• Five-year-old twins Ben and Louis McPhillips from Mullingar win competition to officially Switch on Christmas FM for 2023

• Christmas FM is continuing their hugely successful ‘Magic of Christmas’ appeal, raising funds for Barnardos, Barretstown, Make-A-Wish Ireland and a range of children’s charities making a difference in communities through Community Foundation Ireland https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0JJEI2Mfwx/?igshid=N2ViNmM2MDRjNw==

It’s FINALLY time to break out the mince pies and get into the festive swing as Christmas FM is set to return at midday tomorrow to Switch Christmas On right across the island of Ireland for 2023.

Five year old twins Ben and Louis McPhillips from Mullingar will officially turn on the radio station for 2023. The brothers won a competition run by Christmas FM to find a very special little helper to visit the Christmas FM studio and officially Switch Christmas On for 2023.

The much-loved station, which marks the start of the official Christmas season for many, will play round-the-clock Christmas hits, spreading an abundance of festive cheer and seasonal goodwill in the run up to the big day. Listeners can look forward to hearing all of their favourites including Mariah Carey, Michael Bublé and Slade as well as newer Christmas hits to add to their Christmas party playlist. Meanwhile the radio station presenters will be spreading lots of seasonal joy and fun, keeping the spirits of the nation merry and bright as we embark on the big countdown to Christmas Day.

Christmas FM will be broadcasting live on FM from midday on the 28^th November

Cavan   92.8 FM

Clare 105.2 FM

Cork City, Part County 106.7 FM

Cork North, Part County 87.7 FM

Drogheda & Dundalk 104.2 FM

Dublin City & County 105.2 FM

Galway City 87.9 FM

Kildare North 88.1 FM

Kilkenny City 104.3 FM

Letterkenny 106.2 FM

Limerick City 105.5 FM

Longford 99.8 FM

Sligo Town 95.0 FM

South East 103.8 FM

Tralee/Killarney 105.0 FM

Waterford City  105.9 FM

Wicklow – Bray area 99.5 FM

Wicklow – Wicklow Town 106.6 FM

Christmas FM will also broadcast on Virgin Media Channel 900.

Find out all the ways to listen at https://christmasfm.com/listenin/

Christmas FM, which is celebrating its 16^th year on air this year, has raised over three million euro for a range of charities since it began broadcasting. This year, Christmas FM will be continuing with their hugely successful ‘Magic of Christmas’ appeal, raising funds for Barnardos, Barretstown, Make-A-Wish Ireland and a range of children’s charities around Ireland making a difference in local communities through Community Foundation Ireland.

Last year, The Magic of Christmas appeal raised almost €300,000 for the charities and the fundraising initiative is hoping to raise over €1,000,000 between 2022 – 2024 for Ireland’s Children’s charities and to maximise the impact of the funds raised by helping more children in need.

So, by donating to The Magic of Christmas, you will….

Give the Gift of Childhood to those who need it most, because every 

child deserves Magic at Christmas.

The station is presented on air each year by up to 100 volunteers who devote hundreds of hours of their time assisted by a core management team. Meanwhile, the costs of running Christmas FM are covered by various sponsors, ensuring listener donations go directly to the fundraising initiative. This year the station’s premier FM sponsors are Coca Cola, An Post and Cadbury.

Christmas FM is broadcasting from The Clayton Hotel, Liffey Valley who have kindly donated their studio space again this year.

As well as broadcasting online and on FM from November 28^th, Christmas FM also has a number of sister stations which are streamed globally, helping to sprinkle Christmas cheer and jolliness right across the world!

• Christmas FM Classical plays ‘Classical and Carols’. The station brings you the best in Classical Christmas music mixed with a wide range of festive carols
• Christmas FM Classics plays ‘Classics and Crooners’. It’s a mix of classic, pre-1970s Christmas songs from Bing Crosby to Frank Sinatra

Garvan Rigby, co-founder of Christmas FM says:

“We are so excited that Christmas FM is back for its 16^th year, to Switch Christmas On across Ireland for 2023. We can’t wait to sprinkle Christmas cheer and joy around the nation all throughout the festive season. Cadbury, Coca Cola and An Post have returned as premier FM sponsors for 2023 and The Clayton Hotel, Liffey Valley have also kindly donated their studio space again this year.

