Peer to peer lending in ireland

Filed under:Ireland, Thought Provoking — posted by Paul on January 3, 2012 @ 15:01

Doing some thinking over the Christmas break, I wondered why the concept of peer to peer lending had not been introduced in Ireland in which it exists in the UK through companies like Zopa. Ireland seems like the perfect market as the banks have failed their societal duty to keep businesses going through lending. There are people with money to invest who did well during the Celtic tiger. Perhaps there is a regulatory issue that makes lending unsafe in Ireland. It certainly seems that there is a business opportunity fhere.

How a good Guinness should look like

Filed under:Dublin, Ireland, Photography, Travel — posted by Paul on December 25, 2011 @ 21:02


How a good Guinness should look like, originally uploaded by polnamara.

Dookinella Church

Filed under:Achill, Ireland, Music, Photography, Travel — posted by Paul on March 30, 2011 @ 17:59

Dookinella Church, originally uploaded by polnamara.

 

Devils Island

Filed under:Achill, Ireland, Photography, Travel — posted by Paul on March 22, 2011 @ 10:48

Devils Island, originally uploaded by polnamara.

or Keel Island as it is also known off Achill Island, Co. Mayo.

A Canadian visits Achill

Filed under:Ireland, Photography, Travel — posted by Paul on March 3, 2011 @ 1:45

Reb Stevenson visited Achill and took some nice photos while she was there.

Irish bailout

Filed under:Ireland — posted by Paul on November 30, 2010 @ 12:41

Some great articles on what can be done about the Irish economic situation. The question I’m asking is why the Irish government doesn’t take some of that advice on board. I would presume that the issue is that they are staggering towards the end of their tenure in a haze without clarity and motivation to take action. And the ECB/IMF is taking full advantage of that.
The Footnote On The Irish Bailout Plan comments on the comparison between the way Iceland and Ireland have handled the crisis.

This is nothing less than yet another example that in the great collapsing game of Keynesian fundamentalist’s dilemma, he who defects, defaults and devalues first is the winner. Congratulations Iceland. To everyone else: enjoy the eventual revolutions. They are now inevitable, courtesy of your favorite neighborhood parasite banker.

Ronan Lyons gives a detailed but concise overview of how Ireland got into the mess and some ideas of how to get out of it.

The full story of Ireland’s economic highs and lows over the past generation will no doubt be examined in many books for years to come. That’s no consolation, however, for people who are voting in a few weeks and who want to know where we are and what we need to do. They want to know which painful hits they should take, and which they shouldn’t. To know what to do next, we need to know how we got here and how bad things are, so this post aims to give a bare-bones outline of how Ireland dug itself into a hole, how deep the hole is and the kind of things we need to do to get back out of the hole.

Read the full post for his analysis of the reasons and ideas.

If Ireland could Twitter

Filed under:Humour, Ireland, Tech, Web — posted by Paul on March 24, 2009 @ 10:14

via The Dossing Times via Le Craic

Irish Examiner needs a geography lesson

Filed under:Ireland — posted by Paul on January 14, 2009 @ 1:17

Related to an article about Conor Cruise O’Brien’s red bias in RTE. Perhaps the letter was a deliberate fake if they are quoting from the address on the letter. Some of the passages are hilarious in which case, if it was taken seriously, geography lessons should have been required much further up the line.

Writing on March 20, 1978, Joseph O’Reilly of Achill Island, Co Galway, wrote that he wished “to draw [the taoiseach’s] attention to the news coverage by RTÉ particularly on television, of the French elections”.

JP Grealis – Missing Irish Person in the Netherlands

Filed under:Ireland — posted by Paul on January 10, 2009 @ 7:32

I just got an email forwarded on about an Irish person from Achill who has been missing since November 2008.

Dear All,
Happy New Year to all and apologies for not sending any Christmas cards this year, my family and I are going through a tough time as my brother, JP, is missing in the Netherlands.

I have a favour to ask, could you please pass on this mail with the information below – I know it’s a long shot but it may reach someone that has seen him in the past few weeks, we will try anything at this stage. We have been doing everything we can to find JP with the Police and the Embassy and also my sisters, Mani, my brother-in laws and JP’s friends have searched various places in the Netherlands but there appears to be no trace of him since he was seen in Eindhoven during the 1st week of November. It seems unlikely but he may have travelled outside of the Netherlands so we are also searching in
Belgium/Spain/Germany etc.

Thank you,
Clare

  • Nationality: Irish
  • Name: James Patrick Grealis, known as JP
  • Date of Birth: 14/03/1984 (24 years old)
  • Hair: Red (curly/wavy)
  • Height: approx.1.75 meter/ approx 5′ 9”
  • Build: Slim build with broad shoulders
  • Clothes: Generally wears T-shirts, jeans, hoodies etc (he has a habit of walking with his sleeves pulled down over his hands)
  • General Information: Smoker, works in building trade, likes to socialize

JP was last seen in Eindhoven (1 st week of Nov) and last called home from Breda (23 rd of Oct). He may have travelled to Rotterdam in November. Any information please contact me (00 353 (0)87 2393993) or the Irish Police on 00 353 (0)98 20830 or the Dutch Police on 00 31 79-345 8882 ( case number 08261250 for Dutch Police)


Email:clare.grealis@gmail.com

Mobile Telephone: + 353 87 2393993

His details are also included on the Dutch Red Cross site here and also on the Irish Missing Persons website here.


counter to blogspot


Misleading Obesity in Ireland

Filed under:Ireland, Thought Provoking — posted by Paul on December 4, 2008 @ 1:31

From the Irish Times today, it seems like Obesity is now affecting one in five pregnant women. This is absolutely crazy. For a government running out of ideas, how about a tax proposal that would target obesity in the same way that alcohol and tobacco addition is targeted. How about a huge tax increase on all foods that have a fat proportion of over a certain level and then a sliding scale below that. One of the most laughable things I found on my last trip to Ireland was on the back of a pack of Tayto crips was a statistic that 2500 calories were the standing level for a man. Since I’ve been using Gyminee to track diet and exercise, the figure is close to 1700 for me. When is misleading packaging like that on Tayto (which I love by the way) going to be tackled in Ireland?


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image: detail of installation by Bronwyn Lace