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Irish Trip for Star Wars fans

Lucasfilm, the company which produced Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has announced the start of its 2016 “Force for Change” charitable initiative – offering Star Wars fans the chance to win a grand prize of a trip to Ireland, sponsored by Tourism Ireland in New York.

In a video announcement, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Star Wars legend Mark Hamill share the details of the latest “Force for Change” fundraising campaign. The short film includes details of the grand prize and footage of Skellig Michael – which Kathleen Kennedy describes as “the location of the dramatic final scene from The Force Awakens”.

This film clip will be widely promoted across all the Star Wars owned platforms in the United States over the coming weeks (including on Twitter, to its 2.19 million followers), as well as by the four charities associated with “Force for Change”. An extensive PR and publicity push by Lucasfilm is also helping to spread the word about the campaign – with the film already on the websites of USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter and BroadwayWorld.com.

Hodson Bay plans Dublin hotel

The Athlone-based Hodson Bay Group has submitted planning application for a €40 million 263-bed hotel in Dublin city centre.

The four-star hotel is to be located in the Coombe area of the city, close to St Patrick’s Cathedral.

The family-run group , which employs more than 550 people, owns and operates three properties: the Hodson Bay hotel, the Galway Bay hotel and Sheraton Athlone hotel.

Just Eat raises commission

Online food-ordering company Just Eat, has increased its commission by 1 percentage point to 13pc.

When it established here eight years ago the firm charged 8pc on orders made through the service, which subsequently increased to 10pc before jumping another 2 percentage points to 12pc in 2014.

The service is used extensively by take-away food providers.

A spokesperson for Just Eat said the money will be used to invest in technology, innovation and marketing this year.

Festival Honours Hartnett

Author Colum McCann will join Donal Ryan, Rita Ann Higgins and Mike Mac Domhnaill and other established Irish writers, musicians and artists at Éigse Michael Hartnett 2016 taking place in Newcastle West, County Limerick, on Thursday April 14th to Saturday April 16th.

Hundreds of literary enthusiasts from all over Ireland will descend on the town to attend the three-day event in the very streets which shaped Hartnett's poetry.

This year's festival, which is an initiative of Limerick Arts Office and supported by The Arts Council, once again offers a mix of poetry and music, literature and drama, visual arts and dance.

Kilmainham aims at 500,000 visitors

Kilmainham Gaol hopes to attract over 500,000 visitors every year after recent renovations were finished to coincide with 1916 Rising commemorations.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) invested €5m refurbishing the gaol and the courthouse beside the building.

Visitors will now enter the gaol through the courthouse, instead of the original entrance the 1916 Rising leaders were brought through.

Visitors can now also book tickets online to avoid queues.

The OPW has also appealed for families to donate items relating to Easter 1916 and other historic items relating to the gaol for the renovated museum.

Irish Independent