It is very simple really!
Either we stay out of the tent and piss into it or we stay in the tent and piss out?
Despite all the misgivings about the Lisbon Treaty, I say vote YES on Friday October 2nd! 2009.
Ireland cannot afford to offend Europe now given the perilous condition Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen have left this country in with 12 years of incompetence and corruption.
Voting NO just to kick the ass of the Government is stupid. Do it in a general election!
On Friday vote YES for survival! Simple as that! And yes I voted NO the last time too!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Get those boots on!
Get those boots on walk all over the recession! Ireland is a beautiful country to explore and exercise is good for the spirit in these awful times!
NATIONAL TRAILS DAY is being organized this year on the 4th October 2009. It is a celebration of Ireland’s wonderful variety of trails and a chance for everyone to enjoy some of our most beautiful countryside, forests, mountains and lakes. South Dublin County Council will be participating in the event with four walks organized in our parks:
• Guided Walk of a section of Dodder Valley Park: This will be a stroll in a section of the Dodder Valley to the rear of Rathfarnham Shopping Centre that should open your eyes to the often unseen natural world that is right on our doorstep
• A Walk in Waterstown Park, Liffey Valley: A gentle walk in Waterstown Park, a constituent park of the planned Liffey Valley Regional Park. It will explore the natural and the built heritage of the park.
• Tymon Park Guided Walk: A walk around the perimeter of the park, taking in the woodland, grassland, pitches, wonderful playgrounds, lakes and so much more that is available in this Regional Park and in the process discovering the new Slí na Sláinte routes in the park.
• Clondalkin Village to Corkagh Park: This event starts in Clondalkin Village and proceeds from there by way of Clondalkin Park and along the River Camac to Corkagh Park. On the way it passes an old millstream, Clondalkin Sports and Leisure Centre, woodland and playing pitches, old mills, allotments and the location of the old Corkagh House.
National Trails Day 2008 was very successful, with more than 6,000 people across the country getting out to enjoy trails in a variety of ways at over 67 events held across the country. Last year there were “bat walks”, mountain bike cycles, family orienteering, Leave No Trace hikes, trail conservation work, heritage walks and just plain ordinary walking!
So get the boots on, make the sandwiches and hit the trail on October 4th for a great day out enjoying nature. Remember to bring your camera and submit your photos to the fantastic photo competition.
NATIONAL TRAILS DAY is being organized this year on the 4th October 2009. It is a celebration of Ireland’s wonderful variety of trails and a chance for everyone to enjoy some of our most beautiful countryside, forests, mountains and lakes. South Dublin County Council will be participating in the event with four walks organized in our parks:
• Guided Walk of a section of Dodder Valley Park: This will be a stroll in a section of the Dodder Valley to the rear of Rathfarnham Shopping Centre that should open your eyes to the often unseen natural world that is right on our doorstep
• A Walk in Waterstown Park, Liffey Valley: A gentle walk in Waterstown Park, a constituent park of the planned Liffey Valley Regional Park. It will explore the natural and the built heritage of the park.
• Tymon Park Guided Walk: A walk around the perimeter of the park, taking in the woodland, grassland, pitches, wonderful playgrounds, lakes and so much more that is available in this Regional Park and in the process discovering the new Slí na Sláinte routes in the park.
• Clondalkin Village to Corkagh Park: This event starts in Clondalkin Village and proceeds from there by way of Clondalkin Park and along the River Camac to Corkagh Park. On the way it passes an old millstream, Clondalkin Sports and Leisure Centre, woodland and playing pitches, old mills, allotments and the location of the old Corkagh House.
National Trails Day 2008 was very successful, with more than 6,000 people across the country getting out to enjoy trails in a variety of ways at over 67 events held across the country. Last year there were “bat walks”, mountain bike cycles, family orienteering, Leave No Trace hikes, trail conservation work, heritage walks and just plain ordinary walking!
So get the boots on, make the sandwiches and hit the trail on October 4th for a great day out enjoying nature. Remember to bring your camera and submit your photos to the fantastic photo competition.
No golf for the grey generation in Ireland!
So much for the early happy retirement in Ireland!
Thanks to the greed of the Irish banks, most of the accumulated pension values of Irish people have been wiped out.
Now the grey are going to have to graft until they are blue- in the face!
As a country, Ireland’s demographic footprint is changing – people are getting older and are faced with a longer working life than previous generations, says Michael Gordon, investment expert with Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions.
Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions research reveals 50% of people are prepared to work past retirement age to fund their retirement and data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveals those aged 65+ will account for one fifth of the population by 2036- in comparison to just 11% in 2001. Furthermore, the number of ‘oldest old’ persons (those aged 80 and over) is projected to more than treble from a 2001 level of 98,000 to about 320,000 in 2030.
Commenting on this grey evolution, Michael Gordon of Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions said: “These findings reveal the face of Irish society is changing with the ageing of the population. So it is important for pre-retirees talk to a financial adviser about their future financial security and start saving for retirement”.
However, Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions research also reveals many consumers are putting a freeze on their retirement savings as a result of the economic downturn with 34% of people not regularly setting aside money for when they retire. Michael Gordon said: “The research reveals that consumers are clearly nervous about investing at the moment because of the current financial market turmoil. However by not saving for retirement Ireland’s consumers may be forced to live a very frugal lifestyle with just the state pension of Euro230.30 per week to live on or the equivalent of about Euro12,000 per year”, continues Michael Gordon.
“By talking to a financial adviser and saving for retirement, people can overcome these issues leading to a more balanced and relaxing lifestyle after the normal retirement age of 65”, continues Michael Gordon.
A spokesman for www.moneyireland.net, an online advisory service, stated that the pension fund managers are going to have to get creative with their pension offerings to ensure balanced portfolios to avoid the exposure to the volatile sectors that this generation were subject to.
Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions suggests investors consider euro cost averaging when it comes to retirement planning. “Despite the market turmoil since last September, many pension clients that pay their pension on a monthly basis have been pleasantly surprised to see that they have benefited from what is called Euro Cost Averaging. Essentially by regularly paying into their pension, these clients have bought at a lower price as markets fell and are now benefiting from the strong equity market rally that has occurred since March”, says Michael Gordon of Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions.
For pension investors looking for a smoother investment journey Hibernian Aviva has launched the Aviva Irl BlackRock European Absolute Return Strategies Fund (EARS). “With the Aviva Irl BlackRock European Absolute Return Strategies Fund (EARS) we are helping Ireland’s investors smooth out the bumps in the financial market and avoid the risks associated with making once-off lump sum investments. It is so important that investors realise they can still make money and increase the value of their retirement fund during the recession by making regular investments”.
The moral of the story is keep an eye on your own pension within these funds, or better still, build your own pension.
Thanks to the greed of the Irish banks, most of the accumulated pension values of Irish people have been wiped out.
Now the grey are going to have to graft until they are blue- in the face!
As a country, Ireland’s demographic footprint is changing – people are getting older and are faced with a longer working life than previous generations, says Michael Gordon, investment expert with Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions.
Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions research reveals 50% of people are prepared to work past retirement age to fund their retirement and data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveals those aged 65+ will account for one fifth of the population by 2036- in comparison to just 11% in 2001. Furthermore, the number of ‘oldest old’ persons (those aged 80 and over) is projected to more than treble from a 2001 level of 98,000 to about 320,000 in 2030.
Commenting on this grey evolution, Michael Gordon of Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions said: “These findings reveal the face of Irish society is changing with the ageing of the population. So it is important for pre-retirees talk to a financial adviser about their future financial security and start saving for retirement”.
However, Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions research also reveals many consumers are putting a freeze on their retirement savings as a result of the economic downturn with 34% of people not regularly setting aside money for when they retire. Michael Gordon said: “The research reveals that consumers are clearly nervous about investing at the moment because of the current financial market turmoil. However by not saving for retirement Ireland’s consumers may be forced to live a very frugal lifestyle with just the state pension of Euro230.30 per week to live on or the equivalent of about Euro12,000 per year”, continues Michael Gordon.
“By talking to a financial adviser and saving for retirement, people can overcome these issues leading to a more balanced and relaxing lifestyle after the normal retirement age of 65”, continues Michael Gordon.
A spokesman for www.moneyireland.net, an online advisory service, stated that the pension fund managers are going to have to get creative with their pension offerings to ensure balanced portfolios to avoid the exposure to the volatile sectors that this generation were subject to.
Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions suggests investors consider euro cost averaging when it comes to retirement planning. “Despite the market turmoil since last September, many pension clients that pay their pension on a monthly basis have been pleasantly surprised to see that they have benefited from what is called Euro Cost Averaging. Essentially by regularly paying into their pension, these clients have bought at a lower price as markets fell and are now benefiting from the strong equity market rally that has occurred since March”, says Michael Gordon of Hibernian Aviva Life & Pensions.
For pension investors looking for a smoother investment journey Hibernian Aviva has launched the Aviva Irl BlackRock European Absolute Return Strategies Fund (EARS). “With the Aviva Irl BlackRock European Absolute Return Strategies Fund (EARS) we are helping Ireland’s investors smooth out the bumps in the financial market and avoid the risks associated with making once-off lump sum investments. It is so important that investors realise they can still make money and increase the value of their retirement fund during the recession by making regular investments”.
The moral of the story is keep an eye on your own pension within these funds, or better still, build your own pension.
Ignorance is bliss in Irish homes
A recent EU study, which sampled Irish, UK and Danish homeowners, found that they were more interested in the comfort in their homes than either saving money or saving energy.
Yet all three goals are achievable, and homeowners and building professionals can learn how to do so in a new workshop on Retrofitting Homes for Comfort and Energy Efficiency. This workshop, developed and presented by DWEcoCo Ltd. (www.dwecoco.ie), is offered now, and through December in Dublin and Cork.
“People may not realise that retrofitting doesn’t have to be costly and that energy and cost savings can be seen after only a €35 investment. Bigger investments achieve bigger pay offs, especially with the Home Energy Saving Scheme grants. Investing in the energy efficiency of your own home is the best investment you can make and is a growing business opportunity. There are ‘green loans’, innovative funding and financial incentives available. Our workshops are designed to provide the technical and financial information combined with practical knowledge so that people can make their homes warmer and save energy and money,” explains Jay Stuart, Architect and Managing Director of DWEcoCo.
This workshop is designed to suit all levels of knowledge of buildings and construction. The main objective is to provide participants with sufficient information and practical examples to plan a house retrofit that will improve the comfort and health of the occupants while reducing the energy costs of the home. Learn about the steps that can be taken to improve a home and access the HES grants. Don’t wait until the weather or fuel prices make you think about being warm or your energy bill. Get the right information now to make the best decisions for your property and the future!
Home Heating Ireland welcomed the workshop, emphasizing the ignorance that exists in Ireland in relation to the simple and inexpensive steps that can be taken which give immediate savings in energy costs.
DWEcoCo’s partnership with NICER Training (www.nicertraining.ie) to deliver these workshops is part of the commitment of both companies to spread the best knowledge about the sustainable building industry to all those interested in the built environment. Both DW EcoCo and NICER are members of ÉASCA, the Environmental and Sustainable Construction Association.
Yet all three goals are achievable, and homeowners and building professionals can learn how to do so in a new workshop on Retrofitting Homes for Comfort and Energy Efficiency. This workshop, developed and presented by DWEcoCo Ltd. (www.dwecoco.ie), is offered now, and through December in Dublin and Cork.
“People may not realise that retrofitting doesn’t have to be costly and that energy and cost savings can be seen after only a €35 investment. Bigger investments achieve bigger pay offs, especially with the Home Energy Saving Scheme grants. Investing in the energy efficiency of your own home is the best investment you can make and is a growing business opportunity. There are ‘green loans’, innovative funding and financial incentives available. Our workshops are designed to provide the technical and financial information combined with practical knowledge so that people can make their homes warmer and save energy and money,” explains Jay Stuart, Architect and Managing Director of DWEcoCo.
This workshop is designed to suit all levels of knowledge of buildings and construction. The main objective is to provide participants with sufficient information and practical examples to plan a house retrofit that will improve the comfort and health of the occupants while reducing the energy costs of the home. Learn about the steps that can be taken to improve a home and access the HES grants. Don’t wait until the weather or fuel prices make you think about being warm or your energy bill. Get the right information now to make the best decisions for your property and the future!
Home Heating Ireland welcomed the workshop, emphasizing the ignorance that exists in Ireland in relation to the simple and inexpensive steps that can be taken which give immediate savings in energy costs.
DWEcoCo’s partnership with NICER Training (www.nicertraining.ie) to deliver these workshops is part of the commitment of both companies to spread the best knowledge about the sustainable building industry to all those interested in the built environment. Both DW EcoCo and NICER are members of ÉASCA, the Environmental and Sustainable Construction Association.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Greenwave Project 2009 a huge success!
