Business Limerick Magazine 07/08

www.businesslimerick.ie

JULY 2008 € 3.50

• Silent Revolution in Limerick

• Ireland’s First Retail Top 40

• New U.L. Contract Awarded

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July 2008

patrick street & crescent shopping centre limerick • o’connell mall, o’connell street, clonmel, co tipperary

Munster’s Best

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A4 Ad_Connolly•Bis.Limerick July 08 01/07/2008 14:28 Page 1

EditorFrank [email protected] Mobile: 086 245 1153

Advertising ManagerMarguerite [email protected]: 087 245 1153

Advertising SalesYvonne [email protected] Mobile: 086 8072088

Mary O’[email protected] 086 8064888

Business JournalistsBrian [email protected]

Accounts ManagerMary [email protected]

Graphic DesignZuzana JezikovaCreative Wave DesignMobile: 086 1063744

PhotographyMichael Cowhey

Photographic ContributorsPress 22Kieran Clancy - PicSureDave GaynorKeith Wiseman

ContributorsMal KeaveneyMick GalweyPadraig O’Connell

Published byBusiness Limerick Publications Ltd.

DirectorsFrank CollinsMarguerite Finnan

Business Limerick Magazine is published monthly by Business Limerick Publications Limited.© 2008 Business Limerick. All Rights Reserved. The information contained in the magazine is believed to be accurate and authorative, however it is not intended to substitute for legal, accounting, tax or other professional advice. Statements and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of Business Limerick. No responsibility can be assumed for any unsolicited materials and submission is construed as permission to publish without any further correspondence and the fee payable (if any) at our usual rates. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys-tem or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers.

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Little Ellen Street, Limerick

Tel: (061) 46 75 18 (061) 21 47 38Fax: (061) 46 85 60

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BL COVER STORYRegion's Top 50 Companies

BL FINANCEFDI Maintains Momentum

BL GALLERYOut & About with BL

BL FEATURE21 Century Conference Centres

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BL NEWSIreland's First Retail Top 40

BL REVIEWDestination Westport Welcome Explorer

BL GALLERY EXTRAAll Ireland Corporate Games Pics

BL DIRECTORYA - Z Business Listing

Business Limerick FOR BUSINESS LEADERS

C O N T E N T SJuly 2008

Frank CollinsEditor

[email protected]

FROM THE EDITOR

With the constant negative news cover-age of our ailing economy, one would be tempted to pack up your mule and shovel and head off to the gold rush in Co. Monaghan in the hope of surviving in this time of ‘recession’.

The constant use of the term ‘reces-sion’ has instilled a panic into the many people who would not have experienced a ‘real’ recession first hand as they may not have been in the work force then. I refer to the early eighties with memories of mass emigration and winding dole queues. These were tough times which I can remember first hand. There is no relationship to today’s situation even with an accepted downturn in our economy, but we are in a thousand times stronger position today in determining our own destiny than we were in 1983.

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) while officially accepting that the Irish economy is in a recession, have forecast in GNP. of 0.4% for this year which is not ‘the end of the world in context with a real recession such as 1983. Then unemployment was nearly 20% and inflation running at 12%, a com-pletely different scenario than today. The forecast expected rise in unemployment is 7% and current inflation at 5%, we are a long way from panic and a real reces-sion. Although rising unemployment fig-ures may be a new experience for many working in this current Irish economy, it is definitely not something new for Ireland.

Our Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) fig-ures are optimistic and should remain so, as long as we remain competitive. A bit more positive news on our airwaves would attract back a lot of radio listeners who have turned to CD mode as they feel panicked by the constant negative ‘recession’ reports. Ireland gets sixteen new millionaires when Carlow quarry workers syndicate won €1.2M in the Irish lotto; or the largest ever goldmine in Ireland or the U.K. has been found in Clontribet Co. Monaghan – Yep, I’m feel-ing better already!

Gold!, gold!…

Business Limerick Patrons

patrick street & crescent shopping centre limerick • o’connell mall, o’connell street, clonmel, co tipperary

Munster’s Best

SUITSALEis now on

BUSINESSSUITSfrom

�199.00

A4 Ad_Connolly•Bis.Limerick July 08 01/07/2008 14:28 Page 1

No Company CEO/MD Address Turnover (€ ) Employees FYENo Company CEO/MD Address Turnover (€ ) Employees FYE1. Dell Products (Europe) B.V. Mr Michael Dell Raheen Industrial Estate, Limerick 8,144,590,00 4500 28/1/05

2. Limerick Alumina Refining Ltd. Mr Damien Clancy Aughinish Island, Askeaton, Co. Limerick 504,868,000 460 30/9/07

3. Roadbridge Ltd. Mr Conor Gilligan 1 Mount Kennet Place, Henry Street, Limerick 314,500,000 1000 25/10/07

4. Mangan Bros. Ltd Mr Terence Mangan Ashline, Kilrush Road, Ennis, Co. Clare 192,596,000 200 23/10/07

5. Derevoya Holdings Ltd Mr Mark McMahon Ashbourne Hall, Ashbourne Business Park, Dock Road, Limerick 189,321,000 - 25/10/07

6. Syncroen International Group Ms Teresa Ryan Ground Floor, Ashbourne Hall, Ashbourne Business Park, Dock Rd, Limerick 107,973,000 50 20/0/05

7. Cook Ireland Ltd. Mr Bill Doherty O'Halloran Road Natipn, Limerick 107,232,000 400 6/7/07

8. Tom Hogan Motor Group Ltd. Mr David Hogan Ballymalley Gort Road, Ennis, Co. Clare 103,726,000 150 24/7/07

9. Coffey Construction Ltd. Mr Patrick Coffey 2nd Floor, Arthurs Quay, Limerick 95,249,000 400 20/6/07

10. Pallas Foods Ltd. Mr Tim Geary Station Road, Newcastle West, Co. Limerick 84,308,000 400 29/1/07

11. Kirby Group Enginnering Ltd. Mr Fergus Frawley Raheen Industrial Estate, Limerick 82,418,000 600 7/1/08

12. M.W. Ireland Ltd. Mr James O'Mahony Dock Road, Limerick 73,615,000 - 9/3/07

13. Irish Car Rentals (Holdings) Ltd. Mr John Culleton Unit 3 & 4, Westlink Bus, Clondrinagh, Ennis Road, Limerick 63,981,000 100 24/8/07

14. Brian McCarthy Contractors Ltd. Mr Briam McCarthy Unit 6, Quin Road Business park, Ennis, Co. Clare 59,491,000 150 1/10/07

15. Whelan Group (Ennis) Ltd. Mr Paddy Whelan Fountain Cross, Ennis, Co. Clare 58,140,000 200 10/4/07

16. Pat Keogh Ltd. Mr Pat Keogh Tipperary Road, Limerick 56,292,000 20 13/12/07

17. Tidespring Ltd. Mr Patrik Wadding 17 The Crescent, Limerick 47,047,000 - 24/11/06

18. West County hotel (Ennis) Ltd. Mr Kieran Kavanagh Clare Road, Ennis, Co. Clare 44,711,000 100 25/1/07

19. Carey Glass Holdings Mr Michael Cleere Limerick Road, Nenagh, Co. Tippperary 44,357,000 340 24/10/05

20. Aer Rianta International Cuideachta Phoibli Mr Eamon Foley Shannon, Airport, Shannon, Co. Clare 43,738,000 60 29/6/07

21. Michael Lynch Group Ltd. Mr Michael Lynch Clare Road, Ennis, Co. Clare 42,303,000 40 12/7/07

22. Mcsweeney Assets Group Holding Ltd. Ms Gerardus Bernardus Hof 17 The Crescent, Limerick 41,335,000 - 28/9/07

23. Finsa Forest Products Ltd. Mr Gonzalo Machado Scariff, Co. Clare 39,659,000 150 11/9/07

24. Frank Hogan Ltd. Mr Frank Hogan Dublin Road, Limerick 38,728,000 45 29/1/07

25. Chieftain Construction Holdings Ltd. Mr Ger O'Rourke Mahon House, Upr. William Street, Limerick 38,710,000 170 9/6/07

26. Aughinish Alumina Mr Damien Clancy Aughinish Island, Askeaton, Co. Limerick 38,641,000 460 30/9/07

27. Carey Glass Mr Michael Cleere Limerick Road, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary 37,665,000 340 24/10/05

28. Two Mile Inn Hotel Ltd. Mr Brendan Dunne Two Mile Inn Hotel, Ennis Road, Limerick 36,760,000 50 25/10/07

29. Paddy Burke (Builders) Ltd. Mr Patrick Burke Atlantic Road, Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare 36,662,000 75 1396/07

30. T. Sheils & Co. Ltd Mr Thomas Shiels C/O T. Shiels & Co, Gort Road, Ennis, Co. Clare 36,038,000 40 3/8/07

31. Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Mr Brendan Curtin Elsevier House, Brookvale Plaza, East Park, shannon 34,248,000 130 27/9/07

32. Monster Cable International Ltd. Mr Paul Condon Ballymalley Business Park, Gort Road, Ennis, Co. Clare 33,681,000 24 26/10/07

33. Directroute (Fermoy) Construction Ltd. Mr Charles Dendy C/O Roadbridge Ltd., Ballyclough, Ballysheedy, Co. Limerick 32,970,000 - 20/9/07

34. Coffey Plant Ltd. Mr Paddy Coffey Second Floor, Arthurs Quay House, Limerick 29,770,000 50 20/6/07

35. Nash Beverages Ltd. Mr Michael O'Donnell Docklands, Dock Road, Limerick 29,533,000 79 26/9/06

36. Shannon side Building Supplies Ltd. Mr Daragh O'Flaherty Fort Raod, Kappa, Kilrush, Co. Clare 29,274,000 70 25/4/07

37. C & M Vetlink Pic Mr Edmond Wall Mg Hayes & Co., Annacotty Biseniss Park, Annacotty, Limerick 28,067,000 36 17/1/08

38. DIrectroute (Limerick) Construction Ltd. Mr Brian Keaogh Ballyclough House, Ballysheedy, Co. Limerick 27,590,000 - 21/9/07

39. Pierse Motors (Tipperary) Ltd. Mr Jerry Pierce Limerick Road, Tipperary 27,421,000 30 23/10/07

40. Shannon Free Airport Development Comp. Ltd Mr Vincent Cunnane Shannon Free Airport Dev, Shannon Town Centre, Shannon 26,150,000 376 2/10/07

41. Kellys Of Fantane (Concrete) Ltd. Mr Patrick Kelly Pandohlen House, Dooradoyle Road, Limerick 26,119,000 80 20/8/07

42. Dan Dooley Ltd. Mr Dan Dooley Mount Kennet House, Henry Street, Limerick 25.906,000 55 8/6/07

43. Saint-Gobain Perormance Plastics Ireland Mr Tony Kennedy Kilrush Business Park, Kilrush, Co. Clare 24.,671,000 120 9/5/07

44. O.M.C. Engineering Ltd. Mr Pat J O'Mahony Ballysimon Road, Limerick 23,114,000 280 5/10/07

45. Wurth (Ireland) Ltd. Mr Michael Coffey Wurth Ireland Ltd, Monaclinoe Ind Estate, Ballysimon Rd, Limerick 22,588,000 160 4/4/07

46. A Brooks Properties Ltd. Mr Brendan Myers 1 Mount Kennet Place, Henry Street, Limerick 22,046,000 - 27/4/07

47. Cavanaghs Of Charleville Ltd. Mr Martin Condon Limerick Road, Charleville 22,016,000 - 13/6/07

48. Ubet Bookmakers Ltd. Mr John Lyons Dooradoyle Centre,St Nessans Road, Dooradoyle, Limerick 21,627,000 - 18/10/07

49. Lyons Of Limerick Mr Ken Lyons Deloitte & Touche House, Charlotte Quay, Limerick 21,437,000 30 25/10/07

50. Plassey Campus Developments Ltd Mr Brian Anthony Hand University of Limerick, Plassey Technol. Park, Plassey, Co. Limerick 21,258,000 - 2/7/07

4 Keeping an eye on Business


1.DELL IRELAND is ranked 4th in the top 1,000 companies in Ireland list and tops the list in the Mid-West region. With a turnover of E8,144,590.000 billion the giant computer enter-prise accounts for 5.5 per cent of all Irish exports and is responsible for 4 per cent of all expenditure in the economy demon-strating Dell’s im-portance to Ireland and the Mid-West. Almost two decades established in Lim-erick and Dublin it has a workforce of 4,500 presided over by Waterford na-tive Nicky Hartery a Vice-President in the organisation. After Intel, the company is Ireland’s sec-ond largest ICT employer in the coun-try and has an estimated workforce of 79,000 Worldwide. Dell has 40 per cent of the Irish market in desktops, laptops and servers and is also deeply involved in IT to give it a sus-tainable future.

The list is contained in Business & Fi-nances top 1,000 Irish companies, an annual publication that ranks the top one thousand companies operating by turn-over. The data is taken from the Com-panies Registration Office (CRO) or third party sources including annual accounts not filed with the CRO. 2.Second in the Mid-West and ranked 49th in the country is RUSAL AUGHIN-ISH with a turnover of E504,868,000 million. Managing Director of the Shannon Estu-ary located alumina refinery is Limerick-man Damien Clancy who oversees ap-proximately 500 permanent employees along with 200 contractors. Now in Russian ownership, the Manag-ing Director points to the fact that their operation contributes over E100 mil-lion per annum to the local economy. “In order to survive in this highly competi-tive business, the company constantly strives to develop and implement the latest technology and efficiency improve-ments in order to reduce its energy and raw material costs” he observed.The plant produces over 1.8 million tonnes of alumina per annum by treating bauxite ore. Alumina is a fine white

granular powder which is exported to aluminium smelters for processing into aluminium metal. 3. Third in the Mid-West list and 647th in the country is ROADBRIDGE LTD. CIVIL ENGINEERS with a turnover of E314,500,000 million. Managing Director is Conor Gilligan and headquartered in Ballyclough, Bally-sheedy the company ranks among the largest civil engineering contractors in Ireland. Over the last forty years it has shown continual year on year growth and cur-rently has in excess of 1,000 employees. Current projects are the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown Motorway, the N8 Cashel to Cullahill Motorway, the N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown Motorway, N9 Carlow to Kilcullen Motorway, N9 Knocktopher to Powerstown Motorway and Bellanaboy Gas Terminal, Co. Mayo. Roadbridge are also part of the Direct Route Consortium who are currently en-gaged in the construction of the Limer-ick Southern Ring Tunnel which is due to open in 2010. The company specialises in the construction of motorways, bridg-es, gas pipelines, reservoirs, watermains,

MID-WEST REGIONCOMPANIES

Keeping an eye on Business

Nickey Hartery

www.businesslimerick.ie6

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sewage treatment plants, landfills and have constructed golf courses at Adare, Fota Island, Dun Laoghaire and Killeen Castle in the past number of years. In 2005 Roadbridge became the first company from the construction indus-try to be awarded the NISO Supreme Award for Occupational Health & Safety in the thirty-two counties if Ireland. 4. Ennis-based wholesalers MAN-GAN BROS. LTD., with a turnover of E192,596,000 million rank fourth in the Mid-West and 105th in Ireland.

5.DEREVOYA HOLDINGS LTD., (McMa-hons), Dock Road, Limerick with a turn-over of E189,321,000 million. The com-pany is headed up by Mark McMahon. 6. Sixth in the Mid-West and 184th in the country is the SYNCROEN INTERNA-TIONAL GROUP (Walsh Western) with a turnover of E107,973,000 million. PC World has awarded a multi-million euro contract to Walsh Western Inter-national to handle the logistics for their e-commerce component business in the UK. This involves delivering parcels to homes and small businesses and managing the supply chain of 89 suppli-ers and over 5,000 product lines. 7.COOK MEDICAL located in the National Technology Park, Plassey in Limerick has a turnover of E107,232,000 mil-lion, is ranked seventh in the Mid-West and 186th in Ireland. From small beginnings in 1996 with an initial workforce of 8 employees, Cook

Ireland has grown significantly over the years and currently employs 480 people at its plant in the National Technology Park and manages much of Cook’s op-erations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “We have really had a great journey over the past 12 years” said Bill Doherty who has been Managing Director since the company’s inception. “As a native of

Limerick, I feel honoured to have been part of this success which is founded on the professionalism and dedication of our employees here in Limerick.” Cook Ireland is part of Cook Medical a US multi-national company with head-quarters in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the world’s largest privately owned medical device company. The company designs and manufactures specialist medical devices used for minimally inva-sive surgery. Patients throughout the world benefit from Cook’s technologies which include products used to treat some of the most serious medical con-ditions such as aortic aneurisms and peripheral vascular disease. “We continue to focus on patients and on providing ground-breaking technolo-gies to fight disease” said Mr. Doherty. Exports from the company are now worth in excess of E85 million annually. 8.THE TOM HOGAN MOTOR GROUP LTD., in Ennis is ranked next in the Mid-West and 192nd in Ireland with a turn-over of E103,726,000 million and ninth in the Mid-West is Arthur’s Quay,

9.Limerick based COFFEY CONSTRUC-TION LTD., a market leader in the build-

ing, environmental and civil engineering fields with a turnover of E95,249,000 million headed up by Patrick Coffey. 10.The Newcastle West based PALLAS FOODS, tenth in the Mid-West list and 233rd nationally with a E84,308,000 million turnover is led by Managing Di-rector Tim Geary. This is a family-owned and managed business and since the early 1980’s it has evolved into one of the leading food service distributors in Ireland. The company currently services over 4,500 customers from its portfolio of 3,000 products and employs 400 peo-ple. 11.Ranked 238th in Ireland and eleventh in the Mid-West is the Raheen Industrial Estate, Limerick-based KIRBY GROUP ENGINEERING LTD., with a turnover of E82,418,000 million. Managing Direc-tor is Fergus Frawley and the company installs electrical wiring and fittings. 12.Twelfth in the Mid-West is M.W. Ireland Ltd., and 281st in the country. Located at the Dock Road, Limerick this whole-saler of other fuels and related products is headed up by James O’Mahony and has a turnover of E73,615,000 million. The top twelve are followed by other companies such as Irish Car Rentals (Holdings Ltd.), Westlink Business Park, Clondrinagh, Ennis Road, Brian McCa-rthy Contractors Ltd., Quin Road, Ennis, another Ennis based firm the Whelan Group Ltd. and Pat Keogh Ltd., Tipper-ary Road, Limerick.

Keeping an eye on Business


Specsavers is located at:Cruises Street, Limerick. Tel: 061 312 811 Crescent Shopping Centre, Dooradoyle, Limerick. Tel: 061 302 120

Your professional eyecare service

Young Poetof the YearCuisle, Limerick’s International poetry festi-val, 15th to 18th October 2008 is calling all young poets to submit their poems, to find the Cuisle Young Poet of the Year. Poems accepted in 3 categories, under 12’s, 12-15 years and 16-18 years. Closing date is 23rd September and further details and en-try forms, email: [email protected] or www.meta.ie, or www.cnmg.ie.

Mary Immaculate CollegeWins AwardMary I’s new multi-purpose sports building, Tailteann, received the best leisure building award from the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (R.I.A.I.). The building was designed by Murray O’ Laoire Architects.

New Mayorof ShannonGerry Flynn, Independent Councillor, was unanimously elected by the Town Council to Mayor of Shannon last week, which co-incidentally was the same day that ERSI de-clared that Ireland was officially in a reces-sion.

Shannon Company ClosureEarlier this month, Buffalo Tech, which has been operating in Shannon for over 10 years announced that it will cease their Irish operation because of its need to consolidate its operations in Europe. The closure will result in the loss of 48 jobs.

City CentrePlanning ReversedPlanning permission for a new city centre development, originally given by Limerick city Council was overturned by An Board Pleana-la. The approved planning was for a five sto-rey residential and commercial building at 72-74 Catherine Street to include a bar/café, retail unit and 10 apartments. Near-by premises, Aubars objected to the plan-ning because of loss of light and An Board Pleanala agreed with this objection.

Adare Hospital StartsThe months of delays in work commence-ment of building Adare’s private hospital are finally over and work will start in the second week of July, says Tom Kane, project chair-man. The 100 bed ‘state of the art’ private hospital was originally to open in late 2009, but now it seems more realistic opening date will be in early 2011.

New U.L. Building Contract AwardedBuilder Michael McNamara & Co. has been awarded the contract to build the new Irish World Academy of Music & Dance at the University of Limerick. The contract is worth €10.5 million.

Instore Continueto ExpandInstore have opened their seventh store na-tionally in Stillorgan, Dublin recently and they have plans for a further two stores in the im-mediate future. Instore have two stores in Limerick and with stores in Waterford, cork, Galway and Sligo.

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The Limerick Co-ordination Office

has appointed Laura Ryan as its

new communications executive.

The former TV3 legal correspon-

dent says she plans to build on the

strong foundation already in place

at the office and proactively pro-

mote Limerick highlighting the posi-

tive developments taking place in

the Mid-West.

Originally from Dooradoyle, Lim-

erick, Laura Ryan has worked as

a journalist in both the print and

broadcast media for the last ten

years. The 32 year old began her

career at the Limerick Leader

newspaper before moving to the

Star newspaper in Dublin. She

spent seven years with TV3 News

and was appointed the station’s

first ever Courts Correspondent.

NewAppointment


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Our Framing Centre is a locally owned business that has been servicing Limerick and theMid West for over 20 years.

Our talented and experienced staff will expertly frame your artwork and do it with the lowest custom

framing prices guaranteed.

We specialise in Oil Paintings, Water Colours, Prints, Posters, Tapestries and Certificates

Ray Cummins Picture Framing15 catherine Street Limerick

Contact Ray on t: 061 415573 m: 087 9674482

The completion by Ireland’s Premier Group of the £ 45.2 million acquisition of Imprint Group has transformed the company into a major, privately owned, global market leader which will target further significant growth in the international recruitment services industry. The company, the pio-neer of specialised recruitment in Ireland, serves the mid-west region, from its office on Henry Street in Limerick, where it em-ploys 16 people.

Emphasising the full continuity and strong potential of the combined businesses, Im-print’s highly experienced senior manage-ment team of Chief Executive Officer, Rob-ert Thesiger, Chief Financial Officer Colin Webster and Chief Operating Officer John Hunter, have joined the Board of the group as executive directors. The overall busi-ness will be headed by Premier Group’s managing director Pat Fitzgerald.With 26 offices and operations across

8 countries, the enlarged group will have over 800 employees, annual revenues of some € 205 million and net fees of approx-imately € 100 million. The merger of Premier and Imprint repre-sents an excellent strategic and operation-al fit. The highly complimentary business sectors and geographical reach of both firms is underpinned by the absence of any organisational cross-over. Premier is al-ready the largest professional services re-cruiter in Ireland while Morgan McKinley is the leading financial services recruitment brand in the UK. In addition, Imprint’s pres-ence in Asia-Pacific perfectly compliments Premier's regional coverage of the UK and Irish markets. As well as creating the leading global pri-vate professional services recruiter, the merger provides a platform for rapid brand-led international growth and expansion.

In Ireland, Premier Group’s brands include Premier, which is a market leading brand in accountancy and finance recruitment, La Crème, a market leading brand in office support staff, Verkom, a rapidly expanding IT brand and Brunel, a significant brand in the technical recruitment market. In the UK, Premier Group acquired Nigel Lynn Associates in August 2005. Nigel Lynn is a large specialist accountancy and finance recruitment firm primarily focused on accountancy recruitment to industry and the public sector. In addition to Nigel Lynn, Premier Group successfully introduced its office support brand La Crème into the UK at the start of 2007 through its current office network. This new growth area is viewed by Premier as a complementary add-on to its existing operations in the UK.

Limerick Based Company Transformed

Flowers Forever, Raheen, Limerick con-tinues to provide the local communi-ties of the Mid-West with floral design arrangements that are unique and con-temporary. Our design team work with natural materials to create design-led visually stimulating inventive products that are fresh, beautiful to look at and full of colour and life - a truly uplifting experience when skies are grey!Flowers Forever have a distinctive design image and aim to provide a personal service for all special occa-sions. The proprietors Rachel and David Hannon tell us that “they create flowers for all your requirements, from cor-porate hotel conferencing, flowers for your home, wedding floristry , displays for church or reception, funeral tributes, congratulation bouquets that reflect the vibrancy and intricacy of our floristry design skill.

Our Cool Approachto Flower Freshness !

Customer care and service is always our top priority and Flowers Forever recognise that flower freshness is one of the most important aspects of creat-ing beautiful and lasting displays. To ensure our customers get only flowers of the freshest, we have now installed our own custom built cool-room for this specific purpose. All our flowers are directly cut to order from Holland and are in our cool- room facility of 6 degrees within a few hours of being cut, thus with no variation in temperature we are able to provide our customers with flowers in their original pristine condi-tion, yet another distinguishing mark that makes Flowers Forever “ a kind a different.“


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Flowers Forever, Raheen, Limerick con-

‘’July brings cooling showersand yellow flowers

The sun shines and birds sing Garden angels flowers bring“

“a kind a different”

Limerick Self Storage Ltd., based on the Dock road in Limerick, has just been awarded the ISO 9001:2000 quality standard. It is only 1 of 3 self storage facilities in the Europe that have been awarded the quality standard.

Speaking to the owner of Limerick Self Storage, David Hickey and he told us how proud he was to have received the Standard.

“We have worked very hard over the last year to attain the ISO and it proves to our staff and customers that we run one of the best opera-tions in Europe.”

David also sits on the board of the Irish Self Storage association, ISSA, which promotes self storage in Ireland. As a board we are trying to

promote the awareness of self storage in Ire-land. Self storage is not a well known concept here but it is well established in the US for the last 20 years with over 50,000 facilities. Limer-ick Self Storage is also a member of the Euro-pean Self Storage association, FEDESSA, which is trying to promote self storage in Europe.

Limerick Self Storage is a family business which has been providing storage facilities to Ireland for almost 100 years and looking to the future, David, is very optimistic.

“We are currently building our second self stor-age facility in Portugal and we hope to have se-cured our third facility in Dublin by the end of the year. Both will be under the ‘Store and Go’ brand.”

Limerick Self Storage Award.

Contact us at Flowers Forever Raheen Roundabout,

Raheen, LimerickTel: 061 307123

Email : [email protected]

ISME, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, has reacted angrily to the wor-rying increase in late payments, which is crip-pling many small firms. This situation has oc-curred despite legislation being in place for six years, supposedly to alleviate the situation.

The ISME Credit Watch survey was carried out in the last week of June and had in excess of 700 respondents from the Small & Medi-um sector.

The research confirms:• Actual average payment period in Ireland for SMEs is 67 days, a deterioration on the 62 days at the beginning of the year and 61 days in Summer ’07.• 44% of small companies are waiting lon-ger for payment than the corresponding pe-riod last year; however this figure rises to a massive 69% in Ulster.• Less than one in four (24%) companies is being paid within 30 days.

• 26% are experiencing delays of 90 days, with 11% waiting over 120 days. The corre-sponding figures for June 2007 were 21% and 2% respectively.• Munster companies are collecting faster than the rest of the country at 64 days.• Businesses in Ulster and Connaught are finding it more difficult to collect money than last year, at 83 and 75 days respectively. • While the Munster debtors are the best payers, their payment rate has deteriorated from 57 to 64 days.• SMEs are on average owed twice as much trade credit as they themselves owe to larger businesses.

ISME Chief Executive Mark Fielding stated, “It is disgusting that at a time when the small busi-ness sector is so vulnerable and struggling to survive that accountancy-led big business and state organisations are withholding payments, and thereby boosting their own cash flow, to the detriment of the weaker player."

Late Payments Cripplin ISME

A leading tourist accommodation group has been granted planning permission to incorporate a historic 17th century coun-try house, near Quin in County Clare, into a EUR25m hotel complex. Atlantis Devel-opments Ltd. said that the 5-star develop-ment would create 30 jobs during con-struction and a further 45 full-time and part-time positions when it opens in 2010. Ballykilty Manor Hotel and Holiday Com-plex will include 44 bedrooms, extensive spa and leisure facilities, a 400-person function and conference room, public bar and 130-seater restaurant. The 50-acre site will also feature 14 holiday lodges and

an event course, designed by

I n t e r n a -t i o n a l

and

European Championship course designer Tommy Brennan. Work on the hotel com-plex is expected to get underway shortly and will be completed in time for 2010 season. Ballykilty Manor, which is listed in Dr Hugh Weir’s ‘Houses of Clare‘ book, has its ori-gins in the early 17th century. Among its owners was the family of Clare native Col-onel Thomas Blood, who famously stole the Crown from the Tower of London on 9 May 1671. Mr. John D. Flanagan of Atlantis Developments Ltd. described the refurbishment of Ballykilty Manor as the resurrection of a sleeping giant. “The de-velopment will involve the careful restora-tion of the existing manor house and its delicate incorporation as the centrepiece of the entire development. Once complete, the development will provide guests with a unique blend of heritage and 21st century luxury.” Mr, Flanagan of Atlantis Developments Ltd., “Ballykilty Manor Hotel and Holiday Complex will continue Atlantis Develop-

ments’ commitment to excellence in de-sign and style and will be an invaluable addition to County Clare’s tourism infra-structure. It will be marketed at overseas visitors as well as a rapidly growing do-mestic market. The development will also contribute greatly to the local economy.”Ballykilty Manor Hotel will be the sixth hotel to be developed by Atlantis Developments Ltd. as it continues to strengthen its port-folio in the hotel sector. Since 2006, the holiday and accommodation body has opened the newly refurbished Peacockes Hotel in Maam Cross, County Galway; Tír Gan Éan House Hotel and Holiday Complex in Doolin, County Clare; the Smerwick Har-bour Hotel, near Dingle, County Kerry; the Burren Coast Hotel and Holiday Lodges in Ballyvaughan, County Clare; and the Cliffs of Moher Hotel in Liscannor, County Clare. The new hotels have generated in excess of 235 jobs. The group is also promoting the famed Joseph McHugh’s pub in Liscannor and the AA 5-star Ballyvara House in Doolin.

site will also feature 14 holiday lodges and site will also feature 14 holiday lodges and site will also feature 14 holiday lodges and site will also feature 14 holiday lodges and site will also feature 14 holiday lodges and site will also feature 14 holiday lodges and site will also feature 14 holiday lodges and an event course, an event course,

designed by designed by I n t e r n a -I n t e r n a -

t i o n a l t i o n a l and and

Mr, Flanagan of Atlantis Developments Mr, Flanagan of Atlantis Developments Ltd., “Ballykilty Manor Hotel and Holiday Ltd., “Ballykilty Manor Hotel and Holiday Complex will continue Atlantis Develop-Complex will continue Atlantis Develop-

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10 www.businesslimerick.ie

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Destiny has Designs on Limerick Firm ...The planets were on course for Limerick Firm, RR Donnelley, Global Turnkey Solu-tions, when they emerged as winners of a prize, worth almost €30,000, in a free raffle for participants attending Design Shannon Skillnet’s recent free public seminar in Lim-erick. The prize comprises one corporate membership on the 2-year Design Shannon Skillnet programme, which re-commences next Autumn. The programme aims to help companies become more competitive by harnessing the value of innovation and de-sign in their businesses. “We will be delighted to join the Design Shannon Skillnet,” said the surprised win-ner, John Gaffney, Senior Operations Man-ager of Raheen-based RR Donnelley. “We are always exploring ways to become more innovative in delivering customer solutions. This prize can help us to achieve this stra-tegic goal.” Pictured at the event are (l. to r.): Mary Tyr-rell, Network Manager, Design Shannon Skillnet, John Gaffney, RR Donnelley, winner of the Design Shannon Skillnet raffle, and Derek Kenny, RR Donnelley.

