, that it’s normal, that it’s understandable and that it’s something we will all feel at certain points in our lives, but know that you’ll get really good at dealing with it.
Step 4: Understand the negativity bias This is a very basic flaw of the human condition and, to go back to our cavemen days once more, it too is all about survival. Our brains are programmed to focus on the negative: We receive 100 compliments and just one insult but it’ll be that one negative that we focus on. We’ll hear and worry about that one unfortunate person who died of an obscure illness and ignore the thousands who didn’t.
Sound familiar? This is both nature (how our brains work) and nurture (just watch the news and you’ll see how society has been conditioned to focus on the negative). You may have experienced one particularly anxious day and one day without a care in the world, but thanks to the negativity bias, it will be the former, negative experience of anxiety that will have a greater effect on our psychological state, rather than the latter. Understanding this helps you take a step back and consciously bring your attention to the positive. A gratitude diary – where you list the positives in your life on a daily basis – will help to correct this imbalance.
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Step 5: Mindfulness You feel anxious, somebody tells you to try “mindfulness”, you try it and . . . nothing. Yep, we’ve been there. You’re impatient, you want to feel better now not next week, and you just can’t see what all of the fuss is about. The good news is you’re not alone in this struggle, but, mindfulness, as a tool in your arsenal against stress and anxiety, is overwhelmingly backed by science. What’s more, it’s a skill that takes considerable time to develop and requires daily practise. Apps such as calm.com and Headspace make it a whole lot easier to find your inner Zen. Stick with it; the “om” will come.
Step 6: Diet There have been countless tomes written on this step alone – your diet can wreak havoc on your state of mind – but for an instant and noticeable effect, go caffeine free. If you’re already in an anxious state, your body is over-stimulated, caffeine will serve only to exacerbate it. Ease off the sugar too and give your body a chance to reset.
Step 7: CBT Cognitive behavioural therapy, where you work with a therapist to alter the behaviours and beliefs that are fuelling your anxiety and/or depression, is one of the most practical and positive approaches you can take. It’s very scientific, with plenty of real-life exercises that help you break the vicious cycle of anxiety. Rather than talk therapy, where you can often find yourself talking in circles, this is a measured and hugely (and scientifically) supported method of intervention.
Step 8: Stop comparing yourself to others This sounds easy but, again, it’s quite the skill to acquire. We’re all guilty of comparing ourselves to those around us. “He’s doing better than me in work.” “She takes on so much more than I do.” “He has absolutely no fear when it comes to public speaking and I’d sooner eat my own skin than willingly get up on that podium.” And so on and so forth. Comparing yourself to others is usually more of a hindrance than a help. For some, it’s motivation, for others, it’s a weapon to use upon themselves that – you guessed it – fuels anxiety. Focus on yourself. A) You’re doing your best and b) chances are they’re feeling it too.
Step 9: Make it work for you If you look at things from a positive perspective, you’ll soon realise how that same anxiety that you’ve long considered as your own worst enemy is actually one of your most useful allies too. You feel anxious because you care, you’ll naturally be concerned about doing a good job and will be a lot more motivated than the person who’s never felt it. What’s more, several studies have shown that those who experience heightened anxiety are often more intelligent and more creative than those who do not. Winning.
Step 10: Prioritise the things that give you joy An important, final step. Don’t force yourself to do things that you just don’t like or be someone you’re not because you think it’s “just your anxiety” holding you back. There’s a fine line between managing your anxiety or conquering your fears and doing things that just don’t sit right with you. If you hate the thought of slumming it at a festival and you really prefer to sleep in a mud-free zone, don’t beat yourself up about it. Trying to suit other people instead of yourself will only give you stress. Find out what you like and do more of it and, most of all, know the difference between your anxiety and that which defines you; your own personality.
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How to recognise anxiety
Everyone experiences anxiety in different ways. You may experience the following:
Difficulty concentrating. A sense of feeling constantly on edge.
Physical symptoms such as headaches, butterflies in your stomach, sweaty hands, high blood pressure, dizziness, breathing heavily, feeling faint, sweating.
You may be smoking or drinking more than usual.
You are eating too much or not eating enough.
You are fidgety or rushing around nervously.
You might also feel run down, tired, have problems concentrating or problems sleeping at night.
You might feel worried all the time.
You feel overwhelmed or panicked about even little things.
You spend a lot of time thinking and often overthink things.
Source: SpunOut.ie, Ireland’s youth information website created by young people, for young people.
Some good reading: Mind Over Mood, Dennis Greenberger; The Lifechanging Magic of not Giving a F*ck, Sarah Knight; The Rules of Life, Richard Templar; Rising Strong, Brene Brown; Thinking Fast & Slow, Daniel Kahneman; Flourishing, Maureen Gaffney; Thrive, Arianna Huffington; The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle. | http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/10-practical-ways-to-ease-your-anxiety-1.2767128?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/6b854101b646ef44276c2ad124ba5fec6700f5ab4fbbefb417c36807b92379d2.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T14:51:55 | null | 2016-08-29T14:10:00 | Pair speak about using communication technology to fight poverty | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Fpope-francis-and-mark-zuckerberg-meet-in-vatican-1.2771960%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771959.1472476202!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Pope Francis and Mark Zuckerberg meet in Vatican | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, this morning had a private audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican.
Mr Zuckerberg, who was accompanied by his wife, Priscilla Chan, talked to the Pope about the role of new technologies in combating poverty. After the meeting, the Vatican issued a statement, saying simply:
“They (the Pope and Mr Zuckerberg) spoke of how communication technologies might be used to combat poverty, to encourage a culture of dialogue and to send a message of hope, especially to the needy...”
The Vatican issued no further details of the meeting but a series of photographs showed the Pope conversing with Mr Zuckerberg and his wife, with the Vatican’s senior spokesman, Greg Burke, in the role of interpreter.
Earlier, Mr Zuckerberg had started his day with a jog past the Colosseum, a jog which of course he posted on Facebook, with this comment:
“It’s great to be back in Rome! We started the day with a run past the Circus Maximus and House of Augustus up to the Colosseum. It’s pretty amazing to run on roads in the city that helped invent them.”
Mr Zuckerberg, who is due to meet Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi later today, has been in Italy since last Wednesday, the day of the earthquake which has claimed 291 lives.
In a Facebook post, he spoke of the “difficult time for people who have lost homes or loved ones”, adding that his thoughts were with “everyone who was affected by the disaster”.
He added: “Rome holds a special place in my heart. I studied Latin and classical history for many years. I like visiting the homes of my favourite historical figures, like Augustus Caesar who created the Pax Romana, 200 years of world peace. I love Rome so much that Priscilla and I even went there for our honeymoon when we got married!”
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Mr Zuckerberg’s visit to the Pope comes after those earlier this year of Google chief executive Eric Schmid and of Apple boss Tim Cook. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/pope-francis-and-mark-zuckerberg-meet-in-vatican-1.2771960?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/afc676978c70b1669a22b9e2926f135a9129d9d54e7481d2490f97d52397d000.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T00:52:03 | null | 2016-08-30T01:03:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Fprint-and-online-1.2772128%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/assets/images/favicons/irishtimes.png | en | null | Print and online | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Sir, – After being a daily reader of The Irish Times UK edition for many years, we will be very sad to see this stop in September, as will many other loyal readers. It is all very well saying we should move to the online version; however, a couple of nights ago there was a hornet in our bathroom. How do you get rid of one of these with an online edition? – Yours, etc,
PHILIP SUTER,
Princes Risborough,
Buckinghamshire,
England. | http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/print-and-online-1.2772128?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/cba17c1791d6bcce3f0b6d927552762af128f14f02171cb5b47cca6fa182a2ac.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T00:51:20 | null | 2016-08-29T01:01:00 | Damascus suburb significant as one of first areas to protest against Bashar al-Assad | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fmiddle-east%2Fanalysis-daraya-surrender-a-morale-boost-for-syrian-army-1.2771297%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771295.1472417837!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Analysis: Daraya surrender a morale boost for Syrian army | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The fall of the Damascus suburb of Daraya was a major moral and strategic gain for the Syrian government and army.
One of the earliest suburbs to mount protests in 2011, Daraya became an icon for rebels and civilian opponents of the government. Consequently, its capitulation provided a morale boost to Syria’s undermanned and overstretched army.
Daraya was iconic because it was known for activism as early as 1998. At that time, Abdul Akram al-Sakka, a local preacher, founded Daraya Youth, which, initially, adopted non-violence and sought to resolve problems with sanitation and promote culture.
In 2005, 250 political reformers signed the Damascus Declaration calling for reform and dialogue. But among the signatories was the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood which had waged a bloody campaign against the government from 1979-1982.
Red flag
For the government its signature was a red flag. When protests erupted in 2011, the government clamped down hard, particularly in areas where Muslim activism was involved.
Daraya’s capture was a key strategic advance. It was the last of the suburbs in the capital’s western countryside to opt for “truce and reconciliation”, a programme pursued by the government to end the rebellion city by city, town by town, village by village.
Scores have chosen this little-publicised route, a few have gone with UN-sponsored evacuations such as the high-profile operation carried out at the Old City of Homs in May 2014.
Daraya embraces a wide expanse of territory near the West Mezze military air base and the upmarket Kafr Sousse neighbourhood which houses the prime minister’s office complex. It is also located on the edge of the fruit orchards and vegetable gardens that once fed Damascus and for most of the four-year siege sustained its civilians.
Daraya abuts the suburb of Muadamiya which had agreed to an uneasy truce in 2014 but provided aid, weapons and fighters for the hold-outs in Daraya.
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Appeal for truce
The 700-odd fighters in Daraya remained until they had no choice but to surrender. A group of women appealed for a truce after the army had seized control of 70 per cent of Daraya, cut access to the countryside and Muadamiya, creating acute food shortages, and put the sole hospital out of action.
Convoys of buses carried the fighters, with side arms, and their families to the northwestern province of Idlib held by Jaish al-Fatah, dominated by radical jihadis, ex-al-Qaeda Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent evacuated about 3,200 civilians from the area to a prefab reception centre 20km southeast of Daraya.
An undisclosed number of fighters requested amnesty and have been taken to a facility for investigation. This procedure followed the model adopted for the evacuation of Homs Old City to which civilians have returned and are rebuilding.
Daraya’s fighters, attached to the Martyrs of Islam and Islamic Union brigades, who chose to go to Idlib, are likely to be called upon to defend Jaish al-Fatah’s grip on the province and, perhaps, take part in the battle for Aleppo. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/analysis-daraya-surrender-a-morale-boost-for-syrian-army-1.2771297?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/8aecb78af9b807b8d1a952c555c6b5c84325172917e8e7db7ccda508aa489efb.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T00:52:24 | null | 2016-08-30T01:00:00 | Amount of tax owed due to be much larger than anticipated by Government | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Feu-to-rule-apple-owes-state-billions-in-back-tax-1.2772398%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772396.1472508437!/image/image.jpg | en | null | EU to rule Apple owes State billions in back tax | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The European Commission will today find that Apple owes the Irish State “billions of euro” in back taxes when it rules that the technology giant’s tax arrangements in Ireland constituted a form of illegal state aid.
The amount of tax the commission will say that Apple owes the Irish exchequer is much larger than the amounts recently anticipated by the Government.
The Apple tax ruling The European Commission is to issue a ruling in relation to the tax arrangements of Apple in Ireland, where the phone giant has its European HQ. It looks certain the EC will confirm a preliminary ruling that Ireland offers Apple illegal state aid in how it allows it to pay tax. It will then tell Ireland it must collect tax from Apple but Ireland is expected to appeal such a ruling fearing it will damage the drive to attract inward investment. Q&A: Cliff Taylor answers the key questions I found this helpful Yes No
It is likely to lead to significant political pressure on the Government, which has made clear its determination to fight the ruling and so avoid receiving the massive tax windfall.
The ruling, to be announced in Brussels today, will not stipulate a figure for the amount of tax owed, but will lay out a process and a formula by which the unpaid tax should be calculated.
Indicative figure
It is expected an indicative figure will be supplied by the commission later in the day. However, the Government will appeal the commission’s finding, and says the money – though Apple may be required to pay the funds into an escrow account in the coming months – will not be available to spend, either now or in the future.
“They are making up new rules for international tax,” said one Minister last night. “They are trying to make us tax Apple for stuff that doesn’t happen here. It’s nonsense.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/eu-to-rule-apple-owes-state-billions-in-back-tax-1.2772398?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/a5d8b38cd1516872b4cfb43c3fbb3e8d182056b635530a22d4f41606ba8b7763.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T10:51:51 | null | 2016-08-29T09:19:00 | Warning of increased premiums as more claims recorded during first seven months | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ffinancial-services%2Fnumber-of-claims-involving-uninsured-drivers-jumps-1.2771818%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771817.1472464093!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Number of claims involving uninsured drivers jumps | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The number of motor insurance claims involving uninsured or untraced drivers jumped by 17 per cent between January and July, according to new figures.
The data show there were 1,644 claims involving such drivers during the first seven months of 2016, up by 235 versus the 1,409 claims lodged during the same period a year earlier.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) figures show 42 per cent of such claims were made in Dublin with the capital also showing a big spike in general claims made compared to last year.
Overall, there were 688 claims recorded in Dublin, up 78 on the 610 claims seen during the first seven months of 2015. The next highest number of claims were in Cork (129) and Galway (92).
Between January and July, claims increased in 20 counties, with the largest percentage change being in Roscommon, which recorded an increase of 500 per cent as the number of claims rose from 2 to 12.
Decline
Four counties experienced a decline in the number of claims, the largest drop being in Limerick which had 80 claims, down from 95 in 2015.
The number of claims in Clare and Kildare were the same across both years.
MIBI, which was established by the Government and the insurance industry in the 1950s, pays out approximately €60 million a year on claims involving uninsured or untraced drivers. David Fitzgerald, the body’s chief executive, warned that the jump in claims involving such drivers would likely impact on premiums in the future.
“An increase of 17 per cent represents a significant jump in the number of claims being lodged. It showcases the increased pipeline of payments facing the MIBI. While no sums are yet attached to these claims, unfortunately more claims generally means higher levels of payments coming from the MIBI and ultimately, that will impact on motor insurance premiums,” he said. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/number-of-claims-involving-uninsured-drivers-jumps-1.2771818?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/cdb95e4a852049995ad105ee4247756fdef5a8ba55021de5f547cc113e5abac6.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T04:51:19 | null | 2016-08-29T05:00:00 | Grafton Group and Total Produce to report; Irish porperty prices and US jobless rate | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fcompanies%2Fcoming-up-the-big-business-events-of-week-ahead-1.2769393%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769392.1472228385!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Coming up: the big business events of week ahead | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Grafton Group to report results
Builders merchanting and DIY company Grafton Group is due to report interim results this Wednesday, with underlying trading profits of £68.6 million (€80 million) forecast.
Davy Stockbrokers is forecasting underlying trading profits to have grown by more than 17 per cent on a year-on-year basis, or by 10 per cent adjusting for the acquisition of Grafton’s Netherlands operations in the second half of 2015.
Davy said the outlook for Grafton’s earnings remains uncertain, akin to other names in the same sector.
The stockbroking firm noted that Grafton has fallen by more than 20 per cent since the beginning of 2016.
“The stock is the worst performing in the sector on a year-to-date basis despite offering best-in-class growth prospects over the coming 18 months,” it said.
Grafton Group last month warned that Brexit is likely to dampen demand for new housing and home improvements for the remainder of the year in the UK, its most important market.
Growth in UK merchanting like-for-like sales, which make up more than 70 per cent of group revenues, slowed to an annual 1.6 per cent in the second quarter from 5.3 per cent in the first three months of the year. Sales turned negative in June.
Irish merchanting like-for-like sales rose by 10 per cent in the second quarter, while Belgian sales declined 9.5 per cent. A recovery in retail sales in its Woodies’ DIY business in Ireland has continued so far this year, the company said.
Robust results expected at Total Produce
First-half results are due tomorrow from Total Produce, the fruit distributor spun out of Fyffes.
The company’s initial 2016 EPS guidance range was 10.50 cent to 11.50 cent, but it narrows this to 11 cent to 11.50 cent, after trading for the first four months of the year had been satisfactory.
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Davy analyst Declan Morrissey said pricing in Total Produce’s European markets remained positive in the first half despite the ongoing Russian trade embargo on fresh produce.
“We expect a robust performance in the first half, in line with the upbeat trading statement at the end of May,” he said.
For the first-half of 2015, Total Produce reported adjusted pre-tax profit that was up 11.5 per cent to €30.3 million.
Pre-tax profits were unchanged at €24.2 million, while revenue rose 9.2 per cent in the six months to the end of June 2015 to €1.73 billion.
Earlier this year, Total Produce announced it had acquired a 65 per cent stake in US-based Progressive Produce, a grower, packer and distributor of conventional and organic produce with 2015 sales in excess of $200 million.
Davy said last year’s €20 million share buyback, combined with the annual dividend, underpins a focus on shareholder returns.
Monday
Results: Samsonite
Indicators: Irish retail sales (Jul); Irish residential property prices (Jul); US Dallas Fed manufacturing index (Aug)
Tuesday
Results: Abercrombie & Fitch; Bunzl; Total Produce
Indicators: Japanese unemployment rate (Jul); Japanese retail sales (Jul); German import prices (Jul); Euro zone economic sentiment (Aug); Euro zone industrial sentiment (Aug)
Wednesday
Results: Grafton Group; Irish Continental
Meetings: FBD Holdings EGM (Irish Farm Centre, Dublin 12)
Indicators: Euro zone unemployment rate (Jul); US MBA mortgage applications (Aug 26); US pending home sales (Jul); German unemployment rate (Jul); German retail sales (Jul); UK Gfk consumer confidence (Aug)
Other: Launch of Hotel Industry Survey 2016
Thursday
Results: CPL; Donegal Investment Group; Genesco; Hays; Pernod Ricard
Meetings: Future Ready event (Convention Centre, Dublin 1)
Indicators: Irish consumer confidence (Aug); Irish Investec manufacturing PMI (Aug); Irish live register (Aug); Euro zone Markit manufacturing PMI (Aug); German Markit manufacturing PMI (Aug); US Markit manufacturing PMI (Aug); Japanese Nikkei Manufacturing PMI (Aug); US initial jobless claims (Aug 27th).
Friday
Meetings: National ePayments Conference (CityNorth Hotel, Co Meath); Cork Chamber Brexit business breakfast (Clarion Hotel, Cork);
Indicators: Irish industrial production (Jul); UK Nationwide housing prices (Aug); Japanese consumer confidence (Aug); US balance of trade (Jul); US non-farm payrolls (Aug); US unemployment rate (Aug) | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/companies/coming-up-the-big-business-events-of-week-ahead-1.2769393?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/8e9a2858f549645313c1a3ce5788ffe1f12ea5e5b8088434ba7bc79d6c755a13.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:52:28 | null | 2016-08-12T13:06:00 | Firm says grading workers did not work and they are looking at a new, less static system | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fwork%2Fsoftware-maker-sap-ditches-annual-performance-reviews-1.2754127%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2754126.1471009884!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Software maker SAP ditches annual performance reviews | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Germany’s SAP, maker of software used to grade the performance of millions of employees worldwide, is ditching its own annual performance reviews as too expensive, time-consuming and often demotivating.
Once championed by business leaders as the key to better productivity, annual appraisals are falling out of fashion with companies including IBM, Gap and even General Electric, whose long-time chief executive Jack Welch is credited with popularising the system.
SAP, which for the last two years has had an American CEO and employs almost a third of its staff in the United States, is one of the first major European companies to join the trend that began across the Atlantic.
The ritual of the annual performance review is widely disliked by employees.
SAP’s human resources head Wolfgang Fassnacht said Europe’s biggest software maker had found the annual review process, with its focus on separating over- from under-performers, was often counter-productive to the goal of constructive dialogue.
“Grading workers did not work. People are open to feedback, also to harsh criticism, until the moment you start giving scores. Then the shutters go down,” he said.
Regular check-in talks
SAP is testing a new process, which includes more regular check-in talks, on about 8,000 of its workers and aims to implement it for all of its almost 80,000 workforce next year.
“The old system is too static,” said Fassnacht. “It no longer reflects the dynamic circumstances we are operating in.”
SAP is a world leader in human-resources (HR) software and made a big bet on performance-management tools with the $3.4 billion acquisition of US cloud-computing company successfactors.com in 2012.
It gets a lot of feedback from its customers, Mr Fassnacht said, a factor that may have influenced its decision to ditch the dreaded annual review.
“I meet many HR managers at other companies. The topic is on everyone’s mind at the moment,” he said. “This is actually one of the hottest topics discussed in the HR area.”
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SAP is not putting itself out of business, however. It will continue to sell its performance assessment software and it announced in February it would also introduce software for continuous performance management of employees.
Although many companies are re-assessing the annual review, Sydney-based management consultancy Strategic Factors, a specialist in strategic planning and performance measurement, warned against ditching employee reviews wholesale.
“Regular check-ins are great, this ongoing conversation and coaching model, but we also need performance measurements. We need to be careful to not chuck out the baby with the bath water,” said managing director Graham Kenny.
Audit and advisory firm PwC concluded in a report last year there was a general trend among companies of reforming performance reviews but that removing ratings was still perceived as a “more radical” change. – Reuters | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/work/software-maker-sap-ditches-annual-performance-reviews-1.2754127?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-12T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/850fcab445555d9bff852f2b0290074c859efe7dc5730b1fb534e388f8f5d1c3.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T20:51:10 | null | 2016-08-28T21:00:00 | Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton rallies to finish third and stay 10 points clear of rival | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fother-sports%2Fnico-rosberg-leads-all-way-to-win-belgian-grand-prix-1.2771198%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771192.1472405857!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Nico Rosberg leads all way to win Belgian Grand Prix | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Nico Rosberg won the Belgian Grand Prix with a pole-to-flag victory untroubled at the front of the field but in his wake, Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes team-mate, achieved far more than he expected by putting in a superb recovery drive to claim third place and minimise the damage that starting on the back row of the grid had done to his world championship ambitions.
Daniel Ricciardo drove a solid and considered race to take second in the Red Bull, having won here in 2014.
Hamilton had led the title race by 19 points going into the race but having fitted three new engines at Spa, he took penalty places that saw him begin the race second from last. He has maintained his lead, which now stands at 10 points, and given the circumstances and his own fears that the hot temperatures would work against his ability to come through the field, he will be pleased with his afternoon’s work, especially given he now has a stock of power units for the rest of the season.
Sixth win of season
It is Rosberg’s first win at the track and his sixth win of the season, the first since the European Grand Prix in Baku, ending the run of four victories that had enabled Hamilton turn the German’s 43-point advantage into a 19-point deficit.
The German driver put in exactly what was needed with aplomb. Victory was required and he delivered, working his tyres well, albeit with no real opposition. He may have hoped for more in terms of regaining points in the title fight but a failure to win would have been more damaging. Hamilton, in turn, was favoured by events including a safety car and the race being red-flagged but was also controlled and skilful in passing and staying out of trouble.
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Force India enjoyed another great weekend at Spa with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in fourth and fifth respectively. Fernando Alonso, who had taken three new power units for his McLaren over the weekend, incurring a 60-place grid penalty and who had started from the back of the grid, finished in seventh place after a great drive, but his team-mate Jenson Button retired with a mechanical problem after just one lap, having been hit from behind by the Manor of Pascal Wehrlein.
The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were in sixth and ninth, with the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa rounding out the top 10 in eighth and 10th.
Hamilton had started from the last row with a 55-place penalty for the new engines this weekend, which was compounded to an even greater level of meaninglessness with a further five places deducted when the team broke a seal on the car under parc ferme conditions – in order to be able to change the gearbox at the next round in Monza.
Recovery drives
The engine penalties incurred have already cost him once this season, with mechanical failures forcing recovery drives when he started 22nd in China and fought back to seventh and managed second from 10th in Russia. But this comeback ranks easily alongside his previous best efforts when he took his McLaren from 24th on the grid to eighth in Barcelona – that without the advantage his current Mercedes enjoys – and after a fire during qualifying at Hungary in 2014 was followed by a brave and determined drive to claim third place.
Rosberg had leapt into the lead from what was a messy start behind him that saw the two Ferraris take damage from one another after Max Verstappen went up the inside on the first corner. Vettel spun and the Dutch driver also suffered in the incident and he and Raikonnen were forced to pit. Their drama was swiftly overshadowed however, when Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso suffered a huge blowout on lap two, which brought out the virtual safety car. At which point Hamilton had made a superb start to make it to 13th from 21st on the grid – one that was bettered by Alonso, who had started at the back and had moved up to 11th.
Short-lived
When racing resumed it was short-lived, after Kevin Magnussen in the Renault suffered a huge, high-speed collision going almost straight into the barriers at the top of Eau Rouge. The driver emerged with only a left ankle injury. This caused the safety car to be deployed, with considerable damage to the tyre wall, prompting a round of pit stops for drivers on the supersoft tyres. Hamilton, however, on the medium rubber and his team-mate, on the soft, stayed out – helping promote the British driver to fifth, a series of circumstances that had worked out perfectly in his attempt to make the places back.
The damage to the tyre wall proved extensive and after four laps behind the safety car the race was red-flagged. The cars retuned to the pit lane where Hamilton took advantage of the free stop to switch to the soft compound tyre and Rosberg to the medium. An 18-minute delay ensued before the green flags were back, with Rosberg leading Red Bull’s Ricciardo and Force India’s Hulkenberg and Alonso behind them.
Hamilton was on a charge, however, and moved up into fourth, passing Alonso on the Kemmel Straight a lap later. His gap to the leader was 5.6 seconds but he was losing time behind Hulkenberg – a further two down in the next two laps. On lap 18 he passed the German, again on the Kemmel Straight, putting him into the podium places.
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Offered third on Friday morning, one suspects he would have snapped it up. Guardian Service Results in Sports Round-up | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/nico-rosberg-leads-all-way-to-win-belgian-grand-prix-1.2771198?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/26d5b7a41adb82c1b49e32ece5dd6ef1f1b8b4c7383e83cf329383088efec2fc.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:50:19 | null | 2016-08-26T14:21:00 | Order had outraged Muslims and opened serious divisions within the government | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Feurope%2Ftop-french-court-suspends-ban-on-burkini-swimsuits-1.2769468%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769467.1472219290!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Top French court suspends ban on burkini swimsuits | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | France’s top administrative court has overturned a town burkini ban amid shock and anger worldwide after some Muslim women were ordered to remove body-concealing garments on French Riviera beaches.
The ruling by the Council of State specifically concerns a ban in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet.
Under the French legal system, temporary decisions can be handed down before the court takes more time to prepare a judgement on the underlying legality of the case.
The ruling will be binding and will affect at least 30 other coastal towns, mainly in southeast France, that have made similar decrees.
Lawyers for two human rights groups challenged the legality of the ban, saying the orders infringe basic freedoms and that mayors have overstepped their powers by telling women what to wear on beaches.
Mayors had cited concern about public order after deadly Islamic extremist attacks this summer, and many officials have argued that burkinis oppress women.
Lawyer Patrice Spinosi, representing the Human Rights League, told reporters that the decision should set a precedent, and that other mayors should conform to it. He also said women who have already received fines can protest against them based on Friday’s decision.
Images of uniformed police appearing to require a woman to take off her tunic in Nice, and media accounts of similar incidents, have elicited shock and anger online this week. Some fear that burkini bans in several French towns, based on a strict application of French secularism policies, are worsening religious tensions.
The mayor of Sisco, in northern Corsica, said he will not lift his ban on the burkini despite the ruling.
Ange-Pierre Vivoni had banned the burkini after an August 13th clash on a beach in Sisco. He told BFM-TV: “Here the tension is very, very, very strong and I won’t withdraw it.”
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He conceded he does not know whether a woman was actually wearing a burkini the day a clash occurred that set a group of sunbathers of North African origin, from another town, against villagers from Sisco.
It took days to untangle the events leading to the violence that many immediately assumed was over a burkini.
