Website lets you buy piece of Ireland for $50 - cashing in on Irish American nostalgia? - VIDEO

Irish plots, soil, available ahead of The Gathering

First it was acreage on the moon, now it's dinky one square foot plots of sod nestled somewhere in rural Ireland.

BuyIreland.com is one of several online Irish retailers stepping up their effort to make a quick buck from Irish-American nostalgia for the 'Emerald Isle' - taking a lead, no doubt, from government-sponsored initiatives like the controversial Certificate of Irish Heritage and that even more divisive initiative, The Gathering.

Founded by two Limerick businessmen in 2003, the website, allows willing customers a 20 year leasehold legal interest in the miniscule holdings, and is a sort of natural addition to web-based earth retailer officialirishdirt.com - covered in a 2007 article by the New York Times.

Like competitor APieceofIreland.com, it's questionable whether the tiny sum needed to make the purchase actually gives the customer long-term legal ownership of the land, but as a novelty gift it's more than enough to satisfy most punters.

That venture, itself operating since 2007, is one of a growing number of websites specializing in the retail of bags of the 'aul sod', as Irish ground is sometimes affectionately referred to as.

The business is one of only two such retailers to have been granted permission from the USDA to import foreign soil, a potentially dangerous vector for germs and insects, to the US; the other is an Israeli company offering Jerusalem dirt, according to Corey Kilgannon of the New York Times.


BuyIreland.com's customers certainly can't complain about the price.

Free worldwide shipping is included as standard in the meager  $50 price-tag, which covers both the cost of the mini plot itself and the dispatch of a map showing precisely where your modest acquisition is actually located in the back and beyonds.


But what's driving this strange fetish for all things Irish soil?

Besides sentimentality, retailers say the certificates showing claim to the one square metre lots of ground are a valuable means for families to teach children about their Irish heritage, and to feel a connection to the home turf.

The soil and dirt retailers say customers' desire to have Irish gruond sprinkled over their ex-pat graves - often in cemeteries in locales as far-flung as Australia and South America -  is a growing part of their market.

Clearly the market can also be big business: the New York Times article cited the case of one eccentric Cork-man who bought a six figure sum of the dirt just to fill his American grave with sod from the Rebel County.

London's young Irish immigrants hopeful for a brighter future at networking event

Ambassador Bobby McDonagh spoke of bilateral relationship,
and the young Irish experience in London, at Embassy do.

Ireland's latest crop of London-based emigrées convened for a night of handshaking, discussion, and mutual support, at a networking event held at the Irish Embassy in central London on Tuesday evening.

The event marked the last major appointment on the recently founded London Irish Graduate Network's (LIGN) busy 2012 calendar, which featured a wide series of networking opportunities, business meetings, and more informal affairs.

The network, founded in 2010, is the first London-based Irish network created specifically for recent graduates, something which board member Chris Murnane says underscores just how vast the numbers of young Irish flocking to the city has become.

"Unfortunately we're dealing with a tidal wave of emigration from Ireland that shows no signs of letting up," Murnane, a recent law graduate from University College Cork (UCC), commented.

"Some young graduates arrive in London by choice, but we're seeing many others come here after arriving at the conclusion that staying in Ireland just isn't an option career-wise."

"Our role at the LIGN is to facilitate young professionals' easy integration into London society, and particularly to create for them a network of like-minded individuals who are all seeking broadly the same thing, namely securing paid employment, finding a reasonably-priced place to live, and networking with other young Irish who also happen to find themselves in London."

"We're seeing a sharp increase in the numbers of Irish coming here looking to get into more professional sectors of the economy such as legal services, accountancy, and banking, and changes in traditional settlement patterns within the City itself, but just about everybody stands to benefit from meeting other people with similar needs and interests."

"Moving to a big city like London can be daunting, and although there are several other Irish networks operating in the city, LIGN is the first one targeted specifically for this age bracket and stage in life. We feel that it's fulfilling a valuable need."

The evening was kicked off with a speech by resident Ambassador Bobby McDonagh who praised the networks' young founders - graduate business students at Cass University, a popular city-center school - for their ingenuity in setting up the network, and spoke of a 'new era' in relations between Ireland and its closest neighbour.

"Historically, things have sometimes been difficult between us and the UK, but I think it's now safe to say that we're the best of friends."

"Networks such as the LIGN make a  more than worthwhile contribution to the lives of young professionals living, studying, or working, in the City," the career diplomat, in his fourth and final year in London, added.

One eager networker at the event, Robert Murphy, a recent commerce graduate from a Dublin university, said that he'd made some valuable contacts during the two hour mingling session held in the Embassy's main reception room, at which he'd had a chance encounter with someone from his hometown.

"I was lucky enough to meet another Galwegian who's working in more or less the same kind of accountancy work that I'm looking to get into."

"We grew up only a few miles from each other, and moved over here at roughly the same time, but there's probably little chance that we'd have knocked into each other if it hadn't been for this event."

"We exchanged business cards and if there are any openings at his firm I'm hopeful that he'll drop me a line."

Sarah Shanahan, from Cork, agreed that the evening had been a worthwhile experience, and looked forward to future events.

"I've only been living here for three weeks, so while the tips on the job hunt I got from others were useful, I was just as pleased to take advice about finding a place, or even just getting around London."

"It's comforting to know that there are countless other Irish my age out there and going through exactly the same thing. It's definitely something I'd go to again."

Starving students faced with college drop-out amid rising tuition costs in Ireland

Starving Irish students could be forced to drop out
if further fee increases are forthcoming, claim leaders.

Starving students are barely able to eat and pay rent, Irish student union leaders have claimed, ahead of a renewed wave of fees protests ahead of the next Budget.

The latest round of student protests in Ireland come as many full-time college students consider dropping out of college, and look with dread to an impending Budget which is likely to see a further increase in tuition fees.

Since reneging on a historical pledge to leading student education campaigners, Ireland's hapless Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn TD, has been forced to commit to a hotly unpopular programme of annual increases in college fees which parents and families say they simply cannot afford.

Savage cuts to key student support measures and a faltering grants payments system have compounded the difficulties students face in staying in college, students have claimed.

Despite Ireland's near rock bottom level tuition fees (students can pay as little as $2,100 dollars for a year of full-time college education) students have consistently railed against what they perceive as crippling government measures that they say will only serve to stymie any possible economic recovery for Ireland.

Student union leaders, among them UCC Student Union Welfare Officer Dave Carey, have cited educational advancement, and the promotion of hard skills such as mathematics and hi-tech training,  as key ways out of Ireland's economic blackhole -- and lucrative incentives for foreign corporations, predominantly American, to reinvest in Ireland.

Government policy aimed at fostering a culture of excellence in science and number intensive industries could be scuppered by these measures, the student spokespersons have claimed.

The latest wave of protests coordinated by national union the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) yesterday saw hundreds of students march to local politicians beseeching them to raise a voice in what they claim has been a debate on third level funding which has totally ignored the rights of students to an affordable third level education.

Hundreds of students in Cork protested outside local Fine Gael politician Jerry Buttimer TD, urging him and other Deputies to take a stand against a one-sided government programme of fees increases.

Dave Carey, of UCC Students Union, underscored the urgency of the situation, saying that he and other welfare case officers at the university, which counts a student enrollment of almost 19,000,  have seen a sharp rise in students seeking emergency financial aid packages offered by the European Union.

"Students are finding it increasingly hard to survive," the Union's President, Eoghan Healy, also commented.