Hotel Jobs Boost For County Clare

Mary Tyrrell, Network Manager, Design Shannon Skillnet, John Gaffney, RR Donnelley,winner of the Design Shannon Skillnet raffle, and Derek Kenny, RR Donnelley.


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ACTION POINT: UL Graduate Success Story

Established in May 2005, by David Jeffreys and John Savage, Action Point has grown to be a serious contender in the Munster IT market. In just 3 years Action Point has tripled in size, has doubled its turnover every year to date and is now moving to its new location in the Plassey Enterprise Centre. The success to date has been attributed to delivering an honest, professional and pro-active service to all of its clients, both large and small. Both founders are graduates from the Uni-versity of Limerick’s Computer Systems de-gree course in which John achieved a perfect 4.0 QCA and was subsequently awarded the Gold Medal for the outstanding achievement in 2001. John is now the Technical Director and oversees all the software development in Action Point. David holds the position of Managing Director and is primarily respon-sible for business development and ongoing innovation within Action Point. The company initially focused on software development, providing bespoke software to both Irish and Californian companies, the most prominent product being the tele-prompting system that is currently used in Hollywood for shows such as American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and MTV Music Video Awards. As the company developed, it soon became clear that there was a market for a quality IT service in the Limerick region which would complement the existing Software Develop-ment service. The key differentiating factors would be the policy to employ only qualified experienced engineers and to offer a four hour response to any IT issue. In September of 2006, Jonathan Deane an-other colleague from UL joined Action Point as the IT Services Director. His former role in South Western Services (SWS) involved implementing and administering large scale government and corporate outsourced IT en-vironments, examples being the distribution service for a multinational media organisa-tion along with the National Calf Registration Service for the Department of Agriculture. Jonathan is a MCSE (Microsoft Certified Sys-tems Engineer), a CCNA (Cisco Certified Net-work Associate), and a CCA (Citrix Certified Administrator) and has more than 10 years IT experience. Since then, three more outstanding individu-als have joined Action Point, to take up the roles of Senior .Net developer (Kevin Murphy BSc. MSc.), Senior Network Engineer (George

Franklin. MCSE -I), and Office Administrator (Eilís Lacey BA. MA.). In addition to this, Ac-tion Point is currently seeking an individual for the position of Sales and Marketing.

The company is now recognised by Micro-soft as being a Small Business Specialist, has achieved the Microsoft Certified Partner qualification and is currently working towards the Gold Certified Partner status. Microsoft Certification is significant for Action Point as it is designed to recognise expertise in the IT industry. COMPLETED PROJECTSIn the past twelve months Action Point has completed several large contracts, the most noteworthy on the IT side was the Produc-tion System Upgrade for the Sunday Tribune Newspaper in Dublin, to facilitate the new newspaper and magazine format. The chal-lenge here was to introduce new systems while not interrupting the production of the newspaper in any way.

Closer to home in Plassey a software test-ing platform was developed for GPXS (for-merly Galty Technologies), who develop appli-cations for the Blackberry range of products. The project involved the use of cutting edge virtualisation technologies from VMWare to

deliver a platform to simulate thousands of users on a corporate network, and has en-abled GPXS to achieve a higher level of cus-tomer satisfaction through improved Quality Control.

On the software development side, Action Point has worked with the National Coach-ing and Training Centre in the University to develop a new online coaching database to store and manage all information relating to coaches in Ireland.

Action Point recently combined resources with Copytype, a leading document solutions provider, to develop a Document Manage-ment system which is currently being distrib-uted in Ireland and the US. This has been used to introduce a paperless back-office process in Roadbridge, one of Ireland's largest civil engineering and building contractors.

THE FUTUREAction Point is looking forward to ongoing success from their new offices in the Plassey Enterprise Centre, at the heart of the Na-tional Technology Park. To mark the occasion Action Point is launching their new website at www.actionpoint.ie where further details of Action Points services can be found.

Jonathan Deane, IT Services Director, David Jeffreys, Managing Director, John Savage, Technical Director pictured in the Univer-sity’s Foundation Building.

Helen Donnellan, Property Services, Shannon Development (left) and Joan Corcoran, Marketing Executive, National Technology Park (right), welcoming Action Point to the National Technology Park.

Services Offered:Security AuditsSystems AuditsServer UpgradesNetwork InstallationsHelpdesk & SupportEmail Setup & ConfigurationInternet ConnectivityTele-worker enablementSpam FilteringData BackupCustom ApplicationsWebsite Development

Credits:David and John would especially like to thank Tony Carey and Aiden Grace in Copytype for their ongo-ing encouragement and support throughout the development of Action Point. A special thanks is also owed to David O’Donnell from David O’Donnell & Associates.

Contact Details:Action PointUnit 8BPlassey Entreprise CentreNational Technology ParkCo. Limerick.1850 ACTION /1850 [email protected]


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“Nobody gives you India like we do!”

MULTI AWARD WINNING INDIAN CUISINE RESTAURANT & TAKEAWAY

POPPADOM BRANCHES

Unit 2c Robert Street, Corn Market Square, Limerick (tel) 061 44 66 44

Unit 5B, Newlands Cross, Dublin 22 (tel:) 01 - 411 11 44

91a Rathgar Road, Dublin 6 (tel) 01 490 23 83

34 O’Connell Street, Sligo (tel) 071 914 71 71

Web: www.poppadom.ie

Open 7 days (Sun - Thurs 5pm - 11.30pm, Fri & Sat 5pm - 12am) EARLY BIRD SPECIAL 3 courses €21.95 (3 courses vegie €17.95)

Sun - Thurs 5 till late Fri - Sat 5 to 7pm

Shannon based Air Charter specialists Le Bas International

announced their new agreement with Premier Private Travel

Services at the official launch of the company’s new Saudi Ara-

bian offices in Riyadh on Monday evening. Irish Ambassador to

the Middle East His Excellency Mr. Tom Russell cut the ribbon

at a reception held in the company’s new facilities in the heart

of Riyadh. Premier Private Travel Services will be prospecting

and cultivating a new elite client base of high net worth indi-

viduals, royalty, heads of state and corporations based in Saudi

Arabia. Le Bas International, based in Shannon Ireland and Cali-

fornia USA, will provide the 24 hour operations necessary to

provide aircraft options, arranging of details and flight following

for each charter flight.

Le Bas Launch Global Market

Irish Amassador Tom Russel (cutting ribbon), Peter Le Bas, CEO Le Bas Intl, Ibrahim Mukbel, General Manager PPTS at the offical company launch, Rivadh, Saudi Arabia 9th June

Peter Le Bas, CEO Le Bas Intl, Ambassador Tom Russel


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Collaborate Or Die Warns Tourism Group

the 08

t: (061) 320000e: [email protected]

thurs 24TH

JULYTHEBLIZZARDS

• Free shuttle bus after

racing & admission to the

SinBin nite club on the

production of your race card

• Bus Eireann Service from

Colbert Station

• Concessions for

Students/OAPS

• Children under 14 FREE

THURSDAY 24TH JULY - LAST OF THE ‘08 TWILIGHT RACE MEETINGSTwilight Racing at Limerick Racecourse is all about capturing the spirit of Summer. Limerick Racecourse in association with Dolan'sWarehouse brings you THE BLIZZARDS. Cheering on your fancied runners in the last furlong, then listening to the very best of livemusic. Twilight Racing at Limerick Racecourse. Close finishes. First-rate gig. Craic guaranteed.

MusicTwilight RacingTwilight Racing• First Race 5.30pm • Last Race 9pm • Full National Hunt • Music from 9.30pm

Twilight BBQ €38.00PACKAGE INCLUDES

• Admission • Racecard • BBQ Supper from the

Munster Suite Balcony • Live music after racing• Ample free seating in

the suite and on the balcony

Panoramic Restaurant €75.00PACKAGE INCLUDES

• Tote facility• Resident Tipster • Reserved table for the day • Four course meal• Cash bar and waiter

service facility

Coors Light Promotion on the night, Your chance to win a Shopping Trip to New York.

Enjoy Coors Light sensibly www.limerickraces.ie

Tourism interests in County Clare and surrounding areas are being warned that they must collaborate or risk going out of business. The Shannon Tourism Cooperative (STC) claims that the region must engage in a more collaborative approach to marketing the sector if it is to develop during a period of economic uncertainty spurred on by rising fuel prices and an increasingly weakened US dollar. The newly established group says that not enough is being done to attract and retain visitors to the area as they pass through Shannon Airport. According to Councillor Sean McLough-lin, Mayor of Shannon, “Of the estimated 3 million transit passengers using the airport annually comparatively few are fully aware of what the Shannon area and County Clare have to offer the short stay visitor.” He added, “Many who book with Ryanair and other carriers imme-diately head for the big centres such as Limerick, Killarney and Galway. The only way of reversing this trend is by pool-

ing local resources and marketing ef-forts of tourism interests in the area. The Cooperative’s aim is to make sure visitors planning to use the airport are aware of the area’s attractions and, secondly, to start building the area as a destination. By establishing a coop-erative, we can share experiences and marketing budgets, along with bringing the collective strength of all the area businesses to bear in developing this potentially lucrative market.” He said that Aer Lingus’s recent announce-ment that it is to curtail its services between Shannon Airport and the USA in the first three months of 2009 had made it even more fundamental that the British and Continental mini-break market be targeted. Meanwhile, all lo-cal business were invited to attend the inaugural meeting of the Shannon Tourism Cooperative recently where an outline plan for Autumn 2008 was presented, and a dedicated website was launched.

Oonagh Kelly Shannon Development, Emelyn Heaps-MD Clare Resorts, John King-Shannon Development, and Richard Alden -Map Destinations pictured at the launch of Invite Ireland


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Leading Mid-West accountants and business advisors, Horwath

Bastow Charleton have announced the winner of the annual Hor-

wath Fine Art Travel bursary. Padraig Robinson, a first-class hon-

ours graduate in Fine Art, Sculpture and Combined Media from

Limerick School of Art and Design (L.S.A.D) is the third recipient of

this prestigious award. The bursary, which seeks to acknowledge

and reward artistic excellence and innovation is curated by Dr

Donal O’Donoghue, Professor in the University of British Columbia

Vancouver, Canada. It enables a new graduate to travel outside

Ireland to view artworks, develop existing ideas, engage in collab-

orative work with other artists or show their own work. Previous

winners have used the award to travel to Germany, Venice and

London. On the basis and merits of his graduate installation “See

you in Lourdes” and the accompanying travel proposal, Kildare na-

tive Padraig Robinson was chosen. Padraig will use the bursary

to rent studio space in Berlin where he is researching ideas for

new projects.

Con Quigley, Managing Partner with the firm, believes this bur-

sary has given Padraig a great opportunity to further develop his

skills as an artist.

HBCL Support The Arts

Padraig Robinson who received a Travel Bursary from Con Quigley, Managing Partner of Horwath Bastow Charleton, Professor Donal O'Donoghue, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

Avocent International Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Avocent Corporation, with operations/offices at Shannon and Dub-lin, Ihas today Monday, has announced a restructuring programme effecting 64 redundancies at its Irish operations. Avo-cent, which is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, USA (Nasdaq: AVCT), is announc-ing these measures as part of a series of actions designed to enhance competitive-ness, improve efficiency and reduce the Company’s cost structure across its Euro-pean locations.

The reductions will affect certain re-search and development, marketing and technical support functions as well as the transfer of Asia operations from Shannon, Ireland to the company’s recently estab-lished regional hub in Singapore. Avocent International employs 168 staff at its of-fices in Shannon and Dublin and will today enter collective redundancy discussions with the staff affected by these measures. The Shannon Ireland facility will remain the centre of support for Europe, Africa and the Middle East to include Finance, HR, IT, Customer Support, Professional Services,

Quality, Operations and Distribution. It is proposed that all redundancies will be ef-fective throughout August to December 2008.

The impact of the consolidation will re-sult in a reduction in employment levels at Avocent's Shannon operations from 160 to 103, including its Research & Develop-ment functions, which were grown indig-enously at Shannon. The functions of Avo-cent's Dublin office will also be transferred to the US, effecting seven redundancies, as part of these rationaliastion measures. Av-ocent Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Avocent International at Shan-non Mr Kieran MacSweeney said today: “It is with great regret that we have had to effect these changes as we had grown or-ganically at Shannon and were extremely proud of our achievements in that regard but significant challenges have arisen that we have had to adapt to. Nevertheless, our Shannon Ireland facility will remain the cen-tre of support for EAME to include Finance, HR, IT, Customer Support, Professional Services, Quality, Operations and Distribu-tion and we look forward to consolidating

our presence here now that these difficult decisions have been made."At this moment staff whose positions are affected are absolutely foremost in our thoughts. They have displayed exemplary levels of quality and flexibility throughout their employment and we will provide what-ever support we can for them in their ef-forts to secure new positions."

Avocent Int'l Restructure Operations

Kieran MacSweeney


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Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ireland remained strong in 2007 according to Ernst & Young’s latest European Invest-ment Monitor (EIM). The 10th annual sur-vey revealed that in 2007 Ireland attract-ed 80 FDI projects, up from 74 in 2006. This is the highest level of investment since 2000 when 113 projects were secured. Across Europe, a record number of for-eign direct investments (FDI) took place for the fourth year in succession, with a total of 3,712 FDI projects recorded - a 5% in-crease on 2006. This upward trend is un-likely to continue at this scale in 2008.

Although overall share of investment from the USA (down 9% to 47%) and United Kingdom (down 9% to 12%) declined, they still represent the top two FDI investors in to Ireland. Canada, Germany and Bermuda all increased their levels of investment in 2007 (Canada, (up 4.8% to 7.5%); Ger-many, (up 2% to 5%) and Bermuda (up 4% to 5%)). The 80 projects created a total of 4,052 FDI jobs in 2007, a decrease of 44%

on 2006. However, 17% of these new FDI jobs were in research and development, far above the 6% European average.

The majority of projects (34) in 2007 were in the Dublin area, with 11 in Cork fol-lowed by Clare with seven and both Galway and Limerick attracted four.

The software sector attracted the high-est level of investment for the second year running, accounting for almost a quarter of the investment in Ireland (24%). This was followed by Pharmaceuticals (up 2% to 14%) in second place. Both Financial Intermediation (down 7% to 11%) and Business Services (down 2% to 10%) ex-perienced drops in the level of investment. The Electronics sector which was ranked fifth showed an increase from 6% in 2006 to 9% in 2007. A total of 64% (51) of the projects in Ireland were new and 29% (23) of the projects were a result of expansion by companies who had already invested in Ireland.

IDA Ireland 2007

Gary Cotter, Director welcomes Joe Ryan to the Limerick office

Arup Consulting Engineers is pleased to announce the new senior appointment of Joe Ryan as an Associate Director in the Limerick office.

Joe joins the Arup team with 24 years practical experience in structural engineering including 18 years with Michael Punch & Partners, 2 years with Halcrow UK and 4 years operating his own practice. Joe’s wealth of experience will add considerable strength to the Arup management team.

Arup provides a multi-disciplinary Consulting Engineering service from the Limerick office which has been in operation since 1982.

Arup has an impressive portfolio of projects in the Limerick and mid west region, including the Riverpoint Tower, Limerick County Council traffic studies, Lissanalta House in Dooradoyle, the Living Bridge in UL, Galway Business Park, Knocknacarra and Ceannt Station Redevelopment, Galway.

New Senior Appointment

www.arup.ieArup Consulting EngineersLimerick OfficeHartstonge House, Upper Hartstonge Street, LimerickTel: +353 (0) 61 212 100E-mail: [email protected]

Foreign Direct InvestmentMaintains Momentum in 2007

Dublin 34

Cork 11

Clare 7

Roscommon 5

Galway 4

Limerick 4

Louth 3

Mayo 2

Waterford 2

Wexford 1

Tipperary 1

Kildare 1

Offaly 1

Donegal 1

Carlow 1

Kilkenny 7


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G a l l e r y

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29 O’Connell Street, Limerick

in association with

Pictured at the event are (L-R) Helena Gubbin, McInerney Construction, Lee Ann Enright of La Crème Recruitment and Claire O’Regan, McInerney Construction

Chris O’Donovan, IBEC, Geraldine Ryan & Dave Griffin, Dell & the Radisson SAS Hotel & Spa’s Corporate Golf Outing at Shannon Golf Club.

Jim Nagle, Analog Devices, Joe Hynan, Axa Insurance, Peter O’Toole Axa Insurance pic-tured at the recent Radisson Corporate Golf Outing at Shannon Golf Club.

Winning Team of the Radisson SAS Hotel & Spa’s Corporate Golf Outing were Maurice Barrett, RSA Security, Debbie Reddan, Shannon Golf Club & Matt Wilhite, Molex.

Competing at the AIB Ladies Irish Open Club Challenge were Martina Scanlon, Margaret Shovlin and Carol Shine of Adare Manor Golf Club. The team have now qualified to take part in the AIB Ladies Irish pro-am which will take place on July 10th in Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links.

Premier Group enjoy a ‘Sex and the City Night’ recently. At the event were Helen Murray Scott (centre), of La Creme Recruitment and (L-R) Caroline Downey, Sue Roche, Deirdre Bennett and Pamela Glynn, all from Genworth.

At the Limerick City Enterprise Board launch of Women in Business network at the Hilton Hotel, Limerick were: Cllr Maria Byrne, Deputy Mayor; Fiona Whyte, dress designer (Guest speaker), Bernie Moloney, Asst. CEO Limerick City Enterprise Board and Chris Clancy, LCEB


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At the Limerick City Enterprise Board Management Skills Program Awards and launch of Women in Business Network at the Hilton Hotel, Limerick.

Cllr John Gilligan, newly elected Mayor of Limerick takes his seat at the side of City Manager, Tom Mackey in Council Chambers at City Hall.

At the Limerick City Enterprise Board launch of Women in Business network at the Hilton Hotel, Limerick were: Siobhan O'Connor, Prospect Architects; Elaine Davidson, Heritage Wedding Cars and Mauran McMahon, Limerick Chamber.

Kevin Sheahan congradulates Cllr. John Gallahue on his appointment as Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council.

Margaret Culhane, Managing Director, C&M Safety Ltd, John Kennedy, Health and Safety Authority, Limerick, and Agnes Relihan, Limerick County Enterprise Board at the Limerick County Enterprise Board Health and Safety Seminar held in Adare in June.

IRISH RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTSDeloitte & Touche House, Charlotte’s Quay, Limerick

061/313744, [email protected]

Kay McGuinness, Maria O'Gorman Skelly and Bridget Theify at Sean Lally's 40th birthday celebrations in the Clarion.

Evelyn and Marinella Raferty at Sean Lally's 40th birthday celebrations in the Clarion Hotel.

Sean Lally, Managing Partner of the Clarion Hotel's Limerick at his 40th birthday celebra-tions in the Clarion Hotel last Friday with colleagues , Andy O'Neill, General Manager Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley, James Tynan, Chief Executive Clarion Hotels and Brendan Curtis, Managing Director Choice Hotels.

Sean and Elaine Lally with children Caoimhe and Oisin in the Clarion Hotel at a party to celebrate Sean's 40th birthday.

Dave Griffin, Charlotte Eglington, Barbara and Andrew Mawhinny at Sean Lally's 40th birthday celebrations in the Clarion Hotel.

Marlyn and Colm O'Brien with Wil Leahy at Sean Lally's 40th birthday celebrations in the Clarion Hotel.


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Beryl Carswell, Regional Hospital Ark Ward after the 2008 Golf Fundraising Classic held in Limerick Golf Club in aid of the Childrenís Ark Ward in the Regional Hospital, Colm Kennedy, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Joe Kennedy and Frank O'Mahony receive third place.

Limerick's LIVE 95FM Bankers Competition Winners:Keith Mullane, Dooradoyle, Mike Noonan, O'Callaghans Strand, Dolores Smith, Garryowen, Carol Ryan, Weston, Mandy Hogan, Woodview and Jimmy Barry, Dooradoyle (LL)

Limerick's LIVE 95FM Bankers Competition Winners:Nadia Sakni, Limericks Live 95FM Shadows team, with winners of the Limericks Live 95FM Bankers Competition, sponsored by Nevil's Shoes, Marion Kelly, Moyross, win-ner of €1,000, Angela Quilligan, Newcastle West, winner of €500 and Laura O'Donovan, Ardnacrusha, winner of €1,000 (LL)

Classic held in Limerick Golf Club in aid of the Childrenís Ark Ward in the Regional Hospital, Leorand Pearse and Michael O'Connor from Pearse Properties receiving 1st prize from Mary Lyons, Supermacs.

Thomas O'Sullivan, General Manager Russells and Elaine O'Holoran winner of the Paddy Powerbingo.com Irish Karoke Championships 2008 having qualified at Russells Bar, Raphael Mullally, proprietor, Amber Gintare, Day Manager Russells and Niall Cholgan, Creative Director Belissimo Hair Studio and Karoke Competion Judge.

Pictured at the offices of Limerick Chamber of Commerce with the Indian Ambassador to Ireland H.E. Mr. P.S. Raghavan and his wife Mrs. Barbara Raghavan is Ms. Nichola O’Connell, Marketing Manager of UL-based firm Avvio.


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Pauline Hartigan , Grainne Vaughan and Mairead Scanlon at the launch of the Summer Fashion Soiree, to take place in Browsers Furniture Company, Upper William Street on the 17th of July in aid of Action Breast Cancer.

The twelfth annual Blas Summer School of Irish Traditional Music and Dance was launched at the University of Limerick. Erin Loughran, Blas, Carl Corcoran,Director Blas, Dr Mícheál Ó Súilleabhain, director of the Irish World Academy & Katie Boyle, Blas

On Friday evening, 22 November

1963, Tom and Paschal, the well

known Limerick comedy duo, were due

to give a Concert in Drumgeely Hall in

Shannon Town. Over 150 residents

of the new Shannon Town turned up

for the Concert, to be told on arrival

by Tom O'Donnell, that the Concert

was being cancelled because Presi-

dent John F Kennedy had been shot

dead early that day. Nearly 45 years

later, Tom O'Donnell presented a

framed poster for the historic concert

that never happened‚ to the Mayor of

Shannon, Cllr Sean McLoughlan. The

framed poster will be put on display in

Shannon Town Library.

Concert That Never Happend!

Pictured at the presentation were (l-r) Frank Larkin, Public Relations Manager, Shannon Development, Tomas McCormack, Town Clerk, Tom O'Donnell, Cllr Sean McLoughlin, Mayor of Shannon, and Ger Dollard, Town Manager.


New, state of the art, low floor wheelchair ac-cessible buses have been introduced into the Limerick city bus fleet by Bus Éireann. 9 new buses, funded under Transport 21, have been delivered to Limerick and are now operational on various routes in the city.

The new fleet was launched by Bus Éireann along with Minister for Defence Willie O’ Dea TD and Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Ger Fahy re-cently. Miriam Flynn, Regional manager, Bus Éireann South West said: “Under Transport 21, Bus Éireann is introducing a total of 12 new vehicles into the Limerick fleet in 2008. These are a combination of additional and

replacement city buses and also single deck commuter coaches. All vehicles are wheel-chair accessible. I am delighted that these new vehicles will enable us to improve ser-vices for our three million annual customers in Limerick.”

The 9 new city buses being launched were manufactured by Ireland by Wrights Bus Com-pany of Ballymena Co Antrim. Their introduction means that the Limerick city fleet is now 100% low floor wheelchair accessible.New buses and coaches entering the Bus Éire-ann fleet under Transport 21 are enabling the company to upgrade its existing services in Lim-

erick and where possible to provide some new services.

In spring 2007, Bus Éireann unveiled its plans for Limerick under Transport 21, outlining the services improvements that could be made.

In line with the phased introduction of new ve-hicles, the first step will be to increase service frequencies on some of the existing city routes to meet the demand of the growing population.

• A higher frequency of service will be introduced on a number of services, such as the Ballycummin route, where a 30 minute frequency is to be introduced later this summer.

• Other routes which will benefit from im proved frequencies are: - Caherdavin – Limerick Institute of Tech- nology - City Centre - University of Limerick - City centre

• Two new services are also planned, from Annacotty to the City Centre and Thomond Village to the City Centre. These are scheduled for introduction in autumn 2008.

• It is also planned to extend the Coonagh Service beyond its current terminus to serve the new Shopping Centre at Cooagh Cross.

In order to derive maximum benefit from the new planned services the introduction of some of the improved city services will coincide with the introduction of the proposed Green routes.

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Bus Eireann Upgrades City Bus Fleet

The Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea, The Mayor of Limerick Ger Fahy, Paddy McGuinness and Mirian Flynn, Bus Eireann at the launch of Bus Eireann's new accessible vehicles for the Limer-ick bus fleet. Also in the picture are driver Liam Savage and city inspector Tom Gleeson.

Limerick City is in the process of a “silent revolu-tion” in economic terms, a major economic assess-ment of the city and its environs by one of the coun-try’s leading economists Jim Power has recently revealed. In a broad ranging 35-page report on the economic, investment, social and infrastructure profile of Limerick, Mr Power found that investment in the city for the next decade is set to surpass that planned for any other part of the country. The report, titled “Limerick – a City of Opportunity?”, was commissioned by Limerick based developer Ger Clohessy with a view to obtaining a full expert analysis on the economic profile of the city ahead of what is set to be unprecedented level of private and public investment. “The reality is that Limerick City is currently in the middle of a silent revolution that is gradually transforming it into a modern, dy-namic European city,” Mr Power states.

Among the key points to emerge in the report is that as a result of the very ambitious public and private sector development already underway and planned for the next decade, the construction in-dustry should remain vibrant in Limerick, should fly against the trend for lower levels of construction activity at a national level and trigger significant post-development employment. The strength of Mr Power’s economic outlook for Limerick is based largely on the circa €1billion worth of private invest-ment about to take place in the city centre alone. These investments include a €500 million project along an eight acre site from Sarsfield Bridge to the Hunt Museum, including knocking and redevel-oping retail outlets such as Dunnes Stores, Mar-tin’s Pub, Penneys, the Revenue Commissioners Office, and the current Arthur’s Quay development. As well as these retailers, the new development would include riverside walks, restaurants & cafes, a park, a cinema complex, extensive underground car parking, outdoor performance space, and a Vi-sual & Performance Arts Centre.A second planned €500 million development – the Opera Shopping Centre – nearby on Patrick Street will further enhance the retail potential of the Cen-tral Core zone. This site includes the landmark Granary building. In addition to these retail devel-opments, there are a number of other proposed developments in the city centre area, ranging from a new City Library to office and residential develop-ments on Henry Street. Furthermore, the planned public investment in regenerating areas such as Moyross, Southhill and Ballinacurra-Weston will have a very significant impact as well in terms of the overall investment in the city.

However, Mr Power does signal some warnings and criticisms in the report. He states that the gov-ernance structure in the city has been poor, with three councils involved in a geographically small area. “This has proved inefficient and ineffective, and has certainly prevented the city from devel-oping its real potential. It is clear that if Limerick City is to achieve its potential, a single governance

structure is essential.” He points to the Mid-West region’s relatively high dependence on manufac-turing, and agricultural employment and suggests that policy makers will have to strive to ensure that job losses in these sectors in the mid-west region will be replaced by high-quality jobs in other areas of activity.

Among the other key positives for the city in the longer-term highlighted by Mr Power are:

1. House prices in Limerick are low compared to the national average and the quality of the housing stock is also very good

2. The city’s close proximity to an international airport at Shannon is a major strength, “notwith-standing the questionable decision of Government to facilitate Aer Lingus in transferring its Heathrow slots from Shannon to Belfast in January 200823. Limerick has a high quality third level educational offering; with a strongly reputed University and In-stitute of Technology

4. It has a strong offering in the area of arts and culture

5. Limerick City Council has an apparent ‘can-do’ attitude and an ambitious Draft City Centre Strat-egy.

Mr Power also highlighted the sporting culture in Limerick, with two top class stadia – the 50,000 capacity Gaelic Grounds and the 26,000 capac-ity Thomond Park which will be opened later this year. The delivery of Transport 21 initiatives as they relate to Limerick, he said, is making steady progress, with access to the region by road, rail, and bus improving at a substantial pace and within a decade will have reached a very high standard

“The negative image of Limerick is not justified, but the message needs to be sent out loud and clear that Limerick City is on the move and is open for business. The irrepressible spirit of Munster Rugby is now very evident from the people of Limerick,” he added.

Developer Ger Clohessy, who commissioned the report, said that it more than vindicated his con-fidence in his native city. “Business people in the city have been aware for some time of a number of major individual projects planned for Limerick, aside altogether from the investment in regenera-tion projects. I felt that it was time we had a proper analysis to bring all of this together and get a vision of the Limerick we will have in ten years time.

“Jim Power is one of the country’s most respect-ed economists and to have him rubber stamping these plans and our projections for Limerick is a major vote of confidence in what we are about to do here,” he said.

