Courage, dignity and community support at Det Garda Adrian Donohue's funeral

Senator Moran speaking today in the Seanad, commending the people of Co Louth, and in particular the community in Lordship and Cooley for their wonderful support to the family, colleagues and friends of Det Garda Adrian Donohue. Also commenting on the necessity for the mandatory minimum 40 year sentencing for capital to be enforced and questionning the provision of Free Legal Aid in these situations.

New phone app to monitor school pupil absenteeism

MORE than 30,000 primary school children are absent from class every day, a study has found.

And now an Irish software firm has launched an app to monitor those caught on-the-hop from class.

SalesPulse developed Rollcall which allows teachers to record absenteeism at the touch of a button on their smartphones.

They launched it yesterday at the Irish Primary Principals Network conference in Dublin.

Brian Kelly of SalesPulse said: "It means attendance records are accessible to teacher and principal immediately, alerting them to any unexplained absences."

National Education Welfare Board research found more than 31,400 primary students miss school daily.

 

Special Olympics Team visit Leinster House before heading to Winter Games in South Korea

 

Photos show Special Olympic athlete Gary Burton and representative of the Garda Síochana and the PSNI torchbearers.

 

 

In advance of their departure tomorrow for the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Senator Mary Moran welcomed athlete Gary Burton and members of Special Olympics Ireland to Leinster House today. The team briefed Oireachtas members on the forthcoming games and future planned events for 2013. Garda Assistant Commissioner, John Twomey, and Matt English, CEO Special Olympics Ireland also addressed the audience.

The 14 Irish athletes along with their eight coaches and chaperones will be part of a group of 3,300 athletes and coaches representing 112 countries from all around the world who will travel to the Special Olympics World Winter Games in South Korea.

“I was delighted to welcome Gary and Special Olympics’ representatives to Leinster House today. These games are the 10^th Special Olympics World Winter Games to be held, and will include eight Olympic-type sports including; alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snowboarding, snow shoeing, short track speed skating, figure skating, floor hockey and floor ball demonstration.

“Six athletes from Ireland will compete in alpine skiing and eight athletes will represent Ireland in the floorball event. This is the first time for Ireland to be represented at a World Games in floorball and is such a wonderful opportunity for the athletes. I would also like to pay tribute to the thousands of volunteers and families throughout the country who dedicate their time and services to all the athletes. It is a wonderful achievement to represent your country in any activity and I know our athletes will do us proud in South Korea.

“Preparation for the event began today, when Gary Burton, accompanied by members of an Garda Síochana and the PSNI, did a torch run from Store St Garda St
to Leinster House.

“I would like to take this opportunity to wish Team Ireland the very best of luck in the Winter Games, and congratulate all involved with the preparation for this momentous journey.”

€500,000 in funding for social entrepreneurs available

 

Social Entrepreneurs Ireland is now open for applications for this year’s Awards Programme, with a total cash fund of €500,000 to support individuals with new solutions for social challenges in Ireland.

The Awards Programme will see eight social entrepreneurs selected to partake in one of our two support Programmes: the Impact Programme and the Elevator Programme. Three social entrepreneurs will be selected for the Impact Programme and will each receive direct funding of €130,000 over two years, as well as over €70,000 worth of training, mentoring and support.

Five social entrepreneurs will be selected for the Elevator Programme and will each receive direct funding of €22,000 over one year, as well as over €10,000 worth of training, mentoring and support.

The deadline for applications is Monday 18th February. Full details of the application process, eligibility criteria and an overview of the Awards Programme can be found online at www.socialentrepreneurs.ie.

An Information Evening will be held on Tuesday 29th January at 6.30 pm in the Waterways Ireland Visitor Centre, Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2. Previous Awardees will share their experiences and the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland team will be available to answer any questions you may have about the application process. Please register your interest in attending at http://seiawards2013infoevening.eventbrite.ie.

 
 

CAO application 25euro reduction before Sunday 20th Jan

Are you applying online to the CAO?
If so you might be interested in their discount.

The CAO is offering  discounts for early online applications for 2013. Currently, students who apply online or by mail (paper) before 1 February 2013 must pay €40. If they apply, online only, before 20 January 2013, (5.15pm) they pay €25.
The fee for late online applications (before 5.15pm on 1 May 2013) has been cut by €10 to €50. Late paper applications – due in by 1 May 2013 – cost €80.
The idea, says the CAO, is to ease the burden of processing the tens of thousands of applications received over the academic year.
In 2012, the CAO handled 76,716 applications for 43 Higher Education Institutions. Of these, 98 per cent of  applications were online.



Via CAO

Great news for St Oliver's Hospital in Dundalk

The HSE has announced that funding has been made available under the national HSE capital plan to carry out extensive refurbishment to a number of Services for Older People residential units in the North East including St Olivers, with a view to achieving compliance with the relevant HIQA environmental standards. In respect of St Olivers, a design team has been appointed and is currently working with local management to develop the precise scope of work required.

Dundalk and Co Louth to the fore at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition 2013

I was delighted and very proud to meet up with so many students from Co Louth at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS last Thursday. The Wee County was certainly well represented in a wide range of categories and all the students involved are worthy of great praise and congratulations.
A special word of congratulation to Deirdre Ruane-McAteer and Emma Sheilds from Bush Post-Primary School who won second prize overall for their project entitled " A further study of differing social attitudes towards moral issues between bordering counties."
Their findings revealed, very interestingly, that the 16 - 18 year old subjects responded very differently on abortion and the importance of religion. Those north of the Border took a much more conservative line than those in the South.
The girls received a trophy and a cheque for 1,200euro.
Warm congratulations also to their teacher Ms Emma McMahon.

Some photos from last Thursday.