News Ireland as told by Donie on Wednesday

A Sligo Judge tells woman to go home 

and steal in Mayo instead

  

A judge has branded a woman from the West a “complete and utter pest” and advised her to “go and steal in Mayo” instead.

 Judge Kevin Kilrane from Sligo jailed Margaret Horne for a month after she was caught stealing jewellery. Judge Kilrane called the woman a “compulsive” thief and told her: “You are not wanted here. Go home to Mayo.”

Reports that Ms Horne had previously committed theft in four shops on her way from court to take the bus home to Mayo. She admitted the offences.

Last June, Horne stole goods from four separate shops after being warned to go home to Mayo minutes before she committed the crime. In a previous sitting, Jude Kilrane had told Ms Horne that if she had a future hospital appointment, she should keep it in Mayo rather than Sligo.

Judge Kilrane said that he had no option but to jail Horne at Monday’s sitting of Sligo District Court. Speaking bluntly, the Judge told the defendant: “If you are going to steal – go and steal in Mayo, not here. We don’t want you here.”

So basically, she has to leave town by sundown or there’ll be trouble.

An outright ban on selling alcohol in shops & Supermarkets is urged by a new report on Alcohol & Drugs misuse

  

MINISTER FITZGERALD ABOVE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROTECTION AND WELFARE OF CHILDREN

A BAN on the sale of alcohol in supermarkets and garages should be considered by Government, a new report on alcohol and drugs has said.

The Report on the Misuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs, from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, recommended an outright ban should be considered “in the longer term” in such outlets.

The committee’s chairman, Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer, said members believed the proliferation of outlets for alcohol had led to an increase in consumption.

“Nobody wants to see people’s livelihoods being diminished or being damaged, but there comes a time when you have to say what is in the best interest of the public and public health,” he said.

Produced after consultation with stakeholders and other interested bodies, the report made 13 recommendations.

These included that the voluntary code of practice in the retail industry, which stipulates where alcohol is located in a store, should be abolished and replaced with statutory codes to ensure alcohol is kept in a separate area to other goods. It also recommended a ban on home deliveries of alcohol, a ban on all retail advertising on discounted alcohol, the introduction of a 9pm watershed for alcohol advertising on TV and a ban on advertising of alcohol on social networking websites.

And it said the Government should end VAT refunds on alcohol sold below cost.

The importation of cannabis seeds should be criminalised, the report said, and stricter controls on the importation and prescribing of benzodiazepines, such as Valium, should be introduced.

The report recommended the Government should consider new educational initiatives to highlight the implications of alcohol and drug misuse to “influence the prevailing cultural attitudes”.

And it said the medical card should cover rehabilitation treatment for alcohol addiction.

Not all of the committee agreed with the Government decision to introduce a minimum sale price for alcohol, the report said. A minority supported an increase in taxes on alcohol instead.

The report said alcohol consumption in Ireland had risen from almost five litres per person a year in 1960 to 11.3 litres in 2009 and some 2,000 hospital beds were occupied every day due to alcohol-related illness.

Describing alcohol as the “national drug”, Mr Buttimer said the aim of the report was to highlight the prevalence of alcohol and other drugs in society.

“The report hopes to bring about a change in attitudes towards the misuse of alcohol by illustrating the huge personal and economic costs caused by hazardous drinking,” he said.

Fiona Ryan, director of Alcohol Action Ireland, welcomed the report. She said the recommendations showed “real leadership” and went to the heart of the problems by focusing on pricing, availability and marketing.

Evelyn Jones, chairwoman of the National Off-licence Association, also welcomed the report. She said legislation was already in place to enforce codes around separating alcohol from other goods in-store, but had not been enacted.

Galway shops ‘are used as changing rooms’ 

For online buying

Chamber warns of threat to jobs from new shopping trend’s

    

Younger clothes shoppers are using Shop Street as “one big changing room” before purchasing the same items online, which has the potential to cause further job losses in the retail sector, Galway Chamber of Commerce has warned.

But Chamber Chief Executive Michael Coyle said the perception that goods are cheaper online isn’t always the case.

He said shoppers are regularly visiting stores in the city centre – particularly ‘brand name’ shops – to try on clothes, take down the product code and then search for the same item online.

“We’ve been hearing of this over the last couple of years and it seems to be in a specific market segment – the younger generation who have disposable income through an allowance or living expenses that are funding, and are adept in the IT and social media area, so they can ferret out value.

“I’m not saying they do it every time, but they are very price conscious and when it comes to the big brands, it can resulting in them pounding the shopping streets, identifying what they want and then trying to source it online. Stores are busy with people trying on clothes, they are seeing the footfall, but it’s not translating to sales at the tills.

“There is a perception, though, that you will get a better deal online that you will face-to-face. But people tend to ignore the postage and duty being charged when it is delivered to their door.

“It’s unfair to use shops as a changing room, but at the end of the day, the customer is king and is driven to get the best value – that in no way reflects on the fantastic value on Galway’s streetscape,” said Mr Coyle.

He said it was very difficult to ascertain the scale of the problem, but admitted that it could cost jobs in the retail sector in Galway.

Institutes of Technology to join forces to plan Irish ‘technological universities’ in BMW region

    

SLIGO LEFT, LETTERKENNY CENTRE AND GALWAY-MAYO INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGIES 

The five institutes of technology in Ireland’s border, midlands and west (BMW) region are thrashing out the idea of creating a technological university, which would also ignite greater linkages with local industry.

Plans are well advanced to form what would be Ireland’s largest higher education institution. Negotiations are ongoing between Institutes of Technology in Donegal, Dundalk, Galway, Athlone and Sligo to establish the Border Midlands West Technological University.

If agreement can be reached, and the plans approved by Government, the University would have 27,000 students.

Letterkenny IT President Paul Hannigan told Highland Radio: “This arises from the National Higher Education Strategy last year. It suggests that some institutes of technology may go through a process to form technological universities.”