Working, Living & Travelling In Ireland

Author: Katleen

  • NAMA, recession and domestic stabilisation?

    NAMA, recession and domestic stabilisation?

    Hi all,

    I have never really touched on the subject of the Irish Economy, the bailout, the Troika
    and the (possible ) reason(s) of our current debt problems.

    I have no intention to  personally give you an answer to all of these questions either :), but there are plenty of people who have very good knowledge of this all, and I’ll share some resources with you where you can read up about it to your heart’s content or watch some videos..

    I recently attended a conference in Galway, organized by the EU called
    The economic challenges facing Ireland, 24 March 2012 Galway
    I heard about this conference via a blog I follow by Krishna De.

    It’s seldom that the EU ( who have offices in  Dublin) come to Galway to hold a conference, as usually these things are held in Dublin, so I was delighted to listen to the various presentations.
    The conference was hosted by Margaret E Ward

    There were presentations by :

    • Professor John McHale, Professor and Head of Economics at the National University of Ireland
    • Dr Aidan Kane, Lecturer in economics at the National University of Ireland
    • Seamus Coffey, Lecturer in economics at the University College Cork
    • Ronan Lyons, Independent economist

    If you click here, you can listen to them too!

    During all these presentations, there were quite a few resources mentioned.
    The ones that I wrote down were :
    http://www.irisheconomy.ie/ – Commentary and information about the Irish economy
    http://namawinelake.wordpress.com/ – all you want to know about NAMA

    http://www.ronanlyons.com/ – Economic Analysis: Stats, Graphs, etc

    http://www.charliefell.com/ -Financial market analyses and investment
    http://www.bruegel.org/ – Bruegel is a European think tank working in the field of international economics
    http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/ – Economist, Broadcaster,  Author
    And last but not least, check out http://www.boards.ie  which has lively debates about any subject!

    Warm regards from an exceptionally sunny Galway!!!

    Katleen

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  • Google Quality Evaluator- Dutch, French, German speakers

    Hi all,
    Thought I’d share these vacancies, they are Dublin – 3 based.
    Contact Anna +353 1 614 6056  anna.dragon@cpl.ie
    This is the job spec.
    Google Quality Evaluator, French, Dutch or German speaker 
     Do you speak any of the following languages: French, Dutch or German?
    Do you want to work for one of the leading companies in business? Contact me for more information!
    Do you have the requirements that I’m looking for?
    Are you familiar with Google’s products such as Google +, Google maps, Google documents, Google translate?
    If yes, please contact me, anna.dragon@cpl.ie  
    Key tasks and activities:
    o          Make decisions regarding accuracy from multiple sources of data
    o          Review or research patterns in data, focusing on details and taking action to improve data accuracy
    o          Identify issues or inconsistencies in data and proactively question data quality
    o          Make outbound phone calls to business representatives to retrieve and/or verify information.
    o          Provide a professional face of the company to our customers
    o          Work on a computer for extended amount of time staying focused and working at a fast pace
    o          Potential side projects e.g. analyze metrics, recommend operational flow improvements based upon analyses etc.
     
    Qualifications & Requirements:
    o          Solid knowledge of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and related language and communication  skills
    o          Must have basic knowledge of computers, experience using personal computers, web browsing and data entry skills
    o          Dependable, reliable with a strong work ethic and ability to work with minimal supervision
    o          Logical thinking and independent decision making skills.
    o          Attention to detail together with creative problem-solving and analysis skills
    o          Effective time management skills
    o          Experience working and training in a cross-cultural environment with remote teams
    o          Flexibility in switching between duties and assignments as required.
    o          Detail orientated with experience working with high volume repetitive task
    o          Good knowledge of your home country?
    o          Fluent English with good writing and reading comprehension skills

    Good luck!
    Katleen

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  • For budding enterpreneurs – check out Bizgrad 2012 – 31st of March ( Dublin)

    BizGrad 2012

    Opening doors for entrepreneurs! How YOU can realise your new business potential.
     
    BizGrad consists of a series of workshops which will give you practical advice and direction on starting your own business. You can book it via this link
     
    BizGrad
    will give you the chance to attend short and sharp relevant seminars
    concerning various aspects of new business enterprise, from getting your
    ideas formulated into a coherent business plan to using technology and
    social media to reach potential customers. Speakers who feel they can
    share their own business and entrepreneurial experience are invited to
    participate. This is your chance to have learn and in turn have your
    message heard.