Limerick City is in the process of a “silent revolu-tion” in economic terms, a major economic assess-

structure is essential.” He points to the Mid-West region’s relatively high dependence on manufac-

Economic “Silent Revolution”Underway in Limerick

The White House Poets celebrated

in style last week during their visit to

Newcastle upon Tyne to witness the

launch of their latest book 'Two Riv-

ers Meet - Poetry from the Shannon

and the Tyne', a joint publication with

Newcastle poetry group Northern

Voices. Barney Sheehan led a group

of nine Limerick poets to Tyneside to

read at the launch and afterwards

a civic reception with Newcastle

Lord Mayor Cllr. Dave Wood. Bar-

ney Sheehan, founder of the White

House Poets, told the mayor that

'Limerick and Newcastle are two cit-

ies with many things in common, not

least the fact that two great rivers

flow through them'. The Lord Mayor

responded by acknowledging the

importance that the River Tyne has

played in the history of Newcastle

and welcoming the cultural link that

now exists between their two cities.

Speaking at the the launch Newcas-

tle poet Keith Armstrong, joint editor

with Dominic Taylor and a regular

visitor to Limerick and the White

House Poetry Revival, expressed his

delight with the success of the joint

publication. He hoped that further

joint ventures would be possible.

Afterwards the Limerick poets vis-

ited the Irish Centre and met the

Chairman Tony Corcoran who issue

an invitation for them to come back

again in October to take part in the

annual Tyneside Irish Festival to take

place from the 12th to the 26th of

October.

For further info contact: Dominic

Taylor or Barney Sheehan at 087

2996409 or 086 8657494

PoetryCelebrationAcrossThe Irish Sea

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21st CenturyConference Facilities

are ‘Standard’


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Mr. Willie O’Reilly has been appointed chairman of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI), the representative body for Ireland’s independent commercial broad-casters, both radio and television which in-cludes Limericks Live 95FM. "Today, over 63% of the population (2,296 million listeners daily) tune into independent radio on a daily basis. The sector employs over 1500 people and contributes posi-tively both economically and culturally to

Irish society. Independent broadcasting is intertwined in the life of every community in the country”, said Willie O’Reilly, who is Chief Executive of Today FM. O’Reilly’s appointment comes at a time when broadcasting in Ireland is undergoing considerable legislative change. The Broad-casting Bill is being debated before the houses of the Oireachtas and is likely to be enacted later this year. “The broadcasting bill is a very comprehen-sive piece of legislation which will provide a modern legislative framework for broad-casting in Ireland. We welcome many as-pects of the bill including the establishment of a single regulatory authority which will create a level regulatory playing field for national, regional and local broadcasters in Ireland. But there are aspects which we believe could be imIMAGEproved.

“Through the levy outlined in the Broadcast-ing Bill, members of the IBI will be financ-ing the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and we believe that a seat on the Author-ity should be provided for an independent broadcaster. The views and position of in-dependent commercial broadcasters need to be represented during discussions which will directly affect their day to day work and they will be able to provide members of the Authority with a detailed and in-depth under-standing of the industry”, said O’Reilly.

“We also welcome the decision to fast track license approvals for those stations renew-ing their radio license uncontested, but the license should be renewed for 10 years, as a contested license is, and not 5 years as suggested in the current bill. No business can be run on a short term plan, which is what stations winning an uncontested li-cense would be forced to do. It will make it difficult to attract and retain staff, difficult to justify investment in areas such as prem-ises, equipment or staff training and be det-rimental to the development of the sector”, he said. The IBI is also advocating a change to the proposed advertising cap of 10 minutes per hour outlined in the bill arguing that there should be some flexibility and the cap aver-aged over 2 hours.

New Chairman of IBI

Willie O’Reilly, Chairman of Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI)

Hiring Climate in MunsterRemains Upbeat The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, released today by Manpower Ireland, has found Mun-ster employers remain the most optimistic in the country with 7% of employers planning on hiring more staff in the next three months. Regionally, while Munster employers recorded the highest outlook record-ed by any region for this quarter, this figure was closely followed by Dublin employers (5%) and Leinster employ-ers (4%) who are, as a whole, remain-ing optimistic about future growth. In contrast, Ulster has reported the weakest employment outlook of – 8%, which shows a significant decline of 20 percentage points since last quarter. Connaught employers have also reported a disappointing employ-ment outlook of – 2%. Ireland’s Net Employment Outlook for the next three months is only 3%, the third weakest forecast of hiring inten-tions reported across the globe for this quarter.

Manpower's Niall Harris says,“The employment picture in Munster is the most optimistic of all regions in Ireland having held steady at 7% in year-over-year comparisons how-ever we can also see that the hiring climate in Ireland as a whole is now more conservative than at any point since 2004. "The Construction sector is clearly continuing to struggle and the em-ployment outlook of -17% is the weakest outlook since the survey be-gan at the start of 2002. While there will undoubtedly be job losses in con-struction and related industries, hav-ing enjoyed many years of significant growth in this sector it is natural that the labour market would reach a pla-teau. "It is reassuring however to see that certain industries such as Transport, Storage and Communications sector, the Public and Social sector and the Pharmaceutical industry have main-tained buoyant in the current eco-nomic downturn," concluded Niall.

21st CenturyConference Facilities

are ‘Standard’


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The most productive meeting facilities in the region and be-

yond have one thing in common, professional service. These

facilities represent the highest quality venues available to

meeting professionals as they have come to expect such high

quality as ‘standard’. To represent the needs and interests of

conference centre users, it is interesting to note the availability

and willingness of our conference centres to streamline and

custom design a corporate event to suit the clients individual

needs. Most meeting facilities are designed to host training

seminars, executive education, planning sessions, symposia,

board meetings and conferences for groups of small numbers

to large major national conferences.

The amenities which attract conference users include audio

visual equipment, quality ergonomic furniture, air conditioning

and lighting control, top cuisine for refreshment breaks and

sit down conference dining. The conference centre must firstly

‘do what it says on the tin,’ taking care of business, that’s what

you want from your meeting and that’s what you’ll get when

you choose a professional conference venue. The professional

venue planner understands the conference centre concept

and how it delivers the technical sophistication and specialised

services of to-days meeting demands. Conference centres can

make an important difference to your organisation.

Flexibility is the key word in your

meeting venue. Minute to minute

changes in your meeting schedule, for

example meal and recreational times

run behind because of extended meet-

ing, this should be handled efficiently

and with a smile, by the venue holder.

Skilled support staff to assist you in re-

alising your meeting objectives should

be made available by your conference

provider. Business centre services,

such as copying, faxing, access to

computer and other services should

also be on hand.

Make sure your chosen venue of-

fers a continuous refreshment ser-

vice. In the case of residential- over-

night or weekend conference events,

accommodation should have a work

area such as a desk or a table, with

suitable chair and lighting, internet

connectivity and accessible power points. This accommoda-

tion or guest room should be separated from the conference

and leisure areas to allow maximum privacy and comfort.

Of course, the leisure facilities have become a most impor-

tant attraction when deciding your venue. This of course ap-

plies more for the overnight meeting and conference but mod-

ern leisure facilities can be a deciding factor. Spa resorts and

leisure centres help turn a serious business meeting into a

relaxing evening and recharges the individual for the challeng-

ing meeting ahead.

Top class professional conference service, coupled with qual-

ity cuisine, beautiful environments, business can be pleasur-

able. The continued level of development in the hotel industry in

this region and nationally, boasting ‘state of the art’ conference

facilities, and acknowledging that business can be pleasurable,

is a welcome concept for organisers and delegates alike.

The introduction of so many major international hotel brands

locally and nationally, with global recognition of standards and

experience in the conference industry, has brought the ser-

vices available to a new level of excellence.


Trinity Leisure Spa & Beauty SuitesDublin Road, Nenagh, Co Tipperary

T. 067 41111 F 067 41022E. [email protected] W. www.abbeycourt.ie

• 82 spacious & relaxing guest rooms and 24, 4 star lodges• Conference facilities for up to 400 theatre style and 250 classroom• 11 meeting rooms, 2 board rooms (all rooms with built in audio visual equipment)• High speed wireless broad band throughout the hotel

• 500 free parking spaces• 24 hour room service • Trinity Leisure Spa with 20 m swimming pool and extensive gymnasium• Hair Salon & Beauty Suites• Magnificent landscaped gardens• Créche & Rugrats Kids Club

For Business or Leisure …. A Pleasure

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BL | FEATURE

www.flynnhotels.comTel: 0214274040

THEIMPERIALHOTEL

in the heartof Cork City...

WHERE BUSINESS

IS A PLEASURE.

A genuine Cork institution, the Imperial Hotel offers themost impressive business and conferencing facilities in

the heart of Cork city.

The unique charm and style of the Imperial Hotel,provides the perfect venue for companies and event

planners searching for that special destination to host animportant event. Whether you are organising a small,

intimate meeting or large scale,multi-day conference, ourhighly skilled conference and events team tailors each

experience to your needs and desires. With ourprofessional facilities and unrivaled service, we can

ensure that your event runs efficiently and smoothly.

To see how best we can meet you requirements, pleasecontact our conference & events manager Lorna Collins on

021 4274040 or e-mail Lorna [email protected]

with escape salon & spa

Mention this advert &

receive

FREE complimentary welcome refreshments

on arrival fo

r your delegates!

Full Page BUS Munster Vs2 26/06/2008 14:32 Page 1

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www.flynnhotels.comTel: 0214274040

THEIMPERIALHOTEL

in the heartof Cork City...

WHERE BUSINESS

IS A PLEASURE.

A genuine Cork institution, the Imperial Hotel offers themost impressive business and conferencing facilities in

the heart of Cork city.

The unique charm and style of the Imperial Hotel,provides the perfect venue for companies and event

planners searching for that special destination to host animportant event. Whether you are organising a small,

intimate meeting or large scale,multi-day conference, ourhighly skilled conference and events team tailors each

experience to your needs and desires. With ourprofessional facilities and unrivaled service, we can

ensure that your event runs efficiently and smoothly.

To see how best we can meet you requirements, pleasecontact our conference & events manager Lorna Collins on

021 4274040 or e-mail Lorna [email protected]

with escape salon & spa

Mention this advert &

receive

FREE complimentary welcome refreshments

on arrival fo

r your delegates!

Full Page BUS Munster Vs2 26/06/2008 14:32 Page 1

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The boost to local economy whatever location you choose, is

widely acknowledged, and competition to attract an increase

in business tourism into every region is immense.

In the Mid-West, we have seen the hotels and leisure ser-

vice providers join forces to establish Meet Limerick Shan-

non Conference & Sports Bureau, to attract this lucrative

business to the region. Their aim is to build the reputation

of the Limerick and Clare areas as a centre of excellence for

conferences, meetings, incentive groups and sporting events.

Their service incorporates assistance in a number of areas

including help in locating suitable facilities and accommoda-

tion, advice on social programmes to meet a variety of dif-

ferent type of visitor, help with co-ordinating site visits and

inspections, and assistance with providing promotional input

for international bids.

Every region must take the decision to actively promote

their venues and their region by establishing such initiatives

as Meet Limerick/Shannon, and working as one team to en-

courage this beneficial business tourism market.

To book your next event at Hilton Limerick contact our events co-ordinator on 061 421887or email [email protected] quoting ref. ‘Wii’

* Terms and conditions apply

At Hilton Limerick, Wii love to make you happy

Book Now to receive a free Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit*

Get your hands on a free Nintendo Wii console and Wii Fit or Nintendo DS*

At Hilton Limerick, Wii love to make you happy, which is why we’re bringing you this fantastic offer. When you book and host a conference or event worth over 3,100 between June 1st 2008 and October 31st 2008 excluding September, you can claim the following free Nintendo gifts:

limerick.hilton.com

Event Value

3,100

6,300

18,900

You receive

Nintendo DS

Wii console

Wii console plus Wii Fit

Booking conferences and events at Hilton Limerick brings you:• Competitive rates• First-class and flexible Hilton service• State-of-the-art technology and lighting• Dedicated Hilton event manager or meeting planner• Online planning and information facilities• Flexible menu choices

Plus,fantastic LivingWell Health Club, Terrace Bar and Cafe andThe River Restaurant for post-event relaxation or celebration.

Book nowand start playing...

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To book your next event at Hilton Limerick contact our events co-ordinator on 061 421887or email [email protected] quoting ref. ‘Wii’

* Terms and conditions apply

At Hilton Limerick, Wii love to make you happy

Book Now to receive a free Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit*

Get your hands on a free Nintendo Wii console and Wii Fit or Nintendo DS*

At Hilton Limerick, Wii love to make you happy, which is why we’re bringing you this fantastic offer. When you book and host a conference or event worth over 3,100 between June 1st 2008 and October 31st 2008 excluding September, you can claim the following free Nintendo gifts:

limerick.hilton.com

Event Value

3,100

6,300

18,900

You receive

Nintendo DS

Wii console

Wii console plus Wii Fit

Booking conferences and events at Hilton Limerick brings you:• Competitive rates• First-class and flexible Hilton service• State-of-the-art technology and lighting• Dedicated Hilton event manager or meeting planner• Online planning and information facilities• Flexible menu choices

Plus,fantastic LivingWell Health Club, Terrace Bar and Cafe andThe River Restaurant for post-event relaxation or celebration.

Book nowand start playing...


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IBEC is the national voice of business and em-ployers and is the umbrella body for Ireland’s leading sector groups and associations. IBEC provides tailored advice to members, which range from the very small to the largest en-terprises, employing over 70% of the private sector workforce in Ireland.

As members, you:• Are informed of changes and revisions to legislation to ensure compliance• Get answers to your legal queries quickly and efficiently • Get practical advice and support on handling grievances correctly• Get representation before the Labour Court, EAT and Rights Commissioners by your IBEC Executive in the Limerick Office• Get on-line access to best practices, poli cies and procedures• Mitigate against costly litigation claims and tribunals

IBEC Mid West hosted a forum for employers on the Information and Consultation Act 2006 in the Hilton Hotel Limerick on Friday June 27th 2008. The event, which was attended by member companies from throughout Lim-erick, Clare and North Tipperary concentrated on providing an overview of the Act and an-swering employer questions.

Essentially, the Act covers employees’ right to information and consultation regarding devel-opments in their workplaces. It applies to any business in the public or private sector (referred to as an “undertaking” in the Act and defined as carrying out an economic activity, whether or not operating for gain) with

the following minimum workforce thresholds:

having at least 150 employeesfrom 4 September 2006

having at least 100 employeesfrom 23 March 2007

having at least 50 employeesfrom 23 March 2008

It is important to note that the right to informa-tion and consultation does not operate auto-matically. An employee request for information sharing arrangements must be made by at least 10% of the employees in the organisa-tion, subject to a minimum of 15 and a maxi-mum of 100 employees. The Act provides that the request can be made either directly to the employer or to the Labour Court (or its nomi-nee). Where a request is made to the Labour Court, it will then notify the employer, seek certain information that will allow it to verify the number and names of the employees who have made the request, and issue a notification con-firming whether or not the request meets the employee threshold.

Where an employer is requested to put in place an information and consultation ar-rangement by at least 10% of its employees, it is obliged to begin negotiations with employees and/or their representatives with a view to establishing arrangements. Once negotiations are entered into, there are two possible out-comes – either a negotiated agreement or the standard rules as set out in the Act apply. From March 2008 it is not possible for companies to put in place a pre-existing agreement.

Where employees make a written re-quest for consulta-tion arrangement but do not meet the minimum employee threshold, a further request cannot be made for 2 years. Parties are given 6 months from the time of starting ne-gotiations to agree an information and consultation arrangement. This period can be extended by agreement.

If an employer does not have an information and consultation arrangement in place, one option is to do nothing and wait for a valid re-quest from 10% of the workforce to negotiate new arrangements. An employer will then be obliged to implement an agreed process for consultation.If an employer already has an information and consultation arrangement in place, to comply, it needs to be written down, cover all employ-ees or have been approved by the employees.

The issue of confidentiality in the context of an information and consultation arrangement is significant. The Act introduces a statutory ba-sis for a duty of confidentiality.

For further details on this subject, contact IBEC Mid West.

IBEC Mid West will host seminars in Septem-ber and October on Employment Law and the

role of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). IBEC briefings are designed to be both practical and infor-mative and will pro-vide an opportunity to enhance employer compliance with em-ployment law and avoid common mis-takes that employers make. Members will be notified of the de-tails in advance. Com-panies wishing to join IBEC should contact 061 410411 or [email protected].

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Employees (Provision of Informationand Consultation) Act, 2006Now applies to any organisation in Ireland employing at least 50 employees

By Paula O’Hanlon, IBEC Mid West Executive

Paula O’Hanlon

Mary Louise O'Dwyer and Siobhan Meehan from Sykes Shannon with Gerard Garvey, Milford Care Centre pictured at IBEC Mid West Managers HR Forum at the Hilton Hotel, Limerick.

Eamonn McCoy of IBEC pictured at IBEC Mid West Managers HR Forum at the Hilton Hotel, Limerick.

Sports practitioners with deterio-rating eyesight or wearers of varifo-cal lenses can look forward to con-tinuing their sporting endeavours with exceptional visual clarity thanks to a revolutionary new sports lens launched by Essilor. The new lens, Varilux® Sport, the first of its type to be developed for athletes and sports enthusiasts who require eyesight correction, matches the distance and close up visual requirements of all sports including golf, cycling, jog-ging, skiing, hiking, tennis, angling, sailing, and even gym work. Varilux® Sport is currently being introduced in a number of European countries, including Ireland, prior to its launch in North America.

Essilor Ireland’s managing director Angela Keogh explains: “Many vari-focal wearers complain of distorted vision when they use glasses playing sport, particularly when they move their heads swiftly. Essilor has taken this comment on board and has researched and designed a lens to alleviate this discomfort. The result is a lens design which gives soft far vision, fast power increase for intermediate vision and stabilised near vision at the bottom part of the lens with the added benefit of be-ing made of polycarbonate material noted for its resistance, lightness and UV protection.

“These features offer specific benefits for the wearer, including sharper focus, no dizziness when inclining the head or looking down, and easy and stabilised near vision area which is so essential when marking a golf score card, or look-ing at a watch, mobile phone or a map. This new design, which inte-grates the new ‘buzz word’ in optics - advanced digital surfacing technol-ogy - delivers an enlarged visual field and reduces optical aberrations on the sides of the lens. It is set to offer great visual comfort to anyone who has arrived at the ‘varifocal age’, be that 40 or 50; it’s a very individual dilemma with no upper or lower age limit,” adds Ms Keogh.

Varilux® Sport lenses are avail-able from Essilor-supplied optom-etrists in Limerick, commencing immediately.

New Over 50s Sports Lens

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BT has launched a new initiative intended to get owners of small businesses thinking about the return on investment they get from their IT systems, particularly in the cur-rent economic climate. BT is urging small business owners to assess the health of their IT spend by checking it on the BT Busi-ness ‘Tech Mass Index’ calculator at <www.bt.htm> www.itcalculator.bt.com. BT’s ‘Tech Mass Index’ calculator works on similar principles to the Body Mass Index for assessing optimum weight in people and allows businesses to assess whether their technology and communications perfor-mance is ‘obese’ or ‘underweight’ as well as highlighting tips to keep their IT healthy. All they need to do is enter in the amount of time and money they are spending on IT, their size, the sector they are in and their lo-cation, and the online calculator will provide them with a ‘fitness assessment’ specific to their business along with tips on IT health. Getting a good return on investment (ROI) for IT and communications is vital to small businesses, but many could be suffering by making badly thought out investments

– many SMEs buy new technology for their business at least three times a year without preparing a plan which shows how it helps support a sustainable business model for the company. Instead of concentrating on running their own business, many company directors seem to find themselves concentrating on running their IT. They are taking on personal responsibility for making buying decisions about the company’s technology as well as assuming responsibility for its maintenance. Technology that could be driving business efficiency and productivity can instead add to their workload, taking up unnecessary time and energy. Most small businesses claim reliability is a major technology problem, especially the is-sue of data loss and many never conduct an-nual health checks of their equipment. The BT IT Calculator will offer business free and impartial advice. For further information about IT Support, customers should visit: http://business.btireland.ie

Liam O’Brian, BT Business Managing Director offers local business woman Tori Saunders tips on how to get IT fit for summer with the launch of BT’s ‘Tech Mass Index’ calculator. The calculator will assess the health of companies IT spend and whether their technology and communications performance is ‘obese’ or ‘underweight’ as well as highlighting tips to keep them IT healthy.

BT helps small businessesget I.T. fit for summer


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After serious consideration and an exhaustive environmental impact study, it was agreed that a tunnel under the river Shannon was needed to offer necessary and long term socio-eco-nomic benefits to Limerick and the surround-ing area. The tunnel will be capable of handling up to 40,000 vehicles per day and the removal of this many vehicles from the city centre will eliminate traffic congestion, improve air qual-ity, lower CO2 emissions and allow for further pedestrianisation and greater public transport facilities for Limerick city centre The construction of the new Limerick Tunnel is one of the largest projects undertaken in the west of Ireland, at a cost of over €500 million, and use of locally sourced sustainable materi-als is of particular importance. The Limerick Tunnel Project is Phase II of the Limerick South Ring road project with an estimated comple-tion date of 2010. Tunnel construction began in August 2006 with the tunnel being the major element of the project, the immersed tube tunnel measur-ing 675m in length. The tube will consist of two bores, one for southbound traffic and the other for northbound traffic. Each of the two bores comprises two lanes with emergency walkways on each side. Capita Symonds design for the tunnel called for a completely flat tim-ber platform on which the concrete formwork for the tunnel base would be constructed. Pre-cision was an essential requirement as with such exact engineering, deviation of even a few millimetres would cause problems. After assessment and evaluation, German construc-tion company Strabag International selected Waterford based and FSC certified OSB from manufacturer SmartPly over other panel prod-uct alternatives. Their specification was tested and met with Capita Symonds approval. Thou-sands of stainless steel screws protrude up through the 18mm SmartPly OSB3 to attach 15,000m2 of panels to the under-side of the concrete base elements of the tunnel where the structural SmartPly OSB3 takes the weight of the concrete during construction. The tunnel is constructed in five Tunnel Units which will be floated out and sunk into a pre-dredged chan-nel across the river. The SmartPly OSB panels will be permanently beneath the tunnel ele-ments on the river-bed once the tunnel units are completed and sunk in July 2008, where, with their unique task complete, the non-toxic panels will safely degrade over time. Mr. Uli Holt, commercial manager for Strabag says "In this tunnel base application, SmartPly OSB met all our needs in respect of both our quality and cost requirements. The structural

capability of the product was vital. We have been impressed with SmartPly’s technical performance and intend to use it again on our future projects." Tunnel base timber sheathing for a major civil engineering project is just one of a wide range of construction and design applications for Irish manufactured SmartPly OSB – from tim-ber frame construction to site hoarding, and from boarding up windows to robust modern architecture. SmartPly OSB is part of Coillte Panel Products, a division of Coillte, the Irish Forestry Board. Key Facts Start Date - August 2006 Completion Date - September 2010 Overall Length - 10Km Major Interchanges - 4 Number of Structures - 17 Length of Tunnel - 675m Toll Collection Locations - 2 Volume of Excavation - 300,000 m3 Volume of Fill - 3,100,000 m3

The Limerick Tunnel consists of:9.75km of two lane dual carriageway2.3km of single lane dual carriageway675m long tunnel under the River Shannon750m causeway across Bunlicky lake11 Bridges6 Underpasses and 8 Culverts2 Toll Plazas Design Company - Capita Symonds, UKConstruction Company - Strabag International GMBH, GermanyOSB Supplier - Heiton Buckley Ltd, Limerick, Ireland

Smartly Precision Choicefor Limerick Tunnel

InactiveEmployees Twice As Likely To SufferHeart Attack

Employees who are inactive double their risk of developing coronary heart disease and are nearly twice as likely to have a heart attack, than those who are active. This is the latest message from the Irish Heart Foundation at today’s Ac-tive at Work conference. According to the national heart and stroke charity, promoting physical activity could save lives and it makes good business sense – it could reduce absenteeism by 20 per cent, which costs companies €1.5bn.

The Irish Heart Foundation’s Chief Ex-ecutive, Michael O’Shea, said: “The work performance of employees who are physically active can increase by four to 12 per cent. By promoting physical ac-tivity in Irish workplaces, employers re-duce the risk of coronary heart disease, which remains a major cause of prema-ture death and disability affecting pro-duction costs in terms of replacement costs, training and sick leave.”

Mr O’Shea also said that although many companies provide positive support to employee heart health by organising regular health checks including blood pressure and cholesterol checks, physi-cal activity is still under-promoted in the workplace. He said: “Physical inactivity is of the same level of risk for cardiovascu-lar disease as high cholesterol, smoking and high blood pressure. Yet very few workplaces engage in promoting physi-cal activity, which is relatively low in cost and brings a wide range of health and social benefits for the employee and economic benefits for the employer.”

There is no doubt that over the last year or so, there has been major volatility in Stock Markets worldwide.

The market falls at the end of last Summer, were clearly prompted by concerns over finan-cial liquidity in credit markets.At that time, many people asked whether these problems would be confined to the financial world, or whether they would spill over into the wider economy. Twelve months on, we appear to have the answer: as feared, the credit crunch is taking its toll on growth in the broader economy, both here and in the United States. The recent volatility in stock markets reflects a growing consensus that economies are slowing.

During times of Stock Market uncertainty, it is only natural to be concerned about how this affects the value of your investments. Investors often ask what action they should take in response.

“In my experience, one of the most common mistakes many investors make when they invest in Stock Markets, is to be sucked in when times are good and markets are high, only to be shaken out in uncertain times when markets are lower. Investors should be pre-pared to ride out these fluctuations and take a longer term view. Today’s volatility comes at the end of a bull run for world Stock Markets, that has lasted much longer than the average. There is no reason to suggest that another bull run won’t follow at some point.”

Quote from: Mr Anthony Bolton, Managing Director,Investments Fidelity International, January 2008.

In volatile markets, it is quite understand-able to be concerned about the value of your investments. However, it is possible to make market volatility work for you. Regular invest-ing, usually on a monthly basis, and phasing, drip feeding a lump sum into an investment over a number of months, can work to your advantage in volatile markets.

The main benefit of investing regularly is known as ‘euro-cost averaging’. Don’t let this complicated term confuse you as the principle is quite simple really. If the market does fall, then you know that your next monthly invest-ment will benefit from the higher number of shares you will be purchasing at the lower price. Irish Life is one of a few Companies that has developed a structure, which allows investors to benefit from the obvious advantages asso-ciated with ‘euro-cost averaging’.

Auto Start, as Irish Life have called it, is an investment service where an investor’s lump sum is drip fed into the fund of their choice, over a 10 month period. We all know that markets can go up and down but often these movements can be quite extreme. In volatile markets, investing regularly or phasing, means that you don’t have to worry so much about putting all your money into shares just prior to when prices may rise or fall.

It is impossible to time the markets, however, we can show from history the benefit of being invested and staying invested, as proven by the figures below:

In conclusion, as Warren Buffet, a world famous and extremely successful Fund Manager answered, when asked when is the best time to invest, he responded succinctly, “when you have money!”

As Independent Financial Advisers, F J Hanly & Associates are in a position to recommend the best Investment Products available, so call Fergus or Kevin today, on (061) 310533, for further information.

Investing in Volatile Markets

• Wealth Management

• Self Administered Executive & Individual Pension Schemes

• Investments & Savings

• Life Assurance

• Serious Illness Cover

• Income Protection Schemes

• Commercial & Residential Mortgages

FJ Hanly & AssociatesFinancial Consultants2nd Floor,RiverPoint,Lower Mallow Street,Limerick.Tel: 061 310533Fax: 061 310011Email: [email protected]

Member of the Professional Insurance Brokers Association and InvestorCompensation Company.Softford Limited t/a F.J. Hanly & Associates Financial Consultants is regulated by the Financial Regulator.

Kevin Dore, Director, Ann-Marie Shanahan, Office Manager, Michelle Crosse, Administrator, Fergus Hanly, Managing Director.

VALUE OF €1,000INVESTED IN THE FTSE ALL-SHAREINDEX OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS

StayedInvested

Missed the best 10 days

Missed the best 40 days

€3,938 €2,615 €1,123Source: Fidelity, total returns 31/12/92 to 31/12/07


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FREE IT Health CheckPaqIT Solutions &

Eircom Business Systems

Details:1. Assess and report on the business communications structures considering; A) IT and Computer Network current setup & on-going costs B) Existing telecoms infrastructure and on-going costs

2. Deliver maximum cost savings across all aspects of IT and telecoms communications within the business

3.

Get on with doing business…Would you like to know more?

Contact: Vincent Hely:

Email: [email protected] Tel: 086 824 0523

Harry Murphy: Email: [email protected] Tel: 085 174 0837

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PaqIT were in the news earlier this year as they expanded their operations nationally and had just launched their Galway based service com-plimenting the Ennis office opened in March ‘06. Established in 2001 by directors, John Collins and Ger Sheehan, they have seen their company steadily grow into one of the region’s leading IT companies. In an interview with Busi-ness Limerick Magazine, John and Ger were keen to announce a new development and as-sociation with Dell as a partner in Dell’s Partner Direct Program.

“It’s Official! PaqIT Solutions are delighted to announce that we have gone live as a regis-tered Dell partner via Dell's new Dell Partner Direct Program and with our history and con-tinued purchases from Dell Computers, we have been immediately catapulted in to the top 5 resellers of Dell product in Ireland” said John Collins.

The appointment of PaqIT further underlines Dells commitment to offering customers real choice according to Paul McCord, Dells Channel Director in Ireland . "By working in conjunction with partners such as PaqIT, Dell are able to le-verage partners strengths to enhance our exist-ing portfolio, essentially by offering complimen-tary services or skills through the partner. It is highly appropriate that one of our first partners nationally is based in Limerick as Dells presence and impact in that area is already considerable. By formalising the partnership we have had with PaqIT for some years now we have an opportu-nity to strengthen that position."

"PaqIT have partnered with Dell for 7 years now in supplying Dell based solutions to their cus-tomers. This formal ratification of the partner-ship underlines PaqIT’s commitment to us and, more importantly, to their customers that they will continue to offer relevant and value added solutions based on the world’s leading hard-ware platforms." What does this new development mean for PaqIT Solutions and computer buyers?

