Tips and Topics In Ireland 2006 to 2007
Factfiles and News and Information about Ireland
December 2007 RTÉ Television programme highlights Ireland’s top earners in 2007
RTÉ1 Television showed a programme hosted by Craig Doyle on Thursday 27th December with the top 50 men and women in the country who had made the greatest financial gains in the year. The majority of individuals were involved in the property business. Names like Sir Tony O’Reilly, Dr Michael Smurfit, Michael O’Leary and Denis O’Brien were amongst those who had increased their wealth. Seán Quinn came in at number one and his insurance company (Quinn Direct) had snapped up the health insurer BUPA Ireland. The transaction value was €150 million, however they secured a “cut” in the BUPA price after the Government closed a loophole that would have enabled Quinn Direct to avoid making risk equalisation payments to VHI (the original Irish health provider) for three years.
December 2007 Real house prices in Ireland will fall between 21 per cent between 2007 and 2009
House prices in Ireland peaked at an average of €311,000 in February 2007 according to the ESRI/Permanent TSB survey. In November 2007 they had declined by 5.9 per cent to €292,000. It has been forecasted that the rate of decline is accelerating and will probably reach 10-12 per cent by February 2008 which will give an average house price of €280,000. A conservative forecast of 6-8 per cent would bring down the average house price to €263,000 by February 2009. It has also been forecast that those individuals who have bought houses since 2006 with 100 per cent mortgages will have to hold tight for another five years to achieve any capital gain or keep away from negative equity. The rental market could be the solution for those deciding to hold fire on purchasing in 2008.
December 2007 Cathal Ryan eldest son of Tony Ryan dies
20th December 2007 Cathal Ryan the eldest son of the late Dr Tony Ryan, Ryanair founder died. He was 48 years old and died of cancer a couple of months after his father died of cancer (see further down Tips and Topics in Ireland) Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary described the him as "one of life's originals. He was also an extremely skilled pilot, having become one of the youngest ever captains on the Boeing 747 aircraft, which he flew for Air Lanka in the early 1980s. Cathal's vision, his expertise and his dedication to aircraft safety was pivotal to the development of Ryanair, and to our 22-year safety record". With his brothers Declan and Shane he spoke at his own father's memorial service in mid-October.
December 2007 Irish Budget 2008 — Changes in mortgage interest relief and stamp duty
Irish Minister of Finance Brian Cowen announced on the 5th December Budget details to help the current property situation. Houses with a value of less than €1 million will be liable to stamp duty of 7 per cent with no tax due on the first €125,000. A 9 per cent stam duty rate will apply on the balance of house prices over the 1 million level. Mortgage interest relief is to rise by 2,000 for a single person and 4,000 for a married couple. Commenting on the budget the Minister for Finance Brian Cowen said "It will offer a floor to the property market.There will be no losers and no anomalies created bt this banding system. It will be extreemly simple and considerably less expensive." The stamp duty paid on the average priced house of 370,000 will fall by €5,050 from €22,200 to €17,150
Speaking after the announcement Marian Finnegan Chief Economist, Sherry FitzGerald said “This is undoubtedly good news for the property market. The penalising rate of stamp duty applicable in the second-hand market has for too long acted as a barrier to entry into the established property market and was in effect a tax on mobility. The decision to abolish stamp duty for first time buyers earlier this year went some way to addressing this situation but it was not far enough
November 2007 Estimated 10,000 Empty Apartments in Dublin, Ireland area
The vast majority of these apartments are new apartments what have not sold or even been put on the market. In some cases developers are not launching their properties until conditions improve and others are retaining them and renting them out. The effects of the slow down in the market are being felt in associtated off shoot businesses. One company that started out as a fit out and renovation service for investors is now offering a spruce up house and garden to people trying to sell their property.
October 2007 Former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland Albert Reynolds sells Dublin home
Six months ago 18 Ailesbury Road, Dublin went on the market via Ireland's largest estate agents — Sherry FitzGerald for 15 million. The property is located in south Dublin in one of the most prestigous roads. The equivalent slot to Park Lane, London on the "Monopoly" game board. The five bedroom house is reputed to have been sold for 14 million. Mr and Mrs Reynolds have moved into a penthouse apartment at the Four Seasons Hotel, Balsbridge, Dublin. Albert Reynold served as the eighth Taoiseach of Ireland from 1992 to 1994.
October 2007 Ireland is top of the Loney Planet 2008 Blue List
The Loney Planet 2008 Blue List has Ireland as the world's friendliest country. It is the world's friendliest nation because of its ability to find fun in the best and worst times.The famous ability of the Irish to find craic (described as fun times with convivial company) in boom and bust times means you are always in for a treat. Second place in the survey followed by the USA,, Malawi, Fiji, Indonesia, Vietnam, Samoa, Thailand, Scotland and Turkey.
