(’32.7 % down in 5 years’)
Alcohol consumption in Ireland fell by 0.5 per cent in 2012 and is now nearly a fifth lower than it was in 2001, according to the latest annual market report from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland.
Pub sales of alcohol fell by six per cent in 2012, the report showed; almost 60 per cent of alcohol consumed in Ireland last year was sold in off-licences. The total decline in the volume of bar sales of alcohol over the past five years is now 32.7 per cent.
The group warned that more jobs would go in the sector, as pubs and independent off-licences bear the brunt of changing consumption habits and increased taxation. It is calling for the government to take action to preserve Irish pubs by reversing taxation hikes.
The VAT increase from 21% to 23% in January 2012 plus changes in Budget 2013 resulted in beer excise increasing by 22 per cent, spirits by 18 per cent and wine by 41 per cent, the group said.
The Chairperson of DIGI and Diageo’s European Corporate Relations Director, Peter O’Brien said: “The figures in this report are stark – the Irish pub and independent off-licence sectors are in crisis, and that crisis is being exacerbated by the huge tax hikes the sector has had to shoulder in the last 18 months.”
The author of the report, Anthony Foley from DCU’s Business School, said there would be no improvement in 2013.
“Unfortunately the early indicators for 2013 for bar sales from the Retail Sales Index are disappointing. In January 2013 bar sales volume dropped by 6.9% compared with January 2012 and in February the drop was 3.1% compared with February 2012.”
British dairy processors set sights on Irish milk supplies
DAIRY FARMERS IN THE SOUTHEAST OF IRELAND HAVE BEEN APPROACHED BY REPRESENTATIVES FROM BRITISH PROCESSORS WITH A VIEW TO SUPPLYING MILK TO BRITAIN FROM 2015.
A number of large dairy farmers in Wexford, Wicklow and Kilkenny are believed to have been approached by agents acting for processors based in England and Wales.
While the exact details of what has been offered to farmers remains unclear, it is understood that supply contracts will be offered to some farmers within the next month.
These contracts will cover the period from 2015 to 2020 and are rumoured to give an initial base price of 32c/l plus VAT, with a commitment to match the price offered by Irish processors up to 40c/l.
The approaches to milk suppliers in the southeast were believed to have been made by an agent working for a ‘middle ground’ processor. These are processors who supply large liquid milk contracts for hospitals and nursing homes.
Up to 50pc of the milk pool in Britain goes to the liquid milk sector. Milk supplies in Britain have tightened – they are back 10pc to the end of March – and prices have increased to 32p/l, or 37.5c/l, as a consequence.
The farmers being targeted are operators with large and expanding herds, whose farms are close to the M11 south from Dublin to Wexford and also around Rosslare.
Industry sources said the volumes of milk being sought by the English traders were small and would only account for “four or five tanker loads a week”.
However, the entry of British processors into the Irish market will be viewed as a worrying development by established players here, given that competition for suppliers has traditionally been restricted.
Meanwhile, in a letter to its suppliers this week, Glanbia confirmed that it had increased the base price for the first year of its Fixed Milk Price Scheme.
The base for the first 12 months of the three-year scheme has moved from 31.5c/l to 33.5c/l including VAT.
Glanbia also stated that the price paid out under this scheme in 2013 would never be more than 1.5c/l under its weighted average open market milk price.
Sean Molloy of Glanbia said the move was in response to the recent hike in dairy commodity prices internationally and milk prices locally.
Mr Molloy said farmers interested in joining the scheme had pointed to the differential that had developed between the original base price and the 35c/l available from Glanbia for March supplies.
Milk prices have continued to harden, with more dairies increasing their quotes. A 3c/l jump has taken Wexford Creameries price for March supplies to 34.37c/l.
Quotes for March milk were also up at Lakeland Dairies and Centenary Thurles. Lakelands has gone to 35.28c/l including VAT, while Centenary is on 35c/l including VAT. The boards of Connacht Gold and Tipperary Co-op are to meet to set prices this week.
