The closure of the Bank of Ireland branch in Moate in recent years removed an on-street ATM from the town. Moate ATM issue: Finance Minister urged to interveneThe ongoing issue of Moate having no ATM after 9pm came into sharp focus again at this month's Athlone Municipal District meeting after one councillor called on the Minister for Finance to urgently consider ATM services for the town as part of new legislation governing access to cash to be brought forward early this year. He called for the support of other Athlone/Moate councillors to write to Minister for Finance Michael McGrath, to consider Moate for additional ATM services as part of new legislation governing access to cash, which is due to be advanced soon. His party colleague Cllr Liam McDaniel agreed to contact the Minister, saying Moate had two banks, now it has none. As it currently stands, ATM services are not regulated, something the Minister believes needs to be addressed.

Irish staff have been notified of the company’s intentions, which are expected to affect a cross-section of staff at the software group. It’s the second time in 12 months that the tech firm has let staff at its Irish office go, having laid off workers last January. Two weeks ago, the CEO of Citrix’s parent firm, Cloud Software Group, said that around 1,000 of the group’s 8,000 worldwide staff would be affected. “We notified approximately 12pc of the total Cloud Software Group workforce that their roles have been eliminated,” wrote Tom Krause on Linkedin. “To those impacted, thank you for your contributions in the first year of Cloud Software Group,” said Mr Krause.

St. Patrick (Sean O’Brien) Secretary of the Tullamore St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee with Tullamore Tidy Towns Committee members Mary Droogan, Shane Murray and Deirdre Oman and her Irish wolfhound Bród when they attended the launch of the Tullamore 2023 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Planning underway for Tullamore St. Patrick's ParadePlanning is well underway for this year's St. Patrick's Day Parade in Tullamore. The parade is being held on Sunday, March 17 next, beginning at 11.30am with the assembly point for all participants in the Bridge Centre car park. The route for this year's highly-anticipated event is High St., Bridge St., Colmcille St., over the Kilbeggan Bridge and on to the Arden Road. The parade committee meets every Tuesday at 7.30pm in St. Mary's Youth and Community Centre and new volunteers are always welcome.

Image courtesy of Ingimage.comMinister Harris announces almost €700k in funding for TUS AthloneMinister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris has today announced €4.5 million to support higher education institutions that have multiple campuses in remote regional locations including almost €700k for TUS Athlone. The new Distributed Campus Support Fund has been established to support higher education institutions (HEIs) with multi-campuses in our regions, primarily in the Technological University sector. Speaking today, Minister Harris said: “This new funding strengthens and supports campuses dispersed in our regions. “This ensures that HEIs that have multiple campuses can boost and maximise the impact of their campuses in the regions. This funding ensures that regional higher education campuses like those in Thurles or Killybegs are supported in recognition of the fact they are regionally dispersed.

Up to 3,600 customers could be without power in the county at the moment due to Storm Isha, the ESB has told the Herald. The spokesperson said that major areas impacted include the Rooskey area, where1600 customers were without power, and Castlerea and Roscommon Town where approximately 1,000 customers remain without power. They estimated that a further 1,000 customers around the county were without power as of this afternoon. “We expect to restore power to significant numbers of impacted customers throughout today, Monday,” the spokesperson said. “It is important that any impacted customers who use electrically powered medical devices contact their healthcare professional to make alternative arrangements if necessary.

Parts of Coosan remain without powerHundreds of homes across the Coosan area of Athlone remain without power today. As at 5.35pm, approximately 93,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power nationally. The ESB said its ESB Networks and contract partner crews are continuing to work to safely restore power to as many customers as possible. Due to the scale of the damage to the electricity network, many customers will remain without power tonight while some customers will be without power for a number of days. "We apologise for the disruption to family and commercial life this causes, and thank customers across the country, especially those who will be without power overnight, for their patience as our crews work to safely restore power."

TUS seeks external members for its governing bodyThe Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) has commenced the process of appointing six persons to the TUS Governing Body as external members and is seeking expressions of interest from suitable candidates; the TUS Governing Body will comprise 19 members in total. As a technological university, TUS aims to significantly enhance the accessibility and availability of higher education in regions with historically low tertiary education attainment. TUS Governing Body Chairperson Josephine Feehily emphasised the important role the governing body plays, especially in a new university. “The TUS Governing Body serves as the university board, holding a spectrum of important statutory functions and corporate governance responsibilities. It is intended that new external members will be appointed with effect from March 30, 2024, with terms of office of up to four years.

