Indaba No. 1 - Summer 2012 English

n°1 - summer 2012

Indaba

asl aviation group internal newsletter

Company

air contractors : Challenge 500 at Air Contractors europe airpost : A unique partnership safair : She has arrived aclas : Around the world ace : Gives leading edges the ‘boot’

Indaba

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Working groups

Country

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News

Message from our CEO

France : 0,00€ , Ireland : 0,00€, United Kingdom : 0,00£, South Africa : 0,00 rand

Thanks for the meaningful contribution from all at ASL Aviation.

It is a particular pleasure to provide an introduction to the inaugural Indaba newsletter. This follows a commitment made at the Indaba conference in early February this year to initiate a newsletter for the Group. Following what was a most satisfactory year’s performance in 2011, the latest Annual Report is accessible on the ASL website for viewing.

All ASL colleagues should feel justifiably pleased with these results and a special word of thanks to each and every one for their meaningful contribution to the success in 2011!

While the first part of 2012 is showing similar promise as we passed through the month of June, challenges such as the European economy and its effects on demand for our services may have an impact on our performance. For this reason and by virtue of the successful manner in which we have overcome challenges which have tested us in recent years, we need to be constantly aware of best practices in confronting those difficulties as they arise.

The respective ASL Group companies reflect individually on their business activities in this newsletter. In support of the various companies’ strenuous efforts for top performance and continued growth, it is paramount for top-level performance and cost effectiveness to form the basis of the ASL Group’s competitiveness in order to ensure this growth.

The seven Indaba working groups are continuing to provide areas of strong co-operation and are bringing together core essentials which I believe will reinforce the ASL Group’s efforts focused on growth with a strong base.

In appreciating the achievements which have gone into the compilation of this newsletter, I hope it will provide a valuable new dimension to the ASL Group’s continued actions at improving communication levels throughout our companies.

Kind regards Hugh Flynn

two versions of the logo

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he design of ASL Aviation Group’s logo was carried out four years ago when the Group was created. The ASL Aviation Group’s logo is the graphic institutional representation of the group of air services, which enables individuals to instantly recognise the company.

The letters “ASL” explain the three activities of the Group: A for Air Transportation, S for Services, L for Leasing. The shape and orientation of the design (a sail and the letters “ASL”) impart movement, the rounded and profiled lettering in italics establish dynamism, the colours are representative of the world of aviation.

This simple, sober logo, used as a signature, establishes the Group’s name.

asl aviation All you need in Aviation

Created in 2008, ASL Aviation Group is a significant international Group, which serves numerous customers worldwide.

ASL gathers the best of Aviation in one group: Air Transportation, Services and support, Leasing, Management, and has a strong commitment to its customers : fulfilling their needs in aviation.

In a few figures

1 200 employees throughout the world,

27 nationalities represented A fleet of ± 90 Turnover of €

aircraft

410 million

814 000 passengers

314 000 tons of freight 68 000 Flight hours

Photomontage

The strength of this logo lies in the fact that it is internationally readable, corporative, easily identifiable and still relevant year after year.

Recently, a study was carried out to work on an adaptation of the logo for the cargo doors of the aircraft. The wing was moved to the centre of the logo to accompany the movement and the text “aviation group” has been re-centred under the main lettering of ASL. This first adaptation of the logo will be used on the new Europe Airpost Boeing 737-400F.

Indaba Indaba is a Zulu word for an important conference held by the leaders of the Zulu and Xhosa people of South Africa for purposeful discussion, meaning “ business” or “matter”. These meetings are where the leaders get together to sort out the problems that affect them all, where everyone has a voice and where this is an attempt to find a common mind or common story.

For ASL the Indaba is both a process and a method of engagement as we listen to one another concerning challenges that face ASL Aviation Group.

Its aim is to enhance the levels of co-operation and synergy between the various ASL Aviation Group companies, to continue to grow from strength to strength and to be all together always more performant and competitive.

competition: choose a title for the newsletter This first edition of the internal newsletter comes out of the Indaba process and therefore the first issue has been naturally given the working title : Indaba.

To participate to the competition, please send your best suggestions of a name for the newsletter to Ian Reece : ireece@aslaviationgroup.com, before 31st October.

This name may change, and you can be part of this change by proposing and choosing the definitive name of the newsletter.