October 2007 Interesting way of monitoring buiding activity in Dublin, Ireland
For many years, now any visitor to Dublin would see sections of the skyline covered in building cranses. Whether you approached by boat or air you could see the re-devolopment of Dublin. Commercial estate agents Jones Lang LaSalle have introduced a quarterly "Crane Watch". The study shows at present that the number of craneson site has declined from 77 to 58 between the second and third quarters of 2007. More cranes could be appearing by the Spring of 2008, provided the high rise development at Jurys / Berkley Court gets final planning.
October 2007 Founder of Ryanair – Dr Tony Ryan dies
Dr Tony Ryan the Ryanair airline founder and entrepreneur died at his home in Co Kildare, Ireland on the 3rd October 2007 after an 18 month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 71.
He joined Aer Lingus in 1954 and in 1975 set up Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA) in Shannon and it became one of the world’s biggest aircraft and leasing businesses. In 1985 he co-founded Ryanair and it offered flights between Waterford and London Gatwick. In 1986 he put his personal assistant Michael O’Leary in charge and with the Irish Government’s agreement was able to establish sole rights to certain flights – Dublin to London – Luton and Stanstead. In 1997 Ryanair was floated on the stock market and by 2007 after the Aer Lingus flotation the company owns nearly 30% of it, back in the 1980’s Aer Lingus was offered Ryanair for — €25 million — next to nothing, but the offer was turned down. It was also offered to British Airways for about €130 million. Michael O’Leary said “His many achievements in business, education, sport, the arts and heritage preservation leave an astonishing legacy to an extraordinary man” Other tributes came from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and Sir Anthony O’Reilly,
Jim King a former chief executive of GPA Leasing said, “ He was a wonderful judge of people. Two years before Michael O’Leary became prominent, Tony told me that he had found a young man who would go on to become the greatest airline manager of his generation”. He later became involved with other airlines via his company Irlandia Investments in Tiger Airways in Singapore (2003) and AeroBus in Mexico (2006). In 1980 he had tried to launch an airline called Irlandia, but it never succeeded. Michael O'Leary regularly met Dr Ryan "for a cup of tea" and saw him for the last time on a Monday evening at the start of October. He went there at 6.30 and left at 11.00 and said "He was in great form, talking about the future and wanting to know the five year strategy of Ryanair".
Meanwhile from the 17th November 2007 — Low cost carrier Ryanair starts flights between Dublin and Nice
Aer Lingus's monopoly of flights between Dublin and Nice will end when a daily Ryanair flight strats. Ryanair will also be operating routes to Marrakesh and Fez in Morocco from Nice Cote d'Azur and Marseille from October 31st. 2007
September 207 Well known pub on outskirts of Dublin, to finally become a site for flats
In 2006 the Dollymount House, (known as the the Dollymount Inn before that) in Clontarf, Dublin 3 overlooking the sea was bought by the MKN Property Group (McKeon family) for around 15 million. Dublin City Council have now given planning permission for it to be knocked down and a 50 million luxury apartment complex built on the site. There will be three blocks of apartments rising to 5 storeys.There had been several objectors to the proposal because they believed the area had lost a valuable neighbourhood facility.
August 2007 Aer Lingus takes nearly six months to reply to customer complaint The new code share flights came in January 2007. Aer Lingus stated on their website and in a leaflet the baggage charges would not apply on code share flights. However their interpretation of a code share flight was not very clear as far as members of the general public were concerned. More Information
June 2007 Abolition of Stamp Duty for First Time Buyers in Ireland
Sherry FitzGerald, Ireland's largest estate agents, has welcomed the abolition of stamp duty for first time buyers through the publication of Finance (Number 2) Bill 2007. The Bill, which has been approved by Cabinet, provides a stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers of a house or an apartment on all purchases on or after March 31st of this year. Under the new legislation, a first-time buyer who executed a deed of transfer on a property on April 1 this year and presented it to Revenue on April 15 would qualify for a refund of any stamp duty paid, as the deed was executed after March 31. Stamp duty rates for non-first-time buyers will start at 3 per cent on purchases above €127,000 and rise in a scale to 9 per cent on properties over €635,000.
June 2007 Holiday insurance
Why buy travel insurance? This is certainly one of the dullest items on your holiday checklist. Recent studies in Ireland and Britain have found that a lot of people are simply not taking out travel insurance or knowing what it actually covers.
