Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Anti-water charge protests groups around Ireland plan another national day

  

Anti-water charges groups from around the country have announced plans for another national day of demonstration.

60 groups from across the country have decided to join forces, in order to bolster their opposition to the fees.

Up to 300 people attended a forum in Dublin earlier where plans for a large protest in Dublin this coming July were discussed.

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy has said that it is important that the campaign reaches every corner of the country.

“This is really a campaign to make sure that every part of the country has active local groups giving people the arguments why not to pay,” said Deputy Murphy.

“People need to see that in their local community there are other people like them who are not paying and that gives them confidence to stick together. So we had a series of workshops about how that can take place across the country. People can fundraise and organise street meetings, public meetings and protests.”

Over 500 migrants rescued by Irish Navy Vessel the LÉ Eithne this weekend

    

Over 500 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean by the Irish Navy Vessel the LÉ Eithne this weekend.

Efforts are continuing to save more people tonight as hundreds more flee war torn countries during a good spell of weather.

A British ship the HMS Bulwark has more than a thousand migrants on board this evening.

One of them, Abdul Karim Saleh says he left Sudan with a toothbrush, a passport photo of himself and a few hundred euro, leaving his family behind.

“My brothers and sisters are very young, I came to try to help them. We have no schools, we have no hospitals, so it is a difficult life,” said Mr Saleh.

Mayo investment of €180m. to create 130 jobs on new power generating station

   

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has announced a new 42 megawatt biomass combined heat and power generating station is to be built in Mayo with the creation of 350 jobs over the next two years. 

The location of the project is the old Ashai site in Killala and will involve an investment of €180 million.

The company involved, Mayo Renewable Power, is backed by an American investment company based in New Jersey, Weichert Enterprise.

Stated Deputy Kenny: “I thank Gerald Crotty, the chairman of Mayo Renewable Power, for selecting Mayo as the location for the power station and for his determination in seeing this important project through.

“Building work will start on the site this month and will give employment of up to 350 people during the two-year construction phase.

“When in operation up to 30 people will be employed full-time at the plant and in excess of 100 will be employed indirectly in growing, harvesting, transport and other ancillary services associated with the plant.

“This investment is a vote of confidence in the Irish economy and is part of the recovery that is beginning to spread to every region of Ireland.
It will be the largest biomass power station to have been built in this country to date and will contribute to reducing our greenhouse emissions.

“The overarching objective of the Government’s energy policy is to ensure secure and sustainable supplies of competitively priced energy to all consumers. Bioenergy has a critical role to play in meeting our target to ensure 16% of our energy requirements come from renewable sources by 2020.

“In order to meet this target, Ireland is committed to meeting 40% of electricity demand, 12% of its heat, and 10% of its transport, from renewable sources. The new Mayo plant will help us meet our targets.

“The power station will burn biomass such as Willow, Spruce, Miscanthus and Mesquite, and the ‘waste heat’ from the station will be used in an adjoining fuel processing plant to refine the biomass for commercial use.

“This will offer a great opportunity to farmers in the region to grow biomass crops which require little maintenance and where they will have a ready market for sales.

“This investment is another positive announcement for Mayo and will, no doubt, assist in attracting further investment to the country.”

Why are signs up and down the UK losing their letters?

   

Have you noticed letters conspicuously missing from cinemas, street signs, and book shops around the country? Bu there’s a very important reason why it happens.

It’s National Blood Week starting from June 8 and NHS Blood and Transplant have launched the campaign, to highlight the need for more blood donors.

The letters A, O, and B have gone missing on signs for Odeon, Waterstones, and even Downing Street.

There are 40% fewer new blood donors now than there were 10 years ago and, if we want the nation’s blood stocks to remain at a safe level for the future, 204,000 new volunteers are needed to come forward this year.

A, O, and B are the letters which make up the blood types, and the campaign is hoping to show that unless more donations are made, types could go missing and there may not be enough available for patients when they need it.

Fake Orca whale capsizes in effort to scare off seal lions out of Oregon port

   

There’s some-fin fishy about that orca, isn’t there? Hang on, that’s not a real Orca at all!

Whale whale whale, what do we have here? Whale hello there.

In an effort to scare off sea lions from the docks of the Oregon coast docks, a fake, life-size orca with a human man sitting inside (no, we’re not making this up) was spotted bobbing about in the sea.

The 32ft killer whale replica made the usually boisterous sea lions silent with fear as he sailed into view on Thursday night. However, his intimidating presence didn’t last long as the orca-boat capsized and floated around belly-up for some time. Having a whale of a time (Joshua Bessex/AP) It all got a little bit over-whale-ming (Joshua Bessex/AP)

Still, Port of Astoria executive director Jim Knight says there’s “a chance” they’ll try the orca again today.

Earlier on Thursday, officials had to find a replacement motor for the 32-foot replica that belongs to a whale watching business. It was brought overland from Bellingham, Washington. John Wilfer, whale driver The Oregon sea lions think the ocra boat looks a  bit seal The presence of sea lions hanging out near Astoria put jobs as risks as they damage docks, prevent boaters from using the docks and eat lots of salmon.

Endangered ducklings take their first paddle at UK zoo

   

Two very rare, and very cute white-winged ducklings have been spotted paddling in their pond for the first time at Chester Zoo.

The pair who hatched out last month were caught on camera enjoying their first dip with their mum.

The species are listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

It’s thought there are as few as 250 white-winged ducks left in the wild.

They birds are normally found near swamps and woodlands but widespread destruction of forests and wetlands means they are under threat.