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Dublin’s Citywide Reading Campaign 2015 launched today

Children in Dublin went on high danger alert today as Dublin City Council’s Public Libraries launched this year’s Citywide Reading Campaign for Children.

This year’s book choice is ‘Danger is Everywhere’ by comedian and children’s author David O’Doherty. It’s a fun take on the real and imagined ‘dangers’ that lurk in everyday places and features illustrations by Chris Judge. The book’s style will be familiar to the many fans of the ‘Wimpy Kid’ series.

‘Danger is Everywhere’ gives a humorous insight into the dangers that confront children everywhere – from packing their school bag to brushing their teeth and is sure to appeal to boys and girls aged 7 to 11 years.

Margaret Hayes, Dublin City Librarian, says “the Citywide Reading Campaign has one simple aim – to get children reading for pleasure. I encourage children and their parents to go to their local Dublin City library this spring to find out more about the fun events taking place.” There will be author and illustrator visits to libraries, storytelling sessions and art workshops.

The Citywide Reading Campaign is organised by Dublin City Council’s Public Library Service as part of its Dublin UNESCO City of Literature programme and this year’s event is in partnership with publishers Puffin Books.

The book’s author David O’Doherty joined illustrator Chris Judge and school children for today’s launch at the National Museum of Ireland – Natural History, Kildare St at 9am. David says, “I’m really pleased that ‘Danger is Everywhere’ has been picked for this year’s Citywide Reading Campaign. I tried to write a book that would appeal to committed readers but also kids who find books a bit intimidating, and I’ve done that by filling it full of very, very, very silly jokes. I can’t wait to try it out at Citywide Reading events over the next two months!”

‘Danger is Everywhere’ is available to borrow from all Dublin City Library branches and to buy from all good book shops. Details on all events are on www.dublincityofliterature.ie #citywideread.

Key Citywide Reading Campaign for Children events

Tuesday 20th January 2015 3.30pm

Join author David O’Doherty and illustrator Chris Judge for some Danger is Everywhere fun.

Cabra Library, Navan Road, Dublin 7.

Free. Suitable for children 7+

Booking essential at 8691414

Dublin UNESCO City of Literature Children’s Art Workshops – Danger is Everywhere

Saturday 24th January at 2pm,

Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, Parnell Square

Open to children of all ages and costs €5, all materials are provided.

Booking essential at 2228883

Family Sketching – Danger is Everywhere

Sunday 8 February at 2pm

Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, Parnell Square

Free! All Materials are included. Open to all ages. Families welcome!

Book essential at 2228883

Danger is Everywhere Storytelling Session – join storyteller Paul Timoney for a fun-filled hour of mayhem based on Danger is Everywhere

12pm Friday 20th February 2015

Waterways Ireland, Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2

Book at visitorcentre@waterwaysireland.org or Ph: 6777510

Suitable for children 6+ Free admission

Danger is Everywhere Workshops – St. Patrick’s Festival

Big Day Out, Merrion Square

UN Human Rights Day honour for Václav Havel

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Tomorrow 20 December 2013 at 12 noon, Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn will dedicate a living memorial bench at St. Patrick’s Park to the playwright, dissident and Czech president Václav Havel. The Lord Mayor will be joined at the ceremony by His Excellency Mr. Tomas Kafka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Professor Borek Sipek, friend of Havel and renowned architect and designer of the memorial, and Karel Schwarzenberg, politician and close adviser to Havel.

The memorial called “Václav Havel’s Place” was designed by Borek Sipek and comprises two seats intertwined around a lime tree, the national tree of the Czech Republic. The idea behind the memorial bench is to create a meeting space for democratic discussion and to encourage freedom of speech. The first “Václav Havel’s Place” was unveiled in Washington in October 2013 and Dublin is the second city to honour Havel in this way. Dublin’s sister city Barcelona proposes a similar memorial for 2014.

The Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn said: “I am delighted and honoured to dedicate this living memorial bench to the great and inspirational Václav Havel. St. Patrick’s Park is a fitting and contemplative setting for “Václav Havel’s Place” as it complements the “Literary Parade” which honours many world renowned Dublin writers such as Jonathan Swift and Samuel Beckett. Indeed Beckett dedicated a work called “Catastrophe” to Havel. I hope this memorial will stimulate not only Dublin citizens but the many visitors to this park, to chat, dream and develop ideas. I would like to thank Dublin City Council, H.E. Mr. Tomas Kafka, and the Czech Embassy, Bill Shipsey and the friends of Havel for their generous gift to this city.”.