Divisions have emerged in President Francois Hollande’s government over the bans, and protests have been held in London and Berlin by those defending women’s right to wear what they want on the beach. Critics of the local decrees have said the orders are too vague, prompting local police officials to fine even women wearing the traditional Islamic headscarf and the hijab, but not burkinis. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/top-french-court-suspends-ban-on-burkini-swimsuits-1.2769468?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/14a0c02827fb6f1889de5bab57c94b78fb84bc0b1cfb395cef80f12095853806.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T12:51:54 | null | 2016-08-29T13:20:00 | Islam Karimov (78) has run country since it was a Soviet republic | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fasia-pacific%2Fuzbek-leader-in-intensive-care-after-brain-haemorrhage-1.2771927%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/assets/images/favicons/irishtimes.png | en | null | Uzbek leader in intensive care after brain haemorrhage | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Authoritarian Uzbek leader Islam Karimov is in stable condition in an intensive care ward after suffering a brain haemorrhage on Saturday, his daughter said.
President Karimov (78), who has run Uzbekistan since it was a Soviet republic and wields sweeping powers, has no obvious successor, a situation characteristic of the volatile Central Asia region which is still largely run by former Communist apparatchiks.
The Central Asian country is a stage for strategic rivalry between Russia, China and the West.
The absence of a strong political opposition or free media means any eventual transition of power is likely to be decided within a close circle of Mr Karimov’s family and top officials.
“At the moment, it is too early to make any forecasts about his condition in the future,” his daughter Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva wrote on her Instagram page on Monday. “I will be grateful to everyone who will support my father with prayers.”
The government of Central Asia’s most populous country, with reserves of oil, gas and gold, said on Sunday Karimov was undergoing hospital treatment, but gave no details.
A failure to reach consensus on a transition could destabilise a mostly Muslim nation of 32 million long targeted by Islamist militants and strategically located north of Afghanistan, in the resource-rich region where Russia, China and the West vie for influence.
Since Uzbekistan became independent with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, Karimov has with some success courted both the West and Russia as well as China, maintaining political and economic links with all.
Human rights
Mr Karimov has been criticised by rights groups and some governments over his human rights record, but argues the country is at risk of becoming a conduit for Islamist militants from Afghanistan to Russia and western Europe. The Uzbek government has accused Islamists of being behind protests in the city of Andizhan where police and security forces fired into a crowd in 2005, killing 187 people, according to official reports.
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Mr Karimov has no sons, who might have been regarded as heirs apparent in the patriarchal culture. His elder daugher, Gulnara, has not appeared in public since several media reported in 2014 that she had been placed under house arrest.
Mr Karimov’s second daughter, Lola, is Uzbekistan’s ambassador to Paris-based UNESCO.
Among Uzbekistan’s ex-Soviet neighbours, only Turkmenistan, a more wealthy gas exporter with a much smaller population, saw a relatively smooth transition when its Soviet-era leader Saparmurat Niyazov died in 2006. Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, then deputy prime minister, took over.
Poorer Kyrgyzstan, on the other hand, has gone through two violent revolutions accompanied by ethnic clashes.
Another neighbour, Tajikistan, went through a devastating civil war in the 1990s after Soviet institutions crumbled.
Some of those who fought against the Tajik government at the time were members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a group which has been outlawed and has pledged allegiance first to the Taliban and then to the Islamic State. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/uzbek-leader-in-intensive-care-after-brain-haemorrhage-1.2771927?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/2a6f40af959a59c7175f4cf9d4de570153175b9b3fe2aa43a8910789e06cc565.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T04:49:24 | null | 2016-08-31T05:20:52 | Company back in the black after full-year turnover rises by nearly 27% to €69m | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ftransport-and-tourism%2Fryanair-cabin-staff-supplier-crewlink-returns-to-profit-1.2773332.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773330.1472575031!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Ryanair cabin staff supplier Crewlink returns to profit | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Crewlink Ireland, a company that provides cabin staff for Ryanair, returned to profit last year on the back of a sharp rise in turnover, recently-filed accounts show.
The firm, which says it has more than 5,000 crew members currently registered with the Irish airline, reported pre-tax profits of €64,159 in 2015 as against a €17,416 loss a year earlier.
Full-year turnover increased by nearly 27 per cent, from €55.1 million to €69.8 million. The company recorded an operating profit of €82,706 versus a €1,100 loss in the prior year.
Revenue attributed to geographic markets outside the Republic of Ireland amounted to just 1 per cent for the year, with the company reporting Irish-derived turnover of €69.3 million, up from €52.2 million in 2014. European revenues fell from €2.8 million to just €575,310.
Crewlink is based in the Southern Cross Business Park in Bray, Co Wicklow, and is owned by Frank Whelan and Judy Byrne by way of a company called Occam Management Ltd.
Recruitment days
The group, which holds regular recruitment days across Europe, offers six-week training courses that can cost up to €2,900 (excluding accommodation) with an option for costs to be deducted from employees’ salaries during the first year of employment.
During the year under review Crewlink had four administrative staff and an average of 3,107 staff under the category “other”. This marks an increase from 2,571 employees recorded a year earlier.
Employee-related costs totalled €67.5 million last year, up from €51.7 million in 2014. Wages and salaries totalled €58.2 million, and pension costs were €108,146. This compares with costs of €45.5 million and €83,706 respectively in the prior year.
Consolidated accounts for Occam Management for 2014 show a pre-tax profit of €493,122, up from €233,139 in 2013.
Although Crewlink describes itself as “the leading recruiter” for Ryanair, a second company, Dalmac, a company headquartered in Rush, Co Dublin, that is owned by Fingal Language Institute Ltd, refers to itself as “the official recruitment and training partner” for the airline.
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Fingal Language Institute, which is owned by Laura McCrudden and Ryan Moffat, had accumulated profits of €1.17 million in 2014. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/ryanair-cabin-staff-supplier-crewlink-returns-to-profit-1.2773332 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/0d1259943bebf19a688d412d1b9832484fa6fbd85ad7065d61f0673ff86cca0d.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T00:52:35 | null | 2016-08-31T01:00:00 | Attempt to find Northwest Passage setting for Ed O’Loughlin’s new book Minds of Winter | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fcanadian-ambassador-kevin-vickers-launches-arctic-novel-1.2773600%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773599.1472590022!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Canadian ambassador Kevin Vickers launches Arctic novel | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Canadian ambassador Kevin Vickers said his ambition as a boy had been to join the Mounties (the Royal Canadian Mounted Police).
He was speaking as he launched the new novel by former Irish Times journalist Ed O’Loughlin. Minds of Winter is set in the Arctic and references both the present day and the era of polar exploration, particularly the search for the Northwest Passage .
Mr Vickers said he had been particularly taken by the doomed attempt by Sir John Franklin to find the Northwest Passage in the 1840s. “I got to live my dream for 10 years. All the places you see in the book have been places I have been too,” he said.
“I left my heart with the aboriginal people up North. Their values of respecting the dignity of all people and sharing whatever they have with whoever comes their way are things we can learn by.”
Mr Vickers came to prominence in Ireland earlier this year when he tackled a protester who disrupted a commemoration for the British soldiers killed in the Easter Rising.
Minds of Winter is Mr O’Loughlin’s third novel. He was born in Toronto, but now lives in Dublin. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/canadian-ambassador-kevin-vickers-launches-arctic-novel-1.2773600?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/b2f00ec3a64a26a14ee183e14fa73b74cac02ba070b614501d86d87e9ed22e98.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T18:48:46 | null | 2016-08-29T17:29:00 | Government to embark on aggressive campaign to rebut the Commission’s findings | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Feu-set-to-find-apple-owes-ireland-billions-in-back-taxes-1.2772178.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772249.1472494092!/image/image.jpg | en | null | EU set to find Apple owes Ireland billions in back taxes | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The European Commission will in the morning find that Apple owes the Irish state “billions of euros” in back taxes when it rules that the technology giant’s tax arrangements in Ireland constituted a form of illegal state aid.
The ruling, to be announced in Brussels on Tuesday morning, will not stipulate a figure for the amount of tax owed, but will lay out a process and a formula by which the unpaid tax should be calculated.
It is expected that an indicative figure will be supplied by the Commission later in the day. Sources who have been briefed on the matter say the amount of tax Apple will owe will be in the billions, rather than the hundreds of millions of euros that Dublin had hoped for.
However, the Government will appeal the Commission’s finding, and says the money will not be available to spend, either now or in the future, ministers have stressed. Depending on the terms of the decision, Apple may be required to pay the funds into an escrow account in the coming months.
Aggressive campaign
Government ministers will embark on an aggressive campaign to rebut the Commission’s findings. “They are making up new rules for international tax,” said one minister last night. “They are trying to make us tax Apple for stuff that doesn’t happen here. It’s nonsense.”
Apple is also certain to reject the finding and will launch a strong defence, while political sources said that they expect the US government to weigh in later in the week in support of Ireland and Apple.
The Apple tax ruling The European Commission is to issue a ruling in relation to the tax arrangements of Apple in Ireland, where the phone giant has its European HQ. It looks certain the EC will confirm a preliminary ruling that Ireland offers Apple illegal state aid in how it allows it to pay tax. It will then tell Ireland it must collect tax from Apple but Ireland is expected to appeal such a ruling fearing it will damage the drive to attract inward investment. Q&A: Cliff Taylor answers the key questions I found this helpful Yes No
However, the larger than expected size of the sum at stake will complicate the politics for the Irish Government, which is determined to avoid having to take the money.
Legal fees
While Fianna Fáil has supported the Government’s decision to appeal the decision, there was fierce criticism from other opposition parties.
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“The Government is wrong to say they will appeal the decision no matter what,” said Pearse Doherty, Sinn Fein’s finance spokesman.
“They’ve been saying it’s a reputational issue. I think it’s more damaging to continue a fight that we will ultimately lose,” he said. The Government should accept the Apple money, he insisted.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett said it was “outrageous” that the Government had already spent hundreds of thousands of euros on legal fees fighting the case.
Deputy Boyd-Barrett discovered through a parliamentary question that the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Finance have already spent some €670,000 on legal fees fighting the case. The Government should accept the money as it would unpaid tax from any taxpayer, he said.
“This is money that could resolve our housing problems and the crisis in our hospitals,” he said.
Pay down debt
However, the Government insists that even if the money if eventually paid to the Irish authorities,they will not be able to use it to finance current or capital spending. Instead, under EU rules the money must be used to pay down debt.
The contentious investigation has been underway now for more than two years. It concerns two tax rulings which the Revenue gave to Apple in 1991 and 2007. Last week the US Treasury accused the European Commission of acting beyond its powers in its investigations of the tax affairs of US multinationals and in particular objected to the idea of tax being collected retrospectively.
However despite this the European Commission has pushed ahead with its final decision, which will be that Ireland offered illegal state aid to the US multinational.
Early estimates were that Apple could be asked to repay up to €19 billion in tax. While the final figure is expected to be substantially lower, sources say that there is no question but that it will be appealed by both sides.
The decision is expected to attract huge international attention. The Government is expected to immediately challenge the decision, saying that the reasoning used was unprecedented. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/eu-set-to-find-apple-owes-ireland-billions-in-back-taxes-1.2772178 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/1380cd8e288b28dab4da84691559c6e91874220733c3de0f46da3e36d6d0a611.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T00:52:16 | null | 2016-08-31T01:07:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Fapple-s-tax-affairs-ireland-and-the-eu-1.2773351%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/assets/images/favicons/irishtimes.png | en | null | Apple’s tax affairs, Ireland and the EU | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Sir, – The Bullingdon Club in Oxford is said to have required prospective members to set fire to a £50 note in front of a homeless person as an initiation ritual.
While the decision by our leaders figuratively to burn €13 billion in the faces of the country’s 6,000 homeless people may be controversial, it can rest assured that it has proven beyond doubt its eligibility to join the Bullingdon Club. – Yours, etc,
OSAL KELLY
Delgany, Co Wicklow.
Sir, – The European Commission, which Fine Gael worships as if it were a modern-day Roman senate, has found the global tech company Apple owes Ireland €13 billion in unpaid taxes. Instead of being delighted about this, the Government is going to challenge this finding in the courts, stating that Apple does not owe this money to the State, as accepting this finding or the billions of euro would somehow force a compromise and an open admission that there may have been a beneficial tax arrangement set up between Ireland and Apple which led us to this mess.
Now, if the State does decide to challenge this finding, will the Irish people foot the bill of lawyers, barristers, accountancy firms and any other consultants needed to build a case for us turning down this glorious windfall?
Once again, on top of turning down the chance to boost the State coffers and rebuild confidence in social services and reduce the horrible inequality that exists in Ireland, this Government will again take public money and give it to the professional classes to defend the indefensible. – Yours, etc,
DARREN WILLIAMS,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – In principle, the EU prohibits member states from using state resources (ie our money) to confer an advantage on any business or sector that could distort competition and affect trade between the member states. The objective of this ban is twofold. First of all, it is designed to prevent inefficient enterprises from gaining an advantage that can act as a barrier to other more efficient firms that wish to compete in the same sector. This is the bread-and-butter of competition law. What distinguishes state aid is that the European Commission is examining the anti-competitive behaviour of states rather than private enterprises, and in this respect the measure has a second objective – to prevent governments from using the money entrusted to them by the taxpayer to give an undeserved benefit to private actors.
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Enterprises and academics often overlook this aspect of the ban on state aid and criticise the fact that it is the recipient that is punished, through the obligation to repay the aid, rather than the state which introduced the measure in the first place.
Multinationals such as Apple complain that they simply accepted terms that were given to them by Irish governments and that EU law does not give it the power to notify a measure to the European Commission first so that it can ensure it is acceptable. This hardly washes in Apple’s case. Not only did the company and its lawyers accept the risk the policy was state aid, they aggressively pursued this agreement. If Ireland hadn’t acquiesced, they would have leaned on another state to look the other way.
Of course, our Government shouldn’t have broken the law but the money it gave away wasn’t its to spend – it was ours. The victim here is the Irish people. And just because we were wronged by those that were supposed to represent us does not mean we are not entitled to reparation. By examining the agreement, the European Commission was making sure the Government was doing its job – acting in the interests of the public, rather than that of one business. This is what makes Michael Noonan’s statement so disturbing and the current Government’s stance so shameful.
Fine Gael has been presented with a perfect opportunity to free itself from the shady agreement of its predecessor, and to distance itself from that school of behaviour, sending a strong statement that during its term the interests of the many will come first.
Apple is the one that got the windfall and it is only time it gave it back. Instead it has taken ownership of the inherited deal and is doing everything it can to save it. Its willingness to take the issue to the European Court of Justice is a chilling display of where loyalties lie. If it wins, all such stunts will in future be beyond the reach of EU law, and even the European Commission won’t be able to step in and stop them.
First a windfall for Apple, then a golden ticket. – Yours, etc,
MARY CATHERINE
NAUGHTON,
Barcelona, Spain.
Sir, – Anyone for a smidgen of Apple turnover? Or is to be slice of tarte au citron instead? – Yours, etc,
CLARE BALFE,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – The patronising EU’s decision to overrule Ireland’s own business-friendly tax system with its draconian decision on Apple shows that it has a contempt for sovereignty and a disdain for freedom. The Irish are a proud people and a free nation and should follow the United Kingdom out of the corrupt EU. – Yours, etc,
PETER BOOTH,
Manchester.
Sir, – Nice of the Government to stick up for the rights of one of the richest and most miserly companies in the world. I hope Apple chief executive Tim Cook reciprocates by buying everyone in Ireland a leprechaun outfit. – Yours, etc,
P O’RIORDAN,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Surely not the European Commission but our own Irish tax authorities would be pursuing me if I owed the State billions in tax? – Yours, etc,
MICHIEL DROST,
Glasnevin, Dublin 11.
Sir, – Ireland’s corporation tax rate of 12.5 per cent applies to all companies, both indigenous and multinational operating out of Ireland; however, it is widely accepted that large multinational companies are paying as little as 1 per cent to 2 per cent on profits earned or routed through Ireland for the express purpose of minimising tax liability in their home countries.
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This facility of minimising tax liability through creative tax avoidance is not available to Irish companies nor indeed to Irish taxpayers. Indeed, Revenue publishes a list of tax defaulters every quarter with defaulters found liable for up to three times their liability when fines and interest are added on.
It is high time that all corporations operating out of Ireland were obliged to pay the very favourable tax rate of 12.5 per cent. It is an indictment of successive Irish governments that it took the European Commission to initiate this process. – Yours, etc,
PETER LEMASS,
Athlone, Co Roscommon.
Sir, – I read with interest the findings by the European Commission that will probably mean that Apple owes the Irish State “billions of euro” in back taxes. I have a suggestion. Since Apple in Ireland is based in Cork and since Cork badly needs a motorway link to its closest city, Limerick, why not allocate the back taxes to its immediate construction? The new road could be named for Apple, with appropriate signage along the route acknowledging such an immense contribution. It would be a win-win for Apple and the people of Cork and Limerick. The current Dublin Government would sooner fund motorway construction through Galway and Mayo rather than high population areas where they are actually needed, so why not use this windfall to fill a gap that our so-called “national” Government is unwilling to address? – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL McEVOY,
Newton, Massachusetts.
Sir, – Although many in Ireland would like to see us as the 51st state of the US, we are members of the EU. If €13 billion were invested in housing, tourism, agriculture and fisheries, it would be a life-changing sum, not an insubstantial, ethereal political football. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE TANNAM,
Firhouse, Dublin 24.
Sir, – Michael Noonan need not worry. The Irish taxpayer won’t see a cent of that money. Apple has the most ruthless lobbying system in corporate America. Stuck for someone to give him some public-speaking tips before appearing in front of a US Senate committee investigating Apple’s tax affairs, its chief executive Tim Cook turned to his old pal Bill Clinton, who obliged with some helpful advice. With long-term beneficiary of corporate largesse Hillary Clinton in the White House, the European Commission won’t even dare to look sideways at Apple. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL McMAHON,
Dublin 12.
Sir, – €13 billion? That’s €2,732.25 for every man, woman and child in the Republic of Ireland. Be a good lad, Michael, and send it out to us in time for Christmas. – Yours, etc,
PETER SHAUGHNESSY,
Greystones, Co Wicklow. | http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/apple-s-tax-affairs-ireland-and-the-eu-1.2773351?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/33d07ef44ac7db1feae54d19c7d3bbbbc09b427959f121264a0440d15c35ec02.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T14:49:33 | null | 2016-08-31T14:56:00 | Consumers will be able to order household essentials at touch of wifi-connected button | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ftechnology%2Famazon-dash-one-button-ordering-device-arrives-in-uk-1.2774391.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2774390.1472653998!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Amazon Dash: one-button ordering device arrives in UK | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Seeking to capitalise on consumers too busy or forgetful to shop for household essentials, retail giant Amazon is bringing its thumb-sized, one-button ordering device to the United Kingdom.
From Wednesday, British Amazon Prime customers will be able to order supplies of products such as toilet paper, dishwasher tablets, dog food and coffee at the touch of the wifi-connected Amazon Dash button.
Each device is dedicated to a single product – toilet roll, for instance – with the brand’s logo emblazoned on the buttons, which cost £4.99 apiece. So if you wanted the service for two different products, you would need a separate device for each, though customers receive the cost of the device back in the form of a discount on their first order.
Some customers thought the US launch on March 31st, 2015, was an April Fool’s joke, said Daniel Rausch, director of Amazon Dash. But the service, as gimmicky as it may sound, appears to have caught the imagination of household goods manufacturers.
Mr Rausch said that more than 150 brands have joined the scheme in the United States, up from about 20 at launch, and that there has been a threefold increase in customer orders through the devices in the past two months, though the company gave no data on sales numbers.
In Britain, Amazon Dash will launch with 48 brands in the scheme. The next step for Amazon is to automate the service entirely, so that appliances such as printers, vacuum cleaners and washing machines order new ink, bags and washing powder when they are running low.
Companies including Bosch, Siemens, Samsung and Whirlpool are already working on integrating Dash Replenishment into their products, Mr Rausch said.
– (Reuters) | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/amazon-dash-one-button-ordering-device-arrives-in-uk-1.2774391 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/281dd9fac555a020e9f4f83333a1fea528e434f8cb5b67bf1bcfbfaa0643d20d.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T04:48:36 | null | 2016-08-29T05:00:00 | Grafton Group and Total Produce to report; Irish porperty prices and US jobless rate | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fcompanies%2Fcoming-up-the-big-business-events-of-week-ahead-1.2769393.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769392.1472228385!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Coming up: the big business events of week ahead | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Grafton Group to report results
Builders merchanting and DIY company Grafton Group is due to report interim results this Wednesday, with underlying trading profits of £68.6 million (€80 million) forecast.
Davy Stockbrokers is forecasting underlying trading profits to have grown by more than 17 per cent on a year-on-year basis, or by 10 per cent adjusting for the acquisition of Grafton’s Netherlands operations in the second half of 2015.
Davy said the outlook for Grafton’s earnings remains uncertain, akin to other names in the same sector.
The stockbroking firm noted that Grafton has fallen by more than 20 per cent since the beginning of 2016.
“The stock is the worst performing in the sector on a year-to-date basis despite offering best-in-class growth prospects over the coming 18 months,” it said.
Grafton Group last month warned that Brexit is likely to dampen demand for new housing and home improvements for the remainder of the year in the UK, its most important market.
Growth in UK merchanting like-for-like sales, which make up more than 70 per cent of group revenues, slowed to an annual 1.6 per cent in the second quarter from 5.3 per cent in the first three months of the year. Sales turned negative in June.
Irish merchanting like-for-like sales rose by 10 per cent in the second quarter, while Belgian sales declined 9.5 per cent. A recovery in retail sales in its Woodies’ DIY business in Ireland has continued so far this year, the company said.
Robust results expected at Total Produce
First-half results are due tomorrow from Total Produce, the fruit distributor spun out of Fyffes.
The company’s initial 2016 EPS guidance range was 10.50 cent to 11.50 cent, but it narrows this to 11 cent to 11.50 cent, after trading for the first four months of the year had been satisfactory.
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Davy analyst Declan Morrissey said pricing in Total Produce’s European markets remained positive in the first half despite the ongoing Russian trade embargo on fresh produce.
“We expect a robust performance in the first half, in line with the upbeat trading statement at the end of May,” he said.
For the first-half of 2015, Total Produce reported adjusted pre-tax profit that was up 11.5 per cent to €30.3 million.
Pre-tax profits were unchanged at €24.2 million, while revenue rose 9.2 per cent in the six months to the end of June 2015 to €1.73 billion.
Earlier this year, Total Produce announced it had acquired a 65 per cent stake in US-based Progressive Produce, a grower, packer and distributor of conventional and organic produce with 2015 sales in excess of $200 million.
Davy said last year’s €20 million share buyback, combined with the annual dividend, underpins a focus on shareholder returns.
Monday
Results: Samsonite
Indicators: Irish retail sales (Jul); Irish residential property prices (Jul); US Dallas Fed manufacturing index (Aug)
Tuesday
Results: Abercrombie & Fitch; Bunzl; Total Produce
Indicators: Japanese unemployment rate (Jul); Japanese retail sales (Jul); German import prices (Jul); Euro zone economic sentiment (Aug); Euro zone industrial sentiment (Aug)
Wednesday
Results: Grafton Group; Irish Continental
Meetings: FBD Holdings EGM (Irish Farm Centre, Dublin 12)
Indicators: Euro zone unemployment rate (Jul); US MBA mortgage applications (Aug 26); US pending home sales (Jul); German unemployment rate (Jul); German retail sales (Jul); UK Gfk consumer confidence (Aug)
Other: Launch of Hotel Industry Survey 2016
Thursday
Results: CPL; Donegal Investment Group; Genesco; Hays; Pernod Ricard
Meetings: Future Ready event (Convention Centre, Dublin 1)
Indicators: Irish consumer confidence (Aug); Irish Investec manufacturing PMI (Aug); Irish live register (Aug); Euro zone Markit manufacturing PMI (Aug); German Markit manufacturing PMI (Aug); US Markit manufacturing PMI (Aug); Japanese Nikkei Manufacturing PMI (Aug); US initial jobless claims (Aug 27th).
Friday
Meetings: National ePayments Conference (CityNorth Hotel, Co Meath); Cork Chamber Brexit business breakfast (Clarion Hotel, Cork);
Indicators: Irish industrial production (Jul); UK Nationwide housing prices (Aug); Japanese consumer confidence (Aug); US balance of trade (Jul); US non-farm payrolls (Aug); US unemployment rate (Aug) | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/companies/coming-up-the-big-business-events-of-week-ahead-1.2769393 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/f5c9ca0446adb8493d613126ba11c45bba451e1341cac6a0d494ab38e3b997c9.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T04:50:38 | null | 2016-08-27T04:00:00 | Art auction in Blackrock, Oliver McCarron house contents sale and a Co Kilkenny book event | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Flife-and-style%2Fhomes-and-property%2Ffine-art-antiques%2Fauction-results-and-forthcoming-events-1.2769362%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769360.1472209801!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Auction results and forthcoming events | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Auction results
Monday (August 22nd) RJ Keighery Auctioneers, City Auction Rooms, Waterford. A large Waterford Crystal chandelier (“Etoile” model, 41 inches high and 23 inches in diameter) €6,800 (€6,000-€9,000).
Wednesday (August 24th) O’Reilly Auction Rooms, Francis Street, Dublin 8. Auction of Jewellery, Watches & Silver at 1pm. Lot 256 is “a princess cut diamond art deco-inspired ring, set at centre and surrounded by a halo of round brilliant cut diamonds mounted in platinum” and described as “a similar smaller version of Pippa Middleton’s art deco-inspired ring” sold for €5,500 (€3,000-€4,000).
Forthcoming auctions
Tuesday (August 30th) Adams Blackrock Auctioneers, 38 Main Street, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Viewing tomorrow, Sunday (August 28th) 2-5pm; Monday (August 29th) 9.30am-6pm and Tuesday from 9.30am until the sale begins. Furniture highlights include: Lot 293, a set of 14 early 19th century Hepplewhite-style mahogany dining chairs including two carvers with the provenance described as “Clarke Family, Imperial Tobacco, Manchester” (€7,000- €8,000); and Lot 294, an early 19th-century mahogany twin-pedestal dining table, 182cm long, (€6,000-€8,000). Art highlights include: Lot 144, Cattle Grazing by Frank McKelvey (€3,000- €5,000); and Lot 299, Early Morning Roscoff by Arthur K Maderson (€5,000-€7,000); and Two Cream Jugs by Liam Belton (€1,800-€2,000).
Sunday (September 4th) Matthews Auction Rooms will hold a house contents auction at 68 Wellington Road, Dublin 4 at 1.30pm. Home of the late architect and artist Oliver McCarron, who exhibited with the White Stag art group in the 1940s, and who died in 2010. Includes antiques, books, silver and some 30 paintings including Full Bloom Summer, estimated at €400-€700.
Forthcoming fairs and valuations
Today & tomorrow, Saturday & Sunday (August 27th & 28th) Town of Books Festival, Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny. Pop-up bookshops by dealers in rare, antiquarian, collectible and second-hand books; 10am-6pm both days.
Tomorrow, Sunday (August 28th) An ‘Antiques Roadshow’-type valuations event in the ‘Boat House’ in Graiguenamanagh for art, antiques and collectibles by experts from Sheppard’s auctioneers, 2pm-4pm. | http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/fine-art-antiques/auction-results-and-forthcoming-events-1.2769362?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/c7acb20f640f877782353498d98eb79e9740e165e2ce29f44132ced5d580b1e0.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T12:50:22 | null | 2016-08-27T13:10:00 | Treatment by Brazil authorities an ‘outrageous breach’ of rights - family lawyer | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fpat-hickey-subjected-to-hatefest-due-to-rio-ticketing-claims-1.2770766%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2770762.1472299847!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Pat Hickey subjected to ‘hatefest’ due to Rio ticketing claims | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Olympic Council of Ireland president Pat Hickey who is in custody in Brazil in relation to allegations of ticket touting has been subjected to a “hatefest”, a family lawyer has said.
