Tag Archives: Ireland

MINISTER for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen is in Estonia today (Monday) for a series of bilateral meetings. These meetings form part of an ongoing programme of engagement by Irish government ministers with EU member states in an effort to build awareness of the unique impacts of Brexit on Ireland and to hear fellow Member state views regarding Brexit. To date there have been over 400 engagements undertaken by the Irish Government with remaining EU member states and the EU institutions regarding Brexit. Mr Breen’s schedule includes meetings with Ms Urve Palo, the Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology, and Jevgeni Ossinovski, the Minister for Health and Labour.

MINISTER for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen is in Estonia today (Monday) for a series of bilateral meetings. These meetings form part of an ongoing programme of engagement by Irish government ministers with EU member states in an effort to build awareness of the unique impacts of Brexit on Ireland and to hear fellow Member state views regarding Brexit. To date there have been over 400 engagements undertaken by the Irish Government with remaining EU member states and the EU institutions regarding Brexit. Mr Breen’s schedule includes meetings with Ms Urve Palo, the Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology, and Jevgeni Ossinovski, the Minister for Health and Labour.

MEMBERS of the public have been signing books of condolences today at Áras Contae an Chláir in Ennis and at the Killaloe Electoral Area Office in Scariff in memory of rugby star Anthony Foley, who died suddenly at the weekend. Leas cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Paul said, “On behalf of Clare County Council and the people of Clare, I want to extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to Anthony’s family and his wide circle of friends and former colleagues. “Anthony was a warrior in sport and in life and he never shirked a challenge”, added Mr Murphy. “Anthony’s achievements on the pitch were matched off the pitch by his role as an ambassador for Clare, Munster and Ireland. His loss to the local community in Killaloe and to Irish sport is immeasurable. Pat Dowling, chief executive of Clare County Council added, “In 2009, Clare County Council honoured Anthony with a civic reception. Today, Clare County Council joins local authorities across the province in …

DONALD Trump has cancelled his proposed trip to his golf resort in Doonbeg which had been expected to take place in or around the weekend of June 25. Last week the presumptive US Presidential election candidate said that he would be visiting Doonbeg but his Press Tour Director, Stephanie Grisham, confirmed in the early hours of Wednesday morning that the trip will only involve a visit to Scotland. However she did not explain to Irishcentral.com the reason behind the decision not to visit Ireland. Protests against Trump will were planned to take place in Doonbeg, at Shannon airport and possibly Ennis and Doonbeg. A ‘Trump Not Welcome’ group was established following a meeting in Dublin last week and the group confirmed that the first of their protests were due to be held in Dublin on Thursday June 23.

Liverpool was the location for a major tourism business networking event this week, where there was a great opportunity to showcase Ireland. The visit of Prince Charles to the Burren last week gave North Clare an edge in noting it as a destination. More than 300 top international buyers from 40 different countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, Brazil and Russia, were provided with a wealth of information about the island Ireland at ExploreGB 2016. As part of its ongoing partnership with VisitBritain, Tourism Ireland – together with 18 Irish tourism companies, including Doolin2Aran Ferries – took part in ExploreGB, VisitBritain’s flagship international event which took place in Liverpool. The two-day workshop involved a series of pre-scheduled, one-to-one appointments – showcasing Britain and the island of Ireland to an influential audience of international buyers and helping to deliver additional itineraries and brochure pages featuring both destinations. ExploreGB was also an ideal opportunity for Tourism Ireland to highlight the British-Irish Visa …

GIVEN the thousands of visitors from Limerick who decamp to Kilkee every summer, rugby talk isn’t exactly foreign to the resort town. There was plenty of rugby speech heard beneath the soft September air earlier this week and those loosening their tongues, in advance of the Rugby World Cup, knew what they were talking about. Former All Black number eight Zinzan Brooke, Scottish fly half Craig Chalmers and Welsh international Leigh Davies found time to project ahead to the autumn tournament, while on a brief break from the Mizen to Malin cancer fundraising cycle. Before they got to the rugby though, these rugby men couldn’t but have the odd dig at each other, or at themselves, regarding their cycling skills. “When you’re in the peloton and there is a big pothole coming up, you need your other team members to warn you. When you start getting to the hills, you sort of stop talking. On the flat you can get …

Tulla United has championed ladies soccer in recent years but trainer Murdoch Gleeson noted it was his daughter, Tara, who set the wheels in motion for ladies soccer back in 2010 when she asked ‘why girls can’t play soccer?’ On Thursday last, Ireland played Scotland in an historic U-19 women’s international friendly in Tulla. The impressive Cragg grounds looked immaculate as the sides played out an entertaining 1-1 draw, seven years after the FAI promised the club an underage international match. Speaking to The Clare Champion about his daughter’s eagerness to play soccer, Murdoch said Tara had a strong desire to play for her home club. “I had an U-16 boys team at the time and my daughter Tara asked me one day ‘how come girls can’t play soccer?’ “She’s 17 now so, at the time, she would have been about 11. She would have been playing with her older brother and younger brother basically kicking a ball around.” Murdoch …

In a week dominated by aviation-related headlines, Shannon Chamber hosted a luncheon seminar where two key players in the tourism and travel sectors – Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland and Suzanne Boda, senior vice president Asia, Canada, Europe and Cargo, American Airlines – were guest speakers. The lunch, sponsored by American Airlines, was held in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Limerick and attended by representatives from the business, tourism and hospitality sectors. Chamber president Kevin Thompstone said in his introductory remarks that access and connectivity is the key to increasing visitor numbers to the West of Ireland. “With just over 5% of international traffic to Ireland, Shannon delivers 15% of the West’s, 37% of Shannon’s and 12% of the South-West’s overseas holidaymaker bed nights. This demonstrates the link between access to Shannon and tourism activity in Shannon and the surrounding regions. The West has the product and the amenities and is proactively creating awareness, through Tourism Ireland, in international …