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Written by Administrator

Parent Category: Life and Style

Category: Living in Europe

Created: 11 February 2012

Last Updated: 05 January 2016

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Martin O’Driscoll
Ireland
Feb 2012

Nelsons Pillar Dublin

I was ‘born and bred’ in Dublin more years ago than I care to remember. It’s a city that will always be part of my soul. Although I don’t live there any longer, I thought it might be nice to share some of my memories as well as the various monthly events that go on in Dublin throughout the year.

‘THE RARE OULD TIMES’

That’s an expression which could only have come from Dublin. The title comes from a song written by PETE ST JOHN in the 1970s for a well known Dublin ballad singing group, The Dublin City Ramblers. The song tells of the changes that had occurred in Dublin between the 1960s and the 70’s. Its legacy still lives on to this day and its message is timeless.

“Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines,

I remember Dublin city in the rare oul' times”.

metropole hotel“Ring a ring a rosie” is Dublin slang for a nursery rhyme (Mother Goose Rhymes’ in the USA) and was first published in 1881 in print. The song itself is all about “progress” and what that does to communities.

“By trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancy.

Like my house that fell to progress, my trade's a memory”.

That’s what life was like in Dublin in the early sixties; a city changing its face, its appearance and some people questioned, was it also changing its soul!

Into this cauldron I walked as a young teenager. At first, I was unaware of how isolated we in Ireland were as an inward looking nation. As the years “tipped” on in the sixties one single event occurred which would change my generation and Ireland forever. We heard MUSIC from outside the country. We also started to see non Irish people on the streets for the first time and in honesty we were all utterly amazed.

Some people reading this will think that I am joking or being racist. I am neither. As a country situated at the very boundaries of Europe with sea all around us our history/legacy was emigration. Not immigration. So Pete St. John captured this in his song:

Royal_Hotel_1950“And I courted Peggy Diugnan, as pretty as you please,

A rogue and a child of Mary, from the rebel Liberties

I lost her to a student chap, with skin as black as coal.

When he took her off to Birmingham, he stole away my soul.”

This was the start of Dublin changing. Yet it caused older people to say:

'Cause Dublin keeps on changing, and nothing seems the same”.

But to a young boy of 13 or 14, these were exciting times! All of us wanted to ‘break the rules ‘. We had no idea of where we were heading but those transistor radios kept telling us of new and exciting things such as TV, pop music, different styles of clothing, even wearing long hair. We felt like liberation was just a stones throw away. If only we could grab it!  And grab it we did with every breath and every step.

To the older generation things were not that simple.

Dublin 1960s“The pillar and the Met. have gone, the Royal long since pulled down,

As the gray unyielding concrete, makes a city of my town.”

These lines in PETE ST JOHN’s song talk about the fact that Nelsons Pillar (a landmark figure in Dublin’s, O’Connell Street) was gone. The Metropolitan and Royal, both beloved theaters were also a thing of the past.  This meant that for some older people, the heart of Dublin was being destroyed.

Dublin was changing, a good thing or a necessary evil [the jury is still out on that one]! Years of isolation and politics had brought nothing but poverty and squalor to many parts of the city. We were still living ‘de Valera’s dream’ where the most rigorous censorship laws in Western Europe were still commonplace. His vision of “EIRE” (Irish for Ireland) meant that up until the sixties Ireland was largely a devout catholic, conservative and rural country.  In essence this was inward looking and had to change.

Next week I will tell you about those changes and how they affected me as a young man.

Dublin Diary

OK, fast forward to February2012.  What’s happening in the capitol this month?

- Dublin's Valentine's Day!

From 12 noon until 12 midnight on February 14th, cultural organisations across the city will be lit up with love, offering an adventure to the cultural heart of the city. Temple Bar Cultural Trust and their cultural partners have arranged a programme of affordable and free events that promise discovery, beauty, fun and great value.

- Jameson Dublin International Film Festival from 16th February 2012 – 26th February 2012

120 films from the four corners of the globe will be shown, some are Irish premieres, and for many more shown, the festival represents the only public screening that will take place in Ireland.

- The Human Body Exhibition from 2nd February 2012 – 31st May 2012

This is an all new exhibition featuring more than 200 full and partial real human body specimens, and it’s making its world debut at The Ambassador Theatre.

Copyright © 2011, DPNLIVE – All Rights Reserved

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Written by Administrator

Parent Category: Life and Style

Category: Living in Europe

Created: 02 December 2011

Last Updated: 05 January 2016

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Written by J.L O'Connell

Unlike Ireland there are many differences between salaries, working hours and holidays in France.