Anne Marie James said the manner in which the Brazilian authorities had treated Mr Hickey was an “outrageous breach of his fundamental human rights” and coverage of his arrest and detention had been a “one-sided hatefest”.
She told RTÉ Radio 1’s Marian Finucane programme: “To be treated and humiliated in the fashion that he has been and then for the drip feed of information to come from the Brazilian police where they had the audacity to use Liveline to try and explain things - and yet he is gagged.
‘Flimsiest of assumptions’
“He is in a prison cell. He has not been charged with anything. These are accusations based on the flimsiest of assumptions.”
Police arrested Mr Hickey on Wednesday of last week and he is sharing a prison cell with THG official Kevin Mallon. They were arrested by the Brazilian authorities investigating the alleged illegal sale of tickets allocated by the OCI to THG.
The OCI and Mr Hickey have repeatedly denied wrongdoing in this controversy.
THG was not authorised to sell tickets or hospitality packages for the event within Brazil or abroad and therefore any attempt by that company to sell the tickets was illegal. Both men deny any wrongdoing.
Ms James said it was not correct to state that Mr Hickey had refused a request by Minister for Sport Shane Ross to put an independent member on the OCI’s internal investigation into the ticketing scandal.
She said Mr Hickey had asked for the assistant secretary general of the Department of Transport Tourism and Sport, Ken Spratt, to be involved.
‘Smoke and mirrors’
It was “all smoke and mirrors that he [Mr Hickey] was of no assistance”, she suggested. “That hasn’t come out.”
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Ms James, who works with solicitors Kirwan McKeown James, revealed the Hickey family has appointed a firm of criminal lawyers in Ireland to liaise with the lawyers in Rio de Janeiro.
Mr Hickey has asked for documentation from the OCI which he says will exonerate him, she said, and the OCI has appointed Arthur Cox solicitors to act on its behalf.
The family will meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan next Wednesday to discuss the case.
Ms James also revealed the Irish Ambassador to Brazil, Brian Glynn, has been asked to remain in Rio to deal with the case of Mr Hickey and Mr Mallon.
She expressed a hope the Irish Government would keep a close eye on what is happening and that the “trial by media” would stop.
She also told the programme Mr Hickey had asked for mosquito repellent, suggesting he could be exposed to malaria or the Zika virus.
Concern for health
He has previously had electric shock treatment for a heart condition. The effect of his incarceration “could be not be underestimated”, she said, and his family’s main concern was for his health.
Mr Hickey is going to miss taking his grandson to school while two of his daughters-in-law are pregnant. “The stress for the family as human beings is awful. They are absolutely devastated,” she said.
“He is a very private and family man in Ireland. He doesn’t live the high life in any way. He has a very modest lifestyle.”
She admitted his reputation had been “irreparably damaged” by the allegations.
“He has worked an awfully long time to get to where he is. I know he is not popular here, but he seems to be very popular internationally.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/pat-hickey-subjected-to-hatefest-due-to-rio-ticketing-claims-1.2770766?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/91e6661260bf8653ce0e9311768feb9a0f3d88ef235047415b6aa341355eb75b.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T00:50:14 | null | 2016-08-27T01:02:00 | International team has reaped benefit from strong financial support given to clubs | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Fnational-league%2Ffai-might-learn-from-iceland-s-generosity-to-domestic-game-1.2769626%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769621.1472226964!/image/image.jpg | en | null | FAI might learn from Iceland’s generosity to domestic game | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Geir Thorsteinsson, the president of the Icelandic football association (KSI), has said this week’s decision to share out around €3.5 million amongst the country’s clubs is in line with long-term policy and has, he believes, contributed hugely to the country’s recent success internationally.
The decision to share out a quarter of the association’s income from Euro 2016 was initially taken last February at a meeting of the KSI’s affiliates. However, according to Thorsteinsson, the decision to give a quarter of the additional €6 million prizemoney earned after the national team reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, was taken by the organisation itself. That decision means an extra€1.5 million for the clubs.
“Yes, it was the association’s decision, it came from us,” said Thorsteinsson.
“They developed the players so they deserve a share of the money. We have had a very good strategy in giving grants and other types of support to our clubs. That has always been our philosophy.
“In this case, some will go to facilities, some to paying for extra coaches; the club’s have different needs and they are in the best position to judge these, so it is best that they decide how to spend the money.”
The news of the grant allocations was much remarked upon here this week with many supporters and, privately, club officials, struck by the contrast with the FAI’s recent offer of a total of €100,000 to be distributed amongst Ireland’s senior clubs.
Cost of paying referees
The differences don’t stop there, however. Thorsteinsson, who did not address these differences as he spoke to The Irish Times, revealed that the association had, in recent years, waived affiliation fees for clubs in the country’s senior leagues and covered the cost of paying referees and other match officials in order to ease the burden on clubs.
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Both of these are expenses that have long prompted complaints from clubs here.
“Mostly our clubs include men’s, women’s and youth sections; all of our bigger clubs are like this,” he said.
“We focus on these clubs and, in particular, on the ones with the youths. But the emphasis in on equality.
“We have given the same amounts to our lower league clubs [there are five men’s divisions and two women’s divisions] as long as they have a youth section.
“There are 47 clubs with youth development structures and 18 where there are just adults, mostly guys just playing for themselves really, so it is right that they don’t get so much money. None of these receive any serious money.”
All Uefa money received goes to improving infrastructure, an approach that has laid the groundwork for the transformation of the country’s facilities and coaching regime – something that was widely documented after the senior international side qualified for France.
The amount of money distributed this week as a result of their success is not huge but they would look pretty attractive to administrators with Airtricity League sides.
Five Icelandic clubs received just short of €138,000 and 13 got more than the €100,000 Dundalk received for winning the title here last season.
Like Dundalk, Icelandic clubs see success in Europe as a major target and the association is trying to help them achieve it. However, Thorsteinsson, a former youth player, coach and club secretary at KR Reykjavik who also refereed before joining the KSI, acknowledged the scale of the challenge they face.
Disadvantages
An obvious factor is that the country’s leading players play abroad which, he said, had both advantages and disadvantages for the domestic game.
“It’s difficult to keep them. We do very well at the moment with the players up until the age of 16 but at 17, 18 or 19 it is natural that the best talents go away. Agents from all over the world come and see them and our best clubs will never be able to compete with Dutch clubs or Denmark or England or the other leagues where they go to.
“Going is good for them because they improve and we have quite a few players from overseas in our league too; they help to bring up the standard of the players who stay at home. It’s the history of football. It is the way the game has developed. You cannot stop that.
Overnight
“What happened at the Euros did not come overnight,” he said. “It was the result of a lot of hard work over many years. It is not just our senior men ... our under-21s still have a chance to go to Poland next summer and our women’s team are well placed to qualify for another European Championships.
“But we hope the Euro will change the perception of Iceland and its football. When it comes to young players, we have been a cheap market for foreign clubs but I hope what the team has achieved this summer helps to change that and the prices go up.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/national-league/fai-might-learn-from-iceland-s-generosity-to-domestic-game-1.2769626?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/984f47e72470a98a0232c0dcbc2935a86e173a20c63ace3894073f19723cc2a5.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T22:50:08 | null | 2016-08-26T22:52:00 | New Kiwi centre scores a try in his home debut in front of the Kingspan Stadium | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Frugby%2Fcharles-piutau-gives-ulster-reason-to-be-optimistic-1.2769929%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769928.1472248356!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Charles Piutau gives Ulster reason to be optimistic | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Ulster 29 Northampton 9
New signing Charles Piutau stole the show as Ulster wrapped up their pre-season friendlies with a notable win over a powerful Northampton Saints side.
Piutau not only scored a try but made two more of Ulster’s four-score haul on his first outing in front of the Kingspan Stadium crowd.
Louis Ludik, captain Rob Herring and Jacob Stockdale were Ulster’s other try scorers on the night with Rob Lyttle converting three and managing a penalty.
The home side lead 24-0 at the break and then took it to 29-5 after Stockdale crossed.
Though the Saints managed second-half tries from Alex Waller, Tom Collins and Juan Pablo Estelles to narrow the home side’s lead to 10 points, Ulster, with Piutau always prominent, held firm. | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/charles-piutau-gives-ulster-reason-to-be-optimistic-1.2769929?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/9b185b2110b3dda7a36ff6da3e0487d323abd7f40415629b82523b87bff63f34.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T16:52:11 | null | 2016-08-30T17:17:00 | DNA tests identify man alleged to have raped and murdered 11 women over 14 years ago | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fasia-pacific%2Fchinese-police-arrest-suspected-jack-the-ripper-serial-killer-1.2773311%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773304.1472573856!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Chinese police arrest suspected ‘Jack the Ripper’ serial killer | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Police in Gansu province have arrested a man local media have described as China’s answer to “Jack the Ripper”,suspected of raping, killing and mutilating 11 women and girls more than 14 years ago.
A quiet man known for his filial piety, Gao Chengyong (52) singled out young women dressed in red, pursuing them to their homes where they often lived alone before raping them and killing them by slashing their throats, police said.
He was picked up by police in the supermarket where he worked and where nine of the killings took place. The local ministry of public security say Mr Gao cut off body parts of the victims, and that the youngest victim was eight years old when she was murdered.
Police said Mr Gao had confessed to 11 murders in Gansu and in Baotou in the neighbouring province of Inner Mongolia between 1988 and 2002.
In 2004, police had posted a reward of 200,000 yuan (€27,000) for any information leading to his arrest.
“The suspect has a sexual perversion and hates women,” the police said back then. “He’s reclusive and unsociable, but patient.”
The police had DNA evidence, fingerprints and semen samples, but Mr Gao was not registered as living in Baiyin.
In March, the Criminal Investigation Bureau launched a new investigation into the murders using new technology.
After Mr Gao’s uncle was arrested for a minor crime, police noticed a match in the DNA and believed that the killer they had sought for so long was related to him.
The older of Mr Gao’s two sons told social media that he did “not really understand” why his father had carried out the crimes. Like many migrant workers’ children, he had limited access to his father, meeting him at Chinese New Year.
The Beijing News quoted Cui Xiangping, brother of one of the victims, Cui Jinping, saying he believed the case would never be solved. His sister was stabbed 22 times and her throat was cut in 1998, and she was dismembered.
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There are relatively few examples of serial killers in China, despite the massive population, but there is evidence of a rising trend in the numbers of multiple killers, similar to that seen in the US in the 1960s and 1970s.
Yang Xinhai raped and murdered 67 people over a four-year period that ended with his execution in 2004, while a group of three men in Xi’an went on a 12-year killing spree of karaoke bar hostesses, prostitutes and housewives, during which victims’ bodies were burned in acid vats before they were apprehended in 2006.
In another case in Henan in central China, a man called Huang Yong killed up to 25 boys before he was caught. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/chinese-police-arrest-suspected-jack-the-ripper-serial-killer-1.2773311?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/92e4600a505d4597016ad87a1c895ba1b2dc8eca11080be5c4f440a3a2129a31.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T04:47:42 | null | 2016-08-27T05:40:00 | A strong August US jobs report will increase probability of September interest rate hike | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fcantillon-wall-street-divided-on-fed-s-janet-yellen-s-speech-1.2769833.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769831.1472237872!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Cantillon: Wall Street divided on Fed’s Janet Yellen’s speech | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Interpreting what central bank bosses are saying is a dark art, made none the easier by the determination of the monetary bosses to avoid leaving any hostages to fortune. And so we are not a lot wiser after Fed chair Janet Yellen’s much-awaited speech at the annual gathering of central bankers in Wyoming.
The economists in Wall Street were, as economists so often are, divided on what Yellen meant when she said that the case for a rate increase had been “strengthened” by recent data.
Some felt that this upped the odds of an interest rate increase at the end of September, or by December at the latest. Others felt that the fact that Yellen did not specifically hint at September suggested that another rate increase might be delayed.
All this may suit the Fed quite well, as like the rest of us it is not in possession of a working crystal ball to foretell what will happen in the future. The next marker in this regard will be the August US jobs report, due for publication next Friday. As this will be a key piece of data, its publication is likely to attract more than the usual frenzied attention from market analysts. If the number is strong, the odds on a September rate rise will grow.
You can’t help but thinking, however, that despite the market speculation about when exactly the Fed will move, there is a deeper story here. It is that world central banks are being left to do a lot of heavy lifting and that the era of low interest looks likely to go on . . . and on. Remember that even if the Fed does move, it will only bring base interest rates to between 0.25 and 0.5 per cent.
Deutsche Bank boss John Cryan this week accused the ECB’s low interest rate policy this week of “squeezing the margins of Europe’s struggling banks, making it harder for insurers to find profitable investments and dangerously distorting financial market prices.”
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There was more than a little self interest in Cryan’s comments – banks do not thrive when interest rates are low. But he is right too that these are not normal times. Low interest rates, which were meant to be temporary, are now looking at least semi-permanent. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/cantillon-wall-street-divided-on-fed-s-janet-yellen-s-speech-1.2769833 | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/5bad9cb010ec89e91441da7b93288553a8af99bb9639f44d83a55fed162a2437.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T10:49:07 | null | 2016-08-30T10:50:00 | Sum is far in excess of what had been envisioned by Irish authorities; Government says it will appeal the decision | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Feu-orders-ireland-to-recoup-up-to-13bn-in-unpaid-taxes-from-apple-1.2772919.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772920.1472553889!/image/image.jpg | en | null | EU orders Ireland to recoup up to €13bn in unpaid taxes from Apple | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Ireland has been ordered to recoup up to €13 billion from US tech company Apple in unpaid taxes in a landmark ruling by the European Commission this morning.
The EU’s powerful competition arm said on Tuesday that Apple had been granted selective treatment by Ireland through two tax rulings granted to the company in 1991 and 2007 by Irish tax authorities.
That treatment allowed Apple to avoid taxation on almost all profits generated by sales of its products in the EU single market, because Apple recorded the sales in Ireland rather than where products were sold, the commission said. This was achieved by funnelling sales through a “so-called” head office in Ireland with “no employees, no premises and no real activities,” commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.
In a statement, the commission said it “substantially and artificially” lowered the tax paid by Apple in Ireland since 1991, giving Apple a “significant advantage” over other businesses subject to the same national taxation rules.
“Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules,” said Ms Vestager. “The commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years. In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent on its European profits in 2003, down to 0.005 per cent in 2014.”
Apple said it would appeal and it was confident the decision would be overturned.
While the precise figure will be worked out by the Irish Revenue Commissioners, the commission estimates that the total money recovered will amount to about € 13 billion – far in excess of what had been envisaged by Irish authorities.
The US treasury said it declined to comment on specific cases, but expressed disappointment that the commission was “acting unilaterally and departing from the important progress the US, the EU, and the rest of the international community have made together to combat tax avoidance”.
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“As we have said, we believe that retroactive tax assessments by the commission are unfair, contrary to well-established legal principles, and call into question the tax rules of individual member states,” the treasury said in a statement. “The commission’s actions could threaten to undermine foreign investment, the business climate in Europe, and the important spirit of economic partnership between the US and the EU. We will continue to monitor these cases as they progress, and we will continue to work with the commission toward our shared objective of preventing the erosion of our corporate tax bases.”
The Apple tax ruling The EC issued a ruling on August 30th in relation to the tax arrangements of Apple in Ireland, where it has its European HQ. The EC said Apple had been granted selective treatment by Ireland through two tax rulings in 1991 and 2007. The EC has ordered Ireland to recover up to €13 billion from the tech giant. Minister for Finance Michael Noonan indicated Ireland would appeal the decision "to defend the integrity of our tax system; to provide tax certainty to business; and to challenge the encroachment of EU state aid rules into the sovereign member state competence of taxation”. Q&A: Cliff Taylor answers the key questions I found this helpful Yes No
Though the Apple case follows similar cases against Fiat, Amazon, and Starbucks, the total tax liability is by far the largest judgment handed down by the EU’s competition division in relation to a member state’s tax arrangements. In contrast to the multibillion-euro figure proposed, the commission ordered the Netherlands to recover between €20 and €30 million from Starbucks, and Luxembourg to recover the same amount from Fiat.
The EU’s powerful anti-trust arm, which typically rules on mergers and acquisitions, has increasingly turned its attention to corporate tax arrangements in recent years, focusing particularly on transfer pricing arrangements.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan is to seek Cabinet approval to appeal the decision to the European courts, a process that is likely to take up to four years. In the interim, Apple will be obliged to pay the tax shortfall to the Irish exchequer. It is expected the money will be held in a frozen account.
Reacting to the announcement, Mr Noonan said the decision left him with “no choice” but to appeal the decision. “This is necessary to defend the integrity of our tax system; to provide tax certainty to business; and to challenge the encroachment of EU state aid rules into the sovereign member state competence of taxation.”
Today’s findings follow more than three years of investigations by the European Commission into Ireland’s tax arrangements with Apple, since it first sought information from Dublin in June 2013. A year later, the commission launched its investigation, arguing that its preliminary assessment was that Ireland had illegally granted selective treatment to Apple, in breach of EU state aid law.
Irish officials insisted on Tuesday that the full amount of tax due by Apple has been paid, arguing that, because most of Apple’s profits were not generated in Ireland, they could not be taxed in Ireland. The kind of “stateless”, non-resident companies that were investigated by the commission have since been phased out by the Irish government, which means that the Apple judgment is unlikely to impact on Apple’s future tax arrangements in Ireland.
Much of the commission’s investigation focused on how Irish Revenue officials calculated “transfer pricing” arrangements for Apple in two separate tax rulings offered to the company. Also known as advance pricing arrangements, transfer pricing governs how transactions between different entities of a corporation are priced, a process that can have implications for profit allocation and the company’s tax bill.
The commission believes that the Revenue Commissioners did not apply the proper “arm’s length principle” when calculating the transfer pricing arrangements for Apple. But officials briefed on the matter believe that because transfer pricing is notoriously difficult to price – the OECD outlines five different methodologies for calculating transfer pricing – the commission’s case can be tested in court.
However, minutes from meetings between Apple and the Revenue Commissioners in 1990 and 1991 supplied by Revenue to the European Commission as part of the investigation show how a transfer pricing figure was negotiated between the two parties. The commission has argued that this arrangement was motivated by employment considerations.
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MEP Brian Hayes said credibility of the business environment in Ireland, along with its ability to attract foreign direct investment here, was on the line, and the taxation system should not be targeted for reasons of “anti-American bias”.
He accused the commission of overstepping its role and mandate, and said the ultimate decision in this case must be taken by the European Court of Justice.
“It’s in Ireland’s long-term interest that the Government appeals this,” he said “The figure of €13 billion shows just how politically motivated this decision was. This was a clear statement that the commission wanted to hit US multinationals hard with this announcement.”
Oxfam Ireland chief executive Jim Clarken called on the Government to shut down tax loopholes and reassure citizens that “sweetheart deals” with companies or individuals are a thing of the past.
“Ireland has benefited from multinational investment but all companies should operate here under rules which are fair and which do not benefit some companies over others,” he said. “Deals that exempt companies from paying their legitimate share of tax mean the ordinary taxpayers have to foot the bill.
Today’s announcement comes a week after a US treasury White Paper strongly criticised the European Commission’s recent investigations into the tax affairs of US multinationals. The issue has soured EU-US relations, amid accusations from Washington that Brussels is unfairly targeting US companies, a charge the European Commission denies.
The commission’s findings mark the latest move by the European Commission to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance, a priority prompted by revelations such as the Luxembourg Leaks and Panama Papers scandals. A revised proposal on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), to which Ireland has traditionally been opposed, is expected to be announced by the end of the year. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/eu-orders-ireland-to-recoup-up-to-13bn-in-unpaid-taxes-from-apple-1.2772919 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/31b49fffb6eb94745818c65499501e59d872f1e74cd0372f6f30465e36e679a3.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T14:49:26 | null | 2016-08-31T13:14:00 | Outspoken Ryanair boss weighs into row between US tech firm and Brussels after ruling | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ftransport-and-tourism%2Fapple-tax-government-should-tell-eu-to-f-k-off-michael-o-leary-1.2774314.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2774313.1472653371!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Apple tax: Government should tell EU to ‘f**k off’ - Michael O’Leary | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has weighed into the tax dispute between Apple and the European Union, saying the Government should write a letter to the EU telling them to “f**k off”.
Dubbing the EU’s ruling “bizarre”, the outspoken airline chief said: “One of the fundamental principles of the European Union is that each country has its autonomy to make its own tax decisions.
“Frankly the Irish Government should turn around – they shouldn’t even appeal the decision – they should just write a letter to Europe and tell them politely to f**k off.
“The idea that you have the state aid mob – who’ve had more court verdicts overturned than any other department in Europe in the last 20 years – come along 10 years after the fact and say, ‘no we didn’t like that, we think you should have done something else’, is frankly bizarre.”
On Tuesday, Europe’s antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager slapped the maker of iPads and iPhones with a €13 billion tax bill.
She claimed Apple paid just 1 per cent tax on its European profits in 2003 and 0.005 per cent in 2014, and said its arrangement with the Irish Government is illegal under state aid rules.
Apple is set to challenge the decision, and Mr O’ Leary added: “I think there’s no chance of this surviving a court ruling in Europe. There’s certain things that Europe has no competence in.”
Mr O’Leary went on to claim that Ryanair was “one of the most compliant taxpayers in Ireland”, having paid a tax rate of about 11.9 per cent on profits last year.
On Brexit, the chief executive, who backed the Remain campaign during the EU referendum, expects the United Kingdom to suffer “significant economic damage” as a result of its decision to quit the single bloc. However, he added that it is too soon to revise the company’s financial guidance.
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In July Ryanair said it would “pivot” growth away from UK airports and instead focus on hubs in the EU following the Brexit referendum result. The firm said its growth rate in the UK is expected to slow from about 15 per cent to 6 per cent next year.
However, with long-term growth in mind, Mr O’Leary is now calling on the UK government to approve three new runways in a bid to end Britain’s airport capacity conundrum for “the next 50 years”.
He urged prime minister Theresa May’s government in Britain to be “radical in its decision making” and rubber-stamp new runways at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. The proposal would mean ending the battle between Gatwick and Heathrow for a new runway.
“Ryanair calls on the new UK government to be radical in its decision making on new runways for London instead of picking just one [Heathrow or Gatwick] and calls on prime minister Theresa May to approve three new runways – one each at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, which will finally resolve the runway capacity issue for the next 50 years, while ensuring competition between airports delivers efficient facilities and prevents airlines and passengers being ripped off by gold-plated monopoly runways,” he said.
Last year, the UK government’s airports commission said a third runway at Heathrow is the best route to expanding airport capacity. Then prime minister David Cameron stalled on backing the recommendation, saying the government required more time to assess the environmental impact.
A decision is now expected before the end of the year. Mr O’Leary said that expanding only one airport would allow airlines to justify raising prices for customers, who might subsequently help foot the bill.
But competition between three airports would be a boon for travellers and benefit Ryanair long term, he said. “We’ll have more capacity to grow, fares will fall and in a declining fare environment, we’ll win,” Mr O’Leary said.
Mr O’ Leary made the announcement as he trumpeted new routes to Strasbourg and Faro and more flights to Sofia and Nuremberg from Stansted, Gatwick and Luton airports.
He also warned Ryanair may reduce its full-year profit guidance if a drop in ticket prices accelerates. “We’re not yet revising the guidance,” he said to reporters on Wednesday in London.
“But we’re very cautious on the full-year guidance. If winter fares fall by more than 10 or 12 per cent, we will have to review.”
The carrier said last week it is seeing fares in its core summer period fall by 9 per cent, sharper than the 6 per cent to 8 per cent dip expected at the start of the budget airline’s fiscal year.
After the comments, Ryanair shares fell as much as 2.5 per cent and were down 1.6 per cent on Wednesday morning.
– (PA) | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/apple-tax-government-should-tell-eu-to-f-k-off-michael-o-leary-1.2774314 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/9efce714764f6db0262f15408163a67793c512b7fd43828383f30d0db37d97b2.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T04:49:22 | null | 2016-08-31T05:35:00 | Brokerage poaches Canaccord’s head of European equity capital markets, Piers Coombs | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ffinancial-services%2Fgoodbody-plots-uk-market-assault-with-new-investment-banking-unit-1.2773417.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773414.1472578608!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Goodbody plots UK market assault with new investment banking unit | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Goodbody Stockbrokers is setting up a new investment banking division as it plots to win more business in the UK, where it has poached a senior executive from financial services group Canaccord Genuity.
The Irish brokerage, led by managing director Roy Barrett, set up a London office last year under a plan to move from being a local Irish broker to a sector specialist. The company has expanded its research coverage in recent years to include overseas companies in the gaming and leisure, construction materials, airlines and financial services sectors.
Its rival, Davy, has engaged in a similar strategy to lower its dependence on the Irish market as a series of companies have moved their main stock market listing to London from Dublin.
Under a plan communicated to staff on Tuesday, Goodbody has decided to merge its corporate finance and capital markets divisions into a new unit, called investment banking. This will be run by two co-heads, Stephen Donovan, currently head of capital markets, and Brian O’Kelly, head of corporate finance.
Goodbody has also hired Piers Coombs, currently head of Canaccord’s European equity capital markets, to take up a leading position by the end of the year in its London office as head of corporate business in the UK.
The appointment, together with the creation of an investment banking unit, is designed to position Goodbody to pitch for UK corporate brokerships and equity capital market mandates in future, Mr Barrett said.
A spokesman for Goodbody confirmed the contents of the email.
Recent transactions under Mr Coombs’ role at Canaccord include a £230 million (€270 million) equity raise by UK gambling software development company Playtech and online payments company Paysafe’s £450 million share sale last year.
Subsidiary
Meanwhile, Finbarr Griffin is set to become the new head of corporate finance at Goodbody. It is understood that Goodbody intends to wind up its incorporated subsidiary, Goodbody Corporate Finance, as the business is subsumed into the group.
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Following the overhaul, the group, which is 51 per cent owned by Kerry-based financial services group Fexco, will comprise three divisions: investment banking, wealth management and asset management.
The move comes a month after Mr Barrett told staff that there was no substance to industry speculation that Goodbody could be taken over by Investec.
Fexco acquired control of Goodbody in January 2011 from AIB, as the bank was selling off non-core assets in the wake of its Government bailout. At the time, Fexco took a 75 per cent stake, leaving staff and management at Goodbody with a 25 per cent holding. Staff and executives at the brokerage have since almost doubled their stake, after reaching incentive targets set at the time of the deal. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/goodbody-plots-uk-market-assault-with-new-investment-banking-unit-1.2773417 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/b8158e6e630505c13a81be84adf5b30e258e806afb996f964421f2b2a595287e.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T04:47:41 | null | 2016-08-27T05:00:00 | Tech firm may have to billions of dollars in back taxes to Ireland in light of inquiry | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fbrussels-poised-to-strike-down-apple-state-aid-1.2769852.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769847.1472238796!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Brussels poised to strike down Apple ‘State aid’ | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Brussels is poised to hand down an adverse ruling against Ireland after a three-year inquiry into claims the country granted an illegal tax arrangement to Apple, the world’s biggest tech company.
The long-awaited findings, likely to be released next week, follow an intensive effort by the United States to persuade the European Commission to drop the inquiry.
Apple could be on the hook to pay billions of dollars in back taxes to Ireland in light of the finding that tax rulings conferred illegal State aid to Apple by granting it an advantage not made available to other companies.
The commission made no comment on Friday on the timing or substance of its decision.
There is some uncertainty as to whether a precise penalty will be defined in the ruling, JPMorgan, Apple’s investment banker, has said Apple’s potential liability, in a worst-case scenario, could be up to €19 billion. In other assessments, however, the liability may come in at about $1 billion.
An adverse ruling by competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager would be appealed in the European courts by Ireland and Apple, each of whom have strenuously denied any wrongdoing in the tax arrangement.