In Ireland the VHI (Irish health insurer) published a survey in June stating that only 57 per cent of Irish People who travelled abroad for leisure purposes in 2006 took out travel insurance. According to Declan Moran of VHI Healthcare “Two out of every five people are travelling abroad with no travel insurance. They need to consider the risks.” There are risks and according to the VHI in 2006 it cost €1,505,147 to bring the sick and injured home to Ireland.
Meanwhile a study published in mid June in the UK showed more than three quarters of holidaymakers had no idea whether their travel insurance gave them the right protection. Of 2,000 people questioned by Go Travel Insurance,78 per cent said they had not read the terms and conditions on their policies and did not know the details of their cover, including exclusions and the level of protection offered.
Follow this link to our Travel Insurance section and look at the Direct Travel – Endsleigh – Essential Travel
June 2007 Ikea could face a long delay before it builds in Dublin
The Swedish retailer Ikea has received approval from An Bord Pleanála for its planned 30,000sq metre store near the Ballymun motorway interchange north of Dublin on the M50 motorway. The project could be delayed for several years as the store cannot be built till the intechanged is upgraded. Ikea will employ 500 people in the new store. Apart from the upgrade to the motorway junction the other conditions are: Online shopping available within 12 months of opening — Shuttle bus between store and Ballymun — Subsidised home delivery — The store cannot open before 11am on weekdays and must stay open until at least 10pm. There must be traffic management for car parks. There should be 1,527 parking spaces. Improvement work on the junction is unlikely to be completed till 2009.
June 2007 Irish General Election — Bertie Ahern forms third term government
The first Fianna Fáil led three party coalition has taken office on the 14th June. The Irish general election was held on the 24th May. The coalition is with the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats. Bertie Ahern has been comfortably elected as Taoiseach (Prime Minister). Bertie Ahern took office within weeks of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1997 and is the tenth Taoiseach of Ireland. He was born in 1951 in Drumcondra, Dublin.9 and still lives there. He has two daughters Georgina and Cecelia. Georgina married, Westlife star Nicky Byrne and gave birth to twins in April a few weeks before the 2007 general election took place. Cecelia.Ahern is an author and has had her novels in the Irish best sellers list.
May 2007 Own a holiday home outside Ireland? Have you discovered how expensive it can be to get to from Ireland?
The cost of getting to that holiday home in the main seasons throughout the year can prove to be quite costly for a holiday home owner living in Ireland. Figures researched in May 2007 have found that although there are a choice of airlines — (Aer lingus and Ryanair being the major players in the Republic and easyJet from Belfast) it is not too easy picking up a bargain. Aer Lingus and Ryanair fly to Malaga in southern Spain twice a day, however flight costs over Easter 2007 to this destination were costing €250 return, and the Aer Lingus price for October 2007 is currently €345.
There are a lot of Irish who own holiday homes in this part of Spain and there are not many alternatives if you want direct flights. You can of course fly into Britain on Ryanair for example to London Stanstead or Luton and take a cut price flight onto Spain. The problem here is that you might have to wait around at the British airport for a few hours and that you flight from Ireland might be delayed and you miss your connecting flight.
If you are flying to the south of France, Nice can prove very expensive at popular times. Flights can cost around €300 return. They are also costing more from the UK in May when the Cannes film festival and Monaco Grand Prix are on, but you can fly from Dublin to Marseille by Ryanair.
Tips on how to get a good deal
May 2007 Research has found that London residential property is the most expensive in the world — It has now overtaken Monaco — Dublin is in 17th place
A report by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank has revealed that London has the most expensive residential properties in the world. The average cost in prime central London is £2,300 per square foot. More
April 2007 General Election called in Ireland
The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has announced the general election to be held on the 24th May 2007. His party Fianna Fáil are hoping to use his huge popularirty to lead them to victory.
April 2007 Insurance4carhire.com is pleased to announce that it has launched a car rental Excess comparative site
The site shows the Excess amounts charged by the major car rental companies, as well as the daily rates they charge to reduce the Excess.
The information was compiled during April 2007 by Insurance4carhire staff calling each car rental company's airport location at the international airport in the capital city of each country – more than 180 locations in total — and the costs are based on the daily cost of excess for a compact size car.
The survey was conducted in more than 30 countries across Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, USA and Canada. The car rental companies surveyed are: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and National More information
April 2007 Property prices could drop by 30 per cent in Ireland according to RTÉ programme Future shock Property Crash
On Monday evening 16th April 2007 on RTÉ 1 television a programme entitled "Future shock Property Crash" was shown. They investigated that if the property bubble in Ireland is about to burst? It was presented by Journalist Richard Curran who investigated the underlying realities of current trends. He looked at the knock on effects of a sliding US dollar, a downsizing construction industry and the role of the banks and other institutions in predicting a potential crash. There was outrage at this programme by the property industry after the programme's predictions of a 30 per cent drop in houses prices. The estate agents felt that this type of programme will cause sleepless nights for young buyers with large mortgage repayments and put others off buying and selling. New home developers were rather concerned by the predictions In March The Central Statistics Office (CSO) released figures that the number of new houses built in the last quarter of 2006 in the Republic of Ireland fell for the first time in 10 years. After the programme was shown some agents were reporting cancellation of viewings.