This is a major endorsement by Dell to PaqIT. The PaqIT Solutions Group can publically associ-ate our company with Dell and continue with the successful relationship we have cultivated over the past 7 years. PaqIT Solutions can Officially announce that we can order, supply, install & configure the entire range of Dell equipment to end users while maintaining the extremely com-petitive pricing advantage traditionally offered by Dell direct. The customer benefit is that we will also configure and integrate any new Dell equipment in to the existing office environment.

“PaqIT Solutions are in a unique position to com-pete head-on with other computer resellers car-rying brands such as HP Compaq, Fujitsu Sie-mens, Sony, Lenovo etc. PaqIT Solutions pricing on Dell Products is extremely competitive and because Dell build to order, we can customise all computer products as required by the cus-tomer. With such competitive prices and our professional service, our customer is in a ‘win win’ situation, from factory floor to your desk, fully operational. A radical improvement on Interlink arriving at your office delivering card-board boxes to your front door! ” said John.Ger Sheehan says that PaqIT Solutions also manage the customer’s relationship with Dell. “The responsibility of managing the correct equipment specification, ordering, delivery and product integration can now be handed over to PaqIT Solutions leaving the customer free to get on with doing business. PaqIT Solutions have a long history of association with Dell having sup-plied their customers with Dell computer equip-ment since 2001, and we intended to continue to build on this relationship with Dell to our cus-tomers benefit.

Why Dell more so than other market leaders in this field?

“There are many reasons as to why Dell,” says John. a) Competitive pricing and product specification across a range of Computer Worksta- tion, Laptop & Server products.b) Hardware warranty support service second to none – 3 year on-site warranty with next business day response ensures minimum customer downtime. c) Build Quality and reliable components. Dell product is extremely reliable.d) The build to order approach of Dell allows customisation and also ensures that you get the most current hardware and

software available.d) Support local industry and jobs in Limerick and the Mid-west region. "Over the years PaqIT Solutions Group Dell ac-count has grown substantially. We continue to build and purchase large volumes of Computer Workstations, Laptops & Servers etc. each month and have a substantial annual spend with Dell. We look forward to maintaining, cul-tivating and growing our relationship with Dell" – added John.

Sean Lally, President of Limerick Chamber of Commerce, says he is delighted with PaqIT So-lutions and Dell announcement. “Support com-panies locally where possible, was my message to businesses in Limerick and the Region.” In last month’s front page interview with Business Limerick magazine, Sean actively encouraged local companies to look at what is available here on their own doorstep and support these com-panies where possible. He gave an example of Dell; “if someone in Limerick needs to purchase a computer, they should automatically out of loyalty purchase from Dell as it is important to our economy that these companies are sup-ported by the local market. “By purchasing your Dell equipment through PaqIT Solutions, local business will get the best of both worlds – Quality product at a competitive price delivered, installed and supported by PaqIT Solutions. PaqIT have promoted and installed Dell comput-ers and software for many years and Dell has rewarded their loyalty by appointing them as a partner in their Partner Direct Program. The joint support for each other by these companies is very encouraging and I would like to see a lot more of this approach among companies in the region,” said Sean.

Contact PaqIT through their National Tech-nical Support Telephone: 1850 589 589 or email info@paqit. Web: www.paqit.com

Paq IT Solutions Announcedas Partner in Dell’s Partner Direct Program

Brian Hastings, TSR, Dell Computers, Damien O‚Gorman, CDM, Dell Computers, Vincent Hely, Director PaqIT Solutions, Ger Sheehan, Director PaqIT Solutions, John Collins, Man-aging Director PaqIT Solutions

FREE IT Health CheckPaqIT Solutions &

Eircom Business Systems

Details:1. Assess and report on the business communications structures considering; A) IT and Computer Network current setup & on-going costs B) Existing telecoms infrastructure and on-going costs

2. Deliver maximum cost savings across all aspects of IT and telecoms communications within the business

3.

Get on with doing business…Would you like to know more?

Contact: Vincent Hely:

Email: [email protected] Tel: 086 824 0523

Harry Murphy: Email: [email protected] Tel: 085 174 0837


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Businesses in Munster are invited to en-ter the The Ulster Bank Business Achiev-ers Awards 2008, in association with the Irish Independent and Enterprise Ireland. For the first time entrants will be award-ed at provincial level before finalists from Munster, Ulster, Connacht and Leinster go forward to an all-island awards ceremony, where the overall winner is announced. Now in their 15th year, the all-island awards aim to recognise and reward busi-ness success, regardless of business of-fering, service, or location. Entries are now open to both established businesses and entrepreneurs who feel their business has achieved significant success and growth. Provincial finals will be held in Novem-ber with the overall winner announced in March. Nominations can be made in one or more of seven categories:

• Environmental/Sustainability Award • Community/Social Entrepreneurship • Award (including Arts & Crafts) • Ethnic Entrepreneurship Award • Business Going International Award • Family Run Business Award

• ‘One to Watch˙ Award • Best Business Start Up Award

Munster finalists from each category will receive local and national media cov-erage, entry into the national awards and a dedicated profile page on the Business Achievers Awards website. The national winner will receive a comprehensive prize package including an Executive Education programme at Harvard University Busi-ness School, •50,000 worth of advertis-ing spacee in the Irish Independent and two years membership of the Institute of Directors. The Business Achievers Awards are open to nominations by individuals or businesses at www.businessachiever-saward.com or contact (01) 6084030. All entries must be submitted by 31st Octo-ber 2008, with judging by awards panels and provincial awards ceremonies taking place in November 2008. Winners from these four events will then compete at na-tional level for the overall category prizes in March 2009. Companies will be judged on a variety of merits including sales per-formance, market share growth, company milestones, innovative new products or services and successful achievements by key personnel.

Awards for Munster Businesses

Pictured at the Munster launch of the 2008 Ul-ster Bank Business Achievers Awards were Tom Leahy, Ulster Bank Regional Director for the South of Ireland and Cork Entrepreneur and 2005 Business Achievers Awards finalist Cul-len Allen (Cully of Cully & Sully)


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No matter what a company calls it – downsizing, rightsizing, restructuring, merging - it often boils down to people losing their jobs. Addressing and managing the transition of employees out of the company is a difficult task. This is why many organisations offer Outplacement/Career Transition Support to employees facing redun-dancy, to support them to cope with job loss and transition smoothly and quickly to suitable new employment. It sends a caring and positive mes-sage to remaining employees.

6. Support Employees to make the right Career DecisionLosing one’s job is one of the most stressful events that can occur in a person’s life. It affects us personally, it challenges our sense of self and our identity. For some it is a time of difficulty, for others an opportunity for long-overdue change.

Organisations who offer outplacement support to their staff tend to focus on the outcome of people finding a job. It is not simply a matter of finding another job, it is a question of finding a ‘suitable’ job.

The most important part of the Outplacement Programme is identifying suitable career options.

In our work with organisations and their employ-ees we use a very powerful Career Assessment system – careerdecisionmaker.com™ which scientifically enables people to identify suitable career options.Careerdecisionmaker.com™ is a unique world-class career assessment system, which assess-es the total person and scientifically identifies suitable Career options.Careerdecisionmaker.com assesses each per-son’s (VIPS) Values, Interests, Personality and Skills using 4 psychometric assessments. It integrates and uses the information from these assessments to identify suitable career options and produces a detailed personalised Career Report. This Career Report is invaluable in iden-tifying their strengths, achievements and unique selling points. It plays a significant role in helping change employees’ mindsets from negative to positive and enables them to see career options and opportunities for the future.Approximately 68% of our programme partici-

pants decide to upskill and develop themselves enhancing their marketability and future employ-ment prospects. 7. Support Employees to Successfully transi-tion into Employment Career Decisions offer two customised pro-grammes.• Six Step Pro-active Self Marketing Programme Career Decisions unique 6 Step Pro-active Self Marketing Programme has proven to be a win-ning formula with over 91% of people securing suitable employment within 3-4 months. The rate at which our clients secure jobs is accel-erated by providing access to the hidden jobs market through Career Decisions Virtual Career Centre.

• Start Your Own Business Programme Some employees have a seed of an idea for a business and choose to participate in the Career Decisions Start your own Business Programme. This programme helps people to reality test their ideas through market research and prepare a business plan. Clients benefit from the expertise of a Start Your Own Business specialist.

These programmes are delivered through group workshops and/or personalised coaching ses-sions.

8. Support Employees to Successfully transi-tion into Retirement • Work Life Retiree Programme Career Decisions Work Life Retiree Programme has proven to be very powerful in helping people to undertake a complete worklife review. They discover how to maximise and enjoy their retire-ment/semi-retirement.

9. Train and Coach Managers• To deliver the news • In their role in downsizingResearch shows that having a management team that is visible and accessible throughout the downsizing has a positive impact on surviv-ing employees’ attitudes about the Organisation. Most Organisations use the services of their Outplacement/Career Transition provider to coach and train their management team. Management are coached on what and how

to communicate at all stages of the downsizing process. They are also coached on how:• To handle frequently asked questions and difficult questions• To deal with highly emotional and dis- tressed employees

This has proven extremely effective in reduc-ing the stress levels for management who are already in a difficult position. It also ensures that both departing and remaining employees receive a positive message that management care enough to help them. 10. Retain and Revitalise Remaining EmployeesA downsizing Organisation relies heavily on the loyalty and performance of remaining staff for its future survival and growth. To truly experience the benefits of the downsizing you need to invest even more energy in the people who remain. An individualised approach to communication, career development and role clarification is the key to retaining people.

Spend time with employees to individually and collectively reassure them about their value, answer questions, explain how expectations have changed, find out their concerns and lay out the future visions for the organisation. This helps to reduce future turnover, the “Am I next?” syndrome and helps to maintain people’s com-mitment and productivity.

Engage in career discussions with survivors, to identify how to reassign roles and tasks based on talents and suitability. Turn the change into an opportunity for them to develop and improve their job satisfaction as well as contributing fully to the bottom line.

Career Decisions specialise in Career Support/ Revitalisation Programmes for existing employ-ees and provide training to HR and Management in becoming skilled in conducting effective career discussions.

Exclusive Irish Partner of Career Partners International (CPI), the largest global provider of Career Transition and Career Management with over 2,000 consultants in 45 countries,

ensuring that Career Decisions is positioned to provide clients with global best practice career support.

Over the past 14 years Miriam Magner-Flynn, founder and Managing Director (Bsc Ed, CMP), Fellow Practitioner of the Institute of Career Certification

International has designed and project managed some of the largest Organisational Restructuring and Downsizing initiatives in Ireland. Over 10,000 employees from organi-sations such as ESB, Diageo, ACC Bank, Jury’s Doyle Hotel Group, Thomson Corporation and Tyco Electronics have

benefited from Career Decisions customised Career Programmes.

For Further Information:Miriam Magner-Flynn Tel. (061) 400664Email:[email protected]

Career Decisions Ireland Ltd is Ireland’s No.1 Outplacement/Career Transitionand Career Management Firm with offices in Limerick and Dublin

Miriam Magner-Flynn

10 Commandments for Successfully Managingthe Downsizing/Redundancy ProcessPart two of two Part Article – Contact Career Decisions for Part one.

PROFILE:


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This year is proving particularly challeng-ing for the Shannon region and West of Ire-land tourism generally, with many external factors impacting on the short term out-look, according to a new report from ITIC, the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation and Shannon Development.

The report, “Shannon Gateway to the West of Ireland-a Short Term Market Per-spective”, prepared by Tourism & Trans-port Consult International (TTC) makes a number of calls for immediate action to counter the impact on tourism of such fac-

tors as the “Open Skies” policy reducing transatlantic capacity through Shannon by 40%, the economic downturn and credit crunch in main markets, the falling dollar and sterling, and record high food and oil prices. ITIC calls for the implementation in full and without delay of “The Shannon Airport Catchment Area-Economic and Tourism Development Plan”, published in January this year, that called for the establish-ment of an independent and financially vi-able Shannon Airport Authority, continued

funding of the Discover Ireland’s Wonder-ful West programme, improved transport links with Shannon Airport, Donegal and Kerry, and investment in the development of broadband communication to improve competitiveness. In addition today’s report called for: • Continued work with airlines to secure all existing transatlantic services at Shan-non, particularly winter services, while con-tinuing to seek new route development op-portunities• Increased funding for the Discover Ire-land’s Wonderful West Campaign for Au-tumn 2008 and Spring 2009• The establishment of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) full pre-clearance facilities at Shannon Airport• Increased investment in marketing support of European routes• Development of a coordinated strat-egy between airports serving the west of Ireland to avoid dilution of existing services and enhance the prospects of the sustain-able development of new routes• Focus on delivering better value for money in order to give the west of Ireland an edge• Improvement in the competitiveness of the west of Ireland by continued public and private sector investments to create new “reasons to visit” and improve the range of visitor attractions• Continuation of the plan to redress the connectivity to/from Shannon by exploiting the opportunity presented by the Paris ser-vice and exploration of other possibilities in line with market demand.

Shannon and West Tourism NeedAdditional Supports

The 2nd Burren Painting Competition is to be held on Saturday 19th July, in Lis-doonvarna, Co.Clare.

The Burren Painting Centre embarks on the second year of the outdoor land-scape painting competition. It aims to attract amateur artists from the 4 cor-ners of Ireland. The sponsorship from lo-cal businesses has doubled from the first year with €6,000 going to the prizes and events. The overall winner will receive a cash prize of €500 in addition to a 3 day painting course break at The Burren Paint-ing Centre in Lisdoonvarna.

This year the competition will be the core of an art weekend, with other events offering an attractive 3 days for people interested in the arts.

An oil painting demonstration by Fergal Flanagan will be held in the newly reno-vated Town Hall in Lisdoonvarna, in the early evening of Friday 18th July. He is an established well known oil painter from Co Wicklow. This will be followed by the offi-cial opening of an art exhibition, curated by local artist Doreen Drennan. The exhibits will be works by 7 local professional artists that paint in The Burren area.

Two judges Rosemary Carr ROI and Charles Harper RHA will set about the scrutiny of the work. During that Sunday morning Frank Sanford will conduct a drawing work-shop at the Burren Painting Centre. This will be followed by the prize giving lunch.

Entry Forms and details of the Competition are available from:

Chris O’Neill The Burren Painting CentreLisdoonvarna, Co [email protected] or phone 065-7074208

Burren Outdoor Painting Competition

John King, Heritage and Tourism Director, Shannon Development with Matthew Ryan, President of Irish Hotels Federation and Eamonn McKeon, CEO, ITIC pictured at the launch by ITIC and Shannon Develop-ment of a new tourism report calling for additional tourism supports for the Shannon Gateway at a meet-ing which took place at the Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort, Co. Limerick.


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Four of the Mid West Region’s major

shopping and retail centres feature in

Ireland’s top forty Retail Centre Rankings,

according to Experian®, the leading global

provider of retail property information on

high streets and shopping centres.

Limerick City is the Mid West’s premier

shopping area. Featuring at 4th in the

analysis of Ireland’s top forty retail centres

it attracts a retail spend of approximately

€607million a year.

The findings were revealed as part of Ire-

land’s first ranking of retail centres. The

Irish Retail Centre Ranking by Experian®

revealed that consumers in the Mid West,

spent their hard earned cash in the follow-

ing towns and cities:

• Limerick City (€607million)

toped the Mid West rankings followed by

• Ennis (€255million and 14th overall),

• Thurles (€169million and 31st overall)

• Nenagh (€128million and 39th overall)

The Experian Ireland 2008 Retail Rank-

ing examines all major retail centres in Ire-

land, assessing them on a number of key

performance indicators such as the size

of the centre by floorspace, the number

of major multiples, comparison stores and

quality independent retailers. Negative fac-

tors, such as the amount of vacant floor-

space are also taken into account.

Jonathan de Mello, Director of Retail Con-

sultancy, Experian, said: “For the first time

now we have an accurate and very power-

ful measure of retail expenditure for every

significant retail location in Ireland. Experi-

an’s research provides unique insight into

the current and future face of the retail

landscape in Ireland.”

RETAIL CENTRE REGION 2008 SPEND (€)

1 Dublin (IRL) Dublin 2,411,735,240

2 Cork (IRL) South-West 756,632,488

3 Dundrum Town Centre (IRL) Dublin 696,628,210

4 Limerick (IRL) Mid-West 607,057,716

5 Liffey Valley Shopping Centre (IRL) Dublin 554,053,725

6 Galway (IRL) West 474,775,070

7 The Blanchardstown Centre (IRL) Dublin 383,122,339

8 Waterford (IRL) South-East 357,893,524

9 Swords (IRL) Dublin 320,048,315

10 Tralee (IRL) South-West 318,969,119

11 The Square (IRL) Dublin 304,369,606

12 Castlebar (IRL) West 286,191,746

13 Sligo (IRL) Border 266,114,045

14 Ennis (IRL) Mid-West 255,678,747

15 Athlone (IRL) Midland 242,429,715

16 Drogheda (IRL) Border 229,500,126

17 Letterkenny (IRL) Border 228,449,960

18 Kilkenny (IRL) South-East 221,329,649

19 Navan (IRL) Mid-East 219,462,197

20 Carlow (IRL) South-East 217,674,490

21 Mallow (IRL) South-West 213,878,364

22 Longford (IRL) Midland 209,021,413

23 Cavan (IRL) Border 207,984,207

24 Dundalk (IRL) Border 207,659,237

25 Dublin - Dun Laoghaire (IRL) Dublin 203,856,567

26 Killarney (IRL) South-West 199,499,888

27 Clonmel (IRL) South-East 189,134,116

28 Wexford (IRL) South-East 188,562,810

29 Monaghan (IRL) Border 188,462,313

30 Ballina (IRL) West 173,412,191

31 Thurles (IRL) Mid-West 169,465,998

32 Dublin - Rathmines (IRL) Dublin 167,403,713

33 Galway - Galway Shopping Centre (IRL) West 163,660,461

34 Portlaoise (IRL) Midland 158,924,636

35 Enniscorthy (IRL) South-East 151,707,516

36 Tullamore (IRL Midland 151,094,954

37 Cork - Douglas (IRL) South-West 149,377,759

38 Bray (IRL) Mid-East 139,815,081

39 Nenagh (IRL) Mid-West 128,868,135

40 Naas Mid-East 96,318,036

Ireland’s First Retail Ranking Top 40RANKING TOP 40 IRISH RETAIL CENTRES 2008

Burren Outdoor Painting Competition


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The Dunraven Arms was the es-tablished in Adare in 1792 and has a history and tradition of first class service in an old world ambi-ence. It is one of the regions pre-mier 4* hotels and it manages to marry the friendly service of a country house to a modern hotel with twenty-four century facilities.

Located just 10 minutes from the city, the hotel is nestled in the pic-turesque thatched cottages on Adare’s main street. We recently vis-ited their Maigue restaurant which I knew had earned many awards including three AA red rosettes, Gibley’s Gold Medal, Egon Ronay, Mouton Cadet and Bord Failte awards, which are proudly displayed and we were anxious to see if it lived up to its great reputation. John

Shovlin, restaurant manager warmly greeted us and after a quick tour of the restaurant, delivered us into the capable hands of deputy restaurant manager, Francis Minogue.

First impressions or the Maigue Restaurant was of splendour, class and luxury. The layout is lavish and comfortable and in keeping with the old world charm. Deep pile tartan carpet, crisp-linen table cloths, comfortable period furniture, all contributed to a wonderful old world ambience but you were at all times aware of the quality and service.

Francis Minogue ably assisted with their dinner menu and evening specials.For Starters we had Salmon Assiette with Dill Cream; Tomato, Mozzarella and Serrano Ham, Basil Dressing; Crispy Goats Cheese, Tomato Relish and Red Wine reduction; and Venison Salad with Parme-san Shavings

For our Main course, Roast Rib of Irish Beef carved from the Trolley, with Wine Jus and Horseradish Sauce; Fresh Cod with Summer Vegetable Compote and Garlic Basil Oil; Braised Rabbit Leg, Baby Spinach and Grain Mustard Sauce and Stuffed Breast of Chicken with Smoked Salmon, Sauce Nicoise and Mushroom Flan.

To finish, Chocolate Gourmet Cake, Chocolate Sauce and Hazel-nut Ice Cream; Rhubarb Tart with Strawberry Ice Cream; Pear Ba-varoisse with Chocolate Ice Cream; and a selection of Irish Farm House Cheeses with Apple and Sultanas.

This was classic Irish cuisine, served with chef’s individual flair and an innovative twist. The service was excellent and quality and flavours superb. An exciting meal, where we were welcomed to a unique and luxurious dining experience under crystal chandeliers and with silver service. The genuine interest and effort by staff is admirable today and we found the Dunraven Arms a most friendly and hospitable hostelery. Proprietor, Louis Murphy hosts a most professional, highly acclaimed hotel and there is no doubt that his Maigue Restaurant merits the many awards bestowed on it. I can recommend this excellent restaurant to all Business Limerick readers, dial 061 605900 for reservations.

The Wines…A Fleurie from Joseph Drouhin, a medium bodied red wine, lots of elegant and persistent aromas of fruit and flowers, with a fine tanning; and an outstanding Premier Cru which is very popular here, Chateau Margaux 1986, medium bodied and delicately balanced with fine claretty hue and firm nose.


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Summer Vegetable Compote and Garlic Basil Oil; Braised Rabbit Leg, Baby Spinach and Grain Mustard Sauce and Stuffed Breast of

Exudes Elegance and CharmThe Dunraven Arms was the es-tablished in Adare in 1792 and has a history and tradition of first class service in an old world ambi-ence. It is one of the regions pre-mier 4* hotels and it manages to marry the friendly service of a country house to a modern hotel with twenty-four century facilities.

menu and evening specials.For Starters we had Salmon Assiette with Dill Cream; Tomato, Mozzarella and Serrano Ham, Basil Dressing; Crispy Goats Cheese, Tomato Relish and Red Wine reduction; and Venison Salad with Parme-san Shavings

For our Main course, Roast Rib of Irish Beef carved from the Trolley, with Wine Jus and Horseradish Sauce; Fresh Cod with Summer Vegetable Compote and Garlic Basil Oil; Braised Rabbit Summer Vegetable Compote and Garlic Basil Oil; Braised Rabbit

Exudes Exudes Elegance and Charm

Dunraven Arms


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Three pillars of religious life in County Limerick were officially recognised by Limerick County Council at a Civic Recep-tion recently. Most Rev. Donal Murray, Bishop of Limerick, Right Rev. Michael Mayes, former Church of Ireland Bishop, and the Franciscan Order received the highest accolade that the Local Authority can award to an individual, group or or-ganisation. Bishop Murray was honoured in recognition of the silver jubilee of his Episcopal Consecration and his continu-ing service to the people of Limerick. Ed-ucated at Blackrock College, Dr Murray studied for the priesthood at Clonliffe Col-lege, St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and the Angelicum in Rome, where he was awarded a doctorate of divinity. Ordained in May 1966 Dr Murray became the youngest member of the Hierarchy when appointed as auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in April 1982. Dr Murray is the first to be appointed bishop from outside of the Diocese of Limerick for two centuries. He was installed at St. John’s Cathedral, Lim-erick, on Sunday 24 March 1996. According to Councillor Kevin Sheahan, Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Coun-cil, “As a respected author in the areas of theology, ethics and social issues, Dr. Murray is cogently aware of the many is-sues facing members of his Church. This is very apparent in the way he comfort-ably, delicately and effectively handle mat-ters of significance for members of the Church, as well as the wider community here in Limerick.”

The Cathaoirleach said that Limerick County Council was also delighted to pro-vide a Civic Reception for the Right Rev. Michael Mayes to mark his retirement as Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick, Kil-laloe and Ardfert after forty-three years in the ordained ministry. In April 1993, he was elected as Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh and in 2000 he was trans-lated to the Diocese based in Limerick following the vote of the Electoral College. Since 2000, Bishop Mayes has taken special responsibility for the area of inter-national development work. Councillor Sheahan commented, “Since his arrival in the Midwest, Rev Mayes has served his Church members and the wider com-munity well. By holding a Civic Reception in his honour, the Council is expressing its sincere appreciation of his ministry.”

Meanwhile, the Franciscan Order, which last week closed its main friary in Limer-ick, is being honoured in recognition and commemoration of more than seven hundred and thirty years of service to the people of the county. The Franciscan Order’s main friary was established in 1267 while the present church and friary were opened in 1886 and reconstructed in 1929. The friary on Henry Street pro-vided an array of services, especially the sacramental services of Mass, Confes-sions, preaching, and parlour blessings. Councillor Sheahan said the Franciscan Order also played a much broader role in society and its members were valued members of the local community.

Religious Figures Honoured In Limerick

County Manager, Ned Gleeson and Cllr Kevin Sheahan Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council at a Limerick County Council, Civic Reception held in Adare Manor with Most Rev Donal Murray, Bishop of Limerick, Right Rev. Michael Mayes, former Church of Ireland, Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe and Fr Hugh McKenna, Vicar Provincial of the Franciscan Order (DG)

lege, St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and the Angelicum in Rome, where he was awarded a doctorate of divinity. Ordained in May 1966 Dr Murray became the youngest member of the Hierarchy when appointed as auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in April 1982. Dr Murray is the first to be appointed bishop from outside of the Diocese of Limerick for two centuries. He was installed at St. John’s Cathedral, Lim-erick, on Sunday 24 March 1996.

According to Councillor Kevin Sheahan,Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Coun-

in the Midwest, Rev Mayes has served his Church members and the wider com-munity well. By holding a Civic Reception in his honour, the Council is expressing its sincere appreciation of his ministry.”

Meanwhile, the Franciscan Order,last week closed its main friary in Limer-ick, is being honoured in recognition and commemoration of more than seven hundred and thirty years of service to the people of the county. The Franciscan Order’s main friary was established in 1267 while the present church and friary

Exudes Elegance and Charm


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Mayor Cllr John Gilligan launched the upgraded ParkMagic product. The new and improved version of Limerick City’s pay-by-phone on-street parking service went live in Limerick City on July 1st.

This easy to use parking system, developed by the Limerick company ParkMagic, represents a further simplification of it’s in-car parking display unit – which has already proven to be a huge success on Limerick City streets. The newly launched parking system will be made available free to all Limerick car owners.

This upgrade involves replacing the electronic battery driven display with a barcode window sticker, a new FREE-PHONE parking number (1800 30 30 93) and a starter pack with €5 free parking credit. If that’s not enough, the pay-by-phone on-street service will be cheaper than the paper parking disks as ParkMagic is running a summer promotion where it will be €1.80 per parking event instead of €2 as per the new disks. Free starter packs will be distributed to all car owners in the Limerick area during the month of July. You can receive a starter pack by calling ParkMagic or visiting parkmagic.net. It couldn’t be simpler - once you receive your free starter pack, you register by calling a free-phone number and affix the bar-code sticker to your car windscreen. Thereafter, to park your car you call the free-phone parking number for Limerick City. You can top up your parking credit by phone, online or through participating retail outlets citywide. Traffic wardens can check the validity of your parking by scanning the barcode on your window sticker. This new window sticker will be in effect your ‘Parking Disk for Life!’

New Mayor Launches Parking Service

L-R: Mayor of Limerick, Cllr John Gilligan, Tom Cooney, Limerick City Council Traffic Department, Paul Fitzgerald, CEO, Park Magic and Rory McDermott Traffic Department pictured alongside the mayoral car in City Hall at the official launch of the new pay-by-phone on-street parking disk and free-phone number which went live in Limerick on July 1.

In its Annual Report for 2007, Enter-prise Ireland reported an exceptional performance by client companies in global markets with exports hitting €13.181 Billion. New expoort sales of €1.445 Billion in 2007 broughht total new export sales over the 2005-2007 strategy period to €4.419 Billion against the target of €3 Billion. This represents sttrong progress in the face of intensi-fying global competition and increasing market challenges. As a result, more Irish companies than ever before are building strong sustainable positions in the international marketplace. Total employment in Enterprise Ireland supported companies was 153,670, a net gain of 1,321. Speaking at the launch of the Annual Report, Frank Ryan, Chief Executive Of-

ficer, Enterprise Ireland said: "The new export sales over the last three years have been won by our client companies tenaciously pursuing new market oppor-tunities, intensifying existing customer relationships and opening up new mar-kets with innovative products and ser-vices. Their exporting success is directly linked to advancements in innovation, research, productivity, management de-velopment and entrepreneurship. "The steady growth achieved by our cli-ent companies in 2007 was made in a much more challenging global economic environment. Competition in internation-al markets is intensifying and notwith-standing recent achievements there is no room for complacency. Exceptional effort is required over the life of our cur-rent three year strategy Transforming Irish Industry 2008-2010 to deliver the targets set. "While the scale of the challenge for our clients cannot be underestimated there is an underlying resilience that gives cause for optimism. For example in 2007 exports to the Americas grew by 11% despite the weakening dollar against the Euro. This is a remarkable achievement during a period of less certainty and illustrates what can be achieved by client focused, ambitious companies with innovative products and services. I am confident that our clients will continue to demonstrate the leader-ship and investment in the innovation and research and development that ul-timately lead to growth in international markets." Frank Ryan said.

The economic recession in Ireland has had little impact on the number of Irish people investing in foreign properties, according to a leading French-based estate agent.

Chez Riviera is a free Irish owned prop-erty-finding service in the French Rivi-era, the most sought-after area in the world for luxury apartments and villas.

„While the Celtic Tiger was this week declared dead by the Economic and So-cial Research Institute, its claw marks are still being felt in the south of France where Irish property investors now have a greater presence than their British counterparts‰, stated Donal Warde of Chez Riviera.

He explained that the predicted burst-ing of the Irish housing property bub-ble, combined with rising inflation and the international credit crisis, did not appear to be deterring Irish investors from taking advantage of the develop-ment opportunities along the French Mediterranean coast.

Mr. Warde continued, „The fall in house prices in Ireland for the 15th month in a row in May, bringing the total de-cline versus a year earlier to 9.5 per-cent, is certainly helping to sustain the numbers of Irish people seeking sound investment opportunities abroad. In France, for example, the value of sec-ond hand properties increased by 2.7% in the first quarter of 2008. As a result, we are seeing a lot of foreign de-velopers, predominantly Irish, continu-ing to invest in properties here.‰

Foreign Property InvestorsUndeterredBy Recession

Frank Ryan - CEO Enterprise Ireland.

