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Dublin Bus fare will ease visitor travel

A new 90-minute fare, which will allow passengers to transfer between public transport services in Dublin for €2.30, came into operation on Sunday. bus1121

The fare will enable visitors to travel aroud the city more easily.

Passengers can use Dublin Bus, Luas and most Dart, commuter rail and Go-Ahead Ireland services in Dublin within 90 minutes of initial departure, without incurring extra charges.

The 90-minute fare will be €2.30 for adults and students when using their Leap card during a promotional period until the end of March, 2022. The price will then increase to €2.50.

A flat 80 cent Leap card fare for children has also been introduced. This represents a 20 per cent discount for children using the bus outside of school hours.

€13m Visitor Attraction for Midleton

Irish Distillers is planning a €13m investment in the redevelopment of its distillery experience at Midleton.. midletondist

The existing attraction will be transformed to accommodate new and interactive whiskey tours and various tasting experiences.

The redevelopment will also deliver a new shopping, bar, café and restaurant facilities.

An alternative, purpose-built Irish whiskey attraction will continue to welcome visitors at the site during the redevelopment.

Construction will start immediately and is expected be completed by 2025, in time to mark the 200-year anniversary of Midleton Distillery.

Mallow Park Upgrade Plan

Mallow Town Park,is to get major improvements including a new multi-use events area and jogging trail, after Planning Permission was secured by Cork County Council. mallow1121

Bord Pleanála has approved the council’s plans for an ambitious programme of works to existing facilities in Mallow’s main park, including the construction of angling stands on the banks of the River Blackwater as well as a new skate plaza and pump track for bikers.

Other proposed measures include the construction of new entrances and footpaths, the widening of existing footpaths and footbridge, and a reconfiguration of the current playing pitches and training area.

McDonalds takes €20m hit

Revenue at the Irish arm of McDonald’s fell by €20.7 million last year due to the impact of Covid-19. mcdonalds0921

New accounts for McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland Ltd show pretax profit fell by 70 per cent in 2020 to €6 million with revenue decreasing by 30 per cent from €69 million to €48.2 million.

During the period, the McDonald’s operation here was made up of 93 franchised stores and two owner-operated outlets, representing no change from 2019.

The company’s operating profit declined by 69 per cent to €6.35 million and a non-cash property impairment of €347,000 contributed to profits reducing further.

Travel up -but still hit by Covid

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that while overseas travel in October rose sharply compared to the same time last year when strict Covid travel restrictions dublinairport0421 were in place, it remained nearly half that of pre-pandemic October 2019.

The CSO reported 925,500 overseas passenger arrivals and 895,100 overseas passenger departures in October.

This compares with 810,100 arrivals and 792,000 departures in September and marked increases of 14.2% and 13% respectively.

It also compares to huge increases of 475% and 448% on the 160,900 arrivals and 163,300 departures in October of last year.

But overseas travel in October is still nearly half that of pre-pandemic October 2019, when there were 1,727,100 arrivals and 1,739,900 departures from the country.