Following a vote by parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly to reject a DUP proposal to adjourn the power-sharing institutions, Peter Robinson has resigned as First Minister and will be followed by other DUP ministers in a move that brings suspension or collapse of the Northern Ireland institutions a step closer.
This is breaking news so stay tuned
10/Sept/15 17:10
Boston College are set to host Georgia tech in their opening game of the 2016/17 American College Football season.
This will be the third American college football game in 5 years to be staged in Ireland. Today’s announcement that the Aer Lingus College Football Classic between Boston College and Georgia Tech will take place in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 3rd September, 2016, was made by An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny at Dublin’s Mansion House
Aer Lingus was announced as Title Sponsor with Tourism Ireland, Failte Ireland and Dublin City Council are also supporting the game.
The promoters are Corporate.ie Event management and Anthony Travel
See more on http://www.collegefootballireland.com
Ireland is to host the 2017 Womens Rugby World Cup, it was announced today. The competition will be held at venues in Dublin and Belfast.
At the time of entering their bid to host the tournament, the IRFU said it intended to host the pool stages at UCD before moving to Belfast for semi-finals and finals at Queen’s University Sport and the newly developed Kingspan Stadium at Ravenhill.
It’s an age old tradition that licensed restaurants in Ireland shut their doors on 2 days per year; Christmas Day and Good Friday.
While the Christmas day tradition travels far and wide, the Good Friday closure is fairly unique to Ireland, often causing confusion and distress for tourists.
However, Fire, the restaurant at Dublin’s Mansion House have announced that they are bucking that trend this year and are going to throw their doors open to tourists and locals alike on Good Friday.
The lounge is open from midday, and the restaurant opens an hour later until late. FIRE has announced a special menu of non-alcoholic cocktails, and carefully sourced non-alcoholic wines to complement the new, exciting menus.
Commenting on the initiative, Padraic O’Kane of Fire said “Tourism is enormously important to Ireland, Dublin and our business. We’ve a hard won reputation for a Céad Míle Fáilte, yet each year for one night, at the start of the vital tourist season, restaurants and bars are shuttered. We decided that this would be the year that we’d buck the trend, and throw open our doors.”
Read all about it here: www.mansionhouse.ie/fire-restaurant/good–friday-and-easter
Cyber security firm, Malwarebytes, is to open its HQ for Europe, Middle East and Africa in Cork, it was announced this morning.
Marcin Kleczynski , Malwarebytes founder and CEO, said Cork would play a “central role” in the company’s expansion.
“Cork has a deserved reputation as a leading location for technology companies, with a talented workforce and established tech ecosystem, it gives Malwarebytes the opportunity to build a world-class team.,” he said.
Malwarebytes was founded in 2008 and will initially provide 50 new jobs as it establishes the Cork operation over the next 3 years.
Cork Airport has announced that Flybe will operate a new all year round twice weekly service between Cork and Cardiff, starting June 6th 2015.
The service will operate on a 118 seat Embraer 195 and will be Flybe’s first route from Cork Airport.
Aer Arann previously operated this route until its discontinuation several years ago. Its reinstatement by Flybe was welcomed by Cork Airport managing director, Niall MacCarthy; “This Cardiff route will be a significant boost to the local economy and provide a new destination for local businessmen and holidaymakers. At Cork Airport we have all been working extremely hard to provide our passengers with routes that will be beneficial for all.”
“This announcement is an exciting development for Cork Airport and we look forward to working closely with Flybe to develop our relationship and seek out further routes.”
The Irish parliament (Dáil Éireann) passed a revolutionary health law yesterday that will ensure that all tobacco products sold in the coutry will be in a standard dark-coloured wrapper emblazoned with large health warnings and images of smoking related disease.
Brand names will have to be very small and use a limited set of fonts across all packets.
The law is likely to be challenged by the Big Tobacco companies in the courts, either in Ireland or under European rules. While Ireland is a relatively tiny market for these large companies, they must fear that if Ireland sets such a precedent, the rest of the European Union may follow.
Ireland is only the second country in the entire world to introduce such a ban, after Australia, and is the first in Europe.
Children’s Minister and former health minister, James Reilly who spearheaded the ban, said it was about “protecting people” and should be seen as “a good day for the health of children”.
“The interests of public health will be served when children decide never to take up smoking in the first place and if smokers are persuaded to quit,” he said.
“We have a duty to prevent our children from being lured into a killer addiction.
Slim boxes of cigarettes, in lipstick-style shapes, will also become illegal under the new law.
There have been significant threats of legal action against the Irish State by Big tobacco manufacturers.
Anti Smoking Spokesman, Ross Morgan said the Government and opposition politicians should be complimented for pushing ahead with the ban despite threats of lawsuits.
The law will come into effect when President Michael D Higgins formally signs the legislation into law. The date of this is yet to be confirmed.
