Category Archives: News

Pat Hickey gives Olympic Torch to Dublin City Archives

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Lord Mayor accepts Olympic Torch on behalf of Dublin City Council

On Tuesday 5th February 2013, at 12 noon in City Hall, Dame Street, the Lord Mayor, Naoise Ó Muirí will be presented with an Olympic Torch by Pat Hickey, President of the Olympic Council of Ireland as a ‘thank you’ to Dublin City Council for their support in hosting the Olympic Torch Relay in Dublin last year.

The Olympic Torch will go on display at the Dublin City Sports Archive, Pearse Street Library, Dublin 2, from Wednesday morning, 6th February for the month.

Admission is free. Opening hours:

Monday – Thursday 10.00 am to 8.00 pm
Friday & Saturday 10.00 am to 5.00 pm

The Lord Mayor said “The 6th June 2012 was a very special day when the true spirit of the Olympic Games came to the streets of Dublin. In a break from tradition the Olympic Torch Relay travelled outside of Greece and the Host Country to visit Dublin. 41 Torchbearers from sporting legends to unsung heroes carried Olympic Torches through the streets of Dublin where cheering Dubliners lined the route from Croke Park to St. Stephen’s Green. Dublin City Council, An Garda Síochána, the City’s business community and transport providers, the Irish Government and the Olympic Council of Ireland all worked together to make a special piece of history. I am delighted that one of these Olympic Torches is being presented to the Dublin City Archives for permanent display to mark the day, not only for those who experienced it firsthand but for generations to come.”

Pat Hickey, President of the Olympic Council of Ireland, said “The welcome that Dubliners gave to the arrival of the Olympic Torch in our capital city was immense – and set the tone for Ireland’s very successful medal challenge at the London Games. Dublin City Council, at all levels, played a key role in the planning and delivery of the Torch visit, and deserves our heartfelt thanks for doing a superb job for our city and our country on this important and unique international occasion”

City Archivist Dr. Mary Clark said: “We are thrilled to have this Olympic Torch for the Dublin City Sports Archive, where our aim is to inspire Dubliners of all ages to love and play sports by recording the achievements of sporting heroes, past and present. For us, this torch will symbolize passing on this proud tradition of sporting excellence for which Dublin is noted.”

Dublin has free wifi!

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The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Naoise Ó Muirí is launching Dublin Free WiFi today at 11am at Barnardo’s Square, Dublin 2 (beside City Hall Dame Street). This new service will offer both Dubliners and visitors to the city access to free WiFi, 24/7, at key locations around the city. The rollout of free public WiFi contributes to the Digital infrastructure in the city.

Uniquely the WiFi hotspots will be identified by wall mosaics which will feature “digidub” characters, modern and historical. Fourteen different characters will be rolled out , with a Viking, a street cleaner, a tourist, a rockabilly girl and pyjama girl being visible on 31st January.  These signs are a fun and attractive way to advertise the city’s WiFi hotspots and Dubliners will be invited to suggest additional characters.

“Our future economic success, our ability to attract talent and investment and our competitive branding internationally means we have to use and apply digital technologies now.  I am delighted to be here today to launch Dublin Free WiFi. This project is one of the milestones that will deliver on our Digital Dublin Initiative. By June of this year Dublin will have a Digital Masterplan.   The aim of the plan is to develop Dublin as a world centre of digital excellence” said the Lord Mayor of Dublin.                                                 

In launching Dublin Free WiFi the Lord Mayor has thrown down a challenge. “I am asking Dubliners to identify and suggest different uses which can be made of the availability of free wifi in terms of developing services, encouraging people connecting, and making the city more attractive.”

To mark the launch the public is invited to take part in Dublin Free WiFi Day from 11am to 5pm, at Barnardo’s Square.

Free WiFi is an initiative of Dublin City Council. It is provided, at no cost to the Council, by  Gowex, a Spanish company that has provided similar services globally.

The service is free and provides a download speed of 512Kbps and an upload speed of 128Kbps. Users also have the option to purchase a higher download speed of up to 6 Mbps if required. Once registered, the user will have access to all Dublin city hotspots and other Gowex networks in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Paris and Buenos Aires. To celebrate the launch of this initiative, Dublin Free WiFi will be upgraded from 512Kbps to 1Mbps for 2 months from today.

“We are very proud to be working in Dublin alongside the City Council to offer free WiFi to all Dubliners and to all visitors. We think that Dublin is the European technological capital and having free WiFi in its streets will be a new attractive aspect for the City” said Jenaro García, CEO at Gowex. Thanks to this WiFi service, Dublin City Council is laying the foundations for the deployment of a Wireless Smart City, providing infrastructure for the future delivery of smart municipal services.

From Thursday the service will be available at the Civic Offices Amphitheatre, Wood Quay, St Patrick’s Park and Barnardo’s Square. The service will be rolled out over the coming weeks to other key city centre locations including Smithfield Square, Grafton Street, Henry Street, O’Connell Street and Temple Bar Square.

