Eleanor Rosney

Online Portfolio

Curriculum Vitae of

Eleanor Rosney

8 St Catherine's Court

Bridgefoot Street, D8

086-1293563

eleanor.rosney@gmail.com

Experience:

Editor - Merrill Legal Solutions | WordWave International, Dublin

September 2011 - present

Duties -

- Proofreading and editing text provided by court stenographers/transcribers.

- Producing, formatting and amending transcripts in accordance with a style guide.

- Attending, recording and monitoring court proceedings.

- Producing documentation for the Department of Justice.

Reporter -The Sunday Business Post, Dublin

July 2011 – September 2011

Duties -

- Writing articles for all sections of the paper including news, features, business, technology,

money and markets, media and markets, property and Agenda magazine.

- Responsible for sourcing and generating my own stories, as well as being assigned stories

and adhering to a brief assigned to me by the relevant section editor.

Skills gained -

- The ability to operate under strict deadlines.

- Time management.

- The ability to pitch stories to the relevant section editor in a professional and comprehensive

manner.

- The ability to confidently approach and interview a wide range of people, locate and use

public records and other documents, write clearly and economically in a variety of styles,

consider and apply legal and ethical standards, keep notes, and explain any decisions made.

Reservations Sales Associate - Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., Cork

April 2010 – September 2010

Duties -

- Two weeks of intensive training which included familiarisation on use of company software

and knowledge of hotels, services and locations. There are nine hotel brands under the

Starwood mother brand, including the Sheraton, Westin and Le Meridien.

- Handling reservations from customers all over the world for the Starwood hotels which

included providing information, making suggestions, "fitting" customer needs to hotel

facilities etc.

- Dealing with all customer complaints and queries.

Skills gained -

- During the two weeks of training I found that I could absorb large amounts of information

quickly and put them into practice effectively.

- Strict quotas and targets needed to be met each month, including sales, converting enquiries

into sales, and minimal call time. I found that I enjoyed working in this pressurised

environment.

Newswriter, Features Editor - The UCC Express, Cork

September 2008 – May 2010

Duties:

- Responsible for the features section of UCC’s bi-weekly newspaper, The UCC Express.

- I managed a team of 12 regular writers and 8 regular contributors, as well a a variety of

photographers.

- I oversaw the introduction of a regular fashion section and a Q&A section with people from

all areas of the college.

- I wrote regular articles for all sections of the paper.

Skills gained -

- The ability to thrive in deadline driven environments.

- Interpersonal, management and delegation skills.

- I balanced my final year studies to good effect with running my section of the paper.

Education:

I hold a second class honours Master’s degree in Journalism from Dublin City University, as

well as a second class honours degree in English and History from University College Cork.

Referees:

Available upon request.

A selection of

news stories

By Eleanor Rosney

A family-run meat packingplant is expected to add 180jobs to the local workforce if ae12million state-of-the-art de-velopment is given the go-ahead.Dunbia, one of Ireland’s

leading agri-food companies,is planning to expand its exist-ing plant at Kilbeggan inWest-meath.The development would add

80 long-term jobs to the work-force and create 100 short-termconstruction jobs.The current208 jobs at the plant would besecured.Dunbia has made a plan-

ning application toWestmeathCounty Council, whose mem-bers will vote on the matter onJuly 25.However, local residents

have been objecting to the de-velopment, saying that it wouldhave a negative impact on thetown.Residents claimthat the pro-

posed abattoir is unsuitable fora residential area and they areconcerned about the smell itwould create and the effect theabattoir would have on the va-lue of their homes.One resident commented

that, ‘‘if an abattoir opens onthe Clara road, people will notget a good night’s sleep. Theroad is not wide enough for ar-ticulated lorries. It’s unsafe asit is and it’s going to get a lotworse’’.But according to Dunbia’s

group engineering manager,AustinWeir, these issues willbe dealt with.‘‘If people have issues with

potential noise or smells, or ifthey are worried that we willbe a nuisance to our neigh-bours, that is not our intentionand, as part of our environ-mental impact statement, wewill address those issues,’’ hesaid.Padraig Browne, managing

director of Dunbia Ireland,said: ‘‘The development of astate-of-the-art facility at Kil-beggan will bring the totalDunbia workforce in CoWest-meath to almost 300 and add afurther e2.5million to the localeconomy through wages paidto new employees.‘‘We see our planned expan-

sion as a project which willhelp the midlands economy intwo significant ways: by main-taining and generating em-ployment and simultaneouslysupporting the country as awhole to meet Ireland’s growthand export targets.’’

Meat firmpromises180 newjobs withexpansion

Quarter of TV licences now paid in instalmentsBy Emma Kennedy

More than one in four Irish house-holds are now paying their annualtelevision licence payment on aphased basis, as a continued

squeeze on income makes a lumpsumpayment less manageable.The annual fee of e160 must be

paid by all households, businessesand institutions with a television.Close to 1,430,000 licences were is-sued byAn Post last year. New fig-ures reveal that almost 360,000

households are now choosing topay for their television licencesusing one of a number of phasedpayment options.An increased number of house-

holds are opting to purchase televi-sion licence saving stamps or makemonthly or quarterly payments.

Televisionowners canbuy e4 sav-ing stamps from post offices to savefor the licence. According to AnPost, just over 15 per cent of televi-sion licences purchased in the firstsix months of this year used the sav-ing stamps option.This is up frombetween 8-10 per cent ayear earlier.

Television owners can also opt tomake 12 monthly payments ofe13.33 each, four quarterly pay-ments of e40 or two payments ofe80 for the licence. Almost one inten households are choosing one ofthese phased payment options.According to An Post, just over

two in five people ^ some 42.7 percent ^ renew their licence beforethe expiry date, once they have re-ceived their first reminder notice.A further 50 per cent will buy a tele-vision licence within twomonths ofexpiry. For those who fail to renew,a number of further notices are

sent, and ultimately failure to paycan result in a court appearance.Court proceedings were initiatedagainst almost 20,000 people in2010,with fines of up to e2,000 per-mitted under the legislation.So far this year, 9,670 summonses

have been issued.

By Pat LeahyPolitical Editor

Global investment bank Gold-man Sachs is in line to earnfees of almost e8 million foradvice to theNationalTreasuryManagement Agency on therecapitalisation of the four re-

maining financial institutionsunder its supervision.According to replies to par-

liamentary questions, Gold-man Sachs International ^ asubsidiary of Goldman Sachs,and roughly approximating toits British and European busi-ness, say insiders ^ was ap-p o i n t e d f o l l o w i n g acompetitive tender process.

Goldman executiveswill ad-vise on the capital-raising exer-cises currently under wayamong AIB, Bank of Ireland,EBS and Irish Life. The firmwill receive fees of up to e7.8million, depending on thecompletion of transactionsand performance.TheDepartment of Finance

said that the NTMA expected

to recoup the fees from thebanks in the future.According to figures re-

cently published in the City ofLondon, employees of Gold-man Sachs International enjoyhuge rewards. The company’spublished reports showed thatthe average compensation ofeach of Goldman Internatio-nal’s 5,956 workers came to

$818,999 last year.That is almost double the

average remuneration of Gold-man employees elsewhere ^ in-cluding the US ^ who receivedan average of $430,700 in 2010.The non-executive chair-

man of Goldman Sachs Inter-national is Peter Sutherland,the former attorney generaland EUcommissioner.

NTMAto pay Goldman Sachs almost e8m in fees

Penal reformseminarAn Irish Penal ReformTrust seminar on Thurs-day will consider unaccep-table prison conditions inIreland and the US. Seniorcounsel Michael O’Higginswill speak at the seminar,and Don Specter and SaraNorman of the Prison LawOffice at San Quentin willspeak by videolink. Thefree public seminar willrun from 5pm to 7pm inthe Distillery Building,Church Street, Dublin.

Procurementlaw talkSenior barristers MichaelBowsher and Anthony MCollins will speak about thelimits of procurement lawat a forum on Wednesdayat 6.30pm at Mason Hayes& Curran, South BankHouse, Barrow Street, Du-blin 4. The cost is e20.Register at iselprocure-ment@gmail. com.

ClarificationsIn a report in last week’snewspaper we said that aDonegal building companycalled McGinley Con-struction had gone intoreceivership. We are hap-py to point out thatMcGinley Construction isnot in receivership, but areceiver has been ap-pointed to some of thecompany’s assets, namely acompany called McGinleyHouse Ltd.

& In last week’s edition,we reported that Mr Jus-tice Nial Fennelly was dueto retire next year. In fact,because he was AdvocateGeneral at the EuropeanCourt of Justice from1995-2000, he was alreadya judge when the 1995Courts and Courts OfficersAct reduced the retirementage for new judges. Assuch, he is subject to thepre-1995 Act retirementage of 72, rather than 70.Mr Justice Fennelly istherefore not due to retireuntil 2014.

NewsBulletin

Corkmotorists to escapeLynchtunnel toll for twomore yearsBy Nicola Cooke

Motorists in Cork are likely toescape a toll in the Jack LynchTunnel until the completion ofthe South Ring Road (SSR)interchange in two years’ time.T h e Nat i on a l Road s

Authority (NRA) drew up alist of revenue-raising mea-

sures for the government lastOctober, and these includedproposals for tolls on the tun-nel that runs under the RiverLee, along with the SouthernRing Road.Unlike the LimerickTunnel

under the Shannon ^ whichhas a toll of e1.80 for cars andwas completed last year ^users of the Jack LynchTunnelhave travelled through it free

since it was completed in1999.Anestimated 50,000mo-torists pass through the tunneldaily.Work on the grade separa-

tionof theN25 SouthernRingRoad, N71 Bandon Road andSarsfield Road roundaboutsbegins on July 28 at a cost ofe60 million, and this is notdue for completion until July2013. Tolling of the tunnelwould probably require bar-riers, and according to NRAsources this would be disrup-tive to traffic flow.‘‘There has to be a free flow

of traffic, and all the flyoversneed to be in place before bar-riers could be put in.,’’ said thesource.

‘‘This is different to a stand-alone individual project likethe LimerickTunnel, or a mo-torway, because the JackLynchTunnel is connected di-rectly to the Southern RingRoad, and there is a series ofentry and exit routes off this.Tolling is part of the nationalgovernment policy, but propertraffic flow in a major city isessential.’’Other roads for which the

NRA proposed tolls includedthe N11 from Wicklow andN2 fromMonaghan.The Automobile Associa-

tion has criticised this plan,and said that one in five dri-vers seek alternate routes toavoid paying tolls.

Free music for Temple Bar’s birthday partyAs part of the Made InTemple Bar festival, cele-brating the 20th anniver-sary of Dublin’s culturalquarter, Anna Brady andNathan Morrison, picturedright, will perform JS Ba-ch’s Coffee Cantata withthe Opera Theatre Com-pany. The festival runsuntil next Sunday, withevents for people of allages including music, art,photography, poetry,dance workshops, thea-tre, puppet-making andcraft workshops. The Cof-fee Cantata is on Friday inthe Church Bar at 12.30and 2.30. No tickets arerequired, said Temple BarCultural Trust: just comealong. www.templebar.ie

FEARGAL WARD

MEPasks Europe to act on Irish greyhound fundsBy John Burke

A senior British MEP has asked theEuropean Commission to put pres-sure on the Irish government to dis-continue state subsidies to the IrishGreyhound Board (IGB), given theboard’s plans to develop dog racingin China.LiberalDemocratMEPFionaHall

has written to the EU Commissionasking it to consider the measure, as

other eurozone countries had begunto end state subsidies, she said.The IGB, in conjunctionwith a pri-

vate British-based consortium, hasapplied to the Irish government forfunding to develop greyhound racingin China.The group is planning to make a

e15million investment in the industryin China.The IGB is funded from theHorse andGreyhound Fund,which isadministered by the Department ofAgriculture.The fund is divided between Horse

Racing Ireland,which receives 80 percent, and the IGB, which receives 20per cent.In 2010 the IGB received e11.86mil-

lion from the fund and is expected toreceive e11.46 million this year.‘‘Eurozone countries under pres-

sure in the current crisis are beingurged to end state subsidies to na-tional industries. In the context of therecent bailout of Ireland by the Eur-opean Union and the IMF, will theCommission take action to ensurethat the substantial state subsidies re-

ceived by the greyhound industryfrom the Irish government are nowdiscontinued?’’ askedHall.Hall could not be contacted late

last week to comment on her request,which she made in writing to theCommission on July 1, according tothe record of the Parliament.The IGB has signalled its intention

to manage dog tracks in the massiveChinese market via an internationalarm of its current operations.Chief executiveAdrian Neilan said

in amedia interview inMay that a e15

million investment in the project hadbeen discussed with a consortium inLondon.The deal would see the IGBmanage several racetracks over a 25-year period, he said at the time.The board dropped plans to export

greyhounds to China earlier this year,amid concerns by animal rightsgroups.The IGB’s e11.5 million allocation

this year is down from e15.8 millionin 2008.The industry is dealing withconsiderably smaller crowds at itstracks here due to the recession.

Peter Sutherland

Fiona Hall

By Eleanor Rosney

A chef who worked in world-famous restaurants has abandonedhis stainless steel pots to work withmore precious metals. Brian Miller,originally from California, recentlycompleted the Craft Council ofIreland’s two-year course in jew-ellery and gold-smithing.An exhibition of his work and

that of 11 other graduates openedlast Friday in the National CraftGallery in Kilkenny. The exhibitionwill be running for the next twoweeks and features more than 120

pieces, ranging from hinged brace-lets to 18-carat gold rings withcoloured gemstones.Miller explained: ‘‘I have always

loved working with my hands andhad wanted to be a jeweller since Iwas ten years old. There are noformal jewellery apprenticeships inthe US, though, so I had no optionsthere. I had to get a job and make aliving so I became a chef. I put thejewellery dream on the backburner,but I worked in amazing kitchensall over the world, including Du-blin’s Chapter One. I still tookevening classes and pursued it as ahobby.’’Many of the pieces on display

were created under strict guidelinesand deadlines to simulate a realjewellery commission that a custo-mer might request. Other pieces ondisplay allowed the students to becreative and to inject their ownpersonality into the piece.As part of the programme, Miller

did a work placement with JMKGoldsmiths in Kilkenny. Here heobserved Jim Kelly, the designer ofthe Liam MacCarthy Cup, make areplica of the cup for events, func-tions and ceremonies. ‘‘It was anabsolute honour to watch a masterrecreate such an iconic piece,’’hesaid.Eimear Conyard, the course

manager and tutor, explained theorigins of the programme. ‘‘Thecourse was originally started in1993 to cater to a dying school in thejewellery industry. Apprenticeshipsdo not really exist any more and thiscourse focuses on traditional tech-niques and precious metals,’’ shesaid.Miller’s aim is to continue to

train for the next two to three yearsin a professional workshop andeventually set up his own studio.‘‘I will train, learn and hone my

skill for the foreseeable future, butonce I feel I’ve done that and havethe funds in place, I hope to embarkon my own business,’’ he said.

Brian Miller pictured with some of the jewellery he has made PAT MOORE

Chef’s golden opportunity for a career change

Calling allSYNDICATEMEMBERSwho invested in Germany property,

The Frankfurt Rhine -Main Portfolio,in December 2005.

—————————————————Please contact this number

086 2355209as I am an investor

or email burkeestates@eircom.netto arrange a meeting regarding

the above portfolio.

n41 News THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 17 2011

By Susan MitchellHealth Correspondent

It is impossible for doctors andnurses at Tallaght Hospital’s emer-gency department to deliver care topatients in a timely fashion, as its re-sources are completely inadequate,the medical board of the hospitalhas said.The hospital’s emergency depart-

ment is being investigated by thehealth watchdog Hiqa, which ex-pressed concerns about the qualityand safety of care provided to pa-tients requiring acute admissionand receiving care at the emergencydepartment. It is the second patientsafety probe at the hospital in justover ayear.Chairman of the medical board

Dr Ray McDermott said he hopedHiqa’s investigation would result inno more patients having to wait ontrolleys at the hospital.He said the hospital had the busi-

est emergency department in thecountry.He said Tallaght, which has al-

ready exceeded its budget by e7.6million this year, served abigger po-pulation than other Dublin hospi-tals, yet received less funding andhad fewer consultants per patient.‘‘Funds are out of sync with pa-

tient numbers, and we do not haveenough doctors. The hospital has

one consultant for every 5,000 pa-tients.That is far fewer than otherDublin hospitals,’’ he said.‘‘The hospital has the lowest rate

of private patients, no out-of-hoursGP service, no step-down facilitiesand the lowest number of consul-tants.With all this, its funding perperson is less than half that of theother two Dublin hospitals in ad-joining areas,’’ he said.McDermott said the scarcity of

GP practices in the area meant the

emergency department was undergreat strain. He called on the HSEto set up a dedicated GP service,and said the hospital had offered afree site for aGP practice.He said the severe lack of step-

down facilities meant that 50 of the640 beds in the hospital were occu-pied by long-term care patients, of-ten dubbed ‘bed-blockers’.McDermott said this had a direct

knock-on effect on the emergencydepartment as doctors were unable

to admit sick patients, resulting insevere overcrowding.McDermott said patients in

Clondalkin, Walkinstown, Lucanand Terenure were deemed to bewithin the catchment area for St Ja-mes’s Hospital, but they were closerto Tallaght Hospital and so pre-sented there.‘‘It is unlikely, for example, that

there are many public patients inClondalkinwhowere ever informedthat they were meant to go to St Ja-

mes’s,’’ he said.Tallaght Hospital, which is also

known asAdelaide andMeathHos-pital and incorporates the nationalChildren’sHospital, came in for ser-ious criticism last year after itemerged that GP referral letterswere routinely left unopened, andthat x-rays were not being read byradiologists.McDermott said the long-term

solution was a funding model inwhich hospitals were paid for work

done. In the short term, he saidfunding and resources needed to beadjusted to reflect patient numbers.The Hayes review of the unre-

ported x-ray and unprocessed refer-ral letter scandals found shortagesof staff and weaknesses in hospitalmanagement and governance sys-tems were at the root of the pro-blems.McDermott said therewereman-

agement issues at the hospital. Hesaid management problems largely

stemmed from having such a largeboard, as well as the fact that thehospital had had three temporarymanagers in recent years.He welcomed the news that the

hospital planned to appoint a smal-ler board when the current board’sterm ofoffice ends on July 31.The move comes more than a

year after management consultantsrecommended that the hospital re-duce its board from 23 to betweeneight and 12 members.