Once all the suggestions are collected, everyone can vote on the title they like best.

The winner who suggested the name with the most votes, will receive an ipad 3.

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air contractors Challenge 500 at Air Contractors

A number of Air Contractors management and employees recently attended an offsite workshop to discuss efficiencies and process improvements. It was an action-packed day with many subjects discussed and debated. Focus on keeping the Company lean and productive has always been the goal and the initiative, named Challenge 500, aims to leverage

savings of around €500k over the next 12 months. The following areas have been targeted: light Operations with particular F focus on training ngineering savings via improved E purchasing and operating procedures fficiency savings via capturing data E electronically and process improvements to free up people from routine tasks.

europe airpost A unique partnership with the tour operator Marmara Europe Airpost innovates with the creation of a unique partnership with Marmara. Marmara is the leading tour operator in France in terms of customer numbers, taking more than one million people on holiday each year. Marmara specialises in holidays, trips, tours and cruises at high standards of quality and at the lowest prices to the most prominent destinations outside France.

When Marmara, a long term client of Europe Airpost, decided it needed to base a dedicated aircraft at Lyon, it naturally asked Europe Airpost to become a partner. As a result, starting April 6, Europe Airpost based one of its two full pax Boeing 737700s in Lyon, for a six-month period, renewable for the 2013 and 2014 summer seasons.

A minimum of 2,600 flying hours in the agreement is guaranteed, and for the 2012 summer season 3,200 flying hours are already scheduled. The Europe Airpost’s B737-700 serves the following destinations: Malaga, Pal-

ace ACE gives leading edges the ‘boot’ Air Contractors Engineering (ACE), the Group’s maintenance facility, has been transforming itself to cope with changing conditions in the MRO market. The most important move has been the establishment of the re-

ma, Marrakech, Agadir, Olbia, Tunis, Monastir, Djerba, Corfu, Athens, Heraklion, Rhodes, Bodrum, Izmir and Taba.

To make the organisation of the flights smooth and to avoid the constraints of setting up crews,

Company News Regarding this last point, our Information Systems department recently undertook an initiative to focus its efforts on using IT as a strategic enabler and seeing how to add value to the Air Contractors business. Business priorities were re-assessed and departmental meetings have taken place with the aim of identifying critical improvements needed by the business.

As a result of these reviews a number of actions were identified : Systems project prioritisation proA cess has been introduced to identify the most pressing projects e ability to simplify the recharTh ge process with customers is a key project that has resulted from identifying areas of frustration for our customers

“ Automate the Office” has been coined as an expression to describe activities to capture data electronically and accurately with particular emphasis on the Operations area self-service IT help-desk has been A introduced to log all IT issues and keep customers informed of status.

We are working with our customers

safair She has ARRIVED!!

Europe Airpost has chosen to create a base in Lyon. Following a call for, volunteer-based candidates, 12 cabin crews were selected (four teams) and six pilots (three crews). The crews are hosted in the premises of Space : Europe Airpost’s assistance company in Lyon.

After what seems like an eternity and following a lot of very frustrating times, particularly for Alec and team, ZS-JRC our first B737-400 or “Jerc” (Jet Herc) has arrived. For those of you that have seen her, you will certainly agree that the end product however far outweighs the frustrations that were encountered along the route. For those of you who couldn’t join us for the launch function on the 17th of April, you are invitied to try and stop in, when next you are at the office, and take a look.

aclas ACLAS Global

pair capability for ATR leading edge de-ice boots. ACE has overcome the industry’s historic long lead times for leading Edge repairs by setting up a co-operation with ACLAS. ACLAS has become the distributor for Azure, who manufacture the replacement leading Edge boots. ACE now has a full set of ATR72 leading edges on the shelf ready for use by ACE or ACLAS customers.

The plane in Spain is yet another gain ACE has become the maintenance arm of a new start-up airline in Spain. Helitt Líneas Aéreas operates domestic routes as well as international routes from Spain’s Malaga Airport. ACE has set up a line station in Malaga to carry out all of the line maintenance operations for the airline, with the heavy maintenance

ACLAS has commenced 2012 with continuing strong sales and support for its ATR operators and their fleets. Also promising has been the improvement in sales for the Shorts 360 fleets. New contracted customers have resulted in a broader global diversity of customer base. We have taken delivery of an inventory of rotable components from EI-SLM. The Zodiac distributorship business has doubled. Our marketing team has been in Singapore (2012 Singapore Airshow), Santiago (FIDAE 2012), Kenya (AFRA 2012), Dallas (MRO Americas), London (AP&M 12)

work being done at ACE’s Edinburgh facility.

