Category: Ireland Posts

We know there is no quick fix to make it easier and everyone’s situation is different. It will take a holistic approach so we’re continuing our series of tips to help you tackle the rising costs and take control.

In Tips to Tackle the Cost of Living Part One, we covered general tips from how to save on occasions to reminders to unplug unattended and in Tips to Tackle the Cost of Living Part Two, we covered kitchen hacks. In part three we will cover tips to help reduce fuel costs if running a car or vehicle.

This post will be particularly helpful for people living in rural Ireland where public transport is less common – CLICK LINK TO VIEW –> https://mabs.ie/blogs/my-car-my-fuel-and-my-wallet/

Were you temporarily laid off from work during COVID-19?

If so, and if you are also made redundant between 13 March 2020 and 31 January 2025, you may qualify for a special redundancy payment of up to €2,268 (tax-free).

If you lost out on reckonable service while temporarily laid off during COVID-19 and you are made redundant, you may be able to get a special payment up to €2,268 (tax-free). You can apply for the payment from 19 April 2022 – See More: https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/News-And-Events/Department-News/2022/April/2022_04_19.html

Finding it hard to pay the rent, but don’t qualify for social housing?

You may qualify for a cost rental home. Rents in cost rental homes are cheaper than standard rents. This is because they are based on the cost of the building and maintaining the home and do not include a profit.

Cost rental housing provides affordable rented accommodation to people on middle incomes. It is aimed at people who are above the threshold for social housing but have difficulty affording private rented accommodation. It is called ‘cost rental’ because the rent you pay is based on the cost of building, managing and maintaining the homes. It does not include any profit for a developer. This makes the rent cheaper than standard rents. The rent for cost rental homes must be at least 25% below regular market rents in an area.

Find out about cost rental schemes in your area and see if you qualify: https://bit.ly/3uYSf2X

Thinking about a Working Holiday abroad?
If you’re an Irish citizen aged between 18 and 35, there are lots of different countries you can travel to.

Ireland has working holiday agreements with a number of different countries. These allow young people to travel to another country for longer than a tourist visa and to work while you are there to support your travel expenses.

The criteria vary from country to country but generally the programmes are open to young people between the ages of 18 and 30 or 35, who hold private health insurance and can provide proof of funds to support themselves.

In most cases you can find casual or temporary work once you arrive in the country and can also study while you are there. The main purpose of your trip should be to holiday and the work or studying should be supplemental. If you are traveling primarily to work or to study you should look into other visas.

SEE FULL FEATURE: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_abroad/working_abroad/working_holidays_for_irish_citizens.html

A hotelier has said that providing accommodation for refugees will become “unsustainable” as summer season hits unless more support comes from the Government., as the room rates currently paid by Government may not be enough to justify passing up tourist trade. The Danby Hotel is currently hosting over 40 Ukrainian people across 27 rooms, catering to refugees who have arrived into Rosslare Europort nearby.

But manager Ocean Song said bar and restaurant sales are down 40 percent over the past fortnight, which he said won’t be possible to maintain past its current contract with the Department of Children into July.
“We’re happy to provide the space here but we have a decision to make once we hit June. We’re trying to do our best to support them. We’ve refused a lot of bookings and this is stopping our business when we’re usually flat out.”

The hotel is paid the winter rate for a guest by the department for each person it hosts, roughly €25-€35 less than the summer rate.
“Lots of Irish people and English people would pass by here normally and stay with us and that’s not happening now. It will be very difficult [if the rate isn’t increased].”

SEE FULL  STORY: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/hotel-hosting-ukrainian-refugees-faces-dilemma-as-summer-looms-1.4853877

The former president of Ireland Mary McAleese has accused the major Churches in Ireland of being ‘conduits for homophobia’ following the deaths of two men in Co Sligo.

Ms McAleese said when her gay son got married, she was grateful to live in a country where he and his partner can be together in relative safety, however, she added she is conscious that is not the case in other parts of the world. Ms McAleese said there is “always homophobia, there is always the hatred” that can crop up, adding that there are parts of the world her son “simply cannot visit”.