March 2007 Home building in Ireland falls for the first time in 10 years
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has released figures that the number of new houses built in the last quarter of 2006in the Republic of Ireland fell for the first time in 10 years. The number was 1.7 percent down on the same period in 2005. The approval of new dwellings in the same period of 2006 were 21.4 per cent than a year earlier.
March 2007 Irish airlines defend baggage charge increases
Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair have defended increases of up to 33 per cent in charges levied on air passengers carrying baggage that is not hand baggage. Aer Lingus first introduced baggage charges in January 2007 with the online price for baggage being €4.00 and it is going up to 5.00 — a 25% increase per flight. The Consumers' Association of Ireland has denounced the increased baggage charges as "a scandalous rip-off of the traveeling public". Rynair's online baggage charges have risen by over 71 per cent in the the year since they were introduced. The British airline BMIBaby ( the budget airline of British Midland) has also increased it's baggage rates. Online they have increased from €4.00 to €4.95. See Also
meanwhile Ryanair flight FR296 on the 20th March from Dublin to London Stanstead had to carry out an emergency landing returning to Dublin after its tail hit the ground on take-off. The Air Accident Investigation Unit of the Department of Transport is investigating the incident. The aircraft had been involved in a tailstrike which means the aircraft scrapes along the ground because it has taken off too steeply. It was inspected after landing and took off again three hours later..
March 2007 Road signs for the place where the BBC Television Series Ballykissangel was set incorrectly spelt.
Road signs for Avoca (abhóca) have been wrongly spelt. Instead of Avoca they have been spelt “AVCOCA” with an extra "c" after the "v". The Gaelic Irish version is correct, however it looks like they will have to be re-written. Hoperfully County Wicklow Council have not paid the bill yet and sptted the signwriters mistake. Avoca was made famous in the BBC Northern Ireland TV series that ran from 1996 to 2001 creating the fictional town of Ballykissangel staring Dervla Kirwan and Stephen Tompkinson.
March 2007 New low cost Spanish Airline takes off
Clickair is the first low cost airline to fly out of London Heathrow airport. Spanish owned Clickair has begun to fly to Seville and Valencia. They offer low fares and the flexibility to change departures without heavy penalties. They also offer fast track boarding. There are currently some 16 million Britons going to Spain each year and the airline is confident of providing great value flexibility for tourists and business passengers. It is one of Europe’s fastest growing airlines and by mid 2008 expects to have a fleet of 30 Airbus A320’s operating on 70 routes. There will be four new routes in the spring of 2007 with flights from Dublin, Ireland to Barcelona. Meanwhile Ryanair the Irish low cost airline has announced two new routes from the Liverpool John Lennon Airport. From March & April 2007 they will be adding Palma and Alicante. They have also announced that it is set to go into competition with easyJet and ThomsonFly with a daily flight from London Stanstead airport to Alicante, Spain on March 25th and from Dublin, Ireland to Alicante in May 2007. The airline that is Europe’s largest now operates 454 routes from 130 airports across Europe.
February 2007 Erinaceous Group Plc Opens Property Management Office in Dublin
Erinaceous Group Plc has opened a bespoke Property Management service from a new office based at 66 Lower Baggot Street in Dublin.
The new office is a central part of Erinaceous' ambitious plans to extend the Group's portfolio of property support services for public and private sectors in the Irish market. It follows the establishment in early 2006 of the group's project management and quantity surveying services in Ireland led by MD Tom McNamara.
As a result of today's announcement, Erinaceous Group in Ireland will be able to provide property support services in the following areas:
Property Management – private and public sector, Project Management – private and public sector ,Quantity Surveying ,Management ,Bank Monitoring ,Housing Consultancy – public sector, Regeneration
Erinaceous' Irish property management services will be managed by Eamonn Boyle. Eamonn has many years experience in the sector, having previously been employed as a director at Wyse, one of Ireland's foremost real estate firms.
Erinaceous owns Homelet and Letsure Rental Insurance Services in the Uk
January 2007 Savills Hamilton Osborne King and HOK Residential have rebranded in Ireland
From the January 2nd 2007, Savills Hamilton Osborne King and HOK Residential have rebranded to Savills Hamilton Osborne King. Founded in 1987, Hamilton Osborne King was acquired by Savills in June 2006. It has offices offices in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and an associated office in Limerick. Savills has over 140 offices and associates world-wide... meanwhile the company expands further in England. They have bought a former competitor in central London — Chesterfield. Chesterfield was founded over 20 years ago by David Forbes and Brian D'Arcy Clark. It will be re-branded as Savills.