A total of 337 primary schools took part in the Greenwave 2009 project – a mass science experiment for Irish national schools which involves tracking the movement of spring across Ireland. Students from participating schools were asked to record the ash, horse chestnut and hawthorn trees, the primrose, the swallow and frogspawn. This year, participants were also asked to record the rainfall throughout the months of February to May. Scoil Chaitríona Junior from Renmore, County Galway was selected as the winning school for a nationwide photography competition run as part of the Greenwave programme for their picture of a frogspawn sighting. In total, 834 sightings were submitted by 337 Primary School classes from across the country.
Some of the findings by schools included:
• The first swallow was spotted on 2nd April
• The highest average weekly rainfall was between 5th-12th April, with an average of 31.69mm recorded
• The warmest average weekly temperature, 12.13 degrees Celsius, was recorded between 24th-31st May
Commenting on the results, Eanna Ni Lahmna, said, “The results over the three years that Greenwave is running now show that Spring is arriving earlier particularly in the south west where frogs are now spawning in January. The wealth of results sent in by schools from all over the country are providing very useful baseline data on climate change.”
Peter Brabazon, Programme Director of Discovery Science & Engineering, added, “The success of this year’s Greenwave project is evident in the amount of children participating from all over the country. It is fantastic to see children taking such an interest in their locality while also learning valuable skills such as data gathering and measurement. The program is a great way of engaging children through nature in developing skills that they will use in second level education”.
Every year a green wave, which is caused by the opening of buds on trees and hedges, can be seen moving across Europe from outer space in springtime. It begins in the south of Europe in February and it moves up across Europe as temperatures rise. The phenomenon travels at approximately the same speed as humans walk – four miles per hour – hence the description of a green wave. According to this, spring would take three weeks to walk across Ireland from Mizen Head to Malin head.
Some of the findings by schools included:
• The first swallow was spotted on 2nd April
• The highest average weekly rainfall was between 5th-12th April, with an average of 31.69mm recorded
• The warmest average weekly temperature, 12.13 degrees Celsius, was recorded between 24th-31st May
Commenting on the results, Eanna Ni Lahmna, said, “The results over the three years that Greenwave is running now show that Spring is arriving earlier particularly in the south west where frogs are now spawning in January. The wealth of results sent in by schools from all over the country are providing very useful baseline data on climate change.”
Peter Brabazon, Programme Director of Discovery Science & Engineering, added, “The success of this year’s Greenwave project is evident in the amount of children participating from all over the country. It is fantastic to see children taking such an interest in their locality while also learning valuable skills such as data gathering and measurement. The program is a great way of engaging children through nature in developing skills that they will use in second level education”.
Every year a green wave, which is caused by the opening of buds on trees and hedges, can be seen moving across Europe from outer space in springtime. It begins in the south of Europe in February and it moves up across Europe as temperatures rise. The phenomenon travels at approximately the same speed as humans walk – four miles per hour – hence the description of a green wave. According to this, spring would take three weeks to walk across Ireland from Mizen Head to Malin head.
This lady is special!
Poet, author, musician, and recording, performance and video artist Kylyra will be the featured guest on 29 September 2009 at Ra@The Cobblestone, Smithfield Market, Dublin. This marks the first live appearance in Dublin by this versatile Dark World International artist.
A well respected on-line artist with pages on MySpace, Facebook, Dark World International, and YouTube, Kylyra’s popularity from her performances has grown enormously over the last year. The artist has developed a theatre style show using her poetry, music, and scripting skills. Her Dublin appearance will be the debut of her integrated show idea. “I knew right from the start that I wanted to head in this direction. The Cobblestone is a wonderful venue to premiere my idea in,” Kylyra stated. With her performances already compared to Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones, and Karen Finney, Kylyra’s new show promises to be a hit with a wide audience range. “The show is set around my neo-beat material with a jazz combo backing, but it also includes some of my humorous pieces. I’ve got two brand new poems to lay on the audience as well.”
Ra is Dublin’s premier monthly spoken word showcase, featuring the best in performing spoken word — poetry, hip hop, monologue, storytelling, diatribes, rants and more from Dublin and beyond. Each showcase features new set pieces by award-winning house wordsmiths & joined by guest musicians, and a featured guest performer. Ra maintains the most high-spirited and intense atmosphere of the Dublin spoken word scene and the house credo is one of experimentation, so expect anything. This is the spot for not only fans of the word, but even those who say: “Poetry? I don’t like that stuff…” . They like this stuff; it’s on the menu the last Tuesday of every month beginning and 9 p.m. and it’s absolutely free.