Salaries:

Salary levels are fixed by agreement between employer and employee at a mutually agreed level. These are usually paid a few days before the end of each month and people normally receive their salary net of deductions. Social contributions are generally around 20 – 25% of gross salary. The salary payment does not include income tax which must be declared and paid for separately unlike in Ireland where it is deducted automatically.

Minimum Wage:

The guaranteed minimum hourly wage called the SMIC is €9 gross (source INSEE 2011). The SMIC is reviewed annually on the first of January. An employee cannot legally be paid less than this level and it is generally applied, although like in all countries there will be some employers who choose to ignore or find a way around this.

Legal working hours:

The legal working hours (Temps de travail) are fixed at 35 hours per week. This rule applies to all employees except those with special working conditions such as executives or company managers, the police, fire services and other social services. The framework was introduced in 2000 by a left wing government which reduced the legal working hours from 39h to 35 hours. However when the right wing was elected they have been busy modifying things. At the moment the concept as a whole is under threat with the Presidential elections coming up next year.

Holidays:

People are entitled to two and a half days of paid leave per month worked. This gives basically five full week’s holidays a year. These are usually taken between the 1/6 and the 31/05 of the following year.

In 2000 another system was introduced to compensate people with special working conditions called RTT (Reduction du temps de travail). In some companies this could be quite significant (e.g. up to 18 days of leave a year) but the company usually decides when these days can/must be taken. It is often in August or when the workload in the company is low due to seasonal or other fluctuations. Traditionally, holidays are taken in August. In France this month is considered “sacred” and the country practically comes to a halt when even some churches close.

C'est la vie.....

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Written by Administrator

Parent Category: Life and Style

Category: Living in Europe

Created: 14 October 2011

Last Updated: 05 January 2016

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It appears that a new expression, ”text neck” is on the rise due to the amount of time we spend hunched over our mobile phone and tablet computer screens. too much time on the phone can harm your neck

The condition is causing concern for chiropractors who warn that flexing the neck for long periods of time can be a forerunner of permanent arthritic damage if it goes without treatment.

Experts say that this new repetitive strain injury is on the rise due to the increasing popularity of devices such as smart phones and the iPAD.

The condition can result in headaches, shoulder, and wrist and arm pain and in severe cases the muscles can eventually become accustomed to fit the flexed position, making it painful to straighten the neck out properly.

A spokesperson for Freedom Back Clinics in Leeds, Rachael Lancaster said: "Text neck is caused by the neck being flexed for a prolonged period of time. Joints and tissue in the neck are not built to withstand being flexed for long periods, and spending hours peering down at a screen puts them under too much stress.”

Lancaster added; "Imagine sitting on your ankle sideways for 10 minutes. It would feel stiff and sore when you returned it to its natural position. If people continue to put their necks in these positions, the body will gradually adapt to the stresses and could eventually cause the natural curvature of the neck to reverse, potentially leading to serious health problems.

The advice given by chiropractors is to take regular screen breaks as well as looking straight ahead while tucking the chin back towards the neck every few minutes. Other useful tips include rotating the shoulders with your arms by your sides, sitting up straight while texting and holding the phone a little higher.

Tim Hutchful of the British Chiropractic Association said: ” Children are most at risk because their heads are larger in relation to their body size than adults and women with slender necks should also take extra care to maintain a good posture. When your head is over the shoulders it is a bit like a balanced see-saw, but when you move it forward you need to put a force in place to keep it in that position.”

Hutchful added that getting regular exercise could help ward off some of the symptoms.

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Written by Bob Tallent

Parent Category: Life and Style

Category: Health and Safety

Created: 30 January 2015

Last Updated: 05 January 2016

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Mimaki Sb300 and Sb53 inks achieve OEKO-TEX® Accreditation for direct skin contact.

Mimaki Sb300 and Sb53 awarded OEKO-TEX accreditation Mimaki has attained the OEKO-TEX® accreditation for direct skin contact for its Sb300 series dye sublimation inks and Sb53 sublimation transfer inks. The OEKO-TEX® criteria catalogue provides manufacturers in the textile and clothing industry with a scientifically based standard benchmark for the evaluation of potentially harmful substances in textiles. OEKO-TEX® approved inks are suitable to finish skin-friendly clothing and other textiles for end users. This certificate therefore constitutes an important decision-making element when purchasing inks for textile production.

Read more: Mimaki Achieve OEKO-TEX® accreditation