     
    BizGrad will consist of a morning and afternoon
    of talks which you will be able to attend according to your own business
    interests. Two keynote speakers will open and close the event. There
    will be plenty of opportunity to network and ishare your ideas with
    other ambitious and talented entrepreneurs over the course of the day
    and after.

     
    The event will take place in DIT Aungier Street, Dublin 2 on Saturday 31st March. 
     
    This
    is an entirely voluntary event, there are no sales pitches or hidden
    agendas. Our sponsors will be covering the cost of the event and all
    speakers will take part on a voluntary basis. The entire proceeds from
    the online booking charge will be donated to the Simon Community. 

     
    We realise speaking in public can be daunting,
    but we would encourage attendees to volunteer as speakers in a friendly
    and relaxed atmosphere. This is your chance to create something
    positive! We therefore invite you to attend and possibly present a talk
    of your own choosing. Suggested talks can be viewed on our website.

     
    We, the organisers, are two Masters students in
    Business and Entrepreneurship here at Dublin Institute of Technology who
    wish to bring together young entrepreneurs to inspire and influence
    each other. We believe we can all harness our own potential and do
    something for ourselves. We intend this event to be the first step on
    the road to realising our own futures. 

     
    The cost of the event is an entirely reasonable 10 Euro, which even includes lunch!

     
    Hope to see you there!
    Katleen

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  • Galway Internships in the cloud *5 Alison

    Hi all,

    I saw this advertised in the Galway Advertiser, and thought it would be great to share this, as it’s a great opportunity for any 3rd level  IT degree graduate to get a start in the E-Learning world.

    E-Learning: Publishing Internships

    Are you an IT-literate 3rd level degree graduate
    seeking to develop skills and expertise in one of the world’s fastest
    growing industries?

    ALISON is offering five candidates six-month e-learning publishing internships.
    Training in online publishing tools and commercial experience in a dynamic global environment will be provided.
    Please respond to: careers@alison.com

    To apply, please send a CV with a Cover letter stating why you would like to take up the internship positions on offer.

    ALISON, Galway Technology Park
    Parkmore, Co Galway

    To check out all the courses that Alison has to offer, click here

    Good luck!
    Katleen

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  • Paddy’s Day and Mother’s Day in Ireland

    Paddy’s Day and Mother’s Day in Ireland

    Hello all,

    So today is Mother’s day in Ireland, so happy mother’s day to all the mums in the world!
    Mother’s day is celebrated around the world, but not necessarily on this day, as I found out here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother’s_Day  and from my experience, in Belgium(specifically in Antwerp) there are two days that it is celebrated on .The Second sunday in May and or the 15th of August. Risk  is then it never gets celebrated as one always says, oh no, that’s not when we celebrate it!
    So to avoid that all together, I’d celebrate my own mother’s day three times, I gave her a call today to wish her a happy mother’s day and I”ll be doing the same again in May and in August! She deserves it!
    So, to get back to today, it was a most beautiful day to day, blue skies, sunny, but  not the warmest.
    We loaded up the boy’s go carts and drove to Coole Park. Coole Park was once the home of Lady Augusta Gregory, dramatist, folklorist and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre with Edward Martyn of Tullira Castle and Nobel prize-winning poet William Butler Yeats. Coole Park, in the early 20th century, was the centre of the Irish Literary Revival. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge and Sean O’ Casey all came to experience its magic. They and many others carved their initials on the Autograph Tree, an old beech still standing today. Although the house no longer stands, one can still appreciate the surroundings that originally drew so many here.

     

     
    Yesterday was St Patrick’s day, which is the celebration of the patron Saint St Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Watching the news, it seems it’s celebrated around the world, great to see all the various monuments around the world turning green! We live very near Gort, and not too far away from Kinvara either, so I thought I’d catch two parades( that should keep us going for another year!)
    This is a clip of a part of the parade in Gort
    And below are some images in and around Kinvara.
    As we are all off tomorrow, we are either heading to Portumna or maybe to the Clare Coast.. Time will tell:)
    Katleen

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  • A new Job Radio Station and Donedeal is hiring

    Hello Readers,

    I came across a new recruitment agency that has launched a radio station where you can listen to
    vacancies. The Recruitment agency is called http://www.verifyrecruitment.com/
    And you can find the radiostation here : http://newjobradio.com/

    I quite liked watching this video of Donedeal! They are hiring, and it’s a great way to have an idea who they are and the vacancies they have :

    Happy Job Hunting!
    Katleen

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  • The Late late show is calling all Irish Abroad

    The Late late show is calling all Irish Abroad

    The Late Late Show is calling all Irish Abroad

    The Late Late ShowIf you have left Ireland or you have family who have, ‘The Late Late Show’ wants to hear from you!


