Meet the next generation of tech talent

Students from Coláiste Abhainn Rí in Callan, Co Kilkenny who were announced as the winners of the AWS GetIT Competition.

AWS GetIT is a fully-funded education programme and competition designed to inspire 12-14-year-old students, especially girls, to consider a future in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). e programme gives them access to curriculum designed to help build foundational skills. Well done you guys, we are very proud of you all...

Full story Page 6 concern about the standard of living and child poverty issues, mental health services for children in Ireland, the lack of inclusive school places for all children and the State’s failure to integrate children’s rights into legislation. e Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said: “Last year, 2022, and 2012 before it have been the busiest two years for the OCO since our o ce was established. In total we received over 1,800 complaints, with 18 of these coming from Kilkenny county.

“It is important that children and families in Kilkenny and in all parts of the country know that the Ombudsman for Children’s O ce is here if you need our help or advice. If you have complained about a service and are not happy, come to us and we will help if we can.

“Our Annual Report this year is called Falling Behind because we wanted to highlight how Ireland is doing in relation to children’s rights and unfortunately, we’re not where we should be.

“We need to nally incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into legislation – 30 years after its rati cation. We also need to totally reform our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) which we know are hugely dysfunctional and failing our most vulnerable children. Changes also need to be made to provide inclusive education for all children in Ireland.”

Mortgages hit a 14-year high

Mortgage drawdowns hit a 14-year high at the end of last year, but rst-time buyers are approaching their limits as prices rise faster than they can cobble together cash.

New data from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) shows the mortgage market grew strongly in the second half of 2022, with the number of loans taken out rising 24pc to nearly 31,000 in the year –the most since 2008.

Coalition row over €1,000 tax cut

A Coalition row has broken out over Fine Gael’s call for a €1,000 tax cut in the Budget.

Fianna Fáil is furious over what it described as “populist”, “uncosted” and “nuts” pre-Budget “kite- ying” by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s party. Fine Gael is pushing for considerably larger tax cuts for workers on the average household income than in previous budgets, amid projections of record surpluses over the next four years.

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E Problems Of Digital Banking

Do you remember back in the day when you had to visit the bank manager for whatever reason –review your overdraft, apply for a loan – you put a bit of e ort into your appearance for the visit? Now you don’t have to get out of bed to conduct most business with a bank.

John Ellis Page 16