University presidents themselves, however, have generally adopted the flip-side of the argument, citing diminishing central government funding and increasing student enrollment figures as factors contributing to create an almost impossibly difficult financial climate in which to run a university.

University College Cork's current president, Dr Michael Murphy, has himself been an outspoken advocate for fee increases, saying they are a necessary evil to ensure a quality education for those attending the institution.

Although precise figures on the number of students dropping out of third level education due to financial issues is impossible to quantify, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) say the number is already high and could rise further if additional increases are made to the cost of attending third level.

College financial aid system buckles under pressure, leaving thousands in the lurch about grants

College aid system buckling under pressure, as thousands
left in the dark about applications

A hotly anticipated online Irish financial aid system has plunged into chaos according to media reports, leaving students in the dark about what money, if any, the government will pay towards their tuition.

Up to 50,000 Irish university students are still unaware if they will receive a government-issued maintenance grant towards their education costs, despite the university term now being well over a month underway.

The online system, which replaced a cumbersome and inefficient setup of local finance offices, was billed as a way of improving and expediting the issuing of maintenance grants to those who qualify for them - families whose cumulative earnings fall below an income threshold.

However critics say that the new website-based application process is now considerably slower than the previous network of bursars offices, while the large number of students still entirely unaware if they will receive the grant may be at an all-time high.

Several grant payments are available to Irish college students to assist with the already-low fees charged by universities there.

'Maintenance grants',  a series of staggered stipend payments towards students' living expenses is the most commonly issued payment, while non-adjacent grants, for those attending school at a significant distance from their homestead, is another commonly attained payment.

A significant percentage of Irish college students receive the maintenance grant, non-adjacent grant, or both. Other forms of financial support for hard-up students, such as emergency cash payments, are generally managed locally, through college, students unions, and charities.

The current situation could cause students considerable stress over the expensive Christmas period, mental health campaigners have claimed, while the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has warned that some students could be forced to drop out if a swift resolution was not forthcoming.

Of the over 40,000 applications received by the new system since the summer, just over 4,000 grants have been issued.

While the body responsible for centrally administering the hi-tech system has been quick to pin the blame on students, for reportedly not submitting the required supporting documentation on time, detractors have said it's unlikely that such a significant percentage of total applicants would have been filled incomplete.

USI President John Logue has said that the organization, SUSI, suffers from a serious staffing problem, and called on government to ensure that more hands are put on the pump to ensure that the backlog is cleared before the busy holidays season begins.

The new system, centrally administered from a base in Dublin, has been roundly criticized by opposition TDs, with Fianna Fáil's Education Spokesperson calling its introduction a backwards step, adding that students would have fared better with pen and paper.

Ireland's top business school ranks in global top 100 - high-flying grad-school counts CEOs, business leaders, among its alumni

Barry O'Brien is one young Irish
professional to have recently graduated
the prestigious Smurfit Business School.

Ireland's most prestigious graduate business and MBA school, The Smurfit Business School, has retained its position as Ireland's leading provider of postgraduate business education by ranking in the top 100 global MBA courses according to an index compiled by the Financial Times.

The school now ranks 88th on the list, Ireland's only entrant in a table spear-headed by major international names like Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford universities.

The school's Dean, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh said that the high-flying college's ability to stay within the global top 100 for over 13 years was testament to the quality of education offered at Smurfit, and proof that the institution's curriculum had what it took to stand up to a tidal wave of exciting and rapidly improving new players from the Asian Tiger economies.

"This year many [of the new entrants] were Asian and half of the top 20 are now either Asian or joint programmes between Asian and US/European schools," the Dean commented in a press release.

"This gives us a window into the commitment to graduate business schools by those nations," he said.

Dean Ó hÓgartaigh remained confident, however, that the Dublin provider had what it took to continue its foray through the global elite, and to stand up from competition elsewhere in Europe, where it is ranked in the top 20.

The Dean cited the school's triple accreditation from three of the leading global quality agencies in the discipline - EQUIS, AMBA, and AACSB - as another reason for the school's steady placement among the global top centenary of business education providers.

One recent alumnus, Finbarr (Barry) O'Brien of Cork, Ireland, who completed a Master of Strategic Management and Planning at the Dublin institute, said that the business school's blossoming global recognition, and strong ties with ex-pats in America, were both compelling factors to attend one of the courses.

"I'd spent time as a legislative intern at the Massachusetts House of Representatives during my undergrad years studying Government at University College Cork (UCC)," Barry, also an occasional small business and technology correspondent, told IrishCentral thismorning.

"Studying for a degree which could capitalize on the global prominence of Smurfit as an institution, while also providing me with an education that I could be assured was of world-class quality, was a great choice to make."

"As Taoiseach  [Prime Minister] Enda Kenny's recent address in Cleveland bore out, young Irish like me are always willing to roll up our sleeves and do what we can do ensure a brighter future both for ourselves and for the country."

"I'm certain that the Smurfit experience has given me a little extra something that will undoubtedly help along the way."

Quality of education, satisfaction among alumini, and academic rigor and quality, are all factors that determine programmes' placement on the top 100 rankings, according to the Financial Times.

Emigration plague grips Ireland - soaring unemployment and relentless pessimism forcing Irish to seek a future abroad

Emigration: 8pc spike in numbers leaving Ireland as
joblessness, pessimism , force thousands abroad.

Almost two percent of the Irish population left the country's shores last year in search of a brighter future abroad, according to shocking new figures from the Central Statistic Office, Ireland's national compiler of official governmental data.

The stark figures, which represent an eight percent increase on the previous year's emigration numbers, underscore the drastic nature of the mass exodus of Ireland's best and brightest, in what is fast becoming a brain drain without historical precedent.

An overwhelming sense of pessimism at the ongoing economic distress, and an unemployment rate hovering close to 15 percent have been cited as two of the main reasons for the ongoing export of young college graduates, newly qualified professionals, and others in search of greener and more prosperous pastures overseas.

The Union of Student in Ireland (USI), among other young persons' representatives bodies, have made repeated attempts to raise the issue with government , but push factors like joblessness, media negativity, and appealing opportunities overseas have proved the stronger sway for many members of what's been dubbed the emigration generation.

One marketing consultant interviewed by The Telegraph, a UK newspaper, for comment, said that Ireland was 'steeped in pessimism,' a sentiment echoed by many young Irish graduates that have made the short trip across the Irish Sea in search of better job prospects in England, Scotland, and Wales.

The US, Australia, and Canada, all retained their status as key host countries for young Irish emigrants, although Britain remained the predominant choice, with 22 percent of migrants choosing to settle there.

A Dublin based migration agency, meanwhile, told the paper that it had been inundated with requests for information about the Visa processes for relocating to the US, New Zealand, and Canada.

Even for those yet to graduate, it seems, the prospect of emigrating seems like an inevitable reality.

Conor Hinds, from Ballinascara, Cork, said that although he had only recently returned to home soil from a US-based internship at a major Irish multinational, the prospect of moving back across The Atlantic to find permanent work would be as much a necessity as an option by the time he is conferred with a degree in fall of next year.

"There's a much brighter economic outlook overseas," the young globe-trotter told IrishCentral.

"There are some jobs here, but it generally makes sense for people to go where work is more plentiful, and the American can-do attitude is a big draw for many young Irish that are tired of the picture of endless doom and gloom that's pervaded here for years."