Resources at Tallaght A&E department‘completely inadequate’, warns board

By Kieron Wood

TheEuropeanCourt of Justice(ECJ) will give judgment onThursday in an Irish casewhich could see details of jobapplicants made available tounsuccessful applicants.The case was referred to the

court by the Irish High Courtfor a preliminary ruling on theinterpretation of the EU’sEqual Treatment Directive.The 2002 directive prohibits‘‘direct or indirect discrimina-tion on the grounds of sex’’ inrelation to access to vocationaltraining.The case was brought by Pa-

trickKelly,whohadunsuccess-

fully applied for a Master’scourse in social science atUCD. Kelly appealed the deci-sion on the basis of sex discri-m inat ion. In the appealprocess, he askedUCD to pro-duce documents about thequalifications of the successfulcandidates, but the universityrefused. The High Court saidit was unclear whether UCD

was required by EU law to dis-close the documents. In Febru-ary 2010, it asked the Court ofJustice to rule whether an ap-plicant who alleged gender dis-crimination was entitled toinformation about the otherapplicants, and whether anysuch entitlement might be af-fected by national or Europeanlaws relating to confidentiality.

ECJ to rule on job applicant case

By Eleanor Rosney

The fashionable exclusivityof private members’ clubs istruly on the wane. One of thebest known clubs in Dublinhas decided to open its doorsto everyone in another sign ofthe times. The Odessa Club,which used to charge e395 tojoin, will be opening its doorsto all members of the publicfrom tomorrow.Located on Dame Street,

Dublin, it has renounced itsmembers-only status in fa-vour of inclusivity ratherthan exclusivity.Originally opened as a

restaurant in 1995, theOdessa Club co-owners PeterO’Kennedy and Eoin Foyleexpanded the business overthe years. They took overthree floors above the res-taurant to create a bar anddining room, an events roomand a roof bar and terrace. In2006, it was launched asOdessa Private Members’Club.The team at the Odessa

Club, however, believe dis-carding their members-onlypolicy is in keeping with thetimes. ‘‘When we opened as amembers’ club in 2006, itmade sense and it workedwell for a few years,’’ saidO’Kennedy, ‘‘but it does notmake sense in 2011. It is anevolution in a sense, a Dar-winian thing. The environ-ment has changed and wehad to adapt.’’Over the years, there were

regular events that permittednon-members to attend, andthe success of these eventsencouraged the club toabandon its members-onlypolicy. ‘‘When we started,the club was open to thepublic for a few months sothey could come and view it.Once we were established, itbecame strictly membersonly. Membership eventuallystarted declining and weopened more events to thepublic. We realised thesenights were the busiest so we

decided to make it perma-nent,’’ O’Kennedy said.A string of private mem-

bers’ clubs have either closeddown or got into financialdifficulty. The receiver to thebuilding that used to host themembers-only HibernianUnited Services Club made afresh bid last week to find abuyer. The Georgian build-ing, located at 8 St Stephen’sGreen, has been in receiver-ship for over a year.The building was pur-

chased in 2002 by developer

and hotelier Hugh O’Reganfor e10 million and it isbelieved he spent the sameamount refurbishing it with aview to opening it as a privateclub for ‘‘young businessmenand women’’.But in August 2009, Anglo

Irish Bank sought repay-ments from O’Regan total-ling e27 million secured ontwo properties: a building onParliament Street and theformer Hibernian Club. Areceiver was then appointed.Joint agents Kelly Walsh

and DTZ Sherry FitzGeraldinitially sought offers be-tween e15 and e20 million,but have since been in-structed to consider offersover e8 million. ‘‘There hasbeen much interest and weare in negotiation with anumber of parties,’’ saidMairead Furey of DTZSherry FitzGerald.‘‘There are views to use

the building as an officeheadquarters, or possibly asoffices for the hospitality in-dustry.’’

By Nicola Cooke

Data Protection Commission

officials that are meeting withmobile phone company repre-sentatives this week will askthem about the removal of re-mote access to voicemail mes-

sages.Deputy Commiss ioner

Gary Davis said his office hadbeen in touch with the provi-ders about the matter lastweek,when more details of theNews of theWorld phone hack-ing scandal emerged.Messages left on a mobile

phone can be accessed fromany other phone by diallingthe digit five after the networkcode in the number, and thenentering a Pin number. Manypeople do not change the de-fault Pin number issued withnew phones.Davis said that ‘‘at leastone’’

mobile provider had measures

to ensure customers changedthis default code.‘‘If someone really wants

this service they can ask for it,but for the 99 per cent of peo-ple who don’t access their voi-cemail remotely there is noneed for it. It [the facility]should be removedunless thereis a compelling reason not todo so.’’Several journalists at the

nowdefunctNews of theWorldnewspaper in England ^ and apr ivate invest igator whoworked for the tabloid ^ are al-leged to have hacked into thephones of hundreds of peopleincluding murder victims, and

the families of victims of the9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks.Scotland Yard is conductingan investigation into the mat-ter, as is the FBI in the US.Irish Data Protection Com-

missionofficials will meet withtwo telecom companies thisweek to discuss the implica-tions of new privacy regula-tions that came into law thismonth.These rules place a much

greater responsibility on tele-com providers to warn users ofany possible risksofabreachofsecurity on their network.There has been a huge fall-

out from the phone hacking

scandal forNews Corporation,the media empire owned byRupertMurdoch.Yesterday, its British news-

papers carried full page apolo-gies from Murdoch for the‘serious wrongdoing’ of theNews of theWorld. In these hesaid he was ‘deeply sorry’ forthe hurt caused to those af-fected by phone hacking andadmitted shortcomings in theresponse from the paper’s pub-lisher,News International.Rebekah Brooks, the latter’s

chief executive, resigned lastweek and Murdoch withdrewthe corporation’s bid to gainfull control of BSkyB.

Move to restrict remote access to voicemail messages

Odessa abandons members-only policy

By Eleanor Rosney

Last Friday,Twitter celebratedits fifthbirthday.The first tweetsent byTwitter co-founder JackDorsey simply read: ‘‘just set-ting up my twttr’’, and thatwas the first of 30 billion 140-character-or-less thoughts thathave since been ‘‘tweeted’’, cat-apultingTwitter into the upperechelon of social media plat-forms.With 200,000 Irish users,

Twitter has fast become one ofthe primary sources for break-ing news in Ireland. It has beenat the centre of themost promi-nent world events over the pastfew months: revolutions in theMiddle East and north Africa,the tsunami and earthquake inJapan, celebrity super-injunc-tions and the emerging scan-dals of News International.It is no longer being viewed

solely as a news source, andbusinesses have begun to useTwitter as a clever marketingtool. Jack Murray, managingdirector of Mediacontact.ie,explained: ‘‘It’s an essentialcommunication tool and onethat is crucially important.‘‘The balance of power has

shifted from large corpora-tions and now is focused onthe individual. People have thepower to create their own net-work and this was never beforethought possible. We ran anevent last week and there were200 people tweeting at it.Those

tweets reached an audience of70,000.’’It seems that one restaurant

owner has realised the impor-tance of Twitter and used it ina unique way. In February, JoeMacken of Jo’Burger in Rath-mines, Dublin, opened a pop-up chicken restaurant in Du-blin’s CraneLane.The restaurant ran for 12

weeks then reopened on July 6in SouthWilliamStreet.Crack-bird was launched on Twitterand the only way to book a ta-ble or to enquire about avail-abi l ity i s by Twitter. The

restaurant gave away six freesittings for six people everytwo hours for 12 weeks.By sending a tweet with the

hashtag #tweetseats and thenumber of people, the timeand the date they required abooking, successful tweetersfound themselves on the re-ceiving end of a free maincourse.There are now more than a

billion tweets sent out everyweekby 300millionusers.Thatnumber is growing rapidly,however, with half a millionnew accounts set up every day.

Dr Ray McDermott, consultant, Tallaght Hospital MAURA HICKEY

Hospital Intended Actual Funding Funding Consultantscatchment (population) catchment Total per person per person

St James’s 350,000 275,000 e220 million 800 154St Vincent’s 350,000 275,000 e200 million 727 117Tallaght 350,000 500,000 e176 million 350 100

The figures

Hospital Inpatients A&E attendances Outpatient attendancesSt James’s 30,431 56,174 218,039St Vincent’s 18,624 51,928 134,249Tallaght 30,981 93,016 249,395

Statistics compiled by Tallaght Hospital

Eoin Foyle at the Odessa Club: the club will open its doors to the public from tomorrow TONY O’SHEA

Abillion tweets markTwitter’s fifth birthday

Joe Macken: tweet smell of success FEARGAL WARD

n51NewsTHE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 17 2011

By Eleanor Rosney

One of Ireland’s leadingphotographers, Giles Nor-man, has opened a new gal-lery in Killarney. Norman,who is based in Kinsale,specialises in black-and-white photography, and thisopening marks his first ex-pansion into Kerry.Of Belgian and English

descent, Norman has beenliving in Kinsale since 1976,where he runs a gallery withhis wife, Catherine.Norman had wanted to set

up a gallery in Killarney formany years. He explained:‘‘We had been thinkingabout Killarney for a longtime. There is some beautifulscenery down there forphotographs, and it is alovely tourist town, so it wasa natural step. ‘‘A friendpreviously rented the galleryand, when he left, we took upthe building.’’Despite opening in the

middle of a recession, thegallery has been doing well.‘‘People are spending moneyon photography, but not asmuch as they used to,’’ saidNorman. ‘‘There is a moneyfactor and a travel factor.With luggage restrictions onairlines, people cannot bringback large framed photoswith them.‘‘So we launched a line of

greeting cards to combat this.We also receive a lot oforders from all over theworld through our website,

and then we post those out topeople.’’Norman received his first

camera for his 18th birthdayand, in 1981, began capturingimages for his first portfolio.He developed his own style ofblack-and-white photogra-phy, and sold his first imagesto craft shops around Ire-land. He then opened his firstgallery in Kinsale and hisearliest images of Dublin,Kerry and west Cork provedpopular.Norman is best known for

his shots of the Irish land-

scape, but has recentlylaunched international col-

lections of New York, Parisand Italy.

Roscommon’smatterof life ordeath

T he large black andwhite signs start toappear on the ap-proach road fromAthlone to Ros-c ommon town.

They loom eerily from the ditchesbearing stark black crosses, withmessages like: ‘‘No A&E for 125km. It’s life or death’’ and ‘‘The firsthour is critical. No hospital =death’’.The posters are part of a passio-

nate local campaign to save Ros-common County Hospital, whichhad its accident and emergency fa-cilities closed last week.The loss ofthese services is a source of muchlocal anger, and a major politicalrow that the government ^ andFineGael in particular ^ had to contendwith last week.A steady stream of protesters

continues to maintain a daily pre-sence outside the hospital, andmany passing motorists last weekacknowledged the ‘‘beep to showyour support’’ signs. The issue isalsovisible in the town centre,where

around three quarters of the busi-nesses have the black and whitecampaign signs hanging from theirwindows. Other variations on theprinted messages include: ‘‘We payfull taxes for half the hospital ser-vices’’ and ‘‘Save Roscommon Hos-pital’’.On the main street, the anger is

palpable. Mother-of-three MarianMurphy said that two of her chil-dren were asthmatics, and if theysuffer an asthma attack, they wouldnot be seen at the new urgent careunit, which has replaced the A&Efacilities. It will operate from 8amto 8pm, as childrenwill not be trea-ted there.‘‘Lastyear,one of them had an at-

tack and we took him to Roscom-mon Hospital,’’ she said. ‘‘Thenearest place now is Portiuncula[hospital] in Ballinasloe, and it takesat least 40 minutes to get there. Be-fore, you would not ring an ambu-lance, you would just take someoneto the A&E.You can’t have peopleringing an ambulance for every sec-ond thing. That will be a huge

stretch on the services.’’Margaret Treacy, another local,

said shewas ‘‘disgusted’’at the deci-sion to close theA&E services:‘‘How can they decide to close the

facility without coming down tocheck it out?’’ she said. ‘‘That is likesaying that if my house is structu-rally bad, then all the bungalowsare bad. My neighbour’s husbandhad a stroke a few days before theservice closed. She rang for an am-

bulance at 4.10pm, he went throughA&E and was in coronary care at5pm. If these politicians made apromise in public to keep our hospi-tal open, then they should have hadtheir homework done.’’Barber PaddyJoe Burke ^ a Ros-

common football fan ^ said theA&E closure was a ‘‘tragedy’’ thatbrought him ‘‘huge sadness’’. Hesaid that there had been a hospitalin the county since 1783.

‘‘It even survived the Famine;and for the 20,000 catchment ofpeople who would be using it ^ tothink an ambulance will never stopoutside it again is tragic,’’ he said.‘‘If someone gets a heart attack inmy shop today, what will happen?They will be driven up a bad roadto Galway,where there are no extrafacilities. The people of Roscom-mon will be carted anywhere andeverywhere now.’’

Butcher James Comiskey said hewas ‘‘really annoyed’’ about the lo-cal hospital’s downgraded facilitiesand that he felt ‘‘robbed’’ by pro-mises made by politicians and can-didates before the general electionlast February.

‘‘I often play football in HydePark, and what if somebody broketheir leg at 9pm during training?’’he said. ‘‘The pitch is two minutesaway from the hospital, but Galway

Hospital is an hour away.Youwouldbe as well to go toMullingar [hospi-tal] as it’s crazy with people on trol-leys in Ballinasloe and Galway[A&Es].’’Edward Donnellan, of Donnel-

lan and Co menswear, said thatbusinesses had banded together onthe issue, and that there were ‘‘afew more things in the pipeline yet’’.‘‘We are not giving up on this.

People I deal with in Dublin haverung and saidwell done for standingup and fighting for your rights,’’ hesaid.Up at the hospital, some of the

protesters have spent a good deal oftheir time marching up and downwith placards.There are two hand-written signs

tied on poles near the entrance tothe new urgent medical care unit.One reads ‘‘Band-Aid centre nowopen’’withan arrow in the directionof the unit, and another reads‘‘A&E died 11/07.Removal later’’.Protester Monica Lyons said she

had spent a total of 22 hours march-ing since last Monday [when theA&E officially closed].‘‘My father worked in there for 44

years as a porter, and three yearsago he was in the A&E here withCOPD [chronic obstructive pul-monary disease] symptoms, and isstill alive today,’’ she said.‘‘My sister Colette works as a do-

mestic assistance there and mybrotherThomas is a theatre porter.They are not being told much andare very worried about their jobsdown the line.’’

Cllr Lawrence Fallon resigned from Fine Gael

By Eleanor RosneyBank of Ireland has come infor criticism for spending e2million revamping its bank

branch building in Killarneyat a time when the bank is rely-ing on financial assistancefrom the state.The overhaul in-cludes an extension to thebuilding, which is on NewStreet.‘‘I am not aware of the situa-

tion completely, but at thistime, if they are spending alarge amount of money on re-furbishments, I think it wouldbe grossly inappropriate withthe amount of cuts going on atthe moment,’’ said BrendanGriffin, Fine Gael TD forKerry South.In 2007, permission was

granted by Killarney TownCouncil to construct a single-storey extension, add a glass fa-cade canopy, relocate the exist-ing ATM machine and nightsafe hatch,build a newdisabledaccess ramp guard railing andmodify existing entrance steps.One account holder with the

branch,who did not wish to benamed, said he thought it was a‘‘slap in the face’’ to all thosewho had been refused assis-tance from the bank in recentyears.‘‘I applied for a loan to the

Bank of Ireland over a yearago to fund a postgraduatecourse and was denied,’’ hesaid.‘‘As a result, I had to decline

my place on the course andtake up a job in a restaurant tosave and fund the course my-

self.What I applied for was adrop in the ocean of e2 mil-lion.’’A spokeswoman for Bankof

Ireland defended the invest-ment in the branch, saying thebank ‘‘must invest in the pre-mises network out of necessitywith a view to addressing es-sential property maintenanceissues and in order to meethealth and safety require-ments.‘‘Killarney is a major Irish

tourist resort and Bank of Ire-land is a committed and pri-mary provider of bankingservices to both the commu-nity and the visiting public.‘‘We have received numer-

ous appeals in recent yearsfrom a variety of sources, in-cluding theTidyTowns and theCounty Council to refurbishthe branch and to make appro-priate investment in the build-ing for the benef it of thecommunity.‘‘The building has been sold

to the developer under a sale-and-leaseback agreementwhich has been done oftenover the past few years.The building was in sucha state of disrepair that main-taining it was costing a signifi-cant amount.‘‘Ultimately, it is a net posi-

tive gain to the bank and thereis local employment and lo-cally-sourced materials whichbenefit the community.’’

