Latest news with #DF
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Defence Forces spend almost €2m on social media and advertising to boost recruitment
The Defence Forces (DF) spent close to €2 million over the past year on social media and advertising to try to drum up interest in a military career. The DF said €1.91 million had been spent reaching audiences through Facebook, TikTok, outdoor billboards, and even a streaming service popular with video gamers. Advertisement A further €71,000 was paid for content creation to be used in a variety of campaigns as the military battles to increase recruitment. The €1.987 million outlay did yield results, however, with nearly 13,000 people applying to join the enlisted ranks since July last year. The gender breakdown for those applications was 11,191 men and 1,751 women, or a ratio of about six males for each female. There were a further 2,203 applications for the officer ranks, the Defence Forces said in response to an FOI request. Advertisement These came from 1,895 men and 308 women, a similar gender split of around six to one. The Defence Forces said their biggest marketing spend was on digital campaigns, where nearly €720,000 was paid out for online channels, including YouTube. A further €183,000 was spent with Facebook, while €360,691 was paid for billboards and other outdoor advertising. Around €75,000 was spent on Snapchat, €79,057 on TikTok and just €50,000 on print media as the Defence Forces looked to reach younger age groups. Advertisement There was also spending of €23,018 on Twitch, a live-streaming service used mainly by video gamers and for watching esports. Just over €49,000 was spent on cinema ads, €197,000 for recruitment material on radio, and €179,000 for TV marketing. The Defence Forces have faced ongoing challenges in recruiting, and official figures from the end of April show the strength of the permanent forces was just 7,500. That compares with a force of around 9,500 in 2010, with a steady falloff during the past fifteen years, although the figure does now appear to have stabilised. A spokesman said: 'Óglaigh na hÉireann is committed to recruiting the best candidates to serve the state. Our advertising and outreach efforts are a critical part of attracting high-calibre individuals with the values, skills, and commitment required for military service. 'This investment ensures we maintain a strong, capable, professional force ready to meet the needs of the nation and defend our state.'
The South African
31-07-2025
- The South African
Tik addict who killed niece spared life sentence
The court sentenced 39-year-old, identified only as DF, to five years in prison for killing his one-year-old niece while under the influence of crystal meth (tik). The Northern Cape High Court in Kimberley convicted DF under legislation covering crimes committed while voluntarily intoxicated and handed down the sentence. DF, who was 34 at the time of the offence, had faced charges of murder, kidnapping, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and housebreaking with intent to commit a crime. He had already spent over two years in custody awaiting trial. Due to his history of drug addiction, DF underwent a 30-day psychiatric evaluation. The court heard that DF was mentally fit to stand trial. His heavy intoxication during the offences impaired his ability to understand that his actions were wrong. The court convicted him under Section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. This addresses crimes committed in a state of voluntary intoxication. Correctional Services officer Ms Klaaste testified that Kimberley Correctional Centre would better manage DF's chronic drug-induced psychotic mood disorder and epilepsy. She said Kimberley Correctional Centre had full-time medical staff, unlike the closer Hopetown facility. Judge Lawrence Lever considered DF's circumstances, including his Grade 11 education, low income, and responsibility for two children. The judge also weighed the fact that the killing occurred during a drug-induced psychosis. The baby's mother, who is also DF's sister, testified that she had forgiven her brother. She admitted to her past addiction and said DF had once tried to help her recover. 'This tragedy would not have happened were it not for his addiction,' the judge remarked. He described DF's behaviour as that of an 'automaton' during the offence. Although the crimes were serious, the court found that the prescribed minimum sentences, including life imprisonment under Section 51 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, did not apply. Judge Lever ruled that the punishment must be proportionate to both the crime and the offender. Emphasising the need to show DF some mercy and allow for treatment. He sentenced DF to five years for murder, three years for kidnapping, six months for assault, and three months for housebreaking, with all sentences to run concurrently. As a result, DF will serve an effective five-year sentence at Kimberley Correctional Centre, including time already spent in custody. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Ya Libnan
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Israeli army arrests Iranian 'terror cell' in southern Syria, report