December 2006 Dublin Port Tunnel opens in Ireland — 20th December 2006
The Taoiseach — Prime Minister of Ireland Bertie Ahern has opened €751 million Dublin Port Tunnel.The Port Tunnel is the longest urban motorway tunnel in Europe and largest ever civil engineering project in Ireland, stretching 4.5km in both directions under the city. Initially, it is expected to carry over 6,300 vehicles and buses a day from Dublin Port to the M1 and M50 in six minutes. The project employed more than 5,000 people worked eight million man hours during the course of the project, which started in June 2001.Much of the tunnel is between 21 and 23 metres — seven storeys deep — below ground level through hard limestone using two tunnel boring machines named Gráinne and Megan.
Numerous properties in Drumcondra and Marino — Fairview have had to have repair work carried out following the excavation and repair work still continues.The properties will be monitored for many years to come.The effected residents were very well informed of progress and were given a tour of the works in the early stages. On Sunday 17th December they were given a tour of the tunnel and afterwards a buffet lunch complete with wine. The week earlierThe Port Tunnel Race was held. A 10K running race in aid o fDEBRA Ireland. (DEBRA Ireland is a charity researching cures and providing support for people with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare genetic disorder that means skin and other internal linings are so fragile they blister or tear at the slightest touch).
December 2006 BUPA to pull out of Ireland
Health insurer BUPA Ireland announced that as from the 14th December 2006, it has no option but to commence its withdrawal from the market. The company will no longer accept new members and current members will not be renewed. This is the first step in the closure of the business. The company would be required to pay €161 million in Risk Equalisation payments over the next three years to the dominant market insurer, the VHI. This would be far in excess of its estimated surplus of €64 million in this period. The High Court recently noted that there are anti-competitive aspects to the Risk Equalisation Scheme and that when applied BUPA Ireland would be operating at a loss. BUPA Ireland currently employs 300 people, between Fermoy and Dublin. It has475,000 customers in the Republic.
The Taoiseach — Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has criticised BUP over the insurance for the elderley. He said "What we were being asked by Bupa — and let's not put a tooth in this — was that people who are all well and healthy can pay cheap insurance while old people then get screwed. I am not going to do that whle they get greater profits. I'll look after the people who need looking after. If insurance is all about going out and getting 100 people who are unlikely to get sick for the next 10 years so they make greater profits, that's great, that's marvellous. And I am meant to be impressed by that argument? And then you get 100 people who are like myself and half crocked and we have to pay far more for it. That's fair? Market forces? Competition? Who are the codding? Without community rating health insurance would probably not be affordable by many of those who need it most".
December 2006 RTÉ Ireland Prime Time Programe investigate — Buyer beware
RTÉ televsion showed a Prime Time report on some of the unregulated world of estate agents and property developers in Ireland on the 11th December. The report by Oonagh Smyth portrayed false bids, ghost bidders gazumping and the under pricing of property. Building developments were also featured were roads had not been completed thus making life for residents difficult and hard of they wanted to sell on. The investigation also looked at management companies for blocks of apartments who were not doing the job they were being paid for. The progamme highlighted the fact that regulation is needed now
December 2006 Irish Budget December 2006
The Minister for Finance Brian Cowen presnted the Budget in Ireland on the 7th December. For property: Stamp duty thresholds have been left unchanged but the ceiling on mortgage interest relief for first time byers doubled to 8,000 for a single person and 16,000 for a couple or widowed person.This is double to what it was before. It will apply to all first time buyers for the first seven years of their mortgage. An estimated 125,000 people with first homes are set to benefit from this. The Minister is also raising the ceiling on interest relief for non first time buyers from 2,540 to 3,000 for a single buyer and from 5,800 to 6,000 for a married mortgage holder.
Commenting on the Budget Declan Cassidy the Managing Director of Gunne Residential said "The increase in mortgage interest relief for first time buyers will improve affordability without artificially driving house prices to higher levels as was witnessed when the Government made changes to the stamp duty thresholds in the past". The changes are expected to give a significant boost to the new homes market which in 2006 will produce over 90,000 new homes.
December 2006- Immigrants boost Rental Market in Ireland Figure recently released state that the Dublin rentals market is now bouncing back since it fell into a decline in 2002. From September 2005 to September 2006 rents have increased by 10 per cent. This has been largely due to the steady inflow of immigrants into Dublin. Workers come from Poland, China abnd other major countries. The average rent for a one bedroom property in Dublin cit centre is 1,031 per month. There is also rental businness from corporate employees being relocated to Dublin.
