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Planning a holiday?

Where will you go? Have you decided yet?

According to a new Eurobarometer survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism 2010, the majority of people will continue to travel for their holidays. Trends point towards exploring Europe and own country destinations.

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“EU citizens increasingly prefer to spend their holidays in traditional tourist destinations (57%), while 28% would rather go “off the beaten track” to emerging destinations. Tourism is one of Europe’s most important service industries, accounting for 5% of Europe’s GDP and 6% of employment.”

Read the press release “Tourism: upbeat prospects for 2010 season” for more details.

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EU! OK!

Introducing Pierce Brosnan

 

Pierce Brosnan was born in Navan, County Meath, Ireland on May 16, 1953 and lived in Navan, County Meath until 1964. He is an actor, producer and environmentalist, who holds both Irish and American citizenship.

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After leaving school at 16, he decided to be a painter and began training in commercial illustration at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He later graduated from the prestigious MA program at the Drama Center in London.

 

Early in his screen career he portrayed the title role in the TV series “Remington Steele” (1982). His character was a career criminal gone “straight” as a private investigator, with an amazing knowledge of and obsession with classic cinema.

 

His most popular role is that of British secret agent James Bond, in the following films: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

Brosnan was voted “Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine in 2001. He owns his own production company, Irish DreamTime.

 

He was given an honorary OBE by Britain’s ambassador to Ireland, Stewart Eldon, in 2003. Honorary OBEs are awarded on merit by the Queen to non-British citizens who have made an important contribution to British interests. The award formally makes him “an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire”.

 

On 23 September 2004, Brosnan became a citizen of the United States, but has retained his Irish citizenship. Brosnan said that “my Irishness is in everything I do. It’s the spirit of who I am, as a man, an actor, a father. It’s where I come from.” (link)

 

The death of his first wife, Cassandra Harris, left him with three children. He has two children with his second wife, Keely Shaye Smith.

 

More about Pierce Brosnan:

 

Official website

 

Wikipedia

 

Facts about Ireland

 

 

Year of EU entry: 1973

Political system: Republic

Capital city: Dublin

Total area: 70 000 km²

Population: 4 million

Currency: euro

Official EU languages: English, Irish

 

Since joining the European Union in 1973, Ireland (Éire) has transformed itself from a largely agricultural society into a modern, technologically advanced Celtic Tiger economy.

 

Agricultural lowlands make up most of the interior, which is broken in places by low hills and includes considerable areas of bogs and lakes. There are coastal mountains to the west, rising to over 1 000m in places. Nearly a third of the population lives in Dublin.

 

The Dáil, or lower house of Parliament, is composed of 166 members while the Seanad, or upper house, has 60 members. Parliamentary elections are held every five years. The President, elected for a seven-year period, mainly performs ceremonial duties.

 

Although the history of Ireland has seen troubles and turbulence, its people have always been associated with a love of music and storytelling. Often referred to as the land of saints and scholars, the country is the birthplace of many famous English-language writers, such as Yeats, Joyce, Beckett, Wilde and Shaw. Ireland is home to internationally known rock bands and singers such as U2, The Corrs and Sinéad O’Connor.

 

Simple meat dishes and boiled vegetables such as the potato, carrot, turnip and parsnip form the principal ingredients of traditional Irish cooking.

 

More information

 

Discover Ireland

 

CIA Factbook

 

Lonely Planet

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Great news for dads! And mums!

The EU has moved a step closer to gender equality at a meeting of EU employment ministers yesterday.

Série thématique : La stratégie de Lisbonne

“Parents will be allowed take four months each and transfer months between them to allow one parent to take up to seven months off. At least one month cannot be transferred to the other parent, a move seen as a boost to gender equality.”

“The plan applies to all workers, regardless of what kind of contract they have, and will require changes to national laws in the UK, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Romania and Malta.”

Read more on the Euractiv website.

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It’s International Women’s Day today

International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world every year. Hundreds of events happen throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. This year’s theme is Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all.

Press release: European Commission strengthens its commitment to equality between men and women.

Jerzy Buzek’s message for International Women’s Day

Information on the gender pay gap

Celebrate on Saturday 13 March with Europe Direct and Leeds Library and Information Service.

