In the Inner City, Wailing Burglar Alarms Add to the Din

It’s been a far-from-peaceful time for Christopher Wisniewski.

The alarm in a Hawkins Street building started to go off at about 3 pm last Friday week, he said. On the Monday after, it was still going. “The last week was horrible, it was going off the whole day,” Wisniewski said.

Wisniewski, who works in the printing company PrintSave in a corner building near Burgh Quay, said it made business that bit harder to have the nearby building’s alarm incessantly sounding. But it wasn’t really clear what they could do.
What to Do

Fine Gael Councillor Naoise O’Muirí, who is the head of the city council’s Environment Strategic Policy Committee, said he wouldn’t single alarms out as a major issue of concern. But he did say that many people might not know alarms have anything to do with local authorities.

“I think you’d be surprised if you asked the public about this, most people wouldn’t know that DCC have any role to play in enforcing this,” he said.

There are indeed laws and regulations around the sounding of home alarms.

Under a set of standards adopted in 2006, they shouldn’t sound for more than 15 minutes before switching off. If you’re away and can’t get into the property, you should have a nominated key holder who can get to the alarm within 90 minutes of it being triggered.

Of the €867,426 that the council spent last year enforcing different pollution regulations, approximately €193,000 went on noise complaints, according to a spokesperson from Dublin City Council Press Office. Of 470 noise complaints, 44 of them, or 9.4 percent, were in relation to alarms.

See more at https://www.dublininquirer.com/2016/08/10/inner-city-wailing-burglar-alarms-add-din/

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Ireland’s Latest Crime Statistics On The Rise Across the Country

Ireland – June 29, 2016 – The latest crime statistics in Ireland reflect mixed trends in crime rates, types of crime and locality variants.  The most recent 2015 analysis and reports produced by Irelands’ Central Statistics Office (CSO) and police force, Garda, indicate that 243,968 criminal offences were reported countrywide last year, ignoring road traffic incidents.  This equates to approximately 667 crimes committed daily, directly affecting roughly 5.3% of the population.

The most common offences are theft, public order offences, criminal damage, and drug related crimes.  Through September 2015 almost 30,000 burglaries were committed, a 6% increase from 2014.  In comparison with less prosperous areas, affluent neighborhoods such as Donnybrook in Dublin are experiencing a significant increase in the number of crimes reported.  For example, there is more public order offences in areas such as Donnybrook than in Finglas or Ballyfermot, with Donnybrook’s crime rates being notable based on their proportion to the population. The nature of the offences in affluent areas is broad and includes drunkenness, violent disorder, street-begging, brothel-keeping, and soliciting.

Recently law enforcement’s attention has focused on the increase of reported crime in rural communities, with more isolated locations becoming targets for urban based organised gangs.  Other crimes follow a similar pattern with reported rape offences rising by 14.1% from 2014, while 5,490 fraud offences were recorded.  CSO figures reveal spikes of criminal occurrences across rural Ireland with rape and sexual assault being the most common offences.

Source – http://www.pressreleaserocket.net/irelands-latest-crime-statistics-on-the-rise-across-the-country/465695/

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Banking IT community faces uncertain Brexit future

The financial services IT community faces a period of uncertainty as finance firms reassess plans following the EU referendum result

Reports that HSBC and US bank JP Morgan could move thousands of jobs out of the UK if it leaves the European Union (EU) means uncertainty for IT workers.

IT workers in the UK banking sector are hardened to the threat of job losses with thousand cut since the financial crisis of 2008, Brexit adds another threat to staff.

Even without the fear of an EU exit, banks are cutting back on UK IT staff. On 22 June 2016, the Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed it is cutting 900 IT and back office jobs in the UK as the business shrinks.

David Banister, analyst at Ovum, said in the short term IT projects will be put on hold, “particularly if there is an EU regulatory element, which is a lot of them”.

He said in the longer term there is a worry that some big overseas banks will have to move parts of their operation to Europe for compliance reasons.

Areas such as Luxemburg might be attractive, as well as Dublin and even Scotland if Nicola Sturgeon’s efforts to keep Scotland in the EU succeed.

“Dublin is looking to do well out of it. If Scotland goes, there is a good case for Glasgow and Edinburgh, which have a lot of back office jobs,” said Bannister.

But it is not just a London problem, he added. “Lots of the data and processing centres are in other places – JP Morgan is one of the biggest employers in Bournemouth, for example, and Barclays is next door in Poole.”

Of course much of this depends on whether or not banks would retain their passporting rights, which allow them to trade across Europe.

“[If banks retain passporting rights] London remains the global centre it always has been and nothing changes. If they do [remove passporting rights], then most banks will need to relocate to Europe and will probably choose Dublin,” wrote Chris Skinner, chairman of Financial Services Club, in a blog post.

See http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450299160/Banking-IT-community-faces-uncertain-Brexit-future for more details

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Average Dublin Home Loss

The average Dublin home suffered a loss of close to €3,500, the figures … Mr Faughnan says that although it costs money, a monitored alarm

 

see http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/charlie-weston-going-on-holidays-then-lock-up-your-valuables-and-ask-neighbours-to-keep-an-eye-on-your-home-34844886.html for more details

Householders have been warned to lock up their valuables after new county-by-county data reveals crisis zones.

The AA Ireland research found the average theft claims made to home insurers is €3,500.

People living in Wexford suffered the highest average loss at €6,600, with burglars swiping valuables and damaging properties.

