Tag Archives: Russia

SEVERAL people whose families are affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine attended Thursday evening’s protest at Tim Smythe Park in Ennis. Irene Korniichuk was there with her mother, stepfather and her daughter. Having come here for a visit from the Ukraine, Irene can’t go home again. “My husband and my older children stayed there, I was just visiting Mum. I can’t return home now. My other two children are with my sister now and they crossed the border into Poland. My husband is still in the Ukraine.” The two children who have gone to Poland are 11 and 15 and she would like to bring them to Ireland if possible. She said her husband will hopefully help in the Ukrainian resistance. “He’s not a soldier but he’ll do everything he can.” Women in her home city are also very active in the fight. “They gather together in different places and they’re making camoflague nets for our soldiers, they are …

DOCTOR Lena Madden woke up on Thursday morning to text messages offering condolences after the invasion of her home country by Russia. An Ennis-based academic, Lena has lived in Ireland for 20 years and in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine she is very concerned about the prospect of thousands of deaths. “The thing that people don’t talk about is loss. The biggest thing is loss of human life. How many people will die? How many children will die? The soldiers are someone’s children too.” Dr Madden’s father and step-mother were already here visiting when hostilities started, but her mother is living in the east of Ukraine. “I’m from Donetsk, the place where the war is happening currently and where it started in 2014. I moved to Ireland in 2002, that’s 20 years ago. I didn’t live through the war, but my Mum says she has lived through war already. She’s got an approach that she …

RUSSIAN mafia figures may have become involved with Donald Trump in Doonbeg, it has been claimed at a sitting of the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In an interview with the committee in November, a transcript of which was published this week, researcher Glenn Simpson detailed links between US President Trump and Russian organised crime figures. Mr Simpson also said that in the course of carrying out research on the US President at the time he was a candidate, it had been found that the development of Doonbeg was one of several unusual deals. A former journalist, Mr Simpson works at Washington commercial research firm, Fusion GPS. In the autumn of 2015, it was hired to take an open-ended detailed look at Trump’s business career, litigation history and his relationships with what were described as “questionable people”. Asked about deals of interest involving the now US President, Mr Simpson said, “Some of the things that we have…looked …

A seminal moment in world history will be the subject of Kilkee Civic Trust’s next talk takes place in Cultúrlann Sweeney on Wednesday next. The topic is ‘Who was Margaretta Eager?’.  The talk, by historian Sharon Slater, will reveal the links between the Limerick woman, who was nanny to the children of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, and and her life in the Royal Court in St Petersburg, with Kilkee. The Russian Imperial Romanov family (Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei), and all those who chose to accompany them into imprisonment – notably Eugene Botkin, Anna Demidova, Alexei Trupp and Ivan Kharitonov – were shot, bayoneted and clubbed to death in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918. The talk starts at 8pm and the admission is free.

Tourism Ireland has unveiled a new online film for St Patrick’s Day 2017, to encourage prospective holidaymakers to come and visit Ireland this year. The 60-second film includes wonderful footage shot around Ireland, including the Cliffs of Moher, interwoven with some great images from Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative, which sees hundreds of famous landmarks and iconic sites across the globe illuminated in green each year to celebrate St Patrick’s Day on this Friday. The film is being promoted through Tourism Ireland’s social platforms, including Facebook with 3.8 million fans worldwide; Twitter with 379,000 followers and YouTube. Last month, Tourism Ireland announced details of some of the famous attractions and sites around the world which will join its Global Greening initiative this year to mark St Patrick’s Day. From Rome to Rio and from London to Las Vegas, a host of major landmarks and iconic sites around the world will be illuminated in green this week – including the Colosseum, …

THOUSANDS of people have come from different parts of the country to Shannon Airport today to see the Antonov 225, the world’s largest aircraft. The plane arrived shortly before 3am from Bangor International Airport and will leave again at around 10pm. It’s wing span is greater than the width of the pitch at Croke Park and from nose to tail it is one and a half times the length of an Olympic Swimming Pool. It stands alone as the largest and most powerful jet the world has ever seen. Shannon has one of the longest runways in Europe and it is the only Irish airport the Antonov 225 has ever landed at. Niall Moloney, Shannon Airport Operations Director said the aircraft never fails to amaze. “When you see it on the taxiway here and can put its size into perspective, it’s almost unbelievable that it can get up into the skies, let alone be as graceful when it’s up there,” …

THE crises that have struck Russia in recent months are being put forward as the reasons that Shannon-based Transaero Engineering Ireland had to seek the protection of the courts this week. The aircraft maintenance company entered an examinership process on Monday with the aim of securing its future. It currently has 230 employees and around 40 contract workers. Examinership gives struggling companies breathing space as it gives them protection from creditors for 100 days, during which time the court-appointed examiner, in this case Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton, reports back to the court with recommendations. While the majority of businesses that enter examinership do continue to trade after successfully exiting, the examiner has to find there is a reasonable prospect of it becoming viable. Formerly Air Atlanta Aero Engineering, the company came under Russian ownership when it was purchased by Transaero Airlines almost three years ago. In a statement published on its website on Tuesday, TransAero Engineering Ireland (TEI) outlined …

Russian travel writers representing an inflight magazine and a fashion magazine, with a combined readership of hundreds of thousands of people, were in Clare this week, as part of their exploration of holiday destinations in Ireland. The visit was arranged by Tourism Ireland the their itinerary, designed by Fáilte Ireland, included a guided walk in the Burren National Park, as well as visits to the Aillwee Caves and the Cliffs of Moher. The writers stayed at the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis and Dromoland Castle. Jim Paul, Tourism Ireland’s head of developing markets, said, “Fact-finding visits like this are an important element of our overall annual publicity and PR programme; they are a really effective way for us to get positive exposure for Clare and Ireland through the international media. “Outbound travel from Russia is growing fast, with almost 36 million visits outside of Russia taken each year. The majority of our overseas visitors come from the core tourism markets …