DF troops operate in southern Syria in a photo released on July 2, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces) sraeli troops arrested several members of a terror cell deployed by Iran in southern Syria in an overnight raid, the military says. The cell was operating in two locations near the border with Israel and was targeted based on intelligence gathered over recent weeks, according to the Israel Defense Forces. During the raid, troops from the 474th Golan Regional Brigade, who carried out the raid together with field investigators from Military Intelligence's Unit 504, also seized weapons, including firearms and grenades. The IDF says it will continue efforts to thwart the entrenchment of Iranian-linked terror groups in Syria, particularly near the Israeli border. Israeli troops have been stationed in Syria since the fall of the former Assad regime in December, where they are holding a small buffer zone near the border. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 after capturing the territory from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. While most of the international community regards it as occupied Syrian land, US President Donald Trump recognised Israeli sovereignty over it during his first term in office , a move that was described as illegal by the International community. Following the fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel moved further and invaded the UN buffer zone between the Golan Heights and southern Syria, and carried out an aerial campaign targeting the country's military capabilities. Israeli officials also approved the expansion of illegal settlements there. There are about 31,000 Israeli settlers spread across dozens of illegal Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights. Iran had supported al-Assad since Syria's war erupted in 2011, providing him with fighters, weapons and military advice in the form of an IRGC presence that aimed to keep him in fall was a huge setback for Iran and its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, since the majority of Hezbollah arms were shipped via Syria to Lebanon Times of Israel/ Al Jazeera
The Courier
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
T in the Park founder Geoff Ellis on his love of Dundee, missing Balado and making business fun
Scottish music legend Geoff Ellis has a strong affinity with Dundee. It was in the City of Discovery that DF Concerts first flourished, with Geoff putting on shows at Fat Sam's and Bar Chevrolet with founder Stuart Clumpas. And Courier Country is where DF's T in the Park festival would expand into the world-renowned behemoth it became on the fields of Balado in Kinross. So, it is fitting Geoff will take centre stage at this year's Courier Business Conference as keynote speaker. This month's event takes place at Chris van der Kuyl's ground-breaking The Big Real at Water's Edge — a £9 million Hollywood-standard production studio. The conference is once again held in partnership with Henderson Loggie, with the theme of powering Scotland's creative economy. Geoff's company DF put on concerts in Dundee in the 80s, and he fondly recalls those early shows at Fatties and Chevy's — a 50s-style diner complete with an American muscle car built into its walls. He said: 'I feel a connection with Dundee as well, because the company started there, up in Denhead of Gray. It's where Stuart Clumpas formed the business.' 'Somebody wiser than me once said, 'if you do something you enjoy for a living, you'll never work for a day in your life'. 'But I think the fun comes from you enjoying what you do. 'And there's aspects of what you do when you're running an entertainment business, or a creative business, that can be fun as well. 'Because you work with a team of people who, by nature, are fairly creative, fairly inspirational and then you all gel together and that helps make work — even the boring stuff — enjoyable. 'That's because you're working with a team of people who have a spark and an enthusiasm for what they're doing. 'Nobody who works in the company doesn't like live music and events — they all love it. 'So while there might be aspects of the job that are not exciting, like with any job you have to pay the bills, raise invoices, deal with admin… there's plenty of enjoyable aspects of it as well.' T in the Park enjoyed its most successful years at Balado. It moved from Glasgow to the disused Kinross airfield in 1997, where it stayed until 2014. In that time, everyone from Oasis to Beyonce came to the festival. The festival was held for two years at Strathallan, in Perthshire, in 2015 and 2016, and was 'retired' by DF Concerts to make way for TRNSMT and Summer Sessions. How people attend festivals has changed in recent years, Geoff points out, not helped by global events like the Covid-19 pandemic. A shift in what people want from their music and gig experiences has contributed towards this too, he adds, as well as having to leave their beloved Balado site. When asked if he missed putting on Scotland's largest festival, T in the Park, at Balado, Geoff said: 'Oh yes! I think we always will and we look back very fondly. 'The most successful years T in the Park had were at Balado. 'It was a great event. There's a great community in Kinross and Milnathort, who really supported the event from day one 'I mean, everything has its day and it's really regrettable we were forced to move from the site and it was never quite the same once we had moved. 'That's not to say we'd still be going had we stayed on the site, but it was a perfect festival site and we had many great years there. 'I think the days of having 10 or 12 stages is probably not what people want so much these days. 'Tastes have changed a little bit, they want to see more of their favourite artists and want longer sets. 