IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 12 July
12-07-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
Eircom unions likely to serve strike notice | GSM Association to close Dublin facility
The Irish Times reports that unions at Eircom are likely to serve strike notice on the company on Thursday, following a breakdown in talks between the two sides over Eircom's failure to pay a two percent pay increase. Leaders of the four unions at Eircom were due to meet early on Thursday to consider issuing notice of industrial action. Steve Fitzpatrick, general secretary of the Communications Workers' Union (CWU), said he was "confident" that notice would be sent to Eircom on Thursday.
The paper also says that mobile phone group the GSM Association is to close its Deansgrange facility in Dublin, with the potential loss of 45 jobs. GSM Association co-ordinates roaming facilities and the sending of text messages among 700 mobile operators worldwide. Workers at the Deansgrange facility have been offered the option of either home-working or re-locating to GSM Association offices in London or Atlanta.
The same paper reports that Stormont Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has given internet and telecoms companies until the end of the month to state how they will help to prevent suicide, especially among males under 35. McGimpsey met representatives of Google, Vodafone and Bebo to discuss what they are doing to prevent people who are contemplating suicide or self-harm from using social networking websites to co-ordinate their plans.
The Irish Independent reports that Eircom's former chief executive, Phil Nolan, is to become chairman of a UK maker of radio systems for emergency services, which has unveiled plans for a flotation in London. The company, Sepura, was bought out of administration for STG1 in 2002 by four executives with links to Goldman Sachs. The four are set to make millions from the placement of a 25 percent stake in the company, which is reportedly valued at STG250 million and debt free.
The paper also says that over 150 new jobs are being created in Athlone, Co Westmeath, by Teleflex Medical, as noted by ENN on Wednesday.
The Irish Examiner notes that the EUR30 million AIB Seed Capital Fund is to be located at NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin. The AIB Seed Capital Fund, which is being equally funded by AIB and Enterprise Ireland, is the first fund to be established under Enterprise Ireland's EUR175 million Seed and Venture Capital Scheme 2007-2012.
The paper also says that Microsoft has announced its intention to slash the price of its Xbox 360 games console. Shane Kim, vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, said the price cut could help give the Xbox an advantage over rival consoles. A spokesperson for Xbox Microsoft Ireland said it is yet to confirm when this will happen in the domestic market.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Warner Music Group has dropped a lawsuit against social networking company Imeem, opting instead to provide access to Warner's entire catalogue of music and videos in exchange for a share of the start-up's revenue. Imeem lets users build and share online playlists of digital music. Warner filed copyright-infringement charges against the company in May, complaining about the use of its copyrighted recordings. Under the new arrangement, Imeem users can create playlists that include music from Warner artists and, in exchange, Warner will get an undisclosed portion of Imeem's ad revenue.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 