Barbara Smyth, Silverline Cruisers; and Laoise Coakley, Tourism Ireland, at CMT in Stuttgart. Offaly business pitches for German touristsAn Offaly business took part in a Tourism Ireland exhibition in Germany recently. Silverline Cruisers from Banagher and eight other tourism businesses from across Ireland joined as Tourism Ireland kicked off its 2024 programme of promotions at CMT (holiday exhibition) in Stuttgart this week. Tourism Ireland’s message in Germany, and elsewhere around the world, is that Ireland has so much to offer across regions and seasons. The organisation will showcase iconic reasons to travel here, expanding people’s bucket lists from best-known spots to our hidden gems.

Kurt Kyck with his IERC 2024 Honorary Award, a traditional cowbellMidlands businessman honoured with international recycling awardAt the International Electronics Recycling Congress (IERC) in Salzburg last week, CEO of KMK Metals Recycling and President of the European Electronics Recyclers Association (EERA), Kurt Kyck was bestowed the iconic IERC 2024 Honorary Award. Presenting the award, which is in the form of a large traditional cowbell, Jean Cox-Kearns described Kurt Kyck as a straight talker and a recognised leader who was receiving this award in recognition of a long and industrious career in the metals and WEEE recycling industry. She gave the gathered crowd a run-down of his education and work history in Germany, London and Ireland and talked about KMK Metals Recycling, the metals and WEEE recycling business, based in Tullamore and Kilbeggan that he has been operating for the past 45 years. Accepting the award, Kurt Kyck, said: “I am a little bit lost for words. WEEE recycling is my passion.

Artists talk at Luan GalleryA special event will take place in Athlone's Luan Gallery on Saturday next, as part of the ongoing Sa Lár exhibition. A Westmeath Artists Awards Talk with Luan Gallery Manager Carmel Duffy and Westmeath Arts Officer Miriam Mulrennan, will take place on Saturday at 2pm followed by the winner of the Westmeath Artists Award 2023 Fiona Kelly in conversation with Luan Gallery Curator Aoife Banks. Sa Lár, Westmeath Artists Awards exhibition, features work by 30 Westmeath artists, selected by guest Curator Emer McGarry. The Westmeath Artists Awards is a collaboration between Luan Gallery and Westmeath Arts Office aiming to celebrate, showcase and support the development of Westmeath visual artists’ practices and careers with funding support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Over forty works by thirty artists are showcased in the exhibition, with several of the artists exhibiting for the first time in Luan Gallery.

Brian Derwin of St Brigid's scores his side's goal during the AIB All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship final versus Glen at Croke Park. Photo: Sam Barnes/SportsfileHeartbreak for brilliant Brigid's as Glen atone for last yearAIB All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship finalWatty Graham's Glen 2-10 St Brigid's 1-12So close and yet so far for St Brigid's. St Brigid's led by four points with about 11 minutes to go and Glen were also down to 14 men due to a black card. The sides were level at half-time (St Brigid's 0-8 Glen 1-5) with Glen's first goal, scored by Jody McDermott, bringing the Ulster champions back into contention. Early in the second half, Brian Derwin repeated his goalscoring feat from the All-Ireland semi-final win over Castlehaven.

Last week saw a ridiculous over-reaction to the news that annual consumer price rises had gone from 3.9 to 4 per cent. That something else was a wider reassessment of the pace at which interest rates are likely to decline globally. Maybe the uptick in inflation in Europe and the US over the past couple of months had made them re-think. But imagine what might happen here in the UK if inflation is back to 2 per cent in April. But if you look at the trend over the past three months, the annualised headline rate is already below 2 per cent.

Resting at H Kemp and Son Ltd 01482 844695Peacefully in Dove House Hospice on the 3rd January 2024 aged 77 years. The funeral service to be held at All Saint's Church, South Cave followed by burial on Friday 26th January 2024 at 11.30am. Passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family on Thursday 11th January 2024 aged 91 years. (Image: funeral-notices.co.uk)Peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family on the 11th January 2024 aged 79 years. Passed away peacefully after a short illness at Hull Royal Infirmary on the 6th of January 2024 aged 78 years.

Ireland's Mona McSharry celebrates with her three gold medals after the European Under 23 Swimming Championships. “For me, I thought that wasn’t going to be an issue. Despite the Abu Dhabi success, her mindset had changed: “I really wasn’t that happy, which doesn’t make sense. Photograph: Evan Treacy/Inpho“I mean that’s all I do, especially in the summer when I don’t have classes, I’m going to the pool, I’m swimming, I’m fuelling because of training, I’m sleeping because of training, everything is kind of mapped out for swimming. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho“I don’t exactly know what I did to change it, but it changed and, so, I had a really great training season that season.