You can view the full set of “digidub” characters and find out where you can go digital at www.dublingowexfreewifi.ie

St Clare’s win The Dublin City Neighbourhoods School Awards 2012

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St. Clare’s Primary School, Harold’s Cross, are the proud winners of The Dublin City Neighbourhoods School Awards 2012 for their effort in striving to promote a green environment and healthy lifestyle.

The Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí presented the award to St. Clare’s at the Mansion House, Dublin, this morning.

Primary and Secondary Schools around Dublin were invited to enter this competition and are judged on various environmental elements. From waste management initiatives and water conservation efforts, to the landscaping of their school grounds and absence of litter and graffiti. All efforts to work towards a greener environment are taken into consideration.

The pupils and staff of St. Clare’s Primary School actively reduced the cost energy in their school over the past 3 years from €22,000 to €17,000. The Green Energy Guzzler of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) was so impressed with the efforts of the school that St. Clare’s were chosen to make a promotional DVD on reducing energy in schools. This DVD is currently being rolled out to all schools in Ireland.

The Lord Mayor said:- “Congratulations to the pupils and teachers of St. Clare’s Primary School on their win in the Dublin City Neighbourhood Schools Awards 2012. A reduction of €5,000 in energy costs over 3 years is really impressive.  They have participated in the City Neighbourhoods Awards, Green Flag Award and Green Home Programme with great enthusiasm and have been rewarded for thinking globally and acting locally!”

St. Clare’s Primary School is a Green school and has achieved all seven green flags receiving their first European Green Flag in 2001. They are currently striving to obtain the Active School Award.

Man killed by bus in Dublin City Centre

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A man was killed last night after falling under a bus in Dublin city centre in what Garda now say was a suspicious incident. They are now said to be hunting two men in connection with the pedestrian’s death.

At the time Garda published the following statement:-

“Gardai in Pearse Street are investigating the suspicious death of a male at the junction of Nassau Street and Dawson Street at approximately 5.45pm this evening  . 

A male in his late 20s was fatally injured when he was struck by a bus. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was injured.

The services of the State Pathologist and the Garda Technical Bureau have been requested and diversions are in place.

Gardai wish to appeal for witnesses to contact Pearse Street Garda Station on 01- 6669000, The Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

All that remains this morning is police tape around the junction of Nassau Street with Dawson Street, cordoning the area off for pedestrians, which means that pedestrians are crossing Nassau Street into the path of oncoming traffic. The Reporter hopes that the tape is removed soon to make it safer for all road users today.

Dublin Bus have issued the following statement:-

“Dublin Bus wishes to advise customers that due to last night’s accident on Dawson Street, the below diversions will be in place until further notice.

All services will operate as normal to Dawson St then via Nassau St, Lincoln Place, Westland Row, Pearse St, College St to Westmoreland St and back to normal route.

Intending passengers from Suffolk St should please make their way to the next stop on their route.

Dublin Bus apologise for any inconvenience to our customers.”

There are also some members of the Garda and Dublin Bus staff  standing nearby, apparently in an effort to obtain any other eye-witness accounts of what was a horrific scene according to other news outlets, including The Irish Times who have posted this video:-

In Dublin today…Bavaria City Racing

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Formula One came to Dublin today, and even though the day started off rainy and wet, the excitement was palpable. The former World Champion, Jenson Button, took last year’s car for a spin along past Customs House, round by Trinity and back to the garage at the Quays. As well as that there were displays of car driving that we hope none of you will try to emulate when the streets are opened again. Doughnuts and hand brake turns were the order of the day by rally drivers and Ferrari owners alike. We captured what we could despite everyone else having a phone or camera in their hand…

In Dublin today

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The Sky Ride took place today in Dublin city centre. Some of the streets were closed off and cyclists of all ages had a traffic-free environment to enjoy until 4 o’clock this afternoon.

The event is designed to encourage people to get on their bikes and enjoy some city centre exercise. Another similar event was organised in Glasgow at the same time.

Sky teamed up with Dublin City Council to organise the 8 km cycle. We were there simply as observers to get some shots of the action.

We really enjoyed the live music in Merrion Square where the music of the late great Johnny Cash filled the air.

Woman murdered on Christmas Day in Dublin

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Gardai in Blanchardstown are investigating the circumstance surrounding the death and discovery of a female in a house at Station Court Hall, Clonsilla, Dublin 15 on the 25th December 2010.

At approx 9.20pm on the 25th December 2010 Gardai received a call that a seriously injured female was in a house at Station Court Hall, Clonsilla, Dublin 15. On arrival Gardai contacted a local doctor and immediately sealed off the area. The doctor pronounced the female (52 yrs) dead at the scene. The body remains at the scene pending the arrival of the State Pathologist.

A 32yr old female was arrested at the scene and is currently being detained in Blanchardstown Garda Station under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 as amended.

The scene is currently being examined by a team from the Garda Technical Bureau.

Happy Christmas!

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Well it’s here. Whether you are interested in the presents or the religious significance there is really no way round it. So here is our view of the best Christmas message in appropriately digital form. Thank you for reading The Reporter. Our visitor numbers continue to increase day by day. For our Christmas present please tell six of your friends about us to keep us on track!