Waterford Today | Waterford's free weekly newspaper

For the thousands of rental property owners across Waterford Budget 2012 was not a good news day.

Over the last few years the interest relief available to rental property owners has been reduced to 75%. In a further move, from 2013, rental profit will now be liable to PRSI at 4% and rental property owners will face a new €100 household charge.

Waterford based Accountants; TaxAssist Accountants, advises a lot of clients on their rental property taxation issues. Commenting on the changes announced in this week’s budget Marie Doody said ‘If you took the case of a person who bought a house 6 years ago and assumed a 50:50 interest/ capital ratio. If that person now has a mortgage of €1,200 per month but can only get €1,000 in rent, this additional PRSI charge leaves them €192 worse off, every year. Lot’s

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Safety Fora Terms of Reference

The Waterford City Joint Policing Committee (JPC), in its response to calls for the establishment of local community fora re policing, recommended the establishment of Neighbourhood Safety Fora across the 7 Neighbourhoods of Waterford City. The Waterford JPC regards the formation of such groups, which could address community safety issues between key partners on a Neighbourhood basis, as a positive and important move forward in progressing further the wider community safety agenda in Waterford City. The Fora will help in the identification and influence the direction of Neighbourhood actions within the JPC Community Safety Strategy.

Objectives

The objectives of Waterford Neighbourhood Safety Fora are;

- To offer a positive opportunity for furthering the development of safer Neighbourhoods within Waterford City, through a co-ordinated engagement involving a number of agencies /organisations, with members of the local community and their public

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Waterford Airport celebrates 30 years of flight: Pictured on the Runway of Waterford Airport enjoying the celebrations during Waterford Airports 30th birthday on December 15th) are Joanne Mahony (Customer Services Administrator) in the Airports 1980's uniform, Nicola Kelleher (Passenger Services Administrator) in the Airports 1990's uniform and Aoife Maloney (Passenger Services Administrator) in the Airports 00's look.

Photo Patrick Browne

Waterford Airport marked 30 years of air services to and from the southeast of Ireland.

It was on Tuesday, December 15, 1981 that the Department of Transport & Power granted an operational licence for the IR£1.5m airport.

The occasion was marked with an inaugural 25-minute flight from Dublin on Avair’s IRpound2m, 30-seater aircraft. Avair’s Chief Pilot, Capt Hank Vanderzee, was at the controls for the flight with passengers including Chris Hennessy, Airport

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During the festive season, it is estimated we will munch our way through approximately 1.4 million tins of biscuits and pull over 16 million Christmas crackers celebrating the festive season in Ireland!

Remember to recycle using your green and brown bins. Cardboard boxes, biscuit tins, wrapping paper and Christmas cards can all be recycled in your green bin. Any food that isn’t eaten can be put into your brown bin.

With all the surplus waste generated around the country at this time of year, it puts an increased demand on recycling facilities. Remember, do not leave boxes/other litter at the bring banks or recycling centres; if the containers are full, take your glass and cans home or seek another facility in the area. Bring home any boxes / bags that you brought with you. It is an offence under the Litter Pollution

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Waterford’s Independent TD John Halligan is amongst the Opposition TDs pledging to boycott the controversial €100 household charge in January.

Deputy Halligan last week pledged that he would refuse to pay the unjust tax, even if he ends up in court.

"After three years of austerity, this charge really is the straw that will break the camel’s back for struggling householders", Deputy Halligan commented. "The IMF has just agreed to release a further €3.9 billion in loans to the exchequer as part of the country’s bailout, money that the ordinary people of Ireland will have to pay back.

"Why is the Government not taxing the rich more instead of putting such a burden on low and middle income households. There are sections of Irish society that are getting away without paying their fair share. What measures will be introduced to ensure the super-rich,

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As I greet everybody at Christmastime may I firstly thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers for me during my recent illness. I am deeply grateful. Thank God, I am feeling better and I know you will remember me at the crib.

It will be especially difficult this year to see Christmas as a time of peace and joy. The measures in the budget are fresh in our minds and we are told to expect more of the same in years to come. People have lost their jobs. Businesses are struggling, unemployment and emigration are back with a bang and many have difficulty with their mortgage repayments. Families are experiencing much hardship; they are struggling to provide a joyful celebration for their children.

When faced with these challenges it is tempting to give in to a sense of helplessness. This is

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Waterford Raptors

It appears that birds of prey were formerly far more common in Waterford and in the 16th century it was a common practice for the local English nobility to send raptors from this area to the ruling monarchs in England. In a letter dated Carrick 5th July 1540, from Margaret, Countass Dowager of Ormond to the King of England, it is mentioned that she "sends a present of hawks". While the species are not mentioned, contemporary letters in Olde English jargon suggest that the types of hawks included "a cast of tassels of Goshawks, one intermute Goshawk, one Falcon, one Goshawk, a Feare Falcon and a tassel gentle." However, such was the traffic in hawks from Waterford over the years, by 1610 they were already becoming scarce. In a letter written by Thomas, Earl of Ormond and Ossory to

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Complaining about health and social care services

Question: We are not happy with the service that our frail and elderly parents are getting from a number of health and social care professionals. Where and how can we complain?

Answer: You should be able to find the right place to give your feedback on a recently launched website called healthcomplaints.ie. This website has been developed by a group of public and voluntary organisations, including the Citizens Information Board.

