TO TAKE OVER NAMA INDUSTRIAL UNITS STRATEGICALLY PLACED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND CONVERT THEM INTO FULL TIME SPORTS FACILITIES

Irish people have always been partial to a bet. It is in our nature. The amounts of money bet annually by Irish people are considerable, and the contribution that betting has made to the Irish exchequer in the last four decades has been significant. However, the global betting landscape has changed irrevocably in recent times, and it is time for Ireland to change with it. The proposal is to create a favourable tax regime for betting operators in Ireland, an International Betting Centre (IBC), similar in ethos to the International Financial Services Centre. There would be little or no tax take directly from the firms in terms of taxes on net profits, and there would have to be a long-term commitment to that, but the benefit to the economy in terms of the employment that it would generate, the direct and indirect contributions to the exchequer by employees, and in terms of the increase in economic activity, would be significant. The betting industry is one of the fastest-growing More...

As the old saying goes, “Your health is your wealth”. We want to create prosperity in Ireland, not just through job creation, but through increasing our health and happiness status and inspiring a love of being active, and giving our children a chance to succeed in the future. We are all aware of the worlwide problem of childhood and adult overweight and obesity. We come across it every day as Task Forces and health bodies seek to target and improve the issue. We have studied many commisioned reports and studies from around the globe on this issue and we have found that there is one vital flaw in all of them – none of them supply the target groups with the tools they need to succeed. Our increasingly sedentary life styles is one of the reasons why our ‘natural’ movement ability is on the decline. On a recent study we discovered that many children were unable to complete a Fundamental Movement Skills assessment. We can talk about healthy eating, exercise programmes, etc. all More...

“Being Actively Healthy” In view of the alarming statistics re increasing incidence of obesity and diabetes published recently, I am proposing that Ireland takes the lead in food retail law which would require all food retail outlets to participate in promoting consumer nutrition education/information and in protecting human health. This initiative would lay the foundation for an empowered healthier consumer while also it would be the catalyst for a new “Being Actively Healthy” enterprise culture. Let’s remember the leading example action Micheal Martin took with the smoking laws.

Sport is powerful. It involves, inspires and creates heroes, leaders and legends. Michael Cusack understood this. He created the GAA to inspire the Irish nation, celebrate our ancient traditions, our sports and our sense of community at a time when Ireland needed it most. Cusack saw the potential to connect communities within our country. Ireland has changed – it is no longer just an Island. Our culture has matured. It is now a strong international force of Saints and Scholars. The Irish diaspora permeate the farthest corners of the world. The World Gaelic Games aims to galvanise this community in a real way using sport as the platform. It is now our turn to inspire the world through the World Gaelic Games (WGG). Think of the Olympics but as a celebration of all the games Irish people around the world are passionate about. This is an opportunity to involve the rest of the world, as the Olympics does, in our nation’s culture and games. Imagine Usain Bolt, followed by a mat More...

We can tackle some of Ireland’s most pressing social and economic challenges by providing our children with a highly stimulating and safe environment to engage in the most important activity of all: play. The idea is to challenge a team of Ireland’s brightest minds to pioneer the development of a world-leading play environment (an “urban jungle”) that is self-sustaining and can be replicated throughout the country. Irish children face an increasingly difficult environment in which to be active, creative and interact with other kids. With inadequate access to recreational areas both during and after school, the playstation culture is expanding, leading to 1 in 5 Irish children being obese and an increase in unsocial behaviour. At the same time, Ireland’s young people are becoming less and less interested in mathematics and science. The OECD has shown that this is costing Ireland $8 billion per year. More than ever before, Ireland needs innovators, scientists and an entrepre More...

A Proposal for a networked strategy of community led urban transformation PLAY IRELAND is a nationwide concept, our vision is to transform under-utilised, forgotten space into temporary sport venues and areas which communities throughout Ireland will be able to use and enjoy. PLAY IRELAND aims to work closely with communities across Ireland to identify vacant spaces, namely off-peak car parks, we will then negotiate with the owners so that these spaces can be converted into useful areas during off-peak hours so that the community as a whole will benefit. SUMMARY VIDEO: http://www.vimeo.com/11353778

PLAY IRELAND is a nationwide concept, our vision is to transform under-utilised, forgotten space into temporary sport venues and areas which communities throughout Ireland will be able to use and enjoy. PLAY IRELAND aims to work closely with communities across Ireland to identify vacant spaces, namely off-peak car parks, we will then negotiate with the owners so that these spaces can be converted into useful areas during off-peak hours so that the community as a whole will benefit. SUMMARY VIDEO: http://www.vimeo.com/11353778

THIS PROJECT IS ABOUT IRELAND IN THE WORLD, AND THE SEVENTY MILLION PEOPLE WORLD WIDE WHO ARE IRISH IN ANCESTERY OR HOLD IRISH PASSPORTS. MUINTIR CHANGES THE WAY WE BRAND IRELAND AND IRISH GOODS AND SERVICES, IT PROMOTES A CULTURAL SHIFT IN UNDERSTANDING THAT BEING IRISH BY BIRTH OR ANCESTRY, WE ARE A MIXTURE OF VARIED SETLTERS, VIKING, FRENCH, , WELSH ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, JEWISH, FLEMISH, IN THE PAST, AND IN RECENT TIMES, A NEW POPULATION HAS BEEN ADDED TO THAT MIX. OUR INDUSTRIAL AND CRAFT PRODUCTS ARE EQUALLY DIVERSE, AND MUINTIR TWINES THIS DIVERSITY INTO A NEW GLOBAL MARKET AND IRELAND SHOWCASE. IT’S A TWO WAY MARKETPLACE –COMPANIES OWNED OR STAFFED BY THE IRISH ABROAD WOULD HAVE AN EQUAL PLACE WITH INDIGENOUS COMPANIES, LEADING TO NEW LINKS, LEARNING AND PROFITIBILITY. ONE OF THE MAIN THEMES TO EMERGE FROM THE ATTENDEES AT THE GLOBAL IRISH ECONOMIC FORUM WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF IRISH CULTURE TO THE IMAGE OF THIS COUNTRY ABROAD.…. AS WE STRIVE TO PROMOTE IRISH CULTURE AND More...

If thousands and thousands of people leave this country every year to see sporting events in England and further abroad, could we not encourage people to travel around our own island watching our own sporting events and in the process help our own tourist and hospitality sector. It would require nothing more than a new business setting up a comprehensive website and some joined up thinking between different Irish sporting, tourism and hospitality bodies. Give the customer real value in tems of discounts to the event itself aswell as to the hotels involved in order to encouage people to incorpate weekend trips with different Irish sporting events. Ultimately we should be able to market weekend packages for Irish sporting events and encourage people to travel to Pearse stadium in Galway or Leopardstown, in the same way as people travel to Old Trafford for soccer or Barcelona for a Grand Prix.