Celebrating 16 years on air is a major milestone for us which we wouldn’t have reached without Coimisiún na Meán and our amazing listeners, fans and volunteers who have supported us and our chosen charities throughout the years. We are once again raising funds for The Magic of Christmas appeal, supporting a range of children’s charities across Ireland helping children in need who need it most.”

Christmas FM is available online at:

www.christmasfm.com

You can follow the station on social at:

@christmasfm

Christmas FM – Bringing You the Magic of Christmas

What charities will benefit from funds raised by Christmas FM this year?

Last year, the people behind Christmas FM unveiled The Magic of Christmas Appeal, a not-for-profit fundraising initiative to raise funds for Barnardos, Barretstown, Make-A-Wish Ireland and a range of children’s charities around Ireland making a difference in local communities through Community Foundation Ireland. The aim of The Magic of Christmas Appeal is to Give the Gift of Childhood to those who need it most, because every child deserves Magic at Christmas. Between 2022 – 2024, the fundraising initiative is hoping to raise over €1,000,000 for Ireland’s Children’s charities and to maximise the impact of the funds raised by helping more children in need who need it most.

themagicofchristmas.ie

You can follow The Magic of Christmas on social at:

@supportthemagic

300 – 400 MW floating offshore wind farm, a joint venture between DP Energy and SBM Offshore, will supply renewable electricity to Nova Scotians in Canada

Nova East Wind Inc., a Joint Venture partnership between DP Energy and SBM Offshore, has re-appointed HiDef Aerial Surveying Ltd. as its aerial survey provider.

The Joint Venture partnership announced its floating offshore wind farm development earlier this year which will supply renewable electricity to Nova Scotians. The 300–400 MW Nova East Wind project will be located approximately 20-30km off Goldboro, Nova Scotia. This first stepping-stone project will kickstart an exciting new industry in Nova Scotia, contributing to the province meeting its 2030 decarbonization goals.

HiDef has been carrying out monthly aerial surveys for Nova East Wind since October 2022, and this will now continue for a second year.  These surveys will provide insight into the abundance and distribution of birds, marine mammals, and other marine species in the proposed wind farm area.

Anne-Marie Belliveau, Nova East Wind Project Manager, said: “We are excited to continue working with HiDef for the delivery of the aerial surveys for Nova East Wind. The results from these surveys will help guide discussions with stakeholders and rights holders, optimize project design and allow the team to make informed decisions based on survey findings.”

Commenting on the appointment, Martin Scott, HiDef Managing Director said: “Providing clients with robust data to help understand the environment they are working in is key to us and we are proud to be part of this ground breaking Canadian project.”

An information session as well as an official project launch event took place earlier this year, with a project website now available at www.novaeastwind.ca.

About DP Energy

DP Energy is an Irish company that develops, constructs, and operates renewable energy projects across the world, including Australia, Canada, the UK, and Ireland. With over 30 years’ experience in the global renewable energy space, DP Energy has an immediate project pipeline of over 9GW and is committed to using the most sustainable and environmentally responsible methods in all their energy developments.

• Foster’s award-winning literary career has spanned over four decades, with many published works including Modern Ireland 1600-1972, the two-volume W.B. Yeats: A Life and Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland 1890-1923

• Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Professor Foster at the annual An Post Irish Book Awards in Dublin on 22^nd November

• Foster joins a host of distinguished recipients such as Anne Enright, Sebastian Barry, Maeve Binchy, Colm Tóibín, Eavan Boland and Séamus Heaney

The An Post Irish Book Awards is delighted to announce that Professor Roy Foster is the recipient of this year’s ‘Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award’. The award will be presented on 22^nd November at the 2023 awards ceremony in The Convention Centre, Dublin.

