Great site with reviews of movies from all the major streaming sevices on Rotten Tomatoes. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television.

Great site with reviews of movies from all the major streaming sevices on Rotten Tomatoes. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television.
Books I Recommend:
Spare by Prince Harry
Time and Tide by Charlie Bird
Tom Clancy Red Winter by Marc Cameron
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff
Surrender by Bono
We Don’t Know Ourselves:A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958
by Fintan O’Toole
Overcoming:The powerful, compelling, award-winning memoir by Vicky Phelan
No Plan B By Lee Child & Andrew Child
Quinn by Trevor Birney
Forever Home: The New Dark Comedy by Graham Norton
Spaceboy by David Walliams
Triple Cross by James Patterson
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Desert Star by Michael Connelly
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
A Book of Days by Patti Smith
And There Was Light by Jon Meacham
The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
The Light We Carry By Michelle Obama
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
It Ends With Us By Colleen Hoover
A World of Curiosities By Louise Penny
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan
The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham
Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks
Where The Crawdads Sing By Delia Owens
In 2017, the National Archives, in partnership with the Irish Manuscripts Commission, began a survey of archival material salvaged from the Public Record Office of Ireland, following the destruction of the record treasury during the Civil War in 1922.
Source: https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/rising-from-the-ashes/
A new archive of gardai from past times to present have being published. It is An Garda Síochána Centenary Photographic Archive 1922. All photographs are found online at :https://gardaphotoarchive.ie/home. Anybody with similar historic pictures can forward to gardai to add to their collection.
BBC Learn English: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/
Ireland (Britannica) https://www.britannica.com/place/
British Council : Learn English Online : https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/
Citizen’s Information Database: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/ 🇮🇪
Couriers- Parcel Direct: https://www.parceldirect.ie/
HSE: https://www.hse.ie/eng/ (healthcare)
Ireland: https://www.ireland.com 🇮🇪
Ireland Government: https://www.gov.ie 🇮🇪
Irish Cooking: https://ilovecooking.ie/
Ireland TV: https://entertainment.ie/tv/
Irish Broadcasters: https://www.bai.ie/en/broadcasters/
RTE: http://www.rte.ie
Translate Ukrainian Into English : https://www.translate.com/ukrainian-english 🇺🇦 (free)
Translate Google: https://translate.google.com/ (free)
Online Translator: https://www.onlinedoctranslator.com/en/ (free)
Languages: English, Gaeilge (Irish)
Ukrainians Arriving in Ireland Information: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/bc537-irelands-response-to-the-situation-in-ukraine/ 🇮🇪 🇺🇦
Wikipedia On Ireland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland
Useful Websites (Services)
The Main Banks:
AIB: https://aib.ie/
Bank Of Ireland: https://www.bankofireland.com/
Permanent TSB: https://www.permanenttsb.ie/
Bus Services: Irish Bus, Bus Eireann
There are a number of different bus operators within the TFI public transport network.
Clothes Stores: Penneys, Dunnes Stores, Marks and Spencers, Tesco, etc
Currency: Euros ..100 cent in one Euro
Libraries Ireland: https://www.librariesireland.ie/
Main Service Providers: https://www.bonkers.ie/
Phonebook Online: https://www.phonebook.ie/q/name/ (click tab business or residential depending on what you want to search for)
or
Golden Pages: https://www.goldenpages.ie/
Post Offices: https://www.anpost.com/
Population: 4.9 million
Supermarkets, Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes Stores, Penneys, SuperValu, Tesco, Centra etc
Aldi: https://www.aldi.ie/ (food and groceries)
Centra: https://centra.ie/ ( food, groceries)
Dunnes Stores: https://www.dunnesstores.com/ (food, groceries, drapery, household etc)
Lidl: https://www.lidl.ie (food and groceries)
Penneys: https://www.primark.com/en-ie (clothes, household, beauty)
Super Valu: https://supervalu.ie (Food, groceries, gardening, newsagents, tobacco)
Tesco: https://www.tesco.ie/ (food, groceries, phones, clothes, household, gardening)
Sports Ireland: https://www.sportireland.ie/
GAA: https://www.gaa.ie/
Horses_ Horse Sport Ireland: https://www.horsesportireland.ie/
Irish Rugby: https://www.irishrugby.ie/
Irish Swimming: https://www.swimireland.ie/
Symbol if Ireland : Shamrock ☘️
Taxi: check local directory for local taxi numbers
Transport Ireland: https://www.transportforireland.ie/
Trains of Ireland : https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/
Top Sites:
Music Site – Spotify: https://www.spotify.com/ie/
Searching for Information Online- Google: http://www.google.ie
Top Social Media Sites:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetaIreland/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com
UTube: (videos/music) https://www.youtube.com/
Ulysses is a modernist novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It was first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920 and then published in its entirety in Paris by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, Joyce’s 40th birthday.
“To learn one must be humble. But life is the great teacher.”
“A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.”James Joyce
“I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.”
― James Joyce
“It soared, a bird, it held its flight, a swift pure cry, soar silver orb it leaped serene, speeding, sustained, to come, don’t spin it out too long long breath he breath long life, soaring high, high resplendent, aflame, crowned, high in the effulgence symbolistic, high, of the ethereal bosom, high, of the high vast irradiation everywhere all soaring all around about the all, the endlessnessnessness…”
“What incensed him the most was the blatant jokes of the ones that passed it all off as a jest, pretending to understand everything and in reality not knowing their own minds.”
“Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves.”
“Her antiquity in preceding and surviving succeeding tellurian generations: her nocturnal predominance: her satellitic dependence: her luminary reflection: her constancy under all her phases, rising and setting by her appointed times, waxing and waning: the forced invariability of her aspect: her indeterminate response to inaffirmative interrogation: her potency over effluent and refluent waters: her power to enamour, to mortify, to invest with beauty, to render insane, to incite to and aid delinquency: the tranquil inscrutability of her visage: the terribility of her isolated dominant resplendent propinquity: her omens of tempest and of calm: the stimulation of her light, her motion and her presence: the admonition of her craters, her arid seas, her silence: her splendour, when visible: her attraction, when invisible.”
