Recently in Ireland Category
Halifax Ireland to close
The Royal Bank of Scotland (Ireland), and their retail division, Halifax, are radically restructuring their banking business over the next few months. Around 750 bank workers are losing their jobs in the republic as part of the changes.
The bank are also withdrawing entirely from retail banking, so that all customers of the Halifax will need to move their current accounts, savings accounts and credit cards to alternative banks by the end of May 2009. All branches of the Halifax will also close. Mortgage customers can maintain their home loan until it is paid off if they want, but no new loans will be offered.
February 9, 2010
Dublin Cycling Websites
A collection of web sites that are useful to cyclists in Dublin and the rest of Ireland:
- Cycling in Dublin - City of Dublin cycling portal, with bike route maps and a facility to suggest and vote for new cycle parking stands.
- Dublin Bikes - the bike sharing scheme with 40 rental stations around the city centre.
- Dublin Cycling Campaign - representing the interests of everyday cyclists.
- National Bike Week - which ran from 14-21st June 2009, and organised a load of biking events,
- Smarter Travel - Department of Transport site outlining sustainable transport plans, including the National Cycle Policy Framework.
- Bike to Work - details of the government’s tax-efficient scheme allowing staff to purchase new bikes for commuting to work through their employer.
National Bike Week
Ireland’s National Bike Week kicked off on Sunday with a Family Fun Day in Dublin’s Phoenix Park on Sunday. The event included a non-competitive 10km ride through the park, which attracted all manner of cyclist — although sadly not enough to break the world record.
All this week the events continue, with free bike tune-ups available across the country, and various rides and cycle-to-work days. I’m hoping to take park in the Dublin City Cycle on Wednesday evening.
Choral Ireland
I’m mulling the idea of creating a new web site, to serve the Irish choral music scene. It would primarily be a concert listing site, perhaps with some kind of directory of choirs, so that anyone interested in choral music - whether as a singer or audience member - would be able to find choirs more easily.
I don’t think there’s anything already available on the net that serves this need. The existing music websites seems to prioritise pop, rock and traditional music ahead of classical music, even though Ireland has a large and loyal classical music audience.
The only thing stopping me implementing the idea is the software behind the scenes to run such a site. I have a bit of experience using content management engines, but I think I’ll need something a bit more customisable in order to support my vision.
Value Added
With today’s news about the cut in VAT rates in the UK starting from next Monday, it seems highly likely that I’ll be joining countless thousands of other residents of the Republic, in heading to Northern Ireland to do my Christmas shopping.
With Ireland’s recent rise by 0.5% to a VAT rate to 21.5%, the new UK rate of 15% makes shopping North of the boarder incredibly attractive, particularly as the Pound is also so weak against the Euro at the moment.
Learner Drivers
A loophole in Irish driving laws is about to be closed from midnight tonight.
In recent times, learner drivers on their second provisional licence have been allowed on the roads on their own. However, from tonight they will now have to be accompanied by a qualified driver - someone who has held their full licence for 2 years or more. (see Road Safety Authority announcement [PDF])
The exception that allowed learner drivers on the roads unaccompanied originally arose because of delays in drivers getting a test date. Several years ago it was no unheard of for learners to wait up to 2 years for a test. However this situation has now been reversed, and it takes no more than a couple of weeks to get a driving test now.
The problem, however, is that many people haven’t felt the need to apply for a test. Until now they’ve been able to legally drive around without bothering - which at one point meant there was an estimated 1 in 7 unqualified drivers on the Irish roads. That’s gone down recently as learners have rushed to sign up for tests, ahead of this law change.
However, there are still as many as 92,000 learner drivers affected by the new law — each of which faces a minimum fine of €1,000 if caught driving on their own.
Licence renewal
I got my renewal notice for my TV Licence yesterday, and reluctantly paid it. It’s not that I disagree with the concept of a TV Licence at all. In the UK, the licence fee is a small price to pay for the quality TV and radio programmes broadcast on the BBC. But here in Ireland, the public service broadcaster RTÉ just isn’t very good - especially when compared against the BBC. And to make matters worse, the RTÉ TV and radio shows are still interrupted by commercial advertising, which is rubbish.
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