In other dairy news, Glanbia suppliers from the Barrowvale and East Waterford regions are to protest today outside the co-op’s headquarters in Kilkenny.
The protest relates to a decision taken last month by Glanbia Council to reject the nominations of Brendan Hayes and Robert Prendergast to the company’s board.
Mr Hayes and Mr Prendergast were among four directors who opposed last year’s move to establish Glanbia Ingredients Ireland.
They have been nominated again to represent their East Waterford and Barrowvale regions on the Glanbia board and the issue is due to be discussed again today by the Glanbia Council.
Sligo now leads the way nominations in 'Best Place to Holiday competition'
There are just a few days left for members of the public to nominate towns, villages, cities and regions for Irish Times Best Place to Holiday competition,
Ben Bulben, one of the many attractions in Co Sligo, which has received the most entries in The Irish Times Best Place to Holiday in Ireland competition.
Just a few days remain for members of the public to nominate towns, villages, cities and regions for The Irish Times Best Place to Holiday in Ireland competition. The accompanying map shows the spread of nominations so far, covering all 32 counties. With 161 nominations, Sligo is the county with most entries so far, followed by counties Kerry and Donegal, both of which also have more than 100. Cities and islands have also been nominated. Northern counties remain under-represented among the nominations so far.
Places nominated by the public will be put before our panel of judges over the coming weeks, to be considered for the final award. There will also be runners-up and smaller prizes. The purpose of the competition is not only to find a winner, but also to highlight lesser-known holiday destinations.
Reader nominations are the starting point of the competition. Only places nominated by readers will be eligible, and the closing date is this Saturday, April 20th.
Nominating requires only a short write-up and answers to some straightforward questions. The method is set out clearly at irishtimes.com/bestplace. Below are some of the recent entries.
Dublin When I go to Sligo, Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Kilkenny or other areas of beauty around the country, I feel several things. I feel the fresh air and the wonderful country calm of nature. Then I notice how much petrol I’ve used up to get out to this beach five miles outside the town centre (it’s a bit bad that there is no Dart down here).
Then, I start to feel left out. Everyone else knows the words of the songs in the pub in the hotel. Everyone knows where to go for chips after the nightclub. Everyone has plans for tomorrow to see the match. I’m just here for the weekend.
Lastly, I start wishing I could get a Donnybrook Fair salad for lunch down here, and wondering if McDonald’s is the only place I can get a latte. And, oh no, Ed Sheeran is playing the 02 tonight – I so wanted to see him play live.
The thing is, although not the most attractive county on an average cloudy day, Dublin is the best place to actually spend time and money, and nature takes a back seat. You don’t need empty beaches to focus on your problems; you need entertainment and action to have a good holiday.
Most people who come to Dublin love it so much they stay way past the end of their holiday. What other place in Ireland can say the same?
Portnablagh, Co Donegal
I first saw Portnablagh from under the hood of a pram and today my children love it almost as much as I do. Generations of Northerners have fled the 12th each July to find the waters of freedom flowing over the sands of time in this soft, wet cove.
Over 50 % hike in demand for technology courses in Irish colleges
One in five Irish students now choosing technology as first preference
There has been a 51 per cent increase in applications to technology courses at third level over the last five years
There has been a 51 per cent increase in applications to technology courses at third level over the last five years, a new study by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) has found.
Significant increases in first preference applications to science and engineering courses were also recorded.
A detailed analysis of CAO preferences carried out by the HEA revealed that applications to technology courses constituted more than 20 per cent of all first preference applications this year.
Applications to programmes in engineering and science constituted 4.6 per cent and 7.5 per cent of overall first preference applications, both increases from 2012.
Applications to courses in computing stabilised at 6.6 per cent. At 1.7 per cent of overall first preferences, the demand for courses in construction continued to slide but there are signs the decline may be starting to stabilise, the authors of the report concluded. Construction first preference applications have declined by 55 per cent since 2008.