“Ineluctable modality of the visible : at least that if no more, thought through my eyes. Signatures of all things I am here to read, seaspawn and seawrack, the nearing tide, that rusty boot. Snotgreen, bluesilver, rust: coloured signs. Limits of the diaphane. But he adds: in bodies. Then he was aware of them bodies before of them coloured. How? By knocking his sconce against them, sure. Go easy. Bald he was and a millionaire, maestro di color che sanno. Limit of the diaphane in. Why in? Diaphane, adiaphane. If you can put your five fingers through it, it is a gate, if not a door. Shut your eyes and see.
“It is as painful perhaps to be awakened from a vision as to be born.”
“Can’t bring back time. Like holding water in your hand.”
Title: Ulysses
Subtitle: The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ulysses, by James Joyce
Author: James Joyce
Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4300/4300-0.txt
The Internet, Online, 2/2/2022
RTÉ Celebrates 100 Years of Ulysses
Source: https://about.rte.ie/2022/01/28/rte-celebrates-100-years-of-ulysses/
Research Papers On James Joyce: https://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/James_Joyce
UTube How To Read Ulysses
Candlelight vigils and musical tributes are being held all over Ireland and UK , this weekend, over the death of a 23 year old teacher, Ashling Murphy. What a waste of a beautiful life, taken too soon by an unknown man who attacked her when she was running along the canal during the day. She went for a run as part of her exercise regime at four o’clock after finishing teaching her first class students in the local national school. By 5 o’clock she was dead. A wonderful teacher, pleasant lady and Irish traditional musician, taken violently from her family. You were not the problem, male violence is.
Many women and men are angry and devastated at a senseless death. They are demanding this has to be a watershed moment. Things have to change. We need more gardai on the street, we need to educate young boys and better prosecutions on violence against women. Some read poetry, some said prayers, most wept and others sang and played musical instruments united in grief at the loss of one of Ireland’s high achiever’s and educators. Her community, her family and friends were overcome with grief. In a sad day it showed the best and worst of Ireland. A terrible wrong, a life taken but it also showed all the good people in Ireland who lit a candle and walked the streets of Ireland and the Irish abroad who walked a vigil in her honour shouting no more deaths or violence against women, enough is enough.
Destiny By Lady Jane Wilde
There was a star that lit my life
It hath set to rise no more,
For Heaven, in mercy, withdrew the light
I fain would have knelt before.
There was a flower I pluck’d in my dreams,
Fragrant and fair to see;
Oh, would I had never awoke and found
Such bloom not here for me.
There was a harp, whose magic tone,
Echoed my faintest words
But Destiny’s hand, with a ruthless touch,
Hath rent the golden chords.
There was a path like Eden’s vale,
In which I was spell’d to stray,
But Destiny rose with a flaming sword
To guard that path alway.
V.
I’ve looked on eyes were like the star
Their light is quench’d for me;
And a soul I have known like the golden harp
That breath’d but melody.
And moments bright as that dream‐land
Where bloomed the radiant flower.
Oh! would I had died ere I felt the gloom
Of this dark, joyless hour.
Fatal the time I rais’d mine eyes
To eyes whose light hath blasted
Yet ere I could turn from their glance away,
Life had with gazing wasted.
Bitter the thought that years may pass
Yet thus it must be ever,
To look on thy form, to hear thy voice
But nearer—never, never.
Could I but love as I love the stars,
Or the gush of the twilight breeze,
Or the pale light of the wandering moon
Glancing through forest trees;
With a sinless, calm, untroubled love,
Look upwards and adore
Could I but thus gaze life away,
Without the wish to soar.
In vain! in vain! I hope, I weep,
I kneel the long nights in prayer
Oh! better to die in the noon of life,
Than love, and yet despair.
One of the musical tributes to her.
A collection of letters to the Presidents of Ireland from 1938-2021.
Title: The Presidents’ Letters
Author: Flor Mc Carthy
Publisher : New Island Books
ISBN: 9781848407695
Contributors include: David McCullagh | Rory Montgomery | Martina Devlin | Catriona Crowe | Samantha Barry | Joseph O’Connor | Harry McGee | Lise Hand | Justine McCarthy | Paul Rouse | Terri Kearney
Comment : A well written book which would make a great Christmas gift for anyone interested in Irish history.
A Ceann Comhairle,
The last time I announced a budget in this chamber two years ago, none of us could have foreseen that the worst global pandemic in a century awaited. We knew well about the risks associated with Brexit, and had prepared for it. We could not have predicted the devastation which COVID-19 would leave in its wake. Both events have demonstrated the need for us to always prepare for the worst, while still striving for the best.
Many lives were lost and many livelihoods were ruined. The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented experience for all of us, and unfortunately life-changing for many.
But it also brought out the very best in Irish society: the bravery, resilience and fortitude of our front-line workers; the commitment of those working in the community and social care sectors; and the determination of ordinary people across our country to get their loved ones through the pandemic as safely as possible.
Our efforts have worked. Our solidarity, our common purpose has saved lives and allowed our society and economy to reopen. Our country now reaches for a better and brighter future. Minister McGrath and I have worked together with all parties and all colleagues in this government so that Budget 2022 is a path to that future.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the role of Government in supporting both our economy and society.
While the response from Government was unparalleled – with over €48 billion provided for over three years – it was also a response that was fully justified.
Through the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) and the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), approximately €17 ½ billion has been directed to individuals, families and businesses.
Our supports worked.
We responded in the right way at the right time.
This response was strengthened by the solidarity of the European Union.
But that response could only take place due to the careful management of the economy in the years leading up to the pandemic.
We managed our affairs well in better times, so that we could support at a time of great national difficulty.
We are now entering a new phase where we will:
In framing this Budget, we have been conscious of the cost of living pressures that are currently confronting citizens and businesses.
As the recovery increasingly takes hold, and citizens get back to some level of normality, we in Government remain focused on our higher levels of debt, which my department is forecasting will come in at just under €240 billion next year and the real risks associated with that.
Budget 2022 meets the twin goals of investing in our future, of meeting the needs of today, while putting the public finances on a sustainable path.
Turning to our domestic forecasts. While the re-imposition of COVID-related restrictions during the first quarter of this year led to a further contraction of the domestic economy, the decline in activity was not as severe as that seen during the initial lockdown last spring.
Due to the success of our vaccination programme, restrictions were eased over the course of the second quarter, with the domestic economy recovering strongly as a result.
