Cuinneog wins Great Taste Gold Award for their Farmhouse Irish Country Butter for the second year
Celebrity chef Phelim Byrne, as seen on The Afternoon Show, recently visited Cuinneog in Mayo to sample their Gold Award winning Irish County Butter and to see the companies new branding – a distinctive orange wrapper with 9 purple cows, one of them curiously peeking out at you.
This is the second year Cuinneog Irish Country Butter has won the esteemed Gold Award the ultimate recognition for food producers in the UK and Ireland and the most prestigious award in speciality food and drink. The Great Taste Awards is organised annually by the Guild of Fine Food with more than 100 leading chefs, cookery writers, retail buyers and other food & drink specialists judging thousands of foods in a process lasting several months.
The best products are awarded one, two or three gold stars in a scheme that echoed the Michelin star scheme for restaurants, with regional and national awards also being presented. Produced in County Mayo with traditional churning techniques, Cuinneog Farmhouse (Irish for churn) Irish County Butter is low in salt and is a uniquely fuller flavoured butter.
Tom Butler, founder of Cuinneog explains “the key to its distinctive flavour is the fermentation of the fresh pasteurised cream before being traditionally churned. The butter is then hand wrapped and shipped to your local store.”
Phelim says, “As a country butter it has just a hint of that unique traditional taste which blends beautifully with the rounded flavour of the butter itself. Consumers looking for authentic traditional-style butter don’t have many options in today’s mass production food market.” He continued, “It is extremely important for us, as consumers, to try products where the wisdom of generations has been combined with innovation to create flavoursome foods of extremely high quality. Whether it is for Christmas baking or just for sandwiches I would recommend you add a little Cuinneog for the flavour because once you try Cuinneog, there is no turning back.”
The manufacturing process used to produce the Cuinneog range sets it aside over and above standard dairy products. “Normally, once the cream has been separated from the milk, it is immediately churned into butter. However, Cuinneog butter is made using pasteurised farm-fresh cream, which is ripened before churning, giving the range a very distinctive and creamy taste,” says Tom.
Cuinneog, a family business run by Tom and Sheila Butler, was established in 1990 to produce a country-style butter to satisfy the demands of consumers looking for authentic flavour and exceptional quality.
The company, which is a member of Good Food Ireland, also produces Cuinneog natural buttermilk, which is the by-product of the fermented cream. It is a naturally low-fat product (with less than half percent of fat). Distributed by PRM Ltd, Cuinneog Farmhouse Irish Country Butter and Cuinneog Buttermilk are found in all major supermarkets as well as independent retailers across Ireland.
Located just outside Castlebar, the company has been established in Shraheens near Bohola for over 19 years and employs ten people.
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Tags: cuinneog, Great Tast Awards, Irish country butter, Phelim Byrne, Wexford chef
Bloodstock agency chooses software to streamline finances and increase productivity
Wicklow – based bloodstock agency Peter J. Doyle Bloodstock Ltd., www.doyleracing.com has chosen Pegasus Opera II to streamline finances across their multi-faceted business.
Doyle Bloodstock works on a commission basis for clients at public auction, privately manages clients’ racehorses, offers advice, and arranges nominations (covering stallions) for clients’ mares. The company also offers insurance services, as well as arranging transport for clients’ horses. The bloodstock agency has a turnover of €2,700,000.
According to Director Anna Doyle, Pegasus Opera II gives the agency a better control of its finances, ultimately increasing productivity and efficiency. Doyle manages the business with her husband and son, her fellow directors.
Previous to the installation of Opera II, the business and financial procedures were managed manually, making ready access to financial information difficult for the agency’s management team, as Doyle explains.
“A new system was needed to improve access to reports, as well as increase the speed of invoicing and other statements. It was also important that the software package could handle more than one currency.”
Opera II’s reliability, matched with personal service, impressed Doyle Bloodstock’s directors. “Someone recommended Charles Alken, from Pegasus Software and we were very impressed with Charles. He spent a considerable time understanding the specific needs of our business and we felt confident that the solution he was offering was based on that understanding.”