The aptly named Dublin Airport Authority, who still run Cork Airport, is taking legal action against two firms who were involved in the construction of the new terminal building in Cork.
The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has filed papers in the High Court against BAM Contractors (a Dutch Company) and Jacobs Engineering (An Americal company), both of whom were contracted to work on the terminal, which was completed in 2006.
According to the Irish Examiner is understood that the legal action has been triggered now before a 10-year warranty on the building expires at the end of the year.
The terminal is estimated to have cost in the region of €120million. The legal action, which relates to an alleged breach of contract, is understood to be focused only on structural issues with the terminal’s roof as leaks are among several problems which have affected the roof over the years.
The new terminal was built during Ireland’s property bubble, at the same time as scandals like the building of Priory Hall took place.
The Croke Park Classic in 2014 was a brilliant experience and I cannot wait for the next game. I was mislead that there would be an annual game but then there was one pencilled in for 2016 between Boston College and Georgia Tech but it seems it’s been cancelled.
American College football in Ireland: http://www.collegefootballireland.com
I would live if an NFL game came to Ireland but College Football is the next best thing. I’ll be keeping an eye out for updates for future games and post if anything is confirmed.
The Irish Dairy Board is opening a new US$13m cheese plant in Wisconsin. The Dairy Board’s Thiel Cheese & Ingredients subsidiary opened the new plany today as part of an €80m investment programme in the US.
The board employs 3,100 and is responsible for 60% of Irish dairy produce exports to approximately 100 countries and has annual sales of nearly US$3bn.
“Today marks the completion of a very significant investment programme by IDB into the US Food Ingredients market and is in-line with our growth strategy to invest in high growth dairy businesses that deliver strong returns to our members,” said the board’s chief executive Kevin Lane.
The Luxurious Fota Island Resort, the leading Golf Club in Cork, is to host the 2014 Irish Open. The magnificent venue twice previously hosted the prestigious event but it has been 12 years since Golf of such calibre has been seen on Leeside.
This year’s event will take place from June 19th to 22nd and will see Ireland & Europe’s top golfers grace the Deerpark Championship Course at Fota.
Former (& future) world number one, Rory McIlroy welcome the news stating that “it is great news that the Irish Open will be played at Fota Island” and that that Fota Island is “exactly the kind of place to showcase what Ireland has to offer as a golf destination.”
Following the announcement there is likely to be an increased demand for Irish golf vacations and in particular to the championship courses on the South West coast.
As well as Fota, County Cork boasts the world famous Old Head of Kinsale Golf Course and nearby County Kerry has the outstanding courses at Killarney, Ballybunion, Waterville and Tralee.
In what could be a huge, and largely unexpected, boost for hotels near Dublin’s Aviva stadium, it has been revealed today that this year’s Heineken Cup final venue could also play host to a semi-Final if Ulster overcome Saracens in the last 8.
Toulon or Leicester Tigers will play the winners of this weekend’s quarter final with home advantage going to either Ulster or Saracens. Ulster have confirmed that if they have home advantage the game will be played at the Aviva.
Southern Ireland’s Cork Airport is to spend €2.4m (approx $3m) on upgrading its luggage security screening system to meet new standards from the European Union.
Work on the upgrade will begin in February 2013 with full installation expected to be complete by May. Global specialist luggage systems company, Logan Teleflex, has secured the contract and the new equipment is due on site in February.
“This project is about Cork Airport’s compliance with the highest international security standards for hold baggage,” said Niall MacCarthy, a director at the airport. “The long term view is important in the airport business and significant planning is required to ensure that the airport’s systems are safe, secure and provide the best possible service to the thousands of passengers who use our terminal every day.”
Cork Airport’s luggage system catered for over 1.2 million bags last year (excluding carry-on luggage) and the airport said it expects modest growth in 2013.
Industrial action by staff at the former Irish National Airline, Aer Lingus, seems increasingly likely in the short term as recent talks broke down today between unions and management.
Siptu, the main union at the airline, said efforts to resolve the dispute over the circa €750 million deficit in the pension fund at Aer Lingus and the state owned Dublin Airport Authority ended at the Labour Relations Commission.
The union claimed the breakdown in the talks occurred when Aer Lingus representatives refused to meet unions representing the staff pension committees.
Ireland’s largest and most successful airline, Ryanair, has been given until August 1 2012 to start showing payment card surcharges in its headline prices. It is not clear yet how the ruling by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in the UK will be implemented in other markets but given the common booking platform on their website it is likely it will be applied across the board.
Ryanair is just one of many airlines operating in the UK who have agreed to the new procedure. Other airlines include: Thomas Cook, Thomson, Aer Lingus, Eastern Airways, easyJet, Flybe, German Wings, Jet2, Lufthansa, BMI Baby, and Wizz Air
Guide to all things 'Ireland' 