Support Local Arts

Limerick Sings International Choral Festival is celebrating its 10th festival this year, having grown significantly since its inception in 2013. Produced by University Concert Hall, together with festival partners, to date it has welcomed over 64 choirs from USA, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, the UK and Ireland to Limerick. In June 2019 (our last “in person” festival) 604 choristers participated in performances across the city and the region. In 2021 Limerick Sings went Virtual. This saw over 800 singers and choral music lovers actively participating online, in workshops, choral trails and a unique opening chorus, as well as tuning into concerts and an in conversation event. Throughout the three day event they joined the festival from countries including the UK, Spain, Italy, the US, Japan, India and from all across Ireland. The 2022 Festival takes place from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th. Participanting choirs from throughout Ireland and Europe, together with local audiences, can expect a wonderful weekend of song including a workshop and opening concert by internationally acclaimed vocal group Tenebrae at University Concert Hall; rehearsal/ workshop with leading Irish conductor David Brophy for an Outdoor Chorus at the stunning Cliffs of Moher; social events including BBQ and Festival Club, and concerts in the beautiful Redemptorist Church in Limerick city centre and Holy Trinity Abbey Church in Adare. For further information go to www.limericksings.com

Limerick Museum: Portal to the Past

Why not visit Limerick Museum, one of the oldest museums in the country, which tells the story of Limerick City and County through its vast collection of 63,000 objects from Stone Age axes to medieval coins, from the civic sword of Queen Elizabeth I to 1916 Rising medals.

Among the wealth of wonderful items on display are the 450-year old mummified Ireton’s Cat; a 3 billion-year old fragment from the largest meteorite shower that ever fell in Ireland; gorgeous Limerick lace and Limerick silver from the Golden Age of Limerick craft industry; and two World War II gas-masks that fortunately never had to be used.

• Location: Old Franciscan Friary, Henry Street, Limerick City, V94 C7W1. • Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10.00-5.00. • Admission: Free

The Hunt Museum The Custom House Rutland Street, Limerick. V94 EV8A www.huntmuseum.com University Concert Hall University Concert Hall, University of Limerick, Ireland. BOX OFFICE 061 331549 / support@uch.ie www.uch.ie

King John Castle https://kingjohnscastle.ie/ +353 (0) 61 – 711222 reservations@kingjohnscastle.ie Irish Chamber Orchestra, University of Limerick. ico@ul.ie +353 (0) 61 202 620 Concert: Mozart & Widmann April 27 2022 - April 29 2022

Why do we all love summer?

Temperatures get higher, just like our optimism and we are full of serotonin, the “happy hormone” which brings up that old feeling of freedom.

This is the season in which the energy of the Earth and the sky meet to produce plants, flowers and abundant fruit. It is the time of utmost growth in our vegetable and animal kingdom.

The joy of staying outside until late, enjoying our cool green lawns, sitting in a garden chair with a delicious drink in our hand or having dinner “al fresco”, preferably a barbecue, and chatting to our loved ones certainly makes up for the cold temperature and rainy days that we have had to endure.

Gone are the heavy, though delicious winter dishes, they have been replaced by salads and quickly assembled and easy to make light dishes. These gorgeous recipes are easy to make, full of nutrition and absolutely yummy.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil • 50g unsalted butter • 2 small fennel bulbs, finely chopped • 6 garlic cloves, crushed • 1/3 cup (95g) tomato paste • 800g prawns, peeled, deveined and chopped (heads and shells reserved) • 2 x 250g punnets cherry tomatoes, halved • 4 lemon thyme sprigs, plus extra fresh leaves to serve • 1 tsp fennel seeds • 400g strozzapretti or other short pasta • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon & juice of ½

1. Heat 2 tbs oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add half the fennel and half the garlic, and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until softened. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, to lightly caramelise. Add the prawn heads and shells and cook, stirring, for 8 minutes until coloured. Stir 1 punnet tomato into the prawn mixture. Add 375ml water and 2 thyme sprigs and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for 25 minutes, pressing down the prawn heads and tomato to extract as much flavour as possible. Strain through a fine sieve to extract all of the liquid. Set aside. Discard solids. 2. Heat remaining 2 tbs oil in saucepan over medium heat and add remaining fennel and garlic, and fennel seeds. Cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until softened. Add remaining tomato and cook for 5 minutes, stirring gently. 3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling salted water according to packet instructions. 4. Add prawn stock and remaining lemon thyme sprigs to saucepan with fennel and garlic mixture. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes until tomato skins start to burst. Add the prawn and cook for 2 minutes or until just cooked through and stir through the lemon zest and juice. Season to taste. Fold pasta through sauce then divide among serving bowls. Scatter over lemon thyme leaves to serve.

Success guaranteed!!!!!!

Contact Details:

Tuscany Bistro Castletroy 061-376888 Tuscany To Go, Dooradoyle- 061-468000 Tuscany Bistro Ballina/Killaloe- 061-376888

www.tuscany.ie

Limerick Chamber Skillnet

provides customised and discounted training for all businesses- avail of a 20% discount by contacting our Limerick Chamber Skillnet team today.

