Schools to Close as Teachers Vote for Industrial Action
Irish Teachers Are Important To The Next Generation ASTI – Protect Education Standards in Ireland Both primary and secondary schools across Ireland will close on 24 November after teachers from the three primary teachers’ unions voted in favor of industrial action in protest over potential public-sector pay cuts in the upcoming December Budget. The result was announced by the ASTI, INTO, and TUI trade unions shortly before lunchtime today, and the news was not well received by teachers. Many are looking for other options, including expanding their own education, in order to help make ends meet in their own homes, as well as being a more valued asset in the community. This includes…
Read MoreNAMA delayed by at least two months, says Fine Gael
The Government’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) may be delayed by at least two months as EU Commission approval is required before the new agency can go ahead, Fine Gael said today. The Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan TD confirmed to the Seanad today that EU Commission approval is still required before NAMA can start up its operations. This will cause a lengthy delay of at least two months before NAMA is up and running, according to Fine Gael Seanad Justice Spokesperson, Senator Eugene Regan. Regan also said that not only had the Minister confirmed that the NAMA Bill must be formally approved by the Commission, so too must the…
Read MoreAIB commands 40pc market share of residential property deals
AIB today announced that it provided finance for 40pc of all residential property transactions in the third quarter of 2009. The bank said this level of new business activity offered “strong evidence” of its commitment to the overall economy and support for the housing market in particular. AIB also pointed out that it had been responsible for one in three of all new first-time buyer mortgage drawdowns in the market in the third quarter. According to the bank, when compared with the same period last year, this means that AIB’s overall market share of first-time buyer mortgages has more than doubled. Steady flow of good-quality applications “While the demand for…
Read MoreE-commerce Benefiting From Economic Crisis, Says Expert Report From OECD
While the Irish and global retail sector is being pulverized by the ongoing recession, a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that e-commerce has fared well during the economic crisis and has seen continuing growth in many countries. According to the ‘ Empowering Consumers in E-Commerce ’ report, part of the reason for the improved fortunes of e-commerce is that as consumers have become more cost-conscious, they are increasingly going online to compare products and save money. In the US, for example, while most sectors were experiencing a downturn in the first quarter of 2009, online retail sales for 80 retailers rose by an average of 11pc. Similarly, the French electronic commerce and distance selling…
Read MoreBruce Maxwell
Groupe Consultatif Appointment Date: 10.11.2009 Company: Groupe Consultatif Bruce Maxwell, the current Chief Actuary in Irish Life & Permanent and the past President of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, has been elected Chairman of the Groupe Consultatif for a one-year term. The Groupe Consultatif was established in 1978 to bring together the actuarial associations in the European Union and 36 actuarial associations from 33 European countries are represented on the Groupe.
Read MoreMark Little Announces One-Year Leave of Absence: Key Details
RTÉ Prime Time presenter, Mark Little, has announced he will take a year’s leave of absence to pursue a project combining digital media and global journalism. His leave of absence will begin in the New Year. In a statement issued today, Little said the rise of social media platforms like Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook provides journalists an opportunity to change how they report the world. “I would like to take a more direct role in that transformation,” he said. “Unfortunately, that means taking a break from my work with Miriam and the Prime Time team, who have been like a family to me. In particular, I would like to mention…
Read MoreElan/Biogen announce Tysabri’s use in cutting Crohn’s hospitalisations
Irish pharmaceutical firm Elan and its US partner Biogen have today announced that their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri has been shown to significantly reduce the rate of hospitalisation in patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease. The data was presented at an oral session at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego. “Hospitalisation accounts for a large proportion of the cost of Crohn’s disease management,” said Corey Siegel MD, director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and lead author of the analysis. “Therefore, we were encouraged to see that Tysabri reduced hospitalisation rates, particularly in the more difficult-to-treat subsets of patients…
Read MorePaulson revealed US govt policy to Goldman Sachs – report
Goldman Sachs has hit the headlines again today, and for once the story does not concern the generous remuneration packages awarded to its staff. According to Felix Salmon at Reuters, Henry Paulson (pictured), the former US Treasury Secretary who was at the helm when the financial crisis hit in the autumn of 2008, held a meeting with Goldman Sachs’s board in Moscow in which he revealed details of future government policy. The revelation is contained in a new book, Too Big To Fail, written by New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin, which describes the events leading to the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year. Sorkin’s book alleges that Paulson…
Read MoreTwitter about to hit 5 billion tweets
According to tweet-counting website Gigatweet, Twitter is about to hit its five billionth tweet. At the time of writing the number of tweets stood at 4.9 billion and hurtling rapidly towards the magic milestone. Twitter is a free social-networking tool that allows users to ‘micro blog’ or ‘tweet’ in less than 140 characters. According to the GigaTweet counter, the world is hours away from its five billionth tweet. A new communications paradigmThe site has spawned not only a new form of messaging but a new form of openness that transcends media, politics, celebrity and much more. Twitter has also evolved into an impressive search engine that keeps users up to date…
Read MoreUS Treasury says Chinese yuan is undervalued
The US Treasury has criticised the Chinese Government for what it sees as a lack of flexibility in the Chinese currency, the yuan. In its Semi-Annual Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies published yesterday, the US Treasury also said that China’s renewed accumulation of foreign exchange reserves risks unwinding some of the progress made in reducing global imbalances when stimulus packages are eventually withdrawn and demand by China’s trading partners recovers. Both of the rigidity of the yuan and China’s reacceleration of reserve accumulation are “serious concerns” that should be corrected to help ensure a stronger, more balanced global economy, the US Treasury said. It also…
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