ACE keeps an eye on the fuel Airworthiness Directive AD 20090424-2A issued by EASA requires

Thank you and congratulations to everyone involved with the Combi project, both directly and indirectly, in getting the “impossible” done so quickly. For those not directly involved with the project, our dilemma was that the aircraft was delayed out of conversion, for various reasons, at the same time that we were faced with a very tight timeline to have the

and Vilnius (MRO Eastern Europe) meeting customers and promoting ACLAS and the ASL Aviation Group.

We have completed a significant IT infrastructure upgrade, and started to implement a new inventory system.

Last but not least: ACLAS was nominated as one of the top 5 spares providers at a recent trade awards show in London. We have noted a more competitive market this year, and our team is working closely with our customers and suppliers to retain market share and keep our margins.

to improve FeederWatch, our customer portal The above actions, aimed to bolster efficiency and improve Customer Experience, also support Challenge 500 by reducing time spent on non-productive tasks to allow staff to concentrate on delivering outstanding service to our customers and developing future business ideas.

aircraft placed on to the South African CAA register as well as our AOC, so as to enable us to meet a fixed contract bid date. At first review the challenge of the restricted time frame seemed impossible. However the true Safair “will do” attitude prevailed and all deadlines were achieved despite an even further reduced time frame as a result of a technical delay in positioning the aircraft back to Johannesburg. Once again to all involved thank you and well done for “making this happen”.

The Jerc has already been bid on a long term United Nations contract and was successful; the contract started end May 2012. The aircraft is positioned in Entebbe where it commenced active service.

In January a new, dedicated IT Domain was commissioned for the Southend office. The installation of new high capacity servers with Cloud backend storage together with a new

Domain service contract has provided ACLAS with a new and powerful platform to continue its IT upgrades.

In May, ACLAS selected a new inventory control system to replace its legacy CAFAM system. The rollout will take four months, and will provide ACLAS and ASL with significant improvements in stock control, cost control and distribution.

a specialist boroscope inspection of the ATR 42 and 72 fuel tanks. This specialised task is usually carried out by a team of Engineers from the manufacturers. ACE has embarked on a program of carrying out the Boroscope Inspections for customers at Edinburgh and now for other

maintenance facilities who do not have the capability. As one of the few MROs in the world with this capability, ACE has already received requests from Jetworks in India and CSA Technics in Prague to perform the inspection of aircraft at its facilities.

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Indaba Group News

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We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are

Finance Goals and Action Plans

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he Finance Indaba Group includes the key representatives of the respective financial functions of the various ASL companies. With the 2012 Indaba coinciding with the annual audit the level of representation was slightly reduced. Discussions were held within the Group and with a number of the Indaba participants about how Finance can better support the companies to achieve the Group’s objectives, and three key objectives were highlighted:

. Optimise Group structure and consider single airline function

The financial implications and comparisons of operating in each of the current jurisdictions are well known. A plan for

IT, a key function

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he governance of IT has been taken over by Group IT as a key function of the new Group CIO role. Fabrice de Biasio was appointed as CIO and an IT Steering Committee has been implemented consisting of members of the Exco. Standards and guidelines for the IT departments through -out the Group are being developed by Fabrice.

The project aims to implement better communication within the Group focussing on the use of technology to improve communication. The project has concentrated on the use of Microsoft Lync as

Indaba Operations

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wo main focus areas were identified for the Operations Indaba Working Group.

. Flight documentation service provider standardisation and or optimisation

The Operations Indaba Group coordinated and reviewed the flight documentation service provider standardisation. Specific review of the needs, benefits and costs of

the optimum structure is being developed. This will necessarily be guided by the operational requirements of the activities of each entity, within the constraints of local laws and regulation.

. Define the role Finance could play in central procurement operations

Central procurement and coordination of functions already exists in a number of functional areas including insurance, public relations, fuel contracts and aircraft leasing. Indaba-led initiatives relating to information technology, emission trading and staff positioning and travel are being initiated at a group level. Discussions regarding targeting areas where central procurement include: electronic flight bag; airport agreements; base maintenance; line maintenance and shared crew.

