Damages awarded to disabled man

The Equality Tribunal has awarded €3,000 to a disabled man who was harassed by Iarnrod Éireann staff on the Cork to Thurles line, reports breakingnews.ie.

Wheelchair user William Hennessy said new rules introduced by Iarnrod Eireann in 1999 meant he had to travel in the dining car of the train in a designated wheelchair area. However, his motorised wheelchair was too large to fit in the designated area of some of the trains and he was refused permission to travel on a number of occasions.

He also complained that the dining-car staff resented him and claimed the food trolley was rammed up against him and that staff would gather in a group and point over and refer to him. One occasion, Mr Hennessy claimed an egg was thrown at him from the dining car when he got off the train in Thurles.

Jobs boost for UL spin-out firm

A University of Limerick spin-out company that is making semiconductors for use by major communications original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide has the scope to increase its headcount to 150 people, as it moves into lucrative markets such as consumer electronics, siliconrepublic.com has reported.

Limerick-headquartered Powervation, which is backed by an A-list of venture capital firms, including Intel Capital, has derived a new chip that has allowed manufacturers to achieve energy-efficiency gains of up to 30pc, along with a 50pc increase in transient response.

Powervation, which also has offices in California, China and Cork and employs 35 people worldwide – 25 of whom are in Limerick – grew out of the Circuits and Systems Research Centre at the University of Limerick, and benefited from the Enterprise Ireland-backed Power Electronics Industry Group.

Jobs boost for UL spin-out firm

A University of Limerick spin-out company that is making semiconductors for use by major communications original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide has the scope to increase its headcount to 150 people, as it moves into lucrative markets such as consumer electronics, siliconrepublic.com has reported.

Limerick-headquartered Powervation, which is backed by an A-list of venture capital firms, including Intel Capital, has derived a new chip that has allowed manufacturers to achieve energy-efficiency gains of up to 30pc, along with a 50pc increase in transient response.

Powervation, which also has offices in California, China and Cork and employs 35 people worldwide – 25 of whom are in Limerick – grew out of the Circuits and Systems Research Centre at the University of Limerick, and benefited from the Enterprise Ireland-backed Power Electronics Industry Group.