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 Britfic Brand Products The soft drinks group Britvic is to seek 100 redundancies at its operations in Ireland from next month.
Staff at the company’s new customer call centre, situated in the Tipperary Technology Park, Nenagh Road,Thurles, which opened last month, happily will not be affected.
These job cuts represent about one in seven of its present workforce here in Ireland and follow a review of the companies commercial operations.
The company is involved in the manufacture of well known brands such as Ballygowan, 7Up, Club, Robinsons and MiWadi.
Job losses will largely be across the commercial teams of the group and are due to a change in consumer spending habits in Ireland, with declines in both the pub and convenience store sector. Revenue and sales volumes at Britvic Ireland rose in the third quarter of the fiscal year, but the drinks company warned then that this did not signal a sustained recovery in the soft drinks market. The company announced 145 job losses in January last year and the closure of plants in Ballyshannon and Waterford.
Its managing director in Ireland, Mr Andrew Richards, says he deeply regrets the jobs losses but states they are “unavoidable and Britvic management will remain actively engaged with staff and their union representatives as changes are implemented within the group over the coming month.”
Britvic remains committed to the Irish market, saying it has made significant investments in its Dublin and Thurles facilities and the company will continue its operations in Cork, Limerick and Belfast.
John and Nora Egan are the proud owners of one of Ireland’s real hidden treasures, that is Inch House, Nenagh Rd, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, now their home since 1985.
When the family bought the house, together with its surrounding rolling farmland, they really had no idea as to the real treasure that lay around this, then, old neglected Georgian Mansion.
John, a modern and progressive farmer and Nora a fully qualified Nurse, together with their eight children, began the painstaking work of restoration, slowly returning this building to its original and magnificent attractive state.
Their initial dreams and planning for Inch House would eventually came into full fruition four years later, in 1989 when they opened the doors of their dream home to their first paying guests. They have now travelled a long way along that painstaking journey of restoration, however John and Nora make no secret of the fact that they still have lots left to accomplish for the next generation to be getting on with and this house will continue to remains a ‘Labour of Love’ while it remain in the ownership of the Egan family.
Their youngest son, Joseph, has inherited his love of farming from his father John and now works closely along side him on a full-time basis. Nora’s second oldest daughter Mairin is always to be found on duty daily at the front of house, while the other siblings continue to come and go, but are always enthusiastic to assist if and whenever needed.
As stated, Inch House is surrounded by a working 250 acre farm, which as well as producing it’s own organic vegetables and assorted herbs, also grows each year a large quantity of oats, barley and wheat which is harvested in late August and early September. John and his son Joseph work hard right the way through the year to store, dry and roll the grain for re-sale to local farmers throughout the winter and spring of the year.
Inch House Is Truly A Family Affair Gladly Shared With Their Visiting Public.
With the later introduction of a restaurant, which opened its doors in 1994, there has been enormous family team support in building and achieving a solid reputation not just amongst their local customers, but from surrounding counties and from abroad. This reputation for quality has now become a by-word amongst its numerous visiting clientele.
Nora Egan makes no secret of what is the ‘Inch House success story’ to those who ask. She is quick to state:
“In our restaurant we use only locally sourced produce together with only the highest quality ingredients direct from our own farm and the heart land of the Golden Vale, latter the richest producing farmland in Europe. Our restaurant and kitchen have developed menus that can appeal to every palate. Employees in the kitchens work as a team, to build menus to suit each of our customer’s needs and in doing so, ensure and maintain only the highest standards in that task. The restaurant team, work in harmony with the kitchen in serving top quality meals both in a friendly and also in a professional manner.”
If you have eaten her sirloin or fillet steak, her Inch House Traditional Black Pudding, or tasted her secret recipes like her range of chutney dressings and sauces or her special miniature scones, then you know that Nora is a modern day Isabella Mary Beeton, producing something really special and as good food goes is just not obtainable elsewhere.
To book your special evening, please do contact Mairin or Nora at Inch House. They will be only too pleased to work with you to prepare a feast guaranteed to please and to be enjoyed by all, or to coordinate with that special ‘short break’ away from the pressures, the hustle and bustle, that is our daily lives.
Here in this peaceful unique hideaway, that is Inch House, you can quickly regain lost energies, charge batteries and become totally relaxed and refreshed.
Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith pulled a ‘Joe Jacob‘ last week by announcing that the government would use European Union funding to buy 53 tonnes of its own Irish cheddar and distribute it for free from November 15th next. This initiative, which has been running since 1987, is funded by the EU’s food aid programme.
Please do not be duped, this is not a demonstration of a soft sympathetic caring Coalition Government, but rather a “social measure” whose primary objective will have the effect of reducing intervention storage costs of cheese at EU level.
 Coalition Cheddar For Unemployed Plebes This cheese scheme has been running for the past 22 years and the overall budget programme has increased from just €100 million in 1988 to €478 million for member states this year. Ireland’s share of this budget is €818,816, or approximately 0.17 per cent.
This cheese will be available for charities to collect from stores in Clondalkin, Co Dublin; Portlaoise, Co Laois; Kilmacthomas in Co Waterford; and Cobh and Togher in Co Cork sometime after November 15th next. Extra costs will be incurred by charitable organisations attempting to transport this valuable commodity back into Co Tipperary in the form of motorway tolls. One way however to get around this extra toll cost would be to use garda drivers. Under section 62 of the Roads Act 1993, interestingly enough,vehicles driven by members of an Garda Siochana are exempt from motorway tolls, e.g. Government Ministers cars.
