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Car scrappage scheme a sustainable strategy for the Irish car industry?
Get PDFIn the last decade a certain number of car scrappage incentive programs have been promulgated by western countries to instigate earlier replacement of older polluting vehicles with more cleaner and efficient ones. Traditionally, the main reason why various governments introduce car scrappage schemes was to reduce pollutant emission from older cars, and also improve the safety of transportation in general. The more recent scrappage schemes being implemented by two western countries in the past two years or so, still maintains the traditional theme of replacing older vehicles with more efficient ones. However this time around, it’s being implemented due to the economic meltdown which has impacted gravely on the car industry and sales figures of most dealerships in the western hemisphere. It could be conclusively stated that the recent introduction of car scrappage schemes, were motivated by the prevalent economic circumstances which has resulted in job losses, low consumer sentiment and the vulnerability of most world economies. The researcher decided to undertake the subject of car scrappage scheme as focus of his research, in other to establish the economic viability of the scheme to the car industry in the west of Ireland. The researcher has compiled a detailed literature on previous and current scrappage schemes and its implications on the environment and also on the wider economy. In conducting this research, the researcher compiled a detailed methodology to assist\ud
him in the research. In gathering information from the prospective respondents, the researcher used an open-ended questionnaire, this form of questionnaire was\ud
deployed to gain more in-depth information and to allow respondents give a more thoughtful response and comments to the desired question. The analysis and discussion chapters threw up quite intriguing themes, which formed the platform for arguing the sustainability of the car scrappage scheme. Findings showed that the car scrappage scheme has being instrumental in job retention and stability in the car industry, the scheme has also being beneficial to the environment in the sense that more environmental and low emitting cars were sold through the scrappage scheme, which translates to reduction of C02 emissions in the environment. There were also resentment from the respondents on the Irish governments’ timing of the introduction of the car serappage scheme. Most respondents stated that the government should have being swift in their action, rather than waiting to see how similar car serappage schemes performs in other countries This researcher recommends that the government should extend the scheme beyond\ud
its December 2010 expiration deadline, in order not forestall the economic gains of the serappage scheme. The researcher is also advocating more partnership between government and car manufacturers/dealerships; with the view of developing more efficient and greener vehicles that would sustain the changing consumer trends
A study on how two third-level institutions in the West of Ireland improve their marketing strategies in mainland China
Get PDFThis thesis is concerned with the growing phenomenon o f mainland Chinese students studying in Ireland and various marketing strategies used by Irish Third-Level\ud
institutions to determine the elements that can be considered by Third-Level institution in future while designing their international marketing strategies with\ud
mainland China. The purpose o f this research project is to explain how two Third-Level institutions in the west o f Ireland improve their marketing strategies in\ud
mainland China. The study draws insight from a quantitative research approach and the case studies of\ud
GMIT and NUI Galway. Data were collected through questionnaire survey with mainland Chinese students studying in these two Third-Level institutions, and\ud
fifty-eight qualified questionnaires were fully analysed.\ud
This study illustrates the investigation and the data analysis. The study also tests the data against the relevant theory and discusses the findings. The study found that Irish Third-Level institutions should adopt different marketing strategies to recruit mainland Chinese students, such as university cooperation, recruitment agents, advertising and promotion, Internet using, and etc
Lightweight cryptography and authentication protocols for secure communications between resource-limited devices and wireless sensor networks: evaluation and implementation
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the theoretical context for the security of wireless communication between ubiquitous computing devices and presents an implementation that addresses this need. The number of Resource-Limited Wireless Devices utilized in many areas of the IT industry is growing rapidly. Some of the applications of these devices pose real security threats that can be addressed using authentication and cryptography.\ud
Many of the available authentication and encryption software solutions are predicated on the availability of ample processing power and memory. These demands cannot be met by the majority of ubiquitous computing devices, thus there is a need to apply lightweight cryptography primitives and lightweight authentication protocols that meet these demands in any application of security to devices with limited resources.\ud
The analysis of the lightweight solutions is divided into two major sections: Lightweight Authentication Protocols and Lightweight Encryption Algorithms. Further sections of this work describe the proposed prototype‟s Wireless Sensor Network including a study of its limitations.\ud
A number of protocols in the field of Authentication and in the field of Encryption are analyzed. The Gossamer Authentication Protocol and the Scalable Encryption Algorithm (SEA) are chosen as the basis of prototype implementation in the C-language on a development platform of the 8051-compatible Nordic Semiconductor nRF9E5 microcontroller. A security framework is developed that combines the attributes of the Gossamer protocol and the SEA to provide an implementation of inter-device security. The Gossamer Protocol is additionally used as a means of exchanging session keys for use with the SEA encryption protocol. A brief performance analysis of the prototype running on the nRF9E5 microcontroller is provided by way of conclusion. The resuls of the software implementation of the Gossamer were unsatisfactory both in terms of the code space needs (approximately 1700 bytes excluding shared libraries) and the execution time (almost 150 milliseconds). In contrast, the SEA implementation‟s results were satisfactory above expectations with the code space requirements smaller than 600 bytes (excluding shared libraries) and the performance of 27 milliseconds per one 96-bit block of data