SEE FULL STORY: https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mcaleese-accuses-churches-of-being-conduits-for-homophobia-following-sligo-deaths-1291120.html

Turf contractor Mick Maher thought long and hard before making an offer on the new digger he had found on Done Deal, part of a sell-off by an engineering firm that was closing down.

At €100,000, it was a significant investment – but he was heading into prime turf-cutting season when they would be working flat out from first light for the next eight weeks solid, and he was afraid his old, unreliable machine might let them down. It was available right then, with no lead-in time, and Mick decided that the digger was too good a deal to turn down. And though the 72-year-old contractor had no plans to drive it himself – he “didn’t want to be greedy” – it was set to become an invaluable addition.

The new bog excavator arrived on the back of a truck at Maher’s yard in the picturesquely named townland of Wood-Of-O (coming from the old word for yew trees) outside Tullamore, Co Offaly, late on Friday evening last. Within three days, clear plastic wrap still enrobed its seat as Mick’s livelihood, and that of every turf contractor in the country, lay perilously suspended on a cliff-edge amid news that the sale and distribution of sod peat was to be prohibited from September…

SEE FULL STORY: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/therell-be-a-lot-of-cold-homes-next-winter-if-this-turf-ban-goes-ahead-41558059.html

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE have attended vigils across the island of Ireland in memory of two men killed in Sligo. Aidan Moffitt, 42, and Michael Snee, 58, were found dead in their own homes in the town on the west coast earlier in the week.

A man was remanded in custody at Sligo District Court yesterday after being charged with their murders.

Scenes at the vigil in Sligo town today were replicated all over the island, with more than 30 events organised in towns and cities on both sides of the border.

SEE FULL STORY:  https://www.thejournal.ie/vigils-for-aidan-moffitt-and-michael-snee-5739227-Apr2022

John Kierans: “Sligo is the county of beautiful beaches, mountains and WB Yeats. But in recent days, it has become known for something a lot more unpleasant.

Everyone I spoke to over the past two days were shocked and angry that this beautiful place famous for its beaches, mountains and poems had seen two violent deaths.
No one could explain it. People kept pinching themselves to see if this was really happening.

But there were more questions than answers on the streets as the whole community comes to terms with the two recent killings.
Everybody wondered how this could happen to decent people like Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee, who were the type of individuals who wouldn’t harm a fly.”

SEE FULL FEATURE: https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/news-opinion/shocked-sligo-community-left-more-26717064

On Friday evening, thousands of people will gather up and down the country to mourn the tragic loss of both men.

Here is a current list of vigils taking place in each county over the Easter weekend:
FRIDAY
Galway: 5pm at The Long Point
Wicklow: 5pm at the bandstand in Bray
Sligo: 6pm outside the Town Hall
Dublin: 6pm at Dáil Éireann
Louth: 6pm at Dundalk Town Square
Louth: 6pm at the Tholsel
Louth: 6pm at Ardee Civic Offices
Waterford: 6pm at St John Roberts Square
Waterford: 6pm at Walton Park, Abbeyside, Dungarvan
Carlow: 6pm at the fountain, Liberty Tree, Haddens Car Park
Westmeath: 6pm in Mullingar Town Park
Kildare: 6pm at the bandstand in Liffey Linear Park, Newbridge
Donegal: 6pm at the crossroads in Falcarragh
Belfast: 6pm at City Hall
Derry: 6pm at Guildhall Square
Laois: 6pm at County Hall Plaza, Portlaoise
Offaly: 6pm at O’Connor Square, Tullamore
Meath: 6pm at Navan Town Hall
Meath: 6pm at the Fairgreen, Kells
Cavan: 6pm at Market Square, Cavan Town
Monaghan: 6pm at The Lace Gallery, Carrickmacross
Kilkenny: 6.30pm at the Town Hall, High Street
Wexford: 7pm on Wexford Quay
Tyrone: 7pm at Omagh Courthouse
Tipperary: 7.30pm at the Main Guard, O’Connell Street, Clonmel

SATURDAY
Donegal: 2pm at the Amazing Grace Memorial, Buncrana
Wicklow: 6pm in the square, Blessington
Kildare: 6pm at the Square, Maynooth
Galway: 7pm in Eyre Square

SUNDAY
Clare: 2.15pm at the Killaloe side of the bridge that links Clare and Tipperary