Kylyra will be appearing live at Ra@The Cobblestone, Smithfield Market, Dublin, on 29 September 2009. The evening begins at 9 p.m.
A well respected on-line artist with pages on MySpace, Facebook, Dark World International, and YouTube, Kylyra’s popularity from her performances has grown enormously over the last year. The artist has developed a theatre style show using her poetry, music, and scripting skills. Her Dublin appearance will be the debut of her integrated show idea. “I knew right from the start that I wanted to head in this direction. The Cobblestone is a wonderful venue to premiere my idea in,” Kylyra stated. With her performances already compared to Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones, and Karen Finney, Kylyra’s new show promises to be a hit with a wide audience range. “The show is set around my neo-beat material with a jazz combo backing, but it also includes some of my humorous pieces. I’ve got two brand new poems to lay on the audience as well.”
Ra is Dublin’s premier monthly spoken word showcase, featuring the best in performing spoken word — poetry, hip hop, monologue, storytelling, diatribes, rants and more from Dublin and beyond. Each showcase features new set pieces by award-winning house wordsmiths & joined by guest musicians, and a featured guest performer. Ra maintains the most high-spirited and intense atmosphere of the Dublin spoken word scene and the house credo is one of experimentation, so expect anything. This is the spot for not only fans of the word, but even those who say: “Poetry? I don’t like that stuff…” . They like this stuff; it’s on the menu the last Tuesday of every month beginning and 9 p.m. and it’s absolutely free.
Kylyra will be appearing live at Ra@The Cobblestone, Smithfield Market, Dublin, on 29 September 2009. The evening begins at 9 p.m.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
How the dream dies
ILLUSION
Envelopes lie unopened on the table
That runs the length of the hall.
Logos on the outside
Reveal the utilities call.
No greeting cards contained within,
Nor cheery offers of a prize
Sharp demands in angry prose
Are all that inside lies.
No need to open the missives
When denial provides some comfort
And optimism offers advice; like a friend
Naively not wishing to inflict hurt.
Failure to invoke the plain reality
The demoralising truth unvarnished,
Preserves the dubious veneer that leaves
Your precocious esteem untarnished.
It was all so good back then:
Two cars in the drive, shiny and new,
Holidays three times a year,
The parties every month you threw.
Bling of course was the wrong term for
The little black numbers, so exquisite
The emerald and ruby creations
The discreet salon you used to visit.
This was an envious word, coined
By those who lacked the ability
To match what you could achieve
They dreamt; you made the possible reality.
Why not push the limits of his expense account
To provide personal gratification;
A small reward for the ruthless toil
Extracted from him by the corporation.
Now by order of a cold calculation
Made three thousand miles away:
His career dismantled, talents unwanted,
Responsibilities evaporated, all gone astray.
The corporate God provides the opportunities
Allows you construct your invincibility illusion
Then scatters as dust the castle of sand
That morphed into your sad delusion
Envelopes lie unopened on the table
That runs the length of the hall.
Logos on the outside
Reveal the utilities call.
No greeting cards contained within,
Nor cheery offers of a prize
Sharp demands in angry prose
Are all that inside lies.
No need to open the missives
When denial provides some comfort
And optimism offers advice; like a friend
Naively not wishing to inflict hurt.
Failure to invoke the plain reality
The demoralising truth unvarnished,
Preserves the dubious veneer that leaves
Your precocious esteem untarnished.
It was all so good back then:
Two cars in the drive, shiny and new,
Holidays three times a year,
The parties every month you threw.
Bling of course was the wrong term for
The little black numbers, so exquisite
The emerald and ruby creations
The discreet salon you used to visit.
This was an envious word, coined
By those who lacked the ability
To match what you could achieve
They dreamt; you made the possible reality.
Why not push the limits of his expense account
To provide personal gratification;
A small reward for the ruthless toil
Extracted from him by the corporation.
Now by order of a cold calculation
Made three thousand miles away:
His career dismantled, talents unwanted,
Responsibilities evaporated, all gone astray.
The corporate God provides the opportunities
Allows you construct your invincibility illusion
Then scatters as dust the castle of sand
That morphed into your sad delusion
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