And although Time Magazine's European Editor Catherine Mayer recently reported to readers that in conversation with the ESRI, a leading Irish think-tank, she had been informed that the body didn't necessarily view emigration as a negative factor, that view is not commonly shared by many young people themselves who don't predict an imminent return to Irish turf even once things have picked up economically back home.

"Mayer's comments displayed a peculiar kind of naivete that seems to be contagious among policy-makers, particularly in Ireland," Hinds, a final Business Information Systems (BIS) student at a Cork university, said.

"This belief that when things come right everybody will suddenly flock back to Cork, Dublin, or wherever else they came from just isn't one that's borne out by previous waves of emigration," the computer student told this website, before adding, "I know that if I find work overseas after I graduate there's a strong chance that that's where I'll remain."

National Redhead Convention raises the pride of the country's gingers - VIDEO

Local redhead Kenneth Gordon cooling off
with an ice cream at the redhead convention.

A County Cork seaside town played host to the third National Redhead Convention last weekend, a morale-boosting one day extravaganza for the country's throngs of gingers, a gig organizers billed as a change to celebrate Ireland's emblematic hair colour, challenge hair-based discrimination, and have a great family day out.

This year was the third installation of the one day festival, a day long bonanza of everything and anything to do with red hair.

Activities included red balloon launches, red face painting, and certificates of red hair-edness for all participants.

Even red drinks and red coloured cuisine was on offer, with all proceeds for the worthy event going straight to the Irish Cancer Society.

So popular was this year's installment of the the Convention that it even featured on the national news bulletin as well as on a number of local websites.

Redheads from around the country converged on the scenic village for a bit of banter, the chance to witness a crowd-full of redheaded people, and to take part in some of the fun, family-orientated activities organized throughout the day.

Kenneth Gordon, 22, of Glasheen, Cork, was one of many redheads who made the pilgrimage out of the City for the big day.

Speaking to IrishCentral by telephone, he said that it was his first time at a redhead convention, and in a line that could have been pulled straight out of a Martin Luther King address, described being in Crosshaven for the event as like witnessing the 'collective moment of emancipation of an entire hair colour'.

The youthful ginger added that he 'never felt prouder to be a redhead', saying that the festival would help challenge the kind of petty discrimination often directed at redheads which he said he himself had been a victim of.

'Awakening ‘Ginger Pride’ and creating a safe haven for red-heads at events such as these sends out a clear message to the general public that discrimination against people because of their hair colour is as unacceptable as discrimination based on race, skin colour, or religion, and has no place in Modern Ireland,' Gordon boldly opined, adding that the crucial funds raised for the cancer charity was an 'added bonus' for the event.

Others were also keen to highlight the fact that red-heads are often the subject of casual derision and ridicule, sometimes even by friends and family, and lauded organizers for doing their part to create a celebration of what is undoubtedly Ireland's most stereotypical hair colour.

Gordon traveled to the event with his fire-headed friend Hugh Boylan, who echoed his travelling companion's comments about the event being a celebration of being ginger.

'It's just fantastic,' Hugh Boylan, a soon to be emigrée beginning a promising position on an offshore oil-rig this September, told IrishCentral from the event.

'I've never been surrounded by so many people with the same hair colouring.'

Even those of a fairer complexion seemed content to join in the fun.

Conor Hinds, of Ballinascara, Cork, sports what he described as a 'rapidly diminishing' crop of blonde hair, but said that his Scandinavian-like looks didn't stop him from joining in the fun at the one day redness bonanza.

'I mightn't be eligible to pick up the Certificate of Red-headedness,' the balding Corkman joked, 'but it's a fun idea that everyone should have the chance to be part of.'

His friend Chris O'Connor, also from Cork but now studying engineering at a prominent university in Edinburgh, agreed adding that it was 'worth travelling home for.'

The Redhead Convention even saw a few local politicians from across the political specturm turning up to offer their support for the innovative project.

Many seemed keen to emphasize their support for the smashing idea, which will go into its fourth year with next year's installment.

Brendan Finucane, a Local Area Representative (LRA) for the Fianna Fáil party based in Rochestown, said that 'creative and inspiring' ideas like the Convention would 'bring much needed money back into the local economy, give people some respite from the doom and gloom of the recession, and even raise some funds for charity in the process.'

Other 'silly season' events held in recent weeks include the Naked Bike Race, part of a global sporting celebration which saw participants competing in the nude.

Red hair occurs naturally in between 1 and 2 percent of the population.

It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin, according to Wikipedia.

The Ancient Celts, a Teutonic tribe considered the forebearers of a substantial amount of Irishmenm, were noted for their red hair and pale skin.

Footage of the 2010 Redhead Convention, below, via YouTube.

Drama in Donegal as country singer Daniel O'Donnell's belongings fall into sea

There were dramatic scenes off the Donegal Coast on Monday morning when construction materials for renowned singer Daniel O'Donnell's home-to-be fell into the ocean.

The truck was carrying tiles and other parts for 'wee Daniel's' home when it careered precariously off a pier and into the waiting Atlantic below.

A witness said that the lorry "slipped slowly" into the ocean after a mixup between it and the ship it was taking a delivery from.

The Marine Casualty Investigations Board will now be drafted in to probe the maritime mishap.

Dramatic amateur footage of the incident was posted to WorldIrish.com via the Donegal Daily.

Irish senator Eamonn Coughlan wants sports along with religion to be examined in Irish high schools

Irish Senator Eamonn Coughlan (FG) has said that Physical Education (PE) - traditionally the 'sport' element of Ireland's high school curriculum - should be upgraded to an examinable subject.

The call follows the upgrading of other traditionally less emphasized high school programmes, such as Religious Education, to the ranks of those subjects which can be taken in the Leaving Certificate, the finishing exam in the Irish high school system.

Currently, 'PE' is taught in an ad-hoc and highly unstructured manner, with typical 'sessions' consisting of indoor soccer, circuit exercises, or any other of a number of aerobic exercises.

Coughlan, however, said that PE's upgrade to an examinable subject would see it vested with a much greater degree of traditional classroom-based content than has currently been the case.

"This is about kids doing homework, an essay on cardio-vascular, on the heart and lungs, it's almost like biology," the Senator, himself a former athlete, told the Irish Examiner.

"If a child or a student wants to go to college to study PE or sports management, physical education does not count, when physical education should be one of the most important subjects."

A recently produced factsheet from the NCCA, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment - the body responsible for formulating and updating Ireland's high-school curriculum - said that the programme was 'likely to be introduced as a Leaving Certificate subject in the near future,' a possible move which has been hinted at for years.

Detailed guidelines instruct teachers in what should be covered during the two or three year 'senior cycle' high-school phase, but the possibility of introducing it as an exam subject - something which would undoubtedly upgrade its importance within the school system - has been left largely undiscused.

A separate curriculum exists for primary school students, and emphasizes physical activities, movement, and games.

Proponents of a new examinable subject would undoubtedly see it as an enormous boost towards solving the spiraling rates of overweightness and obesity in Ireland.

Though the weight problem is more pronounced among Irish children, Dr Donald O'Shea of St Columcille's Hospital said that the country could be moving towards a US-style statistic of 33% child obesity unless the current rising trend is stemmed.

Levels of childhood obesity currently range at about 20% and are showing no signs of relenting their upwards climb.

A separate healthy eating and sports nutrition component to the course would also be an added boost to governmental efforts to promote nutritionally-sound lifestyle choices, an effort which has already spawned the setup of a number of healthy menus in high schools across the country.