November 2006 -500 jobs to be created in Dublin by Google Ireland
Google has anounced the creation of 500 jobs in its Barrow Street offices, Dublin.This was anounced by John Herlihy Google's European Director of online sales of Google Ireland. The Google Ireland operation serves customers in 35 countries and is the second largest Google operation, the largest is in Mountain View California, USA. The Irish office was established in 2003 and the new jobs to be created will be in sales, customer support, IT and management. The Irish operation currently has some 800 employees — mostly in their 20's and early 30's. There are other offices in New York and India.
September 2006 — Northern Ireland property prices rise up 25%
Research from the University of Ulster has found that the average price of a house in Northern Ireland has increased twenty five per cent in the last year. According to these figures the average price of a home is now £162,821. The most expensive place to live in is Lisburn where the average price is £194,519. Meanwhile, Norhern Ireland's rental section has enjoyed something of a renaissance over the past ten years according to the CML — Council of Mortgage Lenders.
August 2006 — The new second Dublin airport terminal's cost soars to 395 million
The cost of the second airport terminal at Dublin Airport, Ireland has almost doubled. The DAA — Dublin Airport Authority siaid it intended applying for planning permission for 75,000sq m facility opposaed to the previous estimate of a 50,000 sq m one.The previous cost was in the region of 170 to 200 million. The new terminal will house 58 check in desks. The DAA wants a 7.50 per pasasenger charge to help pay for the development. Aer Lingus will be using the new terminal (2) and Ryanair passengers will be using the existing terminal (1) although they will still be required to pay the additional passenger charges.
Meanwhile — Ryanair has recently announced their biggest ever expansion at Dublin
There is a significant expansion from Ireland's largest airline. From December 2006 Rynair will three new aircraft in Dublin Airport and create over 200 jobs and start services on routes from Dublin to points all over Europe. The new schedule of routes to Spain includes Madrid, Vitoria in the Basque region, Seville and Almerria. The CEO of Ryanair Michael O'Leary said "Move over Aer Lingus! Rynair is now Ireland's national airline and Aer Lingus is just a distant number2....."
Ryanair to offer inflight mobile phone calls
The airline has anounced that it will be the first European airline to allow passengers to use their mobile with a specialist communication system Mobile OnAir by mid 2007 and the remainder of the fleet by 2008. It usses light weight technology via a satellite to a testestrial phone network run by Monaco Telecom. The call rates start at 1.78 /£1.20 per minute. The system has an airborne transmitter with a lightweight GSM pico-cell network located on the aircraft itself and a mobile would go directly to this opposed to going to a normal transmitter mast.
August 2006 — Aer Lingus will be charging for carrying luggage
The Irish airline Aer Lingus has followed Ryanair and FlyBe in annoucing that it will charge passengers extra for baggage it carries in the aircraft hold. This will be from the 17th January 2007. They will levy a fee 8.00 / £5.50 for each bag carried for short haul flights or half if it is booked on line in advance. This fee policy reflects the moves among some low cost airlines like Irish competitor Ryanair to apportion costs for optional services. The company has abolished complimentary catering on its European network. The policy will not affect British Airways passengers who are booked on "code share flights" (EI127 /BA329 for excample) that operated from London Heathrow to Dublin, Cork and Shannon. British Airways has negotiated for its passengers to be exempt from the charge. See Also
June 2006 — 20 year plan for Dublin Airport gets approved.
The County Council governing Dublin Airport – Fingal County Council has approved a 20 year development plan for Dublin airport. This will also allow for a third terminal to the west of the existing airport.
The plan was put to public consultation in April 2006 and it includes details of the already planned infrastructure up to 2011 that includes the new runway and second terminal. These are projects are due to be operational by 2009.
The third terminal will be built to accommodate a growth in passenger numbers from the current 18.5 million a year to a figure around 40 million by 2025.
There will be road improvements costing €200 million and The Metro will begin operating in 2012. This long term plan will also include two new hotels.
June 2006 - National Roads Authority (NRA) about to reveal sites for motorway service stations.
The National Roads Authority is close to issuing a call for property developers to build the authority’s first motorway service areas. Locations will be about 60 kilometres from Dublin and then nearby towns. These service stations are to be modelled on European ones, however because of the population levels will spread further apart. Proposed locations include the M1 above Drogheda, N11 Arklow by pass, north of Carlow on the proposed M9, M7, M6, on the proposed M3 and N2 east of Kentstown. They also intend to create “rest stops” like the French autoroute Aires – with picnic tables, toilettes but no shops or fuel.
