2013 Ireland Gathering starts tonight in Dublin
Philip McCarthy and Eileen O’Toole from Dublin at Trinity College’s facade which was transformed into a light projection show ahead of the New Year’s Eve Dublin Festival marking the start of The Gathering.
The year-long Gathering got under way this evening with a torchlight procession through Dublin city centre.
A colourful phalanx of jugglers, giant inflatable lanterns, stilt walkers and tandem riders, all supplied by the Donegal-based creative arts group LUXe, led more than 2,000 lantern bearers through the streets of Dublin. Children also carried balloons during the parade.
All those with lanterns had registered for the parade and each carried the names of the bearer. Among them was New Orleans native Sarah Wellman (25), who is in Dublin for New Year’s Eve with friend Ashley Veade.
“Who wouldn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve in Dublin?” she said. She confessed to hearing nothing about The Gathering, but was delighted with her first visit to Dublin. “It’s been awesome,” she said, “we’re about to leave but we are already talking about coming back”.
This evening will see a fireworks display in St Stephen’s Green followed by a New Year’s Eve concert in College Green headlined by Imelda May and Bell X1.
Fáilte Ireland director of market development John Concannon defended the €20 cost for the concert.
He said mounting such a public event was an “enormous cost”. Some 40 per cent of tickets for the event have been sold to overseas visitors. “It is well ahead of what we thought it would be,” he said.
The Gathering, which has been modelled on a Scottish homecoming event four years ago, will last until December 31st next year.
Though it has its critics – most notably the actor Gabriel Byrne, who described it as a “scam” – The Gathering has already been deemed a success given the response from local communities.
Some 2,500 events were registered by Christmas week – some 700 more than had registered by the time of the official launch last month.
Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons said he was sure the sceptics would be confounded when The Gathering got under way.
“Its a bit like the Olympics. You need to see it to believe it. The atmosphere will catch on. The whole thing has really moved on in the last month and a half.”
The Gathering has been set a goal of inviting 350,000 people, or 5 per cent extra visitors to Ireland, who otherwise would not have come.
Shannon Airport looking forward to new independent status
Airport will be separate to Cork and Dublin airports
Management at Shannon Airport are hoping its new independent status will be good for business and jobs in the mid-west.
The airport’s being merged with a restructured Shannon Development to form a new, publicly-owned, commercial entity in 2013 – making it independent of Dublin and Cork airports.
850 jobs have already been secured – though the airport’s debt free status has come at the cost of the profitable Aer Rianta International Duty Free Business which remains with the DAA.
It’s business as usual at Shannon today as the post-Christmas rush continues, but Head of Operations Niall Moloney told Clare FM they’re welcoming the new era with optimism:
Irish Health chiefs urge smokers to quit for 2013
The Health Service Executive has launched a new Facebook page to help people quit smoking
Health chiefs have urged smokers to make a new year’s resolution to kick the habit.
With 5,500 people expected to die from a tobacco-related illness in Ireland in 2013, the Health Service Executive (HSE) insisted quitting is easier with the right support.
Director of public health Dr Fenton Howell said a new Facebook page for helping smokers quit could help increase their chances of success.
“It’s never too late to make a quit attempt, and while any time is a good time, new year always provides a fresh incentive to try, or to try again,” Dr Howell said.
“I encourage all smokers to consider trying to quit, and to get some help – and I encourage people who know or love a smoker to offer them your encouragement and your support to try to quit. It will make all the difference.”
Dr Howell said seven in every 10 smokers want to quit, while four in 10 attempt to every year. He said while many of the one million people who have successfully given up cigarettes across the country did so “cold turkey”, using public services can double a person’s chances.
A new HSE “You Can Quit” page on Facebook is made up of a community of past, present and future quitters.
The executive will also launch a new app on January 1 called “I Quit”, which allows people to announce their plans to give up smoking. The app also gives people access to available help and support, and allows them to invite their Facebook friends to back them up.
Dr Howell said other parts of the campaign can be found on the HSE website, through its quit helpline, GPs and pharmacists and dedicated HSE quit clinics. “The quit campaign will also be active on TV, radio and online over the coming weeks and a number of local radio stations will be supporting us, broadcasting special tips on how to quit, and encouraging listeners to call or text their reasons for quitting or their message of support for a quitter,” he added.
For more information, visit http://www.quit.ie or call the quit helpline on 1850 201 203, or find the HSE quit page on Facebook.
INMO SAY CHALLENGES FACING GALWAY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN 2013
The Irish Nurses and Midwives organisation says the challenge going into 2013 is the high volume of patients and a shortage of staff at Galway University Hospitals.
Almost 4,200 emergency patients spent time on trollies at the Emergency Department at University Hospital Galway this year – the second highest number since 2006.
And while that’s down significantly on the figure of 6,500 patients on trollies in 2011 the INMO says emergency protocol has been activated much more this year.
The protocol involves transferring patients from the emergency department to other wards in the hospital, where they are monitored until a bed becomes available.
The overcrowding measure is activated by senior management to act as an alert to the county health system, and in April alone – was in place for 12 days.
The INMO say it’s been a particularly busy few weeks with patients – 13 are on trollies today at UHG while one patient is on a trolley at Portiuncula in Ballinasloe.
4,800 Irish jobs at risk’ as pub sales plummet
Up to 800 pubs are in serious financial trouble as they face the new year, putting more than 4,800 jobs at risk, the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) has warned.
The VFI said 2012 was “one of the worst years on record for our members” as breweries increased prices and the authorities increased taxes.
“We face into another 12 months under a Government that doesn’t appreciate the role we play and with some suppliers that don’t appreciate the business that we give,” the VFI said.
Consumers are drinking less as incomes shrink, the population ages and concerns about heath grow.
They are also switching to off-licences where alcohol is cheaper and there is more choice.
The VFI called on Finance Minister Michael Noonan to slap a 15pc tax on off-licence sales in this month’s Budget.
He ignored the calls and increased the cost of a bottle of wine by €1 and added other taxes for drinks such as champagne.
Trade among publicans was down by one-third in the past five years, the VFI said. “Without doubt, the announcements made in Budget 2013 will put further pressure on a consumer that is already struggling and has no confidence in their purchasing power.
“When we should be encouraging people to spend and to support local business, we have driven them away,” the VFI added.
In a downbeat statement that contrasts with many other retail organisations that are reporting an increase in sales and profits, the VFI blamed the Government for failing to understand the industry.
“The year just gone saw our Government put further pressure on an industry already on its knees with a massive increase in excise,” the lobby group added.
The VFI says it represents 4,000 pubs outside Dublin, which support more than 54,000 jobs.
“At a time when we should be celebrating, there is a dark cloud over these 54,000 jobs.
“Successive governments have watched as the corner shop, the local post office, rural schools and garda stations have been driven to the wall and the present administration seems happy to do the same to the Irish pub,” it added.
