Year: 2012

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Controversial Sugar Tax to be introduced into Ireland

Michael Green

The Irish government looks set to follow the lead of several other countries and introduce a tax on sugary soft drinks such as lemonade and cola. It is expected that the tax will be a 10% hike in excise duty which would add about 20 cents to the cost of a 250 cents bottle of soda. The government is torn between wanting to reduce the intake of fattening foods and drinks in the general population while also not wanting to damage employment and add to household bills. Efforts in Ireland to decrease the consumption of certain products by taxing them … Continue reading Controversial Sugar Tax to be introduced into Ireland

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Ireland to benefit from big Irish oil discovery near County Kerry

Michael Green

As much as one billion barrels of oil have been discovered off the Kerry coastline in Ireland. Petrel Resources has seen its value quadruple after the announcement. To put the find into context, current world consumption of oil is approximately 80 million barrels daily with Ireland consuming about .165 million barrels daily. Despite the oil being 200km away from the mainland and under 1km of rock newer drilling techniques have made previously unaccessible oil-fields more viable. The US is expected to become the worlds largest oil producer thanks to its implementation of these new methods. Exploration licences were sold in … Continue reading Ireland to benefit from big Irish oil discovery near County Kerry

News from Ireland14 Comments

Remembrance day poppys – a quandary for the Irish and Ireland

Michael Green

The tradition of wearing an artificial red poppy to commemorate soldiers who have died in wartime has existed since 1920 and was inspired by the famous poem ‘In Flanders Field’. The poppy has become an increasingly political symbol in recent years and is especially prominent in the UK where just about every media outlet, political party and sporting occasion promotes its use. So widespread has the use of the poppy become that to not wear one is subtly viewed as somehow being unpatriotic or unwilling to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers. Channel 4 television presenter Jon Snow famously labelled the … Continue reading Remembrance day poppys – a quandary for the Irish and Ireland

News from Ireland1 Comment

Ireland News Update – October 2012

Michael Green

IRELAND GIVEN THE RUN-AROUND BY EU OVER DEBT DEAL The ongoing saga regarding the restructuring of Ireland’s bank debt has taken a number of major turns. In June the Irish government triumphantly announced that a deal had been brokered whereby some Irish bank debts would in fact be paid for by a new European Union mechanism. A ‘game-changer’ and ‘seismic shift’ were some of the terms used at the time. In the months that followed though the realization of exactly what this involves seems to have dawned on the Germans who recently emphatically stated that the new mechanism would only … Continue reading Ireland News Update – October 2012

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Bram Stoker – The Creator of Dracula

Michael Green

Until quite recently it was a little know fact that the creator of perhaps the worlds most famous villain was an Irishman from Clontarf in Dublin. Bram Stoker was born in 1847 to Dubliner Abraham Stoker and Donegal native Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley. The third of seven children the young Bram Stoker was bed-ridden for much of his first seven years, a period that gave him much opportunity for reflection and creative thought: ‘I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years.’ He recovered … Continue reading Bram Stoker – The Creator of Dracula

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Blame an Irishman for all of the Vampires on TV and in Cinema

Michael Green

I have always blamed Buffy. It was just one vampire TV series after another and then endless vampire movies and clearly ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ was to blame. Maybe it is when you reach a certain age that you begin to incorrectly assign all occurrences of a cultural event to one particularly irritating occurrence of it? Never-ending Kristen Stewart and Robert Patterson? Buffy caused that! A seemingly good movie takes a detour down a vampire path – Blame Buffy!! A muppet starts counting in Dracula-speak on Sesame Street – BLAME BUFFY!!! Wait a minute – that cant be right. And … Continue reading Blame an Irishman for all of the Vampires on TV and in Cinema