June 2006 — Dublin Port Tunnel
The Dublin Port Tunnel is nearly completed. It is a 5.6 kilometre (4.5 kilometre underground) dual carriageway that has been under construction for the past few years. It will link the M1 Dublin – Belfast and the M50 to Dublin Port. The objective to reduce the number of HGVs on the streets of Dublin by 6,000 per day. The two tunnels are linked every 250 metres by pedestrian cross passages and every 1,000 metres by vehicle cross passages as a safety measure for emergency exit routes. Construction started in 2001.
It will be operated by the NRA (National Roads Authority) who has appointed a French company Transroute International to manage it for the first five years. There will not be any toll charges for heavy goods vehicles and buses with 23 seats or more. All cars and commercial vehicles will have to pay a toll that ranges from €3 to €12 depending on the time of day.
Facts about the Tunnel project;
It is the largest road engineering project ever in Ireland. Only the electrification dam on the River Shannon at Ardnacrusha in the 1920’s comes near the size of the project.
A great deal of the tunnel is between 21 and 23 metres below ground level through hard limestone.
During the construction of the cut and cover phase, Fairview Park contained a hole the size of a cathedral and this will be filled in and returned as a park before the project is completed.
4,800 people have worked over 7.5 million man-hours on the project. No night time boring was permitted as this would have disturbed the occupiers of the houses above. There has been an excellent safety record and it has been amongst the safest undertaken in Ireland.
The cost of the project has a budget of €752million although the final costs will be significantly higher
The project installed a crossing under the Dublin-Belfast railway line east of Fairview without interrupting the rail service. It also built three bridges – Shantalla new bridge over the Tolka in East Wall and a new bridge and entrance to Dublin Port. — Source Dublin City Council
June 2006 Irish Retailer Superquinn to open ten stores by 2011
Supermarket chain Superquinn that has 21 stores has started to refurbish it's stores starting with the one at Blanchardstown. Apart from refurbishing the remaining stores they plan to open ten more stores by 2011. They are aimimg to open them in new developments as "anchor stores". According to chief Executive Simon Burke "Developers are very keen to have Superquinn — We have not been in the market for sites for a while." Simon Burke became chief executive in August 2005 after the company was bought from the Quinn family by Select Retail Holdings.
June 2006 Irish Estate Agents Colliers Jackson-Stops sells sixty per cent of shares
Dublin Estate agents Colliers Jackson-Stops that was established in 1973 has sold 60 per cent of its shares to British agency Colliers Conrad Ritbalt Erdman (CRE) Plc for 4.8 million in cash and shares. Declan Stone, managing director of Colliers Jackson-Stops said that the deal reflected wider trends in the Irish property industry.They employ 40 staffand now expect to create a further ten new jobs by the end of the year. Colliers CRE employs 750 staff and has offices in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The current partners of Colliers Jackson-Stops have retained 40 per cent share in the business. Savills aquired HOK (Hamilton Osborne King)earlier this year and Sherry Fitzgerald owns a large percentage of English agents Marsh and Parsons
April 2006 Dublin Airport Prepares for record passengers in 2006 — Basement is opened up for more check in area
There will 90,000 passengers travelling through Dublin airport each day during the peak summer holidays. The passengers will not face a mandatory requirement to remove shoes and belts. There will be a random 20 percent screening of passengers. The Dublin Airport Authority is moving the Bank of Ireland outlet and the basement area beneath the main terminal building is being renovated costing €25 million that will provide 26 more check in places. Ryanair are in discussions with the Authority to relocate there. In 2007 Pier D comes on stream. The Airport Authorirty is estimating two million passengers travelling through Dublin Airport in July and August.
April 2006 Dublin Airport Authority is given go-ahead for new runway
Following a sixteen month application process Fingal County Council has granted Dublin Airportplanning permission for a 150 million 3,119 metre runway that will be built 1.6km north and parallel to the existing runway.The airport will have to make extensive road improvements including a new western access route to the airport allowing for further westward expansion and provide a link to the N2
April 2006 Belfast Airport to serve five million passengers in 2006
For years Belfast airport was not much of an "international" airport. The destinations were London, Manchester and Glasgow and the only destination outside the UK and Ireland was Amsterdam. Today that has changed. easyJet's base in Ireland is Belfast and American airlines fly there as well. John Doran who used to work for the smaller Belfast City airport has been it's Managing Director for the past seven months. To expand as the current terminal building is only capable of handling 6 million passengers, a decision will have to be made.
John Doran says " We are fortunate here in that we aren't restricted for space and the environmental constrictions are relatively low. Definitely some of the benefits of Belfast are the ease with which you can approach the airport, the speed with which you move through the terminal and the lack of overcrowding." The plans are to attract travellers from Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. He says " Within an hour's drive from here, there are 1.6 million people and and with an hour and half you're talking maybe 2.5 million".