Healthcomplaints.ie provides information on how to make a complaint about a healthcare service or a social care service in Ireland. It is aimed at people who use health and social care services, as well as their families, care-givers and advocates.

As well as explaining the options for making a complaint about many specific services, the site also includes sample complaint letters, case studies and guides on how

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Q. What noises DON'T we hear that silent night before Christmas, thanks to Santa's considerate use of the best in sleigh sound-damping technology?

A. Imagine Santa's challenge: There are some 2.1 billion kids under age 18, at about 2.5 per household, meaning he's got to make some 840 million stops totaling roughly 220 million miles, estimates Roger Highfield in "The Physics Of Christmas." He's got all night to do it, or 48 hours if he tracks backward against the Earth's rotation (time zones). So it figures Santa has a little over 2/10,000 second for each of the 840 million households.

Ignoring quibbles over air temperature and humidity, the speed of sound is something like 750 miles per hour, or .2 miles per second, with Santa achieving speeds 6,000 times faster, or Mach 6000, unloosing a sonic boom each time he breaks the

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Waterford News February 1946

Irish patriot: u.s.a grave

112 East El Camino,

Santa Maria, California

To the Editor,

Waterford News, Waterford

Attached is a snapshot I took of Father Albert’s grave. All that is mortal of him rests in the little cemetery of Santa Ynez Mission situated in the picturesque valley of that name. Four miles off the main highway few visit it and fewer still know that beneath the humble headstone rests one who was no less a martyr to the Irish cause than the men of 1916 in whose behalf he spent himself. To my mind as I knelt at the grave came the words of, I believe, Sir William Butler:-

"Give me but six feet two, one foot to spare,

Of Irish earth - and dig it anywhere,

And for my poor soul, say and Irish prayer about the spot."

And as I said the Irish prayer

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Debenhams has launched an express Christmas shopping service which allows customers to have their present buying sorted in less than an hour, without lifting a finger. The free service, called ‘Christmas Express’ takes the stress out of deciding what to buy for friends and family as the department store’s personal shoppers do all the hard work for you.

Customers are invited to fill out a questionnaire at the start of the appointment, listing the gift recipients, sizes, ages and budgets, if they have those details. The personal shopper then sets out onto the shop floor in search of the perfect gifts, within budget, while the customer is left to relax.

The service was launched in response to an overwhelming demand for gift ideas from clueless customers wanting to run in-and-out of store quickly and leave with their Christmas shopping done.

The service is

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The Irish Hospice Foundation offers words of support to bereaved on coping with Christmas

The Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) has urged members of the public who are bereaved and are facing a first Christmas without their loved one to take some time to plan ahead for 25th December.

More than 270,000 people are newly bereaved each year in Ireland. The IHF, which has a focus on bereavement care, has an information leaflet entitled Coping with Christmas When You Are Bereaved which is available on its website http://www.hospice-foundation.ie . Hard copies of the leaflet are also available free of charge from the charity (Tel: 01-679 31 88). People can also look at http://youtu.be/lrMxf4bE6sk on youtube to get advice on coping with Christmas.

The leaflet makes some suggestions which might help people through a first Christmas without a loved one including:

-

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Nine thousand years of Waterford and Kilkenny’s history presented in a new book

Have you ever wondered what the Waterford area looked like 9000 years ago when the first humans arrived on the banks of the mighty River Suir? A new book, Cois tSiuire - Nine Thousand Years of Human Activity in the Lower Suir Valley, sets out to answer this and many other questions about the lives of our ancestors who have lived alongside the Suir (Cois tSiuire).

The book and an accompanying CD present the results from over sixty significant archaeological excavations on the route of the N25 Waterford City Bypass in Waterford and Kilkenny. The construction of the bypass led to the excavation of previously undocumented settlement, burial, industrial and ritual sites. The excavations revealed that humans have lived in this part of the Lower Suir Valley for at

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Petrol Falls In Price But Diesel Rises Again Ahead Of Vat Increase On 1 January

The price of a litre of petrol has again fallen slightly at the pumps in the last month but diesel prices have continued their upward trend according to the December survey of pump prices from the AA. A litre of petrol now costs an average of 147.9 cent, down 1.6 cent since November. Diesel rose by 2.2 cent and now costs an average of 146.9.

These changes include the addition of extra Carbon Tax in the budget which added 1.4 cent to petrol and 1.6 cent to diesel respectively. The additional 2% in VAT that comes into effect on 1st January will add 2.44 cent to petrol and 2.33 cent to diesel.

"The policy of ever increasing fuel taxes was pursued by the last government and continued by

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AA advises Christmas shoppers to be weary of smash-and-grab thieves

In the countdown to Christmas AA Motor Insurance is warning frazzled shoppers not to leave presents or other valuables in the main cabin of their car when dropping off items mid shopping spree. This advice while seasonal, is delivered against the backdrop of the AA's latest Motor Insurance Poll where 12% of drivers surveyed said they habitually leave items on view in their car. A further 18% also stated they often leave valuables and important documentation in their glove compartments.

The nationally representative poll of 12,400 drivers also reveals that women are marginally more inclined to have a bit of visible clutter in their cars than men. 15% of women compared to 11% of men said they'll routinely have items strewn about the interior of their cars.

Further analysis of the AA findings

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