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Take 5
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers Limited
The recent Finance Bill stated that Section 481 Film Relief is going to continue to the end of 2020, which of course is excellent news for the Film Industry, showing the Governments support for this sector. However, the changes in the structure have caused much disquiet amongst some people, as it removes the investor from the equation after January 2016. As the Bill stands at present there will be no more relief for investors after that point. ......(Read more...) |
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Pitching perfectly
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers (Feb 2013)
Standing near the green, just a few feet from the flag, pitching wedge in hand, all that is needed to seal the game is the perfect pitch. No pressure, your head is going around thinking, get it right, and take your time, if you hit it too hard or too gently it won’t be perfect. Steady now, you pull back the club, swing and what happens next? ......(Read more...) |
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Words at the Cliff Edge (Jan 2013)
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers
Have you ever looked over the cliff and thought what would happen if you fell? The New Year saw many Americans looking over the fiscal cliff and wondering what if? The term fiscal cliff has been used for some time now to refer to various fiscal issues. The Etymology of the word started being used at the time of the Bush Tax cuts in 2010.
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The Spirit is alive and well! (Nov 2012)
Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers
I had a great day last Wednesday. I was judging the SCCUL Awards in the Ballybane Enterprise Centre in Galway, and alongside my fellow Judges, we saw that the spirit of Entrepreneurship is truly alive and well in Galway City and County. ........(Read more...) |
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Finishing First
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers Limited
This week Galway once again seamlessly transitions from the Arts Festival to the Festival at Ballybrit. Moving from one form of high drama to another and from one heady combination of tension, tears and laughter to another. Over the course of the week there will be heroes, villains, tragic and comic moments – with tens of millions changing hands with the bookies (largely in one direction!).
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A Fishy Tale
by Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers
Once upon a time in a nearby city, there lived a fisherman called Pom. Now Pom was something of an entrepreneur and spent some time looking at the value of the fishing industry to Ireland.
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To Sea Oh to Sea
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers Limited
I am sailing, I am sailing, home cross the sea…………and so the song by Rod Stewart goes. There are so many sailing into our waters here in Galway this week that I thought I would look at some of the impacts of the Marine in Galway and Ireland.
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The Cycle Path
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers Limited
Next week Bike Week 2012 takes place. This will be launched in Waterford and will commence with a “mass” cycle from Dungarvan to Waterford. There is also during that week an International cycling conference in Dublin, a Maracycle from Dublin to Belfast and a nationwide cycle day on Wednesday 20th June for work and schools.
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Patronage
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers Limited
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. While speaking recently at a Chamber Business after Hours event hosted by COPE Galway, one of the suggestions I made to the business attending is to align themselves to a charity of choice.
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Forgive me, for I know not what I spend!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers Limited
We are hearing a lot these days about debt forgiveness and if it can be done and what is the impact of it. But what does “debt forgiveness” really mean? This term has become part of our everyday parlance and without really debating the impact of it and what it would mean in reality.
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An App a day, helps you work rest and play!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers
I love my iPhone and the apps on it. I have apps that trace my cycling, apps that tell me I haven’t won the lottery, apps that track my flights, and apps that help my golf swing, apps giving share prices, apps everywhere and for everything.
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The Rich are Different
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers Limited
F. Scott Fitzgerald in "The Rich Boy" (1926) says The Rich are Different "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft, where we are hard, cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand." I saw a further version of this on a board recently which said “the rich are different from you and me; they get taken seriously even when they are whining”.
Perhaps it time for the poor to whine very loudly!
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I do like to be beside the Seaside
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers Limited
"I do like to be beside the Seaside” is a popular British Music Hall song written in 1907 by John A Glover-Kind and made famous by music hall singer Mark Sheridan who first recorded it in 1909. It speaks of the singer love for the seaside and their wish to return there again and again.
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Madame Lagarde and testosterone!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Advisers Limited
It is widely expected that Madame Christine Lagarde will take the helm at the IMF following the resignation of the previous head DSK. When she launched her bid for the top IMF job two weeks ago, she stated that she would bring “experience as a lawyer, a minister, a manager and a woman” to the job.
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Two Wheels, good
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers Limited
Albert Einstein once said “Life is like riding a bicycle – in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving”. And moving is what is happening in Ireland and elsewhere, that is movement on the bicycle. What with the Tour DE France in full swing, and Enda Kenny partaking in the Killarney cycle at the weekend, everybody seems to be at it these days, and why not?
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Reports of our demise are greatly exaggerated!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers
In 1879 a certain Mr James Ross Clemens took ill, but thankfully recovered. Unfortunately communication wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is now and a US newspaper feared that a Mr Samuel Langhorne Clemens was the ill individual and indeed that he had passed away.