Finance is working on supporting the various initiatives in this regard.

the system to facilitate group requirements (audio calls, video calls, collaboration, instant messaging, etc). This is now fully operational within ACL, ASL and ACE, and will be installed by Safair in the near future. Development in Europe Airpost and ACLAS is still to take place. This is well within the September time-frame agreed at Indaba. As part of the project, Google Apps has been used to experiment with video conferencing prior to the implementation of Lync.

The Electronic Flight Bags project mainly concerns Air Contractors and Safair as Europe Airpost have an EFB project already underway. After a trial process, Safair is implementing a solution based on “Navtech” charts on an iPad. The next phase will include a data capture

each of the three main providers of flight documentation and charts was carried out.

Particular focus was made on how these providers will integrate with the respective operations and their EFB plans.

The process was a success from the optimisation perspective. While it was decided that no single provider could be a total solution provider for all ASL Aviation Group airlines, given geographic coverage issues, and equally important cost issues, the process ensured that as a Group, ASL airlines had meaningfully examined the options for standardisation given the commercial benefits. The process will be revisited in the future.

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Education about finance concepts and greater improved financial reporting Two key responses to the Indaba have been the development of an accounting update course and financial portal.

The accounting course, a one-hour workshop, will be given a trial in Air Contractors. Once amended, the program will then be distributed and presented by local financial representatives across the Group.

The financial portal is a software system that will act as a central depository of information for the finance function. It sets out and manages the financial deadlines and reporting and provides for the secure and easy sharing of data, whilst also providing a record of the historical information produced.

application. Air Contractors is waiting for the Jeppesens charts to be made commercially available on iPad, before planning the next move. This is due to internal preference for the Jeppesens product and the fact that Air Contractors is currently still contracted to Jeppesens.

Investigation continues into online training, and some processes have been put in place in Air Contractors and Safair.

Further training for Outlook, Word and Excel has been implemented internally in Air Contractors.

Plans for a Group portal are being met by new group systems from Finance and Human Resources. The need for a consolidated Group portal will be reviewed in the latter part of the year.

. Computer Based ground operations recurrent training

CBT for ground crews has also progressed well. A number of Safair remote staff now undertake their recurrent training online, saving significant time and money while ensuring first class training and skills certification. The Operations Indaba Group continues its work on progressing this online training throughout the other airlines, and bringing their respective needs into a harmonised approach.

The Technical Group facing challenges

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he Technical Group of Indaba has been faced with significant challenges during the last functional period. This is partly related to the departure of Joe Gray who was leading the “Shared Line AMO” development group and partly to the severe pressure of work on the rest of the group caused by the various projects underway in the Group companies. Joe left ACE in Scotland to join an airline in Ireland and we wish him well in his new endeavours. We will reassign this element to another team member for continuation.

The two other principal work areas in progress are “consolidated spares/procurement, utilising Europe Airpost prime location” and “consolidated MRO group buying power”. Brendan Smyth of Air Contractors leads the task team for the spare part study, and together with ACLAS is making good progress. Initial focus areas include high value/high turnover consumables with centralised suppliers and distribution.

The MRO group has invited several carefully selected MROs in the correct geographical regions to submit proposals for the maintenance services required by the ASL operated and managed fleets. This is to cover not only the Boeing 737 fleets but also the ATR, Airbus and potentially Hercules fleets as well. The process of collating and analysing this data is ongoing.

Due to the current aircraft procurement and sales activity, Group wide, the whole technical team is challenged to meet priority targets. This, while very positive for the Group as a whole, has detracted from the short-term results of the Indaba project. We are pushing to get back on track!

Group’s marketing culture : a priority

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ince the last Indaba meeting in Dublin, members of the Marketing group have held monthly conference calls during which the key marketing priorities of each individual company are shared and reviewed. This helps to create a Group culture within the marketing community and increases the members’ awareness of the actions and challenges faced by all ASL subsidiaries.