BoI criticised for spending e2mon Killarney branch overhaul

By Nicola Cooke

The closure of emergency ser-vices at Roscommon hospitalhas had major ramifications atcounty council level.Laurence Fallon and Domin-

ic Connolly – two of the ten FineGael councillors on the localauthority – resigned the partywhip over the issue and nowremain on as independents.As representatives of the

Mid-Roscommon electoralarea, where the hospital islocated, they felt had to supporttheir constituents, according toFallon.Michael Frain, the Fine Gael

Roscommon-South Leitrimpublic relations officer, alsoresigned from the party last

week over the issue. A vote on anew county mayor was post-poned last month because of thehospital crisis, and a pact be-tween Fine Gael, some inde-pendents and two members ofthe Roscommon Hospital Alli-ance – which would have seenFine Gael’s Ollie Moore elected– has now unravelled.‘‘We had a meeting of the

Mid-Roscommon district ex-ecutive last Thursday, andthere was great annoyance anddisappointment expressedabout the A&E closure,’’ Fallonsaid. ‘‘We decided to send aletter to the Taoiseach to re-quest that he or health ministerJames Reilly come down toaddress the council on therationale behind the down-grading of the hospital.’’

Killarney in the picture as new gallery opens

Giles Norman in his new gallery in Plunkett Street, Killarney VALERIE O’SULLIVAN

Locals and businesses in RoscommonTown have beenwaging a vocal andpassionate campaign against thedecision to close down their hospital’sA&E service, reportsNicola Cooke

Political fallout

Jackie Urquhart, Grainne Kelly, Monica Lyons and PatriciaLeonard protesting outside Roscommon County Hospital

ALL PHOTOS ANDREW FOX

Paddy Joe Burke, Roscommon Town’s barberEdward Donnellan, Donnellan & Co James Comiskey, Madden’ s Butchers

Nama to spend e3 million onconstruction at ghost estatesBy Nicola Cooke

The National Asset Manage-ment Agency (Nama) is to in-vest e3 million to fund urgentconstruction works in a num-ber of ghost estates, that arelinked to loans held by theagency.Work is expected to start on

these within six to eight weeksand will include the comple-tion of abandoned construc-t ion work s , i n c omp le t esewerage facilities and roadworks.A spokesman for the agency

said that the focus in the shortterm will be on funding workto make the estates viable andfit for sale.‘‘Whatever about longer-

term solutions for the ghost es-tates issue, there is an urgentneed to address particular pro-blems in a number of these es-tates . . .‘‘Our focus in the short term

will be on financing work toaddress these problems whilewe develop longer-term solu-tions for the problem. It ishoped that the work on the es-tates can begin by September,’’

the spokesman said.A recent survey of ghost es-

tates by theDepartmentof En-v i r o n m e n t a n d L o c a lGovernment identified that of221 category four (worst case)ghost estates, 28 were linked toNama loans.The remainder were linked

to loans provided by bankswhich are not participating inNama.

n61 News THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 17 2011

By Kieron Wood

The courts have set up a com-mittee to consider how to pre-vent major criminal trialscollapsing because jurors havesearched the internet or dis-cussed the trial on social med-

ia. Official research in Britainshows that about one in fourjurors admitted seeing infor-mation on the internet duringhigh-profile cases, though onlyone in eight said they had actu-ally looked for it.Last month, a juror in Man-

chester was jailed for eightmonths after chatting to an ac-

quitted drugs trial defendanton Facebook while the trial ofother defendants was continu-ing.The »7 million trial col-

lapsed as a result. Before thetr ial began, the judge hadwarned jurors not to go on theinternet during the trial.Afterwards, Britain’s solici-

tor general Edward Garniertold prospective jurors that‘‘whether you communicateby Facebook, whether you re-search on the internet,whetheryou talk over your gardenfence’’ if they disobeyed theiroath not to discuss the casewith outsiders, they ‘‘may verywell be held in contempt.

Judges in Irish criminaltrials now frequently give spe-cial directions to juries aboutusing the internet or socialmedia during trials.But in some cases jurors

continue to Google defen-dants, or chat about the caseonTwitter or Facebook.The new committe e i s

chaired by the recently-retiredchief justice, Mr Justice JohnMurray.The members include Mr

Justice Paul Carney and MrJustice John Edwards of theHigh Court, and Judge TonyHunt of the Circuit Court.Aswell as considering direc-

tions to juries in criminal trials

about the use of modern newsand communication resources,the committee may also con-sider whether topropose direc-tions for other court users.In England and Wales, the

LordChief Justice has recentlygiven approval for journaliststo use Twitter, laptops or mo-bile phones to file up-to-date

reports on trials, providedthere is no risk to the properadministration of justice.

Committee set up to combat jurors’ internet use

Vayu considersentering homegas marketBy Nicola CookeIndustry Correspondent

Vayu, one of the country’s lar-gest commercial suppliers ofnatural gas, is considering en-tering the domestic marketthrough the rollout of pay-as-you-gometers.Bord Ga¤ is has already in-

stalled meters in the homes of8,000 of its customers who arehaving difficulties paying theirbills, and plans to have 20,000installedby the endof this year.However,Vayu’s managing di-rector, Colm Kennedy, said hewould not want to enter the re-sidential market with any ‘‘metoo’’ products.‘‘We are looking at this 12 to

18 months down the line, andwant to bring an entirely inno-vative product to the market,’’he said.‘‘The real opportunity is to

present the customer with anadvantage ^ for example, thatthey might get a 10 per cent re-duction on their tariff using apre-paid system. It wouldworkon a flat fee per month, andwhether the meter would becharged for would depend onthe usage.’’Now seven years old, Vayu

has 800 commercial customersand around 25 per cent of thehigh-end industrial market. It

recently won government con-tracts to provide gas to a num-ber of large hospitals andprisons, and is also targetingbusinesses outside Ireland.It recently set up aNewYork

office and is also a regulatedgas provider in Britain andHolland.UnitedDrug ^ one ofits large Irish customers ^ hassigned a deal to be supplied byVayu at its British facilities.According toKennedy,Vayu

is also in negotiations with an-other large client about a simi-lar deal in Britain, and expectsto do some business in Hollandsoon.TheNewYorkoffice was set

up to have a base near some ofthe global headquarters of ma-jor players in Ireland, such asPfizer and Johnson& Johnson.Vayu has worked with Enter-prise Ireland, and has also metAmerican companies that areconsidering locating in Irelandthrough the IDA.‘‘The IDAtouchedbasewith

us in NewYork and asked us toexplain the Irish energymarkettoUS companies.‘‘This is something we are

happy to do, but it also givesus the opportunity tomeet pro-spective clients.‘‘Webelieve Ireland could be

an energyhub forEurope inthesameway thatwehavebeen forcall centres and software,’’Kennedy said.

Colm Kennedy, Vayu’s managing director TONY O’SHEA

Families will be treated tofree fun and frolics inWaterford City today, asstreet theatre festival Spraoitakes to its streets.From 4.30pm this after-

noon, hundreds of perfor-mers in specially-built floatswill make up An Bosca Beo,this year’s parade.It expects to attract in

excess of 40,000 people, andis a quirky take on the life ofa box – following it along thebumpy, winding roadthrough life – meeting char-acters like the Pandora’s BoxDevil (Anthony Power), pic-tured right.

Aviation dealArmac Systems, a Drogheda-based company that sellsintelligent inventory planning, has signed a capabilityenhancement agreement with SR Technics of Zurich, aleading independent provider of technical services for theaviation sector.SR Technics offers tailored solutions for the technical

support and management of aircraft fleets, engines andcomponents. Armac’s solution for inventory investmentfor SR Technics has resulted in a 25 per cent reduction incost for SR Technics. The agreement is worth e2 millionover the next two years.

Girl’s death investigatedGardai and the Health and Safety Authority have launchedseparate investigations after a four-year-old girl diedfollowing an accident in Co Offaly.It is believed she fell off a tractor at a house in Derryadd

near Killeigh last Friday evening. Gardai are treating thegirl’s death as an accident.

Strabane fireThe PSNI and firefighters are investigating the cause of afire which broke out in the early hours of last Saturdaymorning in a listed mill near Strabane.The fire was concentrated on the fourth and fifth floors

of the premises and took three hours to bring undercontrol.

Belfast murderA 55-year-old man was arrested in connection with aloyalist murder in Belfast last Friday. The victim, BobbyMoffett, 43, was gunned down in broad daylight on theShankill Road in May, 2010.The suspect was detained in north Belfast and ques-

tioned in an Antrim police station.Moffett was a member of the UVF-allied Red Hand

Commando organisation.

Awards for CooleyThe Cooley distillery won eight gold medals at theInternational Wine & Spirits Competition in London lastweek. Among the medal haul was a record four goldmedals for its Connemara Peated Single Malt IrishWhiskey range, including two best-in-class honours.Two recently launched whiskeys, a Kilbeggan 18-year-

old de luxe blended Irish whiskey and a Greenmore 18-year-old single grain Irish whiskey, won gold medals intheir first judging.A Lockes eight-year-old single malt and Tyrconnell ten-

year-old madeira finish single malt were among the repeatwinners for Cooley.

News Bulletin

Banks’ redundancy payments slashed by governmentBy Eleanor Rosney

New tensions have emergedover proposed job cuts in thebanking sector, following ameeting at which the Depart-ment of Finance told three na-tionalised Irish banks thatredundancy payments wouldhave to be held to around three

weeks per year of service fordeparting employees, half theprevious industry norm.At last Thursday’s meeting,

senior officials told AIB, An-glo and Irish Life&Permanentto draw up plans based aroundredundancy packages offeredin parts of the public sector, in-cluding the HSE, which werethree weeks per year, plus stat-utory entitlements.

Yesterday, the IBOA, thetrade union representing em-ployees in the financial servicessector, expressed ‘‘shock’’ afterlearning of the meetings.‘‘We haven’t been made

aware of any meeting that tookplace between theDepartmentof Finance and HR managersof nationalised banks,’’ saidLarry Broderick, the IBOAgeneral secretary. ‘‘Instead of

trying to reach agreements onredundancy payments, the De-partment shouldbe doingwhatit can to protect jobs within thebanking sector. I am shockedto think that its focus is on re-dundancy terms and not onmaximising jobs,’’ he said.Broderick added that, as the

union representing thousandsof employees in the financesector, ‘‘we should have been

made aware of this.The exactterms of redundancies havenot even been finalised yet.This is extremely premature.’’Previously, the standard rate

on severance pay in the bank-ing sector was approximatelysix weeks per year of serviceplus entitlements, but the de-partment told managers thatHSE redundancy rates werethree weeks’ pay and two statu-

tory weeks’ pay per year of ser-vice.Broderick said that, if this

was the case, HSE structureswould have to be implementedacross the whole banking sec-tor. ‘‘HSE members retire at50, and if the Departmentwishes to draw up redundancypackages in line with HSEones, there must be similaritiesacross the board,’’ he said.

Irish government team in Kenyaassessing humanitarian crisisBy Susan Mitchell

A technical team from Ireland is inthe Dadaab refugee camp in Kenyathis weekend assessing the escalatinghumanitarian crisis engulfing theHorn of Africa. The team travelled tothe camp in order to brief JanO’Sullivan, the Minister of State forTrade and Development, on how Ire-land can best to respond to theworsening crisis.As the worst drought in 60 years

grips east Africa, the conflict inSomalia continues to stymie reliefefforts. Kevin Farrell, Ireland’s foodenvoy, said the crux of the problemwas the difficulty in accessing regionsin south Somalia hit by famine thatare controlled by Islamist al Shabaabmilitants.‘‘There are not a lot of ready-made

solutions to that problem right now,’’Farrell said.On Friday, the United Nation’s

Office for the Coordination of Hu-manitarian Affairs (Ocha) raised theamount it needs to raise from its Hornof Africa humanitarian appeal to$2.48 billion. So far, the UN hasreceived around $1 billion. The total

amount needed was last raised to$1.99 billion on July 25.Ocha said the situation in the

region was ‘‘rapidly deteriorating’’;it estimates that 12 million people arenow affected by the crisis.Farrell said the UN and non-gov-

ernmental organisations (NGOs)working in Dadaab, which is housingsome 400,000 refugees, were over-whelmed by the scale and speed atwhich the crisis had developed. Hesaid there was a lack of equipmentand staff at Dadaab, but that the UNand NGOs were cranking up theiroperations.He expressed confidence that this

would happen soon, but said aidagencies were grappling with ‘‘stag-gering’’ malnutrition rates.Feilim McLaughlin, director of the

emergency and recovery unit at theDepartment of Foreign Affairs, whotravelled to Dadaab with Farrell, saidthe scale of the crisis was enormous,with 1,400 refugees arriving at thecamp each day.‘‘Dadaab is housing more people

than Cork, Limerick and Galway puttogether,’’ McLaughlin said.The UN declared a famine in two

regions of southern Somalia on July20, as severe drought wiped out live-

stock and left millions in need of foodand water in parts of country whichare already suffering from civil un-rest.Thousands of Somalis continue to

flee across the border to Ethiopia andKenya every day.More than e4.6 million has been

raised in public donations over thepast month by two of the biggest Irishindigenous charities operating in So-malia. Concern Worldwide has raisede2.6 million, while Trocaire hasraised e2 million.Non-governmental organisations

launched their fundraising appeal forthe Horn of Africa at the end of June,although many had been warningabout the impending disaster formany months.A government airlift of emergency

humanitarian supplies arrived in theSomalian capital, Mogadishu onWednesday, and 11 members of theRapid Response Corps have beendeployed to the region.The government, through Irish

Aid, is funding emergency feedingprogrammes run by Concern, Tro-caire and the International Commit-tee of the Red Cross in Somalia. Todate, it has provided almost e7 millionin aid to Somalia.

Somali refugee Arfon Mohummd sits with her ill daughter Farhiya Abdi, 3, in their makeshift hut on the edgeof the Hagadera refugee camp, part of the giant Dadaab refugee settlement GETTY

By Susan MitchellHealth Correspondent

Private hospitals stand to losetens of millions in earningsfrom the National TreatmentPurchase Fund (NTPF) as aresultof the government’s deci-sion to allow the fund to pay forpatients to be treated in publichospitals.The NTPF was due to havee85.6 million to spend on treat-ing public patients in privatehospitals this year, but the set-ting up of the Special DeliveryUnit (SDU), as well as changesto the fund’s role, will jeopar-dise that funding. Up untilnow, the NTPF had to pur-chase 90 per cent of treatmentsin the private sector.In 2010,theMater Private re-

ceived e23.6 million in pay-ments from the NTPF, whilethe Blackrock Clinic receivede9 million.The Galway Clinic, Beacon

Hospital and Mount CarmelHospital received e8.6 million,e4.9 million and e3.5 millionrespectively.Accounts filed by various

hospitals show NTPF pay-ments can represent a sizeableproportion of their overall in-come.In 2009, the Blackrock

Clinic was paid e9.75 millionunder the fund, which repre-sented 13 per cent of its overallincome. In the same year theGalway Clinic was paid e9.39million by the NTPF, account-ing for 16 per cent of its turn-over. The Mater Pr ivate’saccounts are not publicly avail-able.Health minister Dr James

Reilly wants the NTPF to sup-

port theworkof the SDUinthefuture, but the Department ofHealth was unable to clarifythe amount of money that theNTPF/SDU would have tospend for the remainder of2011.In a statement, it said that

‘‘details of the reallocation ofresources [was] under consid-eration’’.Last week, JamesReilly said

hewouldorderall publichospi-tals to ensure they have no pa-tients waiting more than 12months for treatments by theend of the year. If they fail todo so, they will face financialpenalties.The NTPF will also target

particular backlogs, ratherthan routinely accepting refer-rals of patients who have beenwaiting for treatment for overthree months.The fund will not take any

new referrals while it is in thistransition phase.The Independent Hospitals

Association of Ireland (IHAI)said it would ‘‘continue toworkwith the Department and theMinister on this and otherschemes’’. But hospital man-agers warned that the movewould lead to job losses in theindependent hospital sector,which employs an estimated8,000 people.The NTPF was set up in

2002 to reduce surgery waitinglists for public patientsby usingcapacity in private hospitals.When a patient has been on apublic hospital waiting list formore than three months, treat-ment can be sought in privatehospitals.The fund has arranged treat-

ment for more than 200,000public patients since its estab-lishment in 2002.

Private hospitals tolose millions afterchanges to NTPF

NOEL BROWNE

Craic agus Spraoi in Waterford

Anthony Weldon Liquidator of

AVOCA JEWELLERSBlackrock Shopping Centre,

BlackrockCo. Dublin

LIQUIDATION SALE NOW ON

ALL JEWELLERY MUST GO!!