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Tags: www.practicepr.ie, public relations company ireland, Public Relations Ireland, public relations, Practice PR, PR company, Pegasus Software, Opera II, Peter J. Doyle Bloodstock
RoanKabin delivers €2m project
Minister for Lifelong Learning Sean Haughey opened the new Educate Together School in Grangegorman, Dublin 7. The €2m 16-classroom primary school was designed and built by Kildare-based modular building company RoanKabin.
RoanKabin won the competitive tender issued by the Department of Education, after scoring best in the competitive tendering process due to a combination of competitive pricing and project experience.
The new 25,000 square foot two-storey school building includes resource centre and special needs as well as regular classrooms. In addition, RoanKabin has also added roads, play areas and full landscaping to the school site.
“We provided a turn key solution to this project, as we have designed the layout of the school, as well as providing the building itself,” says Daniel McEvoy, marketing manager with RoanKabin.
The RoanPlan Modular System uses individual galvanised steel modules to rapidly construct buildings of multiple storeys and of unlimited internal space, which can be tailor made to suit any purpose. This structural steel has a 60-year lifespan.
The RoanPlan System creates highly sophisticated structures with the durability to withstand the most rigorous demands. The core strength of Modular Building is adaptability.
Cost efficiency is a key advantage modular design possesses over conventional structures. The secret of these savings lie in this production system’s ability to achieve economies of scale.
“All RoanPlan modules are manufactured with offsite construction techniques in our 60,000sq ft factory, a state of the art facility which allows us to assemble our buildings in a controlled environment, while benefiting from the advantages of mass production of core components.
“We have taken great pride and care in streamlining and developing our RoanPlan system. Through constant research and design the RoanPlan Modular Building has evolved and still remains at the pinnacle of Modular Building System,” he adds.
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Tags: www.practicepr.ie, public relations company ireland, Public Relations Ireland, public relations, Practice PR, PR company, Roankabin, Sean Haughey, Minister for Lifelong Learning Sean Haughey, modular building Ireland, Educate Together Grangegorman
The Security Threat from Within – Espion recommends measures to combat insider theft
Email is the most used method to steal information from corporations by employees, according to Ireland’s leading computer forensics and information security company Espion.
The old-fashioned hard copy printouts are the second most popular method used to steal information from employers. Mobile devices, such as USB memory sticks and data CDs, are not as commonly used, accounting for less than 10% of the cases where data has been stolen from an organisation.
“As employees become concerned about their own welfare, regardless of their loyalty in the past, there is a greater likelihood that they may turn on their employers. When employees feel that their position is threatened, or they are on notice, they may look at sensitive data as a valuable commodity that can be used for their own gain – to the detriment of their employer,” says Colm Murphy, technical director with Espion.
“As companies take steps to safeguard systems and data from external attacks, they need to turn their attention to the threat that exists from within the company.”
Murphy highlights the need for companies to incorporate inside threats in to the Information Security programmes. “Insider data theft often goes unnoticed as the perpetrator has all of the required permissions for accessing data. No alarms are triggered and the crime can be committed virtually undetected.”
In today’s digital world, a company’s most valued, sensitive data is no longer under lock and key. Information is stored in files and folders, accessible virtually and in daily use by huge numbers of users. Keeping it secure from an internal breach, while allowing it to remain accessible to the majority of non-malicious employees, is a challenge.
“Not only is digital information easy to access from the inside, removing it is also quite straightforward. Email, printed copies and USB memory sticks make the transfer of stolen data extremely quick, easy and very discreet,” adds Murphy.
Combating Insider Theft
-Review the lists of which employees have access to which parts of the network – restricting access to sensitive material to less people.
-Ensure computers are equipped with programs that required difficult to crack passwords and password-protected screensavers.
-Administrator privileges that give users broad access to systems should be tightly managed. Although users often request rights to carry out legitimate activities, such as a defragmentation, they could also use this ‘access all areas’ for more malicious reasons.
-Watch out for any users repeatedly trying to access data they are not supposed to.