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Exports Exceed €13 Billion

The Stony Thursday Book is calling for submissions from local, national and international poets for the next issue which will be published in Limerick, Ire-land, as part of Cuisle International Po-etry Festival on 16th October 2008. The Stony Thursday Book was founded by Limerick poets John Liddy and Jim Burke in 1975, and has also been ed-ited by Liam Liddy, Miguel Ortega, Mark Whelan, Kevin Byrne, Patrick Bourke and Knute Skinner. This year's editor is Thomas McCarthy. The Stony Thursday

Book is one of the longest-running liter-ary journals in Ireland and celebrated its 30th Anniversary Edition in 2005, edited by John and Liam Liddy. Poetry submissions are now being accepted for issue No. 7 which will be published in October 2008.

Telephone 061 407363 for details of submissions.

Closing date for submissions is August 8th 2008.

Stony Thursday Book

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Limerick Chamber, Summer Business Lunch4th June 2008 in the Greenhills HotelA major economic analysis of Limerick by one of the countries top economists Jim Power, was launched at the Limerick Chamber Summer lunch on the 4th June in the Greenhills Hotel. The lunch was sponsored by Ulster Bank Business Banking and was attended by over 200 business people and stakeholders from the region. The report entitled ‘Limerick – a City of Opportunity?’ was commis-sioned by local business man Ger Clohessy and is the first indepen-dent analysis of the Limerick economy by an external expert and has received huge local and national media coverage. You can get a copy of this report from the Limerick Chamber website by logging on to www.limerickchamber.ie.

Joe Power Action Coach Business Coaching, Brendan Mc Keown, Sercom Solutions, and Eugene Pratt, Shannon Airport. Chamber & Alan Hanna, Guest Speaker; Head of BT Security Training.

Tony McDonagh and Derry McCarthy, Ulster Bank Business Banking(Sponsor), Sean Lally, President of the Limerick Chamber, Maria Kelly, CEO of the Limerick Chamber, Economist Jim Power(Guest Speaker) and Ger Clohessy, Clohessy Developments

Paddy McGuinness, Miriam Flynn and John Power, Bus Eireann (DG) Brian O’Connell, Westpark Shannon, Joe Crowley, Frendship Wines and Paul O’Brien, Athlantic Way (DG)

Limerick Chamber Business BreakfastWednesday 28th May in Punchs Hotel “The Real Cost of Information Security”

Its The Business atMICHAEL GLEESON SHOES

26 William Street Limerick.Tel: 061 417407

Maura Mc Mahon, Limerick Chamber, Brian Deegan, Action Coach Business Coaching Business, Martina Mc Grath, Limerick Chamber & Alan Hanna, Guest Speaker; Head of BT Security Training.


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Limerick Chamber, Summer Business Lunch4th June 2008 in the Greenhills HotelA major economic analysis of Limerick by one of the countries top economists Jim Power, was launched at the Limerick Chamber Summer lunch on the 4th June in the Greenhills Hotel. The lunch was sponsored by Ulster Bank Business Banking and was attended by over 200 business people and stakeholders from the region. The report entitled ‘Limerick – a City of Opportunity?’ was commis-sioned by local business man Ger Clohessy and is the first indepen-dent analysis of the Limerick economy by an external expert and has received huge local and national media coverage. You can get a copy of this report from the Limerick Chamber website by logging on to www.limerickchamber.ie.

Joe Power Action Coach Business Coaching, Brendan Mc Keown, Sercom Solutions, and Eugene Pratt, Shannon Airport. Chamber & Alan Hanna, Guest Speaker; Head of BT Security Training.

Tony McDonagh and Derry McCarthy, Ulster Bank Business Banking(Sponsor), Sean Lally, President of the Limerick Chamber, Maria Kelly, CEO of the Limerick Chamber, Economist Jim Power(Guest Speaker) and Ger Clohessy, Clohessy Developments

Paddy McGuinness, Miriam Flynn and John Power, Bus Eireann (DG) Brian O’Connell, Westpark Shannon, Joe Crowley, Frendship Wines and Paul O’Brien, Athlantic Way (DG)

Limerick Chamber Business BreakfastWednesday 28th May in Punchs Hotel “The Real Cost of Information Security”

Its The Business atMICHAEL GLEESON SHOES

26 William Street Limerick.Tel: 061 417407

Maura Mc Mahon, Limerick Chamber, Brian Deegan, Action Coach Business Coaching Business, Martina Mc Grath, Limerick Chamber & Alan Hanna, Guest Speaker; Head of BT Security Training.

A New Standard For Disability in BusinessA new standard for disability in the mar-ketplace was launched this week, with the announcement of the development of the ABLE Business Excellence Award. A joint ini-tiative by Rehab and the Excellence Ireland Quality Association (EIQA), this award sets the standard for Irish companies in how they interact with people with disabilities, whether they are employees or customers of a company.This standard will be a key tool for businesses to demonstrate their com-mitment and achievement as employers of, and providers of services to, people with dis-abilities. It is a mark of quality and distinction, and is backed by the Rehab Group, the larg-est disability organisation in the country, and EIQA, the national quality association. ABLE will be the national standard for companies in relation to three key areas ˆ employment and career, built environment and customer services. The ABLE award will ensure people with a disability can be confident that they can relate easily to a company that has been awarded the standard. Any company, regardless of its size, which aspires to excel-lence in its dealings with people with disabil-ity can apply for the award.

On hand to help launch the ABLE Business Excellence Award were Roslyn Park College students, Sinead Cafferky, Paulo Piper Segurado, Hugh Whitla and George Nikov. A joint initiative by Rehab and the Excellence Ireland Quality Association (EIQA), the award sets the standard for Irish companies in how they interact with people with disabilities, whether they are employees or customers of the company. Companies should register their interest in securing the ABLE award on www.ABLE.ie.


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Customers go through a five-stage process prior to adopting a product.

Awareness: If the customer is unaware of your product, then they cannot buy it.Interest: Customers seek more information as they become more receptive to a product.Evaluation: The customer may develop a conscious set of purchasing criteria, which the company will wish to influence. Trial: Strategies may need to be employed that will over come the risk associated with expensive products.Adoption: The customer deliberately chooses a specific brand. After sale support is required to reinforce the cus tomer that they have made a wise choice

It is unlikely that any single form of promotion can carry a potential customer from a state of complete unawareness to a state of readi-ness to buy a product. Promotion is extremely costly and there is no catch-all blend. Promotional costs are expensive. Selecting the most effective combination of communication elements is critical.

ADVERTISINGAdvertising is ideal for creating an initial awareness in the mass market ✔ Low cost per individual reached.✔ Enables Demonstration – risk reduction.✔ Repetition – allows message to be recalled. ✘ Production costs are high in absolute terms.✘ Less persuasive than personal selling.✘ Customers may consider your product claims with scepti- cism.✘ Advertising effectiveness is difficult to measure.

PUBLIC RELATIONSCreate customer understanding through third party media endorse-ment✔ Independent endorsement by a journalist is more credible.✔ It may provide a cheaper form of publicity.✔ Crisis management tool.✘ Interpretation of media message is impossible to control.✘ It can be expensive and without any guarantee of success.✘ Effectiveness is almost impossible to measure or predict..

PERSONAL SELLING One-to-one interaction is the most persuasive promotional tool. This form of marketing communication is ideally placed at the point of sale.✔ Sales pitch can be tailored to meet individual customers needs.✔ It is essential in the sale of complex products. ✘ It has a higher cost per contact.✘ Poor sales practice can damage the company’s reputation.

SPONSORSHIPThe financial support of an event or organisation by a commercial interest.✔ Pairs the company with the public goodwill shown to the organisation being sponsored✔ Opportunity to reach a specific audience✔ Possibility of free media coverage ✘ Unforeseen leverage costs✘ Can backfire if the person being sponsored falls from public favour ✘ Negative backlash when withdrawing sponsorship

SALES PROMOTIONProviding a sales incentive to a product for a relatively short period.✔ Reduces seasonality of a product✔ Encourages the customer to experience a new product through free trial✔ Highly focused and measurable tool✘ Increased sales last only as long as promotion lasts✘ Can be expensive to implement

PROMOTIONAL SELECTION CRITERIA:Your marketing advisor will take the following variables into account when designing the communication mix that best suits your product:

(1) STAGE IN PRODUCT LIFECYCLEThe promotional emphasis will gradually shift from the provision of information towards persuasion and later towards reinforce-ment of the product in the mature phase of the Product Lifecycle. It is likely that the greater part of your promotion expenditure will occur in the earlier stages of the PLC. (2) PUSH VS. PULL STRATEGIES Direct selling, trade promotions and corporate hospitality are the preferred tools when attempting to push your product through the distribution channels. Advertising, public relations and sponsor-ship are associated with the pull strategy of generating market demand.

(3) RESOURCESFinancial budgets will dictate whether the company can afford to harness the mass media. The sunk costs of existing staff resources may encourage the company to embark on a personal selling campaign.

(4) CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRODUCTHigh value, high volume sales, requiring negotiation (associated B2B) are best affected through personal selling. Advertising is the optimum medium for low value, mass-market consumer goods whilst highly complex or expensive consumer goods, e.g. cameras and computers, may require personal selling.

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Contact Eamon Dillon

QED MARKETING& TRAINING SOLUTIONS

Telephone: 061 - 357 858 Mobile: 086 8190890Email: [email protected]

Advertising, personal selling, public relations, sponsorship and sales promotion are the primary tools used to communicate your product to your customer. This article reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the various promotional tools at your disposal and the criteria by which to choose the optimum promotional mix for your product. High value, high volume sales, requiring negotia-tion (associated B2B) are best affected through personal selling. Advertising is the optimum medium for low value, mass-market consumer goods whilst highly complex or expensive consumer goods, e.g. cameras and computers, may require personal selling.

National Examiner and consultant in strategic mar-keting, sales management and public relations, Eamon Dillon is a Director of both the Irish Marketing Institute and Limerick Chamber of Commerce.

Eamon DillonMMII(Grad.) MBA

Mix & Match:A quick review of the communication options available when promoting your product.

New Account Directorfor Top PR Consultancy


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Templederry girl Roi-sin Tierney Crowe has been appointed Account Director at Slattery Communi-cations, one of the country’s leading PR agencies. Roi-sin joined Slattery’s Consumer Division in 2006 and has worked in the PR

and communications industry for almost 6 years. She is responsible for developing and implement-ing communications programmes and media re-lations’ campaigns for a number of high profile clients including Dundrum Town Centre, Nokia, Toyota Ireland, Bombay Sapphire and Martini. Working with the top lifestyle, retail, indigenous and global brands, Roisin’s lifestyle expertise in-cludes fashion, interiors, beauty, hospitality and luxury brands. A past-pupil at Templederry Na-tional School, Nenagh and St. Joseph’s College, Borrisoleigh, Thurles she is a top graduate of University College Dublin holding an honours BA in History and Politics. Róisín is also a member of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Relations from the Public Relations Institute of Ireland.

Boost for Shannon Airport Passenger FiguresShannon Airport’s passenger num-bers were given a significant boost as Ryanair announced three new routes between Shannon and Poland that will deliver an additional 90,000 passen-gers per annum at the airport.

Speaking at the announcement of the three new routes to Gdansk, Katowice and Lodz, Shannon Airport Director Martin Moroney said that it comes as a timely boost and bucks what is pre-dominantly the current international aviation trend of consolidation rather than expansion. Furthermore, it makes up, he said, for the loss of services from Central Wings, which in April pulled from Shannon, Dublin and Cork.

Mr Moroney said that despite an ex-tremely challenging time for aviation, passenger figures at the moment at the airport are strong, only marginally down on last year despite the loss of Aer Lingus short-haul services, the full onset of open-skies and a very challeng-ing worldwide operating environment

due to fuel prices and currency difficul-ties with key markets.

“Our figures for May very much held their own with last year and given the current climate and the challenges we have faced here in Shannon over the past eight months or so, this is a re-markable achievement. Ryanair are, obviously, central to that and to be able to announce new services that will de-liver 90,000 plus passengers per an-num, creating an expected 90 indirect jobs in the process, is a major vote of confidence in Shannon Airport.”

Announcing the new routes, Ryanair’s Sales & Marketing Manager for Ireland and the UK Bridget Dowling said that the new services to Gdansk, Katowice and Lodz will operate on a twice weekly basis from November and will push the airline ever closer to the 2 million pas-senger mark per annum from Shan-non, which it expects to deliver this year. This target is two years ahead of schedule.


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THE FLYNN HOTEL GROUP recently added the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny to their successful chain of Hotels. Located on the edge of this picturesque medieval city, it is a welcom-ing oasis for those in search of complete R&R. It is quite an impressive Hotel with a sweeping elegance, brightly lit and a warm welcome that makes you feel at ease from the mo-ment you arrive. On a recent visit to the Newpark Hotel, I indulged in all it had to offer, and absorbed the surroundings, set in over 40 acres of parkland. Greeted by Aileen Der-mody, sales and marketing manager, I got a guided tour of their most attractive hotel.

ACCOMMODATION: All rooms are a combination of luxury and modern décor, designed with comfort in mind. Delightfully our room over-looked the picturesque parkland and with gentle colour tones, complete ease was experienced.

NEWPARK HEALTH SPA:To ensure maximum switch off, I delightfully accepted an afternoon of pampering in the experienced hands of Mary Gilman, Spa Man-

ager. The treatments recommended were The Carita Hydrating Facial which is specifically for dehydrated and tired skin. Using the signature ‘renovateur’, mechanical deep cleanse and pumping action for the end result of a radiant complexion, the result was just amazing. Hot Stone Therapy was my next indulgence and this combined a therapeutic mas-sage with the thermogenic benefits of heated Irish Basalt Stones, which help improve energy flow detoxify and rebalance. This experience was truly magnificent, and ensured a great sense of balance and ease when returning to my room to relax.

LEISURE CENTRE: A sauna, steam-room and plunge-pool, jaccuzi and a 30 metre swim-ming-pool excellently presented, with every conceivable convenience and facility on hands. Attached was a gymnasium for the more energetic patron and again fully equipped with every up to date ‘keep fit’ invention at my disposal. For my leisurely weekend, I stayed more poolside!

RESTAURANT:The restaurant incorporates the original manor building with the blend of old world and modern features, private secluded areas for intimate din-ing and brighter more modern alcoves catering for larger groups which works extremely well, generating a unique ambiance. Their menu was excellent and the quality of their cuisine coupled with their professional friendly service was impeccable. Complements to the chef! My visit co-

incided with Dolly Parton’s concert in Nowlan Park, just 10 minutes walk from the hotel, and even though the restaurant was packed with ‘cow-boys’ heading for the show, the staff still had time for a friendly welcome and a bit of banter.

KILKENNY is a fabulous city, great charm and character with the famous Kilkenny Castle, former ancestry home of the Anglo-Norman Butler fam-ily, overlooking the picturesque city centre. It has a historic past with lots to see and nearby Thomastown is also worth a visit, with its early Medi-eval castle and also famous as host to the Ryder Cup in 2005, at Mount Juliet. Kilkenny has lots of old world shop fronts and so many old style ‘Dublin’ bars – marble counters, wooden cubicles and plenty of original bar mirrors, not a TV to be seen, all adding to the unique atmosphere generated here in both retail and leisure areas. The Newpark Hotel is just 10 minutes walk from the city centre, and Kilkenny is only one and a half hours drive from Limerick City, well worth the journey – I’ll be back! (P.S. I got to Dolly’s gig – ‘Jolene,’ the icing on the cake!)

Contact Details:Newpark Hotel, Castlecomer Road, Kilkennytel: 056 776 0500, fax: 056 776 0550www.flynnhotels.com

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RESTAURANT:

Relax in the Newpark


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Relax in the Newpark

Limerick Chamber, in association with the Irish Chamber Orchestra held a business After Hours event last Thursday 26th June at the Uni-versity Limerick. The focus of the event was the New Irish Chamber

orchestra building at St Thomas Aquinas Studio and the forthcoming Shannon International Music Festival.The event began with a wine reception and attendees were seated in the magnificent studio which has been acoustically engineered to gain the most from all practice and recording sessions. John Kelly, CEO of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, outlined the recent expansion of the ICO to 17 contracted players and the organisations hopes to become an internationally recognisable brand. The ICO relocated from Dublin in 1995 and since this time it has undergone some remarkable change increasing in size and notoriety; becoming a jewel in the crown of Lim-erick, City of Culture. Recent tours include five of the new EU member states; a ground-breaking tour of South Korea and China and visits to Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia and the US.

Another highlight in the ICO’s calendar this year is the MBNA Shan-non International Music Festival which is due to take place in Limerick from Wednesday 9th to Sunday 13th July. The festival will include a performance by jazz rock giant Wayne Shorter and a free open-air concert ‘Salsa on the Street’ with world-renowned Salsa Celtica in Arthur’s Quay Park. The exciting and eclectic mix of performers will undoubtedly result in an event which has something to appeal to everyone’s taste. For further information on this event please log onto www.irishchamberorchestra.info or ring the booking hotline on 1890 923 543.

Business After Hours Event

Liam Dwan, Brown Thomas and Meredith Bevan, Hilton Hotel at the Business After Hours with the Irish Chamber Orchestra event in the St Thomas Aquinas Studio UL.

Street Ambassadors Third SeasonLimerick’s pioneering Street Ambassadors start their third season of summer work with a great team of experienced roving tourist guides.

Limerick City led the way nationally three years ago by employing the first Street Ambassadors to welcome visitors and give them information on the best places to visit, eat and shop.

The project spearheaded by the Limerick Co-ordination Office (LCO) helped over 18,000 visi-tors to Limerick in 2007 – almost double the numbers helped by the Street Ambassadors the previous year.

And the project has been so successful that Dublin City is now setting up its own Street Am-bassador programme.

LC0 Chairperson Kay McGuinness said they are delighted with the success of the Street Ambassadors programme over the past two years and it is great to see Dublin now following Limerick’s lead.

A survey conducted by the LCO last year found that the Street Ambassadors helped visitors from 64 different countries and these tourists thought the programme should be copied by ev-ery other Irish city, according to Ms Guinness.

“This is a unique project that Limerick can be proud of and we have had excellent teams of Street Ambassadors in the past two years,” she said.

The Limerick Street Ambassador programme was a pilot project funded by an EU programme that has now ended. This year it is being run with funding from Shannon Development and the private sector in Limerick.

“We would like to thank Shannon Development and the private sector for supporting the Street Ambassador programme this year. But we still need more support from the private sector and any company interested in giving financial sup-port to the programme can contact the Limer-ick Co-ordination Office,” Ms McGuinness said.

Eoghan Prendergast, Shannon Development’s Regional Development Manager for Limerick City said that Shannon Development were de-lighted to step in and ensure the Street Ambas-sadors would again be a feature on the streets of Limerick this summer. “We probably don’t appreciate as much as we should that Limerick has a very good reputation amongst visitors as a really friendly and accessi-ble city in which to spend a very enjoyable time.

“While this is mainly because our local people are so naturally welcoming, the presence of the Street Ambassadors throughout the city makes a visit here one that stands out in the minds of our visitors. Long may that continue,” Mr Pren-dergast said.

The 2008 Street Ambassador programme will run for 10 weeks until September.Pictured are Orla O'Connor (Limericki Co-ordination office), LC0 Chairperson Kay McGuinness, Jean

Ryan (Team leader Limerick Abassadors) , Eoghan Prendergast, Shannon Development’s Regional Development Manager for Limerick City


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Last January, the NSCA (the world’s main strength and conditioning authority) appointed Limerick strength coach Dave Sheahan as the Irish member of the NSCA International Competition Commit-

tee. On July 9th in Las Vegas the Inter-national NSCA Index Invitational will be held and athletes from the United States, Canada, Ireland, Japan and the United Kingdom will participate in a thrilling In-dex Testing Competition where scores will be projected live.

NSCA Index scoring is based on a de-cathlon system where athletes receive points for their performance in the Verti-cal Jump, Pro-agility Run, Ten Yard Dash and Hang Clean. The competition is for athletes of 19 years and under and the team is made up of one boy and one girl. Limerick should be proud to boast that Ireland’s team will be made up of local athletes Nathan Jege who holds records in Long Jump & 100metres, and Fiona O Shea noted for her achievements in running, rowing and hockey. These prom-

ising athletes were chosen from a high class field of trialists earlier this year. Ath-letes from the Munster Academy, Irish rugby team, basketball, track & field and rowing gave battled it out for selection. Dave and his team fly out from Shannon on 7/7/08 and we wish them the best of luck.

Int’l NSCA Index Invitational

Nathan Jege

Fiona O'Shea

Shannon Airport Director Martin Mo-roney has today, July 4th, stated that ev-erything possible must be done to protect and strengthen Irish-US relations so the Airport can grow transatlantic traffic into the West of Ireland.

Speaking as Shannon Airport commenced a special Independence Day celebration, Mr Moroney said that given the difficult international market difficulties, now more than ever is a time for the West of Ireland to send out a clear message to the US as to how much it values its contribution to our economy.

“What we are doing today in celebrating July 4th, Independence Day, at Shannon Airport is essentially acknowledging the enormous contribution made to both Shan-non Airport and the West of Ireland by our American visitors and letting them know we are a prime leisure location and region to do business in,” said Mr Moroney.

“Last year in the Shannon Region alone

there were 296,000 US visitors, contribut-ing an estimated spend of €105.7million. That's only the Shannon Region and when you extend it onto the West of Ireland and much of the south and midlands, for which Shannon Airport is the transatlantic gate-way, you can perhaps even double that value.

“Shannon Airport has a fantastic history in terms of its transatlantic services. It was Ireland’s first transatlantic airport and the connectivity from the US that we have pro-vided over the years has been one of the main drivers of inward US investment and we are working aggressively to continuing to provide and grow those services. “This is a difficult time for business and tourism throughout Ireland and, indeed, much of the world but it is exactly at times like this that we need to show that we ap-preciate the business we have so that we can strengthen relationships and grow that business into the future.”

Mr Moroney’s comments were endorsed by recently appointed Chief Executive of Shannon Development Dr Vincent Cunnane who said: “As the regional tourism authori-ty, we are keenly aware that air connectivity to the US market is essential to the future development of the Shannon Region. Shan-non Development with its tourism partners is working closely with Shannon Airport Au-thority and with airlines operating services to Shannon from the US to promote these services and maximise the numbers of US visitors to the Shannon Region,” Shannon Airport has entered into the spir-it of July 4th celebrations for the day with a US travelers being greeted by an American Jazz Band, Uncle Sam Stilt Walker, while the airport terminal is also bedecked in an array of flags, streamers and other July 4th decorations. Duty Free is also getting in on the act with shops offering a 10% dis-count for anyone paying in US dollars or US credit card.

Value of US Passengers to WestCannot be Underestimated


Executive Travel Group – incorporating Up & Go Holidays – has been awarded the Air France ‘Top Agent’ award for the new Shan-non – Charles de Gaulle route which com-menced in February of this year.

Executive Travel Group has had an office in Limerick for over 20 years servicing both the corporate and leisure markets. Up & Go Holi-days is the leisure brand used by the company. Commenting on the award the company Man-

aging Director, Arthur Harrow, said that he was delighted to receive this award in recogni-tion of Executive Travels’ strong presence in the Limerick/Shannon region. He commend-ed Air France for introducing the new route which has proved to be a distinct asset to the travelling public.

Pictured at a presentation by Air France/KLM to Executive Travel Group were – from left to right: Niamh Byrne, Martina Coogan (KLM/Air France), Hugh Lilburn, and Lisa Whelan.

Executive TravelReceives Air France Award

The number of Private Pilot Helicop-ter Licences (PPL) held in Ireland has increased by 400% in the last ten years. In 1999 a total of 51 people held a PPL licence, entitling them to fly a private helicopter. This figure has risen steadily over the last 10 years with a total of 199 people holding PPLs in January of this year, according to figures from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA). This increase is due to the number of business people seeking to fly themselves to meetings in Ireland and abroad. In addition to the rise in PPLs, European Helicopter Academy is also reporting a 150% increase in Commercial Helicopter Pilot Licenc-es (CPL) since 1999. As of January 2008, there were more than twice as many Private Pilots (199) than Commercial Pilots (91) licenced in Ireland.

Increase inNumber of Private Pilots Licences

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Martina Crowe and Caroline Smith at the Birthday party.

Olivia Stapleton and Yoland Lowry at the 1st Birthday celebrations.

Paul Webb, Grainne Vaughan and Hillary Thompson enjoy the party.


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Limerick Now1st Birthday Party


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2008 All-Ireland Corporate Games

Keith Colbert, captain Viva Villa with team members, Niall O'Loughlin, Anthony Lee and Glen Woodland winners of the open soccer competition in the All Ireland Corporate Games, the team sponsored by the Southside Regeneration Board pictured with their medals at the closing ceremony of the games at the Hilton Hotel.

Vincent Cunnane, CEO of Shannon Development, Jeni McClellan, Corporate Games, Ben Sedgmore, World Corporate Games, Neasa O'Donnell, University of Limerick Arena and Marcus Bennion Buckley, Corporate Games Director at the closing ceremony of the All Ireland Corporate Games held at the Hilton Hotel last Sunday.

Winning athletes in the Tag Rugby Competition with event organizer Rosie Foley at the All Ireland Corporate Games held at the University of Limerick.

Shannon Development's Soccer Team secured 3rd place in the over thirties soccer compe-tition at the All Ireland Corporate Games held at the University of Limerick.

Down Syndrome Limerick team winners of the Tag Rugby at the All-Ireland Corporate Games 2008 a the University of Limerick.

Merideth Bevan, General Manager, Hilton Hotel, Limerick, John King, Director of Tourism, Shannon Development, Marcus Bennion Buckley, Corporate Games Director, Overall Winner of the Games Dave Sheehan with a combined entry of 140 competitors and Vincent Cunnane, CEO of Shannon Development at the closing ceremony of the All Ireland Corporate Games held at the Hilton Hotel last Sunday. 02 team in action at All-Ireland Corporate Games 2008 at University of Limerick.

Limerick team 'Viva Villa' (aka Weston Villa) celebrate victory in the soccer final at the All-Ireland Corporate Games 2008 at the University of Limerick.

An intermediary can be defined as “one that acts as an agent between persons or things” or “a negotiator between two parties”. We are all familiar with intermediaries such as Travel Agents or Insurance Brokers, but how familiar are you with services of Recruitment Consultants?

Recruitment can be time consuming and most companies do not have the time or the resources to devote to recruiting their ideal candidate so they choose to engage the services of an Intermediary. If you are considering employing/retaining an intermediary to meet your company’s recruitment needs, there are a number of areas that you should consider.

Are you going to work with a specialist • recruitment consultant or a generalist? – by working with an intermediary who is a specialist in your area (be it Finance, Secretarial, Engineering, IT etc) you are ensuring that you will have someone who truly understands your business and that particular market. Are you looking for advice? – skilled • recruitment consultants are “in the traffic” all the time and can offer very valuable advice on salary ranges and benefits as well as candidate supply and demand issues. Do you understand what additional skills/• capacity you need? – make sure you have done the research within your business and can pinpoint where an additional person is needed, what job responsibilities they would need to take on and what competencies/skills they require? This way you can provide the consultant with a clear brief which will increase the chances of finding the best match available in the market.Have you got a timescale in place and is • it realistic? The more specialist the role, the longer the process can take, so make sure you are clear on what time scale will work for you and your business.

Once you have decided you would like to engage the services of a recruitment firm, we would advise that you take the time to meet with the consultant. While we appreciate that this is not always possible due to time constraints and logistics, it is critical in ensuring the consultant has a full and clear understanding of the business, it’s culture, it’s structure, your management style and most importantly, who your ideal candidate is.

So what should you expect from the recruitment consultant? The recruitment firm will work on your behalf to advertise and market your role, contact potential candidates and then provide you with a short list of candidates that have the relevant qualifications and experience and the potential to be your ideal candidate.

At this point and in addition to the services above, the consultant should have met and discussed the vacancy in detail with each candidate as well as briefing and preparing them interview for later in the process.

After the interviews have been completed, the recruitment consultant should seek out honest feedback from a candidate in relation to their interview experience and how they feel about the role and the company. This can be invaluable to you, the decision maker. Equally so, the recruitment consultant can provide you with the necessary information in relation to current salary and benefits trends ensuring that employers are not paying over the odds for staff and also that they are competitive in what they are offering potential employees. By being a “negotiator” between both parties, an intermediary can ensure the perfect fit from both an employer and employee perspective with the minimum amount of fuss and disruption to the working day.

For more information on our services, and how

we can work in partnership with you to maximise

your recruitment opportunities please contact La

Crème on 061430940 or [email protected]

Lee-Ann Enright

A European Studies graduate with an M.A. in International Tourism, Lee-Ann is a Senior Consultant with La Crème Limerick. Special-ising in the area of permanent re-cruitment, Lee-Ann is responsible for the successful placement of of-fice support staff in the Mid West region across all industries. Prior to joining La Crème, Lee-Ann held a key position for a large multi-national company managing cor-porate accounts and brings with her extensive industry knowledge helping to drive successful growth on the desk year on year.

LimerickLeader.indd 1 20/06/2008 14:56:13

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1. Differentiating between profits and losses and cash is key to any business. Cash is the real indicator of how a busi-ness is performing regardless of prof-its or losses in a given period. Prepare monthly projected cash flow forecasts giving a clear indication of the business’ position. Be able to project where you will stand three months in advance.

2. One major issue for efficient cash flow management is excessive cash re-sources tied up in stock for resale or production. By monitoring sales week by week, a business should be able to gauge whether they justify the stock levels held.

3. Manage Debtors ef-fectively. Being tough with customers may be unpleasant, but it’s an im-portant safeguard against the effects of a prolonged economic slowdown. Assess the credit-worthiness of all custom-ers. If you are a small business employ-ing a credit controller for a number of hours per week at an early stage in a downturn may indicate to customers that you fully expect payments to be as prompt as previous times and that drawing out the payment process is not to their benefit.

4. Negotiate with suppliers for bet-ter prices or short-term reductions. If a cash shortage has arose talk to credi-tors about additional credit terms.