The programme:

2pm       Introduction
2.10pm Kushi Group - Hindi wedding songs
2.25pm Maria Doody - Columbian songs
2.40pm Nana-Essi Casely-Hayford - African poetry
2.55pm Miranda Arieh - Acoustics/bass guitar
3.10pm break
3.30pm Ana Louise & Barbara - South American songs/dance
3.45pm Hilary J Murray- Poetry
4 pm      Finale with Famul

See the event poster here.

Please check with us before you arrive for a specific performance that the programme still stands.

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Erasmus: exchanging skills for life

Every year over 180,000 students across Europe study in the Erasmus University exchange programme. Students spend a semester or academic year at a foreign university to develop their language skills and for new experiences abroad. Here British Green MEP Alyn Smith and a Lithuanian intern Egl? Draugelyt? at the European Parliament talk about their experiences.

Read the full article here.

 

 

 

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“Life is not black and white”

We had an interesting day at the conference “Migration and Citizenship in a Changing Community” on 3 March 2010. The event was organised by Europe Direct Leeds and Leeds City Council’s Adult Social Care unit.

Speakers included Christian Krappitz, European Commission Representative, Professor Lena Dominelli from the University of Durham and Almamy Taal from MARCO (Migrants Asylum seekers and Refugees Community Organisation). Further people told about their personal experiences of coming to Leeds.

There was music, food, a quiz and lots of networking. The main points were made around the folowing keywords: Control, Power and Choice.

If you attended please feel free to add photos to our Facebook page. And if you are still shaky on your citizenship test scores why not come to one of Leeds’ libraries to practice for free!

More information on the conference:

Leeds City Council News

Facebook

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EU!OK!

Introducing Timothy Dalton…..

Timothy Dalton is a film,TV and theatre actor born in Wales 21 March 1946. Although best known for playing James Bond 007 in the Living Daylights and Licence to kill our favourite Timothy roles are Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre, Prince Barin in Flash Gordon, Neville Sinclair in The Rocketeer, Simon Skinner in  Hot Fuzz and more recently Lord President of the Timelords in Doctor Who.

Read more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Dalton
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001096/

Wales fact file

Anthem:Hen Wlad fy Nhadau / Land of my fathers
Capital:Cardiff, population 321,000
Official Languages:Welsh, English
Government:Welsh Assembly Government
First Minister for Wales:Carwyn Jones AM
Area:20,780km2 (8023m2)
Population:2,980,000
Patron Saint: St David(1st March)
Currency:Pound Sterling (£)

More information about Wales:

http://www.wales.com/index.html

http://www.visitwales.co.uk/

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e-Skills week starts today!

“European e-Skills Week highlights the growing demand for skilled ICT users and professionals to drive a competitive and innovative Europe. This exciting campaign seeks to inform students, young professionals and SMEs about the vast range of opportunities that ICT-related jobs present.” Go to the e-Skills Week website for more information.

This initiative of the European Commission’s DG Enterprise and Industry is coordinated by DIGITALEUROPE and European Schoolnet in conjunction with twenty national partners.

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Climate Risk and the City

We would like to alert you to the following event:

Climate Risk and the City.

Thursday March 18 from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in the Thoresby Room, Leeds City Museum, Millennium Square, Leeds, LS2 8BH.

Tea and coffee will be available from 5.10pm and the event will start promptly at 5.30pm.

Hosted by the ESRC Centre for Climate Change, Economics and Policy as part of the ESRC’s Festival of Social Science, the event will examine the projected impact of climate change, the risks that climate change could pose for cities, how these risks might best be managed and the ways we can move toward climate resilient, low carbon cities.

Presentations from the Environment Agency, Arup, Friends of the Earth and Leeds City Council, as well as the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, will be followed by a lively debate and exhibition.

Click here for more details.

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Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb is special

According to the Daily Mail “rhubarb has now earned the same status as Champagne”.

This is because it has been given European protected name status. ADAS explain on their website: “The EU Protected Food Name Scheme identifies regional and traditional foods whose authenticity and origin can be guaranteed. Under this system a named food or drink (separate arrangements exist for wines and spirits) registered at a European level will be given legal protection against imitation throughout the EU.”

You can find out even more about the European Commission Protected Designation of Origin status on the EU Agriculture and Rural Development website.

Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb is grown out of season, indoors and harvested by candlelight to preserve the sweet flavour. Learn more about Forced Rhubarb on the TimesOnline website. And here is a recipe for you to try: Forced Rhubarb

Other links on this news story:

BBC

Country Life

Farmers Guardian

The Guardian

Yorkshire Evening Post

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