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To Tax or not to Tax, that is the question?
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers
To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
..Is the opening line of a soliloquy from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet (written about 1600), act three, scene one.
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When Elizabeth comes to tea!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers
This week marks a major event in Irish history, with the visit of HRH Queen Elizabeth the second. While there will no doubt be lots of disruption and a great deal of divided opinion about the visit, it is worth just casting any prejudices aside and look at the value to the Irish economy and our connections with our nearest neighbors.
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NEDs
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Advisers
NED or Non-Executive Director is a non-working director of a firm who is not an executive director and, therefore, does not participate in the day-to-day management of the company. He or she is usually involved in planning and policy making, and is sometimes included to lend prestige to the firm due to his or her standing in the community. Non-executive directors are expected to monitor and challenge the performance of the executive directors and the management, and to take a determined stand in the interests of the firm and its stakeholders......(Read more...)
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Unmasking the ghouls! (Oct 10)
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services
A mask is an article usually worn on the face, and can be worn for a number of reasons, protection, concealment, performance or amusement. In the week just gone with masks aplenty during Halloween and all the ghouls should now be unmasked, I thought I would write about the unmasking some of the truths that the government is wearing for their own reasons, protection, concealment, performance or amusement!......(Read more...)
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Free Education, yeah right!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services
We live in a country where our education is FREE! Absolutely, that is until one adds up the cost from when a child is 4 to 24 and the cost of educating that child over a 20 year period.
Education is compulsory in Ireland for all children between the ages of 6 and 16 years and children up to 18 years must complete three years of post-primary education.........(Read more...)
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Turbulence
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Services
Nobel Laureate, Richard Feynman, describes turbulence as "the most important unsolved problem of classical physics.” In Physics, there are many examples of Turbulence, such as smoke rising from a cigarette, the flow of a golf ball, the mixing of warm and cold air in the atmosphere by wind, oceanic currents, and trucks on the motorway in windy conditions, to name but some. ......(Read more...)
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Green Money
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Services
Having just returned from a month in the most pristine part of the world, the Antarctica, I have seen first hand the impact of global warming, with major recession of glaciers over the past 50 years alone! The Antarctica is one of the coldest, driest and windiest continents in the world, and remained largely neglected due to being considered hostile, lacking in resources and isolated. ......(Read more...) |
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Expenses and the long road!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Services
In a week that saw the whip being removed from no less than two TD’s over interpretation of expenses, I thought I would give a little insight into Expenses and their idiosyncrasies.
The definition of expenses for the purpose of this article are from the Revenue and are generally regarded as expenses that are incurred in the performance of the duties of the employment and are directly related to the ‘nature of the employee’s employment. ......(Read more...)
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Minding the Piglets in their hour of need!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services
It struck me recently that the AA Milne story, Winnie the Pooh (Milne, 1926) contains many of the characters, and indeed some of the lessons that we have learned in Ireland over recent years....
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Reasons to be Cheerful
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services ( September 2009)
There are many reasons to be cheerful at present and this week I dedicate this column to a very special man M.D., who always has the capacity to be cheerful. After I talk to him I think that there are many reasons to be happy and optimistic, this can be supported by some of the recent headlines and articles in the papers......(Read more...) |
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The Winner Takes it all
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 3rd September 2009)
I don’t want to talk about all the things we’ve gone through, though it’s hurting me, now its history. I’ve played all my cards, that what you’ve done to me, nothing more to say, no more ace to play. The winner takes it all; the loser’s standing small, beside the victory, that’s her destiny.......(Read more...) |
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The Road to Oxygen and its source!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (July 2009)
Having dropped my son at the bus at 7.30am to make the trip to Oxegen loaded with gear, food etc for the 2009 Oxegen weekend, I am reminded of how important oxygen is in our lives, and the need to come up for air in these crazy times!
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Edwin Coppock and his curve!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (June 2009)
Edwin Coppock was an economist and was asked by the American Episcopal Church to identify buying opportunities for long-term investors. He believed that market downturns were somewhat like bereavements that required a period of mourning. He asked the church bishops how long that normally took for people and their answer was 11 to 14..
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The Tragedy of Cassandra
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 20th May 2009)
Cassandra ('she who entangles men') was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba of Troy. She was an incredible beauty.
In fact, her beauty caused Apollo to grant her the gift of prophecy. However, she did no......(Read more...) |
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Is the worst over?"
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 22nd April 2009)
Do I detect a note of optimism in the air, or is the fact that for the past number of days the sun has been shining and the
world is looking like a slightly better place? “Optimism is an inclination to put the most favourable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome”. Optimists generally believe that most situations work out in the end for the best. Some optimists believe that regardless of whatever is happening in the world around us, that one should choose to and make the best of any situation. We often hear of the glass being half full or half empty with optimist taking the view that it is always half full!