See page 20Jurors in dock over internetuse

n4 News THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 31 2011

A s the dust settleson last week’skilling of 77 peo-ple in bombingand shooting at-tacks in Norway,

the issue now facingEurope’s secur-ity authorities is overspill.Will An-ders Breivik’s massacre prove a callto arms for the far right of radicalChristian fundamentalism?Between information listed in

Breivik’s online manifesto andfurther tracing of his movements,the Norwegian authorities have as-certained that he had extensive con-t a c t s w it h ot h e r Eu rop e anindividuals with far-right tenden-cies. But while it seems that he dis-cussed ideology and planning withthese men, authorities believe thathe orchestrated his act of terrormore or less on his own.The problem now is that hisman-

ifesto may act as a manual for radi-calisation of the far right, as well asa ‘‘how-to’’ guide for the single ter-rorist. The most difficult aspect ofthe operation for Breivik was the

bombing in Oslo. Despite his care-ful amassing of a large amount ofexplosives ^ 950 kilogrammes ofammonia nitrate ^ he did not man-age to kill more than eight peopleand did not demolish any buildings.In more experienced hands, such

a quantity of explosive materialcould havekilledmanymore peopleand caused considerably more da-mage to infrastructure.This meansthat law enforcement and intelli-gence agencies must now start to fo-cus more on the ‘‘how’’ of terroristattacks, rather than the ‘‘why’’, ifthey are to prevent them.In the recent past, racial and eth-

nic profiling was used extensively inan effort to contain terrorism.How-ever, a clever and adaptable terroristor grouping will always try to cir-cumvent this by turning such profil-ing on its head.Richard Reid, the Briton who at-

tempted to detonate a shoe-bombon an American plane, was a con-vert to radicalism and did not comefrom a typical Islamic background.And as Breivik has proved, there

will always be the potential for indi-viduals who have no outward con-nection to anything sinister to havetheir heads turned by obscure anddangerous ideologies.National authorities will there-

fore have to adapt their anti-terror-

ism strategies. While the Israelishave led the way in terms of moni-toring websites and making contactwith recruiting sergeants for radicalgroups,other governmentswill nowhave to devote more time and atten-tion to who has the material and

knowledge necessary to carry outacts of terrorism.The difference between Breivik

and a typical ‘‘organisational’’ ter-rorist is that all the materials Brei-vik used were easily and legallysourced in his home country. In

many cases, more established ter-rorists will have the expertise tomanufacture or illegally purchasetechnical components, materialsand specialist weapons.Aside from his explosives and de-

tonators, Breivik had two weapons

that he used to kill up to 68 peopleonUtoya island ^ a 5.56mm RugerMini-14 assault-type rifle, and aGlock 9mm pistol, both of whichhe apparently purchased legally.This was another way in which hedeviated from more standard ter-rorist practice.Terrorists tend to follow a num-

ber of steps in order to gain maxi-mum effect and use from thecrimes they commit.These includeoperational planning, deploymentand attack, media exploitation, andescape.While Breivik’s operational plan-

ning, deployment and attack werefar from flawless, they did follow anormal pattern, and his media ex-ploitation strategy is clear from thetype of acts he carried out. How-ever, in not escaping, or even see-mingly planning to, he has raisedan issue that will be an increasingheadache for authorities ^ terroristsusing theWest’s courts and judicialsystems to proclaim martyrdom forthe cause, and issue a call to arms tothose of similar mindsets.In away, this is awesternised ver-

sion of the Islamic suicide bombing.Breivikmay not havekilled himself,but he has knowingly sacrificed hisfreedom in order to push his radicalagenda.This is a startlingly danger-ous concept for the open societythat is Europe.

Declan Power is an independentsecurity and defence analyst, and aformer career soldier

Can another tragedy like Norway be prevented?

A close friend of Bano Rashid (18), one of the victims of the massacre on the youth camp of the Norwegian Labour Party, walksahead of Rashid’s coffin as the cortege made its way to the burial site last week GETTY

By Eleanor Rosney

Dublinbikes, the public bikehire scheme run by JCDecauxonbehalfof DublinCityCoun-cil, has recorded a new recordfor journeys made in a singleday ^ 6,280 on July 13.The pre-vious record was 6,043 onApril 15.Dublinbikes has approxi-

mately 59,000 members, about

two thirds of whom have takenout annual membership. Over2.3 million journeys have beenmade by members since thescheme began in 2009.‘‘There are now 550 bikes in

the scheme operating in 44 sta-tions. This means each bikewas used almost 11.5 times onJuly 13, which is absolutelywonderful,’’ said Dublin’s lordmayor Andrew Montague,who first came upwith the ideafor the scheme. ‘‘It shows once

again the demand for thescheme, and expanding it issomething I will prioritise asmayor.’’Members of the scheme pay

e10 for an annual membership,and a three-day ticket is avail-able for e2.Credit card details are re-

quired when signing up for theservice and payment is takenfrom that card, but trips thatlast less than 30 minutes arefree. As the average trip lasts

just 13 minutes, 97 per cent ofall trips are free.Dublin City Council plans

to increase the size of thescheme tenfold over the nextfive years.The number of stations will

rise from 41 to 300 in a movewhich will bring the service tothe Dublin suburbs. The firstbatch of new stations is ex-pected to be located along theroute from Heuston station tothe docklands.

Dublinbikes users set new journey recordBy Emma KennedyPersonal Finance Correspondent

German discount retailers continue tolead the way on grocery prices, accord-ing to a shopping survey conducted byThe Sunday Business Post.The survey priced a basket of ten

basic grocery items such as milk, breadand cheese across nine retailers.The figures were based on the

cheapest available own-brand items ineach store.If no own-brand option was available,

the price for the cheapest availablecomparable product was included.

However if a branded item was cheaperthan the own-brand alternative, thelower-priced item was included.Lidl was the cheapest of the nine

retailers in the survey, with a totalshopping bill of e8.56 for the basket ofitems.Lidl was also the only one of the

retailers where the total bill was lessthan e10.Rival discount retailer Aldi was the

second-cheapest, with a total bill ofe10.83. The country’s largest player inthe grocery market, Tesco, had thethird-lowest bill, coming in at e11.29.Marks & Spencers was the most

expensive option, with the total bill forthe ten items coming in at e22.39, more

than twice the total cost for the sameitems in Lidl.A recent grocery market survey by

the National Consumer Agency re-vealed a price difference of just 3.4 percent between the cheapest and the mostexpensive retailer, and prompted con-cerns to be raised about price-matching.In the NCA’s survey of 92 commonly

purchased branded products, some 34out of 92 products had identical pricesacross all retailers.

Mass murderer Anders Breivik didnot match the terrorist profile and hisdeeds may act as a template for otherfar-right extremists, writesDeclanPower

German supermarkets stillcheapest, says Post survey

By Eleanor Rosney

Audit Diagnostics, a Cork-basedmanufacturer and distri-butor of diagnostic reagentsand equipment, has mergedwith a Polish diagnostics firmin a deal estimated to be worthbetween e12 million and e18million.Established in 1993, Audit

Diagnostics manufactures aline of ready-to-use diagnosticreagents for the testing of

blood, glycerol, cholesterol andother medical tests. It alsomanufactures small specialistequipment that can be foundin doctors’ offices and casualtydepartments. It has distribu-tion and manufacturing part-n e r s i n mor e t h a n 10 0countries around the world.Under the sale and cash

agreement with PZ Cormay,the company hopes to generatesales of at least e9 million andmake anetprofitofe1.7millionin 2012, rising to e13 millionand e2.5 million respectively

in 2013. ‘‘Wehave a strongmar-ket in Asia and eastern Eur-ope, and PZ Cormay has astrong market in SouthAmeri-ca andRussia.‘‘We want to merge our

knowledge and expertise, andbegin to trade in the NorthAmerican market,’’ said Mi-chael O’Donovan, chief execu-tive of Audit Diagnostics.Cork will become the re-

search and development head-quarters for the company,which will now have plants inCork, France and Poland.

The Cork plant will con-tinue to trade under the nameof Audit Diagnostics, and overthe next 12 months, betweenten and 20 jobs will be createdin research and development,production, sales and market-ing.‘‘Now we are part of a larger

group, we will be much stron-ger going forward, and willhave the opportunity to launcha diverse range of products,’’said O’Donovan, who hasjoined the board of the Cor-may Group.

Irish and Polish firms merge in deal

By Susan Mitchell

Seventy junior doctor posts re-main unfilled at hospitals inthe Dublin North East region,the Health Service Executive(HSE) confirmed last week.A total of 193 posts remain

unfilled around the country,with Our Lady of LourdesHospital in Drogheda continu-ing to experience a shortfall of

43 junior doctors. A total of 59posts are unfilled in hospitalsin the west, and a further 41 inthe south.Hospitals in theDublin mid-

Leinster areas fare best ^ theyare short 23 doctors in total.While the HSE had pre-

viously indicated that doctorsfrom India and Pakistan hadbeen assigned toposts at hospi-tals around the country, manyhospitals are still having tocope with staff shortages, be-

cause these doctors still haveto obtain registration in Ire-land.Over a quarter of NCHD

positions at emergency depart-ments (EDs) around the coun-try remain unfilled accordingto Dr Fergal Hickey, presidentof the Irish Association ofE m e r g e n c y Me d i c i n e(IAEM).He told the Irish Medical

News that the results of anIAEM survey, carried out on

July 15 across 31 EDs in Ire-land, revealed that there was avacancy rate of 28 per cent inmiddle grade and supervisoryposts.Hickey said the shortfall of

NCHDs was ‘‘ real ly badnews’’.‘‘We have young and inex-

perienced doctors starting thejob, and increasing numbers ofthose are coming from differ-ent systems in eastern Eur-ope,’’ he said.

Doctor shortfall ‘very bad news’

By Eleanor Rosney

Twenty new jobs are to be createdover the next 18 months at Ireland’sonly manufacturer of natural weed-killer. Oisin Concannon, a fomerbuilderandarmyprivate, set upIrishOrganicWeedkiller in 2009, and hasjust opened a new factory in Clare-galway.He spotted a gap in the market for

a natural weedkiller after being sentout on a shopping trip by his wife.‘‘She was opening a Montessorischool, and wanted weedkiller thatwould be safe to use around the chil-dren. I couldn’t find any, so after a lotof research and patience, I perfectedthe formula for the product,’’ he said.Irish OrganicWeedkiller is fully

biodegradable, and safe for usearound pets and children.Concannon estimates that the

Claregalway factory will produceover 260,000 litres of weedkiller inits first year, and said the new jobswill be in all areas of the business in-cluding personnel, general labour,marketing, administration and dis-tribution.

His is the only Irish company li-censed to manufacture and market100 per cent natural weedkiller inIreland, and it holds licenses to de-velop 13 natural weedkiller pro-ducts. Concannon has investede250,000 in the new 5,000 squarefoot factory.He is launching his weedkiller in

Norway this month, and will show-case it at the GleeTrade Fair in Bir-mingham in September.The fair isBritain’s largest garden,

landscaping, leisure and pet industry

show. Since launching the company,Concannon has developed two newproducts ^ aweedball dispenser anda natural path and patio cleaner.‘‘We are currently one of the top

three weedkillers in Ireland and arereally looking forward to the nextfew months,’’ he said.‘‘In February, we are launching a

natural slug barrier and a naturaldeep-root killer, and at the momentwe have interest in our productsfrom North Africa, Portugal, Ger-many, theNetherlands and the US.’’

By John BurkePublic Affairs Correspondent

More than 2,700 tonnes of potentiallylethal asbestos-soiledmaterial has beenremoved from a 30-year-old dump sitein Cork harbour. The decision to re-move the large volume of material wasmade after a number of state agenciesagreed an action plan to excavate thecontroversial formerRaybestos facility.The 1.4-hectare site was opened in

1978 but closedwithin twoyears follow-ing local opposition to the US firm’splans to inter a limited quantity of as-bestos there.The asbestos was a by-product from

the Raybestos Manhattan brakepadplant,which was based in Ovens in CoCork from 1978 to 1980. The plantclosed in 1980 with the loss of all 130jobs.It was initially believed that Raybes-

tos had buried approximately 800tonnes of asbestos at the site in Barna-hely, near Ringaskiddy.The companyhad a licence tobury 1,000 tonnes ofas-bestos under strict conditions,which in-

volved the asbestos being sealed incement pellets and wrapped in heavyduty plastic bags. However, when thesite was excavated, 2,794 tonnes of as-bestos-soiled material was discovered.A significant volume of this was looseand unbagged, due to deterioration.A decision was taken in 2008 by a

number of state agencies including theHSE, the Health and Safety Authority,the Environmental Protection Agency,Cork County Council and the IDA toclean up the site.The decision followedalmost three decades of lobbying fromlocal activists.The cost of the operation was borne

by the IDA,which had backed the initi-alRaybestosmove to Cork.The excava-tion began in 2009 and continued intolast year.The IDA hired a contractor toremove 1,000 tonnes of asbestos at afixed price of e210,000, but the final billfor the clean-up is estimated ate849,000.The IDAwas concerned thatif it did not remove the asbestos quicklyonce it was located,there would be con-siderable health and safety issues.The material has been removed and

sent to a waste facility near Hanover inGermany.

Lidl was the cheapest of nine retailers in the Sunday Business Post survey BLOOMBERG

See Money and Markets, page 4How much income do we spend onfood?

Oisin Concannon of Irish Organic Weedkiller

Weedkiller firm to create 20 jobs 2,700 tonnes of asbestosremoved from Cork dump

n6 News THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 31 2011

TECHNOLOGY

Networking firm on a roll

V ordel, theDu-bl i n-bas edXML n e t -work man-a g e m e n tcompany, has

grown significantly over thepast year, increasing its reven-ues by 91 per cent and seeingits profits rise sevenfold.According to chief executive

Vic Morris, the breakthroughresults have been achieved dueto a focus on solid product de-velopment, tight control ofsales costs and a maturingmarket that is causing an up-surge of interest in its products.‘‘In the past, the technology

space has been quite challen-ging,’’ he said. ‘‘We had in-vested quite significantly inthe product and raised moneyand invested in some partner-ships. We have always been

very cautious about the salesgoals we have set for ourselves,and the extent to which we in-vested in sales by hiring peopleand investing in marketing.’’Morris said that changing

market conditions over thepast two years had been a keyfactor behind the company’ssuccess. In particular, theemergence of cloud computinghas been very important forVordel. A growing number offirms are opting to shift someof their functions onto thecloud in order to save moneyon IT infrastructure costs.According to Morris, Vor-

del’s product is well suited tobusinesses making this transi-tion since it addressed two ofthe key concerns they had.‘‘The first issue is security,’’ he

said. ‘‘If I am using an externalservice and putting my corpo-rate data there, can I be surethat it is secure and nobody isgoing to leak it?‘‘The other is, how do you

manage to connect those cloudsystems to your existing infra-structure? Nobody dumps thesystems that they already have.If a bank spends 20 yearsbuilding accounting systems,it doesn’t want to dump themand still want to use it with thenew external services. Thoseare two of the things that ourproduct does.We connect dif-ferent systems and services to-gether, andwe secure them.’’The latest set of accounts for

the company reveal the impactthat this has had. Turnover inthe year ending December 31,2010 was e6.1 million.This wasup from e3.3million in the pre-vious year.While the company’s costs

have increased, they have doneso at a lower rate comparedwith revenue growth. Vordel’scost of sales increased frome530,000 in 2009 to e848,000

in 2010. Operating expensesrose from e2.6 million to e3.8million in the same period.The trend has resulted in a

much improved level of profit-ability. Vordel booked a e1.4million profit for 2010, up frome194,000 in 2009. This meantthat the company’s accumu-lated losses narrowed to e10.3million by year end. Share-holders’ funds stood at e2.6million.Morris said that as a result

of the upsurge of interest inthe product, the companydecided to loosen the pursestrings and invest more in itssales operations. ‘‘In particularwe expanded our office in theUnited States,’’ he said. ‘‘Wehired a new head of US opera-tions to be based in our officein Boston. Mark O’Neill, ourchief technology officer, is stillbased here and that has been amajor factor for us. We alsoopened new offices in Europe,France andGermany.’’The company has upped the

number of reseller partner-ships it has. One of the mostsignificant partnerships it hassecured has been with Oracle,a deal which was announcedrecently, but was sealed to-wards the endof lastyear.Mor-ris said that the two companieswere now co-selling into Ora-cle accounts, which had re-sulted in some major deals forVordel around the world.

‘‘As an Irish company weare very international in ouroutlook,’’ he said. ‘‘This year,for example,we are doing quitewell in the Middle East.We al-ways had some customersthere, but this year we closed anumber of big deals.We havecontinued to push into EasternEurope and South Americatoo. The Oracle partnershipreally helps there and we getcalls from them all the timewith new leads for customers.’’Morris said that the firm

would cons ider open ingfurther international offices ifthe demand was there. This ispartly fuelled by new clientsand partly down to bigger cli-ents with multinational loca-t i o n s e x p e c t i n g t o b e

supported in these areas aswell. ‘‘We are driven mostly bymomentum,’’ he said. ‘‘Onceyou have customers in a region,there is always the demand forlocal support. That drove ourdecision to open an office inParis.’’Among the new clients the

company has won are KaiserPermanente in the US, BNPParibas in France and a largeutilities company in the Neth-erlands. Morris said that theextra cash being generated byimproved sales was beingploughed back into the busi-ness.‘‘We are continuing to ex-

pand our engineering capabil-ity,’’ he said. ‘‘We have hiredquite a few people in Dublin toenhance our team. The morecustomers you have, the moreyou find out what you shouldbe doing with your product.You get a lot more feedback.We get an understanding bothwhat they like about our pro-duct and what they want us todo as we move forward.‘‘We have planned some ma-

jor extensions. The way theproduct has been built is thatwe have focused on an archi-tectural platform that is verypowerful and very fast, andcan be used by customers tosolve a large number of pro-blems.We are now building onthat platform to add more fo-cused solutions.’’