Modified Domestic Demand, the best measure of the domestic economy, grew by almost 8½ per cent in the second quarter, and surpassed the level immediately preceding the pandemic for the first time since the start of the crisis.
Having accumulated significant savings during the pandemic, consumer spending is leading the way. At the end of the second quarter, spending was just 3 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
For this year as a whole, Modified Domestic Demand is expected to grow by 5¼ per cent and by 6½ per cent in 2022.
The strong rebound in domestic economic activity has been accompanied by rising inflationary pressures, with consumer price inflation expected to reach 3.7 per cent in September, which would be the highest rate since June 2008.
This recent rise in inflation is partly a result of temporary factors, which are expected to fade over time. This includes the normalisation of oil prices following their collapse in spring last year and the mismatch between demand and supply that has emerged following the reopening of the economy.
However, acute supply chain pressures including shipping capacity, shortages of raw materials, labour shortages in certain sectors, as well as rising energy prices mean that there are further risks to inflation and the cost of living.
The government also continues to be aware of, and prepared for, the risks and consequences of Brexit.
Strong tax receipts throughout the year, particularly VAT and income tax, reflect the positive momentum in the economy. These receipts were built on the back of the government’s various support schemes over the past year and a half – without schemes such as the EWSS and PUP, tax revenue would have plummeted as jobs would have been threatened and lost.
The jobs outlook has also improved significantly. PUP numbers are now under 100,000 for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, falling from almost half a million since early February.
The sharp fall in PUP recipients and improving labour market conditions have prompted the current COVID-adjusted unemployment rate to fall below 10 per cent, the lowest rate since the onset of the pandemic. By year end the unemployment rate is forecast to be just over 9 per cent. Employment is forecast to grow by just under 8 per cent or around 150,000 jobs this year.
Next year, the unemployment rate is expected to fall to around 6½ per cent by the fourth quarter, still higher than the pre-pandemic rate of around 5 per cent. Employment is expected to grow by just over 13 per cent or 275,000 jobs in 2022.
Overall, more than 400,000 jobs will be added to the economy between this year and next, and employment is expected to reach and exceed its pre-pandemic level during the course of 2022. This performance, by any measure, represents a remarkable rebound in our jobs outlook.
We are recovering. The resilience of the Irish people, sensible fiscal policies before the pandemic and our economic supports during the crisis are the ingredients in the recovery.
But this recovery must also deliver more homes, better progress on climate change and help with a cost of living that is rising. Minister McGrath and I know this, it has led to the important decisions in Budget 2022.
Public spending next year will amount to €87.6 billion – the government has been steadfast in its commitment to keeping this amount below the ceiling laid out in the Summer Economic Statement. Our medium-term strategy sets out that over the next two budgets we will:
This strategy strikes the appropriate balance between tapering supports and investing in the domestic economy. In Budget 2022 core current expenditure will grow by 4.6 per cent in line with the trend growth of our economy. By 2022, we will only be borrowing for capital spending.
It is worth recalling how dramatically the budgetary landscape has transformed over the last two years, and in particular, how we entered the crisis with a budgetary surplus of €2 billion.
In the Summer Economic Statement my department forecast a combined deficit of just over €34½ billion for 2021 and 2022.
Ceann Comhairle, I am revising that forecast to €21½ billion for both years, a reduction of approximately 40 per cent.
Critically, this means that our debt as a share of national income is now falling, and falling significantly. On this point, I no longer believe that it is appropriate to consider our debt burden in terms of Gross Domestic Product given the volatility associated with that particular measure of economic activity. It will be more important to reference national income.
As a share of national income, our debt will therefore fall from 106 per cent this year, to 99 percent next year, reaching 89½ percent in 2025.
As such, it is clear that we are reducing our overall borrowing this year and next. However, it is also clear that the amounts involved are still substantial.
The expenditure associated with Budget 2022 will bring our overall national debt to just under €240 billion. That means debt of nearly €50,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.
This is not where we want to be when interest rates start to rise again. That is why we need to repair our public finances, and put them back on a sustainable footing.
Today I am announcing a total budgetary package of €4.7 billion. This is in line with the Summer Economic Statement and has not been changed as a result of the improved Exchequer performance in recent months.
This will be split between expenditure measures worth €4.2 billion and tax measures worth €½ billion, including revenue raising measures of approximately €230 million.
The pandemic is still with us. We have therefore made provision for temporary supports to continue in order to provide certainty for those most impacted, and flexibility for the public finances should the situation with the virus deteriorate unexpectedly over the coming year.
To this end, a contingency fund amounting to €4 billion will be created.
In relation to the current supports, I have been steadfast in my commitment that there will be no cliff-edge to the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme which has been an extremely successful policy instrument during these challenging times; one which has greatly assisted us in maintaining the link between employers and employees.
I am pleased to announce that the EWSS will remain in place in a graduated form until the 30th of April 2022 – that is six months after the lifting of most public health restrictions and two months after the PUP ceases.
The following are the broad parameters of this extension:
These revised arrangements for EWSS strike a balance between helping those businesses which continue to need support, while recalibrating the scheme in light of the wider economic recovery.
The aviation sector has paid a particularly heavy price during the pandemic. I am therefore taking the opportunity in the forthcoming Finance Bill to amend the taxation arrangements which apply to international air crews under Section 127B of the income tax code.
This move will support the sector in its recovery.
The reduced VAT rate of 9 per cent for the hospitality sector will remain in place to the end of August 2022.
As many have experienced over the past year and a half, remote working can become part of a better work/life balance. Government policy is to facilitate and support remote work and, in this regard, I am announcing an income tax deduction amounting to 30 per cent of the cost of vouched expenses for heat, electricity and broadband in respect of those incurred while working from home, which will be formalised in legislation through the Finance Bill.
This will support living standards as the economy starts to recover. However, it will also be kept under review from the perspective of its interaction with the National Climate Policy Position.
Ceann Comhairle, as prices rise and inflation returns, the government wants to ease the cost of living pressures which many are feeling.
I am therefore announcing today an income tax package to the value of almost €520 million which will:
These changes will benefit everyone who pays income tax. Along with other measures that will be announced by Minister McGrath they aim to help citizens at a time when prices are rising.
The government accepts the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission to increase the national minimum wage by 30 cent to €10.50 per hour.
