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Catherina McKiernan and Rose of Tralee, Jennifer Byrne, set the pace ahead of the inaugural Kia Race Series which kicks off on 17 March with The Streets of Portlaoise 5k , writes Trish Whelan .  The Kia Race Series will bring together seven well established regional races around Ireland under one umbrella with an added closed road running event in Mondello Park. The Kia Race Series is encouraging Ireland’s best male and female distance athletes to compete against each other, with a new Kia Stonic up for grabs for both the overall male and female winner of the series. To be eligible to win the series, runners must take part in five of the eight races including the finale. There’s the added incentive of €7,000 bonus fund available for course records. Runners can enter online on kiaraceseries.com and join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook @KiaRaceSeries. The KIA Race Series Streets of Portlaoise 5k - 17th March 11am Run with Catherina (Co. Cava...

Paul Dalton of easytrip and Neil Cunningham of APCOA Parking at Jervis Street car park Easytrip has expanded their car parking portfolio in Dublin with the addition of Jervis Street car park, writes Trish Whelan . Easyparking, easytrip's parking service offers hassle free electronic parking to customers with the use of a tag, with no need to take a ticket or queue at the paying station. The easytrip tag is scanned on entry and exit to the car park and the fee is then automatically deducted from the tag holder's account. The Jervis Street car park has 267 car spaces and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. New and existing easytrip customers can sign up for parking by calling easytrip on 1890 67 67 68 or by logging onto www.easytrip.ie. Easyparking is available at locations in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.

When Jaguar produced its first SUV, the F-Pace, they were late to the premium crossover game, writes Brian Byrne . But that didn't stop the car becoming the best selling one in Jaguar's range. It also became my favourite. Then came the E-Pace. Smaller, but not just a reduced version of the larger car. It has a more sporty sense about it. A bit more coiled strength in the rear quarters design, perhaps. From a certain front angle, it even looks like a coupe, though this is definitely a car for full-sized people front and rear. Inside too, the style and the treatment is a tad more traditional than tech-modern. Though tech it truly is, with my review car having all the mods and cons expected in a premium brand. What I immediately liked was the relative simplicity of the dashboard and instrumentation, and the excellent integration of all their parts to true driver focus. Those big rotary knobs for climate control should be copied by all carmakers, with the seat-heating...

Adeline Minchin, Sponsorship Manager St Patrick's Festival, with 'St Patrick', and Karla Clifford, Brand Communications Manager Renault Ireland. Renault Ireland will continue as the official car partner of St Patrick's Festival for the next three years, writes Trish Whelan . This year's festival will run from Thursday 15 to Monday 19 March, with over 3,000 people taking part in the St Patrick's Day parade and over 500,000 expected to line the streets of Dublin on the day. As part of its involvement, seven special green Renault Kadjars, Capturs and Koleos will weave their way through the capital during the parade including the 100 per cent electric Renault ZOE which will feature within the artistic pageantry of the parade. The overall theme of this year's festival is Home, and a programme of special events inspired by all things 'home' will run throughout Dublin over the five days including a unique film commission project, street-theatre, tal...

Declan Boyle in his Ford Fiesta World Rally Car Former double National Rally champion Declan Boyle took a comfortable victory in the opening round of this year’s Triton Showers series by bringing his Ford Fiesta home 37 seconds clear of the nearest opposition in the Achill Island Hotel-Connacht Print and Signs Mayo Stages Rally yesterday, writes Richard Bourke . The Donegal driver and his new Monaghan partner James O’Reilly led from the opening stage and were never headed all day, with Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty taking runner up position ahead of Desi Henry and Liam Moynihan in yet another Fiesta, just over a minute farther back. Two more ex-title holders were out of luck, with Donagh Kelly recovering to tenth place at the end after a disastrous puncture, while Roy White slid off the road on the first stage and was completely out of contention by the time he could restart. Adrian Wray won the Group N Production class, with Jason Black and Jack McKenna the Junior winners. ...

Tayto Park and Nissan have joined forces to open Ireland’s first ever driving school for kids,  writes  Trish Whelan . The Nissan Driving School at Tayto Park gives kids the chance to learn the rules of the road and to test their driving skills on a purpose built, road marked traffic course before leaving with their own driving licence. The new 1,000m2 track is currently under construction at Tayto Park in Ashbourne, Co Meath and will be completed and open to the public on Saturday, 24 March. The easy drive track will accommodate 20 miniature battery operated Nissan cars at one time with the new attraction set to give young drivers a real experience of what it is like to take to the road. All drivers will enjoy a short video demonstration at the new attraction’s Learning Theatre where they will learn the rules of the road before negotiating the traffic course. Young drivers who complete the course and prove to their parents that they have what it takes to ma...

Citroen are sponsoring the Kidszone at this year’s Runway Club Live Event which takes place on Saturday, 14 April 2018 at Dublin's Weston Airport, writes Trish Whelan . A range of Citroen vehicles will also be on display at the event including the zippy C3, the funky C3 Aircross Compact SUV and the family Grand C4 Picasso as well as the spacious Spacetourer. Visitors will also get to enjoy an exclusive preview of the New Citroen C4 Cactus which is due to launch here in May. The event offers a great day out for all the family with the opportunity to see the world’s best super, exotic and performance cars as well as view a choreographed stunt show. The Citroen Kidszone will also offer a whole host of fun for the little ones on the day. Citroen will also have an experienced sales team on site who will be on hand to talk you through the range and book you in for a test drive in your preferred model. Keep an eye on Citroen’s social media platforms in the l...