More than €750,000 in EU funding will be spent on this cheesy scheme, with a total of 167 tonnes of this product to be distributed in boxes of 12 x 1kg blocks. The total amount of cheese to be distributed works out at about one slice of cheese for each of Ireland’s present adult population.
Brendan’s announcement would be hilariously funny, were it not that economic matters are so damn serious in this green and present land, which is just a few months away from intervention by the dreaded International Monetary Fund, who will soon be manning the desks of the Department of Finance.
Continue reading Brendan Smith Un Brie Lievable
 Hallowe'en Traditional Irish food is usually very simple yet very, very healthy.
I fool you not, the contents of an Irish Báirin Breac (English Translation – Speckled Cake.) or Irish Hallowe’en brack, are not only highly nutritious and delicious, they are also an aphrodisiac, a mild anti-clotting agent, an aid for arthritic pain, and are a panacea for many other cures, as I will explain later in this blog.
But first let me give you the secret recipe for this nutritious and delicious Irish speckled cake, which requires two hours of preparation, including cooking time.
Recipe Ingredients:
1 pound plain flour -50 g of butter – 1/2 pound sultanas – 1/2 pound currants – 1 teaspoon dry yeast (dehydrated granules) – 1/2 pint warm milk or black strong tea – 2 eggs – 50g sugar – 1/4 pound mixed peel – 1 teaspoon cinnamon – pinch of salt – and finally a pinch of ground nutmeg.
Preparation:
(1) Warm the milk or tea and mix with half of the sugar and all of the yeast, let the mixture cure for a while in a warm place, to activate the dry yeast.
Yeast: Yeast is a living microscopic organism and is one of the only non-meat sources of B12 and ideal for vegetarians who are often deficient in this vitamin. Yeast also provides protein and beta-glucans.
(2) Next mix the flour, salt and spices in a bowl, add butter and the rest of the sugar, stirring until you obtain a good mixture.
Spices:
Nutmeg can be a good cure for diarrhea caused by indigestion and about 10g of this grated powder consumed with apple juice or banana, can provide almost immediate relief. It however is not recommended for people with psychiatric disorders because of its psychoactive properties.
Consuming nutmeg with milk in the morning can be a good remedy for morning sickness. If added to baked foods it can ward off flatulence and vomiting caused by indigestion. Nutmeg increase the blood supply in the body and is sited as a good relief for those who suffer from problems of poor circulation.
For People who suffer from joint and muscle pains nutmeg possesses good anti-inflammatory properties and can be used topically. If its oil is massaged on the affected area for few minutes, it provides instant relief. It can also provide additional rejuvenating properties.
Loss in sexual potency is a very common problem and Nutmeg possesses wonderful aphrodisiac properties.
Cinnamon studies have shown that just 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day can lower Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and also have a regulatory effect on blood sugar, making it especially beneficial for people with Type 2 diabetes. Cinnamon has shown an amazing ability to stop medication-resistant yeast infections. Studies published by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland point to cinnamon reducing the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells.
Further studies at Copenhagen University, show that patients given half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder combined with one tablespoon of honey every morning before breakfast had significant relief from arthritis pain after just one week and could walk without pain within four weeks.
When cinnamon is added to food, it inhibits bacterial growth, fights e. coli bacteria in unpasteurized juices, thus making it a natural food preservative. Just smelling cinnamon is claimed to boosts cognitive function and memory.
(3) Now add the milk or tea plus yeast mixture with the eggs, beating all enthusiastically into a cream-like consistency.
(4) Add all the other ingredients and mix together well.
(5) Pour the mixture into a greased baking tin lined with greased paper, cover with a towel and let the dough rise to about double its original height in a warm place.
At this stage a traditional ring can be added but do be careful it must be metal, clean and wrapped tightly in greaseproof paper. Remember if you have any concerns about using a ring, then don’t, as dental and doctors bills in the case of chipped teeth or choking, can be costly, both financially and otherwise. Instead use a whole hazel or almond nut promising to give a ring to whoever gets the nut. (According to custom whoever gets the ring in the grack will be first to marry.)
(6) Bake for about one hour at 200 degrees Celsius or 390 degrees Fahrenheit.
Result a simple nutritious and delicious Irish recipe for this Irish Halloween Festival time.
 Small food production companies in Tipperary have a chance to win €25,000 in a competition aimed at generating new business ideas in the food sector.
This ‘Food Innovation Competition’ is anxious to find the best new food or drinks business ideas in the South East of Ireland.
The contest is open to existing food businesses or producers and any new entrants to this sector, whose companies are based in counties Tipperary, Kilkenny, Waterford, Carlow or Wexford.
The best idea will wins a prize of €25,000. The prize, sponsored by Bord Bia (Irish Food Board) and the South East County and City Enterprise Boards, will comprise €15,000 for consumer research and €10,000 for branding, designing and packaging.
The aim of the competition is to encourage all food companies to bring any new innovative ideas to their full completion.
The winning idea will be provided with a complete support service from the Enterprise Board which will include help in producing a business plan, consultation with an intellectual property expert to advise on the protection of the idea, and advice on financing the business and grant-aid information.
An event to further promote this competition amongst those interested in taking part, will be held in Lawlors Hotel in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, on October 6th.
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