'And people like being at an event in the city too. They like having somewhere to go afterwards now.' Geoff agreed to be involved with The Courier's Business Conference after speaking with long-time friend Chris van der Kuyl. He and Chris, one of the city's leading lights in games design through his involvement with Minecraft, had discussed working together for a while. Geoff will share unique insights gathered from 40 years 'and counting' in the creative industry. 'Dundee is a great city, a creative city, with all of its design and history,' he said. 'And more recently, its gaming achievements, which obviously Chris has been at the forefront of. 'For me, I think it's important that you put something back in as well. 'I've been fortunate enough to have a career for a few decades and I'm not giving up any time soon. 'It's a privilege to work in the creative industries and we need to sell the creative industries to younger generations and help them be regarded as serious businesses. 'I think we're quite often viewed as people just having fun. When you see people like Chris, it's hard to deny he always seems to be having fun, but there is a serious business element to what we all do in the creative industries. 'Whether that's running a venue, being an author, a designer, or whether it's putting on concerts and festivals.' Held on June 24, The Courier Business Conference 2025 brings together pioneers of gaming, music, fashion, design, media, and digital innovation to explore the future of one of Scotland's fastest-growing sectors. Dundee games entrepreneur and Water's Edge owner Chris van der Kuyl will talk about the new virtual production facility and explain why it will draw businesses to the city. As the co-owner of 4J Studios, which helped make Minecraft a global phenomenon, he will also give his views on the games and tech sector. Jade Robertson, owner of Perthshire business Little Lies, which counts Taylor Swift among its customers, and Livehouse boss Angus Robb will also present to the captive audience on their experience as business leaders in Tayside. The Courier's editor David Clegg will chair a panel discussion featuring local businesses on 'monetising creativity in Scotland'. The conference runs from 8.15am to 2pm. Tickets are still available through the conference website
Irish Examiner
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Long-neglected Naval Service strength 'starts to creep up'
Naval Service strength is set to rise to over 760 as the next batch of recruits commences training this month. It marks an improvement on last year when numbers dropped to a low of 719 – but security sources stress it is 'early days' in the recovery of the service. Naval Service (NS) numbers are still more than 300 short of what they should be under department levels (1,094). And under Government plans – in line with the second Level of Ambition (LOA2) of three possible investment levels set out by the Commission on the Defence Forces (DF) in February 2022 – the establishment figure for the NS needs to reach 1,794, an increase of a further 700 people. This means the service is currently over 1,000 personnel short of the target under the Government's plan, which has five years to run. There were concerns on Monday when NS books showed its personnel number had dropped below 700, to 698. Inquiries revealed that numbers actually stood at 726, but that 28 personnel were in the Joint Induction Training Centre at Gormanston, so were temporarily on other DF's books. They are expected to return in two weeks. It does mean for those two weeks they are not available for operational sea duties. It is further understood that an additional 28 Navy personnel – which are not included in the 726 figure - are either serving overseas or in Joint appointments across the DF. One DF source said the figures can be a bit confusing as personnel can temporarily be under books of other services in the DF, but that numbers are increasing, albeit slowly. Official figures show that NS strength fell steadily in the last five years: 902 in 2020; 875 in 2021; 798 in 2022; 725 in 2023, hitting 719 in 2024. Last year was the first time since 2019 when more people were inducted into the NS than were discharged (97 inducted; 75 discharged), halting the haemorrhage from the service. So far in 2025, a further 37 personnel have been inducted and are set to begin training in two weeks. Former Army Ranger and ex-TD for Kildare, Cathal Berry, said: 'Things in the NS are starting to creep in the right direction. The increase is not as fast as we would like; really we need to get to the stage of 100-plus net increase per year.' He said neglect had created a 'spiral' in the NS, with numbers falling dramatically in just a few years, with a lack of instructors an issue. Mr Berry said it was encouraging to have general recruits, but said the retention of skilled, experienced staff was essential. He said the Defence Forces suffered a key issue in not having a full-time dedicated minister of defence or an empowered minister of state. 'Every EU country, bar Malta, has a full-time minister for defence, because it's an area that requires active supervision every day,' he said. Under LOA2, the Commission on the Defence Forces recommended that the fleet be increased to nine ships by 2030 and be double crewed, to allow for regular deployment and boost patrol days. In order to achieve these aims, it estimated that 'some 700 naval personnel at an estimated annual cost of €35m' would be required. It also called for "a minimum establishment' of 400 personnel for the NS Reserve.