5. Look at the different areas of your business and assess the viability of each

in the current climate. Monitor the dif-ferent areas the business operates and explore which are viable in the long term. If there is a product or service that is no longer economic to provide, drop it and continue with more popular ones.

6. Review all overheads with a view to scaling down until economic condi-tions recover. Look at fixed and variable costs. What among the variable costs can you cut back on or put off for later? What among the fixed costs can you find a better deal on or negotiate more favorable terms for?

7. Extending borrowings during a downturn should be considered seri-ously and investment undertaken only if the capital expenditure cannot wait until the economy has recovered. Talk

to your bank to see if you can negotiate better repayment terms on loan and leasing obligations. Review the financ-ing of each section of the business for example stock loaning, debtor finance and property finance to ensure that the business is maximising finance.

8. Review your staffing levels as this is a critical area. Salaries/wages are one of the largest costs of doing busi-ness. Therefore, any reduction in the hours worked through work practice changes or layoffs has an immediate

cost saving benefit. Be careful that reducing staff does not impact

on customer service and quality.

9. By ensuring a com-petitive pricing struc-ture for products and

services, a business maintains the loyalty and

custom that it has built up over the years.

10. Seek outside assistance. Use your accountant or financial advisor to assist in a review of your business to ensure that it is in the best position to deal with a slowdown.

Finally, it is important to remember that a loss in a given year or in a num-ber of years is not the end of the world when the business has managed cash flow well during good times and built a solid reserve. Managing your busi-ness through an economic downturn is now the next challenge.

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Withstanding Economic UncertaintyKeeping a business healthy in times of economic uncertainty is now a very real prospect for many Irish business owners. Each business needs to assess the impact of the slowdown on their business and consider the following issues as the slowdown continues to impact.

Diarmuid Hendrick

BDO Simpson Xavier is Ireland’s leading firm in the area of advice to entrepreneurs and owner managed businesses. Diarmuid Hendrick is General Practice Partner in the firm’s Limerick offices.The office can be contacted on 061- 41 44 55.

BDO Simpson Xavier will not accept responsibility for loss or damage to any person as a result of refrain-ing from acting as a result of the information contained in this article. Professional advice should always be sought before acting on any matter referred to in this article.

giving a clear indication of the business’ position. Be able to project where you will stand three months in advance.

for efficient cash flow management is excessive cash re-sources tied up in stock for resale or production. By monitoring sales week by week, a business should be able to gauge whether they justify the

Manage Debtors ef- Being tough

with customers may be unpleasant, but it’s an im-portant safeguard against the effects of a prolonged economic slowdown. Assess the credit-worthiness of all custom-ers. If you are a small business employ-ing a credit controller for a number of

business is maximising finance.

8. Review your staffing levelsis a critical area. Salaries/wages are one of the largest costs of doing busi-ness. Therefore, any reduction in the hours worked through work practice changes or layoffs has an immediate

cost saving benefit. Be careful that reducing staff does not impact

on customer service and quality.

maintains the loyalty and custom that it has built up

over the years.

10. Seek outside assistance.

An intermediary can be defined as “one that acts as an agent between persons or things” or “a negotiator between two parties”. We are all familiar with intermediaries such as Travel Agents or Insurance Brokers, but how familiar are you with services of Recruitment Consultants?

Recruitment can be time consuming and most companies do not have the time or the resources to devote to recruiting their ideal candidate so they choose to engage the services of an Intermediary. If you are considering employing/retaining an intermediary to meet your company’s recruitment needs, there are a number of areas that you should consider.

Are you going to work with a specialist • recruitment consultant or a generalist? – by working with an intermediary who is a specialist in your area (be it Finance, Secretarial, Engineering, IT etc) you are ensuring that you will have someone who truly understands your business and that particular market. Are you looking for advice? – skilled • recruitment consultants are “in the traffic” all the time and can offer very valuable advice on salary ranges and benefits as well as candidate supply and demand issues. Do you understand what additional skills/• capacity you need? – make sure you have done the research within your business and can pinpoint where an additional person is needed, what job responsibilities they would need to take on and what competencies/skills they require? This way you can provide the consultant with a clear brief which will increase the chances of finding the best match available in the market.Have you got a timescale in place and is • it realistic? The more specialist the role, the longer the process can take, so make sure you are clear on what time scale will work for you and your business.

Once you have decided you would like to engage the services of a recruitment firm, we would advise that you take the time to meet with the consultant. While we appreciate that this is not always possible due to time constraints and logistics, it is critical in ensuring the consultant has a full and clear understanding of the business, it’s culture, it’s structure, your management style and most importantly, who your ideal candidate is.

So what should you expect from the recruitment consultant? The recruitment firm will work on your behalf to advertise and market your role, contact potential candidates and then provide you with a short list of candidates that have the relevant qualifications and experience and the potential to be your ideal candidate.

At this point and in addition to the services above, the consultant should have met and discussed the vacancy in detail with each candidate as well as briefing and preparing them interview for later in the process.

After the interviews have been completed, the recruitment consultant should seek out honest feedback from a candidate in relation to their interview experience and how they feel about the role and the company. This can be invaluable to you, the decision maker. Equally so, the recruitment consultant can provide you with the necessary information in relation to current salary and benefits trends ensuring that employers are not paying over the odds for staff and also that they are competitive in what they are offering potential employees. By being a “negotiator” between both parties, an intermediary can ensure the perfect fit from both an employer and employee perspective with the minimum amount of fuss and disruption to the working day.

For more information on our services, and how

we can work in partnership with you to maximise

your recruitment opportunities please contact La

Crème on 061430940 or [email protected]

Lee-Ann Enright

A European Studies graduate with an M.A. in International Tourism, Lee-Ann is a Senior Consultant with La Crème Limerick. Special-ising in the area of permanent re-cruitment, Lee-Ann is responsible for the successful placement of of-fice support staff in the Mid West region across all industries. Prior to joining La Crème, Lee-Ann held a key position for a large multi-national company managing cor-porate accounts and brings with her extensive industry knowledge helping to drive successful growth on the desk year on year.

LimerickLeader.indd 1 20/06/2008 14:56:13

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As a guest of DESTINATION WESTPORT as they welcomed their newest partner to their brand, I was personally very impressed of what exactly Westport has to of-fer their business and corporate guests. Destination Westport together with Leaders Chapter Ltd. hosted an exclusive preview of ‘Explorer’, Ireland’s first executive team-building yacht, in the still wa-ters of Clew Bay.‘Explorer’ offers an entirely unique experience to the corporate sec-tor with the ultimate in conference, incentive and team building activi-ties. The 54 foot ocean going yacht combines a round-table business meeting facility with an above-deck team challenge. On board, in ad-dition to catering facilities and en-suite accommodation, there are all the necessary equipment for a high

powered business meeting, a large plasma screen and computer are fitted for PowerPoint or video pre-sentations together with flip-charts, projectors, etc.

Our trip was to Clare Island, about 18 miles from Westport and the birthplace of Leaders Charter director, Pauric O’Grady and skip-pered by his son, and co-director Aaron, who has represented Ire-land in international events since 2000, we were in safe hands.A fabulous trip on which we ac-tively learned to crew the ‘Explorer’ and the importance of team build-ing, relying on your fellow crew members to do their job for the benefit of the entire crew! A valu-able learning experience which can be easily transferred into a busi-ness context.

WESTPORT is one of Ireland’s most scenic areas being one of the very few ‘planned’ towns in the coun-try, designed by James Wyatt in the 18th century. The Carrowbeg River was diverted from its natural course and now flows through Westport, adding to its beauty. Its old-world shop fronts and bars all add to the wonderful charm and it has much to offer all visitors both at ‘home and abroad’.

Tourism is the town’s most valu-able industry and two years ago a selection of the town’s tourism-product providers came together under the banner ‘Destination Westport’ as a marketing coopera-tive, to highlight everything West-port has to offer the leisure and busi-ness market, including the highest standards of accommodation, spa ho-tels, music and heritage, arts, water sports, out-door activities – fast be-coming the number one leisure break destination for both conference and corporate business alike.

a selection of the town’s tourism-product providers came together under the banner ‘Destination Westport’ as a marketing coopera-tive, to highlight everything West-port has to offer the leisure and busi-offer all visitors both at ‘home and

abroad’.

coming the number one leisure break destination for both conference and corporate business alike.

shop fronts and bars all add to the wonderful charm and it has much to offer all visitors both at ‘home and abroad’.abroad’.abroad’.abroad’.

ness market, including the highest standards of accommodation, spa ho-tels, music and heritage, arts, water sports, out-door activities – fast be-coming the number one

Destination Westport Welcome ‘Explorer’

Destination Westport

Pauric O Gradys Sailing Boat the Explorer, crusing in Clew Bay, Co. Mayo.


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Back on dry land, Westport offers superior accom-modation options with plenty of 3* and 4* hotels and self-catering properties, offering culinary delights which would be hard to be equalled throughout the country. Fresh lobster, crab, monkfish, John Dory- menus to ca-ter for every palate await your perusal.

This is a very lively town with plenty of entertainment in their many traditional pubs, the most famous being the Chieftain’s, Matt Molloy’s Pub. The nearby airport in Knock is a welcome addition to the infrastructure of the town. With access from all national airports, it is a most attractive and realistic venue for conference gath-erings, offering impressive high standard accommoda-tion and services that corporate clients expect.

Just a two hour drive from Limerick, Westport is so accessible by road from anywhere in the Mid-West. Rail service is also an option with inter-city connections to the Westport/Dublin service.

Destination Westport Welcome ‘Explorer’

Westport Plaza lounge

Castlecourt Hotel Junior Suite

Atlantic Coast Hotel Dinner

Clewbay-bar

Westport Woods Hotel

Hotel Westport Reception Red Carpet

Destination Westport members are:

• ATLANTIC COAST HOLIDAY HOMES • LADY SLIEVEMORE- BOAT TRIPS IN CLEW BAY• WESTPORT HOUSE• WESTPORT PLAZA & CASTLECOURT HOTELS• WESTPORT WOODS HOTEL• WYATT HOTEL• LEADERS CHARTER• CARLTON ATLANTIC COAST HOTEL• CLEWBAY HOTEL• HARBOUR MILL APARTMENTS• HOTEL WESTPORT• KNOCKRANNY HOUSE HOTEL

Log onto www.discoverireland.ie/westport and also www.leaderscharter.com to view ‘Explorer’.

This years Munster Rugby Golf Clas-sic will take place on Monday Sep-tember 1st next at the renowned Fota Island Golf & Spa Resort in Cork. This is the 9th year of the Munster Rugby Golf Classic which has become very popular with Mun-ster Rugby supporters around the country. Participants will have the opportunity to view the 2008 Hei-neken Cup, which will be on display on the day. Morning golf will be fol-lowed by lunch, while afternoon golf will be followed by dinner in the club-house that evening to coincide with the prize presentations. To book a tee time, contact John Donnelly on 086-8508185, or email [email protected]

Golf at Fota Island withMunsterRugby

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Casual trading Bye Laws scheduled for implementation across County Clare next week have been put on hold pending the outcome of an appeal to the District Court in relation to the new regulations.

The range of measures aimed at regulat-ing casual trading activity were approved by Clare County Council last month and were due to come into effect from 11 July 2008.

According to Mr. Ger Dollard, Director of Services, Clare County Council, "Pend-ing the outcome of the Appeal, the Casual Trading Bye Laws cannot be brought into effect at any of the designated locations. It is expected that the Appeal will be listed at the District Court Hearing to be held in Ennis on Friday next, 4 July 2008, when a date for a full hearing of the Appeal will be agreed."

Mr. Dollard confirmed that the previous arrangements that were in place in rela-tion to casual trading would continue in place until such time as the Appeal had been dealt with.

Clare County Council's Casual Trading Bye Laws 2008 include the formal desig-nation of casual trading areas in Ennisty-

mon, Doolin Pier, Kildysart, Kilfenora, Kil-laloe, Kilkee, Miltown Malbay, Shannon and Tulla. The effect of designation is that any trading outside of the designated areas, on public property, is prohibited. The areas designated for each location are set out on individual maps attached to the Bye Laws.

Separate Event Trading licences will be required by traders wishing to trade at fes-tivals, fairs and significant events in towns and villages throughout Clare. Events include the Willie Clancy Festival in Mil-town Malbay each July, the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival each September, the Rose of Clare Festival at Cooraclare and the Feakle festival. The new provisions for event licences come into effect on 1st October 2008.

The revised Bye Laws stipulate that the Local Authority, in conjunction with local Gardaí and local representatives will agree on the number of licences and category of goods that will cater for the needs of such events and pitches/bays will be allocated to successful applicants.

Meanwhile, the draft Bye Laws also feature additional management measures, includ-ing regulating the heights of stalls, hours of operation and updating of fee structures.

Trading Bye Laws On Hold

27 towns and villages throughout County Limerick are busily preparing for the judging stage of the inaugural ŒLimerick in Bloom‚ competition. Limerick County Council, in conjunc-tion with Shannon Development, launched the competition earlier this year as a motivational mecha-nism for the many small local based groups throughout the county to enhance the visual impact of their settlements by means of flower, tree and shrub planting. Adjudication takes place on July 15-17th. Limer-ick County Council confirmed that it has received over 70 applications for its Priming Grants Project.

Further information is available from the Community and Enterprise

section of Limerick County Council

on 061-496454.

LimerickTo BloomIn July

Ireland’s Best Dog Walks and Holidays Travelling with four-legged friends has never been so easy with the release of the brand new Pedigree® JointCare+™ RUFF GUIDE. Recognising that dog lovers hate leaving their pets in kennels when they go on holiday, and are fed up with braving busy, polluted roads when taking their dogs on walks, Pedigree and Irish travel writer Karen Creed teamed up to research and create an innovative guide to dog-friendly, an active Ireland. Not only does The RUFF GUIDE booklet reveal some of the most dynamic dog walks and hikes around Ireland, but it also includes recommendations of where to stay on holiday. The very best of “Dog’s Ireland” is revealed in this booklet, through the firsthand experience journal-

ist and dog owner Creed. The writer embarked on a 6-Week Adventure with her beloved Springer Spaniel Figo, in order to uncover the country’s most special walks, hikes and hotels.

The RUFF GUIDE was written with one goal in mind; to allow dog lovers to spend more time with their faithful canine com-panion while exploring all Ireland has to offer. To order a free copy of the JointCare+ RUFF GUIDE, dog owners please write to: Pedigree JointCare+ RUFF GUIDE, PO Box 7808, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin or e-mail [email protected].

with Mal Keaveney

LIMERICK yachtsman Ger O’Rourke has confirmed he is the new owner of the win-ning entry of the last Volvo Ocean Race. His intention is to enter the forthcoming edition of the race that starts in October and stops in Galway in May 2009. The purchase of the boat is the first step in a plan to enter this marathon 39,000 mile event.

“I represent very good value to a sponsor and can deliver a €50 million return on a €4 million investment,” he said.

The yacht, which has been used as a test boat for the Ericsson Team, will depart from the Canary Islands for Irish Waters in the coming days and the new owner expects to place it on display of the BMW Round Ire-land Race later this month. Following this race, the boat will undergo a refit in Limerick before sail testing and crew training from next month onwards.

“I’ll enter the race in the coming weeks when my lead sponsor will have been an-nounced,” O’Rourke told Business Limerick. “The boat is still fast and has a lot of poten-tial for this race,” commented Corkman Kil-lian Bushe, the original boat builder who also built Illbruck, the 2001/’02 race winner and is also responsible for both the Swedish team’s entries for this year’s edition.

IT’S a little over 12 months now since Tim O’Malley lost his seat at the General Election in Limerick East.

A successful candidate for the Progressive Democrats in 2002, O’Malley – a qualified pharmacist and former member of Limerick County Council – was quickly promoted to the rank of Junior Minister in the coalition government (with Fianna Faíl), with special responsibility for Health.

O’Malley admits it takes “quite a while” to get over losing an election but he says there are positives. “You learn quickly who your true friends are.” While he retains as friends 95% of people who were close to him during his spell as minister/TD, “a small number disappeared,” he says. He also adds that he has more time to catch up on all the golf he had to forego during his five years in national politics. “I use to turn right for Dub-lin but instead I can turn left for Ballybunion (golf course). On a fine day, maybe after a nice par, you can say, ‘Thanks to be God, I’m here,” he jokes.

O’Malley is correctly regarded as one of the finest golfing politicians in the mid-west re-gion, and features regularly in the winners enclosure of many clubs. The East Limerick fundraisers for the Progressive Democrats, at Limerick County and Limerick, were al-ways enjoyable social outings, with the likes of Michael Hennessy and John Finucane at the coalface of such events. O’Malley is a qualified pharmacist with over 35 years ex-perience in the business. WITH the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh behind us, it’s timely to note the continued popularity of three exception-ally talented artistic sisters from Granagh in County Limerick.

Reportedly one of the fastest growing areas of the art profession is in equine, most nota-bly the portrait of prized racehorses, which is an area that might well prove a sound investment for punters down the line. The Barrrett sisters are specialists in this area.

Ailbhe, Ester and Louise Barrett established their own gallery in Granagh almost a de-cade ago and have since exhibited widely both at home and internationally (including

the US, Britain and France), and most re-cently were close by at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort.

Some of their works feature a packed gath-ering of the enclosure at Lemonfield Point-to-Point in Crecora, Rugby Action involving Munster’s heroic Heineken European Cup winners and a lovely Hunting Scene with Limerick Harriers at Croom.

Another magnificent portrait is of the award-winning closing par five 18th hole at Irish Open venue Adare Golf Club. A few year’s back, Martin Hannan penned a book on the exploits of ‘Rock of Gibraltar,’ a portrait of which by Ester adorns the cover of this wor-thy publication.

While Ester is her own-right an award-win-ning equine artist, she also covers other subjects, as do her equally talented sisters (like portraits of musical icons Bono and Sharon Shannon, along with Lahinch Strand and Glengarrif Bay). Much of their work is available for purchase at a reasonable cost, as are lithographs, prints and various other artistic material created by the young wom-en. They are also available on a commission basis.

Why not visit:www.threesistersart.com.

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O’Rourke, O’Malley and Barrett,all Limerick Sporting Ambassadors

with Mal Keaveney

Ger O’Rourke

Tim O'Malley

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WHY EXERCISE?

#1 Metabolism:Your metabolism is what deter-mines your calorie expenditure in the day. Therefore the higher your metabolism the higher your calorie burning, thus the quicker you get that sculpted body. The fitter you get and the more lean mass you have, the higher your basal metabolism. Also your metabolism raises during and especially in the hours after ex-ercise!!!!

Procrastination is the thief of time!!!Your goal is the perfect physique. Stop dreaming about it, make it a reality!!Don’t follow the usual procedure being motivated for a few weeks and then re-verting back to old habits. Make the de-cision, make the promise – I am going to succeed, whatever it takes, no more excuses! A few simple pointers can help to maintain your focus. Firstly sit down for 5 minutes with a piece of paper and write down your long-term goal. By this I don’t mean I want to lose weight. Put a figure on it. Decide what weight, body-fat, dress/pants size, muscle tone, fit-ness level etc. Make a definite decision. Next make some short term aims along the path to achieving the long-term goal which ca n be used to measure how on track you are. Another tip is to take a be-fore photo. You can see exactly what you want to change and can take photos ev-ery few weeks to monitor your progress. Whatever methods you use keep your focus and that beach body will be yours.

EXERCISE TIP :When carrying out a resistance ex-ercise focus your mind on the muscle you’re working. Create a mind-muscle connection! Concentrate completely on that body part and on using only that body part – there’s no point cheating. Do the exercise in a slow, smooth, con-trolled manner – even during the nega-tive phase of the exercise i.e. where you’re returning to the start position. This will not only reduce chance of in-jury but also increase the effectiveness of the exercise. Always focus on tech-nique - doing the exercise properly is a lot more beneficial than worrying about how many reps you’re going to get

Words of Wisdom:

“It is easier to make the effort and work out,than it is to look in the mirror each day and not likewhat you see”

Bill PhillipsFounder EAS, Muscle Media

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email : [email protected]

Over the last 2 decades the fitness and nutrition industry has grown at a rapid pace. There have been some positive results from this and also some negative results. People are now aware of the importance of a healthy diet and exercise. However many are being exploited by the marketers of low fat products. There was an explosion of low fat products in the 90s and continues today. What people don’t know however is that most of this low fat food is actually worse for you than the original. Let me put it like this. You have the original in one hand and the low fat version in the other. Both of them taste quite good and both of them look similar but what is the difference? On the good side there has been a substantial amount of fat taken out of the original product. But here is the con. In order for it to still taste quite good other substances and chemicals are added in the form of extra carbohydrates, mainly sugar, and also all those strange ingredients that one finds hard to pronounce not to mind know what they are. In most cases the low fat product will be nutritionally worse as excess carbohydrates over the course of the day will store as fat especially when mainly sugar. Also most people will fool themselves into thinking that because they are low fat that they can have more of them. As I have mentioned excess carbohydrates are what do most of the damage to ones physique hence the increase in low carbohydrate diets in circulation. You must take notice of all the nutritional information on the back of a product not just the fat. Some fat is actually good for you. When looking at the nutritional information look at the amount of fat and importantly the amount of saturated fat which you want to keep as low as possible. Then look at the carbohydrate content especially the sugars which you also want to keep to a minimum. Make sure fibre is a good percentage. Check the so-dium level as the lower this is the better. Finally scan through the ingredients and make sure there aren’t too many there that look like chemicals or that you don’t recognise. By doing this over time you will learn exactly what is in the food that you are eating and will learn what products are actually good for you. Remember don’t always believe what is written on the front of the packet – there is always a marketer behind the design!!!!!!!!

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Irish high profile businessman Fran Rooney said Ireland could lead Europe’s broadband league and urged local authori-ties to step in and put an end to the broad-band issues affecting the country. Speak-ing in Limerick at the recent launch of Ice Broadband’s 100% coverage service for Limerick county and city, Rooney said local authorities across the country should fol-

low Limerick’s example, taking the initiative and working closely with companies that can provide an immediate wireless solu-tions. Thanks to the council’s initiative and Ice Broadband’s wireless technology, Lim-erick is the first county to launch high quali-ty wireless broadband services with 100% coverage for the whole city and county area. According to Rooney, initiatives like

the one just launched by Ice Broadband in Limerick could place Ireland on top of Eu-rope’s broadband league. Ice Broadband is a 100% Irish owned company.

“We can offer 100% coverage for the whole Limerick region because of the sup-port of Limerick County Council and I would urge other local authorities to adopt a similar approach. As county councils know the provision of quality broadband is es-sential for the development of businesses and jobs in their communities, and could place Ireland as the broadband leader in Europe,” he said. “We are delighted to work with Limerick County Council and we hope other counties follow the example.”

Also attending the launch, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Peter Power, welcomed Ice Broadband to Limerick and thanked the initiative. “I’m delighted a company is finally tackling the broadband issue,” said Minister Power, who also highlighted the importance of broadband access for the development of business activities in the country and explained that the initiative will place ‘Limerick at the fore-front at attracting business to Ireland.’

Ireland Can Top Europe’s Broadband League

Connect To The Clients You Want Kerry business woman, Lorraine Scroope, is behind the latest business to business web site to hit your screens. The-sourcepool.com is a web based resource that enables businesses to connect with other businesses to open up new markets, gain new clients and grow business. Based in the Enterprise Park in Tralee, thesour-cepool.com already employs 6 people and enjoys the support of Enterprise Ireland.

The Source Pool is offering the top per-formers across a range of professional services such as Marketing/Sales, Adver-tising /PR, Graphic Financial/Accounting, Legal Services etc. who are ready to pitch to your business requirements. The ser-vice is the solution in B2B networking – it delivers qualified leads directly to you and offer potential clients a trusted source to deliver services which meet their day to day business needs. Online anywhere at anytime.

“There is nothing like this service out there,” commented Lorraine Scroope CEO of The Source Pool. “We have directly targeted

market leaders and growing businesses focused on offering the very best in terms of business services available in Ireland to-day. We have selected business partners who we deemed to be the best by us after thorough research and have taken into ac-count the business profile, client lists and testimonials from their clients,” added Scroope.

The Source Pool has spent the last six months building and developing their be-spoke online platform and the recruitment

of elite business providers such as eTeams International, C&M Safety,Impact Media, Red&Grey Design. “This is a unique ser-vice which we are using to open for us new markets, provide us with new leads and new opportunities. The biggest mis-take businesses are making is reducing the marketing budget in times of a down-turn. That is when setting out a budget for marketing and prioritizing marketing is key and we see the Source Pool as an excellent business model” commented Martina Minougue, Director, eTeams In-ternational Ltd. According to Pat O Riordan from Enter-pise Ireland they saw the potential imme-diately - “The Source Pool is a highly inno-vative service that Enterprise Ireland is delighted to support from the beginning and we will continue to work closely with the company as it develops and grows into the international marketplace,” For a full view of business services available to meet business needs or to gain further information about developing business partnerships you can go to www.thesour-cepool.com.

Lorraine Scroope of The Source Pool

Yvonne Rooney, Managing Director of Ice Broadband, Fran Rooney, Executive Chairman of Ice Broad-band and Peter Power TD, Minister of State for Overseas Development at the launch of Ice Broadband 100% coverage of Limerick City and County in the Clarion Suites.

www.businesslimerick.ie

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It might be high summer but preparations for the upcoming rugby season have begun in earnest. The Munster players who weren’t involved in the Irish tour to the southern hemisphere or the Churchill Cup squad are already in pre-season training. It will be a good opportunity for Tony McGahan to set out his stall for the season ahead.

The general reaction to the Australian’s appointment as Munster head coach has been very positive. He has a great knowledge of the game and did a huge amount of the technical work with the side while Declan Kidney was in charge.The players clearly have a lot of trust, respect and time for McGa-han and that is hugely important. Once a coach has the dressing room then he is in the driving seat. The fact that McGahan knows the Munster set up and has been part of the scene for the last few seasons will make the transition to the new regime an awful lot easier. Continuity is a vital element of the Munster operation and by appointing McGahan, the IRFU has ensured that that was main-tained. It remains to be seen whether there will be a noticeable change of style from Munster during the season ahead. McGahan will obviously bring new ideas and a different approach to the job.

Still, given that he is op-erating with an almost unchanged pool of players, it is difficult to see a revolution in the Munster game plan.

In terms of personnel, Munster will definitely not enjoy the services of Jerry Collins next season, as the All Black flanker will be plying his trade in the south of France with Toulon.

However, following the retirement of Anthony Foley, Munster will need to get some cover for the back row and I wouldn’t be sur-prised to see the province make a signing for this department before the end of the summer. The men in red will certainly need strength in depth for the Heineken Cup campaign. Despite being the top seed in the draw, Munster have been landed in one of the toughest pools. The story has an all too familiar ring to it.

Old foes Clermont Auvergne and Sale, as well as Heineken Cup newcomers Montauban, take on the European Cup champions during the qualifying phase of the competition.

It is going to be a savage qualifying campaign and it’s difficult to see two teams progressing from the pool. Taking points away from home will once again be critical for Munster. However, that is not going to be easy in this group given that the lads will have to travel to France twice during the pool stages.

Interestingly, I was over in Paris for the final of the French Cham-pionship, where Clermont were defeated by Toulouse. It was a cracking contest and although Clermont lost, they certainly gave the beaten European Cup finalists some game. Clermont were somewhat naive in their approach to the Heineken Cup last year. They played second-string sides away from home and that proved their undoing in the end. I can’t see them taking a similar approach this time around. They’ll want to make the play-off stages of the competition this season and they’ll be far tougher opponents as a consequence.

Travelling to Sale will be equally difficult. The English Premiership side are a quality outfit and Munster will do well to get anything from that trip.

Realistically, each of the top three teams will have to get points from the away game to Montauban. However, France is not an easy spot in which to get a result and this tie could be the making or breaking of Munster’s Heineken Cup defence.

Mick Galwey

Tony McGahan appointed as Munster Head Coach

By Mick Galwey


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On the international front, I must say that I was disappointed with the results from the tests in Australia and New Zealand. Yet again, Ireland left two pos-sible wins behind them. You don’t get too many opportunities to beat either Australia or the All Blacks but we had a real chance of doing the double on this tour. Both of the tests were there for the taking. I thought Ireland played really well in the two games, while still not being at their very best. And that was the most frustrating aspect of the tour. Had the lads played to their potential then Ireland would have won both tests.

Looking back at the series, you’d have to say that some of the Irish players are still not over the disappointment of the World Cup. Exorcising that particular debacle from the collective psyche of the team will be one of the immediate goals for De-clan Kidney. Kidney is a past master at the psychological side of the game and he will have to engender a more positive mental attitude in the squad. This team

is built around the best Irish players from the Heineken Cup winning side and the Magners League champions. If that win-ning mentality can be brought to the na-tional set-up then Ireland could very well be going places.

Interestingly, Kidney could get an early opportunity to test Ireland against top-class opposition should a proposed inter-national with South Africa, which is sched-uled for September in Dubai, get the green light. The new national coach will have taken some positives from the New Zealand and Australia games and from the Churchill Cup. Rob Kearney was cer-tainly the best of the Irish in Australasia. He looks to have nailed down the No 15 jersey at this stage. Similarly, young John-ny Sexton gave a good account of himself in the Churchill Cup. He has to be the sec-ond in line for the outhalf berth, although it must be said that Paddy Wallace had two fine games in the centre against the Wallabies and All Blacks. Donacadh Ryan was another man who did well in North

America, while Cian Healy and Keith Earls also had fine tours.

Clearly, there are a number of fine young players coming through for Ireland. Hope-fully, they will continue to develop and make it through to the national set-up.

Tony McGahan appointedas Munster Head Coach

JULY 2008


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To make your trip safer and more enjoy-

able when driving in a country that you are

not familiar with, Irish Advanced Motor-

ists/IAM Fleet offers the following gen-

eral guidelines.

If you are considering driving your own

car in a foreign country check with your

insurance company in case you need ad-

ditional cover, an International Driving

Licence, Green Card or Bail Bond. Third

party motor insurance is compulsory. If

the vehicle is not registered in your name,

you will need to carry a letter from the reg-

istered owner giving you

permission to drive. Be

sure to place your insur-

ance company’s emer-

gency contact number in

your car.