The devolved institutions at Stormont have been collapsed for almost two years as a result of the DUP protest against the post-Brexit trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Talks were ongoing between the UK Government and the DUP on how to change the Windsor Framework to the DUP’s satisfaction; Westminster has suggested the talks are over, with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris saying “it is time for decisions to be made”. Senior DUP figures held discussions on Friday on potentially ending the boycott (PA)SDLP MP Claire Hanna said in response to the DUP’s meeting that Northern Ireland’s people are in a “crazy waiting room”. I think it suits ditherers to have the power to keep everybody in a holding pattern.”“This is seriously scarring Northern Ireland,” Mr Farry said of the suspension of devolved government on the same programme. “I think he will take on an increased level of powers to intervene in terms of decision making in Northern Ireland,” he said.

More than six years have passed since Stephen Yiu set up investment house Blue Whale Capital with backing from Peter Hargreaves, his former employer at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, and now the company's chairman. Although it hasn't been the easiest of journeys what with lockdowns and soaring inflation, the company's flagship investment fund which Yiu runs – Blue Whale Growth – has been a big success. 'A lot of people invested in 2021 when we were doing well,' says Yiu, whose only personal investments are in Blue Whale Growth. The fund, set up to deliver capital growth rather than income, invests in 29 listed companies across the globe. 'The company's focus must be on delivering returns for fund investors.

The 737 Max design cuts costs when seating fewer passengers, but creates a failure point for the jets. A door plug area of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft awaits inspection with paneling removed at the airline’s facilities at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac. As the National Transportation Safety Board and numerous news outlets have explained, door plugs are commonly used to seal unused emergency exits on commercial airliners. That’s precisely what happened with Alaska Airlines Flight 1282; and how “door plug” suddenly entered the American vernacular. It may soon prove impossible to avoid flying on a 737 Max, particularly in the U.S. domestic market.

St. Brigid’s appearance in Sunday’s All-Ireland club football final has been the catalyst to turn everything that moves and indeed doesn’t move red…..and green. Even the dogs in Kiltoom have got their own jerseys ahead of the big day (as can be seen in the picture above). The bridge over the Shannon in Athlone all lit up in the green and red of St. Brigid's. The bridge over the River Shannon in Athlone has been lit up in the red and green of St. Brigid’s, all part of the fun and excitement running through the Kiltoom/Cam parish as the Roscommon champions gear up for what potentially could be another red (and green) letter day in the club’s history.

Will its streets be full of electric cars, some of them self-driving? Will they take up electric cars – in effect, just a cleaner version of what they already had – or switch modes of transport altogether? EVs also emit more carbon over their life cycle than any form of urban transport except petrol cars. About 5.5 million e-bikes were sold in the EU in 2022, against just two million electric cars. Looking back in five years, we may conclude that electric cars were made for American suburbia and for almost nowhere else.

Ireland 1 Britain 2Valencia 2024 was a far cry from Donnybrook 2019, when Ireland’s women beat Canada to earn their first ever Olympic qualification. Ireland are left to ponder what might have been, not least their penalty shoot-out defeat against Spain in the semi-finals. And Britain also had four survivors from the team that won gold in Rio in their squad. IRELAND: A McFerran; R Upton, H McLoughlin, E Curran, B Harper; S Hawkshaw, C Beggs, K McKee; N Carey, K Mullan (capt), N Carroll. BRITAIN: S Heesh; A Toman, G Ansley, H Pearne-Webb (capt); S Jones, F Crackles, S Hamilton, L Owsley; H French, S Robertson, I Petter.

From this day forward, feel free to describe me as an openly heterosexual columnist. You don’t say you’re openly Irish, you don’t say you’re openly left-handed. “I’m going to make a pitch for getting rid of the expression ‘openly gay’,” Scott responded. You don’t say you’re openly Irish, you don’t say you’re openly left-handed. (There are no “openly gay” players in the top two divisions of men’s soccer in England, which seems statistically implausible.)

Munster 23 Northampton 2680 mins: A 59-metre penalty from Fin Smith, who has been outstanding today, comes up short. Full-time: Munster 23 Northampton 26Courtney Lawes man of the match on RTÉ but could have been Fin Smith either. Northampton have been all over Munster the past 20 minutes with a man down and Munster have had no answers. 64 mins: Munster are turned over again, the 14 men of Northampton fighting hard and showing why they’re top of the English Premiership. 49 mins: Northampton back to 14 men as Furbank comes back on.