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FÁS Expenses Scandal
The FÁS expenses scandal happened in Ireland in November/December 2008. Significant public and political outcry was roused, and at least one senior figure of a government organisation resigned. The scandal first emerged in June 2008 when Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Irish parliament) was told one morning by Leader of the Opposition Enda Kenny that gardaí were investigating the alleged misappropriate use of funds by a senior executive within FÁS. The director general of the FÁS, the training and employment agency, Roddy Molloy resigned late on 25 November after revelations that himself and fellow FÁS executives spent hundreds of thousands of euro belonging to the company on lavish holidays to the United States, which included first-class travel and expensive rounds of golf, including €643,000 over a period of four years on transatlantic travel for the purpose of promoting the Science Challenge programme and almost €48,000 in air fares for journeys undertaken by Mo ...
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Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall consist of the President and two Houses, viz.: a House of Representatives to be called Dáil Éireann and a Senate to be called Seanad Éireann." It consists of 174 members, each known as a (plural , commonly abbreviated as TDs). TDs represent 43 Dáil constituencies, constituencies and are directly elected for terms not exceeding five years, on the system of proportional representation using the single transferable vote (PR-STV). Its powers are similar to those of lower houses under many other bicameralism, bicameral parliamentary systems and it is by far the dominant branch of the Oireachtas. Subject to the limits imposed by the Constitution of Ireland, it has the power to pass any law it wishes, and to nominate and remove the Taoiseach (h ...
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Shane Ross
Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross (born 11 July 1949) is an Irish former Independent politician who served as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from May 2016 to June 2020. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency from 2016 to 2020, and previously from 2011 to 2016 for the Dublin South constituency. He was a member of Seanad Éireann for the Dublin University from 1981 to 2011, until his election to Dáil Éireann at the 2011 general election. He is a former business editor of the '' Sunday Independent''. He was a Fine Gael Wicklow County Councillor, and a one-time Fine Gael general election candidate in the Wicklow constituency. In the 31st Dáil he was a member of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee. He co-founded the Independent Alliance with Michael Fitzmaurice in 2015. He was re-elected to the 32nd Dáil, and subsequently appointed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in May 2016. Early life and career Shane Ro ...
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Mary Coughlan (politician)
Mary Coughlan (born 28 May 1965) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 2008 to 2011, Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011, Minister for Health and Children from January 2011 to March 2011, Minister for Education and Skills from 2010 to 2011, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2008 to 2010, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food from 2004 to 2008, Minister for Social and Family Affairs from 2002 to 2004 and Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and the Islands from 2001 to 2002. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal South-West constituency from 1987 to 2011. Early life Coughlan was born in Donegal Town in the south of County Donegal in May 1965. Her father was Cathal Coughlan, a Fianna Fáil TD, who died in office in June 1986. She was educated at: Ballydevitt National School, on the outskirts of Donegal Town; the Ursuline College in Sligo, where she was a boarder from 1978 to 1983; and later ...
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Tánaiste
The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach. The current office holder is Simon Harris, TD, who was appointed on 23 January 2025. History Under the Gaelic system of tanistry, the word (plural , , approximately ) had been used for the heir of the chief () or king (). The word was adopted in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland as the title for a member of the government nominated by the Taoiseach to act in their place as needed during periods of the Taoiseach's temporary absence. Tánaiste is the official title of the deputy head of government in both English and Irish, and is not used for other countries' deputy prime ministers, who are referred to in Irish by the generic term , , approximately . The longer Irish form, , is sometim ...
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Waterford Crystal
Waterford Crystal is an Irish manufacturer of crystal glassware, especially cut glass products. It is named after the city of Waterford in Ireland. In January 2009, the main Waterford Crystal manufacturing base on the edge of Waterford was closed due to the insolvency of Waterford Wedgwood plc, and in June 2010, Waterford Crystal relocated almost back to the roots of glass-making in the city centre. The Mall location holds both a manufacturing facility that melts over 750 tonnes of crystal a year – although most Waterford Crystal is now produced outside Ireland – and a visitor centre with the world's largest collection of Waterford Crystal. Since 2015, the brand has been owned by Fiskars Corporation. History Waterford Glassworks The origins of crystal production in Waterford date back to 1783, when George Penrose and his nephew William Penrose started their business, the Waterford Glassworks. It produced extremely fine flint glass that became world-renowned. That firm ...