Any move to issue negative findings without defining the penalty would also prompt Apple and Irish authorities to campaign to minimise the bill.
The Apple case is the biggest single investigation undertaken by the commission in a clampdown on aggressive tax avoidance in Europe by big global companies.
In previous rulings, Ms Vestager has directed the Netherlands to recover back taxes from Starbucks, and Luxembourg to recover back taxes from Fiat. Both rulings are under court appeal.
The commission issued preliminary findings against Ireland in 2014 before initiating an in-depth investigation into tax rulings Apple received from the Dublin authorities in 1991 and 2007. The company has faced criticism in the US Senate for paying a 2 per cent corporate tax rate in Ireland, far lower than the country’s headline 12.5 per cent rate.
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Expectation of an adverse ruling gathered pace this week after the US Treasury issued a stinging attack on the commission’s investigation, saying the EU executive was becoming a “supranational tax authority” that threatened international agreements on tax reform.
Tim Cook, Apple chief executive, who pressed his company’s case in a private meeting with Ms Vestager in January, has always insisted the business fully complied with tax law.
The commission says there has been no bias against any US company in its investigation.
“Under EU state aid rules, national tax authorities cannot give tax benefits to selected companies that are not available to others. These state aid rules and the relevant legal principles have been in place for a long time,” the commission said on Wednesday.
In recent days, expectation intensified in Brussels, Dublin and corporate circles that an unfavourable ruling was in prospect.
The intervention by the Obama administration this week marked a sharp escalation of tension between Washington and Brussels.
Jack Lew, US Treasury secretary, called on the commission in February to reconsider the inquiries. He has come under pressure from the Senate finance committee to consider imposing a double tax rate on European companies if the commission directs Apple to pay back taxes in Ireland.
– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016) | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/brussels-poised-to-strike-down-apple-state-aid-1.2769852 | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/9286243cfa0c92bf7b00011b808a6e2e9e7ae7c92fc67f3a76f4d274b42464cb.json |
[
"Tom Moriarty"
] | 2016-08-26T20:50:17 | null | 2016-08-26T20:52:00 | Browser review | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Fbooks%2Fwandering-ireland-s-wild-atlantic-way-by-paul-clements-1.2769875%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/assets/images/favicons/irishtimes.png | en | null | Wandering Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way by Paul Clements | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Book Title:
Wandering Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way ISBN-13:
978-1-84889-260-6 Author:
Paul Clements Publisher:
The Collins Press Guideline Price:
€12.99
Lovers of Ireland’s Atlantic coastline hardly needed it to be branded the Wild Atlantic Way. But sure, doesn’t it bring the tourists? The local folk Paul Clements talks to as he drives beside the ocean from Inishowen to Kinsale mostly agree. Amid the conventional wisdom of cafe, B&B and pub proprietors are some real characters: a woman in Mulranny breeds original old Irish goats; Omey Island’s last inhabitant quaffs French wine in his caravan; a Leitrim man explains obscure words native to that place. The roads less travelled are few on this well-trodden route, but the Doorus Peninsula in south Galway and Leitrim’s little coastline of 4km do pique the reader’s interest. Clements’s journey is also a coffee odyssey; the workings of Italian coffee-makers are described lovingly as countless cappuccinos are sipped and savoured. The author’s equally keen observation of our wild Atlantic birds, both native and migratory, suggests that a twitcher’s guide to the Way could hatch out soon. | http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/wandering-ireland-s-wild-atlantic-way-by-paul-clements-1.2769875?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/fd9dc2152731f5462604ed98e59e94d292040cdb8ea1d8a0fe380819d6e6e214.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T06:51:25 | null | 2016-08-29T06:00:00 | From Alan Cumming singing about Liza Minnelli to a heart-stopping play about depression, this year’s festival has had it all | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Fstage%2Ften-of-the-best-shows-at-the-edinburgh-festivals-1.2767018%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2767013.1472051768!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Ten of the best shows at the Edinburgh festivals | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s biggest arts festival, is winding to a close, and an entire city has been complicit in the endeavour. This is compounded by the International Book Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival, which take place at the same time and complement the Fringe’s range and scale.
There is a strong Irish connection with both, thanks to Fringe chief executive Shona McCarthy and the International Festival director Fergus Linehan. Here are 10 of the best things we saw this year.
Brennan Reece: Everglow
Pleasance
Brennan Reece’s Fringe debut, in one of the Pleasance bunkers, is a cosy story about his tricky crossing-over from childhood into adulthood, and his hopes for retaining a kind of “everglow”. Weaving relatable observations into a very personal tale, it’s a lovely hour.
Measure for Measure
Lyceum
Declan Donnellan’s arresting production, for his Cheek by Jowl company and the Pushkin Theatre of Moscow, is dazzling in its intensity. Donnellan works with a company of 13 Russian actors, and his deft handling of Shakespeare’s exploration of power, corruption and government loses nothing in translation. In fact, the Russian element only adds to this provocative meditation on the abuses of autocracy. This is physical, memorable, fast-paced theatre that packs a hefty punch.
Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs
The Hub
The prodigal son of Scotland returns for a residency that is all storytelling, through anecdotes and song. The venue lends itself to Cumming’s show, which channels a 1920s speakeasy, replete with a pink neon “Club Cumming” sign.
The actor and his three-piece band take you on a real journey, where a saucy story about tattoo removal sits beside an anecdote about Liza Minnelli and a tear-stained powder puff.
His song choices are diverse, taking in Miley Cyrus and Bertolt Brecht, and evolved out of dressing room sessions during his Broadway tenure in Cabaret.
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The show surprises, mingling serious subjects such as his grandfather’s post-traumatic stress disorder, with something like a mash-up of Stephen Sondheim classics, before closing on Cumming’s heartfelt take on The Ladies Who Lunch, immortalised by Elaine Stritch.
Luna Park
Zoo Southside
Stonecrabs Theatre Company takes Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Donald Margulies’ play and infuses it with charming physical theatre and clever direction. The three actors are graceful, delicately bringing to life the broken dreams of 1930s America, the Great Depression and Coney Island.
Revolt. She said. Revolt again
Traverse
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s take on Alice Birch’s piece on revolution doesn’t disappoint. The watchword is disruption – how to topple the status quo – taking us through various examples of how our society is corrupt and misogynist. Birch’s grasp on language, and how it treats women, is searing and offers plenty of questions and no easy answers.
The strongest scene is perhaps the first, where a man and a woman trade off sex talk, with received notions being turned upside down to often humorous and unsettling effect.
Every Brilliant Thing
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Duncan Macmillan’s heart-stopping play about depression, and guilt at not being able to fix people you love, is coming to the Dublin Theatre Festival (Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, October 11th-16th) and should not be missed. Jonny Donahoe is utterly engaging in his performance, which brilliantly implicates the audience and takes you into a long list of “every brilliant thing”, along with mental health, marriage and skinny dipping.
This is an overwhelming piece of theatre about the beauty in frailty and the uplifting nature of the smallest things.
Anohni
Playhouse
There is something devastating about Anohni’s latest album, Hopelessness. Much like the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Revolt, it tries to engage us in a dialogue about femininity, gender, revolution and the pollution that surrounds interesting debate and ideas. But live, Anohni’s music is even more visceral.
To the sound of drones, Naomi Campbell dances on a large screen, which is mesmerising, if a little long.
She is the first of many women projected on to the screen, juxtaposed with Anohni, who takes to the stage with her face covered in a black veil. She is like a moving statue, a Corradini sculpture, approaching songs such as the fierce 4 Degrees and Watch Me with real intensity.
Aided by Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke, dressed in monkish robes, the entire experience is emotional, unusual and at times distressing. Rightly so, as Anohni has evolved into a protest singer, tackling climate change, sexual violence and hypocrisy. As she sings “We will never, never again give birth to violent men” it feels like the room is collapsing in on itself.
Breakfast Plays: The Conversation
Traverse
The Traverse’s Breakfast Plays are based around a particular theme. This year, the question “Will technology tear us apart or will it save us from ourselves?” was posed to its four associate artists, Stef Smith, Morna Pearson, Tim Price and Rob Drummond.
Drummond’s response, The Conversation, is an elegant piece about a man who goes online to find solace after a friend’s funeral and starts to communicate with a chatbot. The two-hander is a little rough around the edges, reflecting the day rehearsal these pieces get, but it investigates something fascinating: is there humanity in artificial intelligence or are we losing our humanity?
Daffodils
Traverse
Rochelle Bright’s “play with songs” is billed as a true love story that begins in the mid-1960s in Hamilton, New Zealand, amid a daffodil patch. Todd Emerson and Colleen Davis play Eric and Rose, who fall in love, marry and then fall apart.
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It’s partly a social, musical and family history of New Zealand, with the live band and actors performing songs by Bic Runga, Crowded House and others. At first it appears slight, but the inventive staging, live instrumentation and projections of old, evocative photographs and videos situate the narrative in richer pastures.
Daniel Kitson Presents an Insufficient Number of Undeveloped Ideas over 90 Testing Minutes
Noon, Monday, August 29th, Stand Three
A trip to Edinburgh wouldn’t be complete without some time spent in the company of Daniel Kitson. His Mouse:The Persistence of an Unlikely Thought at the Traverse is a warm, thoughtful piece about friendship, but it is his loose, free-flowing show at the Stand that reminds us why he is one of the world’s best comic minds.
This hour and a half resembles verbal bebop, with Kitson’s distractions and digressions providing the most entertainment. He thrives on breaking the fourth wall; one moment he’s cutting cable ties off chairs to make the front row more comfortable, the next he’s running out of the room, leaving a bearded man on his birthday to take over the show.
His interactions with the audience are a joy, because they reveal a real humanity and an ability to skewer inauthenticity and communicate his particularly brilliant worldview. A total original. | http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/ten-of-the-best-shows-at-the-edinburgh-festivals-1.2767018?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/08d3fef180c027bd814c2440ba9d13b1e08ea63338a4c4c76381133991bd1dd0.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T12:51:46 | null | 2016-08-29T13:42:00 | Ictu says health should receive dedicated budget of 10 per cent of GDP annually | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Funions-seek-development-of-single-tier-publicly-run-health-service-1.2771941%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771940.1472474567!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Unions seek development of single-tier, publicly-run health service | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Ireland should move towards developing over time a universal single- tier publicly-funded and publicly-run health service, the trade union movement has proposed.
In a submission to the new Oireachtas committee on the future of healthcare, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) called for the elimination of all forms of State subsidies for private healthcare provision.
It also urged that in future all healthcare staff should work exclusively for the public health system.
Congress said there should be a major increase in the amount of money allocated to the health service. It said health should be given a dedicated budget equivalent of a minimum of ten per cent of GDP.
It also said in addition further capital funding must be allocated to pay for necessary infrastructure.
At present, the health service receives about €14 billion in State funding. The Ictu proposals could see this increase to about €25 billion.
The union movement said the public health service should be funded through a progressive general taxation system.
Ictu said that a cornerstone of its proposed health service reform programme should be “a declaration that the State will, over time, cease to fund or to subvent any form of private healthcare provision.
“This will entail the phased elimination of all tax reliefs for private healthcare insurance and direct subventions, ie to existing private nursing homes,” it added.
“This funding should be redirected to specific programmes required for, or linked to, the implementation of the reform programme for the creation of a single-tier service.”
Congress acknowledged it could take more than a decade to plan and implement such radical changes to the health service. However it argued that it was imperative that over time “the existing two-tier health system - with contradictory incentives and ability to pay guaranteeing faster access to diagnostics and interventions -- is replaced by a single- tier, equitable and quality service”.
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Ictu said an essential component of a single-tier public health service would be that all staff had to be directly employed.
Consultation
However, it said there would have to be widespread consultation on changes to employment contracts and many staff would be permitted to retain existing arrangements on a “red circled” or individualised basis.
It said that such a system should function on a 24/7 basis, where required and operate every day of the week in both the primary and secondary care services.
“A network of primary care centres will act as the first point of contact for many accessing the health service, with the centres providing a range of key services and leading local health promotion campaigns. Service provision in the public hospital network will be refocused to reflect this change, but the network
will continue as the cornerstone of the health care system.”
Ictu said that primary care services must be provided by directly -employed health professionals. At present GPs are independent contractors.
It said staffing in primary care centres should be on the basis of the services operating every day of the week. It said such centres should offer sufficient diagnostic and support services to ensure that patients could access services at the most appropriate location and thus reducing the burden on acute hospitals.
It said the development of community-based health facilities was critical to the creation of a universal, single tier public health service.
It said there should be a significant increase in the number of public hospital beds as well as a major rise in the number of consultant posts in core specialities such as medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and emergency medicine.
Ictu said at the heart of a transformed health service would be a consultant-delivered, team- based approach to patient care with all staff carrying out tasks appropriate to their qualifications.
It said the biggest challenge to the country’s health service was the increase in the number of older people living longer.
It said this would require the State to become “the principal provider of health care for older people”.
It said this would involve significant State investment in the development of facilities that would provide single room accommodation in residential settings.
The trade union movement also said that its reform plans would involve significant investment in personnel at all levels and that “remuneration, reward and recognition systems and quality continuing professional development systems must be put in place, with the aim of attracting and retaining the most talented staff”. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/unions-seek-development-of-single-tier-publicly-run-health-service-1.2771941?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/8e06409e77261d5d352a5d6360e49ea4d15ee23cca1a2e23542a9fa0695e8218.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T20:51:14 | null | 2016-08-28T19:48:00 | Turkish forces seize sites held by Kurdish militia on fifth day of cross-border campaign | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fmiddle-east%2Fat-least-35-killed-as-turkish-army-strikes-deeper-into-syria-1.2771234%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771232.1472410091!/image/image.jpg | en | null | At least 35 killed as Turkish army strikes deeper into Syria | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Turkey’s army and its allies thrust deeper into Syria on Sunday, seizing territory controlled by Kurdish-aligned forces on the fifth day of a cross-border campaign that a monitoring group said had killed at least 35 villagers.
Turkish warplanes roared into northern Syria at daybreak and its artillery pounded what security sources said were sites held by Kurdish YPG militia, after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported fierce overnight fighting around two villages.
Turkey’s military said 25 Kurdish militants were killed in its air strikes. There was no immediate comment from the YPG, but forces aligned with the Kurdish militia have said it withdrew from the area targeted by Turkey before the offensive.
Turkey, which is also battling Kurdish insurgents on its own soil, sent tanks and troops into Syria on Wednesday to support its Syrian rebel allies. The Turkish-backed forces first seized the Syrian border town of Jarablus from Islamic State militants before pushing south into areas held by Kurdish-aligned militias. They have also moved west towards Islamic State areas.
Turkish officials have openly stated that their goal in Syria is as much about ensuring Kurdish forces do not expand the territory they already control along Turkey’s border, as it is about driving Islamic State from its strongholds.
However, Turkey’s offensive has so far focused mostly on targeting forces allied to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that includes YPG, an Observatory source said.
Nato conflict
The SDF has support from the United States, which sees the group as an effective Syrian ally against Islamic State. So Turkey’s action against SDF-allied forces puts it odds with a fellow Nato member, adding a further twist to Syria’s complex war that began in 2011 with an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and has drawn in regional states and world powers.
The Observatory, a Britain-based monitoring group with a network of sources in Syria, said Turkish-allied forces had seized two villages south of Jarablus, Jub al-Kousa and al-Amarna, that were held by militias loyal to the SDF.
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The fighting killed 20 civilians in Jub al-Kousa and 15 in al-Amarna, while scores more were wounded, the group said.
The Observatory said rebels backed by Turkish tanks fought until dawn against rival militias allied to the SDF around al-Amarna. SDF-allied militia damaged three Turkish tanks, it said. – Reuters | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/at-least-35-killed-as-turkish-army-strikes-deeper-into-syria-1.2771234?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/f1ebc3633058996e3bac266bddaec7033cd7890a9b03bff757d608e091aca595.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T14:52:32 | null | 2016-08-30T14:20:00 | Grainy ‘3D’ image is the first undisguised pic of the new G30 5 Series | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Flife-and-style%2Fmotors%2Fbmw-offers-a-sneak-peak-of-its-new-5-series-1.2773059%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773058.1472563206!/image/image.jpg | en | null | BMW offers a sneak peak of its new 5 Series | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Want to see what the new BMW 5 Series looks like four full months ahead of its official unveiling? Well you’re kind of in luck because BMW has just released this image of the new 5, fully undisguised.
Unfortunately, it’s only a top-down image of a cartoon 5 Series, shown on a mobile phone screen. The whole idea is to publicise BMW’s new ‘Remote View 3D’ system, which uses the car’s all-round parking cameras to allow you to view remotely what’s happening next to or near your car. The possibilities are potentially mind-boggling…
Remote view
BMW is being quiet with details of both the new car and the new Remote View system for the moment, but we do know that the new 5 will adopt the G30 model designation (the current car is F10) and that it will shed a massive 100kg in weight. How? Because BMW is taking the expertise which it has built up with the electric i-models and applying to mainstream production cars. As with the current 7 Series, the new 5 will have a good deal of carbon-fibre in its structure, as well as aluminium and high-strength steel.
Most of the engine range will be carried over, but the most basic 518d is likely to adopt a version of the fuel-sipping 1.5-litre three-cylinder which is already being claimed to offer as much as 72mpg. In a car as big as a 5, that’s quite something.
There will be hybrid and plugin hybrid versions too, and there are rumours of a new range-topping M550d six-cylinder 3.0 diesel with not two but four turbochargers and more than 400hp.
The new 5 will also come with a full suite of autonomous features (with possible input from Apple, although that’s not yet confirmed) which will allow it to drive itself, up to a point, on main roads and motorways. | http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/bmw-offers-a-sneak-peak-of-its-new-5-series-1.2773059?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/c463ddec0ad2939913c37b14e934c78fe4583cecb622a594d031f014c0600db8.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:01:43 | null | 2016-08-26T08:22:00 | International benchmark Brent crude oil trading at $49.46 a barrel, down 21 cents | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fenergy-and-resources%2Foil-prices-fall-as-saudi-arabia-dampens-prospects-of-output-freeze-1.2769243.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769269.1472201883!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Oil prices fall as Saudi Arabia dampens prospects of output freeze | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Oil prices fell on Friday after the Saudi energy minister tempered expectations of strong market intervention by producers during talks next month, and as analysts pointed to an ongoing supply overhang that was weighing on markets.
International benchmark Brent crude oil prices were trading at $49.46 a barrel at 6.58am ( GMT), down 21 cents from their previous close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 10 cents at $47.23 a barrel.
Saudi Arabian energy minister Khalid Al-Falih told Reuters late on Thursday that “we don’t believe any significant intervention in the market is necessary other than to allow the forces of supply and demand to do the work for us”, adding that the “market is moving in the right direction” already.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will meet on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF), which groups producers and consumers, in Algeria from September 26th-28th.
The minister’s comments put a dampener on expectations of a meaningful intervention into the market, which has been dogged by oversupply for more than two years.
Supply overhang
Iran said on Friday that it would cooperate with other producers to stabilise oil markets, but added that it expected others to respect its individual rights.
Many observers, however, interpreted that as Tehran saying it would continue to try and regain market share by raising output after the lifting of sanctions against it last January allowed a full return to oil markets.
“I do not expect the Opec meeting in September to agree any freeze or affect the oil market in any significant way. This is because it appears key Opec members remain more concerned about market share,” said Oystein Berentsen, managing director for crude at oil trading firm Strong Petroleum in Singapore.
Regarding the supply overhang which has been weighing on oil prices for over two years, he said that he saw oil stocks globally “falling too slowly to sustain a higher price above $50 per barrel”.
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US investment bank Jefferies said on Friday that despite recent bearish data like record Opec output and soaring Chinese fuel exports, it expected “the oil market to come into balance in Q4 and for inventory draws to accelerate into 2017, setting the conditions for a sustainable fundamental price recovery”.
– Reuters | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/oil-prices-fall-as-saudi-arabia-dampens-prospects-of-output-freeze-1.2769243 | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/c41e84a857aaa722f4c4ad9fb174231a63b1cc25101e8515f656c8723ffa663d.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T00:49:13 | null | 2016-08-31T01:00:00 | Back taxes of €13bn not available until appeals end and EU dictates may only be used to cut debt | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fapple-tax-judgment-five-key-points-on-eu-ruling-1.2773511.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773509.1472586063!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Apple tax judgment: Five key points on EU ruling | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | 1 The Government will be obliged to issue a tax bill to Apple. However, the certainty of an appeal means the money is likely to be put into some kind of escrow account – in other words it will not be ours to use – until legal appeals are over. Given also that the European Commission decision questions whether all the €13 billion is actually due to Ireland – saying other European countries or even the US might stake a claim – it is unclear whether Ireland will ever see some, or all, of the cash.
2 The Government points out that under EU budget rules it could not use a one-off windfall – if one does eventually appear – to fund day to day spending or tax cuts. It would have to go to pay down the national debt, which now stands at €200 billion. A decent chunk off the debt would, of course, reduce the debt and the annual interest bill. However, the Government says that it has to act to defend Ireland’s reputation as a place for FDI investment and appeal the decision.
The Apple tax ruling The EC issued a ruling on August 30th in relation to the tax arrangements of Apple in Ireland, where it has its European HQ. The EC said Apple had been granted selective treatment by Ireland through two tax rulings in 1991 and 2007. The EC has ordered Ireland to recover up to €13 billion from the tech giant. Minister for Finance Michael Noonan indicated Ireland would appeal the decision "to defend the integrity of our tax system; to provide tax certainty to business; and to challenge the encroachment of EU state aid rules into the sovereign member state competence of taxation”. Q&A: Cliff Taylor answers the key questions I found this helpful Yes No
3 The European Commission investigation was specifically into the affairs of Apple. There is no investigation under way into other Irish companies. The one concession to Ireland in the commission’s press statement is a sentence saying “this decision does not call into question Ireland’s general tax system or its corporate tax rate.” It is likely that other US companies both here and in other European countries had similar, though possibly not identical, structures. It remains to be seen if the commission has other targets in the years ahead, though Irish sources do not believe it currently has other Irish companies in its sights.
4 There appears to be no chance of any negotiated settlement here. If the amount demanded by the European Commission was much smaller, some sources feel there might have been attempts to sort out some agreement. Now, however, this will not happen. This will go right through the European courts system.
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5 The Government and IDA argue this will have no impact on future foreign direct investment. The European Commission statement that it is not targeting our general tax system will provide some support. However, it remains to be seen what impact this has on overall US investment in Europe and in Ireland, and if US companies will be tempted to pull back from operations here if they feel they are being targeted by officialdom. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/apple-tax-judgment-five-key-points-on-eu-ruling-1.2773511 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/ee4bdfa43c44c3a962e20b95abaf8abef8356b39c422f31d5941ff7897b03c08.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T18:51:15 | null | 2016-08-28T18:38:00 | Zenith exit linked to row over access to insurance industry database | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia-and-marketing%2Fseen-heard-spend-apple-tax-windfall-on-health-says-minister-1.2771202%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771199.1472405917!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Seen & Heard: Spend Apple tax windfall on health, says Minister | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The unwanted tax bonanza that may flow to Ireland from a ruling against Apple in Brussels should be used to fixed the health service and build houses, Minister of State for Training and Skills John Halligan has told the Sunday Independent.
The Independent Alliance Minister of State said no company should able “to hold the country to ransom” and “if Apple owes taxes to the State they should pay them and that’s it”.
Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath echoed Mr Halligan’s view.
The European Commission’s ruling on whether Ireland’s tax deal with breached state-aid rules is expected this week. Brussels is widely expected to find that illegal state aid was given to Apple.
Zenith exit linked to fraud data access
A dispute over access to a new industry database was partly responsible for Zenith Insurance’s decision to exit the Irish motor cover market, according to the Sunday Times.
The Gibraltar-based insurer is to stop offering car coverage here from February, citing soaring claims costs in a loss-making market.
Zenith has sought membership of Insurance Ireland, the umbrella group for the industry, but could not reach agreement about access to a database containnig information about drivers’ penalty points and no-claims bonuses.
The database was established to identify fraudulent and incorrect information.
Among other issues, Zenith is believed to have baulked at the cost it would have to pay to use the database, which was developed jointly by rival insurance firms, the paper said.
Vulture funds turn up heat on SMEs
According to the Sunday Business Post, the rate at which vulture funds are moving in to seize or sell assets held by small businesses has doubled this year.
An analysis of enforcement orders by the newspaper indicates that a handful of funds were behind 20 per cent of the total in the last eight months of 2015. However, that rate jumped to 43 per cent in the first eight months of 2016.
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The paper cites an expert who says US private-equity firms are likely to accelerate their enforcement activity even more in the coming months as they look to cash out of the Irish market in the shortest time possible.
Billionaire snaps up Ex-Quinlan French Riviera bolthole
Kazakhstan’s richest man, not Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen’s comic alter ego) but Bulat Utemuratov has emerged as the €65 million buyer of a lavish French Riviera house once owned by Dublin financier Derek Quinlan.
Quinlan sold the Cap Ferrat mansion, known as Villa La Carriere, in 2011 to a French limited company, according to a story in the Sunday Business Post. The paper noted that funds from the sale went to Barclays Bank, which was repaid in full by Quinlan.
Utemuratov, a former economics teacher, made his fortune from mining, banking, property and private equity.
He is a friend and adviser to Kazakhstan’s long-time president Nursultan Nazarbaev. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/seen-heard-spend-apple-tax-windfall-on-health-says-minister-1.2771202?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/c2bbfa4e4d2586a2422f38dc7b2642d84c14ef8b343fb245eddb424e2321d0c1.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:51:05 | null | 2016-08-28T13:44:00 | Malin Head Coast Guard confirms remains of Gavin Carey (28) positively identified | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fbody-of-missing-soldier-recovered-off-donegal-coast-1.2770970%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2770965.1472388274!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Body of missing soldier recovered off Donegal coast | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The body of a soldier missing off the Donegal coast since last week has been located by divers.
Malin Head Coast Guard confirmed the body of Gavin Carey, who was attached to Custume Barracks in Athlone, had been found at about midday.
His remains have been positively identified. The missing man’s body was located off Aughrus Head, about 400 metres from where he was last seen.
Up to 100 soldiers joined the search after the 28-year-old man went missing last Tuesday. He had been on a training exercise at Finner Camp and went swimming nearby at Tullan with four other soldiers.
Strong current
Mr Carey was believed to have been caught in a strong current and was swept out to sea. A friend swimming with him was pushed on to the rocks and survived with an injured leg.
Two soldiers were given precautionary treatment in Sligo University hospital.
Malin Head Coast Guard and teams from Killybegs, Ballyglass, Killala, Bundoran RNLI, the Rescue 118 helicopter from Sligo, the Air Corps helicopter and local diving clubs all joined the search effort.
A spokesman for Malin Head Coast Guard offered condolences to Mr Carey’s family on behalf of the Coast Guard and all those who helped in the search. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/body-of-missing-soldier-recovered-off-donegal-coast-1.2770970?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/8ed672bad083ef9018396d625284e162dc7cba7062a79a30ddfab97ac981250a.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T18:50:35 | null | 2016-08-27T14:13:00 | Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy won’t stand in player’s way | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Fenglish-soccer%2Fnewcastle-united-agree-3-5m-fee-to-sign-irish-striker-daryl-murphy-1.2770780%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2770779.1472321166!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Newcastle United agree €3.5m fee to sign Irish striker Daryl Murphy | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Newcastle and Ipswich have agreed a reported fee of €3.5 million for the transfer of Republic of Ireland forward Daryl Murphy to the north-east club.
The 33-year-old has been with the Suffolk club on a permanent basis for three years following a move from Celtic.
Murphy, a former Sunderland player, has made four appearances for Ipswich this term but is yet to get on the scoresheet.
Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez wants Murphy to boost his attacking options with three forwards – Dwight Gayle, Emmanuel Riviere and Aleksandar Mitrovic – currently in his first-team squad.
Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy confirmed that Murphy had made the request and the former Ireland international and manager said he would not stand in the player’s way.