'Food Dudes', an initiative of the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Marine, is such website hoping to inspire Irish high-schoolers to adopt better eating habits.

Sean Quinn's nephew spotted at second GAA match – continues to evade arrest

The fugitive nephew of disgraced banking tycoon Seán Quinn has made his second public appearance over the weekend, being spotted once again at a GAA match.

Despite a High Court warrant having being issued for his arrest some ten days ago, and an unsuccessful 'manhunt' launched to ascertain his whereabouts, Peter Daragh Quinn looked relaxed and carefree when he was photographed by the Irish Independent attending a football fixture on Sunday.

Quinn's nephew has essentially exiled himself into Northern Ireland - a UK jurisdiction - where police authorities in the South have no powers to arrest him.

Efforts to extradite the shady clan member back to the South to face charges will likely fail, as the young Quinn is only being wanted on civil rather criminal counts, with forced re-patriation only possible in respect of the latter.

Support for the Quinn family and its patriarch tycoon Sean runs considerably stronger in some parts of the North, with a prominent support rally being held to demonstrate allegiance with the beleaguered banking clan.

Quinn, once Ireland's richest man, is credit with bringing employment to many jobs blackspots while he was at the helm of the Quinn Group, and still retains some prominent backers, including sports starts and airline bosses, who are clearly unhappy at the way things have turned out for the family.

Support for the Quinn tribe in the South, however, runs at a somewhat lower ebb.

The Commercial Court's Justice Peter Kelly - among the most outspoken members of Ireland's judiciary - launched a scathing attack on the discredited banking boss last week, describing attempts by him and his relatives to put assets outside the reach of creditors as a scheme of 'mesmerizing complexity', while accusing the fallen financial doyen of being the most devious doer whose legal dirty laundry had ever been probed by the tribunal.

Justice Elizabeth Dunne, of the High Court, has also proven herself to be not exactly enamored by the Quinns' seeming preference to do jail time rather than be forced to hand over any of their multi-million international property portfolio, and other assets, to creditors.

She described the family's contempt of Court as "outrageous", and in a stern warning to other members of the conniving Quinn cabal put Quinn Snr.'s son, Sean Jr., behind bars for three months.

Nephew Peter Darragh was also sentenced to jail-time at that hearing, but was declared a fugitive after failing to turn up at the Court hearing, despite having lodged a sworn statement just hours earlier.

Justice Dunne gave Peter's pie-in-the-sky excuse of being too 'ill' to appear before the tribunal short shrift, but efforts to coerce the man on the run to appear before an Irish court will probably falter before the Irish legal system's inability to put white collar crime on a criminal, rather than civil, footing.

Tweeters unhappy

Irish tweeters were clearly angry at the young Quinn's ability to flaunt the Court order by appearing at two GAA matches over the weekend.

"Peter Darragh Quinn on the run nips down to watch the GAA should be in jail, p**k," Neill Coyne, a musician and writer, tweeted.

Simon Harris, a Fine Gael TD for the Wicklow constituency, tweeted that, "Peter Darragh Quinn is making a mockery of the Irish Courts and laws and by extension the Irish people. Running from the law of our land."

"Brazen doesn't even begin to cover it," another Tweeter opined.

Irish health Minister Roisín Shorthall's anti-alcohol crusade: minimum pricing and ban on sports sponsorship could take effect this year

The Junior Minister with responsibility for health, Roisin Shorthall (Lab), is showing no signs of letting up on her battle to tackle Ireland's drink problem, with tough minimum pricing legislation now promised to come in as soon as this Fall.

The anti-sponsorhip proposals tabled by the Minister of State (non-Cabinet Minister) seek to impose a ruthless crackdown on drinks sponsorship for both sporting and cultural events, and have already reportedly provoked dissension from full Cabinet Ministers including Minister for Sport and Tourism, Leo Varadkar.

A rift has emerged between Fine Gael and its government partners Labour over how tough the measures the government will impose are going to be.

Many see the joint proposals as an unnecessary broadside against the drinks industry in Ireland, with some calling the promised measures the beginnings of a slip into a puritanical way of thinking.

Several recent high-profile cases of public disorder allegedly involving alcohol are also only likely to galvanize support for Shorthall's proposals among those pushing for the new laws to come into force.

Among them, the Swedish House Mafia concert in Dublin's Phoneix Park, which saw multiple stabbings and arrests as the gig quickly descended into drug and drunk fueled anarchy.

Shorthall's proposals for minimum alcohol pricing, however, could already be doomed for failure if a Scottish legal challenge being mounted by the Scotch industry against similar legislation there gets the judicial green light.

Though, unlike its Southern neighbour, not also a common law system, a successful challenge by the whiskey-makers could give government pause to re-consider the proposed legislation lest powerful bodies such as the Vitners Federation of Ireland bring forth a similar case.

The junior Minister, whose exact portfolio is in Primary Care, seems to have a strained working relationship with her Cabinet counterpart, Minister for Health Dr. James Reilly.

The Labour Deputy refused to publicly state her confidence in the burly doctor, merely saying that they needed to cooperate in the public interest.

The hotly unpopular minimum alcohol measures prompted a litany of hostile comments on popular online news aggregator, TheJournal.ie.

"We already have some of the highest prices for alcohol in Europe," one commented, using the pseudonym Bilbo Baggins, commented, "raising the price simply punishes responsible drinkers for the actions of others for whom price will have no bearing."

David Bond, who said he had worked as a pub owner on Continental Europe for 20 years, said that it was Ireland's 'drinking culture', not the price of liquor, that was to blame for the widespread prevalence of late-night anti-social behaviour often attributed to alcohol.

"Cheaper booze is readily available in Germany, Holland etc. People don’t abuse it to anywhere near the same extent as here. Of course they have alcohol problems but its minimal in comparison," he commented on the website.

Tomy Iona agreed, "Given the price of alcohol on mainland Europe we need to look at the problem – and that problem isn’t price."

Romanian meter-plunderers on the loose as Irish low-security prisons breeched again

Two Romanian brothers who escaped from what's been described as a low security part of Castlerea Prison are on the loose, prompting a nationwide search for the pair.

The meter-plunderers' escape is the second time this year that inmates have made a dash from detention facilities that certainly wouldn't give Alcatraz a run for its money: this April three escapees had to be re-captured after evading security personnel at an 'open prison', a kind of penal bed-and-breakfast where inmates are given a key to their own cells and trusted not to escape.

Police chiefs after that incident were forced into making an embarrassing apology when it emerged that the convict in question had made an escape from the same facility just several years previously.

This morning's unusually courteous escapees, Toader Feier (23) and his brother Basile (28), even left prison authorities a fond goodbye note, explaining "we are sorry, but we had no choice."

The Eastern European duo were not due for release until next April, according to the Irish Independent, and had committed a sleuth of robbery offences including stealing a number of parking meters in Galway.

Assignment to committal facilities in Irish prison system is often seemingly the stuff of lottery: just this June it emerged that two 'rogue prison officers' who had willingly brought drugs and various other items for inmates into their cells had been relocated from the top-security Midlands Prison to the comparative luxuries of the 'open prison' at Loughran House.

The pair's impress haulage of counterband included bringing everything from sedative tablets and recreational drugs to Bluetooth headsets into the facility.

Data from the Prison Service made available to the press last year showed that 86 inmates at open prisons made a run for it, with most returning voluntarily within a few days; this year, over sixteen such break-aways have been recorded.

