Around Ireland: Irish coffee craze in Carlow

While working in a ski chalet in France, Rosemary, who is from Tullow, would prepare a nightly feast for 20-30 guests that was always followed by Irish coffee.
“I thought there’s got to be a better way, this is a gourmet product,” Bernard said. “When people come to Ireland they want Guinness, Baileys, and Irish coffee. It kicked off a plan to consider what could be done.”
They teamed up with a food and drinks development company in Dublin and tested the blend of Colombian coffee, smooth Irish whiskey and golden brown Carlow sugar for stability, shelf life and customer reaction. After a year they were convinced the product was ready and on January 1, 2000, Bernard left his job as a marketing director for a software company in England and went into the Irish coffee business.
The gamble paid off. The company now sells to eight international airlines, 500 restaurants and hotels, supermarkets and stores throughout Ireland. It is also expanding into the UK and U.S. markets. Last year, it secured a contract with U.S. drinks importer Bradley Training Corporation, which guaranteed sales of 11,000 cases this year.

MONAGHAN: LETTER FROM DOWN UNDER
The decision by An Post to centralize postal sorting activities in Athlone incurred the wrath of members of Monaghan County Council at a recent meeting. One councilor revealed that a letter from Australia had arrived in twice the time it took for a letter posted in the area to get to an addressee who lived only about one mile away.
The matter was raised by the mayor of County Monaghan, Hugh McElvaney, who said: “We had next-day delivery before it was moved to Athlone, but we are now only getting our Christmas mail after Christmas. That is no way of running a business. An Post deserve to be condemned.”
The mayor described it as a lame excuse offered by An Post that Athlone wasn’t able to deal with square Christmas cards.

CORK: WHIZ-KID INVENTION
An electronics whiz from Blarney has landed one of the top prizes in this year’s Young Scientists competition with an invention that Homer Simpson would be proud of: a bin that puts itself out for collection.
Eoin O’Connell, a fifth-year student at Scoil Mhuire Gan Sm_l, took first prize in the senior technology category for his labor-saving device.
Eoin built a two-foot model of the device, which is designed so it can be attached to a standard wheelie bin. Using motors to drive the bin and two sensors to steer it along a white line, painted by the user, Eoin’s invention takes the hassle out of bin nights.
“All you have to do is paint the line and the bin will follow it,” he said. “I’ve been entering the Young Scientist Exhibition for a couple of years and the hardest part is coming up with a good idea. This one took months of thinking.”

DUBLIN: THE MIGHTY OAK
The battle to save the last remaining significant grouping of old oak trees in Dartrey Forest gathered pace last week when more than 80 people braved icy weather to gather at the 13-acre native woodland site and record their objections to An Coillte’s plans to fell a number of the trees.
The demonstration was led by international environmentalist Sem Karoba, from West Papua on the Pacific island of New Guinea. Karoba has fought tirelessly for the preservation of the natural rain forest in his native country.
He led the group in placing stones and branches at the foot of one of the threatened 200-year-old oaks to mark its opposition to cutting the trees. The singer/songwriter entertained the crowd with a number of songs in his native tongue before the event concluded.
While agreeing with An Coillte that the area should be made more accessible as a public amenity, those opposed to the plans do not believe that any of the trees, which they consider part of the natural heritage, should be cut down for that purpose. They say the trees already in position should all be left as they are.

MAYO: MAILBOX AMERICAN STYLE
The proposal by An Post to introduce more than 500,000 roadside mailboxes throughout the country cannot proceed without people agreeing to it, a spokesperson for the Commission for Communications Regulations has confirmed.
The commission is aware that An Post is anxious to extend the roadside mailbox system and is equally aware that many rural organizations and direct-mail companies are opposed to such a move.
Last week, An Post issued a press release announcing plans to introduce roadside letter boxes for households whose delivery points are distant from the public road. In excess of 500,000 such delivery points were identified by An Post. The introduction of delivery boxes is projected by An Post to result in savings of euro 20 million per annum.
An Post confirmed that existing delivery arrangements would continue for elderly, infirm and immobile people.
Roadside letter boxes are common throughout the developed world and already in Ireland there are 80,000 such delivery boxes in use.