The alpha-numerical system based on the pier location will be abandoned for a more logical numeric sequence following consultation with airlines.

From start of business Wednesday morning for the first wave of departures the following will apply:

• Pier D boarding gates will start from a 100 number range i.e. D60 will become 101
  
• Pier A boarding gates will start from a 200 number range i.e.  A1 will become 201
  
• Pier B boarding gates will start from a 300 number range i.e.  B22 will become 301

In time, when Pier E is fully operational all boarding gates there will start from a 400 number range.

It is not clear if the new terminal will continue starting at 500 or if it will operate it’s own independent system.

An airport spokesperson stated in a comment, “We believe that this change in gate numbering will provide a more intuitive way finding solution with logical pier/gate sequencing for passengers and is being introduced to improve the customer journey through Dublin Airport .”

As of today there are 8 places in Ireland where you must pay a toll. The 2010 toll for a passenger car is as follows: 

- East Link (Dublin City)  €1.70
- M50/West Link (Dublin) €2.00/€2.50/€3.00 depending on payment method
- M1 (Drogheda Bypass) €1.90
- M4 (County Meath) €2.90
- M6 (County Galway) €1.90
- M8 (County Cork) €1.90
- M25 (Waterford City Bypass) €1.90
- Dublin Port Tunnel (Dublin City) 
   -€10 Mon-Fri 6am-10am Southbound  
   -€10 Mon-Fri 4pm-7pm Northbound
   -€3 All other times

There are a number of options for paying road tolls in Ireland:

1. Cash (€ only) can be paid at the toll plaza for all toll roads except the M50/WestLink in Dublin

2. An Electronic Tag can be used (All tolls are operated under the eToll interoperability program of the National Roads Authority). Tags are available from any of 7 suppliers and can be post-paid or pre-paid depending on the account type chosen. Most tag providers charge a monthly fee ranging from €0.50 from easytrip.ie to  €1.25.. See tagcompare.ie for a list of suppliers.
The M50 Toll is €2 for a passenger car using this method.

3. Credit Cards can be used at the M4 Toll and at the Dublin Port Tunnel

4. Prepayment Cards can be used at the M4 Toll (cards can be purchased at the toll plaza and offer a 10% discount on tolls)

5. Online Payments can be made for the M50 Toll at www.eflow.ie (payment must be made by 8pm on the day following your use of the road)
The M50 Toll is €3 for a passenger car using this method.

6. Telephone Payment can be made for the M50 Toll by calling 1890 50 10 50 from Ireland, 0845 301 5405 from the UK or +800 50 10 50 11 from other international locations (payment must be made by 8pm on the day following your use of the road)
The M50 Toll is €3 for a passenger car using this method.

7. Payzone can be used for the M50 Toll. Any retail outlet displaying the Payzone logo can accept M50 Toll payments (payment must be made by 8pm on the day following your use of the road) See payzone.ie for details of outlets.
The M50 Toll is €3for a passenger car using this method.

8. Your vehicle can be Registered for the M50 Toll. Similar to an electronic tag, you can prepay or postpay your toll based on video recognition of your car registration plate as it passes the toll point.
The M50 Toll is €2.50 for a passenger car using this method.

For myguideIreland Guests on vacation in Ireland, the payment is very straight forward for all tolls except the M50. For the M50, check with your car rental company as to how you should handle the M50 toll. Some will have registered the car under option 8 above and will charge you based on number of passages when you return the vehicle. Others will leave the responsibility with you to pay the toll. If this is the case, please be aware of the 8pm deadline on the day following usage as penalties apply after this time.

Bray won top spot  ahead of Cavan in the annual Irish Business Against Litter awards.

For quality control purposes, we have been gathering information on the properties we sell since our foundation over 10 years ago. Properties are rated on 7 distinct criteria: hospitality, accommodation, food, exterior, facilities, location  and value.
We have always displayed this information on the individual hotel page on our website, but we have never published a ranking showing the best hotels……until now:

The hotels with the highest ratings on our website are:

#1 Lough Eske Castle, County Donegal

#2 Glin Castle County Limerick

#3 Dromoland Castle, County Clare

#4 Westin Hotel, Dublin

#5 Waterford Castle, County Waterford

#6 Adare Manor, County Limerick

#7 Markree Castle, County Sligo

#8 Carrig House, County Kerry

#9 Ashford Castle, County Mayo

#10 Mount Juliet, County Kilkenny

Congratulations to Lough Eske Castle, a new hotel only open  a couple of years, for achieving a level of consistency of quality and service that has propelled it to the top of the list.

The “Best in Travel 2010″ published earlier this week lists Cork as the only city in Britain or Ireland among the best places to go and best things to do in the year ahead.
Cork was listed as a “top city” alongside Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Charleston  in South Carolina, USA, Cuenca in Ecuador, Istanbul in Turkey , Kyoto in Japan, Lecce in Italy, Sarajevo, Singapore and Vancouver in Canada.

The guide describes  Cork as being now “at the top of its game: sophisticated, vibrant and diverse”.

Tourism figures in Cork have strongly welcomed the inclusion of the city as being “a major boost”. This achievement brings Cork out from the shadow of Dublin as the city destination when tourists plan travel to Ireland and may be start of a movement that will see other commentators take notice and give Cork the recognistion it deserves.

