Donie's news Ireland BLOG Monday

REILLY-CONSTITUENCY CARE CENTRES TO BE BUILT under SEPARATE CONTRACTS

  

It has emerged this morning that both of the primary care centres in Health Minister James Reilly’s constituency will be built under separate contracts to the other sites on the list.

The Sunday Business Post has revealed that both Swords and Balbriggan, which were among five locations added to a priority list of centres, will not proceed under the Public-Private Partnership initially set out for all of the developments.

The newspaper says these centres, along with another five, will go ahead as part of a lease model where a developer will be responsible for building and managing the facility, including the sourcing of a GP.

James Reilly’s decision to add these two locations to the original list drawn up by former Junior Health Minister Roisin Shortall proved widely controversial and led to Ms Shortall’s resignation.

Irish grocery market lifted 0.4% in November 2012, Kantar Worldpanel reveals

    

Irish grocery market share figures

Latest supermarket share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, for the 12 weeks ending 25 November 2012, show the grocery market has grown by 0.4% – the second month of sales growth in a row and the highest rate since January this year.  

This is a positive sign for the industry; however, real-term growth still remains elusive with inflation at 4.2%, said researchers.

David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “There is no doubt household budgets are increasingly stretched and this is reflected in the changing nature of the grocery shop. To help offset the impact of price inflation the ‘little and often approach’ to shopping continues; with the average household making an extra 2.5 grocery trips this year – that’s an additional four million trips across the country.”

For the retailers it has been an encouraging month, particularly at the start of the run up to Christmas.

Berry said: “Fortunes at Dunnes have also begun to improve this month. Despite sales growth at the retailer still trailing behind the market, it has strengthened its position since September when sales declined by almost 8%. Dunnes now has a 23.2% market share and is in a better position to compete as the crucial Christmas trading period approaches.”

Among the other major supermarkets Aldi sets the pace, with sales growth remaining above 30% for the second successive month, said Kantar Worldpanel. Much of this success has been achieved by attracting more shoppers to the store and encouraging them to shop more often and increase the amount they spend.

Tesco has also grown ahead of the market, leading to a boost in market share of 0.2 points to 27.9%. This is thanks in part to its wide shopper base, with almost 83% of Irish households having shopped in Tesco over the past 12 weeks – an improvement of 3% when compared with last year.

European Union picks up Nobel Peace prize

The European Union received the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday at a ceremony in which the chairman of the Nobel Committee said the 27-nation grouping had a critical role to play in avoiding a destructive response to the continent’s financial crisis.

At the award ceremony, Thorbjorn Jagland invoked the specter of the 1930s in Europe, saying the alternative to cooperation could have been new protectionism and nationalism.

“We know from the interwar years that this is what can happen when ordinary people pay the bills for a financial crisis triggered by others,” Mr. Jagland said, warning countries against acting at the expense of others and against blaming vulnerable minorities for the crisis. “That would lead us into yesterday’s traps,” he said.

He handed the Peace Prize medal and diploma to presidents of three EU institutions—Herman Van Rompuy, the head of the European Council that represents the bloc’s governments, European Commission chief José Manuel Barroso and Martin Shultz, president of the European Parliament.

The Nobel ceremony is held annually in the Oslo City Hall on Dec. 10, the date of Alfred Nobel’s death. The prize consists of a medal, a personal diploma and a sum of money, currently about €927,000 ($1.2 million.)

Many of the EU’s 27 prime ministers and presidents were present at the ceremony, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande and the leaders of debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron declined to participate.

According to Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize should be awarded to whoever “have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

“It’s the golden rule of Jean Monnet: Better fight around a table than on a battlefield,” said Mr. Van Rompuy in his speech, arguing that the EU’s close cooperation has led to a situation where “war becomes materially impossible.”

But “peace” may not be the first word that comes to mind for parents struggling to make ends meet, workers who have been laid off, and students who don’t think they can get a job, Mr. Van Rompuy said. He warned that the current economic crisis, the worst in two decades, could make Europeans begin to doubt its joint decisions.

“It is natural to see a hardening of hearts, the narrowing of interests, even the return of long-forgotten fault-lines and stereotypes,” he said. “The test Europe is currently facing is real.”

Mr. Jagland said that the EU had much work left to do, to handle debts, introduce new financial regulation and reduce corruption.

“We are not gathered here today in the belief that the EU is perfect,” he said, adding that the bloc needs strong institutions to be able to solve its problems. “We need institutions to ensure that both nation-states and individuals exercise self-control and moderation.”

Ordination in Sligo of six new deacons

   

The six men, David Muldowney, Damien Kearns, Wando Araujo, William Gacquin, Frank McGuinness and Seamus Talbot, being ordained on Saturday.

A post-primary teacher, a bakery manager and a tool designer were among six men ordained as permanent deacons in Sligo on Saturday, a Catholic ministry which permits them to preside at funerals, celebrate Baptism and officiate at marriages.

The new deacons, all married and in permanent employment, were ordained at Sligo cathedral by the Bishop of Elphin, Christopher Jones. He described the occasion as “truly joyous” and historic, pointing out that it was almost 1,500 years “almost back to the time of St Patrick himself” since a similar ordination had taken place in the diocese.

Fr Michael Duignan, director of the permanent diaconate in the diocese, told reporters that responding to a shortage of priests was not the primary reason for the revival of the permanent deacon, but he agreed that it would be “very helpful”.

Newly ordained William Gacquin (57), who teaches Spanish, Irish and religion at CBS Roscommon, said the last recorded reference to a deacon in diocesan records was when one baptised St Ciaran in the parish of Fuerty, Co Roscommon, in the sixth century.

