Yearly Archives: 2014
Taoiseach Enda Kenny on RTÉ’s Nine News tonight:
“And I think it should also be said Eileen, if I may say so that the average worker, a single worker on the minimum wage of 35,000 is going to get back €400 in the income tax returns starting in January.”
A Freudian slip from An Taoiseach.
Minimum wage is €8.65 per hour, 39 hours per week, 52 weeks per year = €17,542.
He should do more of these.
New charging structure of Irish Water to cost Exchequer €84m (RTÉ News)
Yikes!
Richard O’Rourke in Oklahoma writes:
The City of Oklahoma are introducing fines for “overwatering”, which are a lot higher than the total yearly cost of water in general for people at home. Add to that the fact that our water charges are already higher than in Ireland. Just a bit of perspective….
Water fight!
https://twitter.com/quiatimet/status/535133071692275712
https://twitter.com/quiatimet/status/535133590695473152
Anyone?
What you may need to know:
1. It’s a live action fantasy inspired by the Cinderella fairy tale. See what they got out of there? You know the story but there are a few twists as you can see.
2. The trailer shows Cinders meeting The Prince before the grand ball and The Fairy Godmother has a much larger role disguised as an old beggar.
3. Lots of Hollywood’s great and good came together to make it happen including Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter who is a long way from her astounding turn as Marla Singer.
4. Lily James has not lost that vacuous look she constantly wears for Downtown Abbey.
5. The film was originally to be directed by Mark Romanek but he left due to “creative differences“. He was developing a version that was darker than Disney wanted and was promptly replaced by Kenneth Branagh. A more menacing tale would have been interesting.
6. The Cinderella story has been around for a long time. See Egypt’s Rhodopis.
7. The version that we associate most with is Charles Perrault’s from his imaginatively named Tales And Stories From The Past With Morals in 1697.
8. Broadsheet Prognosis: Our balls are always crowded and sweaty affairs.
Release Date: March 27, 2015
(Delboy is looking for his slippers. Dylan is Tom Dillon, Broadsheet writer who becomes a pumpkin farmer every October)
Dead Eagle
at
By Mick Flavin
Clarity
at
RESULT: 71 per cent say NO, the new charges are not acceptable; 29 per cent say YES that they are. Just under 15,000 people voted #Liveline
— Liveline (@Liveline_RTE) November 19, 2014
Environment Minister Alan Kelly (above) delivering government Irish Water charge concessions in the Dáil while outside protests (top) continued this afternoon.
Mr Kelly said the €100 grant would be a cheque or transfer and customers would pay the charges upfront and receive the grant later. He admitted the first year would entail a time lag with the payment expected in September. The minister has said those who pledge to never pay water charges are in a different category to those who cannot pay and will be dealt with differently.
The capped charges will be in place until 1 January 2019 with legislation to allow for capped charges to continue after 2019. Households with either water or sewage only will pay 50% of the charges.
Those with meters who use less will get a once off rebate. The starting date for the charges is 1 January and bills will be charged from April next year. If a householder fails to register they will receive a default bill for €260 a year.
They will also not be entitled to the €100 Water Conservation Grant. People now have until 2 February to register. Households in group water schemes who register will also be eligible for the conservation grant.
PPS Numbers will not be required for registration and Irish Water will delete any numbers it has already received. There will be penalties for those who do not pay after a year or enter into a payment plan.
A single adult household will face a €30 penalty and €60 will apply to other households. Legislation will be introduced allowing landlords to deduct unpaid water charges from tenants’ deposits if necessary.
Ballyconnell, 18 November 2014.
Dónal Egan writes:
I think the coast guard pilot knew I was shooting a time lapse video
‘Ol blue beard country.
Thanks Dónal
Update:
Achill this evening. pic.twitter.com/9y55RLSYxP
— Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) November 19, 2014
Kerrang!
Some of the Edge Only collection.
Irish-made jewellery for the gnarly leather-clad headbanger within us all.
Canada-born DJ and designer Jenny Huston writes:
The impetus to start Edge Only came about in February of this year when I was designing a ring that I wanted my Mother [Jane Huston – a designer goldsmith and gemmologist] to make for me. I was describing it and sketching it badly (I don’t have her gift for drawing) and then started talking excitedly about all of the other things I thought would be cool to make down the line. Mum gave me an amused look and said “Jenny you seem to know what you want so why don’t you design a collection? Seriously – it’s not like you don’t know any goldsmiths!”
She had a good point. Mum moved back to Ireland in 1993 to set up and run the Crafts Council of Ireland’s Jewellery Skills Course, so she had been training goldsmiths in Ireland for over 17 years before finishing up to focus on her own work. I had a pool of skilled talent that I could work with here.
Before long I had enough designs to start with and the idea became real. I signed up for the Start Your Own Business course with the Dublin City Local Enterprise Office and the Enterprise Start2 course though the Dublin Business Innovation Centre . I took various other one-day and half day courses throughout March and April and crammed in as much knowledge as possible while designing and working on prototype designs with Mum.
I worked with AAD design studio on the visual identity over the summer as the master models were finalized and then the website went live on September 15. Rock & Roll and Geometric were my first collections (there had to be a nod to music in there somewhere!). I waited to formally launch the company 6 weeks later on October 29 with a further two collections Everyday Icons and Bugs (as well as further additions to the Rock & Roll and Geometric collections (All available at link below)…
Irish-made stocking fillers to broadsheet@broadsheet.ie marked ‘Irish-Made Stocking Fillers’. No fee just some friendly hair-tousling.
