Ireland
Beached Whale
Achill, Ireland, PhotographyOne sad victim of the Christmas storms was this Fin Whale that was washed onto Keel beach. It remained there for a few days before it was buried on the sand.
Red Alert
Achill, IrelandIt’s been stormy the whole Christmas period from a very bumpy landing at Dublin airport to being without electricity most of Christmas Eve. Tonight looks like being the worst of it. Winds are blowing like hell at the moment and it’s much worse in other parts of Ireland.
Happy Christmas!
At times like this, one needs a great weather app. All of the obvious and most reviewed ones are pretty useless when it comes to showing the forecast for wind. So after trying all of the top ones, I downloaded yr.no. Quite brilliant for showing predicted wind speeds and directions. The only quibble is that the meteorological forecast is in Norwegian.
Tom Gilmartin
Ireland, Thought ProvokingRIP Tom Gilmartin.
Lovely piece in the Irish Times by Miriam Lord today
But when the final report was published, Tom Gilmartin’s story was the one the tribunal believed, because when he spoke of large sums of money going to named politicians, those same amounts surfaced in the myriad of accounts maintained by these paragons.
Helsinki to Dublin
Business, Dublin, Finland, Helsinki, Ireland, TravelJust boarded the flight from Helsinki to Dublin. It is absolutely packed out. A demonstration of how much demand is on this route. Congratulations Norwegian for giving consumers what they wanted!
Norwegian airlines now offers direct weekend flights between Helsinki and Dublin all year round. #aerlingus #norwegian #helsinki #dublin
Dublin, Finland, Helsinki, Ireland, TravelI was searching for a flight home yesterday and was surprised when hipmunk found a direct flight between Helsinki and Dublin. When I saw it was offered by Norwegian Airlines, I headed to kayak.com as they offer a tool for looking up direct flights from any airport. In addition to the usual Aer Lingus schedule (Saturday and Tuesday), I saw that Norwegian offer direct flights on Friday and Monday which is much more sensible for a weekend break. I personally prefer this schedule and have already booked an extra trip with Norwegian. I wonder why the schedule planning team in Aer Lingus couldn’t have offered what the city break consumer wanted on the Dublin- Helsinki route?
The Irish Times on engagement with Irish expatriates
Ireland, Thought ProvokingEven though I’ve been living outside Ireland too long to be suitable to have a vote myself, I still think that expatriates who have an Irish passport should be allowed to vote for around 7 years after they leave. That’s why the editorial in today’s Irish Times makes good sense.
Ireland is one of the few European countries that denies emigrants even a restricted vote in local and national elections. In situations of forced migration, that represents a double rejection. Some expatriates may resent being asked to help a society that failed them. If the Government wishes to value these citizens and establish a creative relationship with them, it could begin by extending the franchise.
Longford Bypass
IrelandSo Longford is going to have a bypass. I’m going to miss those battered sausage & curry chip pitstops on my way home.
Hot PMI!
Economy, Finance, Ireland, Thought ProvokingThe hottest country in Europe for PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) in July is…
Ireland
What is PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) anyway? According to Investopedia:
PMI is a very important sentiment reading, not only for manufacturing, but also the economy as a whole. Although U.S. manufacturing is not the huge component of total gross domestic product (GDP) that it once was, this industry is still where recessions tend to begin and end. For this reason, the PMI is very closely watched, setting the tone for the upcoming month and other indicator releases.
The magic number for the PMI is 50. A reading of 50 or higher generally indicates that the industry is expanding. If manufacturing is expanding, the general economy should be doing likewise. As such, it is considered a good indicator of future GDP levels. Many economists will adjust their GDP estimates after reading the PMI report.
Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/university/releases/napm.asp#ixzz22ITKRJ8s
Huge game
Football, IrelandNo doubt about tonight, it’s the biggest game for the Irish since the game against Germany in Japan in 2002. However, we need an even bigger performance than that night as we need at least a win against Spain to have a realistic chance of making the quarter final. I don’t think 4 points are going to be enough to get out of the group.
I have a feeling that the Irish could transform themselves. They did it against France in the play-off for the world cup when after a poor performance in the first leg, they went on to dominate the second match and won it 1-0 after 90 minutes. Could it be a similar story tonight?