News

Each year the People of the Year Awards, which will again be shown live on RTÉ One television in December, shine a light on some of the many unsung heroes who are living in communities throughout Ireland. This year is particularly special for the award scheme, as they will be celebrating their 40th anniversary. During this time, they have honoured some of the most inspirational people in Ireland. If you think you know someone who has done something extraordinary, who has made a real difference, who has gone above and beyond the call of duty and whom you feel deserves a People of the Year Award, then nominate them now. You can also nominate in one of the specific categories, Young Person of the Year, International Person of the Year, Sports Person of the Year or Community Group of the Year. The closing date for entries is September 12 and nominations can be made at www.peopleoftheyear.com or by writing to …

Against a background of an upsurge in farm deaths, Teagasc and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) will hold a national conference on Farm Safety and Health on Thursday, August 21 in Kilkenny. Eighteen fatalities have taken place so far in 2014, which is two more than the total for all of 2013, One of the most recent fatal accidents involved a child in the midlands whose grandparents are in Quin. The National Conference is being held in association with the Farm Safety Partnership, which is representative of organisations with a role in promoting farm health and safety. Farming organisation leaders, Eddie Downey, IFA; John Comer, ICMSA and Kieran O’Dowd, Macra na Feirme; will chair conference sessions. At the event, Brian and Norma Rohan, organisers of the recent Embrace Farm Accident Victim Remembrance Service, will outline the impact of a farm accident tragedy. The conference is of particular relevance to farmers, contractors, advisers and anyone with an interest in farm …

Young people celebrating their Leaving Cert results should not be targeted by cheap alcohol promotions. That’s the message sounded by Alcohol Action Ireland, the national charity for alcohol-related issues, in calling on pubs and nightclubs not to use cheap alcohol promotions to target young people planning on celebrating their Leaving Cert results this week. “It’s natural that students want to go out, have a good time and celebrate with their friends. This is an important milestone for them and they should enjoy the celebrations,” said Conor Cullen of Alcohol Action Ireland. “The reality is that for a significant number of young people, their plans to celebrate this week will include drinking and, as a result, they are already being targeted by venues with offers of cheap alcohol, including price promotions based on the number of drinks bought. Promotions and ‘drinks deals’ like this are aimed squarely at young people and encourage the type of harmful binge drinking that is such …

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark has been named in the longlist for the 2014 World Responsible Tourism Awards for the second year running. Over 200 tourism organisations, initiatives and businesses from throughout the world have been selected for the next stage of the Awards across 11 categories. The Geopark features in the ‘Best Destination’ category and is one of 20 destinations that were chosen from hundreds of entries. Other named destinations in the same category include The Lake District in Cumbria (UK), Arizona (USA), Reykjavik, Cyprus, Guatemala, V&A Waterfront in Cape Town (South Africa), Aruba, Pahuatlan (Mexico) and Colorado (USA). Sponsored by the Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Tourism and hosted by responsibletravel.com and ICRT (International Centre for Responsible Tourism), the World Responsible Tourism Awards the most exciting and enduring responsible holiday experiences in the world. The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark will be seeking to make this year’s shortlist for a second consecutive year when it is announced …

Visiting restrictions at University Hospital Limerick have been lifted following the recent outbreak of suspected Norovirus (the winter vomiting bug). The HSE has, however, issues a reminder that  visiting hours are strictly 2-4pm and6.30-8.30pm.

IT’S understood that a Scariff man who went missing in London last week is alive, but efforts are still being made to get in touch with him. Brief contact was made with him by phone late on Tuesday night, but police and relatives are still continuing the search. John Dowdall was last seen at 5pm on Thursday of last week at the Crown Moran Hotel in Cricklewood, London. He had been a guest at the hotel since July 31 but failed to return on Thursday, leaving all his belongings and valuables behind. John is 5ft 7ins tall and of large stocky build. He has diabetes but left his medication for it at the hotel. On Sunday, a relative was told by a police source that John had been found and was in good health but this proved to be a mistake on the police’s side. However, following Tuesday night’s contact, it is understood that he is okay. It is understood …

This Tuesday marks the 100th anniversary of the death of submarine inventor John P. Holland and to mark the anniversary a special commemorative event will take place in North Clare at the end of this month. Liscannor Development Committee will host a day of events honouring the life and achievements of the local inventor on Sunday, August 31, as part of Heritage Week 2014. The event at Liscannor Harbour will feature the unveiling of a commemorative stone and a talk on Holland’s life, a film of his achievements, music and songs of the sea, and a photography and children’s art exhibition. John Philip Holland was born in Liscannor in 1841. His father, John Holland senior patrolled the headlands of County Clare as a rider with the British Coastguard Service. The young Holland was a teacher in Ireland until 1872 when he immigrated to the USA, where he taught in Paterson, New Jersey, until 1879. He drew up plans of submarines and in 1881, with funds from Irish associates, launched a …

The key to Ireland’s future success is enhancing equity finance and investment in  small firms to encourage future growth. That’s according to The Small Firms Association chairman, AJ Noonan. Speaking on this Monday, he said, “Irish small firms rely heavily on banks as a source of external finance which makes them vulnerable to changes in the banking sector. As banks  comply with more regulations, lending to SMEs will remain restrictive compared to the pre-crisis period. This is a problem and therefore, a greater diversity of funding options are necessary to ensure a constant flow of finance. The SFA chairman highlighted the fact that equity finance is not widely used by  Irish small firms. The European Central Bank’s latest SAFE survey shows only 8% of the SMEs used equity finance as a source of funding. “Currently in Ireland the demand for equity finance is low, as there is no  culture or tradition of using equity finance. Also small firms fear that they will lose control …