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Government
Officials on Fact Finding Tour
By
Patrick McCool
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Irish Government Officials paid a visit to Birmingham recently
on a
fact
finding mission to discover the needs of the Irish community
in the region. They had already visited London with the same
aim in mind.
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Pictured
outside Cara House in Digbeth, Birmingham, are: (left
to right) Pat Wright and Daniel O’Connor (Irish
Forum), Dr. Michael Woods, Pat O’Neill (Chairman
of Birmingha Irish Forum), Dermot O’Mahoney, Michael
Higgins, Michael Lonnergan and Seili Maguire during their
tour of the Irish organisations |
Representatives
of the Oikeachas Foreign Affairs Committee were keen to hear
the views of various voluntary organisations and they were
given a clear message that more needs to be done to address
the requirements of the Irish in both Birmingham and, indeed,
the UK.
The party included Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Dr Michael
Woods, Labour party spokesman Michael Higgins, Dermot O'Mahoney
from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Seili Maguire from the
Irish Abroad Unit and Michael Lonnergan from the Irish Embassy
in London.
The group visited several organisations including Cara House in
Digbeth where they met up with officials from the city's Irish
Forum, Cara Irish Housing and the Irish Club. The group had
a busy schedule as they also took
in visits to Birmingham
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Pat
O’Neill (right) showing his visitors a model of
some of the planned developement for the new £400m
project in Digbeth, Birmingham. Everyone seemed very
impressed with plans for the long awaited Irish quarter |
Irish
Welfare and Information Centre together with the Fireside Day
Centre, Irish Heritage Group and the West Midlands Schools
GAA Project.
After
catching their breath they finally had a look at the site
of Birmingham’s new Irish Quarter where they were shown
a presentation of the plans for the new £400 million
project by
Tony Corbett from Concept Developments.
They met Birmingham’s first Irish-born Lord Mayor, Councillor
Mike Nangle, at The Council House. Pat O’Neill (the Irish
Forum Chairman) said, "the visit was a great success and
highlights the strides Birmingham has made in the last ten years
to develope an Irish Quarter of which all Irish people can
be proud". This visit can only be beneficial and show
off the work carried out by all the
different organisations in the Irish community.
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Bono
and Ali’s Marriage is The Sweetest Thing
Ali Hewson, wife of U2 frontman Bono has stated that their marriage
is successful because they allow each other to chase their own
goals. Ali went on to say that their marriage has worked “because
we like each other and we are passionate about what we do. We
allow each other to pursue our goals”. They are also working
hard to ensure that their four children are not spoiled by the
trappings of fame.
Despite U2 rocking the world with huge album sales and Bono entering
the political arena, the family still lives in relative peace
in Killiney on Dublin's Southside.
The tightly knit couple, who have been married for twenty three
years, are quietly raising Jordan (15), Eve (13), Elijah (5)
and three year old Abraham and appreciate how lucky they are. |
It’s
The End Of An Era, For Peat’s Sake
The end of an era has been reached when Bellacorick – the last of the
old peat-powered stations in Ireland – produced its final megawatt of
electricity.
Peat supplies to fuel the huge burners at the Mayo power station, which has
been in operation since 1962, have been exhausted a month earlier than expected.
An emotional but low-key moment, Tom McNulty, Shift Manager and Michael Carey,
Team Leader, supervised the last feeding of the burners.
As the giant turbines went silent for the first time in 43 years, it signalled
the end of peat power generation, not just in Mayo, but in Ireland. Bellacorick
is the last of the peat stations to close. There will be no forced redundancies
as a result of the closure. The 48 full-time workers are being offered either
an enhanced early retirement package or relocation to other ESB enterprises. |
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