In addition to these exchanges, four projects have been identified at Group level: I mproving internal communications for the marketing group : a common internet portal is being established with the help of ASL IT experts, where members of the marketing group will be able to post information, attach documents, open forums, etc ross-training on subsidiaries’ know-how : a session is scheduled C in June “ ATR as one product”: the design of a dedicated brochure is in progress. The aim of this brochure is to present the strengths of all subsidiaries in the ATR activities and to promote the ASL Group expertise as a one-stop shopping solution frica: research conducted by Safair identified all ATR operators A in Africa, a continent where ASL can play a key role in the future. Top cargo customers will also be listed so that a road show can be organised in the second part of 2012.

Director of Publication: Hugh Flynn / Contributors: Marlouise Booyse, Vivienne Burch, Corinne Chantegrelet, Tom Dalton, Wimpie Davidson, Claude Foucault, Graham Gosling, Colin Grant, Linda Little, Cormac Martin, Frank Phillips, Ian Reece, John Rooney, Peter Scott, David Slipper, Eric Vincent, Costa Vouros. / Coordination: JetCom / Design: Oxalis média / Photos Credits: Europe Airpost, Safair, ACLAS, Air Contractors.

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Indaba Group News

The Safety work group is the newest addition to the Indaba workgroups. The Group aims to drive and further establish company safety values and ideals and create more group visibility for the major issue of Safety.

Thus far, the group has been busy with three main priority items, namely the Group Communications manual, the circulation of the three main airline SMS manuals/programs together with focus on the current application of SMS within all group companies, and the drive to increase the ASL group safety focus initiatives and expertise in industry and to key customers.

Where are we now?

The Communications manual is approaching final draft completion. Numerous drafts have been circulated to the Exco and CEOs for final comment. The manual has been reduced in size and has been made more effective and practical in application. Each company will in future, take the Group template and tailor it further to cater for their unique operations.

Concerning the SMS and risk assessment methodologies, all programs have been circulated to each company for comment and comparison.

Feedback is still outstanding from certain individuals but the process continues in all earnest. Various types of risk assessment methodologies have also been circulated for comment.

Rhino poaching escalates in South Africa!

Rhinos have the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most endangered animals on earth. Over the last 40 years, the world’s rhinoceros population has declined by over 90% - and if not for 100 years of dedicated conservation efforts, it is likely that all rhinoceros species would already be extinct.

Over the past three years, the continent has lost more than 1,000 rhinos to illegal poaching...and nearly two more rhinos are dying every additional day.

South Africa in particular is in the midst of a rhino poaching epidemic. 2011 has come and gone, leaving in its wake 448 known rhino carcasses despite the best efforts of so many.

According to acclaimed rhino scientists, if poaching continues at its current rate South Africa’s rhino herd will go into population decline by mid-2012.

Latest statistics indicate that the Kruger National Park is still the most targeted by poachers. South Africa lost 448 rhino nationally last year (of which 252 were poached in the Kruger National Park). Thus far, 122 arrests have been made of which 108 were poachers and 14 were either couriers or buyers.

As part of increasing group safety initiatives the proposed safety topic (runway safety – specialised operations into unprepared strips for large turboprop operators), was submitted for presentation on behalf of the ASL Group, to the International Aviation Safety Seminar to be held in Chile, in October.

The topic received a favorable response but due to the large number of subjects submitted for this particular seminar, it was not added to the roster of presentations this time around. These initiatives will be ongoing and there will be group representation present for this seminar in October. A core principle remains to increase Group safety visibility in industry and to clients and these efforts continue unabated.

French elections : an essential moment Spring 2012 is an important moment in French political life. Voters held a presidential election on April 22 and May 6, 2012, and returned to the polls on June 10 and 17 to choose members of the lower house of the French legislature, the National Assembly.

In France, the presidential election is an essential moment of political life given the central position and the authorities the President is given by the Constitution.

Fiscal Stability Treaty Referendum 2012 On May 31 Irish Citizens were asked to vote on whether Ireland should ratify a treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the

South Africa has tightened rules on rhino hunts and will use micro-chips and DNA profiling to counter a poaching bloodbath. The new norms and standards will strengthen the regulatory framework in terms of monitoring the legality of hunts and control over rhino horns.

Extensive scientific testing has confirmed that rhino horn is NOT medicine. The continued use of illegal rhino horn in traditional Chinese medicine is pushing this species closer to extinction. Organised crime syndicates operating throughout Africa, China, and Southeast Asia fulfill the demand for rhino horn.

