Connemara Mining Company and Hendrick Resources Ireland (HRI) have announced that an airborne magnetic and electromagnetic survey has commenced over the five license blocks of Connemara Mine River licences held in the Wicklow/Wexford area of Ireland. The principal element of the survey is to look for magnetic anomalies which can frequently be associated with gold mineralisation. Connemara has a joint venture over these licences with HRI, which is a private Canadian company.  HRI will also survey its adjacent block of 11 licences. The airborne operator is Terraquest Geophysics, a highly experienced international geophysical company from Ontario, Canada. Chairman of Connemara Mining Company, John Teeling, commented: “Taking a fresh look at…

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has today revealed that the visa waiver scheme for Chinese tourists wishing to visit Ireland will be extended until October 2016. The visa waiver scheme, which was introduced by the Government last year on a trial basis, allows visitors from emerging markets, including China, to visit Ireland when they are visiting the UK, without having to apply for a separate visa. As a result of the initiative, Tourism Ireland in China reported an immediate and significant increase in interest in Ireland, with nine leading Chinese tour operators deciding to include Ireland in their 2012 programmes for the first time ever. The Taoiseach made the announcement at Tourism…

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD has announced that Sogeti is to create 65 new jobs through the expansion of its Dublin and Galway offices over the next three years. Sogeti is an IT consultancy and services provider that has had a presence in Ireland since 1979 and is a subsidiary of global consulting, IT and outsourcing company Capgemini. The positions created will be a mix of high skilled and graduate roles in the IT sector, with recruitment already in progress. The expansion will see the company’s Irish workforce increase to over 150 people. “The Action Plan for Jobs targets IT and outsourcing as key sectors where…

Accenture has reported strong financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2012, with net revenues of $6.8bn, an increase of 12pc in US dollars and 13pc in local currency over the same period last year. Operating income was $889m, an increase of 15pc, and operating margin was 13.1pc. New bookings for the quarter were $7.94bin, with consulting bookings of $4.05bn and outsourcing bookings of $3.89bn. “We are very pleased with our second-quarter performance, which included strong revenue growth in all five operating groups and all three geographic regions,” said Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s chief executive officer. “We’re also pleased with our profitability both the growth in EPS and the expansion…

Nearly three quarters of Irish businesses in a survey say they’re open to flexible work practices, however, only 11pc provide the basic technology which would enable this. The survey commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by Vanson Bourne shows that 69pc of these businesses have policies and guidelines in place in their organisation, but only 19pc of those businesses measure the impact of flexible working (on employee satisfaction, productivity and customer satisfaction, for example). Some 30pc of employees say they’re aware that their organisation has policies or guidelines in place for flexible working and 11pc of employees say they have the technology which would enable them to work flexibly. The survey…