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Did You Know? January 13, 2015

By Publications Checkout
Did You Know? January 13, 2015

Did you know… Aldi is sponsoring TV3’s show 'The Restaurant’? The show sees an Irish celebrity taking up chef training to plan and execute a menu to serve to a restaurant full of diners and critics. Over the next six weeks, the celebrities will be trained in Wineport Lodge in Glasson, County Westmeath. Critics include Tom Doorley and Paolo Tullio as well as a weekly guest critic. The first celebrity to cook will be politician Alan Shatter. The Restaurant airs on TV3 at 9pm on Wednesdays.

Did you know… Keelings has sponsored a competition on RTÉ’s 2FM to give away €1,000 to listeners? The fruit supplier is giving away the prize to encourage people to get healthy with ‘Januberry’, and entrants must answer a phone call from the radio hosts saying ‘Happy Januberry’ in order to win. If no winner is reached each day, then the daily €1,000 rolls over to the next day, and can result in a prize of up to €5,000 if it reaches Friday. To enter, listeners must text in to the station at 51552 to be in with a chance to win.

Did you know… Lonely Planet has listed the Smithwick’s Experience as one of 2015’s hottest tourist attractions in its newest ebook, which names the 26 top attractions for the year ahead? Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said of the accolade, “The inclusion of the Smithwick's Experience in Lonely Planet’s latest hot attractions list is really good news and will surely help to inspire travellers everywhere to put Kilkenny and the south-east on their holiday wish list for 2015. [...] It also gives Tourism Ireland another wonderful hook to continue to promote Kilkenny and Ireland around the world as a ‘must visit’ destination.

Did you know… Paul Armstrong has stepped down from his role as Europe Beer Supply Chain Director at Guinness? Armstrong is to be replaced in the role by another long-term Diageo/Guinness employee, Colin O’Brien. O’Brien has been with the company since 2002 and has held the position of Operations Director. According to a report in the Irish Independent, it is unlikely that Armstrong was 'pushed out' from his role - he was the winner of the 2013 'most trusted leader' category in ‘Great Places to Work’ Awards and was known to be liked by staff. 

Did you know… Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), software and computer services and banking are the most popular sectors amongst Irish business students? Research released by Deloitte in conjunction with the Universum Talent Survey, examined responses from 174 000 students across 31 global markets. A quarter of students said that software was their sector of choice, compared with only 14% favouring banking. FMCG was the most popular sector among 19.9% of Irish students surveyed, while it achieved around 16% globally. The top career goals for Irish students were to have a work-life balance (63%), to be secure or stable in their job (46%) and to be a leader or manager of people (39%).

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Did you know… Sinn Féin is urging Irish MEPs to reject today’s vote in the European Parliament on GMOs? The legislation being voted on was created to break the deadlock between pro- and anti-GMO countries and would legally allow countries to opt out of cultivating GM crops. Dublin MEP, Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin has criticised the legislation, saying that part of it obliges governments to seek permission from biotech companies to “be removed from the scope of their authorisation application.” She went on to say that she felt the final text of the legislation was “drastically diluted” from its original aim, adding, “It is a flawed report and does not offer countries watertight legislation to ban GM crops on their soil. It will instead, in my opinion, open the flood gates to GM crops despite strong public resistance to them.”

Did you know… Vanguard Beer Collective has been selected to be part of the AIB Start-up Academy? The Dublin-based company, billed as a 'one-stop shop' for Irish craft beers, won the ‘wildcard’ following a vote on lifestyle websites Her.ie and Joe.ie last month. James Winans, founder of Vanguard Beer Collective said he was “surprised and excited” to win the vote and homes to come out of the programme with a “leaner, better-run business.” The company will join other start ups, ranging from children’s book publishers to granola makers, in a series of modules intended to boost skills for new small business owners. The first Start-up Academy module will focus on business planning and networking skills.

Did you know… Owners of Belfast’s newest novelty café, Simply Crispy, have already been approached to open a Dublin branch? The café serving crisp sandwiches began when satirical website Ulster Fry ran a story about a fictional crisp sandwich café. The idea attracted enough attention that the website founders were approached by Andrew McMenamin, owner of That Wee Café, who offered to transform his premises into a crisp sandwich shop. The café opened on Monday and boasts a menu of 'classic and contemporary ' crisp sandwiches, as well as soups garnished with Monster Munch croutons. Speaking about the opening, McMenamin said, “When I read the article, I immediately thought, we could make that joke into a reality, and got in touch.”

© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson and Jenny Whelan. 

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