The men were ordained following four years of study at St Angela’s College Sligo. The ministry does not permit them to say Mass, although they can assist the priest, read the Gospel and preach a homily. They cannot hear Confession or anoint the sick.

One of the deacons, Wando Araujo (41), a father and grandfather, originally from Brazil, now lives in Roscommon town, where he runs a bakery.

“I regard the diaconacy as a vocation,” he said. His brother Claudio has already invited him to officiate at his wedding in Brazil next summer.

Frank McGuinness (42), a native of Rossinver, Co Leitrim, was keeping a close eye on his sons James (5) and John (10) as the families waited to be photographed with the bishop after the ceremony. He said his decision was far from a shock to his wife Louise: “Faith is a big part of both our lives.”

‘Not replacing priests’

A former IT worker in the healthcare sector, he said the role was “not about replacing priests”.

David Muldowney (42), a native of Lucan who lives in Ballinameen near Boyle said his wife Meg, who is Anglican, had been very supportive and had kept him going through the four years of intensive study.

The father of three, who runs his own software company for banks, said: “I always had a wish to give myself closer to God.” On the issue of whether priests should be allowed to marry he said: “Let the church decide in its own time.”

Also ordained were Seamus Talbot (44), a tool designer who lives in Roscommon, and Damien Kearns (37), a technician based at St Angela’s college, Sligo.

In 2001 the Irish Episcopal Conference received permission from the Holy See to restore the permanent diaconate in Ireland. Saturday’s was the second ordination – last June eight deacons were ordained in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

65% of people with diabetes prone to heart failure risk

     

Heart failure occurs when the heart fails to pump blood around the body as it should

People with diabetes are up to 65% more likely to have heart failure, an analysis has found.

The National Diabetes Audit looked at data on almost two million people and also found increased risk of other complications, and premature death.

The charity Diabetes UK, said people were “dying before their time”.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said progress was being made, but there was “unacceptable variation in diabetes care”.

Heart damage

The audit, in its eighth year, covered about 85% of people in England with diabetes, and about 54% of those in Wales.

Much can be done to reduce these risks if all health care sectors work together with people who have diabetes”

The researchers compared the rates of a range of complications among people with diabetes with those seen in the the same sized group in the general population.

In 2010-11, 45,000 people with the condition had heart failure – where the heart does not pump blood as effectively as it should, when the expected number would have been 27,300.

The most common reason for heart failure is that the muscle has been damaged, for example, after a heart attack.

Heart attacks were 48% more likely – 14,500 people with diabetes suffered this complication in 2010-11 – when 9,800 of such cases would have been expected.

And people with diabetes were also at a significantly increased risk of need an amputation of the foot or leg.

All the complications studied are recognised as being linked to diabetes and therefore more likely to occur in people with the condition.

But the researchers say better preventative care would reduce cases.

‘Scope for improvement’

Dr Bob Young, of the National Diabetes Information Service who led work on the audit, said: “If everyone achieved the treatment targets that are laid down by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), none of the complications would be inevitable.

“There is substantial scope for improvement.”

The audit also estimated people with diabetes have a 40% higher risk of death than the general population 65,700 deaths compared with an expected 47,000.

Dr Young added: “Much can be done to reduce these risks if all health care sectors work together with people who have diabetes.”

Barbara Young, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: “We hope this report spurs the NHS into action to improve the current situation where fewer than half of people with diabetes meet the recommended cholesterol levels and a significant minority are not even having it measured.”

Prof Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “It’s essential that, firstly, everyone with diabetes is identified and, secondly, they receive appropriate treatment and advice to help them avoid cardiovascular complications.

“Still more important is the need to prevent diabetes from occurring in the first place by tackling the increasing levels of obesity in our society, particularly in our children.”

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “People with diabetes should be able to expect excellent care from the NHS and they will get it more consistently in future.

“I know there has been progress, but there is still unacceptable variation and we are determined to put that right.”

He said the new GP contract would include new measures to help GPs manage the care of people with diabetes better and that local authorities would be given ring-fenced budgets to target problems like obesity which can lead to Type 2 diabetes.

Hi-tech ‘solar greenhouse’ grows first cucumbers in Sahara

Cucumbers have been successfully grown in the Sahara Forest Project using seawater and solar power – and the £3 million project aims to ‘turn the desert green’.

The Sahara Desert might not seem the ideal place for a greenhouse – but scientists have grown cucumbers there this year.

The vegetables were grown using seawater and solar power at the Sahara Forest Project pilot facility in Qatar.

In the long term, the project aims to create technologies for turning the desert green.

The £3.3m ‘greenhouses’ which grew the cucumbers took just 10 months to build – and pump salt water up from beneath the ground to cool the facility, using a cooling principle said to be based on a camel’s nostril.

No water is allowed to evaporate in the sun’s heat – instead, it’s recondensed, and used to water the plants.

The 10,000 square metre facility is unique – and its scientists are also working on the region’s largest algae research facility.

The Norwegian Minister of the Environment, Bård Vegar Solhjell, was among the first guests at the pilot facility inside Measaieed Industrial City in Qatar.

“It is designed to utilize what we have enough of to produce what we need more of, using deserts, sunlight, saltwater and CO2 to produce food, water and clean energy,” says Joakim Hauge, CEO of The Sahara Forest Project.

“This is a fascinating project,” said Solhjell. “It’s almost like you cannot believe it until you see it. Here they use what there is abundance of to create what there is the least of.”