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Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, having received the nomination of Fianna Fáil. She succeeded Mary Robinson, making her the second female president of Ireland and the first woman in the world to succeed another woman as president. She nominated herself for re-election in 2004 and was returned unopposed for a second term. Born in Ardoyne, north Belfast, she is the first president of Ireland to have come from either Northern Ireland or Ulster. McAleese graduated in law from Queen's University Belfast. In 1975, she was appointed Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin, and in 1987 she returned to her alma mater, Queen's, to become director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 1994, she became the first female pro-vice ...
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President Of Ireland
The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as the representative of the Irish state both at home and abroad. Nevertheless, the office of president is endowed with certain reserve powers which have constitutional importance. When invoking these powers, the president acts as the guardian of the Constitution of Ireland, Irish constitution. This representative and moderating role is in keeping with the president's solemn oath to "...maintain the Constitution of Ireland and uphold its laws..", to "...fulfil my duties faithfully and conscientiously in accordance with the Constitution and the law...", and to "...dedicate my abilities to the service and welfare of the people of Ireland." The president's official residence and principal workplace is in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Presidents hold o ...
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First Class Travel
First class is the most luxurious and most expensive travel class of seats and service on a train, passenger ship, airplane, bus, or other system of transport. Compared to business class and economy class, it offers the best service and most comfortable accommodation. Aviation The First class (aviation), first-class section of a fixed-wing jet airliner is typically toward the front of the aircraft. Many airlines have removed first class altogether from their international flights, offering business class as their highest level of international service. First class passengers are usually allowed into Airport lounge, lounges at airports while they wait for their flights. Railways While first-class travel accommodation is common in intercity public transport rail services, they have become increasingly prevalent for commuters' short-distance daily travel, especially in rapid transit contexts, rather than longer-distance regional rail. Train stations in bigger cities may also off ...
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Mary Harney
Mary Harney (born 11 March 1953) is an Irish former politician and the former Chancellor of the University of Limerick. She was leader of the Progressive Democrats party between 1993 and 2006 and again from 2007 to 2008, resuming the role after her successor, Michael McDowell, lost his seat at the 2007 general election. She is the second longest-ever-serving female member of Dáil Éireann, serving as a Teachta Dála (TD) successively for the Dublin South-West and Dublin Mid-West constituencies from 1981 to 2011. She was Ireland's first female Tánaiste from 1997 to 2006, and the first woman to lead a party in Dáil Éireann. Early life and education Harney was born in Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, County Galway, in 1953. Her parents, who lived in nearby Ahascragh, were both farmers, but shortly after her birth her family moved to Newcastle, County Dublin. She was educated at the Convent of Mercy, Inchicore, and Presentation Convent, Clondalkin, before studying at ...
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Walt Disney World Resort
The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. The property covers nearly , of which half has been developed. Walt Disney World contains numerous recreational facilities designed to attract visitors for an extended stay, including four theme parks, two water parks, four golf courses, conference centers, a competitive sports complex and a shopping, dining and entertainment complex. Additionally, there are 19 Disney-owned resort hotels and one camping resort on the property, and many other non-Disney-operated resorts on and near the property. Designed to supplement Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which had opened in 1955, the complex was developed by Walt Disney in the 1960s. Walt wanted to build a new park because Disneyland in California was limited from expanding by the establishme ...
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NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States's civil list of government space agencies, space program, aeronautics research and outer space, space research. National Aeronautics and Space Act, Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program and oversees the development of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft and the Sp ...
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Orlando, Florida
Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville, Miami, and Tampa, Florida, Tampa and the state's most populous inland city. Part of Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2.67 million in 2020. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States and the third-largest metropolitan area in Florida behind Miami metropolitan area, Miami and Tampa Bay area, Tampa Bay. Orlando is one of the most-visited cities in the world primarily due to tourism, major events, and convention traffic. It is the fourth-most visited city in the U.S. after New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles, with over 3.5 million visitors as of 2023. Orlando International Airport is the List of the busiest airports in the United Stat ...
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