Commenting on the report the Chairman of the HEA, John Hennessy, welcomed the increase in applications and encouraged those currently in second level as well as their families and guidance counsellors to seriously examine long term careers in science and technology areas.
“Science and technology are providing and will provide major opportunities forIreland, ” he said. “We need to ensure that we continue to grow the number of world class graduates who not alone can work for tech and science based companies but who will also set up companies of their own as well as contribute to the wider society.”
Mr Hennessy challenged guidance counsellors to “actively encourage good students” to pursue programmes in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and said it was essential that schools, higher education institutions and industry interact to make students aware of emerging opportunities.
The news comes on foot of reports of record demand for higher level maths at Junior Cert level. Figures released by the State Examinations Commission this week have shown that two thirds of Junior Cert candidates are planning to take maths at higher level in the exam this year.
One in two Junior Cert students elected to take the higher paper last year, also a significant rise on previous years.
The move to higher maths in the Junior Cycle follows a considerable increase in demand at Leaving Cert level since the introduction of bonus CAO points for the subject.
The developments suggest students and parents are being influenced by the efforts of industry and government to encourage greater participation in science, maths and technology at all levels.
Fish DNA Makes Limbs Sprout in Mice
The genome of a primitive fish that was once thought to have died when the dinosaurs did has now been sequenced by scientists — and when put into mice, some of the fish DNA caused mice to sprout limbs.
The new analysis, described today (April 17) in the journal Nature, could help to reveal how primitive fish swapped their fins for limbs when they moved from land to sea.
The fish, called a coelacanth, seems to carry snippets of DNA that can turn on genes that code for forelimbs and hind limbs in mice. The new discovery could shed light on how four-legged creatures, called tetrapods, evolved.
“It really is a cornerstone from which we can view tetrapod evolution,” said study co-author Chris Amemiya, a geneticist at the Benaroya Research Institute in Seattle, Wash.
Living fossil
The coelacanth was once thought to have gone extinct about 70 million years ago, roughly around the time dinosaurs vanished. But in 1938, a fish trawler brought a bluish-purple, 3.3-foot-long (1 meter) fish with fleshy fins to the South African naturalist Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer. It turned out to be an African coelacanth.
Over the next several decades, scientists unearthed a few hundred of the elusive creatures living around the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean, as well as off parts of Indonesia.
The coelacanth intrigued scientists because it was a kind of “living fossil”: It had changed so little over the last 400 million years that it might reveal how fish first grew limbs and walked on land.
Deepening the mystery, other research showed that fish, mice and other animals carry many of the same genes. But in fish, those genes code for fins, whereas in land-based animals, they create limbs.
Mysterious genes
Because the fish were so endangered, it was difficult to study their body plan in detail. But Amemiya and his colleagues managed to get tissue samples from a coelacanth from the Comoros Islands.
Using that tissue, the team sequenced the primitive fish’s genome and analyzed it. They found a small snippet of DNA called an enhancer that was present in both coelacanths and four-legged creatures, but missing in other fish.
The enhancer was part of the “dark matter” of the genome — the large fraction of the genome that doesn’t code for proteins, but somehow turns genes on and off.
When they put the DNA snippet into mice, it seemed to turn on the genes to make the forelimbs and hind limbs in mice, Amemiya told LiveScience.
Limb beginnings
The coelacanth’s genome may harbor many more secrets to the evolution of limbs, said Nancy Manley, a developmental geneticist at the University of Georgia, who was not involved in the study.
“The genome really sets a path forward for the next 10 or 20 years,” said Scott Edwards, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University, who was not involved in the study.
But coelacanths aren’t the only primitive fish that could shed light on limb evolution. Another bizarre fish called the lungfish may actually be more closely related to four-legged creatures, “so that’s going to be an important species to look at,
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