Vic Morris, Vordel chief executive: ‘As an Irish company we are very international in our outlook’

Nenagh student wins awardShane Cody from CBS St Joseph’s Nenagh has beenannounced as the winner of the T4 U-Design IT 2011award. In this year’s competition, which was sponsoredby Dell, students were asked to design a next generationlaptop. Judges said that the top entrants demonstratedan appreciation and understanding of the futuredemands of students and young professionals while alsoshowing an awareness of the sensitivities of productdesign.

Kainoswins BritishcontractBelfast software company Kainos has won a new dealwith the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman(PHSO) in Britain. Kainos secured a contract to overseeand manage the delivery of an electronic document andrecords management system for the PHSO.The system will be made available to 450 users in

offices in London and Manchester. Kainos valued thedeal at about £250,000 (e288,000).

Eircomdealwith AspectEircom has signed a new deal with communications firmAspect. The contract will see Eircom provide sales,customer service and technical support for Aspect’srange of unified communications for contact centreapplications. Eircom will support existing Aspect clientsas well as carrying Aspect’s platform products andapplications in its sales portfolio across Ireland. Thevalue of the deal was not disclosed.

Cisco extends its reachIrish telecoms software firm Openet has signed a newglobal reseller agreement with Cisco Systems. Under theterms of the deal, Cisco will resell Openet products suchas Policy Manager, Convergent Charging, Network EdgeRating, Balance Manager, Profile Manager and Con-vergent Mediation.All of these products are running on Cisco’s Unified

Competing Systems (UCS). Under the terms of theagreement, Cisco will sell, deploy and support solutionsbuilt upon Openet’s software products globally. Openetsaid the deal would greatly increase the firm’s reach intoworldwide markets.

TechWEEK

Harry Economos and Sarah Twaddell, runners-upfrom Sutton Park School, Dublin, winner ShaneCody from CBS St Joseph’s Nenagh, Co Tipper-ary, Dermot O’Connell, managing director, DellCherrywood, and Pat Curran, coordinator, T4Support Services

By Eleanor Rosney

S nap Ireland has partneredwith publishing software firmQuark to launch a new de-sign, print and marketing ser-

vice for the Irish market.Mydesignbysnap.ie allows customers

to design and customise business cards,brochures, posters, flyers and morefrom thousands of templates featuredon the site.Customers can have their or-der delivered to them or pick it up fromone of 22 Snap printing centres acrossIreland.‘‘This partnership came about as a

result of the relationship with Quarkand Snap in Australia, where a similarventure was launched last year,’’ saidJohn Eager, chief executive of Snap.‘‘The relationship we have with Quarkis very successful.Theyhave committedto Snap on the basis that as we gain afoothold on the market, we will sharethe success going forward.Froma SnapIreland perspective, there is no way wecould have had this technology exper-tise without the help of Quark.’’Customers can create a full suite of

products, including business cards, let-terheads, brochures and other key mar-keting materials ensuring a cohesivebrand image in all aspects of marketingtheir business.‘‘In the print industry, this will pro-

tect jobs aswemanufacture in Ireland,’’said Eager. ‘‘We are beating our maininternet competition by having theprinting done in Ireland and protecting

120 jobs in our 22 centres.’’Ray Schiavone, president and chief

executive of Quark, said: ‘‘Looking atthe Irish market we felt there was agreat opportunity to reach a client basethat is not being served today, or worse,being served by providers outside thecountry.’’He highlighted the importance of

this venture for the Irish economy.‘‘We are hosting the service in Ire-

land and creating economic value forthe hosting centre,’’ Schiavone said.‘‘As the venture expands, there will bea need for support resources creatingadditional jobs. And lastly you have the

local Snap franchisees that will benefitby producing this locally. The moneystays in the local economy so itbecomesavirtuous cycle and benefits many peo-ple.’’Quark is currently in communica-

tions with a number of printing compa-nies in Canada and mainland Europeto establish similar partnerships. Schia-vone said similar partnerships could becreated because there is a successfultemplate in place from their venturesin Australia.‘‘Each one of these ventures will har-

ness the capability of the self-service onthe internet but also be managed lo-

cally,’’ he said. ‘‘Each one will be a littledifferent depending on geography andlocal market.‘‘We are trying to change the tradi-

tional internet model with local retail.We have a personal relationshipcoupled with a self-service design ele-ment. For people who are maybe inti-midated by creating this type ofmaterial, there is a combination of localassistance with a self service model.’’While many businesses nowadays

forgo business literature due to costand environmental factors, Eager saidprintwas still avital componentofmar-keting for many businesses.‘‘Socially, communication is chan-

ging,’’ he said. ‘‘There are internet,email and social media, but there is stillprint too.The largest rising section inthe print industry is marketing print.Seventy-eight per cent of electroniccommunication is by email. Most mar-keting campaigns nowadays are whatwe call cross media. There are twolayers to it, aprinted layerandatechnol-ogy layer.’’Thewebsite is aimed at small tomed-

ium businesses and Schiavone believesit will prove to be a key factor in the re-covery ofour economy.‘‘As the economy recovers, it will be

driven by entrepreneurial ventures,’’ hesaid. ‘‘This is what drives recovery.Weinvested in the downturn and launchingthis during the recovery is the perfecttime in the cycle.‘‘As those people who have been

made redundant start to innovate andcome up with ideas, this is the perfecttool for that stage.’’

Snappy deal for online printing

EDITED BY ADRIAN WECKLER e-mail: adrian@sbpost.ie; twitter: @adrianweckler

Vic MorrisPosition: chief executiveof VordelEmployees: 80Turnover: e6.1 millionBackers: Elderstreet,BJM, Dresdner KleinwortWasserstein, Bank ofScotland (Ireland), theH a t t o n I n v e s t m e n tGroup, Intel Capital andEnterprise IrelandIn the news: experienceda 91 per cent increase inturnover last year

Dick O’Brien

Vordel, the Dublin-based network managementcompany, has increased revenues by over 90 percent and seen profits rise sharply in just a year

John Eager, chief executive of Snap, Ray Schiavone, president andchief executive of Quark

Commercial profile: Construction IT Alliance

New discipline emerges inthe construction industryDespite the fact that the de-cline of the construction in-dustry has been unparalleledin Ireland over the past fouryears, the Construction ITAl-liance (CITA) has success-fu l ly i nt roduc ed a newConstruction InformaticsMasters (MSc) programmeto the sector during the last 18months.The course gives students

the flexibility of distancelearning and allows modulesto be taken individually if de-sired.The course is accreditedby the Dublin Institute ofTechnology and receives fi-nancial support from Skill-nets.Enda Grimes, senior plan-

ner with John Paul Construc-tion, is currently enteringYearTwo of the Construction In-formatics (MSc)Masters Pro-gramme and he recentlyspoke on why he chose thecourse.‘‘I have a particular interest

in Bui lding InformationModelling (BIM),’’ Grimessaid. ‘‘After doing some re-search I found that this courseprovided the opportunity todelve further into the world ofBIM and project collabora-tion and this was one of myprimary reasons for choosingthe programme.‘‘By using the latest design

technologies, problems can bevisually projected and solvedbefore a sod is turned on site.The possible benefits on pro-

jects are enormous and al-ready I am transferring theknowledge gained from theMSc Programme into use oncurrent John Paul Construc-tion projects.’’Mark Coatsworth, con-

tracts manager with JohnPaul Construction, outlinedthe advantages of having aparticipant on the course.‘‘The main challenge for

John Paul Construction inthese difficult times is toachieve continued growth inan increasingly competitiveenvironment,’’ Coatsworthsaid. ‘‘This can only be main-tainedby improved efficiency,diversification and expansioninto newglobal markets.‘‘The use of IT has long

been a core part of our busi-ness, and we consider our-selves to be at the forefront interms of ITuse within the in-dustry. By supporting Endaon this course, John PaulConstruction has alreadybenefited from the knowledgeand new ideas that someonewith a qualification in con-

struction informatics willbring to the company.’’The first module of the next

semester starts with an at-tended lecture in DIT, BoltonStreet, Dublin 1 on Friday,September 2.The subject willbe: Interoperability and BIMModels.As part of a new initiative

by CITA Skillnet, a limitednumber of free places areavailable to unemployed par-ticipants.CITAwill hold a free infor-

mational breakfast meetingabout the MSc on Thursday,August 25 in the offices of theSCSI,Dublin.Enquiries for the course

can be made to MichaelO’Donnell, CITA Skillnet, ontel: 01-470-4334 or emailmodonnell@cita.ie. Furtherinformation is available atwww.cita.ie/msc

Rathmines Square mixed development which used 4dmodelling

m6 THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTAUGUST 7 2011

A selection of

business

features

B arely a decadeafter the firstcar appearedon Irish roads,JJ Kavanaghdecided there

was a future in motoring andset up a coach company inKilkenny. More than 90 yearson, the family’s buses are a fa-miliar sight on Irish roads.

Now run by Kavanagh’sgrandsons Paul and JJ, thecompany, JJ Kavanagh &Sons, is the largest privately-owned coach company in Ire-land,with 170 coaches and 230staff. After several acquisitionsand investment of more thane40 million in coaches in re-cent years, they are turningtheir attention to expansion inBritain and mainland Europe.

Although 100 per cent Irish-owned, the firm can attributesome of its origins to London,according to JJ Kavanagh.After leaving school in theearly 1900s, the brothers’grandfather headed for theEnglish capital, where heworked for his brother-in-law

in a hackney firm.He also tooknight classes where he learnedabout the mechanics and elec-trics of cars.

WhenWorldWar I broke outin 1914, Kavanagh decided hedid notwant to fight for a causehe didn’t believe in, so he re-

turned to Urlingford. Armedwith the knowledge he hadpicked up in London, heopened his own hackney com-pany.

Motor transport was still re-latively new and there was littlepublic transport in Ireland.

Kavanagh began buying andselling cars and, as they be-came more popular and theirpotential became clear, hebought a bus and started outin business. The first route ofJJ Kavanagh & Sons (Urling-fo r d to K i l k e n ny) wa s

launched in 1919.‘‘The bus used to leave on a

Thursday morning at fouro’clock for the fair in Kilken-ny,’’ said JJ Kavanagh. ‘‘It ransix days a week. That servicecommenced in 1919 and stilloperates today, Monday to Sa-turday.

‘‘It still takes approximatelythe same length of time toreach Kilkenny, so things havenot changed that much ^ ex-cept,back then,you got six gal-lons of petrol for ten shillings.’’

As the years went by, thebusiness grew and expandedinto newspaper distribution. In1925, theKavanaghsbegan dis-tributing papers across abroadsweep of the country from Por-tlaoise towest Cork.The week-end and Sunday papers weredistributed by the companyuntil 1995,when the three IrishPress titles closed.

The firm was the largest dis-tributor of British papers inIreland, and the only wholesa-ler in Ireland that worked con-tinuously throughWorldWar IIwhile coping with cripplingfuel shortages. Despite theseshortages, it also expanded thebus routes during the war,withnew services introduced toClonmel, Roscrea and Por-tlaoise.

Two more family businesseswere also spawned ^ in 1945,Paul and JJ’s uncle, Bernard,set up Bernard Kavanagh andSons and, in 1968, another un-cle named John Kavanagh setup Pierce Kavanagh Coaches.These companies also operateout of Urlingford today.

When JJ Kavanagh died in1957, his son ^ Paul and JJ’sfather ^ tookover the business.Paul and JJ both became di-rectly involved in 1983, havingworked part-time for the firmthroughout their youth.

Paul came aboard right aftersecondary school, and JJjoined after he studied accoun-tancy for a year in Oliver Frea-

ney & Co (now Smith &Williamson Freaney) in Kilk-enny.

‘‘We would workon a Satur-day, beginning at midnight,and get orders ready for differ-ent customers. We had fivetrucks and 12 vanson the roadsdelivering papers at the week-ends,’’ said JJ.

When their father died in1986, aged 63, the sons steppedup to run the business.

‘‘Myself and Paul took it onthen and continued with thenewspapers for the next coupleof years, but we saw a future intransport,’’JJ said.

The brothers began to ex-pand the business dramati-cally. They shifted their focusfrom newspapers to coaches,and developed a more directbusiness model, focused on ac-quisition and organic growth.

In 1992, they bought Prin-cess Coaches in Clonmel andin 1995, they purchased Ken-neally’s inWaterford for its cityservice. At the time they tookover the Waterford service, itwas the only licensed, privatelyoperated service in an Irishcity. They have since trebledthe frequency of that operationand have extended its operat-ing hours.

Business continued to boomand, in that same year, theyalso purchasedToohey’s in Ne-nagh and Devine’s of New-bridge in Co Kildare. As aresult of the expansion, it nowhas depots at Urlingford, Ne-nagh,Waterford,Carlow,Naas,Dublin and Clonmel, aswell asback-up facilities in Galway,Killarney and Sligo.

Surprisingly, skiing trips toEurope have become a targetarea for the company. In 2009,it catered for about 100 skiingtrips, and that number grew to300 last year.

Encouraged by their experi-ences in Europe, the brothersdecided on a more permanentexpansion and made an acqui-

sition in England.‘‘We have looked at many

other operations over theyears, but we didn’t do muchelse in termsofacquisitionsun-til this year,’’ said JJ. ‘‘We pur-chased a business in Watford,north London, called Mulla-ny’s Coaches. It has 45 vehiclesin its fleet, and we took thatover in April. It is going verywell.We have added a few vehi-cles already, and are looking atexpanding that.’’

JJ Kavanagh’s business inBritain has increased dramati-cally in recent years, and thebrothers felt it was importantto have a base there to main-tain the service of their vehi-cles.Having bought Mullany’s,they plan to expand into otherparts of Britain.Paul said therewere considerable opportu-nities there and it was much ea-sier to operate a bus service.

‘‘It is a much better environ-ment to work and operate in[than Ireland]. You give 65days’ notice and you get a li-cence to start a service. Here,you could be waiting years toget that licence,’’ he said.

JJ believes that tourism isnot regarded as the valued con-tributor to the Irish economythat it once was. In 2000, thethen finance minister, CharlieMcCreevy, reduced excise dutyon diesel by 5p (now 7.5 cent)per litre. Prior to this, IR»289(now e367) in excise duty wascharged on every 1,000 litresof fuel bought.

‘‘Charlie McCreevy gave usa concession which meant thattourism expanded and grewdramatically,’’ said JJ. ‘‘BrianLenihan later withdrew theconcession, which was at thebeginning of the slump in tour-ism.Itwas costing a couple ofamillion a year to the govern-ment, but was generating mas-sive amounts of business in thestate.

‘‘The industry itself is notseen as important. It is a Cin-

derella business and an invisi-ble export. It is very hard totouch, and to quantify, and tofeel. I don’t think it is appre-ciated.There are 1,900 privateoperators in Ireland, [with]twice as many vehicles as BusEireann and CIE combined,with no state funding.’’

Despite this, business is up23 per cent at JJ Kavanaghcompared to this time lastyear,although profit margins arevery tight. The company hadturnover of e8.3 million in2010, down from e8.9 millionin 2009.

Airport services were a ex-tremely successful part of thebusiness,with several routes toDublin and Shannon airportsoperating every day. Whilethese services are still in place,Paul conceded that they werenot as popular as they oncewere, and said the firm hadhad to be innovative to combatthe fall-off and generate sales.

‘‘Tourism is up, I believe,butthe biggest downfall at the mo-ment is flights,’’ said Paul. ‘‘Atone stage,therewere 23 millionpeople visiting our shoresevery year. Last year, therewere 16 million.That is a mas-sive drop, and we see that inour airport services, whichhave fallen every month.

‘‘Since June 2008, we haveseen that decline. So what wehave tried to do is findoutwhatpeople are doing. People aregoing to concerts and matches,and we need to tap into these,’’he said.

So what does the futurehold? Paul said the company‘‘needs to focus on expansionin London at the moment’’,but whether it will continue tooperate as a familybusiness re-mains to be seen.

‘‘We are open-minded, sowould not rule out any offerswe received. But, of course,wewould look at every option be-fore deciding on somethinglike that,’’ said Paul.

With their combined off-spring of 12 children (Paul hasfour and JJ eight), they mightnot need to look too far fortheir successors.

JJ KavanaghDirector, JJ Kavanagh& SonsAge: 54Home: Urlingford, CoKilkennyFamily: married witheight childrenHobbies: GAA; servesas chairman of KilkennyBord na nOgCar: Mercedes S500

Paul KavanaghDirector, JJ Kavanagh& SonsAge: 47Home: Urlingford, CoKilkennyFamily: married withfour childrenHobbies: GAA; servesas chairman of theNorthern Board inKilkennyCar: Mercedes Vito

JJ Kavanagh& SonsFounded: 1919Employees: 230Locations: head officein Urlingford; otheroffices in Dublin, Naas,Carlow, Clonmel,Waterford and NenaghTurnover: e8.3 millionin 2010Shareholders: JJKavanagh, PaulKavanagh andJames Kavanagh

JJ Kavanagh& Sons, thecountry’slargestprivately-owned coachcompany, hasmade severalacquisitionsand branchedout in a bid toattract newcustomers,writes EleanorRosney

Business interview: JJ Kavanagh & Sons

‘‘

By James Enright

A lmost two-thirds ofIrish companies arenow using websitessuch as Facebook as

part of their business plan, ac-cording to a new survey.

The global study, by officemanagement company Regus,found that some 64 per cent ofIrish companies were using so-cial networking sites to drumup business and build custo-mer loyalty.