Rhino poaching is an extremely emotional topic. Among the politics, criticism, heated debate and opposing ideas, everyone ultimately shares the same objective – the survival of the rhino and an end to poaching. At the coalface of this war lies an army of passionate, dedicated people, fighting vigorously to save the rhino.

Safair has been privileged to be part of a five year project undertaken by the Frankfurt Zoological Society to relocate black rhino from South Africa to North Luangwa National Park in Zambia. The project was done under very challenging conditions that involved delivering the rhinos inside the park, and minimising the risk of road transport where hijacking and poaching is a real threat. The short field operation and limiting ground support made the Hercules the perfect aircraft for this mission. We completed the project in 2010.

Self service HR An order has been placed with Simply Personnel for a Human Resource Information System (HRIS). This will provide a single source for ASL, ACL, ACE and ACLAS Global. Features include personnel information that can be analysed at a Group, Company, Department and Individual level. Self service options will give individuals personal access to their own information. During Quarter 3 and Quarter 4 access will be given to Line Managers. Training was conducted for HR representatives in Hinckley, Leicestershire in May. Europe Airpost and Safair already have HRIS systems in place.

The HR group also put in place one of the systems used by IT, called Basecamp. This provides an online area where the group can collaborate and share ideas and information.

Roadshow Plus

We will be conducting the second series of Roadshows. These will provide an update on Group performance, including financial information together with an update by the local Chief Executive. Following feedback from last year’s roadshow the process will take place over two weeks for the whole Group, from Johannesburg to Dublin, passing by Paris-CDG, Southend and Edinburgh.

In France the President is the keystone of the political system; he ensures the smooth functioning of the public authorities and the continuity of the State. He also has strong powers in foreign affairs and diplomacy.

For the presidential election, the French use a runoff voting system consisting of two rounds at universal suffrage. This means that the two candidates who received the greatest number of votes go on to the second round of voting. Since 2000, the presidential election has taken place every five years to allow synchronisation of presidential and parliamentarian terms. Following this move from a seven to five-year term,

President Jacques Chirac won the election in 2002, President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 and President François Hollande in 2012.

Economic and Monetary Union otherwise known as the Fiscal Stability Treaty.

after debts overwhelmed its banks. The Fiscal Stability Treaty is an International agreement between 25 European Countries including Ireland. It brings in stronger rules to ensure that countries keep their debts under control and balance their budgets.

This Treaty had been the focal point of conversation in Irish homes and the media.

As with all referendums in Ireland, this has caused a split in the country. Both sides gave reasonable reasons as to why they should vote Yes or why they should vote No. In the end, Irish voters supported the fiscal pact, causing sighs of relief since a No vote would have barred Ireland receiving from emergency EU funding when its bailout package expires in 2013. In late 2010 Ireland received an EU-IMF bailout worth 85bn euros

London Olympics 2012 are nearly here!

In Singapore, on 6 July 2005, the president of the International Olympic Committee announced “….the games of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the city of London”.

In beating Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow, London became the first city to be awarded the Games for a third time.

Whilst there was initial jubilation, there has since been the inevitable criticism in some quarters over the cost of the Olympics, but the £9.3 billion budget has enabled the regeneration of a former industrial site at Stratford in East London where the 200 hectare Olympic Park is situated. The development project itself

has been completed on time and within budget. We will have to assess the success of associated transport and security arrangements after the event.

Venues in the Olympic Park together with historic venues such as Wimbledon, Lord’s Cricket Ground and Greenwich Park will be used to schedule over 300 events in 26 sports with over 10,000 competing athletes. Some of the new venues will be retained after the Games, some relocated and others resized. The future of the Olympic Stadium itself after the Games remains uncertain. Anticipation is building in the UK. The Olympic flame, lit from the sun’s rays at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece, arrived on 18 May and set out on the

Country News

A busy Safety work group

In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) 577 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve five-year terms.

Ireland’s Yes vote on this treaty will give confidence to investors, the financial markets and a number of job creators in Ireland including IBEC and the Irish small and medium enterprises whom advocated a YES vote.

By voting Yes, Ireland sent a clear message that it wanted to remain part of the European Union.

following day on a 70 day Olympic Torch relay around the UK. This will culminate in the lighting of the Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony in the new Olympic Stadium on 27 July where it will remain until the Closing Ceremony on 12 August.

Now the real problem - just got to get the tickets…