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Vocational Education Committee’s (VEC) ( Coiste Gairmoideachais) are a Irish statutory local education body that administers some secondary education and most adult education here in the state. VEC’s were originally created by the Vocational Education Act 1930, as successors to the Technical Instruction Committees established by the Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act 1899.
 Mary Coughlan TD The original purpose of the committees was to administer continuation and technical education for 14 to 16 year-olds and were charged with the duty of setting up and maintaining Vocational Schools.
This month the Department of Education and Skills announced that the number of VEC’s are to be reduced from 33 to 16 by amalgamation. In relation to the county of Tipperary the amalgamation of our two VECs will be as follows:-
North Tipperary amalgamated with County Clare.
South Tipperary amalgamated with City of Waterford and County Waterford.
The McCarthy Report An Bord Snip Nua recommended that the number of VEC’s be reduced from 33 to 22 countrywide, but the Minister for Education and Skills Mary Coughlan TD has now reduced the numbers down to a total of 16.
It is interesting to note that these changes did not effect the current Ministers for Education, Mary Coughlan TD’s own constituents in County Donegal, nor indeed the former Minister for Education, Bartholomew “Batt” O’Keeffe TD’s own constituents in County Cork.
I am at pains at this stage to point that both Batt and Moll, in this action, would not be attempting to curry favour with their local electorate, since both will loose their seats in the forthcoming elections anyway. Both TD’s as we know are committed to promoting equity and inclusion not to mention lifelong learning, while providing education that is relevant to personal, social, cultural and the economic needs of England, Australia, USA and Canada, since no jobs are available here in Ireland.
Continue reading Tipperary Vocational Education Committee’s Worried
 It is not often you get a chance to have your say nowadays living in a ‘Nanny Republic’ as we do. However Europe Direct Ireland are inviting you to enter a national soapbox competition and by doing so, win some fantastic prizes!
To highlight the importance the European Union places on ‘Climate Change’ they are holding a soapbox competition on “Wind energy – the future or a blot on the landscape?”
You will have a chance to share your views and to win some fantastic prizes. Regional finalists will win an iPad, a trip to Brussels and will be entered for the National Final with a prize of €1,000. Soapbox events will be held in 7 regional locations followed by a national final in Farmleigh, Dublin on 19th November 2010.
Your 3 minute speech will be less impromptu – you will get to research it and prepare it in advance. The topic is wind energy, so like it or loathe it, agree or disagree, wind farms generate a lot of controversy, as well as potential energy.
They want to hear your views! You will deliver your speech at your local Europe Direct Centre, at an event in November in front of a local audience and a panel of judges who will include someone with an expertise on the subject – so do your research!
Your local Europe Direct Information Centre is at the Source Library, Cathedral St., Thurles, Co. Tipperary. They are holding their regional final on Friday 12th November at 7 p.m. and this event will be chaired by Alan Kelly M.E.P.
There will be also be runner-up 2nd and 3rd prizes of €150 and €100 respectively to be won.
To help get your thinking cap on, they will be holding information sessions with the Tipperary Energy Agency in Nenagh Library (19th October, 12.30 p.m.), Thurles Library (19th October, 6.30 p.m.) and Clonmel Library (28th October, 6.30 p.m.).
They will also be paying a visit to a working wind farm, at Ballinveny near Templemore, on Friday 22nd October at 2.30 p.m.. This free trip is open to all but booking is necessary. Why not call Thurles Library on 0504 29720 to book your place now.
You can pick up an entry form in any of the public libraries in Tipperary or enter online at www.europedirect.ie.
Before you all start to panic unduly, this is a true story from history and has no bearing whatsoever on our present banking difficulties.
Many readers, however, will identify similarities to the current prevailing individual greed recently exposed with regard to our present bankers, politicians and so called developers.
Until recent times at least, John Sadlier was the best known of all Irish fraudsters who came to prominence during the Victorian era.
John was born in 1813 near Shrone Hill, Co. Tipperary, of wealthy parents. Raised a Catholic he was educated at Clongowes Wood College, latter founded in 1814 by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). His professional career began when he succeeded his uncle to a very prosperous solicitor’s practice in Dublin.
 The once Sadliers Bank, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. In Tipperary there was no banking system which served the savings of small farmers, clerks and local shopkeepers, so he ventured a joint stock bank in 1838, known as Sadlier’s Bank. This new occupation as a banker was in his blood. His grandfather James Scully had established a bank in Tipperary town in 1803. This new bank was founded, with James Scully his uncle taking on the position of Chairman.
This new business set about targeting small farmers, tradesmen and clerks, and offered above average interest rates on deposits. The bank appeared to prosper and by 1845 there were numerous branches in operation, extending north from Tipperary, into Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Athy, Co Kildare and into Co.Carlow. In Tipperary branches were established in Clonmel, Carrick, Tipperary Town, Thurles, Nenagh, Roscrea and even in the small remote village of Glengoole, near Thurles.
