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Night of 1,000 Gigs

More than 1,000 events will be taking place across the country this evening as local communities celebrate Culture Night. culturenight

From the arts, to theatre to lectures and treasure hunts, communities are preparing to once again explore the diversity of Irish culture.

Most of the events scheduled this year are to be held in-person “marking a major turning point in our road to recovery”, Arts Minister Catherine Martin said.

Some 80pc of events will be in person and with many late -night openings around the country, but there will also be some online events included in the programme.

Due to current restrictions however, some events will be different from the pre-pandemic programme in 2019 and before.

For example, a number will require a pre-booking as only a certain amount of people are permitted into the premises.

People will also have to provide their Covid-19 vaccine cert for certain activities, such as those that take place indoors in restaurants and cafés.

Masks will also be obligatory for the majority of events while some that are limited in capacity are already fully booked.

Coach tour operators have called for more government support, with more than 80% of providers not expected to financially recover inside the next 12 months and nearly three- tourcoach0921 quarters warning of “considerable” job losses.

"Having witnessed the complete decimation of their businesses over the past 18 months, for many operators, the balance sheets are becoming increasingly unstable, with no certainty on the horizon,” said Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland chairperson John Halpenny.

The CTTC has called for supplementary support to be made available for the industry in next month’s budget, in instances where the last funding made available to operators was for 2020.

Adams and Butler posts loss

Travel operator Adams and Butler recorded losses of €551,021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic . byrnelearat

New accounts show that the losses of over half a million euro for 2020 follow a post-tax profit of €73,447 in 2019.

Owner Siobhan Byrne Learat said: 'We kept all our staff. We lost over €550,000 and they were reserves. I am the owner of the company so basically it was my money.'

The company paid out a dividend last year of €567,031 and the dividend pay-out along with the losses resulted in the company having an accumulated loss of €45,630 at the end of last year after having accumulated profits of €1m at the end of 2019.

A note attached to the accounts states that Ms Byrne Learat “is confident that the company will return to profit in 2021 as restrictions ease and people resume travel'.

Major spend on walking and cycling

Ireland’s local authorities will spend almost three times the amount of money on walking and cycling infrastructure than on urban transport this year, according to new figur walking0921

es obtained by The Irish Times.

However, overall infrastructure spending in 2021 will be reduced by tens of millions of euro as a consequence of Covid-19 delays.

Of a total of €294 million in funding allocated to the National Transport Authority (NTA) for 2021, just over €204 million will go on facilities for bikes and walkers, compared to just under €75 million for sustainable urban transport projects.

More than 800 individual schemes have been approved during 2021, although a series of reviews undertaken with local authorities and others in July has revised some spending allocations, bringing the total to €241 million.

The reduction in overall estimates, amounting to approximately €53 million, was largely due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Windjammer pub for sale

Dublin city centre pub, The Windjammer, on the corner of Townsend Street and Lombard Street East has been brought to the market, and agent John Ryan of Bagnall Doyle MacMahon is seeking offers over €1.6m,

Shane Daly has operated the pub for several years.

One of Dublin’s last early-morning pubs, it is situated in an area that has seen major office developments and where new hotels are currently being developed.

Its compact two-storey over basement premises is full of traditional character.

Extending to 3,218sqft, its accommodation includes the ground-floor lounge bar and back bar, and a self-contained two-bedroom apartment on the first floor, with own-door access and a roof garden.