April 2006 Marks and Spencer plan to expand in Ireland
The UK retailer Marks and Spencer (M & S) that has opened eight new stores in the Republic of Ireland in the last 20 months is planning to continue the expansion. Wheras the operation in mainland Europe was terminated a few years ago, the brand name in Ireland has continued to grow. There are currently 12 stores in the republic and a total of 22 on Ireland overall. On the 12th April, the group reported a 6.8 per cent increase in like for like four quarter sales in the UK. They reported that business in Ireland was growing faster than across in the UK.
The company employs 2,000 in the Republic after it had created 1,500 new jobs in the past 20 months. There are no sales for figures for the Republic given out.
April 2006 Flights now avaible between Nice, Cork, Dublin and Belfast
Starting on the 1st April 2006 Aer Lingus will be flying to Dublin from Nice on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and to Cork on Friday and Saturday. The frequencies will be increased in the summer. easyJet will have flights to Belfast on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
March 2006 Ryanair flight to Derry lands at military airefield.
The UK's Civil Aviation Authority has launched an investigation into how a Ryanair flight from Liverpool to City of Derry airport landed at Ballykelly / Shackleton British arm airbase five miles away on Wednesday 29th March. The flight was being opearted on behalf of Ryanir by Eirjet Airline. The aircraft was carrying 38 passengers and six crew. When the plane landed British soldiers kept the passengers and crew on board for security reasons. One passenger commented they were treated well and the military authorities could see the funny side and some of the soldiers came on board welcomed them to their"International Airport"! Ryanair said the incident arose as a result of the Eirjet pilot who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to the City of Derry Airport. A ramp had to be brought from the Derry airport so that they could leave the plane.
March 2006 jml Property Insurance can now offer Holiday home property insurance to many European countries.
jml property insurance has been acting as an agent introducing Landlord and Tenant insurance in the UK since 2002. As the company is heavily involved in self-catering holiday home rentals with jmlvillas.com, there have been numerous requests for property insurance for owner's holiday homes in mainland Europe as well as the UK. There are now more and more people buying holiday homes overseas and in the it makes sense to deal with a company that can provide a policy written in a language the owner can understand.
jmlcan now introduce owners in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden,Malta, Cyprus and the UK to a policy written in English and underwritten at Lloyds. The premiums are payable in £ sterling and the insurance is arranged via Andrew Copeland (Insurance Consultants) Ltd.
Andrew Copeland are based in London and are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK. This is very good news for the owner of that dream holiday home property who is not too fluent in French, Spanish or Portuguese who can now understand the full details of the policy in his or her native tongue.
Further details can be found by going to http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk/overseas_property_insurance.htm
February 2007 Nearly Seven million visitors to Ireland in 2005
There were nearly seven million people visting Ireland in 2005 according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office. In December there were nearly half a million visitors. Overeseas visitors have risen steadily since 2001 — just under six million — and a six per cent increase since 2004. Those coming from continental Europe were up by almost four per cent, however those coming from North America have fallen from a five year high of 976,700 in 2004 to 950,800 in 2005. There was also a drop to visitors from other parts of the world like Asia, Japan and New Zealand.
Paul O'Toole the Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland said that they were pleased with the overall six per cent increase in overseas visitors. He said" This performance was under pinned by an excellent performance from Europe and a postive performance from the british market where we put considerable focus and investment last year". Prospects looked good for 2006 particularly as Ireland will be hosting the Ryder Cup golf competition between Europe and the United States.
February 2006 Report says that Tourists say Ireland is not unique enough
A survey by Tourism Ireland has said that Ireland's growing cosmopolitanism is turning off some holiday makers who think that the Irish cities are becoming indistinguishable from other European cities.
Mark Henry — Tourism Ireland's Director of central marketing said that holidaymakers from Britain in particular expressed the view that Ireland was not different or exotic enough compared with new European destinations. Five or ten years ago Ireland was greatly different from their domestic holidays. Now a lot of retail outlets are British so tourists are less likely to see the sort of uniqueley Irish run stores they might have seen eight or ten years ago. In addition cheap flights to eastern Europe meant British tourists could now visit more exotic locations for the same price.
A walk down Grafton Street, (Dublin) might give the impression of a high street in any British city, but this was a superficial view and Tourism Ireland was working to dispel it Mr Henry said. The agency was emphasising Ireland's culture and history, its festivals and archaelogical landscape.
The four year survey of more than 28,000 holidaymakers entitled Marketing Insights — Image of the Island of Ireland found that most tourists were still drawn to Ireland by the warm and witty people, the secenery.
Tips and Topics in Ireland 2008 onwards
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