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Thomastown's Bonga figured out big career move

A South African man who has settled in omastown, advanced his career during the pandemic thanks to an accountancy apprenticeship which allows students to work, earn and learn and is to create 140 jobs nationally this year.

Bonga Dlamini O'Carroll (37), now a nancial operations analyst with the Dublin arm of PartnerRe, one of Europe’s leading investment companies, was apprenticed to the company as part of the Accounting Technicians Ireland (ATI) Apprenticeship.

e apprenticeship is a funded, two-year workbased learning programme in which apprentices earn at least €21,060 a year while attending lectures one day a week with a local college.

Durban native Bonga (pictured), who studied parttime with the ATI Academy located at the Institute’s headquarters in Chartered Accountants House on Dublin was subsequently o ered a sta role with PartnerRe.

Applications are now open for the Accounting Technicians Ireland Apprenticeship, which can be undertaken with colleges in Waterford, Wicklow,Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, and Monaghan.

School leavers, Leaving Certi cate students, career changers and mature learners can all apply through Accounting Technicians Ireland.

Large rms and smaller practices, as well as industry and the public sector, have all embraced the programme.

“I came to Ireland in 2015 to get a higher-level education while experiencing life abroad and gained a business degree in 2018,” said Bonga.

“But returning to work in the eld of accountancy was di cult, despite years of book-keeping experience in South Africa.

“I had heard of the Accounting Technicians Ireland Apprenticeship programme while completing my business degree.

“Despite the onset of the pandemic just after I had started my work experience in January 2020, ATI quickly switched to providing online classes and I was able to work from home for PartnerRe," said a very happy Bonga.

For more details see accountingtechniciansireland.ie

Elderly couple may have been dead for up to 18 months

Two British pensioners found dead in their Tipperary home are thought to have been dead for up to 18 months. Gardai will examine whether the Covid-19 virus played any role in the tragedy.

Toxicology tests are now set to prove critical in determining how and when the elderly couple died in the south Tipperary home they had secured for their Irish retirement.

It is feared the couple, who have not been formally identi ed but who were named locally as Nicholas and Hilary Smith, may have been dead for up to 18 months in their bungalow at Cloneen between Fethard and Mullinahone before their bodies were discovered.

One theory now being examined is whether the Covid-19 virus played any role in the tragic deaths. e grim discovery was made when Gardaí called to the house after concerns about the two pensioners were brought to their attention by neighbours.

Some people had believed the couple had moved back to the UK during the pandemic with local reports indicating the couple, both aged in their late 70s, were last seen around late 2020 or early 2021.

Described as polite but very private, the couple had kept to themselves after moving to the area near the Waterford border.

However, concerns were raised with Gardaí after locals noted the increasingly unkempt condition of the property as the couple were noted for their pride in keeping the garden and house in immaculate condition.

Gardaí sealed o the rural bungalow after the grim discovery was made.

One body was discovered in a bedroom and the other was found in a separate area of the house. Both had been dead for a considerable period of time. It is now believed this could be for over 18 months. ere were no signs of forced entry or any indication of a disturbance.

Both bodies were transferred to University Hospital Waterford (UHW) where State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan began post-mortem examinations. ose examinations were set to prove painstaking given the condition of the two bodies. Identi cation is understood to be reliant on dental records or DNA.

A Garda source said the nature of their investigation would now be determined by the post-mortem ndings.

Toxicology tests are expected to prove critical in helping determine a precise cause of death with one of the deceased said to have su ered from health issues over recent years.

Detectives are keeping an open mind about the double tragedy but there is no indication, so far, that foul play was involved.

Fine Gael Councillor Mark Fitzgerald said neighbours had believed the couple had moved away some time ago. " ey had told people they were moving. e assumption was these people weren't living in the area anymore,” he said. "It's very much a feeling of shock and sadness today. You have to think of their family now. It's a sad time. A resident had noted concerns to me and I just asked the Gardaí for a welfare check... that's how we are in the situation we are in. "We know very little about the couple. Personally, as a councillor and publican, you'd know everybody in the area but I never met them. ey really did keep to themselves and you have to respect that.”

Garda inquiries continue.

We're no longer chewing gum

Ireland has achieved a 70% reduction in chewing gum litter since 2007, according to the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT), the National Awareness Campaign to make gum litter an issue of the past. e study from GLT, also shows that gum litter now accounts for only 8% of all litter compared with 2007, when the campaign was launched. e research has been published to mark the renewal of the campaign by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, Food Drink Ireland, and the chewing gum industry. e GLT National Awareness Campaign has ambitions to further build on the remarkable success and reach of the programme to date. e renewed campaign, which is funded by Mars Wrigley, will run for a fth cycle until 2025 on the back of a remarkable 70% reduction in gum litter since the initiative rst began in 2007. e Gum Litter Taskforce has led to a phenomenal shift in people’s attitude to litter with chewing gum dropping to a record low as a result of the awareness campaign. It has also increased knowledge of the ne associated with gum litter, with 81% of those surveyed after the campaign now aware of the €150 ne.

However, just over one in four (27%) claim never to have dropped gum, highlighting the continued importance of this awareness and behavioural change campaign, particularly for future generations.

As part of the Gum Litter Taskforce the ‘Bin It!’ education programme will travel across the country and deliver 60 performances a year to primary schools nationwide, with the ambition to visit 180 schools by 2025. e ‘Bin It!’ school roadshow encourages students to responsibly dispose of litter, and particularly gum litter, through actor-led workshops. e latest cycle of the campaign will see the programme shift its focus from secondary school students to students in fth and sixth class, and a return to in-person workshops, and kicks o in September. Gum Litter Taskforce Project Manager, Avril Donlon of Food Drink Ireland, welcomed the return of the campaign.

See www.gumlittertaskforce.ie/_uploads/materials/GumLitterCampaignReport2021.pdf