Latest news with #RSA
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Major road used by thousands of Irish drivers set to close this week with diversions in place
A MAJOR road used by thousands of Irish drivers is set to close this week with diversions in place. Dublin City Council has alerted Parnell Square North in The closure will take place from 6am to 10pm on Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3. And Dublin City Council stated: 'Parnell Square North (from Parnell Square East to Parnell Square West), Dublin 1. READ MORE IN MOTORS 'Date - Saturday 2nd August 2025 to Sunday 3rd August 2025.' Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout the duration of the closure and local access will be facilitated where possible from all closure points. For traffic arriving from Parnell Square West, diversions will be in place via Granby Row, Mountjoy Street, Berkeley Street, Eccles Street, Temple Street and Denmark Street Great. MOST READ IN MOTORS Buses arriving from Parnell Square West will be diverted via Granby Row, Mountjoy Street, Blessington Street and Frederick Street North. Clear signage will be installed to direct motorists through the diversions. I'm an Irish driving instructor and this one simple mistake could make you fail the test And road users are now being advised to plan ahead and allow extra Dublin City Council added: 'Pedestrian access will be facilitated at all times. 'Local access will be facilitated, when possible, from all closure points.' MOTOR BRAND RECALL Meanwhile, Irish car owners of a popular motor brand have been warned to Citroen C3 and DS 3 The Road Safety Authority shared the warning on The recall affects certain Citroen C3, C-Zero and DS 3 models as their Takata airbags could burst with excessive force if they deploy in a crash. 'DO NOT DRIVE' The RSA said: 'Important notice for owners of a Citroen C3 and DS 3. 'Citroen/DS Ireland have asked vehicle owners of certain Citroen C3 and DS 3 models to stop driving their vehicle until the airbags have been replaced by a dealership.' This deterioration could make the inflator explode more violently than intended, leading to pieces of metal striking the driver or passengers. The RSA said this fault can cause serious or even They said: 'Takata airbags may deteriorate over time, particularly in warm, humid climates'. 'This could cause the airbag to burst with too much force in the event of an accident, which could lead to serious or even fatal injuries in the worst-case scenario.' 1 Parnell Square North in Dublin is set to temporarily close Credit: Google Earth
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Saga left me in the lurch over home insurance cover
My buildings insurance policy is with Saga and is underwritten by Royal Sun Alliance (RSA). RSA wrote to me just before my policy was due for renewal, informing me that it is no longer offering cover. I have had no communication at all from Saga, although my payments have been to it. When I called it for advice Saga said it would take up to six weeks to get back to me. I am in the middle of a claim for subsidence damage that RSA has agreed to cover but which has not yet been completed. I have been trying to find another insurer for when the cover ends, but because of this claim I have not had any success. I am finding this all incredibly stressful as I have recently been widowed. SM, London 'Cover you can count on,' Saga claims. RSA announced its withdrawal from the home insurance market early last year after selling its personal lines to Admiral Group. It is very poor that Saga did not write to you with ample warning and seek another underwriter for your policy instead of leaving you in the lurch. This is especially the case since while most insurers will continue to offer cover after a subsidence claim, albeit for a higher rate, it is notoriously difficult to find a new provider. In desperation, you eventually found cover with a specialist company at a cost of £3,300 a year plus a £5,000 excess. Your Saga premiums were £450 (and the excess was £1,000). Saga tells me, uselessly, that it will offer an alternative if needed. It just forgot to tell you so. 'In this instance, we apologise that we did not contact the customer directly and talk through options,' it says. Too little too late, especially from a firm that specialises in an older demographic who are more likely than average to be in vulnerable situations. It has agreed to pay you £100. RSA had already confirmed to you that it would support your current claim until complete. Anna Tims was named Consumer champion of the year at this year's Headline Money awards. The judges said she stood out as the best of the best, with stories and investigations that made a real difference to the lives of her readers. As well as tackling readers' problems every week, she exposed how EU citizens were wrongly receiving Ulez fines and councils' poor treatment of tenants' relatives after a death. She also forced Eurostar to reverse a wheelchair policy that had left travellers stranded. 'The impressive variety and depth of investigations was underpinned by a determination to get to the truth so that each one was carried out until a resolution was found,' they said. 'The impact of her work is demonstrated by the number of examples that led to some sort of regulatory change, or triggered a larger inquiry.' We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.