“He put in a transfer request and my view is you don’t stand in the way of someone who wants to leave,” said McCarthy.
“It is great move for him and he has been terrific for us so I wish him well. It is a great bit of business for the club and we will reinvest and get other players in.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/newcastle-united-agree-3-5m-fee-to-sign-irish-striker-daryl-murphy-1.2770780?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/c4f6402670b826e00305e6c8ef4ee7acd489a934bfc01da2bcc7b5f912c0f3ba.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T06:50:36 | null | 2016-08-27T06:30:00 | This year’s judges had a tough job sifting through more than 30,000 entries. Readers were eager to show their appreciation for the independent shops making a difference up and down the country. Today we reveal the 10 winning shops | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Flife-and-style%2Fbest-shops-2016-the-winners-1.2769302%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769298.1472205253!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Best shops 2016: The Winners | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | BEST CRAFT/GIFT SHOP: The Old Mill Stores
On a bend in the road between Roscarbery and Leap is a real sign of the retail times. The Old Mill Stores in Gortnaroe is a thriving independent shop that occupies one half of the building. The other half is derelict. Tom Keane and interior designer Claire Graham opened up shop here 16 years ago. They spotted it while en route to deliver some reconditioned Scandinavian wood-burning stoves to Jeremy Irons at Kilcoe Castle in Ballydehob. The couple, who set up Urbana in Temple Bar in the early 1990s, and had their stoves featured in the Harry Potter films, were looking for a new adventure.
“We saw the derelict property, a former shop, adjoining a former feed mill, and bought the lot on a whim,” Keane explains. Belonging to the Maloney family, it had been empty for years. It was one of those millennial decisions that if they had had to write a business plan for the bank, they would have been laughed out of it. But retail runs in the veins of this pair and they have turned this space into a stop-the-car-we-have-to-go-into-this-store destination in its own right. It is situated on the busy N71, and about 50 per cent of their trade comes from impromptu stops by people who are taken by what they see, Graham says.
You enter the original grocers and can wander through to a checkerboard tiled second room, once the kitchen, and cross the front hall of the house to a third space, once a formal parlour. Boasting high ceilings throughout, the rooms are packed with covetable things for the home with gifts starting from as little as €2 and rising to cool enamelled stools that double as a side table, from Pols Potten.
You will get no sense of the range from visiting the shop’s website and that is part of the sense of discovery you feel here. “I’ve never known the shop to disappoint,” is how reader Jill Dinsdale put it.
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Every centimetre of space contains items you’ll want to own, from antique ceiling panels imported from India that customers are using as bedheads, to nautical flags from Japan that have been reimagined as aprons. Local souvenirs include knitted tea cosies, €32, made by a woman down the road, and fragrances by Waters + Wild, a certified organic perfumery, €95 each.
The Old Mill Stores, Connonagh Village, Gortroe, Leap, Co Cork; theoldmillstores.ie
BEST BOOKSHOP: Ulysses Rare Books
You always see people browsing the window of Ulysses Rare Books. It houses a mix of titles, some feted for their rarity, others for their design, with children’s books sharing the shelf space with high literature.
You could spend ages looking at the type and covers but to really understand this store you need to cross its threshold and inhale its atmosphere; a mix of yellowing paper and ink that many a luxury candle maker has tried to replicate.
Despite the precious nature of the works for sale you’re encouraged to spend time here, to move from shelf to shelf and peruse some very valuable titles – to feel the weight of each tome, its embossed cloth cover, touch its illustrations and typefaces.
Only a select few are hidden behind glass cases. It’s a place to buy memorable gifts to mark special occasions as well as appealing to collectors. Each title is individually priced, in hand-written, fine copperplate in pencil on its inside cover. This is a family-run business, set up by former teacher Enda Cunningham, who first started trading rare books as a hobby and set up Cathach Books in 1986 in the George’s Street Arcade before moving two years later to the Victorian-fronted premises on Duke Street.
He brought his son David and daughter Aisling into the business, what Aisling calls an apprenticeship, and counted Brian Friel and John Banville as early customers. Enda died about six years ago and the children renamed the business Ulysses Rare Books.
The service here is deliberately reserved. The owners do not want to interrupt your reading and will wait until you’re ready to ask questions to engage with you. It is also blissfully free of a look-but-don’t- touch policy.
Ulysses Rare Books Ltd, 10 Duke St, Dublin 2; rarebooks.ie
BEST CAFE: The Phoenix Café
We’re in the middle of a coffee revolution, with every third shop on any street serving the brew. Furniture shops, concept shops, fashion shops and even butchers have got in on act, and it made the task of selecting a shortlist very difficult. It also made the judges veer towards cafés that were destinations in their own right, rather than a place you drop into to perch or grab a coffee to go.
Situated beside the walled garden at the Ashtown Demense, the Phoenix Café is wonderfully located. It is run by Helen Cunningham and Angela Butler, who set up business about 18 years ago. With her husband Peter Cunningham, Helen had cut her teeth running the now shuttered Blazes restaurant on Exchange Street in Temple Bar, a vibrant late-night spot.
As a mother of young children, she was looking for something new, and saw an advertisement in a newspaper for the Office of Public Works, which operates the demense, looking for people to run the café. She teamed up with Butler, her sister-in-law, who had run a catering business in the UK.
The pair use produce from the now restored walled garden in their soups, stews and salads, even selling some of it from a small table outside the cafe’s front door. “Customers ring up to ask what’s for sale,” says Cunningham, “and ask us to hold a head of cauliflower or cabbage.”
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It is the café’s scones, light as air, the size of your fist and served straight from the oven with slabs of butter and raspberry jam, that have regulars calling in as soon as they open. “I’m addicted,” reader Ita Coughlan wrote.
Dog walkers detour for a latte, and even priests congregate here to sample the delicious cakes, which included beetroot and chocolate, a fragrantly spiced carrot cake and a stand out lemon curd cake on the day our secret shopper visited. There are plenty of gluten-free options too, as well as hearty soups, salads and stews.
The setting is fantastic. The café has been renovated downstairs but the larger upstairs room has yet to be done. Outside in the courtyard, there are refectory style tables and benches. It is surrounded by mature trees and picnic tables, and on a sunny day you can take your food outdoors. Some mornings, especially in winter, you can hear the lions roaring for their breakfast in nearby Dublin Zoo. Someone should toss them a few scones.
The Phoenix Café, Ashtown Castle, Nunciature Rd, Phoenix Park, Dublin 7; phoenixpark.ie
BEST SPECIALIST SHOP: Musicmaker
When Musicmaker opened its doors in 1980, Dublin’s rock scene was booming. U2 had been discovered and record company A&R men thronged the city looking for the next big thing. Every bloke under the age of 25 was in a band. Shop owner Lawrence Kerr had been working in finance. Part of his job was organising loans for musicians so they could buy their instruments. Opening a shop felt like the natural next step, says manager John Paul Prior.
Music trends change and by the time the boom came around, much of the shop’s business was coming from selling drum kits to bankers. It no longer felt like a community centre; had lost track of its loyal customer base.
With bankers’ bonuses a thing of the past, the recession provided the shop with an opportunity to get back to basics, selling strings for guitars and renting backline equipment to bands on tour, Prior explains. And in doing so, it turned its atmosphere back up to 11.
Here you can noodle on a Fender Mustang favoured by Kurt Kobain, or descend into the basement, a space they have christened the drumgeon and give Animal from The Muppet Show a run for his money on one of the drum kits.
Everyone from Donovan to Debbie Harry has been in the premises. The Manic Street Preachers and actor Cillian Murphy are just some of the names that have signed skins that hang on the walls of the ground floor, alongside Fender guitars, while Marshall amps cover much of the floor space. U2 may now be elder statesmen in the business, but The Edge still shops here. So do Hozier and Kodaline. And Lar Kaye of synth duo All Tvvins used to work behind the counter.
At weekends, it’s a magnet for groupies and hangers on and in this kind of company you might expect the expert staff to ignore mere mortals or act too cool for school. But these musos really understand they’re in the retail game and offer the kind of perfect service that is utterly memorable.
The staff are family to Irish musicians, reader James Lovatt writes. “They offer endless support through hosting international events/clinics, endorsements for artists, advice, and also sell some great equipment. They’re also known to host impromptu jam sessions for visiting artists such as Justin Timberlake’s band. Musicmaker is not just a shop, it’s a community at the heart and soul of the Irish music scene.”
Musicmaker, 29 Exchequer St, Dublin 2; musicmaker.ie
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Highly commended: Parfumarija – Macedonian-born Marija Aslimoska is a classically trained perfumer who in her first few months of training used mnemonics to help her recall the hundreds of ingredients used. Hearing her describe fragrances will open your senses to a completely new way of thinking. She set up shop in 2013, selling mostly exclusive scents. Spending time here will inform and educate you. Parfumarija, Westbury Mall, Dublin 2; parfumarija.com
BEST FOOD & DRINK SHOP: Cavistons Food Emporium
Cavistons, a business that has been a mainstay of Glasthule village for 67 years, nearly didn’t come into being. Brothers Jim and John Caviston bought the premises in a transaction that took place in the Eagle House pub across the road. The morning after Jim was having second thoughts and tried to cancel the cheque but couldn’t and so set up a fish shop at number 59 in the then sleepy village of Glasthule in 1949.
From the outside, it isn’t immediately apparent what makes this shop great. There are many shops that have more kerb appeal. Equally the first counter looks almost average – its lasagne, quiche and pate contents positively pedestrian by modern standards. But bear with us as we delve deeper into the shop to where the fish counter looks like its various specimens were literally washed ashore that very morning. They glisten with freshness.
Dublin Bay prawns are piled pyramidically high and you can buy cooked Irish lobster that the fishmongers will crack and shell for you. There’s squid that are still pale grey in colour – the shade it should be rather than the opaque white meat you see at many other fishmongers. In another corner vegetables from organic farms – Kilpeddar and Marc Michel in Wicklow – beg you to buy them. The produce here is first-rate.
While fish remains a mainstay of the business, the surrounding space is packed to the roof with every condiment, spice and delicacy from the four corners of the world. There are teams of assistants to help in every area, with special plaudits for Ian Walker who, according to one regular shopper, “would go out in a blizzard to fetch you a fresh scone from the [Caviston]bakery across the road.”
Co-founder John’s son Peter, now 65, is still very much a core part of the Caviston experience. He and his sons David and Mark know all their customers’ names and their likes and dislikes.
“Customers tell us what they want,” David explains. “Every day we get asked for special goods and three out of four times we can put our hands on it. When we can’t, we ask for their number and will get it in the next day, or as soon as it is available. If customers can rely on you, then they don’t need to go to three or four shops to get what they want.”
Patrick Daly is one of many readers who talked about the great atmosphere in the store. Catherine Morris loves the banter. “It’s a pleasure to shop there,” she writes, saying her husband calls in to their bakery, situated across the road, sometimes as early as 5am and gets his choice of beautiful freshly baked bread, and pays in the shop at the end of each week.
The staff are up-to-date on the trials and tribulations of all their customers and every purchase is served with a slice of fun that makes you want to linger.
Cavistons Food Emporium, 58/59 Glasthule Rd, Glenageary, Glasthule, Co Dublin; cavistons.com
BEST VISUAL MERCHANDISING: Optica
Boutique eyewear business Optica is run by husband and wife team Donal and Deirdre McNally and opened its doors 23 years ago, putting a fashion focus on eyewear – something that mainland Europeans have been doing for decades but that in the early 1990s in Ireland was pretty revolutionary.
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They’ve sustained their niche business, recently emerging, chrysalis-like, from their lovely pop-up shop on the corner of Dublin’s Duke Street and Dawson Street and into a permanent space across the road.
While the Luas works are still disrupting business on Dawson Street for now, stepping into Optica feels worth the journey.
The new space has been designed by the couple and features a select number of Victorian-style display cabinets, ambient lighting that makes you look good and in pride of place and hung from the ceiling, are two works by Dublin light sculptor Niamh Barry.
Made using mirror-polished hand-formed solid bronze, they are the room’s centrepiece. But there’s more. Stay looking up and you’ll see wonderful Georgian plasterwork discovered during the renovation. A Victorian display cabinet, restored and reworked to house trays of glasses’ frames, stands against one wall.
Ryan Connolly of Connolly & Company made the furniture and shop fittings. They include small stools with Donegal tweed seats and leather-lined trays for stock. There are lucite tables from Mid-Century Online and sign writing by Tom Collins Signs. Everywhere you look there is another thing of beauty to admire. It is, as reader James O’Neill writes, “simply stunning”.
And that’s before you lift a pair of their eyewear to try on – all delightfully unfettered freeing you to browse at length. Entry-level frames cost upwards of €200 but the right pair of glasses not only frames the face but draws attention to your best features.
Optica, 6 Dawson Street, Dublin 2; Optica.ie
Highly commended: The Best of Buds – Carole Horgan was a high flying recruitment executive travelling all over the world to find people at director level for the tech industry and had a premises on Cork’s South Mall when in 2010 the bottom fell out of the market and she decided to follow a dream she had held since she played shop as a little girl – to open a flower shop. She trained with Jenny Packer in the UK and moved to the beguilingly beautiful art deco premises in Winthorp Arcade last year. The Best of Buds, Winthrop Arcade, Winthrop St, Cork; thebestofbuds.ie
BEST FASHION SHOP: Samui
Samui, a haven of high fashion set over three levels, is secreted off Cork’s main drag. The shopfront is unassuming and looks on to a side street.
You don’t expect much, walking through the front door. Even the ground floor, which has pale wood floors and rails on three sides set around a central Aesop counter, feels rather average at first glance.
What’s the big deal, you might ask. But give yourself time to peruse the rails. Silk pussycat bow blouses by Paule Ka, dresses by Marni, and architectural one-offs by Osman are just some of the chic pieces that will grab your attention.
No one follows you round the shop tidying up the rails after you. Rather your presence is noted with a low-key hello that asks if you’d like some help. The very gentle welcome warms you up to the idea of investing in one of these expensive pieces. This is an unapologetically niche market and Clodagh Shorten, who has run the shop for almost 30 years, has stuck to her guns and not diluted the offering.
There is very little here in the less than €150 category, but even if it is out of your reach, you will jump through mental hoops to see how you might come by the money to buy, for example, a marshmallow pink striped Mongolian lamb jacket by MGSM, €780, because you just won’t see it anywhere else in the country. Given the price tags, it is refreshing that the staff don’t do that awful thing of looking you up and down, as if mentally calculating whether or not it might be worth their while saying hello. It’s an outmoded approach and one that is utterly absent in this Cork shop.
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Whether you’re wearing mumsy jeans, and not in a fashion way, or sporting the latest catwalk creations, you will be made to feel equally welcome here.
And that is this boutique’s singular point of difference; your custom feels valued – even if you are only browsing – and that means that when you do have the funds, you will want to give your hard-earned money to Shorten.
Samui, 17 Drawbridge St, Mahon, Cork; samuifashions.com
BEST HOME & DESIGN SHOP: MRCB
MRCB, which is based in Cornmarket in Dublin, first opened on Lord Edward Street in 1936 and takes its name from the initials of its two founding French men, Marcel Regent and Charlie Bigoud, MR and CB.
What the pair were doing in Dublin is unknown. Dublin’s MRCB is now run by Kevin Coughlan, whose parents bought the business in 1989. They previously had a premises on Meath Street.
Growing up, Kevin worked every weekend and holiday. He left school at 16 to join the firm, a decision his school principal at the time, Sean O’Beachain at Coolemine Community College, gave his blessing to. “That put mam and dad’s minds at ease,” Kevin recalls.
Coughlan snr was well regarded and had drilled into his son the need to always pay the suppliers, who returned the favour when the shop opened by extending him credit and rowing in behind the enterprise.
They were the first shop in Ireland to stock Farrow & Ball paints and extended the shop in 1998 to incorporate a warehouse out the back.
What makes this premises outstrip its competitors is not the way it looks – it has great windows, but inside it is practical rather than prettily laid out. No, it is the top-class service offered by staff, as reader Siobhan Lavery sees it.
Unlike the multiples, where a member of staff will look at his or her feet hoping you’ll just disappear when you ask a difficult question, at MRCB they listen to what you’re asking for and offer the right advice, while never pushing you to purchase. As a professional courtesy, the shop is open from 7.30am six days a week, which facilitates contractors in stocking up the morning of a job. The shop also sells premier wallpaper brands, has a very strong wood care section and still makes its own French polishes. MRCB Paints and Papers, 10-13 Cornmarket, Dublin 8. mrcb.ie
BEST FAMILY-RUN SHOP: CH Chemists
Brother and sister Peter and Claire Harty run CH Chemists on The Mall in Tralee, one of about 15 pharmacies in this thriving market town. The shop is hidden behind a rather nondescript exterior that, in contrast to the many traditional shop fronts in the town, has a flat, modern, beige facade that belies what lies inside.
Their grandparents had a chemist on this spot and when their father also qualified as a pharmacist, he opened a shop on Market Street. Their mother was a beautician when she met their dad and this goes some way to explaining why this shop in Co Kerry has such an impressive beauty offering. The siblings went into business together, taking over the shop on The Mall when their parents retired.
The sizeable shop is an estimated 9,500sq feet (882sq m) and is set over two floors. Beauty accounts for 40 per cent of the business. Premium beauty brands Chanel, Shiseido, Estée Lauder, Clarins and Lâncome all have concessions within it and there is an impressive fashion fragrance area,with staff that know the difference between woody and floral notes. “The staff are friendly and knowledgeable,” writes Aine O’Mahony. One helpfully pointed out to this writer that she had unwittingly picked up two skin serums and was advised on which was the better buy.
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It stocks Irish brands Mortar & Pestle and Kinvara, as well as the usual pharmacy brands and affordable cosmetics names. To the left is a really big opticians, run by Claire, which accounts for another 30 per cent of trade. There is a pharmacy counter to the rear, as well as photo printing machines and a usefully positioned ATM – handy for customers who don’t need to go out into the elements when waiting for a prescription.
Upstairs there is a beauty salon where you can have a treatment using Yon-Ka, Image or Dermalogica products, as well as makeovers using Irish beauty brand Fushia. At just 12 years of age, Claire’s twin boys are still too young to know whether they’ll join the family business, but chances are the bookies would give you very short odds on them turning their back on tradition.
CH Chemists, 31 The Mall, Tralee, Co Kerry; chtralee.com
BEST SALON: Edvard & Pink
The salon category attracted a huge number of votes, with readers listing everyone from Mary down the road to practitioners that compete on a world stage. This year’s winner is a bit of a surprise hit.
On paper, a salon in a suburban shopping centre sounds neither glamorous nor efficacious and yet Edvard & Pink, recently awarded a Best Beauty Salon accolade at the World Luxury Spa Awards, ticks both those boxes.
Run by beauty therapist Anita Murray and her husband Garreth Bertels, the company started as Pink Beauty Emporium in Dundrum village, but moved to the shopping centre about five years ago. As the business expanded to include men’s grooming, they changed the name to one that was more unisex.
“It was not a great name for male clients,” Murray concedes. The salon offers an up-to-the-minute list of spa and cosmetic treatments, as well as manicure and pedicure stations and a brow and lash bar. It has grown in size too, now occupying three floors and a mezzanine and employing 30 staff.
Retail design firm 21 Spaces, which also did Parfumarija in the Westbury Mall and Optica’s pop-up shop on the corner of Dawson Street and Duke Street, created the luxurious interior.
The therapists are first class too. One told our secret shopper that while she has spent her career in five-star hotels and is still on call by celebrities when they visit Dublin, she prefers to work in the salon because of its “progressive approach”.
Edvard & Pink, Dundrum Town Centre, Dundrum; pinkbeautyemporium.ie
Highly commended: Hair by Mane – Such is the reputation of Andrew Dunne and his team of stylists and colourists at Hair By Mane at The Grooming Rooms on Dublin’s South William Street that he is booked up until October. His talent is colour that he paints on, to highlight flattering features and camouflage the ones you don’t want to shout about, to create lustrous, natural looking hair. His colours take three to four hours to create. The salon has a 80:20 female to male clientele. Hair By Mane, 16 William St South, Dublin 2; hairbymane.ie | http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/best-shops-2016-the-winners-1.2769302?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/e648280e7ff9547c16a81481785c52c1def45aeb5b930467ab8907142d709eea.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T08:49:19 | null | 2016-08-31T07:45:00 | Oil and gas exploration company hires Senergy Wells to manage 2017 Druid exploration | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fenergy-and-resources%2Fprovidence-sees-druid-exploration-well-cost-at-35m-1.2774075.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2774074.1472625911!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Providence sees Druid exploration well cost at $35m | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Providence Resources sees the cost of drilling an exploration well at its Druid field in the Atlantic Ocean will be 30 per cent lower than previously planned as it hired a company to manage the process next year.
The Tony O’Reilly Jnr-led oil and gas exploration company said it and its license partner for the Druid prospect have appointed Senergy Wells Ltd, a subsidiary of global engineering group Lloyds Register to provide well management services for the planned drilling programme in June 2017.
Providence has previously estimated the Druid field, some 220 kilometres off the west coast of Ireland, could ultimately deliver 3.9 billion barrels of oil, a multiple of the 311 million barrels of recoverable oil its Barryroe oil field south of Cork is estimated to hold.
The company now estimates that the cost of drilling the Druid exploration at about $35 million (€31.4 million), some 30 per cent lower than a previous estimate.
Drilling costs have slumped globally following a drop in oil price in recent years. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/providence-sees-druid-exploration-well-cost-at-35m-1.2774075 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/2b7a7600181056d2a1b7a0e4721ee7c91bdfe329f42a5b510dd920e7773c711e.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T16:52:35 | null | 2016-08-30T17:28:00 | Sausage Party is a tasty proposition. Just don’t expect too much subtlety as the animated adventure plays itself out | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Ffilm%2Fsausage-party-review-more-than-enough-meaty-satire-for-grown-ups-1.2773269%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773152.1472572291!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Sausage Party review: more than enough meaty satire for grown-ups | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Talking comestibles (voiced by some of Hollywood’s finest) are the stars in ’Sausage Party’, an enjoyable spoof let down by a corny chase ending
For almost an hour Sausage Party is the full kielbasa: a daring satire of religious beliefs and, simultaneously, a hilarious, adults-only spoof of Pixar’s winning ‘What if x had feelings?’ product line. There’s even a full-blown, old-school Disney number wherein supermarket produce welcome another day.
The x in question are perishable items in a large American grocery store, notably Frank (Rogen), a lowly frankfurter who dreams only of having sausage-sex with his hot dog bun girlfriend, Brenda (Wiig). Frank and Brenda are delighted when one of the “gods” who frequent their outlet, pick them up just ahead of “red, white and blue” day. But their enthusiasm for the ‘Great Beyond’ that awaits is dampened by dire warnings issued by a returned jar of honey-mustard (McBride) and a violent encounter with an obnoxious douche.
Stranded, the goods – now accompanied by a lavash (Krumholtz) and a bagel (Norton) – must make their way back to their own aisle.
At its best, Sausage Party takes entertaining sideswipes at blind faith: when Frank asks why the neurotic bagel and the lavash (who has been promised 100 bottles of virgin olive oil in the great beyond) can’t live together in what looks like a “big enough aisle”, the warring carbs momentarily bond in derisive laughter.
Still, even at a taut 86 minutes, Sausage Party lacks girth and momentum. Once the film ventures beyond the cabinets of its big-box environment, it soon dilutes its central joke by introducing, well, everything, as a character. We’ve only just clambered aboard the idea of talking comestibles as characters when we’re introduced to speaking-part used condoms. If discarded prophylactics are conscious then why not tables?
This lack of consistency might have flown if the final 20 minutes weren’t mostly given over to an exhausting chase sequence. Nobody expects a movie about deli items to behave like Out of Africa, but about 20 per cent less anarchy. 30 per cent more jokes, and 40 per cent more story would have made for better viewing.
Do watch out for the ill-starred Irish potato: Sausage Party was co-directed by Dubliner Greg Tiernan and we’re just one of the many, politically incorrect casualties. It’s not racist when everybody gets roasted (sometimes literally), right? | http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/sausage-party-review-more-than-enough-meaty-satire-for-grown-ups-1.2773269?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/e34038f358ec6b6e186b21223fe12a7a63d25b7f0df9ef672e894ffa50ec839c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:10:49 | null | 2016-08-26T11:55:00 | Businessman played important role in Anglo Irish agreement during foreign affairs tenure | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fpeter-barry-former-fine-gael-t%25C3%25A1naiste-dies-aged-88-1.2769356%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769355.1472213889!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Peter Barry, former Fine Gael tánaiste, dies aged 88 | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Former Fine Gael deputy leader, tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs Peter Barry has died aged 88.
Taoieach Enda Kenny said Barry died peacefully in Cork on Friday morning surrounded by his family.
Among the most significant aspects of a long career was the important role Barry played in the creation of the Anglo-Irish agreement alongside then taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald.
A businessman as well as a politician, Barry pioneered the distribution and wholesaling of tea, first selling it to other shops in Cork, then expanding into the suburbs, and eventually putting it on supermarket shelves throughout the rest of the country.
After Fitzgerald’s resignation as Fine Gael leader in 1987, Barry was one of three candidates for the position, along with Alan Dukes and John Bruton.
Dukes won the leadership contest but Barry remained in politics for another 10 years, stepping down as a TD in 1997.
“Throughout his long and distinguished political career, Peter gave outstanding service to his country and to his native city,” said the Taoiseach.
“In particular, his central and pivotal role in negotiating the Anglo Irish Agreement in 1985 helped to create the foundations on which the peace process in Northern Ireland was built.
“In the coming days we will reflect on and salute Peter Barry’s extraordinary legacy, but today, our thoughts and prayers are with his beloved family at the loss of their father.
“We also remember at this time Peter’s late wife Margaret who was such a support to him throughout his career.”
President Michael D Higgins also paid tribute to Barry’s work on the Anglo Irish agreement as well as his business career.
“As a person he was immensely popular across all parties and, of course, he had a deep commitment to Cork city and its heritage.
“Peter Barry, in his non-political life, gained enormous respect internationally through his work in the family business,” said President Higgins.
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Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald said Barry would continue to be a role model for anyone who believes politics is about positive change.
“I will always remember him fondly as a great colleague totally committed to the highest standards in public office,” she said.
Current Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan also paid tribute. “I have known Peter Barry and his family all my life. Peter served for many years in the Dáil with my late father, Oliver, and they both served in cabinet together,” said Mr Flanagan. “His deep commitment to public service and his humble and warm demeanour were admired by all.”
Senator Jerry Buttimer said Barry left a “huge impact” on the people and city of Cork, where he was well loved. “He was an immense person of huge character and integrity and he will be sadly missed,” said Mr Buttimer.
Fianna Fáil leader and Cork South Central TD Micheál Martin offered his own and his party’s sympathies to Barry’s family.
“A distinguished minister in a number of government departments including transport and education, he will of course be best remembered for his stewardship of the department of foreign affairs and his role in negotiating the Anglo Irish Agreement,” said Mr Martin. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/peter-barry-former-fine-gael-t%C3%A1naiste-dies-aged-88-1.2769356?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/75de7355ee25f6a70a99a5379dd420eca6cae9bc7c5afb4eb0fdfe49c2f049f1.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T16:49:09 | null | 2016-08-30T17:05:00 | August weakness may be down to decision of Britain to leave EU | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Feuro-zone-economic-confidence-worsens-more-than-predicted-1.2773035.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773289.1472573101!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Euro zone economic confidence worsens more than predicted | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Euro zone economic confidence worsened more than analysts predicted in August in a sign that the reverberations of Britain’s decision to leave the EU may finally be reaching companies and households.
An index of industry and consumer confidence fell to 103.5 from a revised 104.5, the European Commission in Brussels said on Tuesday. That compares with a median estimate of 104.1 in a Bloomberg survey of economists, and follows an unexpected increase in July.
