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Thurles has been chosen as ‘Enterprise Town’ on 11th & 12th of March 2016
 Having completed their 2015 schedule, and having supported local communities in delivering 50 Enterprise Towns throughout Ireland, Bank of Ireland, Liberty Square, Thurles; through their Manager M/s Patricia Ryan, are delighted to announce that Thurles has now been chosen as “Enterprise Town” on March 11th & 12th, 2016.
This most successful of programmes to-date, brings local businesses and communities together, to boost and promote economic activity in the town chosen. A bespoke exciting schedule of events will be now be developed in each town, including networking and showcasing opportunities, to encourage residents to support local businesses.
The overall aim of this most promising initiative is to support local communities and to assist, where possible, in helping drive business for SME’s in their locality, whilst taking the opportunity to showcase in full all that the chosen town has to offer.
This ongoing and progressive initiative has been shown to continue to work with local communities in the past, in delivering a number of business and community events, through active participation by the local Bank of Ireland, working in close partnership with a dedicated and driven town committee.
“We want to support the development of local communities at both business level and in the wider context, incorporating schools, sports, social and charitable associations.” stated Thurles Bank of Ireland Manager Patricia Ryan.
To this end, Thurles please note that you the public are invited to a Community Meeting on Thursday next, February 11th 2016, to attend at the Bank of Ireland premises in Liberty Square at 6.15pm sharp, to launch this event due to take place on March 11th & 12th next.
  
 Tipperary Independent TD, Mr Michael Lowry has welcomed the news that the sale of the historic Cashel Palace Hotel has now been successfully concluded. “The substantial investment involved in this transaction is most positive news, not just for the town of Cashel, but also for tourism service providers throughout the county of Co. Tipperary and surrounding counties” stated Lowry.
Speaking yesterday Deputy Lowry said that he is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist and encourage this project from conception to conclusion.
“I am extremely impressed by the dedicated commitment given by the new purchasers; to restoring and expanding their latest acquisition as a commercial venture and in particular their enthusiasm in planning to make the existing hotel an integral part of the town, thus boosting, not just the present local economy but others further afield”, stated Deputy Lowry
Confirming the identification of the purchasing consortium, Deputy Lowry stated “Both the Magnier and O’Brien families have had a long and treasured association with the Cashel Place Hotel. It has been a pleasure to meet with their partner in this business, Mr. Teo AH Khing, (Mr Teo Ah Khing is the architect who designed the fabulous grandstand at Meydan in Dubai; latter truly an extraordinary architectural feat.) who is an impressive International businessman with interests already in the hospitality sector. The consortium are currently formulating exciting plans for their new acquisition, latter which will bring about enormous value to Cashel and indeed the surrounding areas.”
Deputy Lowry continued, “The Rock of Cashel remains a renowned ‘International Jewel’ within the Irish tourism sector, attracting over 300,000 visitors annually to Co. Tipperary. In the past, the town centre has not truly reaped the full benefits financially normally associated with this high volume of tourist traffic.
Indeed from a tourism perspective Cashel has had a major infrastructure deficit. In the past it did not have the necessary capacity to accommodate a fraction of the visitors, who may have wished to ‘halt awhile’ in this historic town and to explore the many other magnificent visitor attractions not just in Cashel, but in Co. Tipperary, now being marketed as a fully con-joined county.
The appointed design team and archaeological specialists now have developed an exciting vision which will include and respect the traditions and heritage associated with Mikey Ryan’s Pub. They are having regular on-going discussions with senior management in Tipperary County Council and other appropriate state agencies.
The design team are familiarising themselves with the Cashel town plan, latter which emphasises the benefit of closer connectivity between the actual Rock of Cashel and the town which has developed ‘neath its shadow. They are confident that plans can be achieved through the reconfiguration of parking, improved access to the town and newly recreated pedestrian walkways”.
Michael Lowry is confident that the new owners of the Cashel Palace are more than willing to co-operate where practical, with the implementation of any future envisioned Cashel town plan.
“This is a most welcome development by this consortium, who have not just the financial resources, but also the vision, commitment and expertise to ensure and future sustain this acquired hotel amenity well into the future. The hospitality and catering on offer under this new plan will bring lasting long-term benefits to the economy of the whole town of Cashel”, concluded Michael Lowry, T.D.
 At yesterday’s Municipal Tipperary County Council meeting, Thurles Cathaoirleach (Chairperson) Cllr. Seamus Hanafin stated; “The news of 300 new jobs recently announced for Nenagh by the US financial technology company First Data was indeed very welcome, particularly in light of the recent news of 126 job losses at the C&C Borrisoleigh plant; the some 350 job losses at Lisheen Mines, near Moyne and the expected closures of all Xtra-Vision stores in the county, latter which was announced only earlier this morning.”
Cllr Hanafin went on to state that the 300 promised jobs by ‘First Data’ in Nenagh was the first new ‘Foreign Direct Investment’ to arrive in North Tipperary in the past 20 years.
Cllr Hanafin stated; “This new investment now signalled a real awareness in current IDA Ireland’s thinking and I hope this same change of attitude will go on to deliver yet more jobs into Co. Tipperary into the near future.”