In addition, in order to ensure that the salary of a full-time worker on the minimum wage will remain outside the top rates of the Universal Social Charge, the ceiling of the second USC rate band will be increased from €20,687 to €21,295 – a move which will give a benefit to workers whose income is above that amount.
I am also retaining the exemption from the top rate of USC for all medical card holders and those over-70 earning less than €60,000.
As everyone in this chamber is well aware, a core, if not the core challenge facing the country over the next number of years is housing.
Recent figures show national property price inflation of just under 9 per cent in July. The rise in prices is due to the imbalance between housing demand and supply, as well as the impact of some of the savings built up over the pandemic being directed into housing.
I appreciate the strain, anxiety and worry caused by the shortage of homes.
This is why the government is determined to build more homes.
This is why total housing expenditure has more than doubled since 2016, and as of 2021, it will be more than 40 per cent above the peak level in 2008.
The government’s Housing for All strategy targets delivery of, on average, 33,000 new homes per annum out to 2030.
Housing construction has already rebounded rapidly this year and there were almost 30,000 housing commencements in the 12 months to August.
As part of Housing for All, I will be introducing a Zoned Land Tax to encourage the use of land for building homes. The primary objective of the measure is to increase the supply of residential accommodation, rather than to raise revenue.
The tax will apply to land which is zoned suitable for residential development and is serviced, but has not been developed for housing. It will therefore target land in areas which are zoned residential or which are zoned for a mix of uses, including residential. I am not proposing to have any minimum size exclusion as I see the potential for the tax to incentivise the development of small sites in town centres.
In order to identify zoned land within the scope of the tax, maps will be prepared and published by Local Authorities in advance of the commencement of the measure. These maps will be updated on an annual basis.
The Minister for Housing has indicated that there will be a process established to enable any person to apply to their Local Authority to have the zoning status of their land amended.
This process will be aligned with normal local authority procedures, and each case will be considered on its merits in the context of proper planning and sustainable development.
An appropriate lead-in time for the general application of the Zoned Land Tax will be required following its introduction in the Finance Bill 2021. I am proposing a two-year lead-in time for land zoned before January 2022, and a three-year lead in time for land zoned after January 2022. This will also give scope to review the workings of the tax, to listen to stakeholders, and ensure it is both effective and equitable.
The tax will be based on the market value of the land and I have determined that the rate at the outset should be 3 per cent. This aligns with the starting point for the vacant site levy when it was first introduced.
I believe the introduction of this tax is a very important step forward in encouraging the release of land for building homes. Depending on its impact, I will be open to reviewing the rate in the future.
There will be a number of exclusions from the tax such as dwelling houses and their gardens, amenities and infrastructure. Other exemptions will be defined in the Finance Bill.
The tax will operate on a self-assessment basis and will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners.
Finally, it is worth noting that this tax will replace the vacant site levy when it comes into operation.
Ensuring that people have access to home ownership in this country is an absolute priority for this government. Focussing directly on those trying to access the housing market, the Help-to-Buy scheme has been a significant support for first time buyers of new homes. For 2022, the scheme is being continued at the current rates.
Consistent with recent Tax Strategy Group recommendations, I am also announcing that a full review of the scheme will be carried out in the course of next year.
Also on housing, I propose to extend the relief for pre-letting expenses for landlords for a further three years. This will continue to encourage landlords in the residential rental sector to return empty properties to the market as quickly as possible.
I will now turn to one of the most important issues of our time, climate change.
Future generations will not tolerate inaction from the leaders of today. But, by future generations, I do not just mean children yet to be born. Children, teenagers, and the younger adults of today demand action. They deserve action.
They are clear in their arguments and the science is unambiguous: the world is burning, and the only chance we have to control those fires is through coherent and effective policies. This is why carbon taxation is so important.
The Finance Act 2020 provided for annual increments in the carbon tax of €7.50 out to 2030. This provides a clear signal for producers and consumers in terms of the price of carbon.
Studies have shown that carbon taxation is likely to be the single most effective climate policy which can be pursued by Government; although it is not the only one and will not deliver the required emissions reductions on its own.
We have seen challenges around energy supply and prices across the globe in recent months. The government is conscious of how this will impact on our most vulnerable.
That is why new monies raised in this change will be invested in targeted social welfare initiatives to prevent fuel poverty and ensure a just transition. It is why the additional revenue from carbon tax will be used to invest in a socially progressive national retrofitting programme.
The 2019 Climate Action Plan recommended the development of “an enabling framework for micro-generation which tackles existing barriers and establishes suitable supports within relevant market segments”.
To that end, I am proposing a modest tax disregard in respect of personal income received by households who sell surplus electricity that they generate back to the grid.
I made significant changes to the vehicle registration tax system in last year’s Budget to strengthen the environmental rationale of VRT in line with government commitments to radically reduce emissions from road transport.
The structure of new car sales for 2021 compared to 2020 is evidence of the success of this approach, with an increase in vehicles registered at the lower end of the VRT scale.
I am proposing further changes in this regard to strengthen this approach. From January 2022 a revised VRT table is being introduced. The 20 band table will remain with an uplift in rates, as follows:
In addition, to continue to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles, I am extending the €5,000 relief for Battery Electric Vehicles to end 2023.
Finance Act 2020 extended the Accelerated Capital Allowance scheme for Energy Efficient Equipment. In accordance with wider government policy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, I am providing that equipment directly operated by fossil fuels will no longer qualify.
The scheme seeks to support the transition to lower-emission fuels in the heavy-duty land transport sector. Therefore, I am extending the ACA scheme for Gas Vehicles and Refuelling Equipment for three years.
As a transport fuel, renewable hydrogen offers significantly higher carbon savings when compared to fossil fuels. I am also extending the scheme to include hydrogen powered vehicles and refuelling equipment. This policy is aligned with wider government policy to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Ceann Comhairle, farming families have a central role to play in protecting the environment over the long-term. Supporting the next generation of farming families is essential for guaranteeing the long-term future of agriculture and the agri-business sector. They too will have an important role to play in the national recovery from the pandemic.
As such, I intend to extend the various farming stock relief measures.
General stock relief will continue to the end of 2024.
Stock relief for Young Trained Farmers and Farm Partnerships, and the Young Trained Farmer stamp duty relief will continue to the end of next year.