As the 2023 Lifetime Achievement honouree, Professor Roy Foster will join a host of other distinguished recipients including Anne Enright, Sebastian Barry, Colm Tóibín, Thomas Kinsella, Eavan Boland, John Montague, J.P. Donleavy, Paul Durcan, John Banville, Maeve Binchy, John McGahern, Edna O’Brien, William Trevor, Séamus Heaney and Jennifer Johnston. All previous winners of The Lifetime Achievement Award can be found at https://www.irishbookawards.ie/history/hall-of-fame/

Professor Roy Foster has published widely on Irish history and has taught at some of the world’s most prestigious universities including University of London, Oxford, and Princeton. Foster’s oeuvre includes a two-part biography of W.B. Yeats, which was awarded the 1998 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Biography, and Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland, 1890 -1923, which won a British Academy Medal and the Frokosch Prize from The American Historical Association. Other titles by Foster include Luck and the Irish: A Brief History of Change from 1970 and On Seamus Heaney.

In conferring the award, the Board of the Irish Book Awards stated:

“Roy Foster has been described as “one of the most distinguished modern heirs of the great tradition of Anglo-Irish liberalism, which flows through Wolfe Tone and Charles Stewart Parnell to W.B. Yeats and on to such latter-day luminaries as the essayist Hubert Butler and the historian F.S.L. Lyons.”

Many will remember the impact of his magisterial Modern Ireland 1600-1972, published in 1988, it sold in quantities more normally associated with writers like Maeve Binchy and Seamus Heaney. It has since become the definitive history of the period in which Irish history was dominated by the paradox that a largely Catholic country was governed by a constitutionally Protestant one. Triggering the widely-contested “revisionism” debate, it succeeded in demonstrating that Irish history was more than just the story of Irish nationalism.

His two-volume biography of W. B. Yeats was no less of a publishing phenomenon when it appeared in 1998 and 2003 and all his subsequent publications, such as Luck and the Irish and Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland, 1890–1923, have consolidated his position as a genuinely popular historian capable of reaching a huge readership.

Widely admired in his own country for the wit, warmth, and eloquence he brings to the role of historian and public intellectual, Foster is a true internationalist who has taught at some of the world’s most prestigious universities such as the University of London, Oxford, and Princeton.

For all of the above reasons, the Board of the An Post Irish Book Awards wish to present the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award to Roy Foster.”

Brendan Corbett, Chairperson of the An Post Irish Book Awards, says:

“The Board of the An Post Irish Book Awards is delighted to present the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award to Professor Roy Foster. Foster is an internationalist and his knowledge, brilliance and passion are apparent through his many publications. He has enabled Irish social and political history to be accessible to all and is an inspiration for both writers and historians alike.”

Fintan O’Toole, historian, literary editor, journalist and critic, said:

“The great writers are the ones who really make us think about ourselves. Roy Foster has been an absolutely crucial figure in making Irish people think about what it means to be Irish, and I think most people believe that he’s done us a great service in making us think about the idea of being Irish as containing a lot of different identities and a lot of contradictions.”

The An Post Irish Book Awards celebrate and promote Irish writing to the widest range of readers possible. Each year it brings together a vast community passionate about books – readers, authors, booksellers, publishers and librarians – to recognise the very best of Irish writing talent across 20 categories. The winners will be announced on 22^nd November 2023.

The categories are:

• TheJournal.ie Best Irish-Published Book of the Year
• Bookselling Ireland Biography of the Year
• Cookbook of the Year
• Bookstation Lifestyle Book of the Year
• Dubray Non-Fiction Book of the Year
• Eason Sports Book of the Year in association with Ireland AM
• Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year
• Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year
• Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year
• National Book Tokens Popular Fiction Book of the Year
• Eason Novel of the Year
• Foras na Gaeilge Irish Language Fiction Book of the Year Award
• The Last Word Listeners’ Choice Award
• New Voices: The An Post Writing Prize
• International Education Services Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year, in honour of John Treacy
• Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year – Junior
• Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year – Senior
• Writing.ie Short Story of the Year
• Listowel Writers’ Week Poem of the Year
• An Post Bookshop of the Year

A one-hour television special, hosted by Oliver Callan, will be broadcast on RTÉ One on 6^th December giving viewers an exclusive insight into the six books and their authors competing for the accolade of ‘An Post Irish Book Awards Book of the Year 2023’, culminating in the reveal of this year’s overall winner.

