Shorts

A roundup of today's other stories in brief.

Tourism meets aid

Interested in seeing some of the remotest parts of the Horn of Africa and helping charity at the same time?

The development agency Self Help Africa is taking 30 supporters on a nine-day field visit to Ethiopia in October to visit rural development programmes set up by the charity over the past 25 years.Participants are required to raise at least €5,000 for the charity, half of which will be used to cover the costs associated with the trip. See www.selfhelpafrica.com.

Work on the wild side

Irish adventure tour company Vagabond is looking for people to work as drivers and guides with tours for the coming season.

Applicants must be over 25 and hold a class D or D1 passenger-vehicle driving licence. As well as driving, the job will entail surfing, hillwalking and meeting people from around the world. See www.vagabond toursofireland.ie.

Hotel head

The Irish Hotels Federation has elected Matthew Ryan as its new president. He replaces Annette Devine and will serve for a two-year term.

Ryan is managing director of the Grand Hotel in Malahide and the Marine Hotel in Sutton, Dublin. A graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management, he previously held senior positions at the Strand Palace Hotel in London and the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. Among his priorities for his presidency are tackling the "cost of doing business in Ireland" and "attracting overseas visitors to the regions".

Climate conference

A conference exploring climate change and its impact on surfing, coastal recreation and wildlife will be held at Lough Erne Golf Resort in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, next Wednesday and Thursday.

The conference is organised by the Heritage Council and Countryside Access and Activities Network.

E-mail sylvia@countryside recreation.com.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times