These measures, designed to support young farmers, are deemed to be a State aid by the EU, allowable under the Agriculture Block Exemption Regulation. The current exemption is scheduled to expire on the 31st of December 2022. Therefore, I can only extend all three reliefs until that date.
I have been advised by the Department of Agriculture that they are confident that reliefs of this nature will continue to be considered an acceptable form of State aid under the terms of any revised regulation. I am hopeful, therefore, that I will be able to provide for a further extension of this relief next year as well as the stock reliefs for young trained farmers and farm partnerships.
The revised EU Alcohol Directive now permits the granting of up to 50 per cent excise relief to independent small producers of cider and other fermented drinks products.
I see this relief as having a similar positive effect as that provided for small independent producers of beer and have asked my officials to engage with the sector to allow for the implementation of this relief in next year’s Finance Bill.
Supporting entrepreneurs and the wider business community will be central to our broader national recovery. They are indeed the backbone of our domestic economy, supporting tens of thousands of jobs across the country.
This is why I am implementing a package of measures to support our smaller businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Employment Investment Incentive (EII) scheme has the potential to become a real driver of investment in early stage companies and high-potential start-ups. In recent years, positive changes have been made to the scheme but it has yet to reach its potential.
Today, I am announcing an extension of the scheme for a further three years and I am also bringing forward a number of important improvements, the effect of which will be to make the scheme more attractive to investors to the ultimate benefit of companies in their start-up years and to the economy through job creation.
More significantly, and following consultation with relevant stakeholders, I intend to open up the scheme to a wider range of investment funds and I am confident that this measure on its own will result in greater investment in early stage enterprises.
In addition, subject to certain conditions, I am relaxing the rules around the so called “capital redemption window” for investors. I am also removing the 30 per cent expenditure rule which is unduly restrictive in the context of the self-assessment principles that now apply to the relief.
In last year’s Budget, I announced that the government would commit a €30 million investment through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to establish an innovation equity fund with a mandate to invest in domestic, high innovation enterprises.
Today, I can announce that the government intends to commit a further €30 million investment to this fund through Enterprise Ireland; this will be matched by €30 million from the European Investment Fund, subject to Board approval.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding currently being developed by all three parties, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund expects to participate with its €30 million as a co-investor, leading to potential investments of up to €90 million for predominantly seed stage Irish SMEs.
It is expected to be launched in early 2022 and will increase the availability of early stage funding for Irish SMEs. It will also be consistent with other priorities such as promoting regional development, supporting female entrepreneurship, and climate change initiatives.
Today I am announcing an extension of the Section 486C corporation tax relief for certain start-up companies to the end of 2026. Data shows that this relief continues to support employment and businesses in a cost-efficient manner. In view of the challenges companies currently face in utilising the relief, start-up companies will now be able to avail of the relief for up to five years, in place of the current three years.
These changes will provide greater certainty to recently established companies, and to those seeking to commence as we recover from the pandemic. Further detail can be found in the review of the relief, which is being published today.
As I announced during my Budget speech last year, I am introducing a new tax credit for the digital gaming sector. This sector has seen exponential global growth in the past decade. However, employment growth in the sector in Ireland has not matched this global trend.
The relief will support digital games development companies by providing a refundable corporation tax credit for expenditure incurred on the design, production and testing of a game. The relief will be available at a rate of 32 per cent, on eligible expenditure of up to a limit of €25 million per project.
There are also synergies with our established film and animation sectors that will support quality employment in creative and digital arts in Ireland.
Full details of the relief will be published as part of this year’s Finance Bill. As European State aid approval is required for the introduction of the credit, it will be introduced subject to a commencement order.
To support public health policy to reduce smoking in Irish society, I am also increasing excise duty on a pack of 20 cigarettes by 50 cents, with a pro-rata increase on other tobacco products. This will bring the price of cigarettes in the most popular price category to €15.
Since its introduction in 2013, the bank levy has been extended on several occasions and currently applies to the end of this year. The annual yield of this levy has been approximately €150 million to-date.
I am extending the levy for a further year. However, as Ulster Bank and KBC are leaving the market in 2022, I intend to exclude them from the charge. In addition, I am proposing that the remaining banks will pay the same amount in 2022 as they did this year; this equates to approximately €87 million in total.
I have also instructed that the levy and its future be assessed over the course of the coming year.
In accordance with our commitments to international tax reform, in Finance Bill 2021 we will complete our transposition of the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directives.
I am providing for the introduction of a new Interest Limitation Ratio and new Anti-Reverse Hybrid rules, both of which have been developed over the year with the input of stakeholders through a series of public consultations.
Ceann Comhairle, the government has taken the historic decision to join the global political agreement on the future of corporate taxation.
The importance of our 12.5 per cent rate is well known to the House. Budget speeches by my predecessors, indeed by myself, made the case for this rate. However, I strongly believe that our national interest is now best served by joining this agreement. It maintains our tax competitiveness and strengthens our position in the world. The agreement, which we shaped, is balanced and represents a fair compromise. While there will be a cost to the Exchequer, it provides long-term certainty for businesses and investors for the benefit of Irish jobs.
As a small open economy that depends on rules and order in global tax and trade, an agreement was in our interests.
The question of the rate was the biggest challenge for Ireland. So, we successfully made our case. Due to our efforts, the minimum effective rate was set at 15 per cent for large multinational companies. It could have been far higher. It could have been more uncertain. We avoided those risks.
This is why it is in our interest to be in.
When it comes into effect, Ireland will apply the new minimum effective rate of 15 per cent. This will still be less than many of our key competitors.
Importantly, Ireland will continue to offer the 12 ½ per cent rate for businesses with revenues less than €750 million. This means no change for one hundred and sixty thousand businesses employing one point eight million people.
We will remain an attractive location for investment and we will continue to play to our strengths, centred on a highly educated and dynamic workforce that has consistently delivered innovation and profitability over many decades to businesses that have made Ireland their home.
I know this was a major decision. But it is the right decision for Ireland, for our jobs, for our economy and for our ability to attract and keep investment in our country.
On the broader challenges associated with taxation into the future, last year I announced the establishment of an independent Commission on Taxation and Welfare.