Limerick Chamber Skillnet provides employers with the opportunity to help develop and train employees via an affordable, reliable and seamless avenue with the Limerick Chamber Skillnet team.

Find out more about Limerick Chamber Skillnet www.limerickchamber.ie/train/

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Your Business:

The Covid 19 Pandemic generated a historical shift that has reshaped the traditional view of working, management, and culture.

The Pandemic has seen employers and business owners evaluating how they can navigate the reinvention of the workplace for a post-pandemic future. The pandemic accelerated a movement to a more digital world, as well as exploration of new skillets and values.

During this unprecedented time, we have seen companies and employees embrace new skills and develop new behaviours which have improved the way we operate. Many businesses have managed to use the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity for change, we have reached out to our expert members to share their thoughts and data on the changes which have occurred as a result of the pandemic and how these changes have reshaped the future of work. Below are findings from a number of polls hosted by Limerick Chamber and our network partners which help shape an insight in the developments occurring within the workspace and work culture at the moment as we navigate a balance with return to work/office. • When asked would you consider looking for a new job I you couldn’t continue remote/hybrid work in your current role- the results proved unanimous with 79% choosing to look elsewhere if this was not continued, with 19% saying no it wouldn’t impact their decision (survey has over 60,077 votes) • In another poll conducted: after 2 years working remotely/from home how do you feel about it now? The results showed 71% love it, 11% felt neutral about it and 17% over it. (168 votes placed) • Another poll conducted by a partner company presented the following question: Many employers are allowing workers to work from anywhere, but some firms are ordering employees back to the office, the question posed asked participants if they felt the return would hinder the company’s retention efforts: the results showed 81% of participants felt it would inevitably hinder a company to retain good staff, while the remaining 16% felt it would not hinder their retention of staff (11,264 votes placed) • As the great resignation wreaks havoc on the working world, our partners hosted a poll asking the business community What were the most important factors an employee would consider when seeking an alternative job? The results showed Better work life integration as the key decision maker with 40% listing this as a priority, closely followed by working from home with 35% selecting this as most important to them, Higher pay was also listed as a priority at 21% followed by mental health policies at 4% (18,011 votes)

The significant move to hybrid working has created unprecedented demand for our flexible work products,” “This fundamental shift in the way people work is clearly a positive tailwind for IWG over the medium to longer term and we are seeing increasing levels of interest from enterprises wishing to transform their working practices.” Work in the future will be happening in the heart of local communities everywhere – cities and suburbs, towns and villages – and IWG’s focus is on providing local workplaces that people can access close to home, no matter where they live. This is just the beginning of something truly era-defining that will have a tremendously positive impact on future generations, freeing so many up to lead less stressed and more enriched lives. Offices are here to stay, but it is a new breed, the hybrid office, that will prevail said

Kenneth Dwyer, Sales Manager for IWG

Our recent poll highlighted that ‘Salary & Package’ is still the main driver when someone is considering a career move at this time and this could be very much fuelled by the rise in the cost of living over the past few months. Career Progression and Flexible Working are equally as important from the findings however some of the comments received focused on the importance of the culture of the organisation as if the culture is not positive, supportive and progressive then the other factors which you thought were top of your list will feel less important over time. We strongly advise our clients to work on building a positive workplace culture by connecting people to a purpose, building strong employee relationships, open communication & transparency at all times, and recognising those who go above and beyond.

Michelle Murphy Collins McNicholas Recruitment

In a recent Global Hiring Realities Survey conducted by Morgan McKinley we found that 82% of employees said they would change employer if they were not offered flexibility. Closer to home, Niall Harris and the team at our Morgan McKinley Limerick office conducted a poll which said 75% of respondents wished to work 2-3 days from home per week, with 20% requesting wholly remote. However our national database still shows that 20% of candidates registered with us do not want remote working in any format and wish to work as they did pre-pandemic. HR and Business Leaders are challenged therefore to develop a catch-all policy that ensures that those requesting remote working, hybrid working or office only based working are all considered and included. Furthermore, we are starting to see some employers consider ways in which to retain employees who have either moved back to their home country or in special circumstances have requested to work from ‘anywhere’. The Employer of Record model has been said to mitigate the risks associated with doing this as it negates the requirement to establish a legal entity structure in the country in which the employee is working in, but if done on a larger scale represents a risk to our talent ‘stock’ in Ireland. Further to all this, there are undoubtedly testing times ahead for employers to foster a culture of inclusion for all their employees modelled around a flexible working environment for all. We are seeing employers investing in upgrading their office space to facilitate more collaborative spaces and enable coming to the office ‘for a purpose’ rather than as a requirement. This is coupled with developing meeting policies that curate involvement from all participants, inhouse mentoring programmes to support learning of new graduate talent and many social initiatives as things start to open up to better connect employees to each other in this new world of working. Trayc Keevans Director - Foreign Direct Investment | Global

So today we’re asking:

Do you think traditional office work will change forever post-pandemic?

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