-Deploy monitoring/alert systems to provide real time alerts to suspicious network activities.
-Audit paper and electronic documents of any employees leaving the organisation.
-If there is a notice period, the IT department should actively monitor employee’s access to the network to make sure sensitive and confidential data is not being downloaded or send to the employee’s personal email account. Additional measures should be considered in the event of an acrimonious departure, those employees that leave an organisation on bad terms are more likely to steal data.
-Ensure that as an employee leaves an organisation they no longer have any access to the company’s networks – they can not log-in remotely from home etc.
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Tags: www.practicepr.ie, public relations company ireland, Public Relations Ireland, public relations, Practice PR, Espion, IT security Ireland, Colm Murphy, IT security
Spooky PR
Wicklow’s Historic Gaol and its monthly paranormal tours hit the headlines last week, as restless resident ghosts seemed to be upset by this ‘invasion of their privacy’ and started moving furniture – freaking out 30 tour attendees.
The group had to ask staff for help to get them out of what has been called a terrifying ordeal. One of the psychics running the scary night show said she was ‘nearly forced down’ the stairs during the tour.Filed under: PR commentary, public relations | Leave a Comment
Tags: www.practicepr.ie, public relations company ireland, Public Relations Ireland, public relations, Wicklow Historic Gaol, Halloween
Colm Fagan, from IT security firm Espion, explains how to keep your data safe, create a strong password and avoid falling victim of phishing attacks.
Watch him on this morning’s Ireland AM:
TV3’s Ireland AM breakfast TV for Ireland
Shared via AddThis
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Tags: Colm Fagan, Espion, how good is your password, IT security, phishing attacks Ireland, Practice PR, public relations, public relations company ireland, Public Relations Ireland, www.practicepr.ie
How much will my child cost?
Financial planning essential when having a new baby
Horizon Financial will be at the Big Into Baby Show
With the cost of educating a child up to third level education estimated at almost €70,000, financial planning is essential for couples when having a new baby.
“Even if you don’t have to pay huge school or college fees, there are still many significant costs involved in putting a child through education,” explains Hughie Doyle, from independent financial advisors Horizon Financial. “Expenses such as books, accommodation, travel and registration fees, all these can hurt your pocket and become a real burden.”
According to Doyle, parents-to-be should take on a financial review from a professional to asses the best way of managing their finances, in preparation for the new baby. This will help them manage their resources more effectively, maximising what they have and assessing what they need.
Before the baby arrives-
“We highly recommend parents-to-be that they open a savings account, as much in advance as possible before the baby arrives. Everyone needs savings, be it for a holiday or just a rainy day, but putting aside some money every month to pay for the expense of having a child, will make a big difference,” adds Doyle.
“There are a whole range of savings options, suitable for every situation. This is the most painless way of financing your kids’ education.”
When the baby arrives-
Doyle also explains there are a few scenarios parents should think about when having a child, in order to protect their kids’ well being in the years ahead.
Life Cover is a must-have for parents to secure their kids’ future in the unfortunate case of one or both parents passing away. This cover will secure an income for the children.
Statistics show that one in four aged 20-40 will suffer a serious illness before the age of 65. Serious Illness cover will provide your family with an income, in the case of one of the parents being diagnosed with a serious illness and, therefore, not being able to work. All of Doyle’s Serious Illness Cover come with free child Serious Illness Cover of €25,000 per child.
Income protection is a policy that will provide a regular income, in the case that one of the parents not being able to work due to illness or injury. This type of insurance is also designed to alleviate a family’s financial worries when the monthly income is reduced or non existent.
“The same way we insure our homes and our cars, we should insure our family’s future the best we can and this type of policies allows us to do just that,” adds Doyle.
Doyle feels that each parent should undertake a financial review of there entire financial situation and ensure that there family is properly provided for in all eventualities. Parents don’t realise how in-expensive most of these policies are, but more importantly can you put a price on peace of mind that “your family is protected”
Horizon Financial will be exhibiting at the Big Into Baby Show which takes place on the 17th & 18th October at the RDS, Dublin, where they will be on hand to offer help and advice to young families as they plan ahead for the future.