Environmental challenges for European manufacturing SMEs
No full textMany owner/managers of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) do not believe that their business operations have a negative impact on the environment. However, cumulatively their effect is considerable; the SME sector is responsible for an estimated 60-70% of pollution related to manufacturing, and 70% of industrial waste production in Europe.\ud
This study reports on research carried out by the FutureSME project, a Framework 7 programme sponsored by the European Union. The study was carried out on 11 manufacturing-related SMEs from Italy, Ireland, Turkey, Czech Republic and the UK. The aim of the survey was to gain an overview into their environmental practices, to determine what challenges they faced and to see whether they considered there were opportunities in the environmental area. Following the initial survey, interviews took place with two of the SMEs.\ud
The findings indicated that the SMEs surveyed viewed legislation, large customers and competitors as the main drivers of environmental change. Energy and waste are considered the most important issues. The majority of the SMEs measured some cost-related environmental indicators. However, most did not use tools and techniques to measure the entire life cycle impact of their products. The majority of the SMEs could see opportunities related to environmental issues, such as the design of new products and greener manufacturing processes
Best practice in environmental education centres
Get PDFEnvironmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) is\ud
provided in a variety of formal and non-formal settings, including EE and ESD centres.\ud
This provision is uncoordinated due to the lack of a National Strategy on Education for\ud
Sustainable Development in Ireland. No initiative is in place to encourage an\ud
environmental management system (EMS) similar to ISO 14001. The creation o f a\ud
directory of current best practices in centres coupled with an EMS will enhance the\ud
development of sustainable environmental systems. The purpose of this dissertation is to\ud
provide an overview of best practice in environmental education (EE) and education for\ud
sustainable development (ESD) centres. A survey was carried out to obtain an overall view\ud
of best practice in EE and ESD centres as demonstrated by aspects of the built environment\ud
and the day-to-day running of each centre.\ud
The research found that there are seventy EE or ESD centres spread throughout the\ud
country. Only three centres have an EMS in place. All but one centre was interested in a\ud
green award scheme similar to An Taisce’s Green Flag for schools, which is based on an\ud
EMS. The survey showed that centres are more proactive in the aspects of insulation and\ud
litter and waste management, while scores for good practice in the use of energy and\ud
sustainable transport were low. A checklist of good practices has been included in the\ud
study to help centres add to or improve on environmental aspects within a centre.\ud
A central register for new and existing EE and ESD centres should be created. Selfmonitoring\ud
of best practice in centres based on an EMS should be encouraged. A network\ud
for centres and an association for EE and ESD educators would enable the sharing of\ud
knowledge and experience. Ultimately, the publication and implementation of Ireland’s\ud
National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development is recommended to promote\ud
good practice in all sectors of education
An investigation into whether the GAA's embrace of professionalism is being hindered by it’s inherited culture
Get PDFThe GAA, since its humble beginnings in Thurles 1884, has long been the bedrock of Irish sporting culture. Each summer teams and supporters alike follow the dream of capturing a place in history alongside the elite of sporting folklore. Far and wide across the world the colours of one’s county team are worn as a symbol of pride and heritage. The organization has prided itself on its ability to draw crowds and players from all around the country to play for merely the love of the games and to exact a sense of pride in a community. Yet as players become more and more entranced on a fixation of winning and success the boundaries for preparation would appear to be stretched to the limit. The GAA have always had a strict ethos of “playing without paying”, yet this status of amateurism has become more contentious over the past 10-20 years. Players are now expected to exert themselves for arguably the entire\ud
calendar year with the ultimate objective of winning. Thus this dissertation aims to examine the circumstances that have hindered the evolution of the GAA towards becoming a fully professional body and hence gain the opinions of other’s on the controversial and debateable issue
Land use and settlement in Ballcroy National Park, County Mayo
Get PDFThe settlement patterns and land use designs from the end of the eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century in Ballycroy National Park, County Mayo are the concerns of this study. The geography, history, archaeology and ruins of seven case study\ud
sites are discussed in this study. The literature relevant to this study was reviewed and a number of key issues highlighted. These include the lack of scholarly attention devoted to these remote mountainous townlands (Nephin Beg mountain range) and the lack of\ud
scholarly documents relating to the townlands studied in this research. Generally, this applies to the whole of the Erris region, with the exception of the work of Dr. Séamus Caulfield in the Céide Fields project of north Mayo. A number of methodologies are utilised in this study, including architectural surveys of ruined buildings and comparative analysis. Original primary source material was integrated into this study, although the\ud