H.E. Mr. Tomas Kafka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic said:” For any Czech citizen, let alone a representative of our country; it is a great honour to be associated with the legacy and example of our late President Václav Havel. I am very grateful to Bill Shipsey of Art for Amnesty, Dublin´s Lord Mayor Oisin Quinn as well as several Irish friends of Vaclav Havel, including the support of Skoda Ireland, that, thanks to their generosity, we can unveil “Václav Havel´s Place”, for Czechs better known as “Václav Havel´s bench”, on Human Rights Day in Dublin. This bench symbolizes Václav Havel´s fondness for dialogue and communication as one of the crucial foundations for a kinder and more tolerant society. I wish to dedicate to this new monument in Dublin a slogan as unpretentious as President Havel himself: “Let´s hope the world may change/ on Václav Havel´s bench”

Bill Shipsey, Art For Amnesty said: “It is a proud day for Amnesty International and the cause of universal human rights for which Vaclav Havel dedicated his life, that Dublin is dedicating the first ‘Havel’s Place’ in Europe and the first in a public space anywhere in the world in his honour. Vaclav Havel came to Dublin 10 years ago to receive the inaugural Amnesty International ‘Ambassador of Conscience’ Award from the hand of Seamus Heaney whose poem inspired the Award. We remember both Seamus and Vaclav on this proud day.”

“Václav Havel’s Place” memorial was funded by Dublin City Council, H.E. Mr. Tomas Kafka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic and the Czech Embassy, Skoda Ireland, Bill Shipsey and the Friends of Václev Havel. The lime tree was provided by SAP Nurseries.

Visitor numbers break all records at Dublin Zoo

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Biggest year ever with record breaking numbers visiting in 2012

Dublin Zoo is delighted to announce they have yet again broken their record for the number of visitors welcomed through the gates last year. The final footfall figure for 2012 surpassed last year’s 1 million reaching an all-time high of 1,029,417. The Dublin Reporter was lucky enough to visit the Zoo twice last year and enjoyed the experience immensely each time. A visit to the Zoo is a lovely walk with loads of camera ready opportunities!

This increase of 2.5% confirms Dublin Zoo’s status as the most popular family visitor attraction in Ireland with over 95% domestic visitors.

Leo Oosterweghel, director of Dublin Zoo said:- “We are absolutely thrilled to have welcomed even more visitors than last year. We would like to thank all our friends and supporters, old and new, who helped us achieve this new record. Reaching 1 million in 2011 was fantastic but to do it again and add to that number is phenomenal.

“Our success can be attributed to the dedication and hard work of the team at Dublin Zoo. The team continuously strives to enhance the animal habitats and at the same time ensuring that visitors have an unforgettable experience which is value for money.

“We are delighted to say that the Zoo is more popular than ever. We are extremely proud to be in a position to say that after a decade of continuous development that Dublin Zoo is amongst the best Zoos in the world.”

Mr. Oosterweghel continued:-“The Zoo belongs to the Irish people who have a great pride in such a world-class facility and we share our success with the generations who continue to support us.”

2012 was an extremely busy year and saw the opening of the Asian Forest, celebrated baby gorilla Kituba’s first birthday and welcomed many new arrivals including a rare Eastern bongo calf, a tapir calf, two red panda cubs, two meerkat pups, two snowy owls and a sea lion pup, not to mention many new births at the Family Farm and a visit from international superstar Jennifer Lopez who enjoyed a day out at the Zoo with her family in October.

Among the new arrivals and for the first time ever Dublin Zoo introduced two young Asian lionesses and a bull elephant, Upali, to the collection of animals.

Upali, the bull elephant, joining the group of females was a momentous development for both the Zoo and the international breeding programme. It is expected the elephants will mate and double the size of the Dublin Zoo herd over the coming years.

In 2012 the extremely popular TV show ‘The Zoo’ aired for 10 weeks on RTÉ One and ‘The Zoo Christmas Special’ was watched by an average audience of 429,000 viewers. In addition, increased marketing, public relations and social media activity contributed hugely to the success of Dublin Zoo.

In 2013 and beyond, Dublin Zoo plans to continue to develop its offering, further enhancing the visitor experience and ensuring visitors continue to receive the best value for money.

Mr. Oosterweghel continued, “Over the past two decades Dublin Zoo has transformed into a world-class centre of learning about wildlife and conservation. It is also an integral part of more and more European breeding programmes for endangered species.”

Dublin Zoo, a not for profit organisation, is open seven days a week from 9.30am to 4.30pm in January. For further information on Dublin Zoo visit www.facebook.com/dublinzoo, www.dublinzoo.ie

Take care on the roads in Dublin!

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Gardai are warning road users and pedestrians to exercise caution on the roads and footpaths over the next number of days.

As the ice and snow that remains on some roads and paths thaws, they say it will lead to dangerous conditions in those areas. Motorists are asked to keep speeds down and pedestrians are asked to take care if out and about and wear hi-vis clothing, and not to walk on the road if there is a footpath available.