County Louth residents had the second highest loss resulting in claims worth an average of €6,286.

Meath is the third highest with an average loss of €5,300, followed by Longford where claims reached €4,663.

Dublin was ninth in the league table of the highest losses by county for 2015.

The average Dublin home suffered a loss of close to €3,500, the figures show.

Residents in Mayo claimed the least for theft in 2015 at just €650.

AA spokesman Conor Faughnan said commuter counties and highly populated areas are a target for robbers.

“While there are some stark differences between counties it is clear that no matter where you live, there is always a risk your home could become a victim of theft.

Read More: This is how to prevent house break-ins according to Gardai

“It’s really important that you have adequate home insurance cover in place, something many people still do not have.”

He urged families heading off on holiday to lock up their valuables.

He added: “I don’t like giving people advice that costs money but a monitored alarm system is worthwhile.

“It does provide a deterrent effect and while it may not make your home totally secure, it does at least tell potential thieves that you are not an easy target.

“It is also reassuring to know that if anything does happen at home you will know about it while on your holidays.”

Average insurance claims county by county

WEXFORD €6,624

LOUTH €6,286

MEATH €5,348

LONGFORD €4,663

LEITRIM €4,639

LAOIS €4,042

OFFALY €3,953

WICKLOW €3,513

DUBLIN €3,467

ROSCOMMON €3,400

GALWAY €3,233

CORK €3,208

KILDARE €2,921

CARLOW €2,893

TIPPERARY €2,780

CLARE €2,442

KERRY €2,433

WATERFORD €1,816

SLIGO €1,808

KILKENNY €1,681

ULSTER COUNTIES €1440

WESTMEATH €1,425

LIMERICK €1,294

MAYO €650

Average Total €3,495

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/counties-highest-home-insurance-claims-8205890

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How Brexit will impact the US tech industry

Falling currency, data concerns and the uncertainty of it all

he UK’s decision to leave the European Union has led to predictions of doom for the region’s tech industry. TechRadar reported how the move could cripple the sector by removing EU talent and funding, cut off access to data and markets, and complicate trading and data privacy laws for years.

American tech industry investors might see fit to cheer the weakening of international competition, but in truth they have little reason to celebrate: the effects of Brexit on the US tech industry strike a harsh financial blow, and could have long-term ramifications on US businesses, from tech giants to fledgling startups.

Through our own research and a conversation with Stanford University professor and technology forecaster Paul Saffo, we set out to determine just how unfavorable these events will be to US tech businesses, and whether there’s any silver lining to Brexit’s chaotic impact on the technological economy.
Strong dollar = weak foreign profits

Financial markets reacted violently to the news of Brexit, with the pound decreasing to a 31-year low, the euro similarly plummeting and the dollar rising 6.3% in one day, its fastest rise in 50 years.

This trend is, somewhat counter-intuitively, terrible for US businesses, as foreign consumers and businesses will avoid purchasing increasingly expensive US goods. CNN Money reports that the strong dollar has already cost American companies tens of thousands of jobs from reduced foreign sales in early 2016, and this will only become exacerbated post-Brexit. Worse, any sales already made, paid in pounds and euros, become less valuable by the second until businesses have the chance to exchange the currency.

Silicon Valley tech companies do huge business in Europe, and this has shown in their soaring profit and stock losses, both in recent months and immediately after Brexit. Apple, for example, lost $2.3 billion in profits due to weakening foreign currency this past quarter, and its stocks fell another 3% just one day after Brexit. Microsoft’s stocks fell 4% on June 24, and another 3% on Monday. Facebook, which gets a quarter of its revenue from Europe, fell 3% Tuesday.

We asked Google, Microsoft and Apple how they plan to combat foreign losses; Microsoft had no comment, and Google and Apple didn’t respond by time of publication.

“Nobody in Silicon Valley just has a company in Silicon Valley,” says Saffo of the globalized tech market. Companies from giants to startups tend to branch out throughout international markets; the fact that London has traditionally been the bridge to the rest of Europe means almost the entire Valley is facing scrutiny and worry from investors after Brexit. Saffo notes that Apple, which located its main EU headquarters in Ireland, “looks really smart right now.”

Strangely, the biggest financial winners of Brexit might be British companies that deal primarily with US firms and consumers. Market Watch points to Arm Holdings PLC, a British supplier of silicon for Apple microchips, which soared in the stock market because its profits primarily stem from US currency. Thus, we could see more British companies trying to export to American businesses in future, so long as the EU market and currency remain in turmoil.

See http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/how-brexit-will-impact-the-us-tech-industry-1324154 for full story

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Important Notice Regarding EIRCOM fixed landline SMS service

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING EIRCOM FIXED LANDLINE SMS SERVICE 7th October 2014

We have been advised that Eircom is progressing with plans to remove functionality that supports “Fixed SMS” in the coming months (i.e. the ability to send and receive SMS via fixed land line phone.

Many home owners have used this method of receiving a Text to their or another mobile phone that their alarm has activated / this will no longer be available!

Please Note : This will not affect True Alarm Monitoring where the alarm activation is reporting into The Alarm Monitoring Station and which most of our Clients use.

Notice will be given to users when they cease the service.

Eircom have committed that they will write to all of its customers and publicise formal notifications.

We strongly advise that NO FURTHER FIXED LINE PHONE SMS BE USED.

We recommend the use of our GSM/GPRS based GSM-SC as a means of communication to the 24 Hour Central Monitoring Station.

Please contact us for further information.

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