Ireland

Ireland: Air Traffic Controllers’ Strike Postponed

Date: February 27th, 2008 |

Air traffic controllers set to strike Feb. 28 postponed their action when negotiations to resolve the dispute opened Feb. 25 at the Labor Court in Dublin. Controllers agreed to withhold a strike threat until court-brokered talks are concluded, but they are still demanding more staff and better overtime pay. A strike would shut down Ireland’s [read more]

Ireland: Aer Lingus Pilots to Strike

Date: August 15th, 2007 |

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Aer Lingus pilots have announced a 48-hour strike for Aug. 21-22 that if carried out, would ground all of the company’s flights inside Ireland and could affect international flights Aug. 20-23. The strike is over company plans to open a hub in Belfast but pay pilots based there lower wages than those in the Republic [read more]

Ireland: Tourists Can’t Find Dingle without Road Signs

Date: April 4th, 2007 |

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The Dingle Peninsula is a government-protected Irish-speaking (Gaelic) region in County Kerry, but sometimes such protections can create problems for the unwary. Recently a group of small businesses in the town of Dingle conducted a survey to see if tourists were having trouble finding the town because it is listed on road signs as An [read more]

Ireland: Fines for Discarding Gum

Date: July 18th, 2006 |

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Taking a page from Singapore’s civil code, Ireland’s government has started a campaign to teach people to throw their gum into bins after chewing or face a $160 fine. The project was launched July 17 in Dublin, Cork and Bray, and is an effort to address the vexing problem of gum litter through education rather [read more]

Ireland

Date: March 29th, 2005 |

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English on road signs and maps is disappearing by decree from the westernmost parts of counties Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry and Mayo and their outlying islands. In its place is Gaelic, Ireland�s official language, which is spoken in this area called the Gaeltacht and which the government has been trying to revive for decades. A [read more]

Ireland: Air Traffic Controllers to Strike Feb. 28

Date: February 20th, 2008 |

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Air traffic controllers threatened a nationwide 24-hour strike for Feb. 28 that could shut down Ireland’s three major airports and bar international flights from Irish airspace. Such a closure would affect not only flights in and out of Ireland but also overflights between Europe and North America. Union officials and the Irish Aviation Authority will [read more]

Ireland: Contaminated Water in Galway?

Date: May 16th, 2007 |

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Authorities in Galway have urged residents and visitors to drink bottled water or to boil tap water before drinking to avoid cryptosporidiosis, a disease that causes diarrhea and results from ingesting the cryptosporidium parasite commonly present in fecal matter. A number of cases have occurred since March and water can be a carrier, but testing [read more]

Ireland: Irish Roads Fourth Most Dangerous in Europe

Date: August 15th, 2006 |

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Statistics from the European Road Federation show that Irish roads are the fourth most dangerous in Europe behind Greece, Portugal and Spain. The figures show that Ireland has the fourth highest death rate per 100 million passenger kilometers. This makes Ireland’s fatal accident rate double that of neighboring Britain’s. Fatalities are ahead of last year’s [read more]

Ireland: Crimes against Tourists Down

Date: March 14th, 2006 |

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Crime against tourists dropped significantly in 2005 compared to 2004. According to the Irish Tourist Assistance Service (ITAS), 476 tourists reported crimes in 2005 with just 11 of those violent crimes compared to 36 the previous year. Car thefts were down to 23 from 52. With just short of seven million visitors in 2005, Ireland [read more]

Ireland

Date: December 7th, 2004 |

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Irish Ferries shut down its service to France for the winter in the face of strikes by workers protesting the outsourcing of jobs. The company plans to resume service in the spring with foreign workers. The strike has also shut down routes to Wales indefinitely. Travelers to Ireland should plan to fly in until the [read more]