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Should the European Central Bank regulate more in Ireland
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 25th February 2009)
On Monday of this week, Jean-Claude Trichet told a conference in Paris that regulation of our financial institutions and markets should be extended, and that this approach needs to be more holistic in its approach and that the current crisis was a “loud and clear call” to extend regulation to all important markets that pose risk to financial stability...(Read more...)
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“Scientia est potential” Knowledge is Power
By Hannah Kiely, CEO HC Financial Services (Wednesday 28th January 2009)
Latin forms the building blocks of many modern languages, so taking a somewhat Latin theme to this article to look at what knowledge can do for us. 2008 is over, and we know all about how terrible it was, 66% drop in the Irish Stock Market, 91% drop in Irish Financial Stocks, US Recession, Banks, Automobiles, etc etc. The big question is has it hit the floor, and is there any future shocks around the corner? ...(Read more...)
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The Piggy Bank
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 30h December 2008)
What is the history of the piggy bank? Why isn't it a doggy bank or cat bank? Well if you are prepared to work with me I can take you through the bumpy ride that is etymology or the study of words and we can see the unbroken chain from pigs to lumber... (Read more...)
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Diamond Skulls, The Golden Calf and Formaldehyde!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 22nd October 2008)
Damien Hirst may have some unsold pieces sitting in a gallery and some may think his work is ‘tacky’, but there are still
plenty of rich collectors willing to bet their millions on the British Artist. At the first night of the recent and much acclaimed Damien Hirst auction, Beautiful inside my Head Forever, made about Stg£70m which was about £8m above the estimate made by Sotheby’s.(Read more...)
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All that glitters is not Gold
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday October 2008)
Shakespeare is the best-known writer to have expressed this idea. The original Shakespeare editions of The Merchant of Venice, 1596, have the line as 'all that glisters is not gold'. 'Glister' is usually replaced by 'glitter' in renditions of the play:
The meaning of this of course is that a showy article may not necessarily be of value. Commodity prices, including base
metals and soft commodities, are surging and the dollar continues to depreciate and this is causing real inflationary
pressures (Read more...)
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Time for a history lesson on tulips!
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 24th September 2008)
Tulip mania was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the newly introduced tulip
reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed. (Read more...)
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The average pencil is 7 inches long
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 23rd July 2008)
Robert Brault once said: 'The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought
optimism was dead.' (Read more...)
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49 years is a mighty long time (By Hannak Kiely, CEO HC Financial Services)
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday 2nd July 2008)
Being a Waterford woman with one serious (sporting) passion for Waterford hurling, I spend my life living in hope! Every year I start off with the same expectations, that this will be the year, the year that Waterford will finally win an All Ireland. Remember it was 1959 since this happened previously. But so far my hopes have been dashed! Nonetheless my enthusiasm is still rampant this year as I head off to various stadiums, of course secure in the knowledge of a new
Clare man at the helm!!..
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What Women Want?
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday June 2008)
I have no doubt there are many men out there who constantly ask the question ‘What do women want?’ and never come
up with the ‘right’ answers. There are probably many women who ask themselves that question also!
Women want many things and at different times in their lives, women often have an overriding ambition that they will get
around to some day, when the children are grown up, the mortgage paid, the garden planted, a better job, and so on, waiting for the moment to come when we can make the final decision to - invest in a pension. ...(Read more...)
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Sex and the City (Tax and the City),
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday, 4th June, 2008)
Like most Women, Sex, that is Sex and the City – is worth looking forward to again and again, to seeing these wacky Manhattanites and their convoluted love lives, piercing shrieks, high heels and cocktails. Whether is it the haute couture, Jimmy Chos’ or Manolo Blahnik’s or looking for Mr Right or Mr Big, the beauty of Sex and the City often lies in the weekly questions posed by Carrie Bradshaw; How often is Normal?, What constitutes Cheating? Is it better to fake it?Tax of course is a bit like that,...(Read more...)
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Why I queued at Abercrombie and Fitch
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services (Wednesday, 19th May, 2008)
I was in London recently with my two teenagers and had to visit the obligatory A&F store to ensure they are fitted out with the ‘right’ gear! I generally shop in Ireland but A&F are not here yet!
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The Scariest Roller Coaster Ride,
By Hannah Kiely, CEO, HC Financial Services Group Limited (Issue 15, 8th April, 2008
From the stomach-churning Colossus and its ten loops in Thorpe Park in England, to Australia’s 375 foot Tower of Terror, which drops you at more than 160 km per hour, or Japan’s Steel Dragon 2000? I have been on them all in the past few months and I haven’t even left Galway...(Read more...)
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