    On
    Friday 16th March, ‘The Late Late Show’, will feature video messages
    from Irish abroad.  They are looking for a 30 second clip telling us who
    you are, where you are and what you’re up to. 

You can tell them how
    you’ll be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day if you feel like it or what you
    are missing about home.
    The more creative your entry the
    better!

You can email your clip, send a Youtube link or post your video
    on their Facebook page.

  Good luck!!
    

HOW TO SEND YOUR CLIP:
    

The clip can be sent via email, Twitter or Facebook.


    EMAIL: Send your video directly to
    latelate@rte.ie 


    FACEBOOK: post it right here! tinyurl.com/latelatefb 


    YOUTUBE: Upload your video to YouTube and post the link to our Facebook page or email it to
    latelate@rte.ie


    TWITTER: tweet your video @RTElatelateshow
    

The closing date is Wednesday 14th March at noon.

    Hope to see some of you on TV!!!
    Regards,
    Katleen

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  • List of jobfairs, and why visiting them is not a waste of time!

    Hello all,

    It’s that time of the year that those are graduating this year are starting to put out feelers as to what job opportunities are around and how to go about it to get those jobs.

    I found this list of  Graduate job fairs :Graduate Job Fairs Ireland

    I read an interesting article the other day called : 25 Reasons Job Fairs are not a waste of time.

    It’s an Israeli based blog called Jobmob, that has lot’s of other interesting resources related to finding a job and I’d recommend you subscribe to their newsletters/blogposts.

    There is another fair happening on the 10th of March, called Bilingual People – 10th of March, Croke Park 
    As the name of the Job fair says , it’s about bilingual people ( or better even multilinguals), so if you are studying languages and are keen to use them in your future job, I’d recommend you go to that job fair.

    Regards,
    Katleen

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  • What is a P60 and how to claim your refunds for 2011

    What is a P60 and how to claim your refunds for 2011

    Hello Readers,

    If you are currently in employment, your employer has probably sent you your P60 in the last few weeks.If you have never seen a P60 , it looks like this.
    If you haven’t received yours yet, I’d suggest you contact your employer, maybe it’s gone missing…

    What is the P60?

    Your 2011 P60 form shows how tax was calculated for the year just
    gone. And the amount of tax calculated is based on your life and how we
    live it.
    But importantly:  Only what we have told Revenue about our circumstances.

    Most of us will receive our P60s in February and many of us will quickly put them in “the drawer”, not really knowing what purpose they serve.

    However, it is more useful than you might think. The information on that
    form now in “the drawer” can be used to claim your tax back from 2011.

    That’s right – take it out and keep on reading…You might be pleasantly surprised!
    All workers in Ireland can apply for a tax refund.
    It is not obligatory so not everyone does it but hundreds of thousands
    of euro go unclaimed every year in tax reliefs and overpaid taxes.

    You can find the full list here : Claim for your refund 2011 – Guidelines
    Following are links to the most populars items you can claim for.
    Each link explains what charge(s) qualify, and how you can claim for them.
     
    Paid Bin charges ( up untill 2011, as from 2012 you can no longer claim for it)
    Check out http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it27.html
    Paid Tuition Fees :  Check out http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/tuition-fees.html
    Paid Doctors/dentists bills : http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it6.html
    Rented propery in the last 4 years: check out http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/credits/rent-credit.html
    Member of a trade union – you can no longer claim for this, however as you can claim up to 4 years, if you didn’t claim for 2010, 2009,2008, you still could:)
    Did you get married in 2011?
    Check out http://www.revenue.ie/en/personal/circumstances/marriage.html#section2 
    And last but not least, did you have a baby in 2011 – check out my previous
    article here , you might be due a nice little refund( please note, you can only go back 4 years, so do get your skates on before it’s too late…:)Do take your time for this one, it will be time worth spent 🙂

    I also found this list of “flate rate expenses ” http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/flat-rate-expenses.xls relevant to a variety of occupations, do check it out, you may find out there is a flat rate expense you can claim for.

    Good luck sorting out those bills and hopefully you’ll get a nice refund..
    Thanks,
    Katleen

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