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ENDA KENNY HAS given an audience in China a list of good reasons to visit Ireland, highlighting in particular Ireland’s golf courses, shopping, literature and Riverdance.
The Taoiseach namechecked writers George Bernard Shaw and James Joyce and golfers Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke in a speech today aimed at encouraging Chinese tourists to visit Ireland.
The Taoiseach said that Ireland has been ranked as one of the most friendly places in the world to visit by the Lonely Planet travel guide, saying:
We have the scenery, we have the food, we have the historic buildings and ancient traditions, and we have culture, old and new.
He singled out the “glorious dancing spectacle that is Riverdance” for special praise, noting that Chinese vice president Xi Jinping had attended a performance when he was in Dublin.
You all know that we have world champion golfers in Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke and you can play where they learned on more than 500, including some of the world’s very best, golf courses.And when all the activity is done Chinese visitors can enjoy an exclusive shopping experience with high quality design and crafts from Ireland and international designers.
Over 6.5 million overseas visitors came to Ireland in 2011 generating around €3.5 billion for the economy.
Ireland introduced a visa waiver scheme last year making it easier for Chinese tourists to visit Ireland. The Taoiseach announced today that the scheme is to be extended for another four years.
Meanwhile Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton, who is accompanying the Taoiseach on the visit to China, has signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation on science and innovation between Ireland and China.
The agreement is likely to involve exchange of scientists and researchers, study tours, exchange of scientific and technological information and data, bilateral scientific and technical meetings, and joint research on projects of mutual interest.
Here’s what Enda has been up to today:
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
Source: Photo: AP Photo/Ng Han Guan" title="">
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300 and odd cheaper than the iPhone 6 plus rip off
465euro on Piximania for SIM unclocked Samsung S5.. why anyone would pay 55euro a months for a 24month contract its silly. That’s well over a thousand euro for the phone… costs half that to buy Sim free, granted you might get free calls,free texts and internet.. but you can get all that with SIM only plan for 20euro a month.
20 per month, over the next 24 months is 480, added to the near 500 upfront for the device means you pay a grand either way… except you don’t have to shell out half a grand at the start… As the missus might say, why are you so afraid of commitment?
@Pinel g if your buying your phone not to make phone calls or texts , you are correct in saying sim free is half the price
@Sean Delaney – comparing this to the iPhone 6 Plus? Did you read the article? 4.7″ screen.
To me, it seems like Samsung made some odd choices. Loses the plastic crap and keeps the replaceable battery, good, but no SD card?
Maybe they should have just waited to launch a S6 Alpha version and made it an attractive proposition to Galaxy fans.
Eh pinel it’s not much of a savings and u spread the cost over 2 years
Fair play if u can afford it up front some can’t
@Ciaran Ó Fallúin Yes, 20 per month is 480. but you are not tied down to any contract, so you do not have to top up every month, (these days i think you need to top up at least every 6months to keep it active on the network was 12months before) therefore it does save you money, instead of being tied down to a contact where you always pay more. like when you go over your internet usage a month. What annoys me is Meteor offer Unlimited Data for €10 a topup. yet this “Unlimited Data” is subject to Fair usage allowance of 7.5GB, To me this is not unlimited data…. capped data more like.
7.5gb is more than you should ever need for your phone.. if your steaming buck loads of netflix, would you really enjoy any of it watching it on a phone. It’s meant for internet browsing and yes video playback but not watching season after season. It still is a phone after all.
In tescos “unlimited” sim only plan you get 10,000 mins, 10,000 texts and 15Gb data for €25 per month and its only a 30day contract.
I’ve held this phone in my hands. It feels fantastic. Unbelievably light. Tough decision between the alpha and S5.
Looks great! Samsung’s biggest fall down was the quality of its plastic!
Nah. Samsung biggest downfall is Touchwiz. I’m typing this on the S5. Brilliant phone. I’ve no problem with the plastic back.