Always carry your driv-

ing licence (if your licence

doesn’t incorporate a

photograph you must

carry your passport to

validate the licence). You

must also carry the ve-

hicle registration docu-

ment and certificate of

motor insurance.

Before setting off make

sure that the car you are

driving is roadworthy and

that the headlights have

been properly adjusted to avoid glare.

Get the car checked, especially the filters,

belts, fluid levels and have the oil changed.

Check the condition of your wiper blades.

Check the operation of your turn signals,

brake lights as well as the high and low

beams. Examine the tread on your tires.

Make sure your car is prepared for the

weather it will encounter on your trip.

Pack an emergency First Aid Kit in your

car. Include motion sickness medication if

anyone in your group suffers from it.

Visibility Vests are now compulsory in Ita-

ly, Austria and Spain (and likely to become

compulsory throughout the EU) if you need

to walk on a motorway. It is recommended

that you carry a warning triangle in case

of breakdown.

When you arrive, remember driving on

the opposite side of the road will seem

strange so extra concentration is re-

quired. Be especially careful when leaving

service stations, rest-stops or when you

are a few days into your trip as you may

revert to your normal driving pattern.

Make sure that you know and obey the

rules of the road and road signs in the

country in which you are travelling. Most

countries have different rules and regula-

tions, being a tourist may not get you off

the hook. Regarding road signs, remem-

ber the general rule- triangles warn, cir-

cles prohibit and rectangles inform.

Look at maps and plan your route thor-

oughly. Research the roads you’ll take.

You’ll especially want to know if you’ll be

travelling through areas of major road

construction. Ensure the maps you are

using are up-to-date. Check the roads be-

fore you go!

Always remember that overtaking is a dif-

ficult and potentially dangerous manoeu-

vre. Driving a right hand drive car on the

‘other’ side of the road means that you are

not in the best position to see ahead. Al-

ways remember the decision to overtake

is yours – do not rely on the judgement of

the passenger in the front seat.

Speed limits are implemented rigorously

abroad. Radar traps are frequent. In

France, anyone caught

travelling at more than

25km/h above the

speed limit can have

their licence confiscated

on the spot.

Finally, do not drive too

far without a break –

tiredness can kill. Take

a break every two hours

and, if possible, change

drivers regularly.

Make estimates of trav-

el times along the route,

so you’ll have an idea

when you’ll be at certain

points on your trip. This

will help you to plan rest

and meal stops. It will

also help you plan to avoid

travelling through a major city or area of

road construction during rush hour.

Be careful when using rest stops along

the road. Pass them up if they aren’t well-

lit or seem unsafe. Well-lit, busy gas sta-

tions can provide a safe place to take a

quick break. Truck stops are designed to

provide a safe place to take a break. Re-

member to lock your car doors when you

go inside. Since many rest stops suffer

from criminal activity, you should always

accompany your children into the rest-

room at a rest stop.

Driving Abroad this Summer


The third edition of the best-selling TAB Guide to Property has just been published, with this latest edition reflecting the current downturn in the residential property market and the increased level of rental. Speaking at the launch of the guide, co-author personal fi-nance writer Jill Kerby said: 'When preparing this third edi-tion of the TAB Guide to Property, we were acutely aware of the dramatic shift in the market since the publication of the second edition in 2007. 'From a situation where property values were rising dra-matically, we have moved to one where property prices countywide are still falling, with evidence of a resulting shift from house and apartment purchase to rental. For that reason, this latest edition includes a new and detailed section on Landlords and Tenants and how both can opti-mise their position in a developing rental market,' Jill Kerby stated. She added that the third edition of the TAB Guide to Prop-erty also includes the usual comprehensive details on: house purchase and the tax implications of buying a house; investment properties; buying holiday homes at home and abroad; tax incentives; buying, selling and letting; the im-pact of divorce and separation. The various sections are illustrated with worked examples and the third edition also provides information on interest rates and various prop-erty statistics. 'The first two editions of the TAB Guide to Property were hugely popular and were best-sellers. With the market on a downturn, we believe that it is even more important for anybody thinking of buying, selling or renting to have the maximum information at their fingertips. This is where the third edition of the TAB Guide is an essential aid' Jill Kerby stated. The TAB Guide to Property 2008, by Sandra Gannon and Jill Kerby, is published by TAB Taxation Services, price €9.99. Editor/Producer's note: Jill Kerby is available to comment on the current property market and the TAB Guide to Property. Jill can be contacted directly at 01-4534497 / 087-2397586 or by email at [email protected].

2008 TAB Guideto Property Published

JULY 2008

Property Team Cusack Dunne specialise in rent review negotiations and offer a comprehensive

service to both Landlords and Tenants.

A successful outcome in a rent reviewis due to a number of factors.

• Thorough evaluation of the lease to determine the basis of the rent review and possible negotiation advantages.• Inspection and correct measurement of the premises together with identifying any physical factors that may affect rental value.• In depth knowledge of local market lettings and using the most appropriate comparables. • Effective communication and successful negotiation strategy.• Expertise in dealing with submissions to arbitrators/ expert witness should the matter be referred for third party determination.

If you have an upcoming or outstanding rent reviewcontact Mark Cusack on 061 209000

to arrange a confidential meeting.

RENT REVIEWS &COMMERCIAL LEASES


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[email protected] (061) 410410

FOR SALE/TO LETEASTLINK BUSINESS PARK,

BALLYSIMON ROAD

* Ground floor 3128 Sq. Ft. First Floor: 1430 Sq. Ft. * Located in the new and popular business park* Direct access on to Limerick’s ring road* For sale in a shell and core state* The property benefits from 8 meters to the eaves* Price: €486,500 Rent: €25,000 p.a.

TO LETPART 3RD FLOOR,

24 BARRINGTON STREET, LIMERICK.* Part third floor office unit comprising front & rear office c. 440 Sq Ft* Ready for occupation * Located in Limericks main thoroughfare* Surrounding occupiers to include a mixture of indigenous & multinational companies along with various professional bod- ies to include solicitors, accountants, architects, engineers etc. * Rent: €10,000 per annum

TO LETRETAIL UNIT,TODDS BOW

* Centrally located unit just off Cruises Street* Unit comprises of c. 409 Sq. Ft.* Ideally suited to a number of uses* Adjoining multi storey car parking* Rent: €25,000 per annum

TO LETPART THIRD FLOOR, IVERNIA HALL,

97 HENRY STREET, LIMERICK.* Third generation office space in Limericks main “CBD” area* Office area: 1,700 Sq. Ft. fitted out to a very high standard throughout* Car parking available in basement car park * Adjoining occupiers include The Limerick Post, Anglo Irish Bank, Michael Punch & Partners etc.* Rent: €30,000 p.a. or €17.64 per Sq. Ft. fully fitted

TO LETINDUSTRIAL UNITS WITH YARD AREA

PATRICKSWELL,CO. LIMERICK

* Modern industrial facility with extensive yard area * Units available from 5000-20,000 Sq. Ft. * Located in Patrickswell village just off the Southern ring road, a very secure site * Yard area c. 25,000 Sq. Ft. * Rent: from €6.50 per Sq. Ft.

LEASE FOR SALE WITH VACANT POSSESSION

GROUND FLOOR & BASEMENT,11 THOMAS STREET

* The subject unit is located in Limericks “Café Quarter” just off O’Connell Street* Unit fronts onto the newly pedestrianised street* Unit has been recently upgraded & modernised to a high standard* Adjoining occupiers include the Bagel Factory, O’Connors Restaurant, Relish & Au Bars* Rent €25,000 per annum: Key Money €75,000

TO LETGROUND FLOOR COMMERCIAL UNIT,

SHELBOURNE ROAD, LIMERICK.* Well located ground floor commercial unit * Unit comprises of c. 500 sq. ft. of retail with ancillary accommodation * Walking distance from city centre* Ideally suited to many uses (subject to pp)

TO LETUNIT 2, WESTGATE HOUSE,

MICHAEL STREET* Central & accessible location * Adjoining occupiers to include Instore, Granary Tavern & Gardner House * Unit comprises of ground floor store c. 1500 Sq. Ft. & first floor offices c. 1500 Sq. Ft. * Good standard of fit out throughout * Rent: €32,500 p.a. or €10.83 per Sq. Ft. to include 2 car parking spaces at rear

FOR SALE/ TO LETELITE BUSINESS PARK,

EAST POINT, SHANNON, CO. CLARE.

* Well located commercial units * Units available on ground & first floor * Adjoining occupiers include arts & crafts, fortune flooring, curves, chunky browns etc.* Units available from 1,500 Sq. Ft. To 2,750 Sq. Ft. * Units available in a shell & core specification * Rent: from €10 per Sq. Ft.

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An Taoiseach, Mr Brian Cowen TD, be-came the first Taoiseach to attend a Board Meeting of Shannon Development, when he attended a board meeting of the Com-pany in Birr, Co Offaly, on Friday, 27 June 2008. At the meeting, the Taoiseach compli-mented the board members and staff of Shannon Development on their important work in the critical sector of regional eco-nomic development. Shannon Develop-ment Chairman, John Brassil, thanked the Taoiseach for his support for the Company, and assured him Shannon Development would continue to deliver on its economic development strategies for the Shannon Region.

Taoiseach Attends Shannon Development Board Meeting

(l-r), Therese Ross, Company Secretary, John Brassil, Chairman, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD, Dr Vincent Cunnane, Chief Executive, standing (l-r), John Ferriter, Dick Sadlier, Paul O‚Brien, Clare Dunne, Willie Loughnane, Roger Downer, and Pat Shanahan (missing from the photo were board members, Tom Barrett, Patricia Collins, Noreen Foran, and Joan Reynolds)

Mayor Ger Fahy officially launched "The Sapphire Ball 2008" on behalf of The Blue Box Creative Learning Centre. The Ball, which is a fundraiser for The Blue Box Cre-ative Learning Centre, will take place on Friday October 3rd at the Radisson SAS in Limerick. Tickets will be €130 each or €1250 for a table of 10. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Mark Lloyd at 061 315070.

The night promises to live up to last year's event which was a massive success and en-joyed thoroughly by the 270 guests. There will be a lavish reception, a five-course gala banquet, spectacular music, a unique auc-tion and a stunning raffle. The event will be coordinated by Fun Ireland Event Manage-ment who are giving their time for free to this Limerick cause.

Organised by the "Friends of The Blue Box", Anu O'Sullivan (O'Sullivans Pharmacies), Ev-elyn Rafferty(Delish), Pat Galvin(Genworth) and Peter Keogh(Keogh Somers Chartered Accountants), the event will provides a criti-cal part of the funding needed to ensure that The Blue Box Creative Learning Cen-tre can continue to offer Creative Therapy services to young people and families all over Limerick City.

The Blue Box Creative Learning Centre is

a Limerick charity which responds to the need for emotional and psychological inter-ventions for young people and families. This year The Blue Box Creative Learning Cen-tre will operate creative therapy centres in over 20 pre-schools, primary schools and secondary schools in Limerick Cityˆ working with over 500 young people and families.

"The work of The Blue Box Creative Learn-ing Centre has been endorsed by the principals of the schools where we work,

by the Childrens Acts Advisory Board and by the Limerick Regeneration Agencies. It is appalling to think that still we may have to close our doors next year. It is a mat-ter for The Department of Education, The HSE and the Office of the Minister for Chil-dren to address with utmost urgency." said Mark Lloyd.

Those booking tickets and tables for the Ball should get their request in early as last years Ball was sold out and the same is expected for this year."

Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Ger Fahy, Tom Shanahan, Sales Director Radisson SAS Hotel, John Fitzgerald, Fun Ireland, Louise O'Hara, General Manager, Radisson SAS Hotel, Mark Lloyd, The Blue Box with Sr Mary Carmel at the launch of the The Sapphire Ball 2008 on behalf of The Blue Box Creative Learning Centre which will take place on Friday October 3rd at the Radisson SAS in Limerick.

The Sapphire Ball 2008 Launched

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ACCOUNTANTSBDO Simpson XavierBusiness and Financial Advisors4 Michael Street, Limerick Tel: 061 414455 Fax: 061 414172Email: [email protected] Web: www.bdosx-limerick.com

Grant ThorntonChartered Accountants,Mill House, Henry St, Limerick.Tel: 061 314622 / 061 312744Fax: 061 317691 / 061 418038Email: [email protected]: www.grantthornton.ie

HDS PartnershipRegistered Auditors – Accountants – Tax Consultants – Business Advisors2nd Floor,RiverPoint,Lower Mallow Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 445000 Fax: 061 445060E-mail: [email protected]: www.hds.ie

Horwath Bastow CharletonAccountants and Business AdvisorsHorwath House,The Red Church, Henry St. Limerick.Tel: 061 310311 Fax: 061 318899E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.hbcl.ie

Moore Stephens Patrick McNamaraAccountants and Business AdvisorsPamdohlen House,Dooradoyle Road,Limerick.Tel: 061 229666 Fax: 061 302144Email: [email protected]: www.mspatrickmcnamara.ie

Donal Morrissey & CompanySuite 21 Whitethorns, Castletroy, Limerick.Tel: 061 333675 Fax: 061 333677E-mail: [email protected]

John Quirke & Co.Racefield House,Dooradoyle,Limerick.Tel: 061 301260Fax: 061 307863Email: [email protected]

O’Donovan Caulfield Lavin1 Mt. Kenneth Place, Henry St, Limerick.Tel: 061 411000 Fax: 061 411001E-mail: [email protected]

O’Hurley Blair Irwin3rd Floor, Mount Kenneth House, Henry St, Limerick.Tel: 061 401122 Fax: 061 401144E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.obi.ie O’Sullivan & AssociatesChartered Accountants 38 Roches Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 217000Fax:1890 886803Email: [email protected]

ACCOUNTANCY COURSESBPP Professional Services89 O’Connell Street. LimerickTel: 061 310884 Fax: 061 310984Email: [email protected]: www.bpp.com/ireland

ADVERTISING AGENCYSouthern AdvertisingKilloran House, Catherine Place, Limerick.Tel: 061 310286 Fax: 061 313013Email: [email protected] Web: www.southernad.ie

Spark Marketing Communications100 O’Connell St, Limerick.Tel: 061 409251 Fax: 061 409255E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.sparkmarketing.ie

AIR CONDITIONINGBatt O’Connor Air ConditioningContact: Batt O’ConnorBallykenneddy, Ballingarry,Co.LimerickTel: 069 68407 Fax: 069 68407Mobile: 086 8122220Email: [email protected]

Brian Scully ServicesCastlemahon, Co. LimerickTel: 069 72200 Fax: 069 72266Email: [email protected]: www.bssaircon.ie

ARCHITECTSC.C.H. ArchitectsUnit 2, 1st Floor, Riverfront BuildingHowleys Quay, LimerickTel: 061 312214 Fax: 061 312215Email: [email protected]: www.cch-architects.com

O’Connor & Shanahan Architects93 O’Connell Street, LimerickTel: 061 410708 Fax: 061 [email protected]: www.ocsarchitects.com

ARCHITECTS & BUILDING ENERGY RATING ASSESSORSBrian O’ DonoghueTait Business Centre, Dominic St., Limerick.Tel: 061 410318 Fax: 061 414315 Mob: 086 8122271E-mail: [email protected]

ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES, BUILDING ENERGY RATINGS ASSESSMENTS & PROJECT MANAGEMENTAbsolute House Plans Ltd.4 Willow Crescent,Riverbank,Annacotty,Limerick.Tel/Fax: 061 331969Mob: 087 2957494Email: [email protected]: www.absolutehouseplans.ie ARTISTContact Name: Una HeatonTel: 086 3735015Email: [email protected]: www.unaheatonart.com

AUCTIONEERSDTZ SHERRY FITZGERALDHibernian House,105 Henry Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 418111 Fax: 061 418112Email: [email protected] Web: www.dtz.ie

G.L Auctioneers, Valuers & Property Consultants65 O’Connell Street,Limerick.Contact: Geraldine LeddinTel: 061 467188 Fax: 061 467190Email: [email protected]: www.propertylimerick.com

John Shaw Auctioneers M.I.P.A.V.1 Lower Mallow Street, LimerickTel: 061 311133 Fax: 061 314666Email: [email protected]: www.johnshawauctioneers.com

Frontline Estate Agents28 Mallow St, Limerick.Tel: 061 400544 Fax: 061 400585E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.property.ie/frontline

AUDIO VIDEOShannonside AVContact: Deirdre DonnellyUnit G6, Eastway Business Park,Ballysimon Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 412744 Fax: 061 313986Email: [email protected]: www.shannonsideav.ie

BAR, BISTRO & NIGHTCLUBAubars49-50 Thomas Street,Limerick.Tel: 061 317799Fax: 061 317572Email: [email protected]: www.aubars.com

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BARS & NIGHTCLUBSPeter Clohesseys Bar & Sinbin NightclubHowleys Quay, LimerickTel: 061 468100 Fax: 061 468218Web: www.peterclohessey.com

BUILDING CONTRACTORSAce ServicesGlenameadePallaskenry, Co. LimerickTel: 061 393 049 or 061 393 982Fax: 061 393 303Email: [email protected]

BUILDING SUPPLIERSBallysheedy Building SuppliesBallysheedy, Co. Limereick(next to ‘ Weigh In’ bar)Tel: 061 445660/ 061 445666Mob: 087 2490666/ 087 6983444

BURGLAR ALARMS & SECURITY SYSTEMSClifford Security Alarms16 Wickham Street, LimerickTel: 061 313033 / 440151Fax: 061 317412Email: [email protected]: www.cliffordsecurity.com

BUSINESS BANKINGAllied Irish Bank (AIB)Contact: Kieran O’ReganLower Cecil Street, LimerickTel: 061 406200 Fax: 061 409002Email: kieran.j.o’[email protected]: www.aib.ie

Anglo Irish BankAnglo Irish Bank House, 98 Henry St., LimerickTel: 061 461800 Fax: 061 461898Web: www.angloirishbank.com

Bank of Ireland125 O’ Connell St., LimerickTel: 061 419791 Fax: 061 418554E-mail: [email protected] Bank Of Ireland ParkwayParkway Shopping CentreDublin Road, LimerickTel: 061 415600 Fax: 061 415670Email: noelle.o’[email protected]: www.bankofireland.ie

Bank Of Scotland IrelandBank of Scotland House,Shannon Street, LimerickTel: 061-209300E-mail: [email protected]: www.bankofscotlandireland.ie

IIB BankRiverpoint, Bishops Quay, Limerick.Contact: Damien QuigleyTel: 061 448600 Fax: 061 468468Email: [email protected]: www.iibbank.ie

Permanent TSBSarsfield Street – 061 318922Dooradoyle – 061 484846William Street – 061 317933Email: [email protected]: www.permanenttsb.ie

Ulster Bank Midwest Business Centre14 Henry Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 316757 Fax: 061 312971E-mail: [email protected]: www.ulsterbank.com

BUSINESS COACHESAction Coach Business CoachingUnit 1 C,Annacotty Business Park,Annacotty, Limerick.Tel: 061 338682 Fax: 061 338682Email: [email protected]: www.actioncoach.com/joepower

BUSINESS ENTERPRISESO’Callaghan EnterprisesHead Office47 Upper William Street,Limerick.Tel: 061 414224 Fax: 061 405171Web: www.ocallaghanenterprises.com

BUSINESS ORGANISATIONSLimerick Chamber 96 O’ Connell St, LimerickTel: 061 415180 Fax: 061 415785Email: [email protected]: www.limerickchamber.ie

Shannon & District Chamber of CommerceShannon Business Centre, Shannon, Co. ClareTel: 061 360611 Fax: 061 360440E-mail: [email protected]: www.shannonchamber.com

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SUPPORTPractical Business Solutions Ltd.18 Newtown Mews,Castletroy, Co. Limerick.Tel: 061 332929Email: [email protected]: www.practicalsolutions.ie

BUSINESS SOFTWARE SOLUTIONSBusiness Computer Solutions LtdBCS HouseDock RoadLimerickTel: 061 311 311Lo-Call: 1890 818 400Fax: 061 311 313Email: [email protected]: www.bcsdirect.ie

CompuCount Ltd.18 Cois Luachra,Limerick.Tel: 061 305033 Fax: 061 305291Email: [email protected]: www.compucount.ie

BUSINESS TELEPHONE SYSTEMSLantel Networks LtdRoselawn House,National Technological Park,Limerick.Tel: 061 3503580 Fax: 061 350360Email: [email protected]: www.lantel.ie

BUSINESS TRAINING ORGANISATIONFASFAS Services To BusinessRaheen Business Park,Raheen, LimerickTel: 061-487975 Fax: 061-229447E-Mail: [email protected]: www.fas.ie

HSI Limerick Business School &HSI English Language School.3 Quinlan Street, The Crescent, Limerick.Tel: +353-61-317822 Fax: +353-61-317877E-Mail: [email protected]: www.hsi.ie

CAR DEALERSClareview MotorsEnnis Road, LimerickTel: 061 221000 Fax: 061 221060E-mail: [email protected]: www.clareviewmotors.com

Enterprise CarsJapanese and UK Import Specialist & Light CommercialsDock Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 301301 Fax: 061 301340E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.enterprisecars.com

Pat Keogh BMWTipperary Road, LimerickTel: 061 422600 Fax: 061 422622Email: [email protected]: www.patkeoghbmw.com

Pat Keogh NISSANTipperary Road, LimerickTel: 061 313355 Fax: 061 312311Email: [email protected]: www.patkeogh-nissan.com

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Lyons Of Limerick & NenaghMain Ford Dealers,Ballysimon Road, LimerickTel: 061 413344 / 067 33442Fax: 061 413699 / 067 33436E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.lyonsoflimerick.com

Tom Hogan LexusDock Road,Limerick.Tel: 061 225995 Fax: 061 306306Email: [email protected]: www.tomhoganlexuslimerick.com

CARPETS & FLOORINGFirst Floor Furniture & Flooring Ltd.Croom Road, Adare, Co. LimerickTel: 061 395939 Fax: 061 395939Email: [email protected]: www.firstfloor.ie

Nolans Carpets & FlooringMain Street, NewportCo. TipperaryTel: 061 373739 Fax: 061 373722

Provincial Floor CoveringsRaheen Business Park,Raheen, Limerick.Tel: 061-227100 Fax: 061-227000E-Mail: [email protected]: www.pfl.ie

CATERINGCountry Fresh CateringBulgaden, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick.Tel: 063 20001 Fax: 063 20165E-mail: [email protected]: www.bulgadencastle.com

Mortell Catering49 Roches Street, LimerickTel: 061 415457 Mob: 087 7973419E-mail: [email protected]: www.mortellcatering.com

CCTV & ACCESS COMMUNICATIONSAdvanced MonitoringNo.2 Pillar House, Little Ellen St. LimerickTel: 061 319 375 Fax: 061 311 805Mobile: 087 2596955 / 087 2395039Email: [email protected]

CHARTERED SURVEYORS, VALUE ENGINEERS, & PROJECT MANAGERSBruce Shaw PartnershipBruce Shaw House,6 Hartstonge Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 493515 Fax: 061 493516E-Mail: [email protected]: www.bruceshaw.ie

CLEANINGClean HabitB2 Smithstown Industrial Estate,Shannon,Co. Clare.Tel: 061 361461Fax: 061 361868Email: [email protected]: www.cleanhabit.com ISS FacilitiesUnit 11, Ashbourne Business ParkDock Road, LimerickTel: 061 500300 Fax: 061 500301Contact : Brian KellyMobile: 087 9159108Email: [email protected]: www.iss.ie

CLEANING & MAINTENANCE SERVICEElite Cleaning ServiceRose Cottage, Woodpark, Castleconnell, Co. LimerickTel: 061 372133 Fax: 061 372627E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.elite-contract-cleaning.com

Noonan Services LimitedDocklands Business Park,Dock Road, LimerickTel: 061 312077 Fax: 061 315712E-mail: [email protected]

COACH HIREMartin’s of LimerickAnnacotty Business Park,Biddyford, Annacotty, Co. Limerick.Tel: 061 333100 Fax: 061 333102Email: [email protected]: www.martinscoaches.ie

Mike Hynan CoachesCappamore Co. LimerickTel: 061 381700 Fax: 061 381965Mob: 086 2500433E-mail: [email protected]: www.mikehynancoaches.com

CLEANINGComplete Cleaning & Maintenance ServicesDirector: Pat McLoughlinRoxboro Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 409596Mob: 087 9622222Fax: 061 409591www.compclean.ie

COMPUTER NETWORKING SALES & SUPPORTBCS ComputersBCS HouseDock Road, LimerickTel: 061 311 311Lo-Call: 1890 818 400Fax: 061 311 313Email: [email protected]: www.bcsdirect.ie

Fitzpatrick Computer GroupContact: Jackie DeereMill House, Henry Street, LimerickTel: 061 493300 Fax: 061 417219Email: [email protected]: www.fcg.ie

O’Connor Network Services (ONS)Ardnataggle,O’Briens Bridge,Co. ClareTel: 061 343412 Fax: 061 343413Mobile: 087 8118690E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.ons.ie

PAQ IT SolutionsPAQ IT House,Mayorstone,Limerick.Tel: 061 326792Fax: 061 326791Ennis: 065 6868333Galway: 091 755666E: [email protected]: www.paqit.com

CONSTRUCTIONFrank McGrath Construction Ltd31 Upper William Street; LimerickContact: Paula Shinners or Allan RyanTel: 061 417 374 Fax: 061 414 922Email: [email protected]: www.frankmcgrath.ie

G-Mack Racking Ltd.Contact: Noel HydeFreephone: 1890 812218Fax: 061 304888Mob: 087 6357639Email: [email protected]: www.g-mack.com

Roadbridge LtdBallyclough, Ballysheedy, Co. LimerickTel: 061 419855 Fax: 061 414767E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.roadbridge.ie

CONTRACT & EVENT CATERERSMasterchefs HospitalityEpicurean House,Robert Street, LimerickTel: 061 411522 Fax: 061 402021Email: [email protected]

CORPORATE GIFTSCraft Innovations Corporate Gifts Ltd. 5 Quin Street, Limerick Tel: (061) 415198 Fax: (061) 415208 Email: [email protected]: www.craftinnovations.ie

Friendship Wines & HampersContact: Joe CrowleyTel: 061 455225Mob: 087 7607495Email: [email protected]: www.friendshipwines.ie

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CRECHE / MONTESSORILittle Treasures CrecheOakleigh Wood, Dooradoyle Road, Limerick Tel: 061 307427 Lisa: 086 6017174 Sheila: 086 8587927

DINING FURNITURE SOLUTIONSG & A Manifold(Showrooms)Unit 6E,Docklands Business Park,Dock Road,Limerick.Tel: 061 312777Fax: 061 313434Email: to [email protected]: www.gamanifold.ie

SignLynxContact: Jack O’LoughlinFranklin Motor Yard, Cahernorry, Ballysimon, Limerick.Tel: 061 333736 Mob: 086 8094420Fax: 061 333737Email: [email protected]: www.signlynx.ie

DRAINAGE & ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICESWalsh Environmental ServicesDrainage & Environmental SpecialistsThe Cottage, Lower Meelick, Co. ClareTel: 061 325757 Fax: 061 325700

DRY CLEANERSAmbassador Dry CleaningRaheen Industrial Estate,Raheen, Limerick.Tel: 061 301999Mob: 087 9572365

ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS Des Ryan ElectricalBallyneety, Co. LimerickTel: 061 351643Mobile: 087 9121561Email: [email protected]: www.desryanelectrical.com

EVENT MANAGEMENTEvent SuccessRathurles,Nenagh, Co.TipperaryTel:067 33464 Fax: 067 33465Mobile: 086 8079763Email:[email protected]: www.eventsuccess.ie

Funireland Event ManagementLittle Orchard,Dooneen, Crecora, Co. Limerick.Tel: 061 320292 Fax: 061 320294Email: [email protected]: www.funireland.com

Woulfe Event Management,Tower View House,Glenview Avenue,Farranshone, Limerick.Tel: 061 321979Mob: 087 7631999Email: [email protected]: www.woulfemanagement.ie

FINANCIAL CONTROL / ACCOUNTING / BOOK-KEEPING SERVICESHogan Financial Management Ltd50 O’Connell Street, LimerickTel: 481444 Fax: 061 481445Email: [email protected]: www.hoganfinancial.ie

FITNESS EQUIPMENTGymfix ( Irl) Ltd.Unit 1,Dromkeen Industrial Park,Dromkeen, Limerick.Tel: 061 388000Fax: 061 388011Fax: [email protected]: www.gymfixireland.com

FLORISTFlowers ForeverDesigner FloristRachel & David HannonRaheen Roundabout, Limerick.Tel: 061 307123 Fax: 061 307123Email: [email protected]

FOOTWEAR RETAILERMichael Gleeson Shoes26 William Street, LimerickTel: 061 417407

FREIGHT FORWARDING & LOGISTICSInternational Cargo ServicesICS HouseRaheen Business Park, Raheen, LimerickTel: 061 500 800 Fax: 061 500 801Email: [email protected]: www.intlcargo.com

GLASS AND MIRRORSMirror and GlassworxUnit 1b, Annacotty Business Park,Limerick.Tel: 061 333630 Mob: 087 2808184Fax: 061 333631Email: [email protected]: www.mirrorandglassworx.com

GOLF COURSESAdare Golf ClubAdare Manor Hotel & Golf ResortAdare, Co. Limerick.Tel: 061 605274Fax: 061 605271Email: [email protected]: www.adaregolfclub.com

Limerick County Golf ClubBallyneety, Co. LimerickTel: 061 351881 Fax: 061 351384Email: [email protected]: www.limerickcounty.com

Limerick Golf ClubBallyclough, Co. LimerickTel: 061 414083 Fax: 061 319219Email: [email protected]: www.limerickgc.com

Mc Sweeney Golf Academy4 PGA ProfessionalsLimerick County Golf Club, Ballyneety, Co. Limerick.Tel: 061 352905 Fax: 061 352787E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.limerickcounty.com GRAPHIC DESIGN CONSULTANCYOptic Nerve Design GroupThe Mill, Glentworth Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 316955 Fax: 061 316965E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.opticnerve.ie

GRAPHIC & WEB DESIGNCreative E-Biz Ltd.Trebor House, Toreen, Ballysimon, LimerickTel: 061-335042/061-330049Email: [email protected]: www.wsicreativeebusiness.com