The Commission was tasked with considering how best the tax and welfare systems can support economic activity and promote increased prosperity, while ensuring that there are sufficient resources available to meet the costs of the public services and supports over the medium to longer term. This work will be essential for putting our public finances on a sustainable basis over the coming years.
The Commission will have particular regard to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as long-term developments such as ageing demographics, the move to a low-carbon economy, and the rise of digital disruption and automation.
A public consultation will be launched over the coming weeks and will seek valuable input and feedback from all relevant parties to inform the Commission in completing this important work.
I look forward to considering its recommendations when they are published next summer.
I want to conclude by again paying tribute to the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, both seen and unseen, including those involved in the rollout of our vaccination programme. Without all of them we would not be where we are today, planning for the resumption of safer times.
For those whose jobs have not returned, let me again reiterate that this government stands with you.
For those concerned about the rising cost of living, this Budget will help you.
For those worried about whether they can own a home or afford their rent, this Budget will support you.
For businesses looking to the future, this Budget backs you.
That future, for individuals, for families, and for businesses, is based on secure public finances.
We make further progress to that goal in this Budget.
Over the past year and a half we made the right choices at the right times: let us now do that again.
I am an optimist by nature and believe that as we move out from under the dark cloud of the pandemic, there are truly exciting times ahead for this country and its people.
Yes, there are many challenges, many difficulties.
But, a good journey to a better Ireland is within our grasp for 2022 and beyond.
Budget 2022 sets the course for that journey.
With this, I commend this Budget to the House.
It was marked in Dublin and Cork. Here is the video recording of the events in Dublin by RTE.
The Minister for Defence is joined by the Taoiseach at the Naval Service 75th Anniversary celebrations in Cork on the 4th September.
(Press Release)
Today the Minister for Defence, Mr. Simon Coveney, T.D. and the Taoiseach, Mr. Micheál Martin, T.D., led an event in Cork to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Irish Naval Service. They were joined by the Lord Mayor of Cork City, the Cathaoirleach of Cork County Council, the Chief of Staff, the Secretary General of the Department of Defence and the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service in celebrating this momentous occasion for the Naval Service.
Beginning in Haulbowline Naval Base, the Minister, the Taoiseach and the accompanying party sailed from Haulbowline on-board the LÉ Samuel Beckett with the Taoiseach taking the salute during a fleet review. LÉ Samuel Beckett arrived into the City of Cork at around 1 o’clock this afternoon. As the Naval Service Ship entered the Port of Cork there was a fly-past by the Air Corps.
The Naval Service was welcomed to the city by a blue lights Guard of Honour from service colleagues such as the Irish Coast Guard and the RNLI in acknowledgement of the Naval Service’s diamond jubilee and to mark National Services’ Day. The work of the Naval Service and the wider Defence Forces in support of frontline services is an important aspect of their role in general, and in particular over the last 18 months.
This afternoon from 3pm, Naval Service ships will be open to the public, in line with all Covid restrictions, as a ‘Meet the Fleet’ experience.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “I am honoured to be able to celebrate such an important milestone in the history of the Irish Naval Service today.
As an island nation, the sea is of central importance to Ireland and her people, and I thank members and their families for the dedication and service shown during a challenging year, and congratulate the Naval Service for all its achievements over 75 years.”
Speaking on the day, the Minister for Defence thanked all Naval Service personnel past and present for their commitment and professionalism, and acknowledged their families for their support. The Minister also expressed his congratulations to the Naval Service saying, “I was proud to return as Minister for Defence in 2020. That pride is swelled by the opportunity afforded me to congratulate you and to celebrate with you on your 75th Anniversary. As well as to acknowledge your achievements over the last 75 years”.
The Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, marking the important milestone, which coincides with National Services Day, thanked all members of the Naval Service, for the selfless manner in which they serve, “I am so proud of all who serve, have served and who support the Naval Service. I am honoured to celebrate with you all today on your 75th anniversary. I also would like to acknowledge the work and sacrifice of all our National Services, throughout what has been an extremely challenging year. Today’s joint celebrations reinforce the strong bonds that exist across all our front line services”.
The Secretary General of the Department of Defence, Jacqui McCrum, added her thanks and congratulations saying “I would like to thank all past and present members of the Naval Service for their service and to acknowledge your tremendous work in support of the national agenda over the past 75 years”.
Notes to Editors:
The Naval Service as the State’s principal seagoing agency maintain a constant presence 24 hours a day, 365 days a year throughout Ireland’s enormous and rich maritime jurisdiction, upholding Ireland’s sovereign rights. While the main day to day role of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State’s obligations as a member of the European Union, it also carries out a number of other non-fishery related tasks such as search and rescue, diving operations, drugs interdiction as well as many more.
The current Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service (FOCNS) is Commodore Michael Malone. Commodore Malone was promoted to his present rank on 26 December 2017.
The Irish government, in May 1939, ordered 2 Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB’s) from Great Britain which were to become Ireland’s first Naval Vessels. The entire process of raising some type of Navy was greatly accelerated by the outbreak of World War II as Ireland needed to have its own Navy to uphold its neutrality. The order for MTBs was increased from 2 to 6 and the Marine and Coastwatching Service was established in September 1939.
By 1941 the Marine Service consisted of 10 craft (6 motor torpedo boats plus 4 assorted vessels) and about 300 all ranks. Their tasks during the war included mine laying, regulation of Merchant Ships, upkeep of navigational aids and fishery protection. At the end of the war in 1945, the Coastwatching Service was disbanded and the Marine side had a reduced role.
In September 1946 the Government decided that the Marine Service should become a permanent component of the Defence Forces. Thus was born the modern day Irish Naval Service.
People aged 18 to 34 can get a Janssen single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in a pharmacy from Monday 5 July.