The Sadlier’s Bank premise in Thurles was then situated to the left of the old Constabulary Barracks, latter in use up to 1903, in Liberty Square, Thurles. ( See framed section in photograph.) It was behind the then Singer Sewing Machine shop, now Quigley’s Bakery, in a large three story house, which later became the ‘Thurles Poor School ‘. Both the Barracks and Bank house sites stood on the spot presently replaced in more recent years by the Ursuline Convent Primary school.
Among the early shareholders in this venture were James Sadlier of Shronell, Rev Thomas O’Mahony of Templebraden, Richard Scully of Tipperary, James Scully of Athassel, Pat Cleary Cahirvillahowe, James Sadlier Clonacody, Robert Keating Garrinlea and John Ryan Scarteen.
John Sadlier’s only visible vice’s were that he kept company with landed gentry, owned a stable at Watford from whence he hunted with the Gunnersbury hounds and to be consumed by attaining celebrity status and positions of power.
Continue reading A Tipperary Bank Is Declared Bankrupt
 Deputy Noel Coonan On Monday, Fine Gael Party Leader Enda Kenny announced new Deputy Spokespersons in the Dáil and Tipperary North TD Noel Coonan was among one of those allocated specialist responsibility.
Deputy Noel Coonan, speaking to www.thurles.info,welcomed his new appointment as Deputy Spokesperson on Agriculture with special responsibility for CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) Reform.
Deputy Coonan will now leave his present portfolio as Deputy Spokesperson on Communications with responsibility for Telecommunications and will be convening with Front Bench Agriculture Spokesperson Andrew Doyle TD to assess how he can best contribute to the development and communication of the Party’s Agricultural policies in preparation for the next general election.
“I am very pleased with my new role and being a farmer myself, it is a position I feel knowledgeable in and comfortable with. I will continue to engage with farmers throughout the North Tipperary constituency to discuss CAP reform with the target of having new policy in place by 2013. I’m also kindly urging farmers who have views on this topic to contact me. It’s important that the budget for post 2013 CAP is sufficient to fund the essential role CAP plays in increasing agricultural productivity, ensuring a fair standard of living for the agricultural community and assuring the availability of supplies. What is also vital is that the reformed policy actively encourages more young farmers into the fold with only 7% of the EU’s farmers under 35 years of age,” said Deputy Coonan.
Commenting on his new appointments, Party Leader Enda Kenny TD stated on Monday:
“Following on from the Front Bench announcement in July, these appointments of Deputy Spokespersons and the allocations of special responsibilities today, are another important step in the strengthening of Fine Gael’s team in Dáil Eireann. The calibre of today’s appointments underlines the depth and strength of talent in the overall Fine Gael team and I am confident that we will win the support of the Irish people, when they get the opportunity to vote for a new government.”
The Treaty of Rome provided for the establishment of CAP and same financing comes from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund which is an integral part of the EU Budget.
Until Tuesday last, the Danish author and poet Hans Christian Anderson was regarded as possibly the greatest storyteller of all time. This position has now been superseded by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his followers, following the announced new integrated plan for trade, tourism and investment aimed at generating up to 300,000 jobs.
This five year fairytale aims to increase the number of overseas visitors to the country to eight million and attract an extra 780 foreign investment projects through the IDA. The Taoiseach was joined in this story telling session by the Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe, Minister for Tourism, Thurles born Mary Hanafin, Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith and Minister for Trade and Commerce, Billy Kelleher.
 Water Storage Tank This new jobs announcement is nothing short of a carefully choreographed PR stunt to dissuade the millions intent on shortly taking to the streets and while 150,000 people may be fooled into thinking that our future problems are suddenly solved, 850,000 still remain resolute. This latest announcement demonstrates further, contempt for the Irish population, lack of realistic imagination and non existent leadership, from those currently charged with with running this State. This government are comedians and 300,000 jobs has to be their biggest joke to-date.
If this so called plan could not be achieved in the last two years, how in God’s name are they going to going to achieve it now. The trains and boats and planes are filling daily with our young and not so young, each forced immigrant educated at the expense of Irish taxpayers, leaving this country of birth to offer their skills to our market competition.
One piece of the fairytale however may be true, Brazil, China, India, Russia, Japan and the Gulf States appear to be the preferred destination for next year’s St Patrick’s Day junkets, under the guise of selling indigenous exports into new high-growth target markets.
OK, so I am using harsh language here, but let us together examine the facts using a calculator.
The plan is to create 300,000 jobs over five years. This means 60,000 jobs per year or 1,153.8 jobs every week. This would be the realistic equivalent of a new Dell Computer manufacturing plant being built every fortnight or one Intel plant being built every week. Where is Dell now and jobs in tourism are totally dependant on strong recovery in the world’s economy, latter presently stagnant or slow at very best and the signs are that it will remain so for at least another decade.
So what should we be doing realistically to get back to work and aim at profitability?
Unlike political parties we do not criticize without offering strong alternative solutions and here is just one.
Continue reading Integrated Plan Generating 300,000 Jobs A Fairytale
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