Undoubtedly the most impressive prison escape ever to take place on the island of Ireland was the Maze Prison Escape of 1983 (fondly known to Republicans as the 'Great Escape') in which 38 Provisional IRA Members managed to make it past the Maze Prison, a high-security committal prison in Northern Ireland used primarily for paramilitary, subversive, and other high-risk inmates at the height of The Troubles.

The Republic's prison system is administered by the Irish Prison System.

Portlaoise Prison, situated in the Midlands and used primarily for the detention of drugs-related convicts, is the country's only high-security detainment institution.

'Project X' viral Facebook party in County Cavan stopped after police intervention - VIDEO

Irish police were forced to monitor a Co. Cavan teenager's Facebook page after an unintentional 'public' event led to a hundreds-strong crowd congregating around his house.

The panicked teenager was reportedly forced to cancel the social media fueled party after his parents informed him that a member of the police's drug unit had been in touch to inform them that possibly thousands of strangers were planning to throng the house in what had rapidly turned into a viral internet sensation.

By the time a crowd did gather, however, police were on hand to block the way, and later confirmed that no arrests had to be made.

Amazing pictures from the teen's bash – dubbed 'Project X, Cavan – show teams of perfect strangers converging on the hapless young student's house after having gotten wind of the party from Facebook and Twitter.

An apparently bemused police Inspector revealed how what had began as a simple gathering of friends suddenly turned into an out-of-control viral sensation, resulting in a mammoth influx of strangers to the young man's house.

“He sent the invitation to no more than 20 to 40 Facebook friends but it just went crazy," Inspector Farrelly, of the local police station, was reported as saying.

"Several busloads of people turned up and we asked them to disperse. There were a few hundred at least."

“This young man made the invitation to his circle of friends but it went crazy. At least he had the good sense to call us when he felt things were getting out of hand.”

Another witness told news aggergator TheJournal.ie that up to several hundred people had turned up at the height of the unexpected bash:

“The amount of cars was crazy but towards the end of he night there was good amount of gardaí present which stopped any real trouble happening."

“From around 1am people were dispersing,” an anonymous source told the website, adding that he estimated that between 300 and 500 people were in attendance.

Irish Facebook and Twitter feeds tonight remained awash with punters planning possible 'Project X's' in their localities.

The 'ProjectXCavan' shenanigans isn't the first time what started out as a moderate-scale house party has balooned into an international internet sensation.

An Australian teenager was last year forced to cancel a sixteenth birthday party after what started out as an intimate gathering of friends rapidly mushroomed into an 18,000-strong guestlist thanks to the viral powers of the internet.

The event even spawned a successful Facebook meme of its own, with online outlets such as the Official Jess Cooper Store and 'The Awkward Moment was Jessica Cooper has half of Australia in her house' cropping up to cash in on, and make fun of, the unlucky school-girl's unexpectedly massive party.

Sometimes it's not such a happy ending, though.

In 2008, a 16 year old English schoolgirl had her home effectively broken into and her mother's jewlerry stolen after what began, similarly, as an innocuous gathering of friends spun crazily out of control.

"People were having sex in bedrooms, smoking cannabis and wrecking the front garden," one party-goer told The Telegraph.

"The carpets are wrecked, the windows broken and there are all sorts of cigarette burns. I didn't see the sheets because they were all washed quite a lot."

Video: YouTube-user submitted video and photos from Project X Cavan

Eli Lilly boss confident about big pharma's future in Ireland

The CEO of one of the worlds biggest pharmaceutical giants says that he's confident about Ireland's future and points to the “quality” and “work ethic” of its young college grads as a key reason for that belief.

I spoke to Eli Lilly's highest-ranking board member, John Lechleiter, moments before he received his second honorary doctorate at University College Cork (UCC) late last month.

The fifty-eight year old, whose remuneration Business Week estimates to be in the region of $16m per annum, said that Ireland's turbulent economic history had not dented his company's enthusiasm for its Kinsale-based operating plant, and seemed extremely keen to emphasize that the talent which the pharmaceutical goliath had been able to attract in Ireland more than made up for any bumps and creases that will undoubtedly crop us along the long and windy road towards Ireland's distant economic recovery.

“We have been able to get some of the very best people here, graduates to come and work for us, and I think that one reason is that after nearly thirty years of experience operating in Ireland they can see how many of the people who joined us in the 80s and 90s have had flourishing and successful careers with us,” the pharma head, who counts an earned PhD from Harvard among his growing collection of honorary degrees, said ahead of the conferring ceremony.

Citing the quality of young graduates beginning fledgling careers at the firm as the “most decisive factor” behind Lilly's decision, thirty years ago, to make substantial investments in the South of Ireland region, Lechleiter added that the company's fulfillment of a promise to create starting opportunities for those fresh out of college and graduate school had been a point of pride for top brass at the international pharmaceutical firm.

“I'd like to think that we [Eli Lilly] really do what we say we're going to do in terms of creating opportunities for people to go and be successful with us,” the pharma boss said.

Lechleiter, who assumed the top post at 'Lilly' in 2005, reiterated that the quality of newly hired graduates remained a compelling reason for the company to favour operating in Ireland over the temptation to offshore to economies with cheaper wage-bases, while brushing asides concerns raised by a number of Irish Cabinet Ministers recently that diminishing enrollment figures in 'hard' disciplines such as sciences, engineering, and maths, would mean that the skills situation could swing from over-supply to deficit just five years down the pipeline.

“This [the skills shortage] is an issue we're debating in the US as well at the moment,” Lechleiter admitted, “but we still remain confident that there'll be enough high quality graduates to meet our manpower needs here into the foreseeable future.”

The chief executive told Conor Keane, business editor at the Irish Examiner, that the company was 'very pleased' with the $500m investment it had made to its manufacturing facility at Dunderrow, Kinsale, while announcing that the plant would now serve as the primarily launch site for all new pharmaceuticals in the company's production line.

Where bullish and full of praise for the products of Irish universities, however, Lechleiter seemed somewhat more concerned about government's stance towards the pharmaceutical industry, highlighting in particular the struggle between the company and health regulators to secure reimbursement for R&D costs incurred in bringing new medicines to market.

“Ireland's attractiveness for the kind of investment that our industry makes is also going to be connected with our ability to have our products reimbursed and to have the products that all of our people work on here available to people in Ireland now.”

“Right now we're at a bit of an impasse as we try to get back to negotiations with the government to ensure that that can happen,” he said.

Lechleiter, a medical chief executive with a noted passion for innovation and bringing breakthrough treatment strategies into the hands of the patient, said that his company would look forward to working with the Irish government to find ways that the medical system as a whole could benefit from the research and innovation being carried out at the company's worldwide operations.

“Medicines in and themselves are often necessary but seldom sufficient,” the CEO said, reiterating his oft-quoted belief that medical systems should be as integrated and holistic as possible.

“So where we've had an understanding in what's the best way to treat people with, say, diabetes – an area we're very involved in - we've tried to share and use that knowledge to help improve health delivery where we can and where it's appropriate in countries where there are other pathways of doing that,” he said.

“We've had some experience working here within the Irish medical system to try to see what systems of care for people with neuropsychiatric disease like schizophrenia can be improved and then to demonstrate how does our message work within that systems.”

“Because that's what everybody wants that it's only part of total care.”

