News
Central Bank reports 5% reduction in Motor Insurance premiums

The Central Bank of Ireland has published a mid-year report (to end June 2022) providing key statistics on the private motor insurance industry in Ireland.
This is the first such report undertaken and captures data using the National Claims Information Database (NCID).
The key findings are:
The average premium per policy was €578 during this period. This represented a 5% reduction from the average premium in 2021. The average cost is €135 less than in 2017.
Claims settlements – there was in increase in the number and cost of damage to vehicles claims and a decrease in the number and cost of injury claims. However the data is being compared to the first half of 2021 when restrictions were in place.
48% of personal injury claimants settled directly with insurers representing 15% of total costs.
13% of claimants settled through the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) making up 6% of total costs.
39% of claimants settled through litigation making up 79% of total costs.
The Central Bank of Ireland noted that there have not been enough litigated claims settled under the new guidelines to assess the impact on the average cost of a claim in the litigation channel.
The Personal Injuries Guidelines were adopted by the Judicial Council on 6th March 2021. However some claimants received compensation awards calculated with reference to the previous structure known as the Book of Quantum. It will take a few years of data to get accurate trends of the new Guidelines.
The average Irish car insurance premium of €578 is almost half the UK average. The average premium in the UK is £929 (€1062.14) having increased by 21.1% in the year up to February 2022.
News
Fassbender ready for second Le Mans appearance
Local Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender is in the final preparation stages for his second appearance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. The iconic endurance race is celebrating its […]

Local Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender is in the final preparation stages for his second appearance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The iconic endurance race is celebrating its 100th edition next weekend.
The Fossa star has already arrived in the famous French twon where he is involved in a week-long series of engagements including drivers’ parades, autograph sessions and more serious appointments like car safety checks, practice and qualifying.
Like last year, when he finished 16th in the LMGTE Am class, Fassbender has been entered in to the event by the German Proton Competition team with Estonian Martin Rump and the Austrian Richard Lietz.
Fassbender dreams of following the trajectory of fellow Hollywood actors Patrick Dempsey who was second in LMGTE Am class in 2016 and Paul Newman who finished second overall in 1979.
News
Ireland’s oldest citizen has Killarney connections
Ireland’s oldest woman met with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin this week. Máirín Hughes, who turned 109 on May 22 has strong Killarney connections. The previous record […]

Ireland’s oldest woman met with President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin this week.
Máirín Hughes, who turned 109 on May 22 has strong Killarney connections.
The previous record was held by 107-year-old Nancy Stewart who died on September 10 2021.
Although born in Belfast, Máirín went to school in the Mercy Convent. Her father was a customs and excise officer and the family moved around a lot eventually coming to Killarney after spells in County Down and Dublin.
Her mother came from the Rathmore area and her father was from Newmarket in County Cork.
She attended the Mercy Convent and has, in previous interviews, recalled growing up on the shores of Lough Lein.
“Neighbours who had three children were given the job of taking me to school,” she said. “They were annoyed because the children were going to school for two or three years but I was put in to the same class as them – my mother had taught me.”
In 2021 she featured in the book ‘Independence Memories: A People’s Portrait of the Early Days of the Irish Nation’, sharing stories of being kept in school in Killarney during an attack on the RIC barracks down the road.
In 1924 she started a degree in science and a diploma in education at University College Cork, before working in the pathology lab in University College Cork’s Department of Medicine for 16 years.
last year she recalled her story on the podcast: ‘Living History – Irish Life and Lore’.
During the broadcast she talked about her parents’ membership of the Gaelic League in 1910; the Spanish Flu in Ireland in 1918; The Black and Tans in Killarney in 1921; the early days of the new Free State; Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932, visiting the Basket Islands in 1929; and working in the UCC medical laboratory from 1932 until 1948.
This week President Michael D. Higgins hosted an afternoon tea event to celebrate the important role that a variety of people have and can play in different communities and Máirín was among the guests of honour.