Suchergebnisse

Abstract: Poitín is Ireland's most ancient spirit distilled in rural locations for many centuries, its dark and chequered history continues to intrigue tourists and people alike, often referred to as Ireland's Mescal, Cachaca or Grappa. This drink which preserved many rural communities and saved them from falling into poverty, driven underground for over 300 years it is making a significant comeback. This paper will explore the evolution of this ancient Irish spirit from its earliest mentions to its modern day popularity in the world of distilled spirits. Poitín is history in a bottle it is inextricably woven into the fabric of Ireland and its development over the centuries has been closely linked with the story of the Irish distilling industry. Poitín was demonised for so long by the Church, corrupted by the licensed whiskey distillers and actively witch hunted by the excise and tax men, many people gave their lives to protect this beverage. Everyone has a story or song to tell surrounding poitín which in part probably explains why it is still around today. Although a very small amount of individuals continue to produce it illegally, legally produced poitín today enjoys official government recognition and regulation in Ireland, poitín was also accorded the Geographical Indicative Status by the EU Council and Parliament to protect its name and heritage as a product of Ireland. The future looks bring for poitín it has given a new lease of life by a new breed of Irish and international creatives including some of the world's top mixologists and chefs. It continues to gain international awards and a growing interest by high-end and small independent craft distillers eager to share a piece of the new golden era for poitín and Irish distilled spirits, go get out and taste this ancient beverage and share its unique past together, Slainte.

Bar owners and staff members must be more concerned about safety and security issues. This is the result of a variety of factors, most notably recent legislative changes at national and international level and the subsequent high costs of assaults (including costs relating to litigation and compensation). Poor health, safety and security standards place staff members and customers at risk of serious injury if not death; employers suffer in terms of lost productivity and potentially higher premiums' and the morale of the staff, as well as the industrial relations climate in the bar, can be adversely affected. At a minimum, bar owners should have a practical understanding of the local and national legislation in this area. This special presentation will address these issues. lThey should also ensure, if necessary by enforcement that their staff members to follow proper safety and security standards.

Waste Management and energy recovery has become a significant business issue for hospitality establishments in recent years. Hospitality establishments have to be more concerned about waste in their businesses and be able to adopt systems to reduce, reuse and recover waste. This challenge is the result of a variety of factors, most notably the charges involved in waste removal and cost of every businesses energy needs. Costs have grown dramatically, landfill capacity has become increasingly scarce and expensive. Stringent legislation has been introduced around the world to ensure optimum waste management and energy recovery practices in hospitality businesses. Opportunities have to be found to reduce, reuse and recycle waste streams, while ensuring residual waste is managed in a responsible and efficient manner in compliance with the relevant legislation. Businesses must be able to identify energy saving innovations for their establishments, they must also be able to carry out a waste audit for identifying waste and managing waste streams. At a minimum, bar owners should have a practical understanding of the local and national legislation in this area. Owners must also ensure, if necessary by enforcement that their staff members follow proper waste and energy saving policies. This special presentation will address these issues.

Bar owners have to be more concerned about health, safety and security issues. This is the result of a variety of factors, most notably recent legislative changes at national and international level and the subsequent high costs of accidents (including costs relating to litigation and compensation). Poor health, safety and security standards place staff members and customers at risk of serious injury if not death; employers suffer in terms of lost productivity and potentially higher premiums' and the morale of the staff, as well as the industrial relations climate in the bar, can be adversely affected. At a minimum, bar owners should have a practical understanding of the local and national legislation in this area. They should also ensure, if necessary by enforcement that their staff members to follow proper safety and security standards. This special presentation will address the challenges involved in this area offering solutions and practical advice.

Individuals involved in the treatment of alcoholism for decades have argued that men and women crave alcohol essentially because they enjoy the effect it offers. This effect is so mysterious that, while adults will confess that these cravings are potential dangerous to their health and well being, during consumption their reasoning and belief of these facts will alternate between the true and the false. In essence these individuals alcohol cravings life actually seems to them the only normal life. Some will demonstrate conditions of discontentment, irritability and restlessness, until they can regain the experience and ease obtained by consuming a couple of drinks. The harmful use of alcohol is a global problem comprised of both individual and social development, it results in 2.5 million deaths annually (WHO, 2014), an alcoholics body can only deal with alcohol at about one-third the rate of a non alcoholic. This slower process triggers a craving that does not happen for the non alcoholic. Essentially, once the alcoholic takes that first drink, they no longer have a choice on the other drinks, this is the phenomenon of craving and this phenomenon will never change unless one can experience a complete psychic change (Silkworth cited in Alcoholics Anonymous, 1939). Faced with these challenges International Governments in the past have therefore sought to control alcohol's availability and consumption rates over many decades without much success and unfortunately hard lessons have been learnt. This paper investigates the phenomenon of alcohol craving which requires both a medical response to stabilize the condition and moral psychological response to produce as Silkworth (1937) proposed a 'psychic change'. The paper will also explore how internationally governments have tried to ban alcohol completely through prohibitions and the lessons learned from the failed National Prohibition (Volstead Act) which ran for thirteen years in the United States. This prohibition created more problems than solutions which resulted in widespread organized crime control of the distribution of alcohol and the proliferation of thousands of un-licensed and illegal establishments (speak-easies and blind pigs) which flourished during this period.

This paper reviews the theory of foreign direct investment (FDI), focusing on an apparent con‡ict between theory and recent trends in the globalized world. The bulk of FDI is horizontal rather than vertical, but horizontal FDI is discouraged when trade costs fall. This seems to conflict with the experience of the 1990s, when trade liberalisation and technological change led to dramatic reductions in trade costs yet FDI grew much faster than trade. Two possible resolutions to this paradox are explored. First, horizontal FDI in trading blocs is encouraged by intra-bloc trade liberalisation, because foreign …rms establish plants in one country as export platforms to serve the bloc as a whole. Second, cross-border mergers, which are quantitatively more important than green…eld FDI, are encouraged rather than discouraged by falling trade costs.

This paper presents a general result for simultaneous reform of tari¤s and quotas in a small open economy, where some of the quota rents do not accrue to domestic residents. Absent highly perverse income e¤ects, welfare must rise following a uniform proportionate reduction in tari¤s and a uniform proportionate relaxation of quotas, weighted by their rent-retention parameters. Previous results are shown to be special cases of this one, and its implications for practical policy advice and its relationship with the policy of 'tarification' of quotas are noted.

This paper examines the optimality of export subsidies in oligopolistic markets, when home and foreign fires have different costs and there is an opportunity cost to public funds. Subsidies are found to be optimal only for surprisingly lou values of the shadow price of government funds and, if subsidies are justified, they should be higher the more cost-competitive are domestic firms. These results hold under both Cournot competition and Bertrand competition when firms move before governments. The results suggest that recent arguments for export subsidies apply only for firms that would be highly profitable even without subsidies.