Irish court finds homeless, drug-crazed, bi-polar man guilty of airport rampage - VIDEO

A homeless Corkman who hijacked a police traffic vehicle before embarking on a crazed rampage around the city centre and airport has been convicted on 12 counts at a Cork Court, despite an expert witness' claim that he was psychotic and on medication at the time.

Edmond Stapleton (38) hijacked a Garda Traffic Corps' vehicle in Cork City center after threatening to kill the patrolling officer at knife-point.

He then drove the vehicle to Cork Airport, several miles from the city center, where he broached the perimeter fence, and engaged in a dramatic high-speed chase with law enforcement officers around the airport's ramp area, before being finally being arrested.

Stapleton attempted to ram police and airport security vehicles several times during the frantic game of cat and mouse, and missed an aircraft full of passengers boarding for a charter flight by mere inches.

The dramatic footage was captured on camera by a bystander waiting to board a flight, and went viral on YouTube several hours after being posted.

Despite a four and a half hour deliberation at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, Stapleton was found guilty on all 12 counts he was tried for by prosecutors.

His defense lawyers had tried to argue that Stapleton was legally insane at the time of the incident, but the argument didn't hold sway with the jury.

Dr Paul O'Connell of the Mater Central Hospital, Dublin, said that Stapleton's actions were consistent with behavior seen during the manic phase of bi-polar disorder, a serious mental health problem which causes sufferers to oscillate wildly between manic highs and depressive abysses.

However Irish insanity legislation does not allow for the defense to be pleaded if the insanity was induced through alcohol or (recreational) drugs; Stapleton's legal team were unable to convince the jury that this wasn't the probably explanation for his actions after he tested positive for an almost unheard of cocktail of drugs after being tested by police (specifically: cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and benzodiazepines!).

Sentencing was adjourned until next Wednesday.

Dutch academic claims almost half of Irish families would be 'better off' on social welfare than at work

A controversial Dutch academic once member of a prestigious Dublin think-tank has made headlines by airing the claim that 44% of Irish families would be better off drawing the Dole (collecting social welfare) than working.

Richard Tol, a somewhat eccentric looking Dutch economist well-known for his bizarre hair-dos, contributions to theirisheconomy.ie, and for once working at the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute), said that he will likely publish the working paper under the auspices of the University of Sussex, where he now works, rather than through the ESRI, from which he has since resigned.

The report, findings from which were published by the weekend's newspapers, was hastily removed from the think-tank's website, an eyebrow-raising move described as 'unprecedented' and dramatic enough to force Minister for Social Protection Joan Bruton to deny having had any involvement in its hasty deletion of the working paper.

The think tank's director Frances Ruane, has said that the public could have been misled by the grim indictment Tol offered of Ireland's bountiful social welfare system, though denied that the organization had come under any external pressure to have it removed or retracted.

And although Prime Minister Enda Kenny added that while he would have been disappointed by any direct contact or interference between Government and the think tank, generally viewed as Ireland's most influential and prestigious, the concerted and uniform attempt by Government ministers to deny any involvement in the paper's mysterious silencing although strikes many as suspicious.

Tol has said that although he intends to revise the first draft of the working paper, which emerged in late May, he stands by its findings that a substantial amount of the population would be better off on social welfare than holding down a job.

44% of those with families would be better off not in employment, while 15% of single workers would. The report, compiled largely from Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, found that 30% of an average monthly wage can be spent on childcare.

Despite its removal from the ERSI's pages, an extant copy of the report, 'Working Paper No. 436', remains posted on TheJournal.ie here.

A polarizing figure within Irish academia, Tol's premature departure from the Dublin think-tank earlier this year was also the stuff of media reporting and sensationalism.

An outspoken dissident of the ESRI's independence, Tol (along with famous his hairstyle) didn't fit into the usual straight-laced think-tank mold; his dissident comment on not just the ESRI but many other political actors in Irish society as well as his hasty exodus from the body drew accusations that he had been 'silenced' or pressured into doing so.

A blog at the time of his departure by Dr Stephen Kinsella of the University of Limerick (UL), himself a prominent young Irish economist and often-time media commentator, opined that Irish public life would be poorer as a result of his resignation from the Institute.

Just as we are for the strange retraction of his working paper.

Chinese restaurant looking for "interns". Lucky candidate will gain valuable experience in physical activities like "walking"

The Irish Government's flagship internship-finding programme, Jobbridge.ie, has posted an internship listing for a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, prompting amusement and disbelief from summertime jobseekers around the country.

Amazingly, despite a feature-length newspaper article and a gone-viral Facebook status, the job description - at least at the time of writing - remains posted on the website.

The job prospectus says that the lucky intern will gain valuable real-world training in: "serving customers in restaurants and receiving clients or guests," as well as at  "Performing physical activities such as balancing, walking, lifting and handling of materials."

Whoever's crazy enough to take the job (give that after 44 days' listed the position remains unfilled this may be noone) will get a handsome salary of €50 ($62) a week in addition to retaining their social welfare benefits.

Those who feel up to the challenge are advised that they need to have attributes like steely "self control", "dependability" and (of course) "integrity" to land the vacancy.

The hapless "intern" will work a standard employee's 40 hour work week, while the listing adds, in the education section, that a Junior Certificate (rough equivalent: SAT Junior) is required to take the job.

This is a hilarious example of where the internship system falls flat on its face, but is unfortunately one of many less than life-changing internships I'm aware of that were listed on the JobBridge system.

The 'National Internship Scheme' as it's officially known, was launched by the Irish government last summer in response to a skills and training crisis within Irish society.

Employers weren't (still aren't) hiring, making it more difficult than ever before for young graduates to gain professional experience without having to leave the country.

Getting that first foothold on the career ladder is becoming only harder and harder for more graduates fresh out of college.

The government's solution to this was to conceive a kind of social-welfare supported national internship programme: all listings through JobBridge are guaranteed social welfare support (in the form of payment of the 'Dole', or Jobseekers' Allowance), while often also paying a nominal salary to those who undertake the internships.

There have been recent calls to include physiotherapists in the list of approved sectors for the programme, a call for the government to adopt  a similar programme for part-time jobs, and a policy being pushed by Fianna Fáil that would see 5,000 more places on the scheme made available to those under 25.

Unfortunately, the scheme has also been implicated in widespread abuse, such as the above example of a Chinese restaurant, as well as other internship offers that have gained the arrangement the moniker of the 'modern day slave trade' from some commentators.

'JobBridge To Nowhere' is a Tumblr blog whose express purpose is to collect - and expose - a series of other such internships of dubious value and legitimacy.

The blog has been keeping an eye on the programme almost since its inception last year, and has unearthed a series of startling listings from prominent Irish companies - among them household names, semi-States, and other public sector employees.

Ireland's national electricity provider apparently took (last winter) to masquerading all its currently available positions as 'internships', while one of the country's fastest-growing news websites, Broadsheet.ie, ran a screenshot of a 'packer' job ("the intern will gain practical experience in the area of household and office moving..") under the headline 'Getting Old Now'.

A Facebook page for disaffected young Irish 'interns' vowing to boycott JobBridge was also set up.

Another series of irreputable internships were highlighted by the far-right Socialist Party, in a transparent headline claiming, flatly, "Jobbridge is a scam". (The same question was asked by a more centrist blogger in an opinion piece for the Huffington Post).