I had a look at the Alpha in a shop during the week. It is very fekin light.
That touch wiz thing is a nightmare, constantly crashed or froze my Note 3. Samsung just tell you to connect it to Kies which didn’t work. Tried all of the suggestions on forums but to no avail. Last system update caused my phone to crash completely had to do a hard factory reset which was a pain but on the positive side no more touch wiz errors.
Had a note 2 and loved it. But I hated taken the back cover off because it would stay out of shape.
I’d you don’t like touchwiz Michael, install an alternative. Dozens of options available. Next Launcher is my personal favourite
That doesn’t change the fact that it’s still running on touchwiz, which is laggy as hell. If 2.5GHz quad core lags it means that there is something very wrong with the system and its optimization. Samsung insane hardware is always held back by that atrocious system. If they only developed something new and light, they would gain a lot of new consumers.
Yup. That’s the advantage of Android. Touchwiz is awful. First thing I do after a factory reset is install Apex.
Biggest reason I stick with Samsung is the replaceable battery and huge support from third party ROM distributors.
Have not plugged my Note 3 into its charger ever. Three external batteries and a battery pack and I’ve never been let down.
Apple are great for their fans, or have been, each to their own. A phone is a personal choice. If Apple fans want the experience they’re getting, that’s their choice. I actually admire Apple for being able to command such brand loyalty in the face of better alternatives (in my opinion). I know many Apple to Android converts but I don’t know any of the reverse.
Again, each to their own. It’s not as if those Apple fans don’t know of any alternatives. If I knew there was a better CAR than a Toyota for the budget I had for buying a car, you can bet that no matter how loyal I was to Toyota, I’d be buying the better bang for my buck.
Yep I use Nova Launcher. Still only a half measure. I rommed an S4 worth the Google edition rom. That runs better than my S5.
If Samsung sold their phones with the Google edition is buy that version every time. Their hardware is brilliant (on some models).
@dave davis
I am an apple fan but would be very happy to move because of the increasing privacy-invasion by Apple.
I was really hoping the article would compare the two but strangely it didn’t!
What is your view on how this new SS compares with the 4s ?
@gareth – touchwiz isn’t the issue.. just like when running any pc, it gets full up with crappy programs, files left behind etc. A factory reset is recommended oncè every 6 months to clear all the crap we install and remove and install again from the playstore. The days of the nokia 3210 are gone.
I’m a big fan of Android but would never even contemplate buying a Samsung phone given the amount of bloatware and horrible skins they put over Android. Samsung seem to just saturate the market with absolute tripe and in very few cases do they ever focus on quality (bar maybe the Note and Galaxy lines). They have a new phone out every 2 months,, it gets boring very quickly.
Darragh,
What phone do you use ?
LG Nexus 4. I don’t think that pure Android can be bettered by any third party skins and extra apps!
I love these articles… They highlight the radio silence from Apple users that are too busy enjoying their technology to flock like the squeaking seaguls from finding nemo to desperately convince the world their cheap Korean plastic is the greatest…
This is unknown, risky territory for Samsung. Starting from €549.99 SIM-free, the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is priced like a flagship phone, but it’s technically out-specced by the Samsung Galaxy S5.
ultra power saving mode? dosent stop you from having to charge it EVERDAY!
Eh yeah it does. That’s the point.
Had a similar feature in htc one – it lasted over 3 days. But then again, phone is stripped from majority of its features so this isn’t a solution. We need new batteries that will handle the smartphones as they are, not software that will dumb them down big time to preserve their power.
Ultra Power Saving mode is a fantastic feature that works very well.
Pinel g. Yes it does. I think u need to read things and have a little think before u post
Review? This is a pay ad from 3.
Looks great. Would love to see this kind of build and design on future devices from them. The S5 is as fantastic phone and would be even better with this kind of build.
Samsung has already won the race. They hold the leading market share.
People go on about it “looking great”. If the functionality and general browsing on the usual samsungs is anything to go by, I’d steer clear
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