Tag Archives: ratheniska

Following on the detection of potential diabetes in more than 600 visitors to the National Ploughing Championship last year, Lions Clubs plan to screen more than 10,000 people at the 2015 event in Ratheniska, County Laois. A team of 120 Lions and qualified nurses will be at the Lions Marquee at Ratheniska from Tuesday to Thursday next. They will offer visitors a free simple, painless blood test which is designed to identify early symptoms of diabetes. The Lions are confident that they will significantly exceed the 7,210 visitors who availed of the test last year in Retheniska. Last year 8.3% of those screened, mainly farmers, were identified as potentially diabetic and were referred to their GPs for further examination. According to Marion Conneely, District Governor of Lions in Ireland, the incidence of diabetes is accelerating rapidly in rural Ireland due to diet and lifestyle changes. “Medical experts estimate that up to 200,000 people with diabetes in Ireland are unaware of …

SsangYong are making a comeback in Ireland. They have already launched the Korando, earlier this year and that model has now been joined by the Rodius, which is being launched at the National Ploughing Championships this week in Co Laois. The Rodius is a full seven seater and this time around, it’s powered by Ssangyong’s own diesel engine, a 2.0 litre unit producing 155 bhp. At this stage, let’s deal with the elephant in the room. The old Rodius – in fact all Ssangyong’s – were hideously ugly. They looked ungainly from all angles and faces that not even a mother could love. Happily, the first time I saw a Korando, I didn’t know what it was until I got closer and I thought it was a very good looking design. The same can be said for the Rodius, which has a distinctly upright, almost American inspired look. It’s going to be one of the largest MPVs on the Irish …