With European Central Bank president Mario Draghi leaving it largely to economic data to fine-tune policy expectations before next week’s governing council meeting, the release provides a case for more stimulus to sustain the recovery and revive inflation.
Projections
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has already cut its forecast for euro zone growth next year on the back of the Brexit vote, and the ECB will release new projections next week.
“The weakness in the August reading is broad-based across all countries, with some exceptions, and across sectors,” said Frederik Ducrozet, an economist at Banque Pictet and Cie SA in Geneva. “It’s another reason to be cautious and dovish for the ECB. Maybe not in the next weeks, but in the next months.”
Inflation in the currency bloc probably accelerated to 0.3 per cent in August from 0.2 per cent the month before, leaving it well below the ECB’s goal of just under 2 per cent, according to a separate survey.
Eurostat will release preliminary figures on Wednesday, along with jobless data that is expected to show the unemployment rate dropped to 10 per cent in July.
Industrial sector
Sentiment in the industrial sector fell to minus 4.4 from minus 2.6, the lowest level in 18 months, according to commission data. Confidence also slipped in services, retailing and among consumers, while a gauge for construction rose to an eight-year high.
Figures showed last week that confidence also subsided in the region’s two largest economies. Germany’s business climate as measured by Munich-based research institute Ifo unexpectedly declined the most in more than four years. Sentiment slipped in France, the nation’s statistics institute said. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/euro-zone-economic-confidence-worsens-more-than-predicted-1.2773035 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/b7e729fe8e89c4ca7de4ecf80ec3f40e6543f484d14b6ca745c1cc21c0f84cb9.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T02:50:21 | null | 2016-08-27T02:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Flife-and-style%2Fpeople%2Fweddings%2Four-wedding-story-thinking-about-walking-in-together-still-gives-me-goosebumps-1.2768563%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2768552.1472145312!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Our wedding story: ‘Thinking about walking in together still gives me goosebumps’ | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Robert Jackman, area manager for H&M, and Ciaran Graham, store manager for H&M, met through work six years ago and were engaged last year in Iceland under the Northern Lights. On July 16th, they were married in a humanist ceremony in Dublin City Hall. “It was magical,” says Robert. “Walking in together with cheers from our family and friends still gives me goosebumps thinking about it.”
Best men were Robert and Ciaran’s brothers, Paul and Gavin, along with Robert’s other brother Michael who was a groomsman with friend Patrick, and Gill, a groomswoman. Ciaran’s parents are Marice and Pearse Graham and Robert’s are Mary and William Jackman.
It was those friends and family, among others, who organised the couple’s joint stag party in Berlin and, “made it the best weekend ever”.
After the ceremony, the newlyweds walked with the wedding party from City Hall to their reception at the Shelbourne Hotel where they were joined by 140 guests. “Onlookers were cheering us on and wishing us luck for the future – Dublin was amazing that day.”
During the ceremony, nine-year-old Olivia, a daughter of Robert’s cousin, made a speech at the request of the couple. “During the marriage referendum we explained to her what it was all about. When she went to bed that night, she wrote a letter to the government as she didn’t understand why Ciaran and I weren’t able to get married in the first place. That’s why we asked her to speak: she had everyone in tears on the day.”
Photographs: Elaine Barker, elainebarkerphotography.com | http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/weddings/our-wedding-story-thinking-about-walking-in-together-still-gives-me-goosebumps-1.2768563?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/2ab8dc8073058a66ac56d4f575b90d463279859c3372d971ea6e8787acb83b55.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T00:51:50 | null | 2016-08-29T01:00:00 | Ahead of his visit to Ireland, Tad Devine explains why the Vermont senator lost to Clinton | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fus%2Fthe-spin-doctor-who-guided-sanders-and-ahern-1.2771287%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771285.1472418982!/image/image.jpg | en | null | The spin doctor who guided Sanders and Ahern | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | It was dark and cold, but Bernie Sanders’s 5am rally in early February, from the back of a pick-up truck in New Hampshire, stays with the Vermont senator’s chief strategist Tad Devine as “a magic moment” of their campaign.
Sanders had just stepped off a plane packed with the American political press corps on an overnight flight from Des Moines, and a razor-thin loss to rival Hillary Clinton, when he spoke to scores of supporters who had waited through the night to greet him.
Watching Sanders speaking on that freezing New Hampshire morning, Devine “felt the Bern. ”
“Here’s a guy with incredible, boundless energy who just fought Hillary Clinton to a tie in Iowa and was coming into New Hampshire where the polls showed him ahead,” said Devine.
“That moment… it really struck me that this thing was possible, that we could find a way to overcome all of the incredible advantages she had as a candidate: the support she had in the party, the resources superiority, the things that made victory look almost impossible.”
For a man considered a long-shot candidate, the result in Iowa was viewed as a victory. It was the first bout in the long fight that Sanders did not concede for another six months.
Now, a month after Clinton was crowned the Democratic nominee at the party’s convention in Philadelphia, Devine is in reflective mood on an extraordinary political campaign.
Sanders, the 74-year-old Brooklyn native and self-professed democratic socialist viewed by some as a backbench gadfly in the US senate, became the unlikely energetic alternative to one of the world’s best-known politicians.
Electrified the left
His crusade against big money interests in politics and the Wall Street banks, and his support for racial, economic and social equality, a higher minimum wage, free college education and universal healthcare electrified the left wing of the party.
Clinton may be the Democratic presidential nominee but Sanders has shaped the platform on which she now stands because of the campaign he ran.
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A curmudgeonly septuagenarian became the improbable poster boy for young progressives at a time when many Americans, angry at the political status quo and frustrated by stalled economic prospects, craved an authentic outsider to shake things up.
“His message of dealing with an economy which favours the wealthy in the United States at the expense of everyone else was very powerful and resonated,” said Devine.
Like Barack Obama eight years earlier, Sanders brought a new generation of young voters into the political process.
“He struck a chord with them by his style and manner,” said Devine. “He was blunt and direct and they liked that, and also the ideas that he was talking about.”
This was the seventh presidential campaign that the 61-year-old Democratic consultant has worked on.
He was a senior adviser on Al Gore’s 2000 campaign and John Kerry’s 2004 campaign, and helped Fianna Fáil at elections over the past 20 years. He would have worked with the party in this year’s general election had he not been advising Sanders.
In retrospect, Devine concedes that the Sanders campaign would have been spent resources more quickly, and put staff on the ground a lot earlier. They cautiously held back not knowing if the money pouring in would continue. (It did.)
“We didn’t want to get ahead of our skis when we were going downhill so fast,” he said. The strategy was to win the first three races in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
“We had to knock down these dominoes in order for the others to fall and to have a real shot to connect with African-American voters in the South and other voters who knew so little about him,” said Devine.
‘Very aggressive’
When they lost Nevada, the campaign team “huddled” and took a much longer view of the primary with a view to winning it “at the back end,” in California in June and other states in the west where the demographics were more favourable for Sanders.
“Until the New York primary, I think we had a very good shot,” he said. Clinton won the state’s primary by a decisive 16-point margin, more than 300,000 votes.
Devine had wanted Sanders to attack Clinton on her emails and the Clinton Foundation – her family charity – but Sanders refused; he thought it too personal.
“The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” Sanders said in the first Democratic debate in October, removing them as a campaign issue.
“I, for one, am somebody who advocated putting everything on the table because you got to do everything to win,” he said.
“This is a tough business. You have to be very aggressive, but Bernie was true to himself and I respect that.”
While some diehard Sanders supporters will never support Clinton, others have switched sides to campaign for her, united by a common adversary in Donald Trump.
Devine believes Trump is failing to pass the very high presidential threshold set by voters “almost on a daily basis”.
If Trump continues trying to excite people on divisive issues such as race and bigotry, he will lose to Clinton by a big margin, Devine predicts.
The trick for the Clinton campaign, he suggests, is to push Trump to defend big, traditional Republican states, such as Texas, so as to force him to spend big on TV advertising, as George W Bush did to Al Gore in California in 2000.
“This is a very tactical campaign,” he said. “If they can force Trump to defend some of these places with large media markets which are very costly and to do something that Trump doesn’t like to do — spend money — the possibility of a landslide victory exists.”
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‘Biggest advantage’
Trump is losing right now because Clinton has made this election about Trump, says Devine, but he could have a real shot at winning, if he can “wrap himself around the mantle of change” and establish Clinton as a “status-quo” candidate.
“I saw this in Ireland. It is very hard for anybody anywhere in the world, for any democracy to get a third term of government,” he said.
He recalls the 2007 Irish general election and not a single poll or pundit in Ireland saying Bertie Ahern was going to win a third term until the tide turned after the leaders’ debate in the last week of the election.
“The bias against a third term exists everywhere,” he said, “and that’s what Hillary Clinton has to confront and that’s Donald Trump’s biggest advantage.”
Devine will speak at the Kennedy Summer School: a festival of Irish-American history, culture and politics in New Ross, Co Wexford, from September 8th to 11th. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/the-spin-doctor-who-guided-sanders-and-ahern-1.2771287?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/7539e4ca5d484846a66bb4ba6c4bcd1470ffbe029f6324562dd5aa743dd81a17.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T08:48:43 | null | 2016-08-29T09:19:00 | Warning of increased premiums as more claims recorded during first seven months | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ffinancial-services%2Fnumber-of-claims-involving-uninsured-drivers-jumps-1.2771818.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771817.1472458732!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Number of claims involving uninsured drivers jumps | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The number of motor insurance claims involving uninsured or untraced drivers jumped by 17 per cent between January and July, according to new figures.
The data show there were 1,644 claims involving such drivers during the first seven months of 2016, up by 235 versus the 1,409 claims lodged during the same period a year earlier.
The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) figures show 42 per cent of such claims were made in Dublin with the capital also showing a big spike in general claims made compared to last year.
Overall, there were 688 claims recorded in Dublin, up 78 on the 610 claims seen during the first seven months of 2015. The next highest number of claims were in Cork (129) and Galway (92).
Between January and July, claims increased in 20 counties, with the largest percentage change being in Roscommon, which recorded an increase of 500 per cent as the number of claims rose from 2 to 12.
Four counties experienced a decline in the number of claims, the largest drop being in Limerick which had 80 claims, down from 95 in 2015.
The number of claims in Clare and Kildare were the same across both years.
MIBI, which was established by the Government and the insurance industry in the 1950s, pays out approximately €60 million a year on claims involving uninsured or untraced drivers. David Fitzgerald, the body’s chief executive, warned that the jump in claims involving such drivers would likely impact on premiums in the future.
“An increase of 17 per cent represents a significant jump in the number of claims being lodged. It showcases the increased pipeline of payments facing the MIBI. While no sums are yet attached to these claims, unfortunately more claims generally means higher levels of payments coming from the MIBI and ultimately, that will impact on motor insurance premiums,” he said. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/number-of-claims-involving-uninsured-drivers-jumps-1.2771818 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/10a82f5dc09aebd70982458d4bee06856c5618f75db05abf4a12bbd5b1843521.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T18:51:12 | null | 2016-08-28T18:00:00 | Cork rower leaves rivals in his wake with powerful performance to cap magic month | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fother-sports%2Fpaul-o-donovan-walks-away-from-single-life-with-gold-and-no-regrets-1.2771153%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771146.1472406239!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Paul O’Donovan walks away from 'single' life with gold and no regrets | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | It was his last hurrah. Paul O’Donovan is 22, but he is already putting away one of his loves and moving forward with a bigger project. The Olympic boat, the lightweight double sculls, is the future, but first he wanted to walk away from the lightweight single with no regrets.
“I’ve been trying to win a World Championship gold medal since the World Junior Championships in 2011. I’ve had one bronze medal (2013 in the World Under-23 Championships) and three or four fourth-place finishes as well.
“I was really looking forward to the opportunity to (win gold).”
He was peerless in the final here at the World Championships in Rotterdam. Peter Galambos of Hungary and then - for a longer stretch - Rajko Hrvat of Slovenia tried to best the young Lisheen man. But O’Donovan was physically and technically stronger and by then end he was so far clear he said he enjoyed the experience. He joked about winning by clear water to live up to a promise to a mate, Diarmuid O’Driscoll. But who makes a promise - even in jest - to win a World Championship by a big margin? A man whose confidence and will to win is rock solid.
O’Donovan has quite an extraordinary mental attitude. Watching him here, it was hard not to be slightly in awe of a man who could lock fully on to race after testing race when inside him must have been a little voice singing ‘I’m an Olympic medallist - celebrate!’
Gary helped. He stayed away from his brother while he was competing. The stories of Gary’s night-time forays allowed Paul to slag him from afar, but they did not meet. You ask both if they had agreed on this and they say no. “It’d be understood, like,” says their coach, Dominic Casey.
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The celebrations, which will peak with a welcome home in Skibbereen on Monday night, started here. Paul was carried around the Irish bar on the shoulders of supporters on Saturday night, but by the early hours of Sunday morning the two siblings held court, side-by-side, at the bar; brothers in arms again.
The European champions and Olympic silver medallists will go forward - each set to move on to a €40,000 grant from €12,000 they have had - to target the one crew they have not beaten as a lightweight double: the French.
Coming up behind them is enough talent to suggest that their will be healthy rivalry at the top end of the Ireland programme.
The Ireland lightweight pair of Shane O’Driscoll (23) and Mark O’Donovan (27) have been climbing the ladder. At last year’s World Championships they finished seventh, winning the B Final. This time out, they fell just short of a medal, pushing hard but not quite reaching the standard of the Britain bronze-medal crew, Coleraine’s Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour.
These Championships melded the senior non-Olympic events (the men’s coxed pair and lightweight pair, the women’s four and the men’s and women’s quadruple and single sculls) on to the big World Junior and World Under-23 regattas. Rather like the city of Rotterdam, with its old and new buildings arrayed in unlikely symmetry, it might not have worked, but it did.
For adult rowers trying to push into the Olympic programme it gave a solid platform. Holly Nixon, who took silver for Ireland in the 2011 Junior Championships, won gold in the Britain senior women’s four. The Fermanagh woman broke down after receiving her medal. Her grandfather, Mervyn Dane, the former editor of the Impartial Reporter, died earlier this month.
On the Sunday, which started with a spectacular thunder and lightning storm and carried on in a welter of wind, more young Irish talent made their case.
Daire Lynch and Ronan Byrne finished second in the B Final of the junior double sculls, placing eighth in the world. The two had been disappointed not to break into the A Final in the headwind conditions on Saturday. The coopted the powerful tailwind on Sunday and excelled, coming from the back of the field to charge past the Netherlands and Canada and threaten South Africa, who won.
This was the first international regatta for Lynch, but he said the crew raced with one thing on their minds. “We said we’d give it everything. It was our last race as juniors.” The talented Clonmel man, who sets aside two hours for training on the ergometer each morning, has a future but has still to decide whether as a lightweight or heavyweight. He is lean, and leaning towards lightweight rowing.
He will not lack an outstanding Irish role model. | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/paul-o-donovan-walks-away-from-single-life-with-gold-and-no-regrets-1.2771153?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/8f9919c007ccacf78e1d476e38e6f22b59d458f225393f7464d81d4cd041a8cb.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T18:52:25 | null | 2016-08-30T18:10:00 | Financial Conduct Authority sanctions Aermont Capital takeover of UK film studio | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fretail-and-services%2Fpinewood-studios-takeover-gets-a-green-light-1.2773399%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773383.1472576953!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Pinewood Studios takeover gets a green light | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The proposed takeover of Pinewood Studios by an international property fund for £323 million (€379m) has been given the green light by Britain’s financial regulator.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has rubber-stamped the deal by Aermont Capital, headed by French property tycoon Leon Bressler, to acquire the famous home of the James Bond and Star Wars films.
“The boards of directors of Bidco and Pinewood are pleased to announce that they have received approval from the FCA,” the firms said in a statement. Shareholders will vote on the deal on September 19th.
In July, Pinewood said the plunge in sterling following Britain’s decision to quit the European Union would give it a boost, adding that the impact of Brexit would be “largely mitigated” as its most significant customers are based in the US.
Chief executive Ivan Dunleavy said at the time: “The result of the UK’s referendum on membership of the EU is now known. In the context of our business, the decline in the sterling exchange rate is undoubtedly positive for our international customers.”
Revenues at Pinewood, which is based in Buckinghamshire, grew 10.9 per cent to £83.2 million last year while operating profit soared 136.3 per cent to £13.6 million.
– PA | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/pinewood-studios-takeover-gets-a-green-light-1.2773399?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/21cbad64f1d7645d24a1854688c33079d6bcf7539599d2aa1674766a0577456e.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T14:51:51 | null | 2016-08-29T14:03:00 | Central Bank study finds employers cut earnings for new workers as unemployment rose | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fsalaries-for-new-hires-fell-15-during-recession-study-1.2771955%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772012.1472481014!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Salaries for new hires fell 15% during recession - study | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Salaries for new hires fell by an average of 15 per cent in the years 2005-2014, as employers responded to a surge in unemployment by cutting earnings for new employees, a new study from the Central Bank shows. However the authors noted that right at the end of 2014, as unemployment continued to decline, earnings for new hires started to improve.
The study showed that while many people were grateful simply to get a job during a recession, it was a bad time to get hired as employers tend to lower what they offer new hires.
This means that if you started a new job during the recession, you may have been offered 15-20 per cent lower than what a similar job would have paid before the downturn. Average hourly earnings for new hires fell from €13 in 2007 to €11 in 2013.
The Central Bank said the finding is “remarkably robust” and echoes previous studies in the United States, which show that when unemployment rises by about 5 per cent, earnings for new hires drops by 7.5 per cent.
The rise in unemployment was about double that in Ireland during the recession, which accordingly gives rise to the 15 per cent drop in new hire earnings.
The findings of the study are more stark than a previous report from Central Bank author Reamonn Lydon, which showed that during the early-1990s slowdown, new graduates’ earnings fell by about 8 per cent, significantly less than the 15 per cent decline across all earnings evidenced in this report, although the rise in the unemployment rate this time around was much higher than during the 1990s (c10 per cent compared with 2 per cent).
The study considers “new hires” to include: new graduates; “inactive” workers, ie those who worked in past and exited the labour market for family or other reasons; and the unemployed.
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The average age of new hires in the study was 32-33, which shows that even those with considerable experience suffered a decline in starting rates of pay during the recession.Those who simply changed their job during the recession do not appear to have suffered from a similar cut in earnings.
Professional earnings
The study found more highly educated workers escaped the worst of the cuts, as their earnings appeared to be less correlated with a rise in unemployment, but the decline was even greater than 15 per cent for those with lower levels of education, while employees aged between 45-60 also fared worse than younger workers.
“Earnings of new hires from unemployment tend to become more sensitive to the state of the business cycle when workers are likely to have less attractive outside options. These are typically workers with lower education or workers that are older, yet not sufficiently old to wait out the unemployment spell until they become eligible for retirement,” the report said.
The findings showed no distinction between public and private sector workers during the period.
The data was based on the pre-tax earnings of employees in Ireland between 2005 and 2014 with the data from 2013 Household Finance and Consumption Survey. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/salaries-for-new-hires-fell-15-during-recession-study-1.2771955?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/9e0ea62ff008adb7b85103b6dd9505ecba2823cfe4c7ef2b04e0bd8d37d93b6d.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T04:51:55 | null | 2016-08-30T05:00:00 | ‘I see beyond’ campaign aims to make hidden disabilities more visible | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Flife-and-style%2Fhealth-family%2Fif-you-see-someone-with-a-black-eye-how-do-you-think-they-got-it-1.2764389%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2764387.1472219189!/image/image.jpg | en | null | If you see someone with a black eye, how do you think they got it? | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | What would be your first thought on meeting someone with a black eye? Most of us would think that the person had been assaulted by another person. But, there are other reasons why someone could have a black eye and one of these is self-injury during an epileptic seizure.
The I See Beyond campaign jointly run by Epilepsy Ireland (EI) and Headway, the support group for people with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), draws attention to hidden disabilities that people have in the workplace or community.
“The campaign is about reminding people that the person standing in front of them may have a hidden illness,” says Kieran Loughran, chief executive of Headway. Hidden disabilities can also include migraine, mental health problems and multiple sclerosis.
One of the videos in I See Beyond shows a young man helping an older man out of bed. Most viewers automatically think the older man has a disability but at the end of the video, viewers are informed that it’s the younger man who is recovering from a brain injury.
Another video shows a man having a brief seizure as he opens the door of a taxi – leaving the taxi driver with the impression that he is drunk and indecisive about taking the taxi.
Advice and information
While the first phase of the campaign was keen to increase public awareness of the challenges people with hidden disabilities face on a daily basis, those working on the campaign now hope to spread the message into workplaces.
“We want to give advice and information to employers about how to recruit, manage and retain staff with hidden disabilities,” says Peter Murphy, chief executive of EI.
According to Murphy, the new Employers Disability Information service run by Chambers Ireland, IBEC and Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association (ISME) will be of huge benefit.
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Commenting on this initiative, Mark Fielding, chief executive of the ISME, said, “Irish employers are open to hiring people with disabilities and sometimes require advice on how best to accommodate the needs of the new staff member. This helpline initiative for employers, run by employers, will allow employers seek advice and will ultimately lead to an improved working environment for people with disabilities.”
Through the website CallEdi.ie and helpline 01-6762014, experts based in the ISME office will offer information and best practice advice on issues including health and safety, physical workplace adaptations and flexible working hours.
Caroline Earley is the rehabilitation officer with Headway. She says the biggest issues for people returning to work following a brain injury are fatigue, loss of confidence and inability to return to the exact work that they did before their brain injury.
“When you consider the strength of character required for someone with a brain injury to re-learn to walk, talk and do all the basics again. And then get to the point that they want to go back to work. Employers should value this determination,” says Earley.
However, she cautions against early return to work. “It’s most important that people with acquired brain injuries don’t rush back to work too soon as that can set them up for failure. It can take months after initial rehabilitation to develop insight into the areas of difficulty that remain after a brain injury.”
A workplace buddy system or supportive colleagues can be of huge benefit to people returning to work with hidden disabilities. Such employees will also build up their own personal supports (such as lists, reminders, memory aids) to ease themselves through the working day.
Headway runs a jobs club which offers those returning to work opportunities to write their CVs, practise interview skills and build up the stamina to return to work.
“It’s easier for large multinational companies to keep a position open than for a smaller employer. Most people will require reduced or flexible working hours,” says Loughran.
A booklet with tips on returning to work will be developed by Headway later in 2016. | http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/if-you-see-someone-with-a-black-eye-how-do-you-think-they-got-it-1.2764389?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/7801ebe87bb418d562ed2e43cc6fa43e0444e149f02f2808e0e934cf2b2e18ee.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T10:53:03 | null | 2016-08-31T10:58:00 | Manchester City clear out continues as David Luiz could be on his way back to Chelsea | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Fjack-wilshere-to-headline-transfer-deadline-day-movers-1.2774134%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2774133.1472637527!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Jack Wilshere to headline transfer deadline day movers | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | England internationals Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere were set to be among the high-profile movers on transfer deadline day.
Out-of-favour Manchester City goalkeeper Hart was poised to complete his season-long loan to Torino after finalising terms and undergoing a medical on Tuesday, when he also posed for photographs with a club shirt.
Midfielder Wilshere has also been given permission to go out on loan by Arsenal after an injury-hit season. More than 20 clubs have been linked with the 24-year-old but Crystal Palace and Bournemouth were the favourites to secure his services, according to reports.
Hart’s departure looked like being one of a number from City, who have spent around £170million on new players this summer but are now focusing on trimming their squad.
Striker Wilfried Bony, who has failed to hit the heights since his £28million move from Swansea in January last year, was pictured at Stoke’s training ground.
It’s understood that a deal between the two clubs is a possibility while the player himself tweeted: “It’s a new day and I look forward to a new exciting challenge.”
It is also understood City playmaker Samir Nasri was in discussions with Sevilla while defender Eliaquim Mangala could also be on the move. Mangala, a £42million signing from Porto two years ago, has been linked with a return to the Estadio do Dragao but it is thought his destination could be elsewhere.
Bony might not be the only arrival at Stoke, who have expressed interest in West Brom forward Saido Berahino during the summer, with Porto defender Bruno Martins Indi also reportedly of interest.
Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko was given permission to leave the France training camp to complete a transfer. Tottenham were reportedly the interested club.
Meanwhile Chelsea were linked with an extraordinary bid to bring David Luiz, sold to Paris St Germain for £50million two years ago, back to Stamford Bridge.
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Everton forward Shani Tarashaj joined Eintracht Frankfurt on a season-long loan in one of the first completed deals of the day. The 21-year-old Switzerland international joined the Toffees from Grasshopper in January but spent the remainder of last season back on loan at the Zurich club. | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/jack-wilshere-to-headline-transfer-deadline-day-movers-1.2774134?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/e81155df0107c0cb2110b2fc556bf06bd180f5939b4abd35739466f2191d9e0a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T16:50:04 | null | 2016-08-26T16:05:00 | Flanagan says Government cannot interfere in legal process | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fpat-hickey-s-family-gravely-concerned-about-his-health-1.2769558%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769577.1472229408!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Pat Hickey’s family ‘gravely concerned’ about his health | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The family of Pat Hickey, the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland, have said they are concerned about his health and the way he is being treated by the Brazilian authorities.
In a statement issued through a solicitor, they called on Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan and Minister for Sport Shane Ross to urgently intervene in addressing the “extremely worrying issues” surrounding his arrest and detention.
Mr Flanagan has responded, saying he will meet with the family in the coming days, that Mr Hickey is receiving consular assistance, but that his department “cannot provide legal advice or interfere in any way in the judicial processes in another country”.
Mr Hickey (71), is being held in prison in Rio de Janeiro after being arrested by police investigating suspected illegal dealings involving tickets to the Olympics. He has said he is innocent of any wrongdoing.
“This arrest and detention occurred over seven days ago and still no charges have been brought, nor has an appropriate venue for a bail application been made available to Pat Hickey,” the family said.
They said they are very worried about the manner in which Mr Hickey was arrested, his detention in a high security prison without charge, the effects of such detention on Mr Hickey’s health, and the pre-trial disclosure of what is propoerted to be evidence to the media, without any right of reply for Mr Hickey. They said that the latter is leading to unbalanced reporting.
The family said it is very worried about Mr Hickey’s right to a fair hearing, given how he has been treated to date.
The solicitor acting for the family, Anne Marie James, of Kirwan McKeown James solicitors, said she had been asked by them to make contact with the Brazilian ambassador to Ireland, Alfonso José Cardoso, to make their concerns known to him.
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“The Hickey family is gravely concerned about the effect this degrading and humiliating ordeal has had on their father and grandfather, and how it continues to affect his physical and mental health.
Serious heart condition
“He has a serious heart condition and they are extremely anxious that he would be immediately released on bail and given the opportunity to respond to the accusations. They also, as a priority, want to get him home to Ireland as they have increasing concerns about his safety.”
The family called on Mr Flanagan to immediately issue a statement setting out the steps the Department of Foreign Affairs is taking to object to the manner in which an elderly Irish citizen was arrested and is still being detained in Brazil.
“It was entirely inappropriate and unacceptable for a 71-year-old Irish citizen be taken from his bedroom, arrested and walked in a state of undress before a pre-arranged camera crew, after which film and still shots were released to the global media.”
The family said they hoped to meet Taoiseach Enda Kenny when he returns from holidays.
Mr Flanagan, in his statement, said his officials are in ongoing contact with the Hickey family and with legal representatives acting on Mr Hickey’s behalf. “Senior officials of the department met with Mr Hickey’s Dublin-based solicitors on Wednesday, August 24th, and discussed the family’s concerns in detail, and explained the department’s approach to this consular case.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing ongoing consular assistance to Mr Hickey through the Irish Embassy and Consulate in Brazil, he said.
Meanwhile, the OCI has appointed Grant Thornton to conduct a review of its handling of the ticketing arrangements for the Rio games.
The council said it is intended that a report into its handling of tickets will be concluded by Monday, October 10th. The report will be given to Judge Carroll Moran, who has been asked by the Government to head up a non-statutory inquiry into the council’s arrangements in relation to ticketing.