The findings put Irish com-panies significantly ahead ofthe global average of 52 per

cent in their willingness to usesocial media.

The research also revealsthat there was a rise in Irishcompanies using social mediato win new business, with 44per cent of firms successfullywinning newcustomers online.Although this was below theglobal average of 47 per cent,Irish firms lead Britain (41 percent) and the US (43 per cent)in their usage of social mediafor customer acquisition.

‘‘Social networking has fi-nally come into its own in thecommercial world, with Irishfirms clearly leading the wayin building customer loyalty byconnecting and engaging with

customers through the chan-nel,’’ said Olivier de Lavalette,regional vice-president ofRegus in Ireland.

‘‘Culturally, Irish and Brit-ish people are more interestedin adapting to new technolo-gies and social media usage ismore prevalent than in intern-ally focused countries like Ja-pan and central Europeancountries. It is a great tool forsmall businesses to keep intouch with customers andmonitor feedback.’’

The report said that socialnetworking had evolved intoan essential business tool, asthe majority of businesses inIreland (76 per cent) agreed

that without social media ac-tivity, their marketing initia-tives could not hope to besuccessful.

Websites such as Facebook,LinkedIn and Twitter are themost popular forms of socialmediaused by Irishbusinesses.Firms are also availing ofblogs, microblogs and onlineforums to connect and engagewith customers. Nevertheless,firms also emphasised theneed for a balance of market-ing media, made up of tradi-tional and digital techniques.

The Regus survey is basedon the responses of more than17,000 managers and businessowners in 80 countries.

Irish firms score high socially

This is a Cinderella business and aninvisible export. It is very hard to touch,and to quantify, and to feel’’

Paul and JJ KavanaghDYLAN VAUGHAN

n14 News Focus THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 24 2011

By Maura Quinn

Networking has never beenmore important than in thecurrent business climate. De-veloping and nurturing new re-lationships, and building andmaintaining business contacts,are hugely beneficial businesstools. Through networking, abusiness can build brandawareness and demonstrate itsexpertise, which could lead topotential clients and possiblebusiness sales.All business leaders should

try to engage in some form ofnetworking, whether it is sim-ply keeping in touch with busi-ness connections, attending anetworking event or businessforum, or joining a businessnetworking group online.Thisis equally important for non-executive directors who wantto build their profile or whomay be looking for new oppor-tunities.While some may find the

process of networking diffi-cult, it is simply a set of beha-viours that anyone can learn.The more often you network,the better you will become at

it. Here are some simple tips tohelp you get the best out ofbusiness networking.

& Be yourself: networking isall about being genuine.Peoplewant to deal with those theycan trust, so it is very impor-tant to be open and honest inyour communication.& Pay attention: focus on thosearound you and listen to whatthey have to say, rather thanpromoting yourself. Ask open-ended questions, which gener-ate discussion and show thatyou are attentive and interestedin the conversation.& Get out there: all the mainprofessional bodies and busi-

ness organisations hold net-working events. Go along anddecide which ones are of mostinterest to you and your busi-ness. As the world of onlinecommunication continues togrow, establishing a profile foryou and your business on Lin-kedIn, the online business net-working platform, will enableyou to make new connectionsthroughout the world and re-connect with old contacts.Youcan also participate in onlinegroup discussions, allowingyou to raise your profile anddemonstrate your expertise.& Be helpful: remember thatnetworking is about makingcontacts and not about the

‘hard sell’. So don’t excessivelypromote your business; ratheruse networking as an opportu-nity to demonstrate your ex-pertise and offer advice andinformation to others. Be help-ful and position yourself as avaluable resource.& Follow up: always follow upon any business leads or com-mitments you make, no matterhow small they may be. Thiswill show that you are profes-sional and interested in devel-oping the business relationshipfurther.

Maura Quinn is chief ex-ecutive of the Institute ofDirectors in Ireland

Networking is crucial for business success

Fishing for profits ina landlocked city

PEOPLE BUSINESSAll enquiries to PIB@sbpost.ie

By Eleanor Rosney

Selling fish door-to-door pro-videda steady incomeforKilk-enny native JohnHoyne,but hesoon spotted a gap in the mar-ket for his own fish business.Hoyne studied architectural

technology atWaterford Insti-tute of Technology, graduatingin 1991. As a graduate with lit-tle interest in his field of study,he preferred the idea of work-ing with his hands, andwent towork on a farm in Kilkennymanaging livestock.Ten years ago, Hoyne’s ca-

reer took another turn whenhe went to work with theGoatsbridge Trout Farm inThomastown.He subsequentlystarted selling fish door-to-door and had the idea to set uphis own fish business.Dubbed ‘‘The Fishman’’ by

local children when he calledto their door, Hoyne decidedon The Fishman’s Market asan appropriate name for hisnew venture, which he estab-lished in early 2009.Situated in the Hebron In-

dustrial Estate in Kilkenny,the company has two full-time

staff and Hoyne is in the pro-cess of recruiting two more.He is Ireland’s first licensed in-land fish processor.His marketis primarily hotels, supermar-kets and restaurants in thesoutheast.‘‘A normal fish shop is ap-

proved by an environmentalhealth officer to sell their fishto the public, but a processoris licensed to supply hotels, res-taurants, supermarkets and thepublic once approved by theSea-Fisher ies Protect ionAuthority, as they monitorwhat comes off the boats andalsowhat is sold to the public,’’he said. Hoyne sources asmuch fish as possible from Ir-ish waters, mainly from Bally-cotton, Castletownbere and

Dunmore East. He said histurnover had doubled year-on-year since the business first hitthe market in 2009 and is ex-pecting a 33 per cent jump inrevenue this year.The compa-ny’s location in an industrialestate made it easy for peopleto park and shop, Hoyne said,resulting in weekly customernumbers averaging 200 to 300.Hoyne’s fish are also sold in

supermarkets and he is work-ing with the Seafood Develop-ment Centre to create a rangeof oven-ready products, whichhe hopes to launch in the nextfour to six weeks. ‘‘About 60per cent of our business is withsupermarkets. The CaulfieldMcCarthy SuperValu Grouphas nine SuperValu stores andwe sell our products in four ofthose,’’ he said.Hoyne said he had yet to pay

for traditional advertising topublicise his business, prefer-r ing a more hands-on ap-p ro a ch to f i n d i ng n ewcustomers. To generate word-of-mouth referrals for example,he took a stall at last year’s Sa-vour Kilkenny Food Festival,where he cooked fish over twodays and handed out samplesto passers-by.

John HoyneCompany:The Fishman’sMarketPosition: managingdirectorLocation: Kilkenny

Sweet taste of nostalgia

By Elaine O’Regan

Sean Bay, co-founder and chiefexecutive of healthcare start-up Glanta, hopes to clean upwith new training technologydesigned to improve hand hy-giene standards in hospitalsand other healthcare settings.A spin-out of Trinity Col-

lege Dublin, Glanta has devel-oped a mobile device thattrains users towash their handsthoroughly.It has just secured a deal to

supply 40 SureWash units tothe Mater Private Hospital inDublin and plans to sell over-seas through distributors inBritain, Belgium, Italy andSwitzerland.Bay established Glanta last

November with SureWash in-

ventor and chief technology of-ficer Gerry Lacey, having metthe latter at aFirstTuesday net-working event for entrepre-neurs and investors.‘‘It was between three and

four years ago that we firstmet,’’ said Bay. ‘‘Gerry waspromoting the product at avery raw early stage and I likedthe look of it. Our primarymarket is acute hospitals asclinical studies show that an in-crease in compliance withgood hand hygiene techniquecan reduce hospital-acquiredinfections.’’

The SureWash system takesusers through a step-by-steptraining video and allows themto practice the techniquesshown. An in-built camerathen assesses how well theywash the i r hands judgedagainst World Health Organi-sation recommendations.SureWash is interactive and

mobile, so staff can learn andpractice in their own time andin a variety of healthcare set-tings.‘‘I would consider the most

dangerous person in a hospitalto be the one who mistakenly

believes their hands are clean,’’said Bay.‘‘SureWash standardises

training techniques, reducingthe potential for bad habits todevelop. Comprehensive re-ports provide training recordsfor each member of staff andallow infection control staff tosee what parts of the hand hy-giene technique staff find themost challenging.’’Bay said Glanta was in the

process of raising first-roundfunding to ramp upproductionfor overseas markets.‘‘We have Enterprise Ireland

on board for e250,000, but weneed tomatch that with privateequity.We are hoping to closethe round within the next twomonths,’’ he said.

OUTONYOUROWNn23

THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 31 2011

in

The Institute of Directorsin Ireland is therepresentative body forsenior businessprofessionals in Ireland.Members include chiefexecutives, chairpersons,board members, seniorexecutives, and partners ofnational and international

entities. Affiliated to theInstitute of Directorsworldwide, the instituteoffers a range of trainingand services for itsmembers to increase theireffectiveness as directors.

For furtherinformation, visitwww.iodireland.ie.

Institute of Directors in Ireland

Maura Quinn

By Eleanor Rosney

As a 12-year-oldworking in hisgrandfather’s newsagents inEssex, Justin Fuller realisedhe loved retail and decided itwas what he wanted to do withhis life.Sincemoving to Irelandten years ago, Fuller has ac-complished his dream, estab-lishing a website and a shop inTrim selling old-fashionedsweets.When Fuller arrived in Ire-

land,heworked invarious rolesfor a cinema group and retai-lersTesco and SuperValu.Fromthis experience, he believed hehad learned enoughabout con-sumer tastes and trends to takea risk withThesweetshop.ie.Initially, he operated out of

his home, but the business hadgathered enough momentumby May to begin renting hisfirst premises in Trim. ‘‘It wasthe next logical step, really. Ithad become difficult to runthe business from home, so Idecided to get a physical pre-mises and go from there,’’ saidFuller.

‘‘We try to source and buy asmany things locally as we can.Our gourmet popcorn range isfrom a local supplier, and wehave started buying from asweet supplier called Milsea¤ inTraditional Sweets, based inNavan.’’Despite his new outlet, Full-

er said hiswebsite remained animportant part of the business.Visitors can place orders on-line and have their sweets de-

livered, or they can come andcollect them in the store. Fulleralso uses Facebook to marketthe venture. ‘‘Facebook is veryimportant for mybusiness. It ismy way of letting customersknow we have new sweets inand it ismy wayofgetting feed-back from them,’’ he said.Fuller believes the affection

people have for traditionalsweets is a throwback to theirchildhood. ‘‘I think, with this

recession, people have becomenostalgic. They are lookingback to their past and how itused to be,’’ he said.‘‘It is great to see older custo-

mers come in and recognisethe sweets they grew up withas children. It is also quite fun-ny when families come in andyou see the parents automati-cally go for the old sweets inthe jar on one side of the shop,and see the kids go for all the

brightly-coloured modernsweets on the other side.’’Fuller recently secured a

deal with An Post for cut-pricedeliveries to Australia, wherehe expects demand to comeprimarily from ex-pats. ‘‘Thereis a large market for Irishsweets in Australia, but alsothings like tea as well. Theywould also be looking for Irishcrisps and all the comforts theymiss from home,’’ he said.

JustinFuller

Company:Thesweetshop.iePosition: founderand directorLocation: Meath

Glanta set to clean up with hygiene training device

Sean BayCompany:GlantaPosition:co-founder andchief executiveLocation: TrinityCollege Dublin

Sean Bay, chief executive, and Gerry Lacey, chief technology officer, GlantaTONY O’SHEA

John Hoyne of The Fishman’s Market in Kilkenny DYLAN VAUGHAN

Justin Fuller of The Sweet Shop: older customers come in and recognise the sweets they grew up with as childrenBARRY CRONIN

The following are two

business interviews which

featured in the annual Small

Firms Association supplement,

produced and published by

the Sunday Business Post

SFA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The lure of Clonakilty’s finest export

C olette Twomey,managing direc-tor of ClonakiltyBlackpudding,believes a goodwork ethic and

the right attitude can go a longway towards surviving the reces-sion.‘‘Through good and bad

times, we never compromisedour quality and that is crucial.When we started, if somethingneeded to be in a certain part ofthe country,you got into a car orvan yourself and you took itwhere it needed to be. Youworked so hard, but that is whatwe needed to do to makemoney,’’ Twomey said.

Historic rootsWhen Twomey and her late

husband, Edward, bought abutcher shop in Clonakilty in1976, the recipe for a black pud-ding was included in the price.The roots of the business are inSam’s Cross near Clonakilty,where Johanna O’Brien pro-duced black pudding. O’Briensubsidised her farming incomeby selling the pudding to Har-ringtons Butcher Shop.When O’Brien died, the Har-

ringtons continued to make theblack pudding for close to 100years, passing the recipe downfrom generation to generation.When the Twomeys took over,however, one of the first deci-sions they made was to stopmaking the pudding.‘‘At the time, butcher shops

were doing fine, but making theblack pudding ourselves wastaking up a lot of time; howeverwe soon realised that more andmore people were coming solelyfor the black pudding ^ and weknew there was a viable marketfor it,’’ saidTwomey.‘‘I remember so many in-

stances of people coming to theshop who had not heard aboutus taking it over.They would seea different name over the shopdoor and the first thing theywould ask, before they even saidhello in some cases,waswhetheror not we sold the same blackpudding,’’ she said.Once the Twomeys realised

the potential of the recipe, theybegan supplying the pudding toother local butchers in Clona-kilty, and other towns and vil-lages inwest Cork.In the years that followed,

they carted their pudding allover the country, going to everyshow and fair they could find, inabid to create awareness of theirproduct and encourage peopleto taste it.‘‘With anybusiness,you really

have to give it 110 per cent ^sometimes to the detriment ofyour family or social life, butyou have to do what needs to bedone. Most people starting inbusiness will tell you that thereis no such thing as a nine to fivejob, there is no such thing as astandard week, you just have toget onwith it. Above all else youmust have a good attitude,’’ saidTwomey.

ExpansionThe business expanded dra-

matically in the early 1980s,when Colette attended the De-partment of Food Sciences inUniversity College Cork and de-veloped a recipe for white pud-d ing. The move proved asignificant turning point for thebusiness.The increase in its pro-duct portfolio meant there was aneed for bigger premises andproduction was moved to LittleIsland in Cork.In 1989, they decided to take a

stand at the Cork Summer Showand at the Spring Show in Du-

blin. ‘‘I used tohear people com-plaining that they could not findblack pudding like their motheror grandmother used to makeand I used to tell them, ‘yes youcan’,’’ saidTwomey.‘‘We did cookery nights,

shows, fairs and everything youcan thinkof. It became a noveltyalmost for some people. Theywere so happy to find this pud-ding, they would ask friendsand family in west Cork to sendit on to them,’’ she said.Sligo B&B Cromlech Lodge

served Twomey’s pudding forbreakfast. One weekend visitor,a director with Quinnsworth(nowTesco), contacted theTwo-meys following his stay andstruck a contract to stock theproduct in Quinnsworth outlets.Other multiples such as

Dunnes Stores and Superquinnfollowed and, in 2003, Twomeyadded rashers to the range.Twomey said she never ima-

gined how successful the busi-

n e s s wou ld b e c ome. Sh erecalled a conversation with abuilder installing a cold roomduring the company’s move toLittle Island.‘‘He told us that, if we made

the door an inch and a halfwider, we would be able to fit apallet through it. Edward justlooked at him and said, ‘why inGod’s name would we ever bemaking pallets of pudding?’ ’’she said.

New ideasMore recently, Twomey has

been thinking outside the box toencourage people to use theirpudding in all types of meals,not just for breakfast.‘‘We have been trying to em-

phasise to people that puddingand our other breakfast meatsare not limited to just breakfastfood. Chefs have started to useour black pudding in a range ofdishes because they like thegrainy texture and it is easy towork with,’’ she said.Although Twomey and her

husband started their venturewithout any prior business ex-perience, she believes this maybe have been an ingredient totheir success.‘‘We learned as we went, and

we really grabbed every oppor-tunity that came our way.Therewas a real sense of adventureabout everything.Maybe peoplewho studied business and knewbusiness would have seen ourbooks and our product and told

us it was not viable, but ignor-anc e was bl i s s to us, andthoughts like this never crossedour mind,’’ she said.

One of the biggest obstaclesthat Twomey and her 42 staffnow face is dealing with thelarge multiple stores that stockClonakilty Pudding. Becausethe multiples are keen to enticecustomers into their stores withdeals on products,Twomey andother suppliers are the ones thatmust cut costs to make this hap-pen.

‘‘We are operating under verytight margins. Dealing with themultiples has become more dif-ficult as well because they wanteverything on promotion all thetime, but equally, it has made usevaluate our business and exam-ine every tinydetail.People werenot examining their costs andhousekeeping before this reces-sion hit, and now people aremore conscious of their costsand outputs,’’ she said.

Food sectorTwomey believes there are

many obstacles to setting upyour own business or launchingyour own product in the food in-dustry these days.

