FD acquires Canadian software company Affinity Systems for up to £7.7m
Newry-based software company FD has bought Affinity Systems Ltd for a maximum total consideration of CAD$14.5m (£7.7m). FD acquires Canadian software company Affinity Systems for up to £7.7mPictured: Brian Conlon Affinity, which is based in Ontario, Canada and employs 45 people, provides software development and consultancy services and has recently released a software solution that addresses enterprise big data challenges. FD said the acquisition expands the company’s software and consulting services within the internet of things, particularly in industries such as utilities, healthcare and finance, and supports its strategy to penetrate additional vertical sectors using the capabilities of its Delta platform and kdb+ to capture and analyse large volumes of…
Read MoreCoderDojo Coolest Projects launches free public event in RDS
The CoderDojo Coolest Projects has launched a free public event in RDS. On 13 June young coders from Ireland and around the world will fly in to the biggest Coolest Projects Awards yet at the RDS to showcase their IT skills. Attendants are being told to expect cool apps, games, websites, robots and ‘hacks’ to make people’s lives run better. Coolest Projects 2015 offers coders aged seven to 17 the chance to submit individual or group projects using their creativity and skills with computer languages and hardware. Karina Corbett
Read MoreInvestment News: Sustainable Now Outperforming Traditional – Morgan Stanley Report
Investing in sustainability usually meets and often exceeds the performance of comparable traditional investments, both on an absolute and risk-adjusted basis, across asset classes and over time, according to a new report from the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing. The Sustainable Reality report reviewed 10,228 open-end mutual funds and 2,874 separately managed accounts over the last seven years. It found that sustainable equity mutual funds met or exceeded the median return of traditional equity funds for 64pc of the time periods examined. Sustainable equity mutual funds also had equal or lower median volatility for 64pc of the time periods examined. For the longest time period (seven years trailing, 2008-2014),…
Read MoreFinnair extends new Dublin-Helsinki route to year-round service
Finnair announced today that it is extending its new Dublin-Helsinki route into the winter season. The airline’s new service between the two cities started this morning. Last September, Finnair announced the route, which it said at the time would operate six days a week from 30 March until the end of October. The route is being served with 100-seat Embraer 190 aircraft operated on behalf of Finnair by Flybe Finland. Today, it said the service will operate three times a week from October to March. “We are delighted to see Finnair extend its new Dublin-Helsinki route into the winter season. “The fact that Finnair is extending the service so quickly…
Read MoreNational Maritime College of Ireland is lead partner for Canary Islands’ project
The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI), which is part of Cork Institute of Technology, is the lead partner in the delivery of the Canary Islands’ first offshore survival training centre. A ceremony to mark the partnership will be held in Las Palmas tomorrow, 27 March, hosted by Conor Mowlds, head of the NMCI, in the presence of the Spanish Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism Jose Manual Soria and Ireland’s honorary consul in Gran Canaria Victor Aúz Castro. The NMCI and Co Cork company SEFtec are the lead consultants and manufacturers for the design, manufacture, development and operation of the Grupo Stier training centre in Las Palmas. Simon Coveney,…
Read MoreTop 10 things businesses should know about the Companies Act 2014
With the Companies Act 2014 set to take effect on 1 June 2015, Ruairi Mulrean of LK Shields outlines the top 10 things every company director needs to know about it. After nearly a decade in the making, the Companies Act 2014 was signed into law at the end of last year. The Act includes a number of radical reforms. It is the largest overhaul of company law the state has seen in half a century and is intended to make running a business in Ireland easier. All businesses need to understand the implications of the Act and be prepared for commencement, which is expected to take place on 1…
Read MoreMcDonald’s Ireland launches Free Breakfast Friday
McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland has officially launched Free Breakfast Friday, which will see the company give away 40,000 Egg McMuffins for free on Friday, 27 March. Research carried out to celebrate Free Breakfast Friday has revealed that Ireland is a nation of egg lovers, with 62pc of people voting eggs their favourite breakfast menu item, ahead of sausages at 20pc and bacon at 18pc. Love/Hate star Tom Vaughan-Lawlor has been named Ireland’s dream breakfast companion. The actor, best known for his role as Nidge, fought off competition, beating Jamie Dornan, Imelda May, Roz Purcell and Stephanie Roche. When it comes to the most important meal of the day almost half…
Read MorePRCA elects Wilson Hartnell’s Sharon Murphy as chairman
The Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) has elected Sharon Murphy as chairman. She takes over the role from Nigel Heneghan, managing director of Heneghan PR. Murphy, who’s a director at Wilson Hartnell, has over 16 years’ experience in consumer and brand PR. She’s originally from Cork, is a UCD graduate and has an MA in public relations from the Dublin Institute of Technology, a diploma in strategic management from the University of Cambridge and a certificate in social media from the Public Relations Institute of Ireland. Murphy joined the board of the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) in 2012. She described being elected chairman as a great honour. “The PR…
Read MoreRCPI first in Ireland to partner with Tata on MOOCs project
The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Indian multinational Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with the aim of creating a large worldwide digital community of physicians. IT services brand TCS will now work with RCPI as its first Irish education partner to rapidly develop an online hub of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). TCS was introduced to the heads of Ireland’s third level institutions by former Dragons’ Den investor and entrepreneur Peter Casey last November, and since then the company has been progressing the project swiftly on the ground. The Irish team were joined last week by the global head of Ion TCS…
Read MoreEuropean Insurance Forum details announced
Details of this year’s European Insurance Forum (EIF2015) were announced at an event in Dublin, attended by Simon Harris, Minister of State with responsibility for International Financial Services. The two-day international EIF2015 will take place on 14 and 15 May in Croke Park, Dublin and is set to attract more than 200 attendees from around the world, comprising top executives from the political, regulatory and re/insurance sectors. The conference is being organised by the Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA), the industry representative body for international insurers, reinsurers and captive management companies based in Ireland. The event has a line-up of over 40 speakers, including some of the world’s…
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