HSE information on vaccine giving: https://www.hse.ie/eng/health/immunisation/hcpinfo/covid19vaccineinfo4hps/bulletin/bulletin25.pdf
Things we know about the delta variant:
ECDC: “Based on the current evidence, the SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.617.2) variant of concern (VOC) is 40-60% more transmissible than the Alpha (Β.1.1.7) VOC and may be associated with higher risk of hospitalisation. Furthermore, there is evidence that those who have only received the first dose of a two-dose vaccination course are less well protected against infection with the Delta variant than against other variants, regardless of the vaccine type. However, full vaccination provides nearly equivalent protection against the Delta variant. Based on the estimated transmission advantage of the Delta variant and using modelling forecasts, 70% of new SARS-CoV-2 infections are projected to be due to this variant in the EU/EEA by early August and 90% of infections by the end of August. There is a well-documented age-risk gradient for SARS-CoV-2, where older age groups and those with underlying co-morbidities are more likely to be hospitalised or die due to COVID-19. In a scenario of 50% gradual reduction of non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) measures by 1 September, SARS-CoV-2 incidence is expected to increase in all age groups, with the highest incidence in those <50 years.Modelling scenarios indicate that any relaxation over the summer months of the stringency of non-pharmaceutical measures that were in place in the EU/EEA in early June could lead to a fast and significant increase in daily cases in all age groups, with the highest incidence in those <50 years, with an associated increase in hospitalisations, and deaths, potentially reaching the same levels of the autumn of 2020 if no additional measure are taken.”
THE Taoiseach urged the public to be vigilant and focus on “personal responsibilities” ahead of the next wave of Covid-19 infections.A spike in cases driven by the Delta variant, first identified in India, is projected for August, but Micheal Martin believes this wave will be different from past ones.Speaking at at Department of Health briefing on Thursday, Dr. Cillian De Gascun said that the Delta variant now accounts for approximately 70% of cases in Ireland. There is also a delta plus variant in Europe but not in Ireland.
COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery: The Path Ahead https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/c36c85-covid-19-coronavirus/
NIAC is a group of Irish medical experts meet to consider new evidence about vaccines and provide advice to the Chief Medical Officer,the Department of Health and the state.
The HSE has advised that all AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination clinics planned for tomorrow should be cancelled.The latest advice also states:
Those aged 60 and older should receive their second dose 12 weeks later as scheduled.
Those aged under 60 years with a very high risk or high-risk medical condition should receive their second dose 12 weeks later as scheduled.
Those aged under 60 years without a very high risk or high-risk medical condition should have the scheduled interval between doses extended to 16 weeks to allow further assessment of the benefits and risks as more evidence becomes available.
Professor Karina Butler, Chair of National Immunisation Advisory Committee, says we must balance the significant benefits of a national vaccination programme with the very rare risk of reported blood clot events linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Sample Text
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE USE OF COVID-19 VACCINE ASTRAZENECA®NIAC 19.03.2021
Request for National Immunisation Advisory Committee advice On 14 March 2021, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended the temporary deferral of the administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca®.
This document presents updated evidence relating to the safe use of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca® and provide sadvice in respect of the use of this vaccine in Ireland.Background The decision to temporarily defer administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca® followed notification by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) ofa new safety alert from the Norwegian Medicines Agency on Saturday 13 March 2021. The alert related to four reports of serious, rare thromboembolic (clotting) events, including some complicated by thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) in adults under 65 years of age after vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca®.
NIAC,after discussion with representatives from the HPRA,Health Service Executive (HSE) and Department of Health (DOH),reviewed this new information in light of an ongoing investigation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) into earlier reports from Austria and Denmark of serious, complicated thromboembolic events following vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca®. On 11 March 2021the EMA stated that “there is currently noindication that vaccination has caused these conditions”and that “the vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing”.
On 14 March 2021the NIAC recommended temporary deferral of the administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca® based on the additional events from Norway reported after the initiation of the EMA review,pending receipt of further evidence and the conclusion of the EMA review. To date, no reports of serious clotting events associated with low platelets have been notified to the HPRA. Over 129,000doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca® have been given in Ireland.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1 The administration of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca® should be recommenced for use in all those aged 18 and over.
Recommendation 2 Healthcare professionals and vaccine recipients should be informed that very rare, complicated thromboembolic events have been reported in a small number of people who have recently received COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca®.
Recommendation 3 Healthcare professionals should be alert to the signs and symptoms of thromboembolism and/or thrombocytopenia and report any suspected adverse reactions to the Health Products Regulatory Authority.
Recommendation 4 Recipients of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca® should be advisedto seek immediate medical attention if they develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling and/or persistent abdominal pain within weeks of vaccination. Additionally, anyone with neurological symptoms including severe or persistent headaches (particularly 3 or more days after vaccination) or blurred vision, or who develop petechiae or ecchymoses beyond the site of vaccination,should seek prompt medical attention. These rare events have usually occurred within 14 days of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca®.
Recommendation 5 Healthcare professionals should seek early expert advice from the National Coagulation Centre about the specialised testing and treatment options for patients presenting with thromboembolic events that are associated with thrombocytopenia, (including Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC)or Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST))occurring within weeks following vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca®.
All Ireland’s vaccines information is available online at Ireland’s Covid Vaccine Hub: https://covid-19.geohive.ie/pages/vaccinations
Vaccine Data up to Sat, 10 Apr 2021
Total 1st Dose Vaccines Administered 745,363
Total 2nd Dose Vaccines Administered 313,031
Total Vaccines Administered 1,058,394
For health data queries please contact hpsc@hse.ie
Cohort 1 Total 191,625
Residents aged 65+ in LTCF
Cohort 1 – 1st Doses 107,805
Cohort 1 – 2nd Dose 83,820
Cohort 2 Total 344,957
Frontline Healthcare Workers
Cohort 2 – 1st Dose 249,675
Cohort 2 – 2nd Doses 95,282
Cohort 3 Total 451,365
People aged 70 and older
Cohort 3 – 1st Dose 317,655
Cohort 3 – 2nd Dose 133,710
Cohort 4 Total 70,108
People aged 16-69 and at very high risk of severe COVID-19 disease.
Cohort 4 – 1st Dose 69,934
Cohort 4 – 2nd Dose 174
Not Coded Total 339
Not Coded Cohort Not Coded – 1st Dose 294
Not Coded – 2nd Dose 45
Áras an Uachtaráin, Wednesday, 17th March 2021
As our people envisage their emergence from the destructive and debilitating, all-enveloping fog that is the pandemic of COVID-19, as our planet wounded, and in peril from what was a discarded respect for balance, between what might be consumed for the necessities of life and the very capacity of the planet to renew itself, even survive, what then might be an appropriate message from Ireland on the Feast Day of the Patron, Patrick, all of us on the island of Ireland, and Irish people everywhere and those who came to be in the country, might share?