At myguideIreland, we always pride ourselves on putting our Guests first and are always looking for ways to offer better value without compromising the service we deliver. As you are well aware, the dollar has recently hit annual lows against the Euro and many of our Guests and potential Guests have expressed their concern. With myguideIreland, you don’t have to worry.

Behind the scenes, over the last six months, our Finance Director has been applying great foresight in currency management so we are now in a position to provide our vacation products at a great value exchange rate. Resisiting the temptation to profit from this currency hedging, we are now offering an exchange rate of just $1.35 per Euro to any US Guest booking a vacation to Ireland. This “turns back the clock” to May of this year before the recent sharp declines in the Dollar’s value.

We buy all our accommodation, rental cars, activities, tours etc in Euros so why pay $1.50 when you can book & pay now and get Euro priced products for just $1.35. We can only guarantee the exchange rate until Novemebr 14th at which point we will revert to the prevailing retail bank rate.

Candidates must possess the following

- Fluency in English (US Market Positions in Skibbereen & Boston)
- Native German Speaker (German Market Position) – ideally also with English.
- Proven sales experience preferably in the area of travel /call centre environment
- CRS experience – ideally Amadeus
- Eligible to Work in Ireland for positions in Ireland
- Eligible to Work in the USA for positions in Boston

Applicants should also possess the following:

- Excellent Selling Skills
- Driven approach to Sales and strong interest in Selling Ireland to Guests
- Professional Manner and excellent Customer Service skills
- Flexibility and ability to work in team environment

Candidates without proven sales experience or CRS experience or relevant language skills will not be considered.

Apply
To apply please send your CV and Cover Letter to Suzanne Byrne, Human Resources Manager, myguideIreland, Unit 8, Curragh Commercial Park, Skibbereen, Co Cork. Tel: 021 242 9699 suzanne.byrne@myguidetravel.com

Genevieve – Diana and I returned last Friday from our trip to Ireland (already filled out my survey from myguideIreland on line) and I wanted to send you a quick thank you note.
We had a wonderful time and the weather was perfect (which I will give you full credit for!). All of the travel details worked out from getting the car to the B&Bs and Ballyseede Castle.  Ballyseede was a wonderful experience, I am really glad we stayed there two nights. We stayed in the Coghill room and it was amazing. We ate at the bar the first night and then in the dining room for dinner our second night – all of the food including the breakfasts was delicious.

We stayed at White House B&B in Blarney – excellent and the best overall B&B; Dromcloc House near Bantry – beautiful location and very nice folks; Purple Heather near Killarney which was nice but we probably wouldn’t stay there again and Roncalli House in Galway which was very nice (tiniest bathroom but it worked!).
We visited Waterford Crystal, Blarney Castle, Kinsale, Bantry, Healy Pass in Beara Peninsula, Killarney with a trap ride through the Gap of Dunloe and a boat trip to Ross Castle (perfectly wonderful!), Dingle Peninsula which was amazing, Cliffs of Moher and Galway.
Your advice and support was outstanding and I am heartily recommending myguideIreland to all of my friends and family – don’t know how our trip could have gone any better. Thank you again for helping make our 30th anniversary everything I hoped it would be.
Please pass this note along to your coworkers who also helped us.
Dennis Slevin

West Cork Tourism began their campaign at the beginning of the year and raised €2.6m to get the Cork to Swansea route back up and running. Finnish bank Aktia Bank and its finance company, Aktia Yritysrahoitus Oy, has supported the acquisition through the provision of a loan of €6.3 million.

The Julia was built in 1982 and has sailed several routes in the Scandinavian Peninsula since then. The vessel has 10 decks with maximum capacity for approximately 440 cars and 30 freight vehicles and the total passenger capacity of the vessel is 1,860. The Julia has a fine array of restaurants and bars, a childrens’ play area and a cinema, as well as over 300 passenger cabins, rendering her particularly suited to the night crossing between Cork and Swansea.

The Julia will commence service on the Cork to Swansea route in March 2010 and expects to enjoy strong demand from both tourist and freight customers. Fastnet Line believes that it will contribute greatly to the development and promotion of tourism in Cork, Kerry and surrounding areas, bringing thousands of tourists directly to the region annually, and will also contribute to the development of Irish tourism into Wales. In addition, Fastnet Line will provide hauliers operating in Ireland and the UK with a viable sea crossing alternative for freight activity between the regions, potentially reducing round trip road journeys by over 600km.

Funding of €2.5 million is now required in addition to the balance of funds raised still held by the Co-Op to fund the working capital requirements of the business and to facilitate the development of the infrastructure of the organisation in the period prior to and after launch in March 2010. In that regard, there are now opportunities to invest both in the Co-Op and in Fastnet Line. The Co-Op will be arranging a series of roadshows in the coming weeks to brief members and prospective new members on its plans.

Commenting on the acquisition, Conor Buckley, Chairman of the Co-Op, said “We are delighted to be in the position to officially announce the purchase of The Julia and the commencement of the Cork to Swansea route in Spring of next year. The coming weeks and months will continue to be crucial to us to gain the working capital to aid the development of the organisation so we are looking forward to meeting with potential investors from all over the South West Region and beyond.”

Investors are being offered the opportunity to participate in what the Co-Op believes will be a key business in the Cork and Swansea regions for the long term. A business which will bring rewards to its stakeholders not only in financial terms, but also in terms of bringing business to the regions it serves.