The Cathaoirleach had been to the fore in arranging for IDA Ireland to attend a ‘Work Shop’ last July at The Anner Hotel, Thurles and had been verbally critical, on a regular basis, of IDA Ireland’s neglect in respect of their middle Ireland policy. “However I am happy on this occasion to give IDA Ireland credit; where credit is observed as being justly due,” stated Cllr Hanafin.
The Cathaoirleach also acknowledged the work of Mr Joe MacGrath, C.E. Tipperary Co. Council whom he stated was; “Tireless in his efforts to get this new badly needed investment of the ground.”
Cllr Hanafin stated that he would now be examining specific ‘site-ready’ locations across Co. Tipperary in the coming months, which could be deemed, for the most part, ready, easily available and accessible, for other future foreign or domestic investment.
 The Central Bank are poised to issue a total of 4.5 million coins including a new €2 coin to commemorate the ‘1916 Easter Rising’. Contrary to newspaper reports, this is not the first occasion that Ireland has issued commemorative currency into circulation.
It is interesting to note that the Irish Central Bank issued 2,000,000 coins to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1966. Unfortunately they were not popular with the Irish public and did not circulate widely; the Irish government actually put them into the pay packets of civil service in their efforts to distribute them.
It is reputed that the Irish Central Bank later, just some six years later, around 1971, melted down about 1,250,000 of same, with the advent of decimalisation. Many more are reckoned to have entered into the melting pot due to another popular ‘Irish Rising’, that being the rising of the price of silver to record heights in 1980/81.
Emmet Mullins, the designer of the new coinage, was chosen following a competition that saw 52 Irish and international designers submit proposals, based on ‘The Proclamation of the Irish Republic’.
The new coinage features a representation of the statue of Hibernia which presently sits, centre, on top of the General Post Office (GPO Ard-Oifig an Phoistis), the headquarters of the Irish Post Office. The name ‘Hibernia’ is the classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. The Roman historian Tacitus, in his book Agricola (c. 98 AD), possibly first used the name ‘Hibernia’, which is rarely used today with regard to Ireland. In 1642 the motto of the Irish Confederates, a Catholic-landlord administration that ruled much of Ireland until 1650 was: “Pro Deo, Rege et Patria, Hibernia Unanimis”, which when translated is ‘For God, King and Fatherland, Ireland is United’.
The GPO is one of Ireland’s most famous buildings and was the last of the great Georgian public buildings erected in Sackville Street (today named O’Connell Street) in Dublin. The building was opened for business on January 6th 1818, with the structure having been completed in the space of just three years for the sum of £50,000. (Faster and cheaper than we can provide houses for our Irish homeless today).
During the Easter Rising of 1916, the GPO served as the headquarters of most of the uprising’s leaders. It was destroyed by fire in the course of this rebellion and was not restored until the Irish Free State government, some years later, identified the task.
Interestingly, particularly from a Sinn Féin point of view, despite its fame as an iconic place of Irish freedom, ground rent for the GPO continued to be paid to British and American landlords; right up until the 1980’s.
The hand-rendered lettering featuring the centenary dates and the name ‘Hibernia’ are reportedly influenced by the Book of Kells, which according to the Central Bank, An Post and all Bank branches are expected to get into general circulation as soon as is possible.
Later this year other gold and silver proof coins designed by Welsh artist, engraver and graphic designer Michael Guilfoyle, also commemorating 1916, will be released for sale. Guilfoyle’s designs also feature the name ‘Hibernia’, along with an arrangement of other key words and phrases taken from the 1916 Proclamation.
 Mark Fielding CEO. ISME. Thurles, Co. Tipperary born Mr Mark Fielding, Chief Executive of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) has warned that while inflation remains low, business costs are steadily rising.
“Increasing costs are one of the most pressing issues facing SMEs at present. It is difficult for small businesses to grow and hire new staff, when their cost base is continuously rising and their margins reduce,” said Mr Fielding.
ISME warn of rising business costs despite new figures showing low inflation levels. Consumer prices increased by just 0.1 per cent over the year to December, according to latest figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Transport-related costs fell by 4.3% over the year,due to a decline in the prices paid for petrol, diesel and air fares.
Motor Insurance premiums increased by 31% in the year to December, due to insurers continued to hike prices.
Clothing and Footwear costs were down 4.1%, due mainly to heavy discounting by retailers, while household-related items, e.g. furnishings fell by some 1.5%.
Alcoholic Beverages sold in Supermarkets and Off-Licences were lower in the period.
Education, Miscellaneous Goods and Services demonstrated the largest yearly price increases, with same up 3.8% and 2.6% respectively.
Fuel related prices and Communications costs rose by 2.1% and by 1.7% respectively over this same time frame.
Mark Fielding: As well as being Chief Executive of (ISME) Mr Mark Fielding is a member of the Company Law Review Group, the High Level Group on Business Regulation and the Advisory Group on Small Business. He also sits on the administrative council of UEAPME, the European employers’ organisation, latter a recognised European Social Partner representing more than 12 million enterprises, while employing 55 million people across Europe.
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