Ireland is to extend a system of paying 2,000 Irish pounds (NT$100,000) to its citizens who reach 100 years of age to those living anywhere in the world, the government has said.
Up until now, the traditional "Centenarian's Bounty" has only been paid to 100-year-olds actually living in the Republic of Ireland.
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said the decision to extend the payment to Irish people around the world was the result of hundreds of thousands emigrating for economic reasons in the past decades.
PHOTO: EPA
"The Centenarian's Bounty is not just a practical gesture, it is also a token of regard," he said. "It is appropriate, therefore, that this regard should be extended equally to Irish people wherever they are in the world."
"At a time in life for older emigrants when friends and family in Ireland may no longer be as numerous as they once were, it is a fitting gesture that the state should acknowledge their 100th birthday," Ahern said.
A special working group is being set up to consider how to find and pay Irish citizens over 100 years old all over the globe.
A spokeswoman for President Mary McAleese's office said that the Centenarian's Bounty was first introduced by Ireland's first president, Douglas Hyde, in 1938 when it was just 50 Irish pounds.
It was later increased to 2,000 Irish pounds as a special gesture in 2000.
The spokeswoman said that last year 141 citizens throughout the Republic were awarded the money. (AFP)
愛爾蘭政府表示,將把兩千愛爾蘭鎊(新台幣十萬元)補助金的給付範圍,擴大至居住在世界任何角落的百歲愛爾蘭人瑞。
目前照慣例,只有居住在愛爾蘭共和國的百歲老人才能領「百歲人瑞補助金」。
愛爾蘭總理艾亨指出,為顧及過去幾十年來,因經濟考量移居國外的成千上萬愛爾蘭人,才會將給付範圍擴大至全球的愛爾蘭人。
她說:「『百歲人瑞補助金』不只是項實際政策,更象徵了尊敬之意。因此,將這份敬意平等擴及至世界各地的愛爾蘭人應為合宜之舉。」
艾亨表示,當這些年長移民在愛爾蘭的親友不如往日多,國家應對他們的百歲大壽致意。
愛爾蘭對此成立專案小組,設法找尋並發放補助金給散居世界各地,年逾百歲的愛爾蘭人民。
愛爾蘭總統瑪麗*麥卡利斯的女發言人表示,「百歲人瑞補助金」乃由愛爾蘭首任總統海德於一九三八年創設,當時補助金額只有五十愛爾蘭鎊。
公元兩千年時,金額特別提高至兩千愛爾蘭鎊。
發言人指出,去年全愛爾蘭有一百四十一人獲得此項補助金。 (法新社/翻譯:鄭湘儀)
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
On Tuesday last week, the flame for this summer’s Paris Olympics was lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece in a meticulously choreographed ceremony. It will then be carried through Greece for more than 5,000km before being handed over to French organizers at the Athens venue used for the first modern Olympics in 1896. The pageantry at Olympia has been an essential part of every Olympics for nearly 90 years since the Games in Berlin. It’s meant to provide an ineluctable link between the modern event and the ancient Greek original on which it was initially modelled. Once
Drive-through (or drive-thru) restaurants provide people with the immense convenience of being able to purchase and pick up meals without needing to leave their vehicles. These restaurants have been around for decades, and their success has spawned a number of equally handy services. The drive-through concept originated with the drive-in restaurant, the first of which was established in the US in 1921. Patrons would order and eat the food that was delivered to their cars by workers called “carhops.” Ten years later, a drive-through service was introduced, but it was not until 1947 that the first exclusively drive-through restaurant opened its