Customer Care SolutionsAnne Sheehan, Harbour House, Locke Quay, Limerick.Mobile: 087 6684819E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.customersolutions.ie

Edgewater GraphicsContact: HughCharlottes Quay, LimerickTel: 061 318318 Fax: 061 318308Email: [email protected]: www.egraphics.ie

GRAPHIC, WEB & FILM DESIGNIrish Design Front (IDF)Marine Village,Killaloe,Co.ClareTel: 061 375412Mob: 086 8176337Email: [email protected]: www.idf.ie

GYM/ PERSONAL TRAININGDAVE SHEAHAN GROUPDave Sheahan Personal Training-Southcourt Hotel, Raheen & Lahinch Road, Ennis.Dave Sheahan GymWindmill Street, LimerickDave Sheahan, Just for Her - Courtfields, RaheenTel: 061 424936Email: [email protected]: www.davesheahan.ie

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HANDHELD EDI SOLUTIONSCompuCount Ltd.18 Cois Luachra,Limerick.Tel: 061 305033 Fax: 061 305291Email: [email protected]: www.compucount.ie

HEALTH & SAFETYO.T.S. Ltd (Operative Training Services)Roselawn House,National Technology Park, LimerickTel: 061 633236Email: [email protected]

C&M Safety LtdContact Name:Margaret CulhaneThe Curlews, Killeaney, Glin, Co. LimerickTel:068 34527 Fax: 068 34562Email: [email protected]:www.cmsafety.com

HOME FURNISHINGSLimerick Paint SuppliesPennywell Road, Limerick. Tel: 061 411292Thomondgate, Limerick. Tel: 061 329828 Fax: 061 415874 Mob: 087 2503448

HOTELSADARE MANOR HOTEL & GOLF RESORT.Adare, Co. Limerick.Tel: 061 396566Fax: 061 396124Email: [email protected]: www.adaremanor.com

Castletroy Park Hotel,Dublin Road,Limerick.Tel: 061 335566Fax: 061 331117Contact: Ursula CullenEmail: [email protected]: www.castletroy-park.ie

Hilton HotelEnnis Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 421800Fax: 061 421866Email: [email protected]: www.limerick.hilton.com

Limerick Marriott HotelHenry Street,Limerick.Tel: 061 448700Fax: 061 448701Contact: Ursula CullenEmail: [email protected]: www.LimerickMarriott.com

Radisson SAS Hotel & Spa LimerickEnnis Road, LimerickTel: 061 456200 Fax: 061 327418Email: [email protected]: www.limerick.radissonsas.ie

The Castleoaks Hotel & Acorn RestaurantCastleconnell, Co. LimerickTel: 061 377666 Fax: 061 377666Email: [email protected]: www.castleoaks.ie

Fitzgerald’s Woodlands House Hotel & SpaAdare, Co. LimerickTel: 061 605100 Fax: 061 396073Email: [email protected]: www.woodlands-hotel.ie

HOUSEHOLD INSURANCE ASSESSORSAuray Assessors Specialists in Property ClaimsTel: 061 317264 Fax: 094 9541723Email: [email protected]: www.aurayltd.com

HR ConsultantsThe HR ChannelContact: Fiona O’CarrollBallycarney,Clarina,Co. LimerickTel: 061 353154Mobile: 086 2051727Email: [email protected]

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSULTANT AND EXECUTIVE & BUSINESS COACHElaine Ryan & AssociatesUnit 7,Elite Business Park,Smithstown,Shannon,Co.Clare.Tel: 086 2381555Email: [email protected]: www.elaineryanandassociates.com

INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVISERSGK Wealth Management Ltd20 The Crescent,Limerick.Tel: 061 448420 Fax: 061 312882Email: [email protected]: www.gkwealth.ie

INDUSTRIALSercom SolutionsSarsfield Rd: Raheen Business Pk;Raheen, Limerick.Tel: 061-226600 Fax: 061-226640EMail:[email protected]:www.sercomsolutions.ie

INK REFILL & TONERSInk Refill Depot7B Denmark Street,Tel: 061 446446 Fax: 061 446456Email: [email protected]: www.inkrefilldepot.ie

INSULATIONAerobord Ltd.Askeaton, Co. LimerickTel: 061 604600 Fax: 061 604601Email: [email protected]: www.aerobord.ie

INSURANCE BROKERS & ADVISORSAON GroupContact Name:Shane O’Farrell17 / 19 Patrick Street,LimerickTel: 061 402300 Fax:061 310726Email: [email protected]: www.aon.ie

Michael Henchy Insurances5 The Crescent, LimerickTel: 061 318688 Fax: 061 316631Email: [email protected]

Robert Ryan Insurance3 Newenham Street,Limerick.Tel:061 319268Email: [email protected]

IT INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENTAvocent InternationalAvocent House,Shannon Free Zone,Shannon, Co. Clare.Tel: 061 471877 Fax: 061 471871Email: [email protected]: www.avocent.ie

KITCHEN & BEDROOM FURNITUREBetterbuy Kitchens41 Eastlink Business Park, Ballysimon Road,Limerick.Tel: 061 413144Fax: 061 774313Email: [email protected]: www.betterbuy.biz

LABEL MANUFACTURERSImpact Labelling Systems Ltd.Contact: Richard Fox77/78 Eastlink Business Park,Tipperary Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 437990 Fax: 061 437995Email: [email protected]

LAUNDRYAmbassador Dry CleaningRaheen Industrial Estate,Raheen, Limerick.Tel: 061 301999 Mob: 087 9572365

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LETTING AGENTS & PROPERTY MANAGERSCastle Estates50 O’Connell Street,Limerick. Tel: 061 440411Fax: 061 311907Email: [email protected]: www.castle-estates.ie

LIFE & PENIONSNiall Cantrell Life & Pensions(Tied Agent of Eagle Star)Kilmore, Co. Clare (via Limerick).Mobile: 087 2545718.E-mail: [email protected]

LIFE & BUSINESS COACHINGPathfinder31b Cecil St. LimerickTel: 061 215750 Mob: 086 8123834E-mail: [email protected]

LIFT SERVICESMid Western LiftsCorcanree Business ParkDock Road, LimerickTel: 061 400123 Fax: 061 400121Email: [email protected]: www.mwls.ie

LIMOUSINE HIREIrish Diamond LimousinesRaheen, LimerickMob: 086-6030380Email: [email protected]: www.irishdiamondlimousines.com

LUXURY DEPARTMENT STORESBrown Thomas16 O’Connell Street, LimerickTel: 061 417222 Fax: 061 412191Email: [email protected]: www.brownthomas.com

MARQUEE HIREO’Donovan MarqueesBirdhill, Co. TipperaryTel: 061 379328 Fax: 061 379328Email: [email protected]: www.odonovanmarquees.com

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTSProfiles at WorkExecutive Coaching, Training, Psychometric TestingBallyheefy, Killaloe, Co. ClareTel: 061 376461 Fax: 061 375496Mob: 087 2640028Email: [email protected]: www.profilesatwork.com

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY SERVICESMay Day Management ConsultantsTait Business Centre, Dominic Street, LimerickTel: 061 316960 Fax: 061 314161Email: [email protected]: www.maydaymanagement.ie

MARKETINGCustomer Care SolutionsAnne Sheehan, Harbour House, Locke Quay, Limerick.Mobile: 087 6684819E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.customersolutions.ie

Molly D MarketingCastlecrine, Sixmilebridge, Co.ClareTel: 061 369898Mob: 086 2371508Email: [email protected]: www.mollydmarketing.ie

MARKETING CONSULTANTSMartin Mc Guire & AssociatesDock Road, LimerickTel: 061 228822 or 061 229233E-mail: [email protected]: www.martinmcguire.com

MARKETING RESEARCH & CONSULTANCY BDO Simpson Xavier4 Michael Street, Limerick Tel: 061 414455 Fax: 061 414172Email: [email protected] Web: www.bdosx-limerick.com

MODULAR CONTAINERS, CABINS & OFFICESBallysimon ContainersEastway Business ParkBallysimon Road, LimerickTel: 061 312530 Fax: 061 313520Email: [email protected]: www.asp-ire.ie

MODULAR OFFICE ACCOMODATIONAsp-ire Advance Space Providers IrelandEastway Business ParkBallysimon Road, LimerickTel: 061 312530 Fax: 061 313520Email: [email protected]: www.asp-ire.ie

MORTGAGE & FINANCIAL SERVICESMary Larkin Financial Services38 Roches St, Limerick.Tel: 061 411822 Fax: 061 411840Email: [email protected]

ODCL Financial Services and Mortgages1 Mount Kennett Place,Henry Street,Limerick.Tel: 061 411000Email: [email protected]

MORTGAGES, PROPERTY, MAINTENANCE & INVESTMENTSMoore Stephens Patrick McNamaraFinancial Planning & Mortgage SolutionsLife & Pensions – Mortgages – Investments – Wealth ManagementPamdohlen House, Dooradoyle RoadTel: 061 229666 Fax: 061 302144Email: [email protected]: www.mspatrickmcnamara.ie

Redmond Mortgage & Pensions1A Hartstonge Place,Upper Hartstonge Street, LimerickTel: 061 446629 Fax: 061 446809Mobile: 087 8290736E-mail: [email protected]

OFFICE EQUIPMENTGerry Webb Office Equipment72 Wolfe Tone Street, LimerickTel: 061 467380 Fax: 061 467380Mobile: 087 2625768Email: [email protected]

OFFICE EQUIPMENT / PRINTING & STATIONERYCurley Copy CentreLittle Ellen Street,Limerick.Contact: EileenTel: 061 315331Fax: 061 315171Email: [email protected]

OFFICE FURNITURE SYSTEMSG & A Manifold(Showrooms)Unit 6E,Docklands Business Park,Dock Road,Limerick.Tel: 061 312777 Fax: 061 313434Email: [email protected]: www.gamanifold.ie

Metro Office SuppliesUnit 2 Crossagalla Enterprise Centre, Ballysimon Road, LimerickTel: 061 432000 Fax: 061 432001E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.metrooffice.ie

OPTICIANSVision 2 Opticians6 Henry Street, LimerickTel: 061 469310 Fax: 061 469309Email: [email protected]: www.vision2opticians.ie

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OVERSEAS PROPERTYBalkan Property Investments Ltd(BPI)4 Pery Square, Limerick.Tel/Fax: 061 313200Email: [email protected] Web: www.bpigroup.ie

PACKAGINGIPS Industrial Polythene SolutionsContact Name: Sean O’CarrollAnnacotty Business Park,Annacotty, Limerick.Tel: 061 508980 Fax: 061 508984Email: [email protected]: www.ipspackaging.ie

PEST CONTROLCurtin Pest ControlRosmadda Business Park, Ballysimon Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 419901 Fax: 061 419504E-mail: [email protected]: www.curtinpestcontrol.ie

Rentokil Pest ControlBallysimon Road, LimerickTel: 061 412588 Fax: 061 310836Email: [email protected]

PENSIONS & INVESTMENTSKarl Daly Pension & Investment Ltd.2nd Floor, Riverfront BuildingHowleys Quay, LimerickTel: 061 318701 Fax: 061 318702Mobile: 086 2602326Email: [email protected] Web: www.karldaly.com or www.ssiaideas.ie

PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERSchwarz PharmaUCB (Schwarz Pharma Ltd)Shannon Industrial Estate,Shannon, Co. Clare.Tel: 061 714100 Fax: 061 714101Email: [email protected]: www.ucb-group.com

PHOTOCOPIERSMJ Flood (Ireland) Ltd.(Sales & Service)23 John Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 312211Mob: 087 7815252 Fax: 061 415595Email: [email protected]: www.mjflood.ie

PHOTOGRAPHYBrendan Gleeson LIPPA NUJ25 Cherry Avenue, Caherdavin Lawn, LimerickTel: 061 453253 Mobile: 087 2159325Email: [email protected] www.bgleesonphoto.com

John O’Brien PhotographyHigh Street, Limerick CityTel: 061 412833 Email: [email protected]: www.jobrienphotography.com

PicSure Ltd.Contact: Kieran Clancy3 Rosebrook, Fr. Russell Rd;Limerick.Tel: 061 301723 Mob: 087 2532015Email: [email protected]: www.picsure.ie

PLANT HIRE & SALESNewport Plant & Tool HireBallymackeogh, Newport, Co. Tipperary.Tel: 061 373737 Mob: 086 0664137E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.npt.ie

PUBLIC TRANSPORT BUS SERVICES & PRIVATE HIREBus EireannColbert Station LimerickTel: 061 313333 Fax: 061417166Email: [email protected]: www.buseireann.ie

PRINTINGMc Kerns Print & DesignGlentworth Street, LimerickTel: 061 417611 Fax: 061 419816Email: [email protected]

Mc Namara PrintersSmithstown Industrial EstateShannon, Co. ClareTel: 061 361782 Fax: 061 363271Email: [email protected]: www.mcnamaraprinters.ie

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTSAble Marketing50 Thomas Street, LimerickTel: 061 417575 Fax: 061 410055Email: [email protected]: www.ablemarketing.ie

PROPERTY DEVELOPERSTiernan PropertiesArthurs Quay HouseArthurs Quay, LimerickTel: 061 412462 Fax: 412251Email: [email protected]: www.tiernanproperties.ie

PROPERTY INVESTORS, MORTGAGE &FINANCE, PROPERTY MAINTENANCE &BUILDING SERVICESMuldowney Group ServicesBranches NationwideNational Lo-call: 1890 350450Email: [email protected]: www.muldowneygroup.com

PRIVATE HOSPITALSBarringtons Hospital LtdTel: 061 490500 Fax: 061 312939Email: [email protected]: www.barringtonshospital.com

PUBLIC RELATIONSEcho Marketing5 The Mews,Hartstonge Street,Limerick.Tel: 061 409353Mob: 087 9892463Email: [email protected]

Molly D MarketingCastlecrine, Sixmilebridge,Co.ClareTel: 061 369898M: 086 2371508Email: [email protected]: www.mollydmarketing.ie

MRPA Kinman CommunicationsContact: Niamh Quinn22 Log Na gCapall, South Circular Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 303779 Fax: 061 305802Mobile: 087 1220119E-Mail: [email protected]: www.mrpakinman.ie

O’Brien Communications30 Ashbrook GroveEnnis Road, LimerickTel/Fax: 061 457999 Mobile: 086 6019214Email: [email protected]

PUBLIC RELATION CONSULTANTSFianancial DynamicsCois Na Sionna,O’Briens Bridge, Co. ClareTel: 061 372643 Mobile: 087 2497290Fax: 061 372645Email: [email protected]: www.fd.com

PUBLIC RELATIONS & EVENT & MEDIAMANAGEMENTWoulfe Event ManagementTower View House,Glenview Avenue,Farranshone,Limerick.Tel: 061 321979Mob: 087 7631999Email: [email protected]: www.woulfemanagement.ie

RADIO STATIONS (NATIONAL)Limerick Live 95 FMP.O Box 295 Radio House, Richmond Court,Dock Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 461900 Fax: 061 419595E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.live95fm.ie

RTE Lyric FMCornmarket Square,Limerick.Tel: 061 207300Fax: 061 207390Email: [email protected]: www.rte.ie/lyricfmContact: Aodán Ó’Dubhghaill & Julie Knight

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RECRUITMENTBDO Recruitment BDO Simpson Xavier4 Michael Street, Limerick Tel: 061 414455 Fax: 061 414172Email: [email protected] Web: www.bdosx-limerick.com

Brooks RecruitmentHotel & Catering86 O’Connell St., Limerick.Tel: 061 413022 Fax: 061 312799E-mail: [email protected]: www.brooksrecruitment.com

Brunel98 Henry Street,Limerick.Tel: 061 430950 Fax: 061 435933Email: [email protected]: www.brunel.ie

Irish Recruitment ConsultantsDeloitte & Touche House,Charlottes Quay, LimerickTel: 061 313744 Fax: 061 417553Email:[email protected]:www.irishrecruitment.ie

La Crème98 Henry Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 430939 Fax: 061 435933Email: [email protected]: www.lacreme.ie

Premier98 Henry Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 430940 Fax: 061 435933Email: [email protected]:www.premier.ie

Richmond RecruitmentHibernian House,Henry St: Limerick.Tel: 061-413111 Fax: 061-416699E-Mail: [email protected]: www.richmond.ie

Staff SolutionsUnit 2 Belfield House, Ennis Road, LimerickTel: 061 329250 Fax: 061 329252E-mail: [email protected]: www.staffsolutions.ie

RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCYRECRUITMENT WEBSITEIrishJobs.ieHead Office South Block,The Malthouse, Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2.Tel: +353 1 670 9900 Fax: +353 1 670 9901Email: [email protected]: www.irishjobs.ie

WWW.JOBS.IEData Business Centre,Roselawn House,National Technology Park,

Castletroy, Limerick Tel: 061-633663 Fax: 061-633334Email:[email protected]: www.jobs.ie

RECRUITMENT SPECIALISTSWork Access Ltd.1st Floor, Pillar House,Little Ellen Street, Limerick.Tel: 061 493095 Fax: 061 409345Email: [email protected]: www.workaccess.org

RESTAURANTSMayur TandooriExotic Indian Cuisine and Take Away2-3 Steamboat Quay, LimerickTel: 061 311575 Fax: 061 311578

PoppadomAward Winning Indian CuisineUnit 2C, Robert Street,Corn Market Square, LimerickTel: 061 446644www.poppadom.ie

Thai GourmetThe White HouseNo.2 Glenthworth Street, LimerickTel: 061 312012 Fax: 381773Email: [email protected]: www.thaigourmet.ie

SALES AND MARKETING SERVICESSMS Sales and Marketing Services IrelandContact: Bryan MarshallStudio 7B, Chapel Court, Cathedral Place,Limerick Tel: 061-404606Email: [email protected]:www.smsi.ie

SECURITY Avantguard Security SolutionsAvantguard HouseCoonagh Cross, LimerickTel: 061 323832 Fax: 061 323834Mobile: 086 6004350Email: [email protected]: www.avantguard.com

Advance SecuritiesImperial House, Roches St., LimerickTel: 061 411197 Fax: 061-400695E-mail: [email protected]: www.advancesecurities.com

Westside Security Systems Ltd.Private Security Licence Number: 00095Rathuard, Donoughmore, Co. LimerickTel: 061 419610 Mobile: 086 8164444Email: [email protected]: www.westsidesecurity.com

SECURITY SHREDDING & CONFIDENTIAL WASTEDGD Papers Ltd.Bay M1, Raheen Business ParkLimerickTel: 061 491333 Fax: 061 491335Email: [email protected]: www.dgdpapers.com

Shred-itOn-Site Confidential Document Destruction.Nationwide ServiceTel: 1800 747 333Email: [email protected]: www.shredit.com

SIGNAGESignLynxContact: Jack O’LoughlinFranklin Motor Yard, Cahernorry,Ballysimon, Limerick.Tel: 061 333736 Mob: 086 8094420Fax: 061 333737Email: [email protected]: www.signlynx.ie

Sign It LtdUnit 6, Eastway Business Park,Ballysimon Road, Limerick.Tel: 061 469900 Fax: 061 417502Email: [email protected]: www.signit.ie

SignsplusUnit 7,Eastlink Business Park,Ballysimon Road,Limerick.Tel: 061 437950 Fax: 061 437940Email: [email protected]: www.signsplus.ie

SOLICITORSHolmes O’Malley SextonBishopsgate,Henry St: Limerick.Tel: 061-313222 Fax: 061-310414E-Mail: [email protected]: www.homs.ie

TAXATION BDO Simpson XavierPersonal and Corporate Tax Advisors4 Michael Street, Limerick Tel: 061 414455 Fax: 061 414172Email: [email protected] Web: www.bdosx-limerick.com

TEAM BUILDINGFunireland Team Building SpecialistsLittle Orchard,Dooneen,Crecora, Co. LimerickTel: 061 320292Fax: 061 320294Email: [email protected]: www.funireland.com

BUSI

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BL | DIRECTORY

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BL | DIRECTORY The Odyssey

Project

Limerick Youth Theatre is looking for performers from the former Eastern Bloc and Former Yugoslav countries to create an original piece of Dance-Theatre on a theme of immigration, to be staged at the Belltable Arts Centre.

LYT is looking for participants aged 16-23 to express their experience of living in Ireland. Creativity is more im-portant than fluent English or previous experience! Rehearsals will take place on a part-time basis from July 14th – August 25th. Participation is free.

This mixed group of LYT members and their Eastern European counterparts will spend the summer devising and rehearsing a dynamic performance of dance, theatre, film and music about "Ireland as a foreign country", with a specially commissioned score by Ed-gars Lipors (LV). Lilija Lipora (LV), a professional dancer and choreogra-pher, will direct and choreograph LYT members and their contemporaries from the Eastern European communi-ties in Limerick.

The production will be performed in the Belltable Arts Centre August 25th to 30th 2008 and tickets can be booked through the box office on (061) 319866- tickets €15 / €12. Previews August 25th all tickets €10.

Calling all Eastern Europeans!

If you are interested in taking part, con-tact Guntis Kïavinð on 086 2232347 (Latvian, Russian, English) or Limerick Youth Theatre on 061 311100 (English only).

You can email us (in English, Latvian, Russian, German or French) on [email protected]

This project is sponsored by the Arts Council/ An Comhairle Ealaion with a generous grant under Projects, New Work funding and further support has been received from The Arts Office and The Social Inclusion Unit of Limer-ick City Council.

Limerick Youth Theatre is funded by Limerick City VEC and supported by Belltable Arts Centre.

For further information please contact LYT on (061) 311100 or on [email protected].

TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING / DELIVERYOriginal SolutionsThe International Science Centre,National Technology Park,Limerick.Tel: 061 507900 Fax: 061 507901E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.originalsolutions.ie

TRAINING & CONSULTANCYProcad TrainingPortal House,Raheen Business Park, Limerick.Contact: Adrian CarmodyTel: 061 498900 Fax: 061 304080Email: [email protected]: www.procadtraining.com

VALUERJim O’ Shea AuctioneersMungret Village, Co. LimerickTel: 061 210055 Fax: 061 210248Mobile: 087 2361439Email: [email protected]: www.auctioneer-oshea.ie

WATER COOLERS & DISPENSERSCrystal ClearLeamy House, Hartstonge St: Limerick.Tel: 061-454962 Fax: 061-454449Mobile: 087-2561239E-Mail: [email protected]

WATER CONSULTANTSAllied Aquatech Water Treatment Consultants3 Kyle House (office & shop)Henry Street, LimerickTel: 061 319777 Mobile: 086 1555568Fax: 061 319778Email: [email protected]: www.h2o4u.ie

WASTE MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSALMr BinmanLuddenmoreGrange, Kilmallock, Co. LimerickTel: 061 351127 Fax: 061 351918Email: [email protected]: www.mrbinman.com

WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENTIEG DESIGNContact: Padraig O’ConnellRailway Road, Kilmallock,Co. Limerick.Tel: 063 20869 Fax: 063 20775Email: [email protected]: www.iegdesign.com

WEIGHT LOSSMotivation Weight ControlClinic58/59 Thomas Street,Limerick.Tel: Limerick 061 411699Cork: 021 4272735

WINDOWS & DOORSMaintenance & RepairsWindow & Door Solutions3 St.Nessans Park, Dooradoyle,Limerick.Tel:061 424891 Fax: 061 424891Mob: 086 8282869/ 086 8247760Email: [email protected]: www.wdsireland.ie

WINE MERCHANTDavide WinesDavide BisaschiSelected WinesItalian Wines SpecialistTel: 085 7593228Email: [email protected]

WINE RETAILERSFine Wines Fine Wines Group,Tipperary Road, Ballysimon, LimerickTel: 061 417784 Fax: 061 417276Email: [email protected]: www.finewines.ie

The Wine Buff17 Upper Mallow Street, LimerickProprietor: Mike O’ MaraTel: 061 313394E-mail: [email protected]: www.thewinebuff.com

To subscribe to our Business Directory Listing please contact:Yvonne Sheehan on 061 - 214738 or Email: [email protected]


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BL | XXXXXX

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BL | TECHNOLOGY

Google Lets Its Users Measure The Power of WordsNumber-crunchers can rejoice as Google offers deeper access to the underlying figures for users’ Web searches, giving some insight into trends based on the relative popularity of various words.

The Internet search leader is expanding its existing Google Trends service to allow users to see underlying numerical data on the popularity of any particular search in Google’s vast database of search terms, relative to others.

Google Trends was begun two years ago as an entertaining but limited way to indi-cate what the world is thinking about over time, at least in terms of Web searches.

Now Google is giving users the ability to search across terms in its database, in-stantly chart how they compare to other search terms, and then export the un-derlying numerical data into a common spreadsheet format.

Google Trends lets users compare de-mand for various search terms and see how popularity differs across geographic regions, cities or languages.

Internet Service Provider IEG Design also found that this new feature enables you to compare popularity of search terms over time in numbers.

A year ago, Google introduced Hot Trends, which gave users insight into fast-rising Web search trends with data refreshed several times daily. The tool’s power only grows as people conduct more and more of their everyday activities online, with Web search often their primary starting point.

The data in Google Trends stretches back to 2004. While the service is based on the many billions of individual searches performed each year, Google Trends only reveals data on the aggregate numbers of searches, not the searches themselves.

Google Trends users can also chart the explosion of interest in the term “backdat-ing” since 2006, reflecting the scandal over how hundreds of companies back-dated options for executives.

Searches for the word “Microsoft” had a more than two-to-one-lead in searches over “Apple” three years ago, but Apple had virtually closed the gap by the end of 2007.

Then news reports of its takeover bid for Yahoo appears to have stoked a recovery in Microsoft this year. Searches for Micro-soft have outnumbered those for Apple by about 7 to 5 in recent weeks, according to Google Trends data.

Users must be registered and signed into a Google account to use the service. One can then see the evolution of new terms or concepts through Google searches, in-cluding the rise of “Google Trends” itself.

Drink from the font menu:

If you think there’s something not quite right about the PIXAR logo, then you’re absolutely right. But can you pinpoint ex-actly what it is?

Fonts are an incredibly powerful parts of any designers toolkit. But we can all use them to great effect in many different kinds of work. Here are a few quick tips to get the best out of them:

1. Sans serif fonts such as Verdana and Tahoma are better for online content

2. In contrast, serif fonts like Times New Roman are best in print as the features at the end of the strokes help to guide the eye along the paper

3. Its best not to use more than two fonts on any one page of content as the contrasts can be distracting.

4. Headline fonts can be decorative but shouldn’t be too ornate. Not everything in the font menu should be used!

5. A Powerpoint presentation however, can benefit from distinctive fonts, so don’t be afraid to experiment a little.

6. Every font has its own story, whether you want it to or not. Pick a font to am-plify or complement the story you’re try-ing to tell.

7. Don’t keep changing the fonts you use. If you find the right font it can be-come your handwriting.

by Padraig O’Connell

Joanna MacGregor


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BL | XXXXXX

St. Mary's Cathedral provides an atmospheric backdrop for

four fantastic concerts at this year's MBNA Shannon Interna-

tional Music Festival with the Irish Chamber Orchestra. The ca-

thedral is one of the oldest and most historic buildings in Lim-

erick. The cathedral's candlelight performances which have

created such a unique experience at the festival have proved

tremendously popular over the years and this year feature an

interesting triptych. At just €10 per ticket, thesee concerts

are a great way to enjoy music – in the heart of the city!

The first concert highlights the very talented Kerry born mez-

zo-soprano Paula Murrihy, a graduate of DIT Conservatory of

Music who is fast-gaining international recognition. She has

already made her operatic debut in Naples, has studied at the

Conservatory in Boston and will soon join the Frankfurt Opera.

Paula flies in from Covent Garden for a song recital by candle-

light at the Cathedral, which includes sensuous songs by De-

bussy alongside two works by the definitive Romantic, Robert

Schumann. (Thursday 10 July @10.15pm)

Romantic, expansive but intimate in its pleasures Schubert's

Octet is symphonic in scale and structure and is one of Schu-

bert's most enduring masterpieces drawn from his deep well

of rich melodies. Artistic Director Anthony Marwood leads

ICO principals Katherine Hunka violin, Juliet Welchman cello,

Joachim Roewer viola, and Malachy Robinson double bass

with the Irish Chamber Orchestra along with guests Robert

Plane clarinet, Paul Boyes bassoon, and Stephen Nicholls horn

in a stand-alone performance of this majestic Octet. (Friday

11 July @ 7.30pm)

The final nocturnal offering is Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jesus

is one of the most compelling piano cycles ever composed and

conveys Messiaen's profound and passionate beliefs. Tender

and spiritual harmonies contrast with the rhythmic excite-

ment of the East with its gamelan and raga patterns. Joanna

MacGregor has long been associated with this extraordinary

work and her mesmeric performances of this epic cycle have

been lauded worldwide. Join Joanna in this, the composer's

centenary anniversary year, for an unforgettable journey by

candelight at the Cathedral. (Saturday 12 July @ 10.15pm)

Finally, don't miss a landmark lunchtime recital at the cathe-

dral. Pianist Mi chael O'Suilleabhain's CD The Dolphin's Way

marked a watershed on his amazing musical journey. It was

followed by a series of recordings with the Irish Chamber Or-

chestra exploring traditional/classical cross-over styles. This

solo recital of piano improvisations by Mi chael marks the dol-

phin's return. Retrace this fascinating journey at St. Mary's

Cathedral. (Saturday 12 July @ 1pm)

Join the Irish Chamber Orchestra for five magical days in Lim-

erick. call 1890 923 543 or visiit www.irishchamberorches-

tra.com.

Shannon International Music FestivalFour intimate concerts

at St. Mary's Cathedral...

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The Saab 9-3 range provides everything from a 1.8i to 250 bhp V6 Aero engines,all meticuously crafted and beautifully designed. But then we do have a historyof designing jet fighters. Give yourself a thrill, book a test drive today.

The Saab 9-3 range from €34,495*The fuel consumption figures are L/100km Urban 7.2 - 17.3, Extra Urban 4.4 -7.7, Combined 5.4 - 11.1, CO2 147 - 266g/km * Delivery and related charges additional. Model shown is for illustrative purposes only.

JET SET

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Business Limerick Magazine 07/08

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Transcript of Business Limerick Magazine 07/08