Tickets can be purchased via the RDS Box Office or at the door at a cost of just €7 per adult, kids go free.
For further information on Horizon Financial please contact Hughie Doyle on 053 94 84868 or visit www.horizonfinancial.ie
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How Good is your Password?
As this week’s Hotmail password hacking incident shows, passwords are a prime target for cyber criminals and the reality is: most of us have passwords that can be extremely easy to guess and hack.
According to Colm Murphy, technical director with Espion, a common mistake we tend to make is to have a single password for each account “This is the equivalent of having a single key that opens your car, your safe, your home, and your office – can you imagine the implications of loosing that?”
So what makes a good password?
-It should NOT be based on personal information or be an entry in a dictionary
-Use a different password for each account
-The more complex a password, the less chance there is that it will be guessed. The downside: you will probably forget it BUT Mnemonics are a good way of remembering – mixing upper and lower case, numbers and symbols.
- Keep them secret – Do not write them down and definitely do not keep them in your wallet.
-Always log out of all applications when finished using them and do not opt to have the application remember you!
Remember: hackers are smart – very smart.
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Tags: www.practicepr.ie, public relations company ireland, Public Relations Ireland, public relations, Practice PR, PR company, Espion, IT security Ireland, password security Ireland, Colm Murphy, how good is your password, what makes a good password
LetsHost SPAM Country Originator
LetsHost, one of the fastest growing Irish web hosting providers, has released figures for Spam received in Ireland for the month of September. The top country of origin for Spam was the United Kingdom, running at 21.9percent. The second most prolific country of origin for Spam received here was Germany, a close second at 21.1percent.
Canada was responsible for the remainder of the Spam received in Ireland during the month of September. As Daragh MacLoughlin, director of LetsHost comments: “While China and North America are often cited as the countries producing the most Spam, it is interesting to see that our nearest neighbour is topping the pole for spammers into Ireland. It is perhaps unsurprising given that much of the spam received was a form a phishing and that typically requires a certain knowledge of local financial and corporate institutions.”
* based on a survey of incoming traffic on Lets Host Servers. Lets Host is one of the leading Irish hosting companies, with the largest number of dot ie registrations year on year.
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Tags: www.practicepr.ie, public relations company ireland, Public Relations Ireland, public relations, Practice PR, letshost.ie, Daragh Mac Loughlin, Irish hosting provider, hosting company Ireland
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Recent Entries
- Celebrity Chef says ‘Add a little Cuinneog… for the flavour’
- Peter J. Doyle Bloodstock Ltd. races ahead with Pegasus Opera II
- Is it too early for Christmas?
- Minister Sean Haughey opens new Educate Together School in Grangegorman
- Email is the most common means used to steal information from employers
- Spooky PR
- Colm Fagan, from Espion, on TV3’s Ireland AM
- How much will my child cost?
- How Good is your Password?
- 21.9 percent of all Spam received in Ireland from UK*
- Older people losing out due to lack of computer skills
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Is it too early for Christmas?
The last trick-or-treaters were just back home counting their goodies. The spooky make up hadn’t been washed off properly yet. Pumpkin pie leftovers hadn’t been eaten and the carved pumpkin wasn’t even remotely starting to shrivel up. Yet Santa suddenly appeared on TV, telling witches to move over, it’s my turn now and the festive season is about to begin. On 1st November? It looks like the run up to Christmas has stretched as much as it was remotely acceptable.
Or has it? Some supermarkets were stocking Santa-shaped chocolates in late September. We are picturing the Halloween fancy dress party of 2020: a bunch of Santas trick and treating with vampires and zombies; 31st October just another date on the Christmas calendar, extending for two months.
No matter what shop windows and TV ads say: 1st November is too early to switch our Christmas lights on. However, from a PR point of view, most monthly publications already have their December issue sent to the printer. If you want to get into Christmas supplements or into the papers with a Christmas theme, you need to get in touch with PPR asap as you already have nearly missed the sleigh! Now when’s Easter?
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