UCD professor appointed chair of FSAI
Michael Gibney, UCD Professor of Food and Health, has been appointed chairman of the Food Safety Authority (FSAI). The FSAI also appointed Raymond O’Rourke, a qualified barrister and a food regulatory and consumer affairs lawyer, and reappointed Prof Charles Daly, emeritus professor of food science and technology at University College, Cork, to its board. “Prof Gibney will be a tremendous asset to our board’s cumulative deliberations,” said Prof Alan Reilly, chief executive of the FSAI. “His appointment reaffirms our science-based ethos which underpins all the decisions, policies and actions of our organisation. “He has an impeccable global reputation for research on food and nutrition and has served on a number…
Read MoreTechforce Offers Polish HR Solution to Irish Firms
A new company founded by tech entrepreneurs Patrick Leddy and Kevin Greene, Techforce, is recruiting software developers for Irish firms and managing them remotely in Krakow. Specialising in Android, iPhone, PHP, Microsoft and Java developers, Leddy said they started Techforce to “offer a simple solution to a recurring recruitment problem.” Along with software development, work in offering add-ons including top quality wood iPhone cases, is being looked at seriously. “The more prominent tech firms often snap up the best developers. That tightens the supply and ticks up the cost for everyone else. We solve the problem by designing, supporting and managing skilled, English-speaking software developers, remotely, in low-cost Poland. “Our model…
Read MoreNew €70m energy efficiency fund can create 5,000 jobs, says Rabbitte
A new €70m energy efficiency fund, approved by the Government yesterday, will provide project lending for energy efficiency works in the public and commercial sectors and has the potential to create 5,000 jobs, according to Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte. According to the Minister, the fund will be separate from, and additional to, the grants-based Retrofit programme for private homes, which currently maintains more than 4,000 jobs. He said the Government has authorised €35m in seed capital for the fund, which will leverage a similar amount from the private sector. “We estimate that about €250m in savings can be made in energy bills in the public…
Read MoreSheology announces plans to add 30 new jobs over three years
Irish media company Sheology, owner of Mummypages.ie and MummyPages.co.uk, said today that it’s planning to create at least 30 new jobs over the next three years, quadrupling its existing workforce. The company said the new jobs will be editorial, marketing and technical roles. The female-focused firm was set up by husband and wife team Cormac and Sandra McKenna in 2009 with the launch of MummyPages.ie, which was originally a blog. The website was later relaunched in Ireland as a full service interactive media site, while a British version (www.mummypages.co.uk) followed in 2011. The McKennas said today that they are launching a new digital offering under the Sheology banner with the…
Read MoreIrish market first to air new ‘Spartacus’ Carlsberg ad
Carlsberg’s new TD ad is set to air in Ireland tomorrow, 15 February before any other market in the world. ‘Spartacus’, a take on the 1960s film of the same name, is set in an ultra-modern skyscraper office where hundreds of people are working in an extremely orderly and mundane environment. The film starts when the intimidating boss of the company enters the room in a fit of rage, demanding to find the culprit of an office prank that resulted in him being depicted as a monkey. Leading the way, the hero ‘Spartacus’ stands up and identifies himself as the prankster. Demonstrating their loyalty, his fellow colleagues decide to stand…
Read MorePyramids of Giza to go green on St Patrick’s Day
The Pyramids of Giza, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen and the Las Vegas ‘Welcome’ sign are among the landmarks set to go green for the first time on St Patrick’s Day 2013 as part of Tourism Ireland’s annual ‘global greening’ initiative. Other first timers pledging to go green this year include HMS Belfast in London, City Hall in Houston, Texas, the Citadel in Jordan, the Tower of Hercules (a Unesco World Heritage Site in Galicia in Spain), the futuristic new Eye Film Institute in Amsterdam, the International School in Bonn and the Allianz Arena in Munich (home ground of FC Bayern…
Read MoreHow the internet impacts on high street retail
Recent announcements of a number of high-profile high street chains in the UK being put into administration highlight the risks for retailers that don’t change their business models to reflect how consumers are now shopping, writes Paul McGarrity. The UK high street experienced its own winter of discontent in January as some of the biggest names in high street retail went bust. During the first few weeks of the year, HMV, Jessops and Blockbuster all joined the ranks of former high street titans that have fallen into administration. What’s perhaps most surprising about the announcements is that so many people in government, media and business treated the news as if…
Read More‘Rails Girls’ event to break down gender tech divide comes to Dublin tonight
A worldwide movement that aims to bridge the gender divide in tech and teach women how to code comes to the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) tonight. A ‘Rails Girls’ workshop will hosted in NDRC’s offices in Crane Street in Dublin tonight from 6pm to 8pm and tomorrow (Saturday) from 9am to 6pm. Rails Girls is an international movement that teaches women how to code using Ruby on Rails, a web-based programming language. Ireland becomes the 36th country to host one of these workshops and joins countries such as Brazil, US, Japan, China and Ukraine, which have held events since the first workshop in Finland in 2010. In 2012 alone,…
Read MoreCanadian company to recruit over 100 positions at Jobs Expo 2013
Canadian construction company Kidco Construction Canada has confirmed that it will be actively recruiting for over 100 positions at Jobs Expo 2013, an employment and recruitment fair, which will be held in Dublin’s Croke Park on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 February. Kidco Construction operates the largest fleet of earthmoving equipment in Southern Alberta, and is a full service contractor specialising in highways, municipal public works, residential, commercial land development, trucking, basement foundations and underground utility installations. Kidco Construction is looking to fill the following positions: Single and twin engine scrapers (613, 621 631, 651, 627, 637 and 657) Graders Excavators (200- 385 Caterpillar; 350, 470, 870 John Deere; 200…
Read MoreSensormind and Vodafone shortlisted for Best Mobile Health Product or Service at Global Mobile Awards
Irish connected health start-up Sensormind has been shortlisted in partnership with Vodafone for the Best Mobile Health Product or Service award at the 18th Global Mobile Awards at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Global Mobile Awards, which recognise excellence and innovation within the mobile communications industry, will be presented at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 26 February. “Sensormind has created a unique and innovative product which provides a critical service to our elderly and vulnerable customers every day and we are looking forward to taking our product awareness to a global audience through this award,” said Siobhan King-Hughes, CEO, Sensormind. The Best Mobile Health Product or…
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