Although January is the beginning of a new calendar year, it is still winter and in the natural world, winter is a time for slowing down and preparing for regrowth in Spring. In her insightful book ‘Wintering’ author Katherine May encourages us to listen to nature’s call by slowing down. She says that in today’s fast paced world, slowing down, relaxing in your spare time, and getting enough sleep and resting often seems like a radical act now, but it is essential. In Norway they call disconnecting in nature, ‘Frulitsiv,’ and even have a ‘library’ where people can rent out outdoor gear during winter. So, indulge in the warmth of Hygge, spend time in nature, and approach reflection and goal-setting with kindness and understanding.

Former News Corp editor Luke McIlveen, who went on to be the founding editor of Daily Mail Australia, has been appointed executive editor of Nine newspapers. McIlveen in the same statement said he was “thrilled and honoured” to be leading “Australian journalism at its very best”. He held senior roles at the Daily Telegraph and edited the Manly Daily before becoming editor-in-chief of news.com.au. McIlveen then left News to become the founding editor of Daily Mail Australia and was later executive editor at Fox Sports. The Daily Mail was criticised for using competitors’ content when McIlveen was in charge with News Corp Australia in 2014 labelling the publication’s journalists “copy snatchers and parasites”.

The car can be seen driving along Westgate Road in Belton, Lincolnshire before the roof comes flying off a building in the shocking CCTV footage. The video has emerged as Storm Isha caused major disruption across the UK. "If they had been driving a little bit slower, then the roof could have gone straight through the windscreen." An 84-year-old man died during Storm Isha after the car he was a front seat passenger in crashed into a fallen tree in Grangemouth, Falkirk, Police Scotland said. The UK Met Office has issued an amber warning for wind covering western and northern Scotland from 6pm on Tuesday until 8am on Wednesday.

'I love my bank passbook and won't give it up,' says the freelance TV presenter and former entrepreneur. When customers went into a bank branch to make a transaction, the bank teller would input the latest balance on their account for their records. But new research from Newcastle Building Society suggests the cost-of-living crisis has given passbooks a new lease of life. Virgin Money's passbook account offered zero interest on the lowest cash balances. For Newcastle customer Kim, the amount of interest paid on her passbook account – while important – is not the only key factor.

Grace O'Sullivan with some of the plastic pellets she found on the beach in GaliciaAn ecological disaster is unfolding on the beaches of north-west Spain as a billion plastic pellets lost overboard from a container ship begin washing ashore. A political row has erupted around the incident, which happened just weeks after the European Commission proposed tighter regulation on the transportation of plastic pellets. One container held 1,000 25kg sacks of new white plastic pellets, destined to be melted down and moulded into water bottles and other food containers. “They have to be so careful,” said Ms O’Sullivan, who visited some of the beaches that make up Galicia’s 1,900km of coastline. Last October, the European Commission proposed regulations for companies using and transporting plastic pellets, requiring stronger containers and stricter monitoring and reporting obligations.

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Northern Ireland Electricity Networks said 40,000 customers are now without power, with 53,000 hit by outages at the height of the storm. In Northern Ireland, a yellow wind warning is in place for all counties until noon on Monday. The Met Office said strong winds from Storm Isha are likely to bring “some disruption” to travel and utilities. Status Yellow warnings are in place for all other counties from Tuesday afternoon until the early hours of Wednesday. In Northern Ireland, Yellow wind warnings will be in place for counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Derry, with strong winds expected from 4pm on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday.

Council shortlisted in national Green AwardsOffaly County Council has been shortlisted for ‘Green Public Sector Organisation of the Year’ under the 2024 Green Awards programme. Offaly County Council’s Climate Action Coordinator, John McNally, outlined: “Our application highlighted our achievements over the last 12 months in such areas as biodiversity enhancement, sustainable transport initiatives, waste and recycling facilities, cycling infrastructure and environmental programmes. We also included our impressive work in relation to energy efficiency, active travel, resource management, the circular economy, staff development, community outreach. "Our application allows us to illustrate our vision for Offaly to be a climate resilient, biodiversity rich, environmentally sustainable and climate neutral economy," he said. “Offaly County Council is demonstrating exemplary behaviour in investing in and developing sustainable transport and have commenced the migration of our Corporate Fleet towards Zero Emissions and Low Carbon Emission Vehicles – further examples of our innovative vision for the future.