For further information, please visit to the An Post Irish Book Awards website or social media channels:

www.anpostirishbookawards.ie

Facebook: @AnPostIBAS

Instagram: @anpost_irishbookawards

Twitter: @AnPostIBAS

• One fifth (21%) of Irish SMEs say they don’t have the cashflow they need to grow while 11% don’t have enough cashflow for day to day activities

• Rising interest rates, the cost of borrowing and access to finance are top concerns for Irish businesses

• Nearly half (48%) of Irish SMEs say they are now more likely to use external finance than they were before the Covid-19 pandemic

Three in 10 (29%) SMEs in Ireland had to write off bad debts in the past twelve months according to a recent survey by Bibby Financial Services, Ireland’s leading independent provider of financial funding solutions to SMEs.

The research shows that the average figure written off by Irish SMEs was €21,076, up from €18,543, in the past 12 months. This average figure jumps significantly for the wholesale sector, which records the highest average amount written off at €47,000.

The survey results also show that interest rates and the cost of borrowing are top concerns for over a quarter (27%) of Irish businesses. Meanwhile, 19% are concerned about access to finance, with this figure rising to 24% for those operating in the construction sector.

Furthermore, supply chain uncertainly is also restricting cashflow, with 28% of those surveyed stating that customers have entered administration, while 34% say some of their suppliers have entered administration.

As a result, it is no surprise that over one fifth (21%) of companies say they don’t have the cashflow they need to grow. A further 11% say they don’t have sufficient cashflow to operate effectively on a day-to-day basis.

On average, businesses believe €108,580 is the right amount of funding required to support their business. The top uses for this funding are:

• Domestic growth and expansion (44%)
• International growth and expansion (28%)
• Funding day-to-day operations (23%)

Almost half (48%) of Irish SMEs also say they are more likely to use external finance now, compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic. This figure rises to 54% for those in the Wholesale sector and 63% for those in the Transport and Haulage sectors. In addition, the figure also rises to 55% for those importing goods and 63% for those exporting.

The most prominent forms of external finance that Irish SMEs consider are:

• Business loans (51%)
• Government loans (26%)
• Overdrafts (26%)
• Credit cards (25%)
• Invoice Financing (21%)

Positively, it’s worth noting that those considering Invoice Financing has risen by 5%, showing that more long-term sustainable forms of finance are being sought by business owners. Unlike a loan, credit card or overdraft, Invoice Finance does not involve borrowing any money and incurring ongoing monthly repayments. Instead, Invoice Finance offers businesses access to money outstanding from their unpaid invoices, helping them to access income they have already earned but not yet received. In addition to assisting with cashflow, the capital unlocked from an Invoice Finance facility can be used for a variety of activities such as training, staff salaries, equipment supplies and premises, as well as growth scenarios such as Mergers and Acquisition activity.

Mark O’Rourke, Managing Director at Bibby Financial Services, says that with the traditional banking landscape in Ireland changing dramatically over the past few years, there is now a significant range of alternative financial institutions who offer a host of reliable solutions.

“Alternative finance options, such as invoice finance, are now playing a more important role in a sustainable funding landscape. As alternative funding solutions provide certainty of payment and more sustainable sources of liquidity, they are often far more suited to the needs of an SME than traditional lending options. They also don’t involve borrowing any money – which is often a key factor for SME’s as they simply don’t want to take on term debt or cash flow loans that will result in monthly repayments for years to come. This hesitancy to take on debt is creating what we are calling ‘an investment gap’ at SME level in Ireland. This is resulting in a barrier to growth for Irish SME’s and what many companies don’t realise is that alternative funding solutions can help SMEs to overcome this barrier.

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to navigating the uncertain outlook ahead, by ensuring SMEs have access to a range of financing options that provide sustainable working capital and cashflow, they will be able to overcome any challenges and take advantage of any opportunities that arise over the remainder of 2023.”

For more information about Bibby Financial Services Ireland, please visit: www.bibbyfinancialservices.ie

Find us on LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter @BibbyFinanceIE