deficiency in written sources for the Erris region in Ireland (which includes the Ballycroy region) is noted. This study has revealed a wealth of vernacular buildings for the Ballycroy region of Erris as well as farm buildings and techniques used within field system designs along river courses in blanket bog landscapes. The three main\ud
components involved in this study are firstly to examine the topography of the landscape within and around Ballycroy National Park, County Mayo. Secondly, to investigate the history of settlement in the area, this is to investigate the social, political and economic\ud
circumstances of local people through the time-period involved in this study. Thirdly, to record the human interaction with the landscape by using a GPS (global positioning satellite) device
Fairtrade as a marketing tool: an irish/austrian comparison
Get PDFThe purpose of this piece of research is to examine different aspects of fair trade (FT) \ud
marketing. Firstly, secondary research examines issues such as history, development, \ud
advantages and challenges of mainstreaming of FT. Secondly, primary research \ud
explores FT consumer buying behaviour in Ireland and Austria in the fast moving \ud
consumer goods (FMCG’s) market. The attitudes towards – as well as effects of – \ud
mainstreaming and clean-washing are further investigated. \ud
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Primary research has been conducted in two phases – descriptive and exploratory. \ud
Phase one, descriptive research, involved 120 consumer surveys, half of which were \ud
conducted in Ireland and half in Austria. Exploratory research using mixed modes has \ud
been used to collect data from nine suppliers of FT FMCG’s. \ud
\ud
This paper examines the differences in attitudes towards FT between Irish and Austrian \ud
consumers, with particular focus on mainstreaming. Only subtle differences could be \ud
identified between the Irish and Austrian market and findings suggest that the effects of \ud
mainstreaming are perceived to be predominantly positive in both markets. \ud
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This paper may be of interest to marketing professionals and all stakeholders in the FT \ud
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An investigation into the management of the Swine Flu in the education sector with a view to assessing the policies and procedures and looking at their effectiveness in reducing the spread of pandemic H1N1 (Swine Flu)
Get PDFThis Dissertation examines and contrasts the international, national and local polices\ud
on Pandemic H1N1 during the recent (2009) emergency, with a specific focus on the\ud
implications for the third level education sector. Plans are reviewed internationally,\ud
then nationally and then locally by investigating Pandemic plans o f the World Health\ud
Organisation (WHO), o f the Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland and the plan\ud
o f the Institute o f Technology (I.T.) Sligo.\ud
The plans are compared and contrasted to investigate whether Ireland’s plans are\ud
properly derived from the international guidance and, then, I.T. Sligo Pandemic Plan\ud
is compared with the national guidance.\ud
It is shown that Ireland complied with the international guidance when preparing the\ud
national Pandemic Plan. It is also shown that, except for one element, the I.T. Sligo\ud
plan complied with the national guidance when creating their own Pandemic Plan.\ud
I.T. Sligo did not comply with one section o f the HSE guidance “Guidance for Third\ud
Level Institutions”.\ud
The actual implementation o f local policy is investigated by looking specifically at the\ud
I.T. Sligo plan. I.T. Sligo is a third-level educational institution. Implementation o f\ud
the plan is demonstrated using different qualitative research methods, these being a\ud
comparative analysis, a questionnaire, an interview and a physical examination o f\ud
four different areas within the institute. An evaluation o f the effectiveness o f the\ud
implementation is presented.\ud
Overall the dissertation demonstrates that I.T. Sligo implemented its Pandemic H1N1\ud
Plan apart from one element o f the health care plan this being the telephone triage\ud
system as a means o f patient assessment which is demonstrated in the I.T. Sligo\ud
Health care plan.\ud
The incidence o f Pandemic H1N1 in Ireland is contrasted and compared with levels in\ud
the North West. The North West contributed significantly to the level o f cases in the\ud
entire republic. Also, one fifth o f all persons that were infected in Ireland, and in the\ud
North West, were between the ages o f 17-23 years.\ud
This research demonstrates that locally, nationally and internationally we were\ud
prepared for Pandemic H1N1 and all the relevant plans were put into action when\ud
pandemic H1N1 first emerged. However, the national and local plans had specific\ud
areas which could be improved
An empirical study into the contribution of the female entrepreneur to small business start-ups in Ireland
Get PDFThe objective of this research was to investigate the contribution that the female entrepreneur makes to small business start-ups in Ireland. The investigation was limited to Ireland as the author felt that this was a sufficient geographic area for this particular research. Creating an environment where gender equality is practised by all is an important focus for the future of female entrepreneurship in Ireland and worldwide. Through the examination of various studies including previous literature, several features were identified such as barriers, challenges and opportunities of the female entrepreneur. Initially exploratory research was conducted through a review of the literature and through three in-depth interviews. From this the researcher gained a greater insight into the beliefs and thoughts of the average female entrepreneur. All interviewees were practising entrepreneurs.\ud
Following the exploratory research, questionnaires were utilised to greater grasp the beliefs of a wider range of female entrepreneurs. Questionnaires were sent to 40 people in total with 77.5% of participants responding to the questionnaire. Based on research conducted throughout this research, areas such as gender inequality, barriers to entry such as business closures due to recessionary times and the participation rates of the female entrepreneur were identified