Perhaps, in the special circumstances of this year, we should give the day back to the story of Saint Patrick, that powerful mythic source upon which our National Day, which we offer to the world every year on the 17th of March, is based.
Patrick arrived in Ireland as a slave, escaped and returned. He is of the stock of our early foundational Irish migrants, which anticipates our monastic messengers, our nineteenth-century emigration prior to the Great Famine, and the haemorrhage of our people who managed to flee for survival in post-Famine times.
In 1901, of all the Irish born on the island of Ireland, a majority lived outside of the island of Ireland. Saint Patrick’s Day, then, must always be a special day for recalling our migrant history and learning from it, be a source of our ethics and of our policy at home and abroad.
When in so many places, in so many different circumstances, voices of invocation by Irish people sing out on Saint Patrick’s Day, they are placing their invocation alongside the invocations and prayers of migrant communities everywhere who have, over generations, sought to collectively transcend present circumstances.
The messenger, of that invocation to a power beyond the self, to a spirit that informed nature, was, for us Irish, Saint Patrick, a migrant carrying to us the message of another compassionate migrant which could be placed, with respect, alongside other sources of the spirit.
All sources of transcendence and the spirit beyond the misery of the self are important. Our Patron Patrick saw the necessity of placing his message alongside respect for nature, with its right and promise of renewal that was there in indigenous forms of spirituality.
On Saint Patrick’s Day 2021, we have been reminded of our shared vulnerability, our interdependence, the need for an understanding that can fly past borders. In the message we have received from COVID, surely there is the undeniable insight that we must all, and together, exit the fog of not only the pandemic but all of the hubris, the arrogance, the vanities of assuming the right to dominate, to impose, to exclude; strategies of life which have left us such a legacy of lost communality and a planet in danger.
We have had the opportunity, since last year in particular, then, to examine the assumptions that have brought upon us less than the best of ourselves. There is much to be discarded, and we should do so without unnecessary recrimination. Surely we do not need to make war to find peace; and then when we discover a remedy, an insight of science for the avoidance or cure of disease, it must be for the sharing, rather than the hoarding as a commodity for use in aggressive trade competition.
There will be a capacity for joy in our exit from COVID-19, but that joy should be informed by our reflection on the new values we will invoke and practice as we set out on the new journey we undertake together.
Out of COVID we must globally share that which we need for a shared journey. Trust in words is fading. That trust must be restored.
In this year, no doubt, there will be pain. While there will be a recall of journeys remembered, there will be the disappointment of journeys anticipated but now, necessarily, postponed. Our hearts must be with those many for whom a technological alternative is an insufficient substitute for touch or intimacy.
Invocation to our Patron, our transcendent rivulet of hope, will be empowered in a different way this year. We can learn from it all as we always do, and when in years to come we parade again and gather in celebration, make a new invocation, no longer needing to be consumed in our consumption, we will recall how we made Saint Patrick’s Day 2021 the beginning of a new journey, one we are happy to share with the whole world and all of its people, and one that helped renew a respect for Mother Earth to which we all belong, and of which our Saints Patrick and Brigid left us such insights and enduring wisdom.
When in the future we recall Saint Patrick’s Day 2021, let us have returned with even more energy to music as we lift the glass slowly, and replenish it even slower. Music and creativity were our resource in the pandemic, and in the music of the heart is rehearsed that for which words are insufficient, feídearachtaí ag heitheamh dúinn – forms of renewal, possibilities rehearsed, journeys to wonder and new places.
“We make an affirmation.
The stuff of hope beckons.
Out of the darkness we step,
And blink into the new light.” [1]
On behalf of the people of Ireland, I extend a hand of friendship across the globe to all those who are Irish by birth, descent or association, and to all those who have assisted our Irish people, especially over the past year.
I wish you, and all those who form part of the Irish family, and its friends in the families of the world, a happy and peaceful Saint Patrick’s Day.
Beir beannacht.
This year Ireland did a series of online concerts and virtual parades. Full details are available from its website at: https://www.stpatricksfestival.ie/. RTE produced and presented during the day virtual concerts and tv shows eg Today Show and The Late Late Show and they did a special feature on the RTE News.https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0317/1204482-st-patricks-day/ More music, dance, poetry and arts were presented live on Oireachtas tv channel from March 12th-March 17th. https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/oireachtas-tv/oireachtas-tv-channel/
The highlight of the day was when 500 drones lit up Dublin sky. Created by St. Patrick’s Festival, Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council and delivered in collaboration with Intel and Actavo Events, Orchestra of Light was pre-recorded in Dublin in early March. The film features a dazzling performance by Intel® Drone Light Shows, Intel’s first ever Drone Light Show in Ireland.
Although St. Patrick’s Day public celebrations in Ireland and around the world will not take place this year, Orchestra of Light invites audiences to enjoy a spectacular world-class event from the comfort and safety of their kitchens and living rooms.
In this cutting-edge display, drones blur the boundaries between technology and art as they light up the sky above Ireland’s capital city, illuminating some of Dublin’s most well-known landmarks such as the Samuel Beckett Bridge and the Convention Centre Dublin. A series of animations designed by St. Patrick’s Festival and Aiden Grennelle tell a powerful story of love, hope and home, while celtic knots, musical instruments and Irish dance represent the world-wide reach and love of Irish culture, celebrated by millions each year on 17 March.
The short film is produced by ShinAwiL and scored by Irish composer Eimear Noone and her husband Craig Stuart Garfinkle. Along with RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the duo has collaborated with Irish band Picture This on the score, which features an orchestral remix of the band’s latest single ‘Things Are Different’. The piece uses new Intel Drone Light Show Premium technology to deliver dazzling 3D animations and vivid colours in their first ever public performance in EMEA.
Source: Intel Ireland By ShinAWil
A number of countries lit their buildings green in celebration of our Irish national saint’s day – St.Patrick’s Day. The Guardian Newspaper displayed a catalogue of pictures of key world buildings illuminated in green. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2021/mar/17/st-patricks-day-marked-in-green-around-the-world-in-pictures
A group of Bhangra dancers in Ireland have given the traditional Punjabi dance an Irish twist, to celebrate their two cultures on St Patrick’s Day | https://bit.ly/3lpDlfJ
Leaders and nobility shared messages to Ireland of hope and celebration.
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