‘‘It is a difficult business tobreak into.You are only as goodas the last lunch you send out inthe foodbusiness.Customers arevery loyal towhat they like and itis abig ask to expect someone tohand over their money for a pro-duct they have never tasted be-

fore. Big multinationals canmake a similar product for lesslabour and less costs,’’ she said.‘‘There are so many rules and

regulations at themoment, espe-cially for the food industry, it islike an obstacle course. It makesit really difficult to set up a busi-ness, I think. In my experiencemany of the rules and regula-tions actually hinder businessrather than help or encourage it.I think there should be a stron-ger representation of small busi-ness owners in making thesedecisions.’’Twomey is looking to expand

into the British market, and hasenlisted the assistance of a for-mer buyer for British multiplesto help her. In Britain, blackpudding is different to ours ^and white pudding is virtuallyunheard of ^ but, like her manyother adventures, Twomey saidshe was looking forward to themonths ahead.There are, however, some tra-

ditions Twomey plans to stickwith.The Harrington name stillfeatures on Clonakilty BlackPudding packaging and the ex-act spice mix used in the blackpudding ^the same mix formu-lated by Johanna O’Brien allthose years ago ^ remains a se-cret, knownonly toTwomey her-self.

Colette Twomey will speak atthe SFA’s Annual Conference inthe Dublin Castle ConferenceCentre on Tuesday, September27

Colette Twomey,managing directorof ClonakiltyBlackpudding,has grown herbusiness from alocal success toa nationwidepowerhouse, writesEleanor Rosney

‘With anybusiness, youreally have togive it 110 percent . . . youhave to do whatneeds to bedone’

THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POST

in association with

14 SEPTEMBER 2011

Colette Twomey, managing director of Clonakilty Blackpudding: ‘Above all else, you must have a good attitude’ JOHN SHEEHAN

SFA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

C ompanies seek-ing loan financemust be willingto prov ide asmuch informa-tion as possible

about the state of their businessand their plans for the future.That’s according to EimerO’Rourke, retail director of theIrish Banking Federation (IBF).According to O’Rourke, the

credit extended to Ireland’sSMEs stands at e27 billion,while credit extensions last yeartotalled e2 billion.The IBF represents Ireland’s

banks, working with memberswith the aim of supporting Ire-land’s economic recovery.O’Rourke believes there aremany ways to achieve this andstressed the important part thatsmall businesses would play inthis recovery.‘‘We will look at different cus-

tomer segments of the banks,and we will look at consumers.We will look at the SME sectorand seek to support them in dif-ferent ways.This breaks down tohaving credit extended,’’ saidO’Rourke.‘‘I think it is really important

to reiterate to the SME sectorthat there is credit out there, andthat there is credit readily avail-able. Obviously, the demand le-vels are subdued and are moresubdued now as compared towhen the economy was morebuoyant, but I think you willfind that overall the approvalrates are broadly in line with theEU. If you are going to havegrowth and development, youneed to have investment ^ theygo hand in hand.’’

About O’RourkeO’Rourke has had a varied

and eclectic career, and bankingwas not always on the cards forher. She started out in psychol-ogy and worked in community

services in a mental health rolebefore studying for a Master’sdegree in business studies, spe-cialising in financial services.She thenworkedwith Bankof

Ireland Finance before movingon to the Irish Mortgage andSavings Association and the Ir-ishMortgageCouncil,whichbe-came affiliated with the IBF in2000.The IBF is developing a web-

site which, hopes O’Rourke,willultimately become a ‘‘one-stopshop’’ in the provision of infor-mation for small businesseslooking to secure loan finance.‘‘We are trying to provide the

SME sector with enough infor-mation to deal with the bankingsector.One of the things that canbe difficult for an SME is toknow exactly what informationthe bank is going to want in aparticular situation, when youare applying for creditor seekingan increase or extension in yourcredit,’’ she said.‘‘We are trying to provide this

information to customers, sothat they can ensure that when

they do apply for credit, theyhave a better understanding ofwhat information they are goingto need to provide in order tosupport that application.‘‘We certainly recognise the

importance and role of the smallbusiness sector, both in terms ofdomestic activity and export ac-tivity.They are key to the econo-my going forward and we wouldsee them as being a critical sec-tor to support in as far as possi-ble.’’

Bank financeAccording to O’Rourke, the

information that banks andother lenders require from firmsseeking loans is detailed, ran-ging from cashflow figures todebt data.She said credit controlwas a priority for cash-strappedbusinesses in all sectors of theeconomy.‘‘If you have a small business

that is left in the lurch by a debt-or, that takes three or fourmonths to pay a bill.This makeslife very difficult for that busi-

ness,’’ she said.‘‘You need to have a strong

economic emphasis on promptpayment. Small businesses needto activelymanage their debtors.It is information like that ontheir business plans, their cash-flow and other documents, thatwill help hasten a decisionaround a credit application.’’O’Rourke also acknowledged

that trends in thewider economywere preventing banks fromgranting or extending a line ofcredit to small businesses. Shealso believes excessive regula-tion can hinder growth and sus-tainability.

RegulationsIn order for small businesses

to compete in an active market,regulations must recognise thatthere are a number of variablesin the SME sector.O’Rourkebelieves regulations

affect both the bank and theconsumer ^ and that warningsmust be heeded so that banksdo not divert attention from the

customers and their needs.‘‘One of the risks of the regu-

latory trend that you see at themoment is that it is becomingmore prescriptive andmore spe-cific.The difficulty is that regu-lation sets out one particularprocess, which outlines a waythat a customer must apply forcredit specifically, or a way inwhich a bank must deal withthese credit applications,’’ saidO’Rourke.

‘‘This does not recognise thatthere is any number of differenttypes of SME customer. Theyare different sizes, made up ofdifferent legal constructs, theytrade in different areas, theycould be a cash-only business ora business that relies on credit,they could be exporting or trad-ing in the domestic market.There are an unlimited numberof different variables.

‘‘It really can be problematicif regulation attempts to puteveryone into one single cate-gory and apply one single wayof dealing with them.We wouldsay, from the SME perspective,

that we need to ensure regula-tiondoes notgo in thatdirection.‘‘We potentially have some

risks in this regard; we need tobe careful with it.We need to en-sure there is a deep and thor-ough understanding of SMEbusiness as it operates in Ire-land, and all the variations thatexist within it.There is no suchthing as one typical business.‘‘Iwill talk about regulation at

the conference and regulatorychange.Iwill also talk about var-ious initiatives where we willseek towork with SME sector.’’

Professional servicesA key challenge facing small

businesses was a lack of profes-sional services aimed specifi-cally at SMEs,O’Rourke said.‘‘A developing small business

may not have access to profes-sional accountants or legal ser-vices, for example, and they canbe constrained in their ability toaccess them.That can be a realchallenge for SMEs,’’ she said.‘‘If therewas away to leverage

the current Job Bridge scheme,and it was possible to access theprofessional services of some-one for a few hours a month ^and get those services into theirorganisation in a manageableway ^ then that could play amassive role in the growth ofthat business.‘‘There are different types of

financial assistance and the keyis trying to determine whetheror not a business has a sustain-able proposition.The bank willmostly be concerned with whatthe nature of the financial assis-tance is in the given situation.‘‘I think that small businesses

are key to our economy, and togenerating confidence in oureconomy. Ireland needs to rea-lise that Irish people have theability to deliver themselves ^and small businesses are criticalin this space,’’ saidO’Rourke.

Eimer O’Rourkeof the IBF feelsthat an up-frontapproach is vitalfor firms who wantto avail of loanfinance. EleanorRosney reports

‘One of the risksof the regulatorytrend that yousee at themoment isthat it isbecoming moreprescriptive andmore specific’

THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POST

in association with

16 SEPTEMBER 2011

Eimer O’Rourke, retail director of the Irish Banking Federation MAURA HICKEY

Information holdskey to loan finance

The following is a two

page special on

NAMA in which I was

involved

Explodingthe Namamyths

T he top management teamat Nama have done well toget their enormous behe-moth up and running. Butnobody seems to know ex-actly what the agency is

meant to be doing.Deep flaws in the thinking that set

up Nama will plague its operations andits eventual outcomes. But those whorun it cannot be blamed for shortcom-ings contained in the plan that set it upin the first place. In fact, the manage-ment team are executing the Namaplan as best they can.

Figures published last weekby Namashow that just 180 individuals are di-rectly responsible for outstanding loansof e62 billion. It is such a small group ofpeople ^ typical of the attendance, forexample, at a medium-sized rural wed-ding.Yet, based on the 58 per cent aver-age discount paid by Nama on its loans,these individuals may well have con-tributed to bank losses paid for by thetaxpayer of close to e36 billion. It is anincredible transfer of loss and debt,from just 180 people who behaved withvarying measures of recklessness,greed and stupidity, to four million citi-zens.

Last week, Nama went some way to-wards rebutting its critics about lack oftransparency, but the real challenge isonly now about to begin.With all of itsloans on board, the agency has to de-cide when to sell, what to sell, who tosink and who to throw a lifeline to. Itwill be a fraught process, likely to gen-erate lots of criticism from all sides. Butthe contradictions and U-turns at theheart of the Nama project will becomeeven more apparent.

The agency’s mission statement re-flects some of the contradictionsaround its original establishment. Thestatement says that Nama will manageand acquire loans effectively and expe-ditiously, as well as attaining the bestachievable financial return.

These are two commercial impera-tives that make perfect sense. But thenit goes on to say that it will ‘‘conduct itsactivities in a way which assists theproperty market to operate efficientlyand in a way which achieves longer-term sustainability while taking ac-count of wider social objectives’’ ^something quite different and poten-tially contradictory.

Nama will continue to struggle tofind a middle ground through these

very different imperatives.Last week’s annual report contained

a numberof home truths about Nama ^and enough information to reach con-clusions about some of the myths.

1. Nama will get thebanks lending againInthe run-up to establishing Nama,thiswas widely touted as a key reason tocreate the biggest property company inthe world at the taxpayers’ expense. AsNama pointed out in its annual reportpublished last week, it was never goingto be a single solution to the bankingwoes. Unfortunately, in its infancy, itwas presented as something close tothat.

The problem was that the banks’ badloans were much worse than envisaged.Nama has paid e30 billion to buy e77billion-worth of loans.The banks haveincurred, or may incur, around anothere20 billion to e25 billion of loan losseson top of those gone to Nama. So, nogreat lending here.

Furthermore, it was originally envi-saged that Nama would apply a smallerhaircut on the loans it bought, givingrise to the early expectation that itwould pay e54 billion for its loans. Ifthat had happened, the banks wouldhave had smaller write-offs and re-quired less cash to be recapitalised.However, the taxpayer would haveoverpaid for loans in a direct transferof wealth from citizens to bank bond-holders and shareholders.

The other big problem for Nama isthe sheer scale of what it is undertakingto do. The asset management agencywas set up after examining the solutionprovided by the likes of the Swedes inthe early 1990s, where a state agencybought loans and eventually managed,unwound and sold them off.

The Swedish Nama acquired loansof over e7 billion (67 billion kronor)equal to around 4 per cent of the coun-try’s GDP at the time in 1993. Nama isacquiring loans equal to nearly 50 percent of Ireland’s GDP.

It is quite extraordinary, but the bor-rowings of Nama’s top three clients aree8.3 billion.This is more than the entireSwedish Nama of the 1990s, and is also5 per cent of Ireland’s current GDP.Nama has not been able to get banklending going, or save the banks.

2. Nama will not be abailout for developersNama is really only getting going withits core operations. Nama chairmanFrank Daly said two weeks ago that,having been first mooted in early 2009,the agency was preparing to sign itsfirst actual term sheet, or formalised fi-nal agreement with a client on the basisfor which they will proceed together.Several interim or draft business planshave been agreed, but the final dealshave yet to be signed. Nama is slow.But that is not the agency’s fault. It istoo big and too ambitious in its concep-tion, and it is taking a very responsibleapproach to its actions.The agency hasbeen careful in making sure it is notbeing fooled by debtors.

Last week, the agency published themost detail yet revealed about how itwill proceed with clients.Those who donot fully co-operate,who hide assets, orwho simply don’t engage will be movedagainst.Those who do playball will findthemselves in new business arrange-ments with the agency. Former financeminister Brian Lenihan maintained allalong that Nama would pursue clientsfor every euro they owed.

Last week, Nama said of debt reduc-tion that it would ‘‘pursue all debts anddebtors to the greatest extent feasible’’.There can be a lot of money in the dif-ference between ‘‘every euro’’ and‘‘every euro feasible’’.

Pursuing every euro would see a de-veloper who owed e1 billion pursuedfor e1 billion, even if Nama bought theloans for e480 million. However, theagency has to work with developers inorder to try and get back the mostamountof money possible from proper-ties.

Last week, it provided an example ofa debt restructuring plan. It read as fol-lows: Mr Xowes e1 billion.The currentmarket value of his property underpin-ning those loans is e480 million. Thelong-term economic value of the loansis e490 million.

Nama reaches an agreement to tar-get the realisation of e540 million fromthe assets. It lends him e20 million inworking capital.He then makes loan re-payments on interesting bearing debtofe560 million (e540 million plus e20million).

The other e440 million of borrowinggoes into a different non-interest bear-ing loan. Technically, he still owes thismoney. But, clearly, he hasn’t got it.Nama reaches an incentive deal withthe developer whereby, if he can repay

more than the target interest bearingloanof e560 million ^ let’s say e570 mil-lion - the additional e10 million will besplit, e9 million for Nama and e1 mil-lion for Mr X. This is on top of theagreed salary and other expenses hewill be paid during the work-out phase.

So, in the real world, that e440 mil-lion is gone. Not only will Mr X nothave to pay back the e440 million, buthe will personally receive 10 per cent ofany amount of it that he can pay back.This is debt forgiveness on a grandscale. It is also part of commercial life.Mr X clearly doesn’t have the moneyanyway, so Nama is letting him off withrepayment of money he doesn’t have.But let’s call it what it is.

3. Nama will not move tosell properties quicklyNama was meant to be a ten-year pro-ject, and may well end up that way.Early commitments not to sell assetswere based on the poor state of theproperty market and the assumptionthat now was not a good time to sell.But the agency is beginning to sell offproperties.

There are targeted sales of over e7billion in the next two years.This is in-evitable, and always happens with reso-lution agencies.There is always politicalpressure put on these types of agenciesso they canbe seen to do something andto bring in cash.

However, Nama is not flooding theIrish market with properties, but con-centrating on overseas assets where themarkets are better. This seems like asensible approach.

4. Commercial propertyonly needs to rise by 1per cent a year for adecade and Nama willmake nearly e5 billionContained in the first draft businessplan,this was perhaps the greatest mythof all ^ not least because the calculationwas done at a time when it appearedthat Nama would pay e47 billion mar-ket value and a further e7 billion longterm economic value for the bankloans.

It has ended up paying e30 billionand, last year, had to take an impair-ment hit of e1.4 billion on that reducedprice because the market valuationshad fallen further.

The writedown and the loss of overe1 billion is a big headline figure. But itisn’t that important in the long run.Many of Nama’s British assets will car-ry strong valuations and, if the agencygets the timing of a sale right there, itcould do very well on those assets. Un-fortunately, the agency can’t value up-

ward the increases in the carryingvalue of those assets. But it has a muchbetter chance of breaking even, havingbought its loans at a 58 per cent dis-count.

5. Nama will get theproperty market movingWhen it comes to commercial property,the market is still in a state of severecorrection. Residential property is alsofalling, and probably has further to fall.

There was a view at the start of theNama process that, by managing somany property assets for a long periodof time, the agency would be in a posi-tion to gradually sell down some prop-erties at rising prices and make a profit.With the exception of some interna-tional properties, that is unlikely in theshort term, but could still happenfurther down the road.

Nama’s role in all of this should be tofollow its commercial imperative andtry to make money. However, the con-tradiction at the heart of its missionstatement ^ that it has a profit impera-tive and a role in assisting the propertymarket ^ causes a problem. This is re-flected in the agency’s decision to an-nounce details of a new scheme to lendmoney to punters to buy apartments,complete with a negative equity insur-ance policy.

If you believe that Irish residentialproperty prices have fallen to levels be-low where they should be, then the onlyobstacles for buyers are lack of confi-dence and access to cash. However, ifyou believe that Irish property priceshave further to fall in a reflection of thedeep malaise in the fundamentals of themarket, then Nama simply should notbe interfering in the market. Pricesshould find their natural level and letthe market improve in due course.

In Nama’s case, it clearly believesthat the only thing pushing prices downfurther is a lack of confidence, in theform of fear that prices will fall further.It is an important distinction. Presum-ably, Nama can only lend this moneyto first-time buyers, given that so manyhomeowners are already sunk in nega-tive equity. The right first-time buyercandidates (those with good savings re-cords, steady jobs and a deposit) can geta loan from a bank. Nama is taking theview that these first-time buyers are de-liberately and wrongly holding off buy-ing because they believe prices will fallfurther. It believes its assessment isright and they are wrong, and it plansto provide them with a financial para-chute should the agency prove to bewrong.

It’s an extraordinary move, and quiteat odds with what Nama was set up todo. However, it appears to be plannedon such a small scale that it will hardlybankrupt Nama on the one hand, or

make a significant impact on the prop-erty market, on the other.

What next?Transparency is still a problem forNama. Having made some progress inthis area, it still isn’t enough. Nama isclearly taking a tough line with manyof its debtors,but despite the e30 billionof taxpayer money riding on it,the pub-lic is not put in a position to judge justhow tough that line really is.

Nama chief executive BrendanMcDonagh described last week how,‘‘for many of our debtors, the notion ofa vigorous engagement with their len-ders is still something of a novelty’’.Nama insisted in its report that it wouldpursue personal guarantees to thegreatest extent feasible. In many cases,it has taken so long for Nama to get upand running that developers have hadtwo years to get their affairs in order.