Scotsman
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Art reviews: Making Waves, Breaking Ground
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Making Waves, Breaking Ground, Bowhouse, St Monans ★★★★ Summerhall Arts Annual Group Show, Summerhall, Edinburgh ★★★ You can't escape nature on the drive to the East Neuk of Fife: golden barley fields roll down towards the sea, road verges bloom with wild flowers. So perhaps its no surprise that, for its third annual exhibition at Bowhouse, Making Waves, Breaking Ground, Sophie Camu Lindsay's Space to Breathe brings together 11 artists who engage with the natural world. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Water Lilies 2019 by Santeri Tuori | Courtesy of the artist However, there is almost nothing here that looks like a conventional landscape painting. This is a gathering of contrasting approaches and propositions which tackle the complexity of being an artist who engages with nature. The artists come from Scotland, the UK and Europe; Space to Breathe has partnered with London gallery Purdey Hicks to bring some of them to Scotland for the first time. Some, like Julie Brook, are well known. A land artist based on the Sound of Sleat in Skye, she works on large-scale outdoor sculptural projects, often in very remote places. However, unusually, she has just completed a work a few miles from the Bowhouse on the coast just north of Cellardyke, a curving stone pathway into the sea which was commissioned as part of the nationwide Beach of Dreams project. Brook has a drawing practice which runs parallel to her land projects, and it is a rare privilege to see a group of these works brought together, stretching back to the 1990s. Like her land sculptures, they are formally rigorous, pared down to a kind of fierce simplicity, and are often made with materials from the places where she makes land art: red sand from Namibia, sea foam from Mingulay. Syria 7 Contour Drawing is unusual in its level of detail, an insight into one aspect of the practice which underlies her sculptural forms. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Orkney-based Samantha Clark, last seen in the RSA's In Orcadia show after winning the organisation's inaugural MacRobert Award, looks mainly at water. While her technique is detailed, meditative and time-consuming, her work, like Brook's, has intense focus and structural formality, looking down into the ocean depths, or across at horizon lines. Islands by Samantha Clark | Courtesy of the artist Clark works by laying down a fine hand-drawn grid pattern over deep colour, or covering a canvas with dense, repeating marks to suggest light, haar or waves. She often uses metal leaf and mica to create reflection or transluscence. Everything she does is carefully observed and processed in a considered, committed way, which brings her into conversation with an artist like Brook, even though their work looks very different. There is a elemental thread running through the exhibition: Brook on earth, Clark on water and Alexander Lindsay on air, with a new group of works created in the studio by photographing smoke. These semi-abstract pieces, some of which look like distant galaxies, actually make air visible and map how it moves. Detail from Full Moon Spawn, 2007 by Susan Derges | Courtesy of the artist Much of the rest of the show is photography of one kind or another, though the action of the camera (where there is one at all) is often complicated by the artist. It's always a pleasure to see work by Susan Derges, the master of cameraless photography. Her pictures of frogspawn by moonlight are magical. (The moon as a motif waxes and wanes through much of the exhibition.) Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad French artist Anaïs Tondeur, in her Chernobyl Herbarium project, makes rayograms (another cameraless photographic form) of plant and fungi samples taken from the exclusion zone at Chernobyl. The images are vivid and ghostly, haloed with what looks like dust, though I'm told it's actually radiactivity. These works are prints made from the original rayograms which are themselves radioactive and must be kept in a lead box. Detail from Anais Tondeur's Linum Strictum Exclusion Zone, Chernobyl, Ukraine, Radiation Level_ 1.7 microsieverts. From the series Chernobyl Herbarium, 2011-present | Courtesy of the artist German Kathrin Linkersdorff photographs tulips by letting them dry out, removing pigment, then adding it again and photographing them submerged in water. The results are gorgeous, but there is a built-in sense of distance; we might not fully understand how they are made, but we know they are works of artifice. Strangely, Jonathan Delafield Cook's breathtakingly detailed drawings of barnacles, icebergs and a Bottlenose dolphin have a similar effect. There are three photographic artists from Finland, led by Jorma Puranen, a founding member of the Helsinki School, whose landscapes are always a translation, seen in reflection, for example, or through glass beaded with water drops. We are aware we are looking at a created image, never simply a landscape to admire. Sandra Kantanen and Santeri Tuori work for a similar sense of disruption, Kantanen by painting digitally over her photographs, Tuori by layering multiple images taken at the same spot. There is such a broad range of work in the show that there is no single curatorial through-line. Rather, in the open space of the Bowhouse, where the works are installed on free-hanging mounts, visitors can make their own pathway, finding their own connections and contrasts. They will see some wonderful work on the way. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Lapping by Gemma Hare at Summerhall | Courtesy of the artist It's all change this year at Summerhall since the arts complex in Edinburgh's former vet school was brought back from the brink in the spring. One change seems to be that the wide-ranging festival visual art programme has been replaced by the Summerhall Arts Annual Group Show selected from an open call. While one feels a little disappointment, one must be glad that Summerhall survives, and rejoice in a new platform for the work of (mainly) local artists. There is a broad range across the three galleries in media, materials and experience: some of the artists are new graduates, others have many years' experience. With just one work per person, it isn't possible to get a wider sense of an artist's practice, and overall the quality is mixed, but there are many things worth seeing. The War Memorial Gallery has some excellent painting, including Anna Somerville's large, expressive work, Waterfall, Gemma Hare's Lapping, and small landscapes by Yasmeen Khan and Sarah Bold. There's a fine etching by Georgie Fay, a vivid pen portrait of a face in profile by Emma Claire Fallon, and a bewitching photograph of a bird sitting on the handle of a traditional-style kettle by Patricia McCormack. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Across the corridor, the bright Sciennes Gallery houses several works by students who graduated from Edinburgh College of Art last month, Amy Mclean, Tash Runciman, Elana Mulligan and Hattie Quigley, along with a succinctly witty embroidery by Jenny Mason and a small, strange landscape by Alasdair Wallace. Yulia Kovanova's From Where I Stand, details of rooftops and chimneys painted in acrylic on aluminium, make an impressive set. Upstairs in the Lab Gallery, the glass cases house mainly three-dimensional objects: Ruaridh Law's deck of tarot cards; Becky Brewis' photographic print envelopes remade in ceramic ('Colorama - we take care of your memories'); Catriona Clark's giant Lovehearts. Vicky Higginson's impressive glass battleaxe, Defense Mechanism III, and Monika Fejes' striking textile work, Fragile Armour, seem to address a similar theme. Ross Dickson's Three Lobed Entities, which looks a machine for scientific observation, is completely at home in this room even if it's a little difficult to unravel. However, some of the best works here are Peter Dibdin's photographs of his elderly mum and Chad McCail's Arms Manufacturer. This sculptural figure flashes open his red coat to reveal tanks, missiles and war planes sewn into the linings; his head is a credit card machine. Subtle it's not, but it is enormously timely.
Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
THEON presents its H1 2025 Trading Update
PRESS RELEASE Bloomberg (THEON:NA) / Reuters ( 28 July 2025 - Theon International Plc (THEON) (AMS: THEON) is today providing its H1 2025 Trading Update ahead of publishing its H1 2025 Report on 2 September 2025. H1 2025 performance was characterised by robust order intake, achievement of financial targets and solid progress in THEON's growth strategy. Financial Summary 1 Reflects a change in accounting policy to include the Group's share of profits from core equity-accounted investees within operating profit. The Group reassessed its presentation approach and reclassified its equity-accounted investments into core and non-core categories. Core investments, those aligned with the Group's strategic operations, are now included within operating profit. This change provides a more relevant reflection of the Group's performance and aligns with industry practice among listed defense peers. The share of profits from non-core investees continues to be reported below operating profit. Numbers in brackets are before the accounting policy change. Financial Highlights Operational and Strategic Highlights Growth Strategy and Capital Markets Day THEON's success to-date has been delivered by its market-leading Night Vision products. From FY 2026 THEON expects to start realising increasingly material contributions from its product diversification strategy outside Night Vision and new product launches. The revenue contribution from its A.R.M.E.D. and Thermal Imaging products is expected to more than double to approximately 20% in FY 2026, continuing to increase thereafter, as evidenced by expressed interest following product demonstrations. In addition, THEON expects to also start achieving material sales of its new Platform-based products from FY 2027, supporting a mid-term target of achieving 50% of revenues from products outside of Night Vision. The new products, with A.R.M.E.D series already beginning to gain strong commercial traction amongst existing and new customers globally as evidenced by recent tender wins and direct purchase orders, significantly increases THEON's overall addressable market. The addressable market for THEON's market-leading Goggles products is currently estimated at above €1 billion in FY 2025 (Source: RSA, July 2025). Demand is expected to remain high, driven by still-low penetration rates for Night Vision equipment in THEON's core markets. After equipping soldiers with NVGs, armies will accelerate purchases of digital products with additional capabilities including fused vision, interconnectivity and smart targeting capabilities. The introduction of these new products more than doubles THEON's overall addressable market, projected to reach €2.8 billion by 2030 (Source: RSA, July 2025), not including platform-based products. This supports a material growth trajectory for THEON over the coming years as it delivers on its ambition of becoming the trusted market leader in next generation optronics. THEON intends to host a Capital Markets Day (CMD) in Q4 2025 where it will announce and provide details on the THEON NEXT Vision & Strategy. The Strategy is a continuum and enhancement of the current strategy, involving: i) organic growth and investment; ii) M&A, strategic and commercial agreements; iii) ongoing product innovation and traction for its new products including its A.R.M.E.D. ecosystem of products; all combining to establish THEON's status in the modern warfare era. Details of the CMD event will be provided during August 2025. Guidance and Current Activity The current performance to-date in FY 2025 provides THEON with strong confidence that it will deliver FY 2025 results in line with guidance, with revenue as previously announced at the top-end of the originally provided guidance of €410-430 m. The Company is actively participating in several larger tenders, the outcomes of which should be known over the coming weeks and months. Following that, THEON will provide specific guidance for FY 2026. The relatively low capital requirements of the business model, even accounting for the increased investment to support the growth strategy, also allows for shareholder returns in the form of dividends as included in THEON's guidance communications. 2 Expected annual growth in defence spending of the major NATO states ( Source: Renaissance Strategic Advisors , July 2025 ) Dimitris Parthenis, CFO of THEON, commented: 'Our half-year performance demonstrates strong financial discipline and our commitment to delivering a best-in-class mid-twenties EBIT margin, along with resilient order intake from a diversified customer base. We expect an acceleration in the second half of 2025, in line with normal order activity, with backlog expansion providing even greater visibility into future performance. We also expect to continue growing faster than the increase in defence spending of the NATO states in our addressable market. Specific guidance for FY 2026 will be provided by the end of November 2025.' H1 2025 Report Publication Theon will publish its H1 2025 Report on Tuesday, 2 September 2025 after market close, and hold a webcast for analysts and investors shortly after. Webcast details will be provided closer to the date, and on the Company's website. For further information, please contact: About THEON GROUP THEON GROUP of companies develops and manufactures cutting-edge night vision and thermal imaging systems for Defense and Security applications with a global footprint. THEON GROUP started its operations in 1997 from Greece and today occupies a leading role in the sector thanks to its international presence through subsidiaries and production facilities in Greece, Cyprus, Germany, the Baltics, the United States, the Gulf States, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Singapore and South Korea. THEON GROUP has more than 220,000 systems in service with Armed and Special Forces in 71 countries around the world, 26 of which are NATO countries. ΤΗΕΟΝ ΙΝΤΕRNATIONAL PLC has been listed on Euronext Amsterdam (AMS: THEON) since February 2024. Attachments