The Grant Thorton Forensic Services team has been asked to look at the policies, procedures, processes and practices involving in the receipt, distribution and sale of tickets implemented by the council for the 2016 games. It will look at the council’s dealings with Pro10, the Irish business that acted as the council’s authorised ticket reseller for the 2016 games, and with THG, the reseller normally used by the council but which was not granted a licence to sell tickets by the Brazilian authorities.
The financial services firm has been asked to look at how Pro10 was appointed, how it operated, and “interactions between Pro10 and THC in relation to OCI’s ticket allocation”.
The views of athletes’ families and their experience of securing tickets, is to form part of the review, as will corporate governance generally at the OCI. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/pat-hickey-s-family-gravely-concerned-about-his-health-1.2769558?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/ac7c8a89812a653ffc414427f104929fc91b674124f9a30f23a216b781ea2f8c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:50:29 | null | 2016-08-26T14:00:00 | TV Review: There’s no fun to be had watching this dull series about a dinner party | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fculture%2Ftv-radio-web%2Fas-flat-as-a-day-old-glass-of-babycham-channel-4-s-new-comedy-the-circuit-1.2769348%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769347.1472208068!/image/image.jpg | en | null | As flat as a day-old glass of Babycham: Channel 4’s new comedy The Circuit | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | ‘Channel 4 invites you to the worst dinner party that’s ever happened in the world anywhere.” That’s the pitch for The Circuit (Thursday), a comedy pilot. I’d politely decline if I were you.
A bad dinner party sounds like a great premise for a comedy show. It’s hard to resist when The Circuit comes from the brilliant people who gave us the rude and raucously funny Pulling.
After a 10-year break from working together Dennis Kelly, who wrote the off-the-wall Utopia for Channel 4 in the meantime, and Sharon Horgan, who has been busy with the Bafta-winning Catastrophe, are back together. The result is this 30-minute one-off about “the horror and hilarity of social engagement”.
We begin with a couple, new to the area – presumably somewhere in London where an unfurnished flat costs roughly the same as Russia’s annual missile budget – arriving at a dinner party thrown by people they don’t know.
Gabe (Adeel Akhtar) and Nat (Eva Birthistle) have inexplicably left their “wonderful old life” and relocated to a place where their neighbours are “highly strung and psychopathic”. Our hosts for the evening are Hungarian Helene (played by Victoria Hamilton) and her English husband, Sasha (Tobias Menzies).
Making up the guest list are Danny (Paul Ready), who is philosophically suicidal; Marty (Nicola Walker), a nondescript former girl-band member; and her American girlfriend, Angie (Desiree Akhavan), who sells bullets for a living.
Our charmless hosts are having what you might call a domestic, and the guests are trapped. And so the fun begins, or at least it should. But there is no fun to be had at this party, even at others’ expense. That’s because Kelly and Horgan haven’t written people; they have drawn a bunch of extreme am-dram caricatures each so heinous and hateable that you end up not caring what any of them say or do.
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Hamilton plays her unhinged helium-voiced Hungarian as if she’s doing a bad impression of Martin Short’s wonderfully camp wedding planner, Franck, in Father of the Bride. She keeps opining that she wants to have everyone to have a “lovely, lovely evening” between screaming abuse at her husband over the dinner table, insulting her guests and bursting into tears. Her clinical cardigan-wearing husband makes Patrick Bateman look like a Girl Guide.
Halfway through, still waiting for one ounce of that signature sparkling Sharon Horgan wit, it feels as flat as a day-old glass of Babycham.
Maybe that’s what they were shooting for; maybe we are supposed to want out as much as the guests. This is Kelly and Horgan, after all; it can’t be unfunny, can it?
Maybe I don’t understand The Circuit, and usually when I don’t understand something it turns out to be postmodern, so maybe this isn’t a sit com – it’s a grand postmodern statement on etiquette and social confines laced with Chekhovian tragicomic references. (That might account for the bizarre part written for Danny, who is calm and Yoda-like now that he’s decided to off himself.) If I’m too stupid to get it I apologise, but I won’t say sorry for this: The Circuit is not funny.
Dennis Kelly and Sharon Horgan have said: “It has taken just 10 short years for us to agree to work together again. It was a mistake.” On this occasion they’re right.
Ones to Watch: X Factor – and Queen Victoria – are back
The X Factor (TV3, Saturday) returns, but it’s back to the future for the panel of narcissistic, bickering judges, with Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh all returning to the bitchiest bench in showbiz, along with the talent show’s host, Dermot O’Leary.
Move over Emily Blunt: it’s the turn of bright-eyed Jenna Coleman (left) to play Queen Victoria. Written by Daisy Goodwin, Victoria (ITV) is the tale of a
young girl’s transition to monarch that promises to be a lush Sunday-night treat. | http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/as-flat-as-a-day-old-glass-of-babycham-channel-4-s-new-comedy-the-circuit-1.2769348?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/e723d4f57cb3ca35d8f334e84465a0d06aec6ed104bd064ce9f39783060d4e09.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T14:50:24 | null | 2016-08-27T14:42:00 | Jurgen Klopp’s team spurn a number of chances and must settle for a point in London | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Fenglish-soccer%2Fdanny-rose-earns-tottenham-a-draw-against-wasteful-liverpool-1.2770784%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2770783.1472305336!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Danny Rose earns Tottenham a draw against wasteful Liverpool | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Tottenham 1 Liverpool 1
Tottenham rescued a point from their Barclays Premier League clash with Liverpool when Danny Rose rewarded a second-half fightback by firing the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
Jurgen Klopp’s side controlled most of the match and deserved to take the lead when James Milner converted from the penalty spot — but Spurs eventually burst into life with half an hour remaining.
A succession of thwarted chances preceded a beautifully-taken goal from Rose, although it was some woeful defending that presented him with the chance to secure a second draw in three Premier League matches this season.
A lively encounter in north London was then up for grabs, with Spurs looking the more likely winners after staging a series of late attacks.
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge arrived from the bench in the closing stages having been dropped from the starting line-up days after expressing his frustration at playing in a wide role during the 2-0 defeat at Burnley.
Divock Origi was chosen as the early replacement for Philippe Coutinho with Sturridge confined to a limited supporting role.
Five minutes into the match and Liverpool should have taken the lead, but Michel Vorm produced a brilliant save after Coutinho pulled the trigger from point blank range.
The chance came against the run of play as Tottenham had made the brighter start, but visiting goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was soon forced into action when Christian Eriksen floated in a tricky free-kick.
Gradually Liverpool began to take control of the game with their rapid passing and speed of thought putting Spurs on the back foot.
Kyle Walker was replaced by Vincent Janssen in the 28th minute due to feeling unwell and it was possibly the full-back’s illness that meant Coutinho was left unmarked at the far post, with Vorm again coming to the rescue.
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Both managers were animated as they strode around their technical areas, Klopp shouting out in protest when Jan Vertonghen escaped a penalty for tugging Joel Matip’s shirt — but the Liverpool boss could at least be happier with his team’s display.
Tottenham were being overrun and they finally cracked in the 43rd minute when referee Bobby Madley pointed to the spot.
Erik Lamela clipped Roberto Firmino as he darted into the area and although the contact did not appear to be deliberate, the penalty was given and Milner gave Vorm no chance.
Liverpool appeared to have doubled their lead after Spurs had been caught on the counter, but once Sadio Mane had tucked the ball home the flag went up for offside against Adam Lallana.
It was a marginal call that bewildered Klopp, but of greater concern to manager Mauricio Pochettino was the way in which his side gave the ball away and were then sliced open by Georginio Wijnaldum, Lallana and Mane.
Shortly after the hour mark, Spurs finally burst into life with Mignolet getting fingertips to a free-kick by Lamela before parrying clear a powerful header from Toby Alderweireld.
The balance had shifted and in the 72nd minute the home side levelled through Rose.
Eric Dier was able to escape down the right and when Liverpool flapped over his cross, Rose pounced from an acute angle at the far post by driving home a terrific finish.
Pochettino celebrated wildly, jumping in the air and pumping his arms before a group of Spurs fans, but his heart was in his mouth when Vorm got behind an injury-time effort from Wijnaldum. | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/danny-rose-earns-tottenham-a-draw-against-wasteful-liverpool-1.2770784?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/699d79aecb5a6a86edb37374851cf3c3fb28475258af66b7bb20220704eb184e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T20:50:11 | null | 2016-08-26T21:38:00 | All of the team news and preview ahead of the opening weekend of top flight action | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Fenglish-soccer%2Fthe-weekend-s-premier-league-team-news-1.2769888%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769887.1472243893!/image/image.jpg | en | null | The weekend’s Premier League team news | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | SATURDAY (Kick-off 3pm unless stated)
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool (12.30pm)
Dele Alli could return to the Tottenham side after an illness. Captain Hugo Lloris (hamstring) is still out, so Michel Vorm will again deputise in goal, while Mousa Dembele is suspended.
Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho is a doubt with a minor hamstring issue. Emre Can is a doubt with an ankle problem, while striker Divock Origi will be assessed. But defender Joel Matip is pushing for his first league start.
Last season: Liverpool 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0 Liverpool 0
Last five league matches: Tottenham Hotspur D L L D W; Liverpool W D D W L
Top scorers: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) 2; Phillippe Coutinho (Liverpool) 2 Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool) 2
Match odds: H 11-8 A 19-10 D 12-5
Referee: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire)
Chelsea v Burnley
Chelsea midfielder Willian will have a fitness test on a calf injury. Defender Kurt Zouma remains sidelined with a knee problem, while boss Antonio Conte also has another injury worry, but would not name the player concerned.
Burnley look set to recall captain Tom Heaton, record signing Steven Defour and striker Andre Gray. Neither forward Ashley Barnes (hamstring) nor Liverpool loanee Jon Flanagan are ready to feature, though.
Last season: No corresponding fixture
Last five league matches: Chelsea L D D W W; Burnley W W W L W
Top scorers: Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea) 3; Sam Vokes (Burnley) 1 Andre Gray (Burnley) 1 Steven Defour (Burnley) 1
Match odds: H 2-7 A 11-1 D 4-1
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
Crystal Palace v AFC Bournemouth
Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and midfielder Joe Ledley are injury doubts for Palace, so Steve Mandanda could make his Premier League debut between the posts. Christian Benteke remains short of match fitness and will probably start on the bench.
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Bournemouth have no fresh injury concerns, with Harry Arter back in the squad after serving a one-match suspension.
Last season: Crystal Palace 1 AFC Bournemouth 2 AFC Bournemouth 0 Crystal Palace 0
Last five league matches: Crystal Palace L W L L L; AFC Bournemouth L D L L L
Top scorers: Scott Dann (Crystal Palace) 1 Connor Wickham (Crystal Palace) 1; Adam Smith (AFC Bournemouth) 1
Match odds: H 5-4 A 23-10 D 11-5
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Everton v Stoke
Everton will without Seamus Coleman, who is still recovering from an ankle injury. Ashley Williams and Yannick Bolasie should get first league starts, but James McCarthy, Tom Cleverley and Darron Gibson all have minor knocks.
Stoke winger Xherdan Shaqiri could return for Stoke after missing the last two games with a calf injury. But goalkeeper Jack Butland (ankle) and defender Glen Johnson (thigh) are still not fit, meaning Peter Crouch could keep his place.
Last season: Stoke 0 Everton 3 Everton 3 Stoke 4
Last five league matches: Everton L L W D W; Stoke D L W D L
Top scorers: Ross Barkley (Everton) 2 Arouna Kone (Everton) 2; Peter Crouch (Stoke) 3
Match odds: H 3-4 A 15-4 D 13-5
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
Leicester v Swansea
Nampalys Mendy is out for Leicester after suffering an ankle injury against Arsenal, meaning Andy King is set to start. Jeff Schlupp is a doubt with a muscle injury.
Neil Taylor will be missing for the Swans as he has opted to play in an under-23 fixture on Friday night to build fitness. Record signing Borja Baston remains out with a thigh injury, while Scotland Under-21 striker Oliver McBurnie has been added to the squad.
Last season: Leicester 4 Swansea 0 Swansea 0 Leicester 3
Last five league matches: Leicester D W D L D; Swansea W W D W L
Top scorers: Jamie Vardy (Leicester) 1 Riyad Mahrez (Leicester) 1 ; Oliver McBurnie (Swansea) 2
Match odds: H 4-5 A 19-5 D 12-5
Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)
Southampton v Sunderland
Ryan Bertrand is poised for his first competitive Southampton appearance under new boss Claude Puel after recovering from knee trouble. Oriol Romeu has shaken off the knock he suffered in the 2-0 defeat at Manchester United, but Jeremy Pied is out.
Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is in line to start, with Vito Mannone ruled out with damaged elbow ligaments. John O’Shea (hip), Lamine Kone (back), Fabio Borini (toe) and Jeremain Lens (foot) are being assessed and Javier Manquillo could feature for the first time. Jan Kirchhoff, Billy Jones, Lee Cattermole and Sebastian Larsson remain out.
Last season: Southampton 1 Sunderland 1 Sunderland 0 Southampton 1
Last five league matches: Southampton W W W D L; Sunderland W W D L L
Top scorers: Nathan Redmond (Southampton) 1 ; Patrick Van Aanholt (Sunderland) 1 Jermain Defoe (Sunderland) 1
Match odds: H 8-13 A 5-1 D 13-5
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
Watford v Arsenal
Watford’s new signings Daryl Janmaat, Younes Kaboul and Roberto Pereyra are unlikely to start, with manager Walter Mazzarri is not expected to ring the changes.
Mesut Ozil could be set for his first start of the season for Arsenal, but Olivier Giroud is unlikely to be recalled. Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Alex Iwobi (thigh), Per Mertesacker, Danny Welbeck and Carl Jenkinson (all knee) are still missing.
Last season: Arsenal 4 Watford 0 Watford 0 Arsenal 3
Last five league matches: Watford L L D D L; Arsenal W D W L D
Top scorers: Etienne Capoue (Watford) 2; Serge Gnabry (Arsenal) 6
Match odds: H 18-5 A 8-11 D 11-4
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Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)
Hull v Man Utd (5.30pm)
Hull defender Harry Maguire is in contention for his first league appearance of the season following an ankle problem, while midfielder Jake Livermore could start in central defence alongside Curtis Davies.
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho looks set to have a full squad to choose from. Jesse Lingard has missed the last two games, but has returned to training.
Last season: No corresponding fixture
Last five league matches: Hull W L W W W; Man Utd W L W W W
Top scorers: Adama Diomande (Hull) 3; Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man Utd) 4
Match odds: H 6-1 A 1-2 D 3-1
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire)
SUNDAY
West Brom v Middlesbrough (1.30pm)
West Brom defender Kane Wilson could become the first player born in the 21st century to feature in the Premier League, with Brendan Galloway doubtful because of a hamstring injury. Chris Brunt is still out with a knee problem.
Middlesbrough are without a specialist left-back, with George Friend (calf), Fabio da Silva (knee) and James Husband (dislocated shoulder) all out. Goalkeeper Victor Valdes and midfielder Marten de Roon (both hamstring) are also out, but defender Bernardo Espinosa is fit.
Last season: No corresponding fixture
Last five league matches: West Brom L D D W L; Middlesbrough D D D D W
Top scorers: Gareth McAuley (West Brom) 2; Christian Stuani (Middlesbrough) 2
Match odds: H 8-5 A 2-1 D 19-10
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Man City v West Ham (4pm)
New Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will not go straight into the team, meaning Willy Caballero is expected to start again ahead of Joe Hart. Striker Kelechi Iheanacho has been cleared of serious injury, but captain Vincent Kompany, right-back Bacary Sagna and midfielders Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gundogan are not yet fit.
Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini could return from injury and skipper Mark Noble has shaken off a knock, but Havard Nordtveit has joined Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew, Aaron Cresswell, Sofiane Feghouli and Diafra Sakho on the sidelines. The Hammers hope to sign Simone Zaza before the weekend.
Last season: West Ham 2 Man City 2 Man City 1 West Ham 2
Last five league matches: Man City L D D W W; West Ham L W L L W
Top scorers: Sergio Aguero (Man City) 6; Jonathan Calleri (West Ham) 4
Match odds: H 1-3 A 8-1 D 4-1
Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands) | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/the-weekend-s-premier-league-team-news-1.2769888?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/081d17e8c5c957ad6444642f11225db6f1efbd91b8809243493996aa6eeb0000.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T06:49:24 | null | 2016-08-31T06:55:00 | Fully occupied office and retail centre expected to attract range of Irish and overseas buyers | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fcommercial-property%2Fswords-plaza-goes-on-market-at-over-14-5m-1.2772958.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772956.1472554197!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Swords Plaza goes on market at over €14.5m | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | An almost fully occupied office and retail centre known as Swords Plaza along Main Street in Swords, Co Dublin, is expected to attract a range of Irish and overseas buyers when it goes on the market today at over €14.5 million through Cushman & Wakefield, previously known as DTZ Sherry FitzGerald.
The investment will show a net initial return of 10.34 per cent after acquisition costs of 4.46 per cent are taken into account.
The freehold complex extends to over 9,409sq m (101,285sq ft) and is producing an annual net operating income of €1,556,000. Around 69 per cent of the revenue is secured against a host of well known national/multinational occupiers including McDonald’s, Smiles Dental, Axa Insurance, ASL Aviation, DHL Express and Seetec Employment & Skills. ASL Aviation contributes €361,000, McDonald’s pays €160,000 while DHL Express contributes €142,000.
Occupancy levels
Occupancy levels in the high profile development are currently at over 97 per cent, according to the selling agent. The centre has a weighted average unexpired lease term of 7.94 years.
Swords Plaza occupies a pivotal location in the centre of Swords town, adjacent to both the Pavilions and Swords Central shopping centres. The plaza was originally developed in 1998 in conjunction with a residential apartment scheme. All the apartments with the exception of two in Archway House have been sold.
Of the building going for sale, 67 per cent is offices while 26 per cent is in retail use. The remaining 7 per cent comprises a double-level basement car park with 315 car spaces and two apartments.
Ciara Horgan of Cushman & Wakefield said Swords Plaza offered investors an opportunity to acquire a well-secured high-yielding commercial investment in one of Dublin’s most popular commuter towns. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/swords-plaza-goes-on-market-at-over-14-5m-1.2772958 | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/c1c6f0bd83c10b35a8d7d93128dca7e392a4c970cdd0250cc9a60ad21034c3b1.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T18:52:21 | null | 2016-08-30T18:41:00 | Former Portuguese prime minister cements position after third Security Council vote | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fantonio-guterres-extends-front-runner-status-in-un-race-1.2773426%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773423.1472578876!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Antonio Guterres extends front-runner status in UN race | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres has cemented his position as front runner to become the next UN secretary general after the latest secret ballot on the Security Council.
In the third informal vote on the 15-member council, ballots were cast to encourage or discourage each of the 10 remaining candidates. Mr Guterres maintained his position at the head of the pack, receiving 11 encourage, three discourage and one no opinion, according to leaked results.
A former head of the UN refugee agency, Mr Guterres has emerged as front runner to succeed the South Korean Ban Ki-moon despite speculation that the post would go to an eastern European and calls – including from Mr Ban himself – for a woman to be given the job for the first time in the UN’s history.
Permanent members
With the Security Council due to recommend a name to the UN General Assembly by late October, however, there is still time for the Portuguese to be overtaken. If any of his three “discourage” votes came from any of the five permanent, veto-wielding members of the council, his chances would he dealt a serious blow. That will only become clear later in the process, when colour-coded ballot papers are expected to be introduced to distinguish the “P5” from the other 10 members of the council.
Behind Mr Guterres after the latest round is Miroslav Lajcak, Slovakia’s foreign minister, who received nine “encourage”, five “discourage” and one “no opinion”. Irina Bokova, a Bulgarian diplomat who currently heads the UN education and culture agency, Unesco, emerged in joint third place alongside former Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic. Both had seven “encourage”, five “discourage” and three “no opinion”. Ms Bokova, the highest-placed woman in the latest ballot, was among the early favourites for the job.
Rival candidates
Others who were expected to challenge strongly have struggled to keep pace. Argentinian foreign minister Susana Malcorra dropped to fifth spot from third, followed by former Macedonian foreign minister Srgjan Kerim, and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who heads the UN development programme.
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Former Slovenian president Danilo Turk, Moldova’s former foreign minister Natalia Gherman and former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica filled the last three spots.
The straw polls are intended to narrow the field and allow a consensus candidate to emerge. Former Croatian foreign minister Vesna Pusic dropped out of the race prior to the second ballot, while Montenegro foreign minister Igor Luksic withdrew last week.
Civil society groups and nearly a third of the 193 UN member states have pushed for the first woman secretary general. Four of those countries – Japan, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela – are on the security council.
Just as significant, however, may be the argument made by many states, including Russia, that under the convention of geographical rotation in place since the early 1990s, it’s the turn of eastern Europe to take the top job. Six of the 10 remaining candidates are from that region. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/antonio-guterres-extends-front-runner-status-in-un-race-1.2773426?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/cdae7adbd15a1099159440413f4816c6f3ec7a4b8a233ca85deccda5f95e5703.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T00:52:08 | null | 2016-08-30T01:10:00 | An Ethiopian jail may show the way towards a humane and effective programme of prisoner rehabilitation | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Fafrican-prison-could-teach-us-a-thing-or-two-1.2772200%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772194.1472493524!/image/image.jpg | en | null | African prison could teach us a thing or two | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | When we think of imprisonment a number of images typically come to mind. These include cellular confinement, drug abuse, violence, self-harm and prisoners passing time slowly and unproductively. The overall sense is one of corrupting lethargy and fragile peace.
Prisoners are at risk from each other so devising ways to protect the vulnerable is a constant challenge. Those who have harmed children, accumulated debts they cannot repay or participated in gang feuds pose particular difficulties. Often the solution is to separate them from potential aggressors with the result that they spend prolonged periods in isolation.
Stripped of responsibility and unable to earn money, prisoners cannot support their families or compensate their victims. They live according to a set of rules that has been written, without their input, to control every aspect of their lives.
What would prison look like if the prisoners devised their own rules, elected their own leaders, generated their own incomes and lived day-to-day largely in the absence of staff?
What if they were required to sleep in dormitories to which they were allocated on the basis of sentence length, with no account taken of their criminal histories or personal circumstances?
This might sound like a recipe for anarchy and exploitation. But during a research trip to Ethiopia I was struck by the extent to which a prisoner society set up along these lines can function effectively in conditions of extreme deprivation.
Earlier this month I travelled to Arba Minch, a town 500km (310 miles) south of Addis Ababa, to interview prisoners and to study how they organise their lives. Over several years Paddy Moran, a Spiritan priest, has introduced a range of innovations to the town’s prison. Some have been practical, such as improved sanitary facilities and new classrooms. Others have focused on creative pursuits, such as painting and pottery, and will feature on an upcoming episode of RTÉ’s Nationwide programme.
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Village operation
Arba Minch prison resembles a small and very busy village. With a population of more than 2,000, 650 of them convicted killers, space is at a premium. The press of people is almost unimaginable, especially at night when the men lie side by side on bunk beds and floors. (Women and their children are housed in a different part of the compound.)
Most prisoners are employed weaving, wood carving, doing embroidery or making fishing nets. Some grow fruit and vegetables and keep bees on a nearby farm. They sell what they produce for cash and a bank visits the prison each week so money can be lodged and withdrawn. Those who earn enough send profits home.
Prisoners outnumber guards by almost 100 to one. But the chaos one might think would accompany such a state of affairs is not evident. There is order, humour and – despite the odds – dignity.
The prisoners elect representatives from each dormitory and appoint their own order-keepers who wear a distinctive purple hat. They have a chairman and executive team who liaise with the prison authorities to ensure the regime operates smoothly. They have an agreed code of conduct which covers everything from personal hygiene to fighting and escape attempts. Breaches result in sanctions such as compulsory exercise drills.
Violence, suicide and drug abuse do not appear to be prevalent. There is a sense of solidarity among the prisoners.
They engage wholeheartedly with the available educational and training opportunities and speak optimistically of lives to be resumed, in due course, outside the prison gates.
Like prisoners everywhere, the pain of family separation is felt acutely. It is more pronounced in a place like Arba Minch where even a relatively short distance from home to prison may make visitation impossible if the journey is on foot. The prisoners I met spoke of losing contact with children, of not knowing their whereabouts, and of the yearning to reconnect. If they were not in a position to earn money during their captivity the likelihood that they could maintain family and community ties was slim.
Major challenges confront the Ethiopian criminal justice system at every level. These are intensified at a time of population growth and entrenched poverty. Those who end up in prison must learn to survive in conditions which strike the European observer as extreme.
Mandela rules
One way forward for Ethiopia is to embrace the minimum standards set out in the “Nelson Mandela rules” for the treatment of prisoners adopted unanimously last year by the United Nations General Assembly . These provide a roadmap to a better future for prisoners wherever they may be held.
But there is learning here for Ireland also, in particular the importance of giving prisoners a measure of responsibility for organising their lives, the value of meaningful work and family support, and the beneficial impact of programmes that unlock the potential for personal growth.
Ian O’Donnell is professor of criminology at University College Dublin | http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/african-prison-could-teach-us-a-thing-or-two-1.2772200?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/1b5b58fe0e181bc89d3f621d796fccac1979d6555b8fbcc28a1755a9b33fa35e.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:51:38 | null | 2016-08-29T16:53:00 | Family accused of using close relationship with president Zuma to secure favours | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fafrica%2Fgupta-brothers-to-sell-business-interests-in-south-africa-1.2772137%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772129.1472488595!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Gupta brothers to sell business interests in South Africa | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Three Indian brothers accused of using their close relationship with South African president Jacob Zuma to illegally secure contracts and make dodgy deals with state-owned companies have confirmed they are selling their local business interests.
The Gupta family, who moved to South Africa in the 1990s, announced at the weekend that for the good of the country they intended to sell all their shareholdings in South Africa-based companies by the end of this year.
“As a family, we now believe that the time is right for us to exit our shareholding of the South African businesses which we believe will benefit our existing employees, and lead to further growth in the businesses,” a Gupta statement said.
The brothers are talking to several international buyers, they maintained, and they would make further announcements soon.
The move has come as Ajay, Atol and Rajesh have come under increased pressure over their business dealings, with the trio’s companies facing numerous investigations as to the circumstances surrounding business deals they have with the state.
Under the umbrella of their holding company Oakbay Investments, the Guptas have interests in mining and media, among other things.
Things started to go wrong for the Guptas in March when deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas publicly stated that a member of the Gupta family had offered him his boss’s job two weeks before then finance minister Nhlanhla Nene was surprisingly removed from the post in early December.
After that, a number of high-profile members of the ruling party made similar claims that the brothers were offering senior government posts in return for favours, prompting accusations they were attempting to capture the state for their own ends.
The Guptas have denied any wrongdoing, as has Mr Zuma, although both sides have confirmed they are friendly.
However, the family have had many of their local bank accounts frozen and their Oakbay Resources & Energy faced suspension from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
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The main opposition Democratic Alliance has said the Guptas’ move should be viewed as “rats abandoning a sinking ship”.
“Things have evidently reached a ‘tipping point’ and the Gupta family have decided that it’s in their best interests to abandon ship in South Africa,” the party said.
In recent weeks it has come to light that a National Treasury report has claimed the state-owned electricity provider Eskom paid more than R130-million (€8.1 million) to a Gupta-owned company, Tegeta Exploration and Resources, for useless coal.
The Sunday Times recently reported that National Treasury was planning to go to court over the state-owned military company Denel’s partnership with another Gupta company, VR Laser Asia.
Meanwhile finance minister Pravin Gordhan, the man leading many of Gupta investigations, has been fighting for his political life.
A special investigations unit in the police is publicly suggesting he is involved in setting up rogue spying units in the South African Revenue Services without actually laying charges against him.