This involved the transfer of assetsabroad or to their spouses or other fa-mily members.The banks didn’t moveon these people, because it was in theirinterest not to foreclose on a developer,knowing Nama was going to buy hisloans.This created time for some devel-opers to transfer assets. Nama says itwill pursue the recovery of assets trans-ferred to third parties. But it may be toolate to win those legal actions.

It ‘‘insists, as part of a consensualagreement with a debtor that the trans-fer of any assets to third parties(spouses other family members etc)over recent years be reversed’’. So ifyou don’t offer them up, there will beno new deal with Nama and the devel-oper could be put into receivership.

But what if the amount of assetstransferred is so big that the developerwould be better off simply not playingball with Nama,taking the receivershipand enjoying the benefit of assets nowowned by his family? It is likely that thisoption has already been taken by some.

The publication of the list of proper-ties takenoverby the agency is a helpfulstart. But it doesn’t provide specific de-tails for many of the properties, nordoes it say how much in loans the repre-sented. Instead, it reads like a sales bro-chure for prospective buyers than aserious attempt at providing transpar-ency.Telling us that it has a ‘‘house’’ onWhitworth Road in Dublin is hardly amodel of transparency.

It lists 16 hotels as having been takenover,yet we know the agency has 90 ho-tels in Ireland on its books. Does thismean the other 74 are paying their wayfully? Or does it mean they haven’t gotaround to taking over those assets yet?

There is no doubting the integrity,hard work and seriousness of the seniorNama team. Delays in decision-mak-ing, often quoted by property develo-pers, are a symptom of the sheer scaleof the project.

Last week Nama finally revealed some of its innerworkings, but much remains unexplained about theagency’s attempt to clean up the property disaster

RichardCurran

n10 News Focus THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 31 2011

Nama’s toxicpropertyassets revealed

I t could serve as ashopping list for op-portunistic buyers ora guidebook for gaw-kers interested in apost-boom receiver-

ship tour. The 41-page list of‘‘properties subject to enforce-ment action’’ published lastweek by the National AssetManagement Agency is a le-gacy of the boom, giving thefirst comprehensive confirma-tion of the depth of the pro-blems in the property sector.From car parks and undeve-

loped sites to luxury resorts, itlists 847 properties in the Re-public, the North and Britain.Large chunks of Dublin citycentre; hotels, houses and of-fices in Cork, Limerick andGalway; 49 properties in CoDown alone; and 38 pubs inBritain. Just one county in theRepublic can claim the honourof not having any properties di-rectly under Nama’s control ^Leitrim. How long Leitrimcan hold that title remains tobe seen -Namaplans toupdatethe list monthly as it takesfurther enforcement actionsagainst the 850 debtors it isdealing with.With 11,500 loanssecured on 16,000 properties,the list looks certain to growand grow. For legal reasons,Nama cannot identify the indi-vidual debtors that owe theagency - and the taxpayer - thee72.3 billion in loans,which theagency has acquired for e30.5billion.But the fingerprints of well-

known developers are all overthe Nama list, which points tomany well-known, boom-timeprojects that went awry. Read-ers in every corner of the coun-try will recognise a propertyora development that failed tomaterialise as planned.Thanksto the ambitions of developerBernard McNamara, swathesof property in and aroundGrafton St - where propertyprices and rents were amongthe world’s highest during theboom - are under Nama’s con-trol and effectively on theblock.Apart from buildings on pe-

destrianised shopping street it-s el f, there are numerousproperties on Stephen’sGreen,Chatham St, Drury St, SouthWilliam St, Clarendon St andWestbury Mall. They were allbought up byMcNamara,whohad an ambition to create anew shopping quarter thatwould l ink Grafton St toGeorges St.With the blessing of the

banks, he went on a spendingspree, acquiring properties atprime prices and assembling acomplex web of companies.None of the buildings wereever redeveloped, and McNa-mara has lost control of his fa-mily building firm and isinsolvent with debts estimatedat more than e2 billion.When receivers were ap-

pointed by Nama to McNa-mara’s maze of propertiesearlier this year, the tenantswere relieved to at least knowwho their landlord was. Devel-opers Paddy Kelly, DerekQuinlan, Ray Grehan andJohn Fleming also fell foul ofNama and their former assetsare on the list. But the activitygoes beyond the householdnames.In all, Nama had appointed

receivers in 73 cases up to theend of June.While it rejectedreceivership moves by the

banks inover 30 cases,the paceof seizures is expected to stepup now as the agency reachesa make-or-break stage withborrowers. Nama chief execu-tive Brendan McDonagh in-s i s t e d l a s t w e e k t h a tdevelopers had been forced toadjust their lifestyles, with jetsand helicopters grounded andjewellery and other assetsseized.Private houses seized on up-

market Ailesbury Road, Ra-glan Road and Merrion Roadconfirm that at least some de-velopers’ homes are on themarket. Outside Dublin, theseized assets include single re-sidences in provincial townsand countless properties de-scribed as ‘‘Development - notcommenced’’. In many cases,this is code for land that looksdestined to return to agricul-tural use.Quarries that once belonged

to theHanlyGroup inCoRos-common are also in the handsof Nama-appointed receivers.Hotels and golf developmentsloom large, from Portmarnockin Dublin toTulfarris inWick-low, Johnstown, Moyvalleyand Glen Royal in Meath, theHeritage in Laois and Fota inCork. Some of the propertiesare understood to be attractinginterest from potential buyers.

In total, Nama has loans on83 hotels in Ireland and 60 out-side the country. Eight of themare five-star properties and 33are four-star. All are for sale,according to Nama. A third ofthe 847 seized properties are inthe North and Britain, high-lighting the extent of the lend-ing ambitions of the Ir ishbanks. Properties in Co Downdominate the Nama list for theNorth,with 49 properties in thecounty under Nama’s control.Tyrone is a distant second withseven properties, followed bysix in Derry and four each inAntrim, Armagh, Fermanaghand Belfast. The Co Downproperties are understood tohave belonged to a local devel-oper, Dromore-based SamThompson, who was a big cli-ent of Anglo Irish Bank but isnow insolvent.Other Northern developers

with properties on the list in-clude Anglo client MervynMcAlister andMcDaidDevel-opments, which owned a 40-acre site outside Derry. TheBritish entries range fromshops inWales and unstarteddevelopments on the Isle ofWight toBond St shops and re-sidences in Kensington.A total of 38 pubs make the

British list alongside numeroushotels, including a London ho-tel seized from developer RayGrehan. To date, Nama hashad most of its luck disposingof properties in Britain, whereproperty prices have held upbetter than in Ireland.Of the e3.9 billion in sales

the agency said it had ap-proved to date, 80 per cent areoverseas and just 20 per centin Ireland. Details of the saleshave remained under wrapswith a few exceptions, such asthe sale of offices in Dublin toGoogle.But with the publication of

what exactly Nama owns andthe agency’s plan to providefunds to buyers, more disclo-sure on sales could be the nat-ural next step.

By Eleanor Rosney

The full scale of the state’se30 billion toxic propertyportfolio was revealed lastweek with the publication ofNama’s assets. The ‘badbank’ published a list ofproperties that have beeneffectively taken over by theagency, having undergoneenforcement orders.Shopping centres, hotels,

pubs, golf courses and evenan airport feature on the list,all of which were purchasedduring the Celtic Tiger years.There are 220 properties

listed in Dublin, 80 in Corkand 52 in Limerick.Some notable names

among the 850 properties arethe Weston Airport in Leix-lip, Portmarnock Hotel &Golf Links and the FotaIsland Hotel and Golf Coursein Cork.Twenty-seven hotels and

golf clubs are included in theportfolio, with eight of theselocated in Dublin, three inLimerick and two in Corkand Meath.One of the country’s most

exclusive postcodes, Dublin4, is not exempt from theportfolio. Some 26 propertiesare featured, includinghomes on Ailesbury Roadand Pembroke Road, alongwith UCD’s veterinary col-lege site in Ballsbridge.Equally, one of the most

prosperous shopping areas,Dublin 2, which includesGrafton Street and O’Con-nell Street, show that manyunits located on the primeretail streets are under thecontrol of Nama.Other addresses on offer in

the capital include officesand retail units on MerrionStreet, Fitzwilliam Squareand St Stephen’s Green.Nama has also taken con-

trol of 193 properties inBritain, and 78 in NorthernIreland.In Northern Ireland, 38

properties are developments,23 are residential units and11 are agricultural land.There are 42 properties inDown, followed by six inTyrone and five in Derry andAntrim.

In Britain, 50 propertieslisted are developments, 37are pubs, 35 are retail unitsand 30 are residential units.Trophy buildings in Lon-

don, including the flagshipLouis Vuitton store in NewBond Street and a site des-tined for a Norman Foster-designed tower in the Dock-

lands, are also up for sale.

Hotels in Ireland:Dolmen Hotel, Kilkenny

Road, CarlowA hotel in Liscannor, ClareA hotel in Redbarn,

Youghal, CorkFota Island Hotel and Spa,

Cork

Maldron Hotel, Citywest,DublinClarion Hotel, Dublin Air-

port, DublinPortmarnock Hotel & Golf

Links, DublinCertain units of the Clar-

ion Hotel, IFSC, Dublin 1Days Inn, Talbot Street,

Dublin 1Certain units of Maldron

Hotel, Cardiff Lane, Dublin 2A hotel in Ormond Quay,

Dublin 2Clarion Hotel, Liffey Val-

ley, Dublin 22Glenroyal Hotel & Lei-

sure, Maynooth, KildareMoyvalley Hotel & Golf

Club, KildareA hotel on the Dublin

Road, Portlaoise, LaoisMaldron Hotel Group,

Roxboro, LimerickCertain units of the Clar-

ion Hotel, Steamboat Quay,LimerickA hotel on Henry Street,

LimerickA hotel on Spencer Street,

Castlebar, MayoMarriott Hotel, Ash-

bourne, MeathA hotel in Johnstown, En-

field, MeathA hotel in Ballindinas,

Barntown, WexfordTulfarris House and Golf

Resort, Wicklow

Golf Clubs:Sheephaven Bay, Carri-

gart, Donegal (Two golfcourses)The Heritage, Killenard,

Laois

New Forest Golf Club,Higginstown, Tyrellspass,Westmeath

Hotels in Britain:Hotel St Gregory, Shore-

ditch High Street, London

Dublin 2:Thirty properties feature

in Nama’s portfolio in theprime retail area of Dublin 2,where Dublin’s best-knownshopping streets, GraftonStreet and O’Connell Street,are located.These are:Nine properties on South

William Street; four of themare retail, two are offices, twoare mixed use and one is apub.Offices on St Stephen’s

Green, Merrion Square,Fitzwilliam Square and ElyPlaceThree retail units on

Drury StreetTwo retail units on Balfe

StreetTwo mixed-use units and

one pub on Clarendon StreetMixed-use units on South

Georges Street, CoppingerRow, Chatam Street andSuffock StreetRetail units on Grafton

Street and Chatam RowA development on Parlia-

ment StreetA residential unit on Cha-

tham Court

Countieswith two or fewerproperties featured in theNama portfolio:Carlow - Dolmen Hotel,

Kilkenny Road, CarlowMonaghan - Ardee Road,

Carmickmacross Develop-mentWaterford - A develop-

ment in Ballymabin, Dun-more East and certainresidential units in Johnston,Waterford CityWestmeath - Arcadia Re-

tail Park, Athlone and adevelopment Bogganfin,AthloneCavan - Industrial unit at

Creeney, Belturbet and adevelopment at Hoblurn Hill,BelturbetSligo - Residential units at

Woodstream, Coolaney and adevelopment at the same ad-dress

The financialsecrets hiddenin the Nama list

Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links, Dublin COLLINS

Weston Airport in Leixlip, Co. Kildare

The Louis Vuitton store in New Bond street, London

Gavin Daly

Nama chairman, Frank Daly, and chief executive, Brendan McDonagh TONY O’SHEA

Although the debtors can’t benamed by Nama, the fingerprints ofwell-known developers are all overthe first published list of propertiescontrolled by the agency

n11News FocusTHE SUNDAY BUSINESS POSTJULY 31 2011

The First Person

interview in

Agenda Magazine

The Sunday Business Post August 7 2011 Agenda 3

Firstperson

When I was a child, I lived at the side of the street thatthe Puck Fair parade passed through.The highlight ofyour summer was looking out the window at the parade; it wassomething you really looked forward to.

I joined the fair committee in 1963 and becamechairman in 1964 – I was a chairchild instead of achairman. I’ve been chairman of the present committee since1989.

Nobody knows exactly when Puck started, but it’sprobably the remnants of a Celtic pagan festival thatwas celebrated at the start of autumn. More than likely,when the Augustinians came to Killorglin in the ninth or tenthcentury, the festival became a Christian celebration because ofthem.

The first official mention of Puck Fair in a writtendocument was in 1613.The local English landlord, JenkinsConway, got a charter from King James I to get permission tocharge fools at the fair.

Where the story of the goat comes in, nobody knows.It could dateback toNormantimes,as the Normansbuilt a castlein Killorglin in 1215 and they may have adopted the goat as afigurehead.

There are many stories and legends surrounding thestory of the goat.The mostpopularone isprobably that whenOliver Cromwell and his soldiers were storming Killorglin, agoat ran down from the mountains which warned the residents ofthe town.

Frank Joy has been catching the goat for over 20years.There are herds of wild mountain goats all over theMacGillycuddy’s Reeks, and Frank goes out looking for a goat afew weeks before the fair.

It’s always a good-looking male goat with a good hornspan.The herd is chased into ablind alley and Frank catches theone he wants ^ he stays on Frank’s farm until the fair starts andbecomes very domesticated.

He’s inspected by the local vet before and after thefair to make sure he is in good health. He spends threedays in a stand in the centre of the town as King Puck; when hegoes back on the mountain, he has some story to tell.

There’s a fair called the Lammas Fair held at the endof August in Ballycastle in Co Antrim. In 1979 we broughtKing Puck to Antrim and released him there; two years ago theybrought their goat down to us.

We had a Cork goat one time many years ago.We haveto keep friendly with our neighbours.

The great thing about Puck is the atmosphere.The waypeople feel on Christmas Day is the way they feel on the threedays of the festival.

There are 12 hours of free entertainment every day,and it is very much family-orientated. It begins with ahuge horse fair on the first day, and the parade takes place thatday as well.

There are free concerts each night and the wholetown is wall to wall with stalls.We have about 60,000 peo-ple passing through Killorglin over the three days.

Puck is always identified with Killorglin, and it’s agreat marketing tool for the town. It never ceases toamaze me how well known it is.

In the 1990s a friend of mine was serving with UNforces in Lebanon. He sent the front page of the local news-paper, and it showed a picture of the crowning of the goat.

Puck Fair is the only place in the world where, forthree days, the goat acts the king and the people actthe goat.

Puck Fair takes place in Killorglin, Co Kerry, from August 10 to12. For more information, visit www.puckfair.ie

Interview: Eleanor RosneyPicture:Don MacMonagle

DeclanMangan, Puck Fair organiser, 68, Kerry

Science and technology revolutionise our lives, but memory, tradition and mythframe our response

Arthur Schlesinger Jr, 1917-2007, American historian and social critic

Thinktank

ContentsAugust 7, 2011

Edited by Gillian NelisE-mail the editor atgillian@sbpost.ie,twitter.com/gnelis

www.thepost.ie/agenda

Editor: Fiona Kelly(on leave)The Guide editor:Susan MorrellBooks and Arts editor:Nadine O’Regan

Chief sub-editor:Maeve McLoughlinPicture editor:Bryan WalsheDesign editor: Pat PidgeonAdvertising: Conor Mahone-mail: cmahon@sbpost.ieAdvertising: Mary Sheridane-mail: msheridan@sbpost.ie

Published by PostPublications, 80 HarcourtStreet, Dublin 2.Telephone 01-6026000.E-mail: sbpost@iol.ie.Online: www.thepost.iePrinted by WebprintConcepts Ltd, MahonPoint Retail Park, MahonPoint, Cork.

Agenda

Features6 Inside Story the

battle for theRepublican Party

18 Metropolis men’sfashion for autumn

20 This Lifepreserving our printheritage

EatDrink11 Ross Golden-

Bannon has areligious experienceat The Old Convent

14 Wine the triumph of sauvignon blanc

Books24 Sebastian Barry the Booker-longlisted On

Canaan’s Side reviewed25 In Dickens’s footsteps Aravind Adiga’s

stunning new novel27 The ego has landed DJ Andy Kershaw’s

autobiography is a lesson in narcissism

The Critics29 Listen, look, play the latest CDs and

DVDs reviewed30 Film John Maguire gets nostalgic with

Super 831 Theatre Noel Coward’s Hay Fever opens at

the Gate

TravelWellbeing33 Guilty

Pleasuresbeauty news

34 Travel wine,women andpong inChampagne-Ardenne

TV andRadio38 Emmanuel

Kehoe’sweek in television

39 Jonathan O’Brien reviews radio40 Seven days of TV listings

Columnists4 Dissent of Man Stephen Price is perplexed

by a phrasebook5 Off Message Jennifer O’Connell on the

depressing reality of how women are judged24 Artistic Licence Andrew Lynch wonders if

our brains are full up47 PostMortem Garvan Grant on the future

of mankind after global default

� COVER PICTURE GETTY

18

20

The following is a feature

written for PickTourism.ie,

an annual publication by

Fáilte Ireland, aimed at 4th,

5th and 6th year secondary

school students

For more information

contact –

eleanor.rosney@gmail.com

086-1293563