Dublin airport closed this evening 23 December

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The Dublin Airport Authority has closed the airport again this evening as a result of the snowfall during the early evening. The airport website reports the following:-

Flight operations were suspended at Dublin Airport from 18.30 as a result of heavy snowfalls. Snow continued to fall persistently for the following three hours.

Our snow and ice crew are working to clear the runway, taxiway and apron area in time for the first wave of flight arrival and departures tomorrow morning – subject to favourable weather conditions.

A further update will be posted just before 05.00, Friday 24th December, 2010.

Passengers planning to travel tomorrow are advised to contact their airline or airline’s website BEFORE coming to the airport.

With over 600 acres of runway, taxiway and apron area to clear one inch of snow over the airfield equates to more than 15,000 tons of snow to be removed.

You can follow us on http://twitter.com/dublinairport

Ryanair reports shock UFO sighting

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Ryanair, which calls itself Europe’s favourite airline, has confirmed that the Captain of flight FR1397 from Oslo Rygge to London Gatwick reported an Unidentified Flying Object to Aviation Authorities after passengers released shocking images taken onboard the aircraft some 200km south of Oslo.

Aviation experts confirmed that they had received a number of similar reports and confirm that such sightings are not uncommon in the region at this time of year, with an increasing number of sightings reported right up to 25th December.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said

“Ryanair confirms that the Captain of flight FR 1397 officially reported an unidentified flying object some 200km south of Oslo. The crew became aware of the object after passengers spotted it and begun to photograph it.

Ryanair has passed the image to Aviation Authorities throughout Europe in a bid to ensure further sightings can be reported. Ryanair does not comment on rumour or speculation and will not be drawn on passenger claims that the UFO was a test flight ahead of 24th December. This is now a matter for the authorities.”

Innovation Dublin 10th to 21st November

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The INNOVATION DUBLIN 2010 Festival takes place from 10th – 21st November. The majority of the events are free and open to the public, though advance booking is required in some cases. The full programme of events is available on www.innovationdublin.ie or you can download the free INNOVATION DUBLIN iPhone app to browse all festival events from your iPhone/iPad/iTouch.

INNOVATION DUBLIN is a Creative Dublin Alliance project and is promoted and coordinated by Dublin City Council. This is the second annual INNOVATION DUBLIN festival.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin Gerry Breen invites everyone to get involved in and support Innovation Dublin. “Businesses and entrepreneurs will promote new ideas to transform business in the city” said the Lord Mayor. “Artists and performers will celebrate creativity and the wide mix of people and events will help make Dublin a smarter city. All involved in Innovation Dublin are willing to share their knowledge and expertise with everyone so I encourage everyone to get involved”

Speaking at the official opening of the Festival, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan said the theme of celebrating the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Dublin “could not be more apt, as we endeavour to establish Ireland as an ‘Innovation Island’, in tandem with the creation of the Smart Economy.”

“The challenging economic and financial conditions that currently prevail only serve to sharpen our focus on the goal at hand – that the Ireland of the future will be a smart, high-value, export-led economy. Our goal is that Ireland will have some of the world’s leading research-intensive multinationals, a number of which will be Irish owned and it will have thousands of innovative small and medium enterprises”, the Minister added.

“INNOVATION DUBLIN will showcase, promote, and stimulate innovation and creativity in the city. It’s about connecting ideas with opportunities and everyone is invited to get involved” says John Tierney, Dublin City Manager. “The Festival provides opportunities to promote enterprise, to learn and find out how things work, to network and collaborate and to connect ideas with opportunities. People can participate in events ranging from business seminars and science demonstrations to storytelling, workshops, music and virtual games. The innovationdublin.ie website is constantly updated and people should check it regularly to find events that particularly interest them.”

The Festival is taking place over the entire Dublin Region, proving Dublin to be a City of Innovation. It is a key national economic policy objective to make Ireland an Innovation Hub, and with Dublin contributing 40% of the national GDP, with a critical mass of both FDI and Irish Exporting companies, Dublin is seen a national and international cluster for innovation and creativity by industry
The festival has been embraced by Dublin’s public sector showcasing innovation in the delivery of services and infrastructure by the local authorities as well as in the research, commercialisation and enterprise work of Dublin’s universities and institutes of technology
The festival is attracting international attention on Dublin with an increasing number of international delegations visiting the festival as well as through international events such as the global final of the IBM SmartCamp competition for entrepreneurs and the Globe Forum Dublin conference
Innovation can be applied to products, services or processes. With increasingly challenging global economic, environmental and societal issues facing humankind, our capacity for innovation in addressing those challenges becomes increasingly important

Details of conferences, competitions, talks, tours, debates, demonstrations, exhibitions, performances and workshops are on www.innovationdublin.ie

The people involved in INNOVATION DUBLIN include Chief Executive Officers of multi-national corporations, innovators and entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises, educators, researchers and school children, artists and creators, people in local authorities, citizens and local communities.