Jobbridge looks to me like a good idea that has gone very badly wrong, or a Government-endorsed racket that no longer cares whether the 'opportunities' it offers young people really amount to anything worthwhile at all. The seeming total lack of moderation or vetting of internship opportunities posted doesn't send a positive message across.

I know, personally, of at least three interns who were unhappy with the kind of work they landed through the programme; judging by 'Jobbridge to Nowhere' and the Facebok page, there are undoubtedly countless more.

Ireland needs job creation and compelling alternatives to emigration for its college graduates, but a system of Government-endorsed slavery will only make a bad system worse.

While many internships can be valuable, career-edifying, and worthwhile experiences (my own internship at IrishCentral  two years ago was fantastic), the system is by its nature open to abuse, dominance of big business over desperate jobseekers, and unscrupulous employers who can package any kind of manual work as 'internships' in the name of taking on free labour.

Unfortunately JobBridge is beginning to seem like particularly obvious example of the latter; even if it was created by the Government.

Irish TV boss in hot water over notorious RTÉ documentary "Mission to Prey"

The chairman of Irish State broadcaster RTÉ, Tom Savage, is facing a tabloid grilling in Ireland over his role as head of Dublin-based the Communication Clinic and that company's involvement in the broadcaster's ill-fated 'Mission to Prey' documentary.

The TV boss is now also facing increased pressure to explain how his leadership of the TV station does not pose a direct conflict of interest with his directorship at The Communication Clinic - a public relations outfit that has gained a reputation as the go-to PR firm for Irish politicians and political parties since its foundation in 2004.

The firm, which also specializes in political speechwriting and 'spin' control is owned by Savage and his wife, Terry Prone.

Prone is something of a celebrity in her own right: an outspoken Irish media commentator and television critic seldom off Irish airwaves, while the couple's son is a DJ for TodayFM.

At least one public representative, Independent TV Mattie McGrath, has called for Savage's resignation, calling his position within RTÉ 'untenable' in the wake of both the scandal and his role at the PR boutique.

A second appearance before the all-party Oireachtas Communications Committee brought another push for his ouster. A third showing for Savage is already on the cards.

More startling still, it has emerged that The Communication Clinic was engaged by The Irish Missionary Union (IMU) - a group representing Irish clergy - in the wake of the damning 'Mission to Prey' documentary in which RTÉ famously defamed priest Fr. Kevin Reynolds.

Savage has yet to respond.

Interestingly, it has emerged that a total of two training sessions, over the course of two days, were held with the spindoctors on the correct presumption that there would be a public backlash to the incriminating documentary.

Another director at the firm has alleged that client confidentiality would have meant that Savage would have known nothing of the training while the fracas at RTÉ was breaking out, but few seem convinced that this was the case.

A timeline by popular news website Broadsheet.ie sets out why it thinks that Savage would have known about the training at the Communications Clinic before the RTÉ show was even put on air - in essence, knowingly profiteering from RTÉ's defamation.

A letter published in the Irish Examiner by a former Senator, John Whelan, then echoed this belief.

The National Union of Journalists' (NUJ) Irish secretary, Séanmus Dooley, has described the close-knit relationship between the clerical body and the Communication Clinic as "deeply disturbing", adding that Savage needs to deal with the issue as a 'matter of urgency'.

However Savage - who oddly is himself a former priest - has remained adamant that no conflict of interest has occurred in the two and a half years which he has held the directorship of the RTÉ Board.

RTÉ was forced to pay out over €1m in damages last year after the Irish High Court ruled that it had groundlessly defamed Fr. Reynolds in its 'Mission to Prey' documentary. The station was also subsequently forced to broadcast an on-air apology.

The documentary reported that Reynolds had raped a girl while working as a missionary in Kenya and subsequently fathered an illegitimate child.

The scandal saw the programme's report, Aoife Kavanagh, fired from her job, while several other high-profile journalists within RTÉ were either moved to other departments or laid off.

While the whole episode does seem something like a media circus which will surely, in time, roll off, the calls for a system of mandatory registering of interests for key players within the Irish media industry could perhaps see the light of a day.

In an industry as self-regulated as the press, and in a country like Ireland, that could be a good thing.

Coder Dojo takes Ireland by storm – new tech initiative gets Ireland's kids coding

An Austrlian-born entrepreneur with a penchant for global reforestation is the unlikely figure behind Coder Dojo, a sprawling network of 'coding clubs' where Irish teens can come together and help programme a dazzling array of hi-tech projects.

Bill Liao, whose credentials, beside global philanthropy, include a listing as the co-founder of global business network Xing.com, founded the movement with James Whelton, a schoolboy who had the bright idea of founding a computer club at my old highschool, the wonderful PBC Cork, before deciding to take things to the next level.

Despite the generational gap between Liao and his young sidekick, the project kicked off like wildfire, and a burgeoning global network of 'dojos' (the name, for those interested, comes from an ancient Japanese temple adjunct) continues to bring hobbyist coding together in new territories.

The official dojo directory bears testament to this furious global expansion. From humble beginnings in the 'real capital' of Ireland, the dojo network has begun a veritable world takeover: Stateside, clubs exist in Washington DC, New York City, and just about every State in between, while chapters have also sprung up in Cape Town, South Africa, Brudan, Uganda, and St Petersburg, Russia. Soon, practically every major city in the world will be host to a dojo where young coders can come together to meet like-minded individuals and hone their craft.

A typical dojo (take, for instance, the Manhattan outlet, at W 21st Street) meets once a weekend. The young age of some of these precocious 'coding monkeys', as they are sometimes sarcastically known, is evident by the disclaimer that those under 13 must be accompanied by an adult for the duration of the dojo meet.
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A series of resources are provided on the Dojo website (a HTML Cheatsheet to guide the young coders through the rudiments of coding in the net's best-known markup script), while due to the sky-rocketing popularity of many dojos, places often have to be booked in advance of each session.

In Ireland, where it all started, the 'movement' has created quite a stir in the local and national news media, with many pundits hopeful that this blossoming generation of bright young computer geniuses will overtake the current skills-deficient one and lead Ireland's way, once more, back into the heart of the hi-tech, high-knowledge, digital economy.

Liao, who counts over 100,000 followers on his official Twitter channel, has emerged as something of a champion for the cause of tech-saviness among Ireland's youth, and as an outspoken critic of the government's general failure to foster this success.

Last weekend he blasted jobs Minister Richard Bruton for his fairly timid explanation of Ireland's notoriously unhelpful work visa programme on popular politics programme The Week In Politics and stands as a bastion for the belief in what young people, with hi-tech skills, can achieve.

And while the sight of a group of youngsters gathered around working stations to code computer programmes on their weekends rather than play sports is certainly one that takes some getting used to, the fruits of this strange but successful initiative are hard not to spot.

The world's youngest Mac app developer hails - un-coincidentally - from Cork, and is also an active member of the CoderDojo meeetup in Mahon Point here. His pizza game app was described on RTE.ie as a modern day sort of Space Invaders, and landed him a coveted place at the top of the Apple apps chart.

Elsewhere in the county of Cork, two young teenagers were reported to have invented an iPhone application that performs the unusual but useful function of translating Cork's notoriously unintelligible version of Hiberno-English into the standard form as taught, and understood, outside of the Rebel County.

Stock rural phrases such as 'Shove Whest' (lit. 'move west'; meaning, 'move over') will now longer be to the bedazzlement of hapless tourists who can purchase the app from iPhone's AppStore for less than the cost of a Berlitz guide.