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Every motorbike death could be prevented – harrowing stats paint clear picture but safer roads are not beyond our reach
A HARROWING new report has laid bare the major safety risks facing motorcyclists in Ireland every year. The study from the 3 RSA's Sarah O'Connor writes that every motorcyclist death is preventable Credit: RSA 3 Shocking stats show motorcyclists are disproportionately injured or killed Credit: Getty Images - Getty 3 And these figures tend to peak during summer Credit: Getty Images - Getty Grim stats show that a further 884 motorcyclists were seriously injured between 2020 and 2024, with an average of 21 deaths annually. Despite making up only a small percentage of road users, motorcyclists continue to account for a disproportionately high number of serious injuries and The disturbing data gives a breakdown of trends identifying the most dangerous times on the roads for users. Serious injuries peaked between May and September, particularly in June, and the majority of serious injuries were male. READ MORE IN NEWS Two-thirds of serious injuries occurred between 12pm and 8pm, with Sunday the most dangerous day. Here Sarah O'Connor, Director of Partnerships and External Affairs at the RSA, outlines how more needs to be done. Each summer, Ireland's roads welcome a familiar seasonal sight: more motorcyclists taking advantage of longer days and improved Most read in The Irish Sun But this annual increase in two-wheeled traffic comes with a troubling trend. Recent research shows summer as the most dangerous time of year for motorcyclists in Ireland, marked by a consistent rise in serious injuries and fatalities. Major warning for Irish drivers over little-known task as thousands set to renew licence The Road Safety Authority's Motorcyclist Spotlight Report: Fatalities and Serious Injuries 2020–2024 presents a clear and sobering picture. Over five years, 105 motorcyclists lost their lives and 884 were seriously injured. That is an average of 21 deaths and 177 serious injuries each year. These figures are not abstract. They represent human lives, SERIOUS INJURIES DURING SUMMER Motorcyclists accounted for 14 per cent of all road fatalities in Ireland (during the period of the research) and 12 per cent of serious injuries, despite making up a small proportion of overall road users. All recorded fatalities were male, and 65 per cent were aged between 16 and 45. The concentration of risk is consistent - both in demographics and the season - with serious injuries peaking during the In terms of time of day and days of the week - two-thirds of serious injuries occurred between 12pm and 8pm, and half of fatalities occurring at weekends, with Sunday identified as the most dangerous day for serious injuries. Nationwide, rural roads were the location for 74 per cent of motorcyclist deaths. Most serious injuries involved multiple vehicles, most commonly cars or light goods In these collisions, the most frequently recorded driver action was a failure to observe - either by the motorcyclist or the other driver. This underlines the ongoing importance of driver awareness, especially in relation to visibility and the need to check blind spots at junctions or when turning. HARROWING STATS In single-vehicle collisions, loss of control is the most common factor, often on bends or rural roads. These trends are not unique to Ireland. The In 2022, powered twowheeler users (motorcycles and mopeds combined) accounted for approximately 19 per cent of all road fatalities across the European Union, despite being a minority of road users. While total road deaths in the EU have declined by around 20 per cent over the past decade, reductions among motorcyclists have been slower, leading to an increase in their overall share of fatalities. Motorcyclists are disproportionately represented in fatal and Their exposure and vulnerability require a proactive response. For motorcyclists, safe and considered riding remains essential. That includes wearing high-visibility gear and protective clothing, maintaining appropriate speeds, never riding while We are renewing our call for shared responsibility among all road users - particularly at junctions, in slower-moving traffic and when overtaking. The 'life-saver look' - a deliberate check before turning or pulling out - can and does save lives. DEATHS ARE PREVENTABLE Each of the 105 motorcyclist deaths recorded in Ireland between 2020 and 2024 represents a preventable tragedy. Behind every statistic is a person is a friend, a family member, a colleague, whose life was cut short. Serious injuries also leave lasting impacts, often resulting in long-term physical, psychological, and While the patterns we're seeing in Ireland are mirrored across Europe, that doesn't mean they're inevitable. These trends reflect choices and behaviours that can be changed. Safer As the season continues, we urge all road users to stay alert, take your time, and pay close attention - particularly around vulnerable road users like motorcyclists. Whether you're behind the wheel, on two wheels, or crossing the street, your actions matter. A moment of carelessness can cost a life. Let's all do our part to ensure every journey ends safely.
