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THE COALITION HAS come under fire in the Dáil over the decision to accept an IAG proposal to buy the State’s 25.1 per cent stake in Aer Lingus.
The government yesterday decided to back IAG’s €1.4 billion buyout of airline after four months of uncertainty.
The deal values the taxpayer-owned share at around €335 million.
TheJournal Politics / TwitterKenny said the sale is about ensuring growth and creating jobs, adding that IAG has provided robust guarantees. #AerLingus
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) May 27, 2015
After a blazing row over Dáil procedures, a lengthy debate over the proposal to sell the airline got underway and involved several contributions with nearly all opposition parties and independents TDs opposing the sale.
Independent left TD Clare Daly said the main driver of the IAG bid was to satisfy the commercial interests of the aviation giant’s British, European and Middle Eastern shareholders.
She accused the government of orchestrating the protracted negotiations over IAG’s offer which resulted in a bid with improved conditions that was agreed by cabinet last night.
There is absolutely no doubt now in my mind that the process that has been under way over the past number of months is nothing more than a stage-managed, orchestrated charade designed to give the illusion that ye were tossing and turning and debating issues and wrestling concessions from IAG, when in actual fact ye’d already decided upon the outcome long ago.
Anti-austerity TD Ruth Coppinger accused the government of “steamrollering” the motion through the Dáil giving no time for those opposed to the sale to put pressure on Labour TDs over “this act of treachery”.
“It won’t be forgotten and will be the final nail in their [Labour's] coffin. Aer Lingus doesn’t need IAG, IAG needs Aer Lingus.”
TheJournal Politics / TwitterWhen Daly says #AerLingus sale is "a disgrace", Kenny remarks that she has had "a good old rant" #dail
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) May 27, 2015
Last night, the eight Labour TDs who had opposed the original offer – including Joe Costello, Dominic Hannigan and John Lyons – indicated they were supportive of the revised proposal.
Banking inquiry chairman and Cork South-Central TD Ciarán Lynch said the revised offer is a “very significant improvement” on the original offer and represents a good deal.
Sinn Féin’s transport spokesperson, Dessie Ellis, said that the decision would be one the country would come to regret in the future.
This is the wrong deal for Ireland and Labour knows it, but they do not have the courage to act on that knowledge. Fine Gael and IAG are thick as thieves and your party having got the run around are being trotted out to say how all concerns have been allayed.
“Aer Lingus is worth infinitely more to Ireland than the €335 million this government will get for cashing in the 25 per cent Fianna Fáil left the state with after their calamitous reign,” he said.
For its part, Fianna Fáil said tonight it would attempt to suspend further Dáil debate and the proposed vote on the sale after the emergence of a consultants report which sets out out a range of cost reductions across the airline.
The Nyras report, which was commissioned by Aer Lingus, includes a proposal to outsource part of the the airline’s aircraft maintenance to Eastern Europe.
Transport spokesperson Timmy Dooley said the report needs consideration by the government and TDs. He called for the Dáil debate to be suspended in the meantime.
“If there is a shred of good faith on the Government benches, there will be no vote on the future of Aer Lingus unless and until TDs get to examine all the relevant paperwork relating to this deal and to the airline’s plans, including the Nyras Report,” he said.
Originally published 6.42pm
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Fair play young dude
We need to teach coding at a young age. Take religion out of primary school and introduce very basic programming to kids. It should also be availible for junior and leaving cert. I am learning C# at the moment and really regret i have not learnt to code at a younger age.
The poor kid , he is very young to be getting into the dog eat dog. We idolise tech “leaders” so much today , I hope he isn’t chewed up in the cogs
Is there an adult version of coder dojo anywhere? Don’t know if I would like to do it as a career but wouldn’t mind learning the basics. Coder dojo seems like a nice way to do that but don’t wana be shown up by a bunch of ten ye old! ;-)
Plenty of courses you can pay for. I’m not sure how many people will dedicate time to teach adults for free. Although there’s a huge amount of free courses online… Do a google for “mooc” to get started.
Didn’t realise coder dojo was free. Wouldn’t mind paying for a few casual classes but going as far as a night course seems a big commitment considering I know some people who did entire college courses and hated every minute. Will try some of the online options. Cheers.
edx.org have a brilliant free online course from Harvard cs50 i think its what it is called. Also FAS e collage do a great “Changing yyour carer to the I.T sector online. It prepares you to get a MTA qualification in Networking, Software development, or Database analysis. Its free if you are on job seekers and its not too expensive if you are working. I am doing both courses and they compliment each other very well.
Have a look at night classes in your local community schools. Usually quite cheap and no long term commitment. I think usually 8-10 weeks at about a tenner a week.
Best of luck, I really hope it works out for you.
And forget about people who did comp sci and hated it. Massive overgeneralisation here on my part but I find they only did comp sci ‘cos computers are easy’ without knowing what they were getting into. If you have the interest then you already have a much better chance of success than them!
Give this a lash Barry, http://www.codecademy.com
Maybe skip the HTML/CSS course and try the Javascript or one of the others first.
Thanks for all the help. Loads to look at there. Maybe the first thing I’ll do when I’m able to program is create an education comparison site! There’s so much out there, some offering certifications some just the training and knowledge.
In people’s experience if you can show that you can code and write your own programs/apps/websites whatever, do employers look for proof of training? Does someone in the workplace who may be just as able and “self” taught earn as much as someone who has a degree or diploma or does the lack of paperwork hold people back?
It’s helpful to have certifications in order to get the foot in the door but not essential. I’m self-learned and am an engineer in one of the biggest IT companies in the world. But I started at a technician in PC World.
There are also one year conversion courses you can do that might be worth looking into if you already have a level 8 degree in another area and are in the position where you can spend a year in college. As far as I know most of them are being paid for by the government because there’s a skills shortage.
Codecademy.com go learn a language… I bet you enjoy it and I bet you will want to learn more!!
This is a new one- I was expecting to read The Journal comments section had won the Nigerian lotto!!
CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH(C.A.C) CREDIT UNION
Email: cacinternationalloanfirm@gmail.com
Head office Address……Dalston 52 Ashwin Street F9 7DL, united states
========================================================================
Hello, I bring greetings from the Lord to everyone here. I am a senior pastor of C.A.C and a Zonal Overseer of C.A.C Credit Union. I am here to announce to you that C.A.C Credit Union is giving out secure and affordable special xmans loan package to all believer’s in Christ anywhere in the world both individuals and organization’s for as low as 3% interest rate for whatever purpose you want to use it for be it business or personal. C.A.C credit union was originally set up to assist all it’s members worldwide who may be going through some financial challenges to get a soft loan to meet up with their challenges. We know that as this year come to an end, all believer’s in Christ might be needing funds for various purposes. For this reason, we have decided to extend our loan services to both members and none members of C.A.C worldwide. We offer both personal and business loans with capital base between the amounts of $1,000.00 to $50,000,000.00 US Dollars Or GB Pounds. The most interesting thing is that NO COLLATERAL NEEDED. NO HIDDEN CHARGES. All you need do is get a third part PPI to secure your loan. Wow! God is telling you that it is not too late. you can still achieve what you want to achieve before the year ends. Grab this opportunity and make this year your year of financial breakthrough. Hurry now and and contact us via email ( cacinternationalloanfirm@gmail.com )
GOD BLESS YOU as I await to here from you
Rev. Dolphy Anderson
Zonal Overseer(C.A.C) Credit Union
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