Fittingly for the movement, however, it's perhaps in its cradle of Ireland that it stands to make the biggest contribution to society.

Ireland is notoriously under-equipped to deal with the manpower needs of the many hi-tech companies that have based here, something which has been identified as a major obstacle to development by government.

Technical literacy, as taught in high-schools, tends to extend no further (even if then) to an education in the humble European Computer Driving Licence an archaic and under-impressive qualification that merely attests to basic skills in functions such as word processing and spreadsheet use.

Besides the decline in software such as that needed for this qualification (with everything 'moving to the cloud' some believe, that one day, there'll be no need for desktop software at all), hard and highly sought after skills such as coding, web design, and information systems, do not comprise part of the curriculum at all.

The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has for years been hell-bent on selling 'hi tech and technology courses' to students in the hope of increasing enrollment in such programmes and boosting the output of graduates.

Besides the known concerns of high labour costs, dwindling OECD education scores, the economic implosion, and more, concern rightly runs high that a failure to produce sufficient highly computer literate graduates will be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back and forces foreign direct investment (FDI) out of Ireland or offshore.

For that reason and more, Ireland should be thankful for the entrepreneurship that Liao and Whelton have shown in setting up the Coder Dojo movement, and for the huge job generating potential this will be proved to have had by the time the child prodigy coders have entered the workforce.

And the amazing little bits and pieces they'll come up with along the way -- even the Cork-ish - English translation app -- is a happy bonus.

Traveller horse race provokes outrage -- dramatic police chase footage goes viral -- VIDEO

Dramatic footage of Irish Travellers holding 'sulky' horse races on a busy Cork commuter road has gone viral, while police have promised to prosecute those involved in holding the unofficial races.

The amazing footage (below) has been viewed almost 200,000 times on YouTube, and featured in a BBC report. It shows unidentified members of the Travelling Community racing horses on the wrong side of a major Irish highway, before a police car joins in the chase, as oncoming traffic swerves to avoid collision.

The contest between the two riders featuring in the video was a traditional harness horse race, but this was one of the first times one had been held on a major public throughway -- and captured on amateur video for astonished viewers around the world to see.

The head-to-head battle between two riders on sulkies - traditional Traveller carts with two wheels and a seat - lasted almost seven minutes on video.

Approximately sixty spectators are visible towards the start and end of the videos uploaded, while police attempt to block the road in the direction the horses are traveling.

A following party often three cars abreast wide follows the two competitors, while traffic in the opposite direction can be seen swerving onto the hard shoulder.

Pavee Point, the Travellers' rights organization that seeks to ensure that the minority has a fair place in Irish society, while working to undo discrimination towards the ethnic group, decried the races.




A statement from the organization said that "What we saw on Saturday, what we saw in that video was just a serious risk to life, and there's nothing cultural about that, you can't defend that on cultural grounds, and no Traveller is trying to,".

Ben Archibald, the group's spokesperson, described the incident as 'senseless', adding that sulky and horse races can be conducted in safer and better supervised locations than public highways.

“We are concerned that the practice of sulky racing, which is a longstanding tradition within and outside the traveller Community, should not be conflated with the actions of the participants in this event — sulky racing can be carried out in a way which is safe and well regulated, where there is space for it to take place," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile Superintendent Con Cadogan of Gurranabraher Garda Station described the incident as "a clear breach of road traffic legislation and posed a significant danger to those involved and to other road users".

A later statement from the police said that “The matter is being fully investigated at the moment. The gardaí arrested one male person at the scene in what were extremely difficult circumstances at the time. We are following a definite line as regards a number of other people who were involved."

A number of prosecutions have also been promised.

The 2006 Census reported that there were approximately 22,000 Travellers resident in the Republic of Ireland. They maintain a nomadic lifestyle and often speak Shelta, or Cant, in addition to English.

Pioneering Irish website FixMyArea.com outdoes local authorities and shows power of social activism

Here's a fantastic piece of social entrepreneurship that people need to hear more about.

FixMyArea.com lets Irish users report their neighborhood's problems (potholes, graffiti, etc) to local authorities, who then take action to fix what's been reported.

The interface is excellent, the site well populated, and minor nuisances, such as this South Dublin faulty manhole cover, seem to be getting fixed with very untypical speed,  but here's the amazing part: it's run by what effectively seems to be a group of volunteers.

FixMyArea.com looks, superficially, like the work of a very dynamic local government agency, but this being Ireland (where potholes generally takes months, not days, to be filled) that impression is unsurprisingly smashed when the FAQ page reveals that the website is in fact the brainchild of the people behind RateMyArea.com, a growing (and predominantly Irish) geography rating website, where users can rate amenities such as restaurants, and nightlife, in their areas.

What excites me about FixMyArea.com is the seeming total lack of a profit motive behind the idea (websites having to be hosted, the operation - unless subsidized - probably runs as an expense); local authorities apparent total lack of involvement in coming up with the proposition, but willingness to work with it to fix the problems it identifies, and the ease with which the idea could be transplanted to other geographies, such as, say, America, but equally as possibly, the world.

I'm clearly not alone in being a little wonder-struck by the ingenuity of this great new system: the service has already launched on both the Android and iPhone platforms as a phone application, while the system has now collated over 10,000 reports from users, ranging pretty much the full spectrum of what can go wrong, and unsightly, in a neighborhood, such as graffiti daubings, pothole problems, climbing frame issues, etc.

Its interface is fantastic and shows a full incident breakdown, ranging from when the incident was reported to the website, when it was verified, when the nearest local authority was alerted of the problem, and when (if yet) it was fixed.

While Fix-My-Area aren't the first people with the idea (FixMyStreet.com is another well-known website with an almost identical concept), they do deserve a special word of mention for being very obviously targeted towards Ireland, which adds a local touch to the experience.

I also love how they're in effect assuming the mantle of what was previously to be a Government run effort with a promised 48 hour response time: FixYourStreet.ie seemed set to be the darling of the next Government web design awards for all of a few months, until after having made a celebrated and feted launch quietly sank into relative obscurity, before now (for all appearances) having faded off the internet entirely.

Even if it's not the very first kid on the block to do this, FixMyArea.com proves an important point for me: Besides the 'power of the Internet' lesson that's a bit trite and beyond utterance at this stage, that Ireland has bundles of tech-savvy entrepreneurial-minded people like the founders of Fix-My-Area, who, with a bit of community altruism thrown in there for good measure, can craft fantastic solutions to truly annoying problems such as potholes.

The folding of the obviously untenable '48 hour response time' website is unsurprising, and Ireland's government has shown itself, once again, to be woefully incapable of dealing with the scourge of mass youth emigration, even as - for the second time in many citizens' lifetimes - hundreds of thousands of young people are effectively forced to flock the island's shores.

College fees, principally in the form of raised student contribution charges, continue on a steady climb skyward, leading many to believe that cash-strapped families simply won't be able to afford to send their children to third level education in a matter of years.

The panoply of social problems facing Ireland such as these seems to continue to mount by the day, but we can come up with a more creative and empowering response than blaming everything on the obviously cash-strapped and overstretched government.

Instead we need more people like these, the creators of FixMyArea, to rise up and use their ingenuity to show both the Government and the country that the power to fix social problems that were once written off as intractable is closer at hand than we'd thought. It's often within the citizen, particularly the bright and highly-educated one, both of which Ireland has in strong supply.

And if that holds logic can prove true for fixing graffiti and potholes, it can be used for solving other problems too.