The move is widely seen as an attempt to harass the finance minister for overseeing the aforementioned investigations. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/gupta-brothers-to-sell-business-interests-in-south-africa-1.2772137?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/3e3c549108e6c15d6735ebc8759deef3cb5571187cc4c78c2be616a96965c4c1.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T10:53:10 | null | 2016-08-31T11:11:00 | Study claims deal will damage competition in beef processing sector | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fagribusiness-and-food%2Fifa-report-raises-further-concerns-about-abp-slaney-deal-1.2774152%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2774151.1472638505!/image/image.jpg | en | null | IFA report raises further concerns about ABP/Slaney deal | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has published a report raising further concerns about the part takeover of Slaney Meats by Larry Goodman’s ABP Group.
The report suggests the deal would have an adverse impact on competition in the beef processing sector and would make “co-ordinated effects” on price more likely.
The IFA has already submitted the report, prepared by Pat McCloughan of PMCA Economic Consulting, to the competition authorities in Brussels, which have yet to rule on the deal.
“This report is very clear on the competition concerns in the beef sector, the income pressures that exist for livestock producers and the impact that any weakening of competition would have on their livelihoods,” IFA president Joe Healy said.
The Slaney deal is at the centre of an escalating row between the IFA and ABP .
Earlier this month, the Goodman firm halted the automatic collection of levies from farmers, which part fund the IFA.
The farmers’ group claims this was in retaliation for its opposition to the Slaney deal - a claim the company denies.
Presenting the findings of the report, Dr McCloughan pointed out that ABP and Slaney combined currently account for 25.8 per cent of all cattle slaughterings in the State.
However, when the market is narrowed down to premium cattle, the figure rises to 36.2 per cent, he said.
Dr McCloughan also outlined the growing gap in cattle prices between Ireland and Britain, the State’s largest export market, which has been a source of tension between farmers and processors.
Under the deal, ABP will buy the Allen family’s 50 per cent stake in Slaney, creating a new partnership with Linden Foods, which owns the remaining 50 per cent.
The deal will also see ABP move back into lamb processing - via Irish Country Meats - for the first time in decades.
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Mr Healy called on Minster for Agriculture Michael Creed and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to address the issue. | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/agribusiness-and-food/ifa-report-raises-further-concerns-about-abp-slaney-deal-1.2774152?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/fafe00a6e3ce237fad3a9009ef23422d85b65f5cfb9fc4c11c0468ec92a96c62.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T08:48:41 | null | 2016-08-29T07:40:00 | US dollar adds to gains made after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen indicated a US interest rate increase remains on the cards for this year | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fmarkets%2Fasian-share-markets-tumble-1.2771796.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771795.1472453619!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Asian share markets tumble | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Most Asian share markets tumbled on Monday while the US dollar added to gains made after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen indicated a US interest rate increase remains on the cards for this year.
European markets also looked set for a weak start, with financial spreadbetters expecting Germany’s DAX to open down 0.7 per cent, and the blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50 to begin the day 0.6 per cent lower. British markets are closed for a holiday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended losses to 1 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei bucked the trend, closing 2.3 per cent higher, the biggest one-day gain in three weeks, as the yen weakened against the resurgent dollar. China’s CSI 300 index and the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.4 per cent.
The case for a US rate hike has strengthened in recent months, with a lot of new jobs being created, and economic growth looks likely to continue at a moderate pace, Yellen said in a speech at the Fed’s annual monetary policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday. While Yellen did not give guidance on what the central bank needs to see before raising rates, she said the Fed already thinks it is close to meeting its goals of maximum employment and stable prices. The odds of a hike in September rose to 33 per cent following the comments, from 21 per cent on Thursday, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Traders were pricing in a 59.1 per cent chance of a hike in December, up from 51.8 per cent on Thursday.
“While the move towards another Fed rate hike will likely cause bouts of consternation in investment markets I don’t see the same degree of uncertainty that we saw around last year’s Fed rate hike,” Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital in Sydney, wrote in a note. “It’s clear from the Fed’s actions this year that it is aware of global risks, the impact of its own actions on those risks and any potential blow back to the US economy and of the impact of a rising U.S. dollar in doing some of its work for it.”
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The comments from Yellen and Fischer dragged Wall Street lower at the close. But they proved a boon for the US currency, with the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six global peers, jumping 0.8 per cent on Friday. It held steady at 95.552 on Monday. The dollar rose 0.5 per cent to a two-week high of 102.34 yen on Monday. That followed gains of 1.3 per cent on Friday, its biggest one-day advance in almost seven weeks.
Japanese household spending and retail sales data for July are due on Tuesday. Investors are seeking some sign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s massive stimulus programmes are having an effect, after figures on Friday showed a decline in consumer prices by the most in three years in July.
The euro was flat at $1.120 after tumbling 0.8 percent on Friday, its biggest one-day slide since July 15. In commodities, crude prices retreated on the rally in the dollar and concerns about growing output after exports from Iraq in August exceeded July levels. Iran also said late last week that it would only cooperate in upcoming producer talks in September if other exporters recognized Tehran’s right to regain market share lost during international sanctions that were only lifted in January.
US crude futures dropped 1.5 percent to $46.95. Global benchmark Brent crude retreated 1.2 per cent to $49.31. The stronger dollar also weighed on gold. Spot gold slipped 0.2 per cent to $1,318.10, after earlier touching a five-week low.
Reuters | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/markets/asian-share-markets-tumble-1.2771796 | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/3d6b2d96ad6f7c27c3583f314810a4cdc830ec41f0d56e3c7a9cff1e628beeb3.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T08:52:10 | null | 2016-08-30T09:08:00 | ‘If he was playing every week for Arsenal he would be in (England) squad’ - Sam Allardyce | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Fenglish-soccer%2Fjack-wilshere-set-for-loan-move-to-secure-regular-playing-time-1.2772873%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772872.1472544524!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Jack Wilshere set for loan move to secure regular playing time | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere is set to leave the Emirates Stadium on a loan deal - the 24-year-old has been limited to two substitute appearances for the Gunners so far this season and it is believed a temporary move has been mutually agreed between player and club.
It is currently unclear where Wilshere, who missed out on Sam Allardyce’s first England squad, may head but he is sure to have plenty of options as the transfer window comes towards a close.
Wilshere made his Arsenal debut against Blackburn in 2008 and soon afterwards became only the fifth 16-year-old to play in the Champions League.
An England debut followed at 18, but since then a succession of injuries have limited Wilshere to 159 Gunners appearances and 34 caps for his country.
Roy Hodgson selected Wilshere for Euro 2016 despite a broken leg decimating his 2015-16 season and restricting him to one Arsenal start, but Allardyce has already made it clear he is unlikely to be so forgiving.
“Jack just hasn’t had enough game time,” he said on Monday. “Hopefully he will get that in the future at Arsenal.
“If Jack Wilshere was playing every week for Arsenal he would be in the squad, but unfortunately he isn’t. It is game time for him and it has been few and far between because he has had too many injuries unfortunately.
“It is a question of game time and the contribution he is making to Arsenal and he is not doing that at the moment, so I left him out.”
Wilshere’s return to fitness for the new campaign has coincided with Santi Cazorla — who also spent much of last term on the sidelines — becoming available again to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
Wenger recruited Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka over the summer to bolster his options in the middle of the park, and with Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Mohamed Elneny, Francis Coquelin and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also competing for places, Wilshere has found himself down the pecking order. | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/jack-wilshere-set-for-loan-move-to-secure-regular-playing-time-1.2772873?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/a03848ac8cf05e6abf30822194b31c3ec138b9cb55132f8048d2119b6d9edb07.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T00:50:27 | null | 2016-08-27T01:06:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Fausterity-and-democracy-1.2769584%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/assets/images/favicons/irishtimes.png | en | null | Austerity and democracy | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Sir, – I presume Donal McGrath is referring to me when he criticises “John Meehan” (August 26th).
I don’t know what degree of social protection would satisfy Mr McGrath, but let me remind him that “expenditure on social protection relative to GDP in 2012 remained 11.3 percentage points higher than it had been in 2008, which was the largest increase over this period among the EU members states”. I quote from a recent Eurostat social statistics report. If it wasn’t enough, maybe that’s because the economic shock was so great.
Mr McGrath says I dismissed the Nordic economic model. I did no such thing, merely pointing out that the Nordic countries had problems of their own. Anyhow I doubt there is a single Nordic model; maybe Mr McGrath was thinking of Sweden, where private provision of education and healthcare has become much more common recently (but remain free to users).
Furthermore no developed economy is characterised solely by “unrestrained free markets”.
The ECB might have intervened to prevent a banking collapse if Ireland had played hardball. However, it’s not a gamble I would like to take.
The experience of Greece is that salvation from an extreme crisis comes a high price. Taxpayers in solvent EU states quite understandably will be reluctant to bail-out states which through their own mismanagement have become hopelessly insolvent. – Yours, etc,
JOHN SHEEHAN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14. | http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/austerity-and-democracy-1.2769584?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/0ed5b381e6fc2d6a5bb05196eb2c8f04caab4bea329ec872aa4e13190e656f6e.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T10:52:17 | null | 2016-08-30T10:16:00 | Services in and around the city to be hit on September 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 23rd and 24th | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fireland%2Firish-news%2Fdublin-bus-staff-to-hold-three-48-hour-stoppages-in-september-1.2772899%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2772898.1472550502!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Dublin Bus staff to hold three 48-hour stoppages in September | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Dublin Bus services will come to a halt on six days in September as a result of planned strike action by staff over pay.
Trade unions on Tuesday served strike notice on the State-owned transport company for stoppages which will take place on Thursday September 8th, Friday 9th, Thursday 15th, Friday 16th, Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th.
The trade union Siptu said the strikes on these days would lead to a complete shutdown of Dublin Bus services .
Unions at Dublin Bus are seeking a 15 per cent pay rise over a three-year as well as the payment of an award of 6 per cent dating back to 2009.
Staff rejected last month a Labour Court recommendation that they should receive increases of 8.2 per cent over three years.
Siptu Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction Division organiser, Owen Reidy, said: “Our members are engaged in a dispute with management concerning what they believe to be a reasonable and fair pay claim. Workers at the company have not had a pay increase for eight years. During that period, they have suffered reductions in earnings and have co-operated with three comprehensive restructuring of the company.”
“Dublin Bus returned to profit in 2014. Over the last five years there has been an increase in passenger numbers and revenue is up 30 per cent. However, during this period the state subvention to the company has been reduced by a total of 24 per cent. This cut further undermines a transport company whose subvention, in comparison to that provided to bus services in other European cities, was already low.”
Mr Reidy said Siptu members were seeking a 15 per cent pay increase over a three-year period; a payment in lieu of an agreed 6 per cent pay increase which was deferred a number of years ago; shift pay to be pensionable as is the case for staff in Irish Rail; the link between pay and pensions to be maintained and for the company to pay the income continuance contribution for drivers. He said the union’s members were also prepared to engage in productivity discussions with management.
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Commuters
The general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) Dermot O’Leary said: “It is a sad indictment on Dublin Bus and its pay masters that they have not made any effort towards resolving this dispute. This is despite the fact that it is now over six weeks since the Labour Court recommendation on pay was rejected by staff, it seems that the company and the mandarins at the Department (of Transport) are prepared to play Russian roulette with a public transport service that underpins the social and economic fabric of our capital city, transporting as it does over 330,000 commuters every day, rather than recognise that workers at Dublin Bus are deserving of a significant pay rise after eight years of pay stagnation, a period which saw staff having to stomach two cost cutting plans, inclusive of pay cuts.”
He said the desire of his members was not to engage in a dispute which would discommode the the public. He said the Minister for Transport Shane Ross and the Government had a responsibility to ensure that Dublin Bus was allowed to go back to the negotiating table with an improved offer.
“After all it is successive Governments that are responsible for cutting the necessary funding for public bus transport in Dublin by over €27 million since 2008.There is an obvious correlation between those stringent funding cuts and the restrictions placed upon Dublin Bus to play fair with its loyal and hardworking staff, our members remain determined that the pay claim lodged by all trade unions to the Labour Court for 15 per cent plus 6 per cent owed since 2008 requires to be addressed as a building block towards our claim for parity between bus and tram drivers.”
Stability
Dublin Bus said the planned strikes had “the potential to undo the financial stability achieved in recent years” at the company.
It described the rejection by staff of the Labour Court pay recommendation and the subsequently decision to take industrial action as extremely disappointing.
“Dublin Bus has accepted the Labour Court Recommendation which provides for a cost of living pay increase for each employee of 2.75 per cent per year for a three- year term effective from January 2016 (backdated) with the final 2.75 per cent payable in January 2018. In effect all grades would see their pay increase by a total of 8.25 per cent within a 16 month period.”
The company said the pay increases recommended by the Labour Court were above the current industry norm.
Dublin Bus said its management would now arrange to meet with the joint trade union group “to outline the company’s position, to discuss the issues in dispute and to seek a way forward to avert industrial action”.
“Any form of industrial action can only have a negative impact on our company and will inconvenience our customers. It has the potential to undo the financial stability achieved in recent years.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/dublin-bus-staff-to-hold-three-48-hour-stoppages-in-september-1.2772899?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/7decaf42beba747db967a45a0f916463944cf5945100386bb78e60c693e70c58.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T20:49:12 | null | 2016-08-30T20:34:00 | Principle that all web traffic is equal designed to keep internet an open platform | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Ftechnology%2Fstrict-take-on-net-neutrality-by-eu-telecom-regulators-1.2773507.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2773504.1472585687!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Strict take on ‘net neutrality’ by EU telecom regulators | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | EU regulators have adopted a strict interpretation of rules limiting how telecoms firms can prioritise some types of internet traffic. The aim is to protect the principle that all web traffic be treated equally.
The guidelines on net neutrality were welcomed by internet activists as ensuring the web remains an open platform and not a two-speed highway benefiting only companies with deep pockets that can pay for prioritised delivery.
The European Union adopted its first-ever net neutrality law last year. The latest guidelines, adopted on Tuesday,will help determine how regulators enforce those rules.
Companies had pushed for leeway that allowed them to prioritise some types of data over others.
Under the latest guidelines, however, they will only be able to offer so-called specialised services – such as connectivity for driverless cars and internet-connected devices – over dedicated network capacity if it is “objectively necessary” and only if it does not negatively affect the Internet.
Specialised services
Services such as high-quality voice calling on mobile networks, live television delivered over the internet, and remote surgery, or telesurgery, are likely to be allowed as specialised services, according to the guidelines.
The telecoms industry said it was essential to avoid “restrictive interpretations” of the net neutrality law.
“Let’s make sure the implementation of net neutrality rules does not hamper new applications and services,” said Lise Fuhr, director general of Brussels-based Etno, a telecoms lobbying group representing operators, including Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica and Telecom Italia.
Regulators have also limited the extent to which telecoms operators may exempt some applications, such as Facebook, from a customer’s data usage, a practice known as zero-rating.
Customers cannot continue using Facebook or, say, Spotify, for free once they have used up all the data in their subscription.
– (Reuters) | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/strict-take-on-net-neutrality-by-eu-telecom-regulators-1.2773507 | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/43d48ddcf79eeee63b9dd0026698d58e12f9e4e3038dd8352ce827c4dc07da2d.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T12:52:00 | null | 2016-08-29T11:50:00 | Peer abuse, failure to investigate complaints and mismanagement among findings | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fhealth%2Fhiqa-reports-critical-of-hse-disability-services-1.2771890%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2771889.1472467801!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Hiqa reports critical of HSE disability services | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Major patient safety concerns have been raised in a series of critical reports into HSE-run disability services around the country.
Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) noted incidents of peer-to-peer abuse, misadministration of medications and failures to adequately report complaints of alleged mistreatment following visits to a number of large disability centres in Cork, Kilkenny and Donegal.
During an unannounced visit to the St Raphael’s Campus in Youghal, Co Cork, it was found that a resident had not been given adequate food and nutrition for a period of more than 18 hours.
Those working at the centre said there were not enough members of staff on duty on that particular day to get the resident out of bed and feed them appropriately.
The Youghal campus, which had court-applied restrictive conditions placed on its registration last year due to previous negative findings by Hiqa, also came in for criticism for incorrect use of seizure and antimicrobial medicines which could have “potentially catastrophic” or even fatal impacts on patients.
The facility is currently in the middle of a winding-down process and is due to close next year, but inspectors recorded an ongoing “lack of clarity for staff around the reporting of allegations of abuse”.
One resident alone had made 15 complaints of physical abuse by one of his peers over the space of less than a month, but none of these incidents were properly investigated, inspectors said.
Serious failings in governance and management were identified at an unnamed disability service in Donegal during another unannounced inspection in March.
Despite initially being told by the person in charge that there had been no “incidents, suspicions, allegations or investigations of abuse” there since 2013, Hiqa officials later found that such allegations had indeed been made and investigations were instigated.
Inspectors said the person in charge subsequently handed over documents relating to the alleged incidents of abuse, and they concluded that “there was a significant risk to the safety of residents as a consequence of seriously inadequate safeguarding arrangements in the centre”.
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Speaking to inspectors, some members of staff felt they were being seen as “troublemakers” if they highlighted problems with safeguarding measures or instances of possible mistreatment.
Elsewhere, Hiqa was not satisfied that the requisite improvements had been made to service provision at St Patrick’s Centre in Kilkenny which was taken over by the HSE in October 2015 following “significant failings” by the previous care provider.
Incidents of peer-to-peer aggression had continued since the handover, and there were still “significant concerns regarding the lack of suitable governance and management arrangements to oversee the quality and safety of care provided to residents” which had “direct negative outcomes for residents”.
A smaller community-based facility for six residents in Westmeath failed to demonstrate compliance for any of the nine standards tested during a visit in March, and the two-story house had no overall evacuation plan in the event of a fire.
It was also found to be deficient as regards safeguarding measures, as the member of staff designated to deal with complaints told inspectors they were “not aware that they had been assigned this responsibility” and said they did not have time to carry out managerial roles alongside their frontline duties.
The findings came in a raft of 11 inspection reports released by Hiqa on Monday. Other centres visited managed to demonstrate more consistent compliance with regulations, and there was evidence of a good quality of life for residents within these services.
The State’s health watchdog also provided an update on two autism care centres which are operated by Gheel Autism Services on behalf of the HSE after it took over control from the Irish Autism Society following negative inspection outcomes published in July.
Inspectors found that significant improvements had been made in safety and quality of life of residents at both premises. | http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/hiqa-reports-critical-of-hse-disability-services-1.2771890?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/1c46449bb1a8321c8c18000ee5d7b5aad7174f62e7ba689d59123cf3603aa108.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T16:49:56 | null | 2016-08-26T17:02:00 | ‘We have to find out how we can come back and win medals,’ Gerry Hussey says | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fsport%2Fjudging-denied-us-three-medals-in-rio-irish-boxing-psychologist-says-1.2769633%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2769632.1472227330!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Judging denied us three medals in Rio, Irish boxing psychologist says | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Questionable judging in the Olympics denied Irish boxers at least three medals, according to their team psychologist.
Sports psychologist Gerry Hussey said he agreed with Michael Conlan’s assertion that the adjudication was “corrupt”.
“The performance of each boxer was in and around as good as London. The competition has increased dramatically… the boxers who get to the Olympic Games are of a much higher standard now,” Mr Hussey said, a veteran of four Olympics.
“Secondly, the judging took away from at least three medals and possibly four. The way we look at it is that team delivered performances that were good enough to win three medals and for us that was our target.”
Of Conlan, he said: “To have worked as hard as you have worked and to have made the sacrifices that he had and to have the ability of an Olympic champion, and for it to be taken away in such a corrupt and outright manner, it’s very easy to understand how he felt.”
Mr Hussey said a series of challenging events such as Michael O’Reilly’s positive doping test and contentious decisions in the ring did have an effect on team morale.
“Of course it has an effect but these guys know how to deal with it and how to perform.
“We’re not placing blame anywhere, we’re not using excuses, we’re going to have to have a good look at ourselves and we have to find out how we can come back and win medals at the European Games,” he said, adding that the departure of former head coach Billy Walsh prior to the games was a loss.
“Losing Billy is a loss, but the quality of boxer and support staff and coach are still there. We can’t be using that as an excuse.”
Mr Hussey was speaking at the launch of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Summit that will take place in the Aviva Stadium on October 14th.
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The event will feature speakers including mental health campaigner Niall “Bressie” Breslin and rugby pundit Brent Pope.
Pope has been candid about his own battles with depression.
“I felt ashamed that I could have handled anything on the rugby field that anybody threw at me… but the problem wasn’t my ability physically it was my ability to handle stress and anxiety,” Pope said.
“Young people shouldn’t be ashamed. If they’ve got a problem or they feel that they’re a bit vulnerable with mental health, just go and see someone, get it sorted.” | http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/judging-denied-us-three-medals-in-rio-irish-boxing-psychologist-says-1.2769633?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/ddbafab92f48fd2d3e227531616fa65145f525b82236d71778eef9878f286212.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:59:48 | null | 2016-08-26T07:38:00 | It’s wealth of staff expertise has helped the Dublin paint and wallpaper business thrive | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fbusiness%2Fmanufacturing%2Ffuture-proof-kevin-coghlan-managing-director-of-mrcb-1.2755946.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.2755942.1471185019!/image/image.jpg | en | null | Future proof: Kevin Coghlan, managing director of MRCB | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Ruth O’Connor
When Kevin Coghlan’s father Joe bought MRCB in 1989, colleagues in the paint industry said it was folly, that it was a dying brand and a dead business. Yet 80 years after it was founded, MRCB is s one of Ireland’s premier paint and wallpaper specialists, stocking more than 8,500 products for the retail and trade market.
MRCB stands for the initials of the two founders of the company – Frenchmen Marcel Regent and Charles Bigoud – who opened a store in 1927 (officially in 1936). By 1989, the company had been bought and sold many times. By the time Joe Coghlan bought the business, it had gone downhill, not least because traffic restrictions meant no one could park outside the shop on Lord Edward Street in Dublin city centre.
His contemporaries in the paint business – Coughlan had worked in HGW and Dods of Mary Street – told him he was taking on a dying brand. The business was insolvent but Joe felt he could turn the company around and he relocated the business to a premises on nearby Cornmarket.
Promotional offers
The first thing that had to be done was to get cash in the tills. “We started to focus on retail,” says Kevin Coghlan, who is now managing director of the business. “We started putting in promotional offers in the window and developed a good balance, which we’ve retained to this day whereby 50 per cent of our business is retail and the other 50 is trade.”
At the same time, the family was running another business, Coghlan’s Paints, a stone’s throw away on Meath Street. It catered for domestic customers. This closed in 1994 due largely to difficulty in finding enough qualified staff to operate the two stores.
“We did great business in Meath Street. The business there was at capacity, my mother Nora ran the shop and we literally could not sell any more paint from it,” says Coghlan. “There was potential for growth in MRCB and the Meath street business was at capacity and we couldn’t get staff for either of the shops so it made sense to bring over the excellent staff from Meath Street and close the Meath Street store.”
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The need to retain this expertise meant no one lost their jobs in the most recent recession. The company currently employs 17 people – 11 of whom have been there over 15 years, with one boasting more than 40 years’ service.
Depth of knowledge
“There’s quite a depth of knowledge that is required. We knew if we lost the staff that we would be losing all the expertise. We didn’t think the recession would last as long as it did but we knew that, if we could retain the staff, we’d be in strong position when the economy did pick up,” says Coghlan.
Tight credit control has been key in the business’s longevity. Coghlan’s wife Joan has been credit controller for 25 years and he credits her with keeping a tight rein on customer credit during the recession.
“You can imagine the discussions at the dinner table. I’m a salesman so I wanted to sell, sell, sell and she was saying that certain people were too risky. We did get hit during the recession, Overall sales dropped by around 40 per cent at the worst stage in 2012, but very stringent credit control meant that we weren’t hit as badly as we might have been.”
The company had just given the go-ahead for an upgrade and redesign of the Cornmarket store to the tune of about €400,000 when the recession hit.
“We were about six or seven months into the upgrade and had to see it through,” says Coghlan. “In hindsight, it was probably the best move because it elevated the shop in terms of creating a much more open and up-market environment.”
Colourtrend merger
In 2001, the company merged MRCB with Colourtrend. “We felt somewhat threatened by the large shed DIY companies coming into Ireland and the fact that many of the paint manufacturers were opening their own trade centres.”
The company merged with Colourtrend opening two paint shops in Celbridge, Co Kildare and in Waterford, as well as promoting the brand in the MRCB store.
By 2006, the companies had decided to separate and MRCB took the Cornmarket store back under its own name. Coghlan says the main legacy of the merger was confusion whereby the consumer thought for a long time that they were running the Colourtrend shops.
“It was stressful trying to demerge but we had five fantastic years with them and I learnt a lot about the wholesale, marketing and manufacturing side of the business,” says Coghlan. “And it wouldn’t stop me collaborating with other people again. I’ve no regrets.”
While MRCB is still trading at about 30 per cent below pre-Celtic tiger rates, they expect to see 10 per cent overall growth in sales this year.
“I think that many people would take their hats off to my father for what he’s done for the MRCB name. But it wasn’t just buying the name, it was all the hard work we put into it when he it took it over,” says Coghlan.
“I think both my parents are proud that we’ve stood the test of time without compromising on quality and without cutting any staff or wages in the hard times.”
www.mrcb.ie | http://www.irishtimes.com/business/manufacturing/future-proof-kevin-coghlan-managing-director-of-mrcb-1.2755946 | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/682a2c891afe1a8dc0c36bcb380a2d9f1d74aaf96cb3662e8e1464f0ace51838.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T00:51:35 | null | 2016-08-29T01:11:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fopinion%2Fletters%2Fthe-future-of-work-in-age-of-automation-1.2769828%3FlocalLinksEnabled%3Dfalse.json | http://www.irishtimes.com/assets/images/favicons/irishtimes.png | en | null | The future of work in age of automation | null | null | www.irishtimes.com | Sir, – Further to “Online auction site eBay to close operation in Dundalk next year” (August 26th), eBay is sending us a very important message. Just as we congratulate ourselves on having more than two million people in employment, eBay spoils the party by giving us a taste of the reality of employment in the 21st century.
Jobs are more insecure and transient than they have ever been because we refuse to acknowledge the reality that modern technology is eliminating dependence on human labour at a truly massive and accelerating pace. We can no longer depend on “work to be done” as satisfactory to fill our employment needs, unless we drastically change our whole thinking on work and jobs. More jobs from less work, or we are in real trouble.
Until now, an enormous amount of work needed to be done by people, creating work for practically everyone, or at least sufficient to sustain society and social order. Not anymore! Automation and robotics are usurping vast amounts of every type of work there is, and the stark reality is that already there is insufficient work to provide adequate employment in the old-fashioned way.
Employment must be recognised in an entirely different way – as far more important for distribution of wealth than its creation. Technology can create more than enough wealth for all but we must have a dignified secure method of spreading it around. Employment coupled with entitlement to a pension or income after retirement is the only realistic method of achieving this end and keeping a lid on unrest and extreme politics.
Shorter hours, longer holidays and earlier retirement without reduction of income or entitlements may appear an impossibility under present employment ideology but it is the only game in town.
Fortunately, technology can produce sufficient wealth to make such a radical change feasible but it means a major rethink of the work/employment relationship.
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There is another reason we should begin to rethink employment. Decisions are shortly due on Irish tax for multinationals and although we may initially benefit from an unlikely windfall by having substantial back-tax paid to our exchequer, the days of “lax tax” Ireland are numbered. Mass unemployment is probably the greatest problem to be confronted by Ireland and every state in an evermore technological age. It is time we began to take it seriously and figure out what can be done. – Yours, etc,
PADRAIC NEARY,
Tubbercurry, Co Sligo. | http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/the-future-of-work-in-age-of-automation-1.2769828?localLinksEnabled=false | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.irishtimes.com/4ed0ab4b4f19ce2e8787125cf1b38b3cc6b88167ba532ad1d0be32b75b2fbf55.json |
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