News Ireland update Wednesday as told by Donie

Farming is officially the deadliest job in Ireland

                
FARMING is officially the most dangerous job in Ireland with more than one in three workplace deaths last year occurring in the farmyards.

There were 21 farm deaths on rural holdings all over the country in 2011, despite a decision by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) to double the number of farm inspections in a bid to reduce the death toll.

Tractors and machinery are the biggest killers on farms, with 80 people losing their lives in accidents with farm vehicles between 2000 and 2009.

Farm animals caused 15pc of farm deaths, while drowning and gas-related deaths made up 14pc of the toll. Falls on farms caused 10pc of fatalities.

Although farmers make up just 6pc of the working population, they accounted for 39pc of workplace fatalities in 2011, according to the HSA.

The HSA has found that half of farm deaths every year involve elderly farmers.

Dairy farms were found to be the most treacherous as they account for 57pc of the deaths but only make up 17pc of the farms.

The HSA also pinpointed “risk-taking behaviour” of farmers as a big factor in the high death rate.

While the average figure of deaths for a worker in the country is two in every 100,000, the odds are greatly narrowed when it comes to the rural occupation with 15 in every 100,000 workplace deaths occurring in agriculture and forestry.

Transport workers have the next most hazardous occupation, with 14pc of all deaths, while construction workers account for 11pc of fatalities.

In RTE’s ‘Ear to the Ground’ tonight, Galway farmer Peter Gohery tells how he barely escaped with his life in an accident on his family farm in October 2009. The accident amputated one leg, stripped a second to the bone, and broke two bones in his left arm.

Some homes still without electricity

& are cut off after storm force winds

    

The ESB said engineers have managed to return to power almost 15,000 homes – just 120 are still without electricity

Just 120 homes were still without electricity on Wednesday after storm-force winds battered the country.

ESB said engineers have managed to return power to almost 15,000 homes, but small pockets remain cut off, with Scariff in Co Clare, Carndonagh and Buncrana in Co Donegal, and Bagenalstown in Co Carlow worst-affected. Elsewhere, Eircom is continuing to fix more than 5,000 faults reported on its telecommunications network.

ESB spokesman Brian Montayne warned that some households may experience short power disruptions throughout the day as crews work to repair some faults which were temporarily fixed on Tuesday.

“We are expecting more winds today but not like yesterday,” he said. “It is important to get these repairs right so we ask customers to bear with us.”

Met Eireann has forecast gales during the day, with strong gale- force winds in the north, while outbreaks of rain over the north-west will spread to other areas and turn heavy.

Motorists are also being warned to take extra care during high winds.

Harry Blaney Bridge in Fanad, Co Donegal, is open to cars but is expected to remain closed to high-sided vehicles, caravans and motorcycles until later on Wednesday, due to strong winds.

On Tuesday, near-record hurricane winds were recorded off the north as an Atlantic storm brought gales gusting to 91 knots, 165kph (102mph) at Malin – a speed only surpassed seven times in Ireland.

Met Eireann said winds were strongest in Connacht and Ulster, with violent storm force 11 battering coasts between Bloody Foreland in Donegal and Fair Head in Co Antrim.

German Professor finds a way to beat male infertility

    

 Muenster University in Germany

Scientists have for the first time grown mouse sperm in a laboratory, a major breakthrough they claim may soon pave the way for production of artificial human semen that could help infertile men father their own children.

An international team, led by professor Stefan Schlatt at Muenster University in Germany, claims to have grown mouse sperm by using few germ cells in a laboratory dish. These are the cells in testicles responsible for semen production.

In fact, the scientists grew the sperm by surrounding the germ cells in a special compound called agar jelly to create an environment similar to that found in testicles . Mahmoud Huleihel, a team member from Israel’s Ben Gurion University in Beersheba, said: “We were able to produce viable sperm that could have been used to create baby mice.

The sperm appeared healthy and were not genetically damaged. I believe it will eventually be possible to routinely grow human male sperm to order by extracting tissue containing germ cells from a man’s testicle and stimulating sperm production in the laboratory.”

Now, the scientists, whose findings are published in the latest edition of the ‘Asian Journal of Andrology’ , have begun experiments that they claim would hopefully lead to the “Holy Grail” – human sperm grown outside a man’s body. “We have already applied the same tests as we did with mice in the laboratory, using human cells, but as yet have not had success. We are confident that if it can be done in a mammal such as a mouse it can be done in humans.

“We are experimenting with a number of different compounds to get the germ cells to grow into sperm. And we believe it will be possible, hopefully soon,” prof Huleihel said. Stephen Gordon, a leading male infertility consultant said, “This is an amazing development . It can revolutionize fertility treatment and allow every man to be a natural father.”

Ireland’s Military History Collection Archives go on-line for first time                                               

Click here for WEBSITE - MILITARYARCHIVES.IE.

   

Ireland’s Military Archives have been made available online for the first time.By March it plans to publish the Bureau of Military History Collection 1913 to 1921

Ireland’s Military Archives are now available online for the first time.

The Archives, which are held in Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines in Dublin, can now be accessed via a new:

website - militaryarchives.ie.

The site has been launched in conjunction with the National Archives of Ireland, and is designed to appeal to historians, genealogists and members of the public researching their family tree.

By March, it plans to publish the Bureau of Military History Collection 1913 to 1921, online, including 36,000 pages of witness statements, digitised and fully word searchable.

This will be followed by the first release of the Military Service Pensions Project – material which the Defence Forces say “will provide a major and never before seen insight into the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence in particluar”.

In Ireland 170 firms collapsed every month in the year 2011

 2011

New figures reveal that almost 170 companies failed every month in the first 11 months of 2011

New figures reveal that almost 170 companies collapsed every month in the first 11 months of 2011, owing nearly €1.2bn in unpaid unsecured debt.

According to the business intelligence analyst, Vision-net, between January and December, 1,930 Irish companies failed, which is up 20% on the same period in the previous year.

Of these, liquidations accounted for 73%, receiverships accounted for 26% and examinerships accounted for 1%.

On average, five companies were declared insolvent every day in 2011.

However, 14,439 new firms were incorporated, which is up 5% on the same period in 2010.

In the first 11 months of 2011, 26,154 business names were registered – 65% of them by individuals, 25% by companies and the remainder by partnerships.

Vision-net’s figures show that companies in the hotel and restaurant sector were hardest hit by the recession, with construction, real estate, the motor trade and the wholesale and retail sector badly affected.

Managing Director of Vision-net Christine Cullen said the figures show that it had been a very challenging year for the economy, with about five companies collapsing each day.

Ms Cullen said: “Our figures also show that companies in the hospitality and construction sectors have been hardest hit as discretionary spending in the economy slows significantly and the property market continues to contract.

“Consumer sentiment remains weak as unemployment rises and salaries drop against continuing turbulence in the global economy.

“Corporate insolvencies have risen by almost one-fifth over the same period in 2010 but the number of newly created companies is marginally up on showing that entrepreneurship remains a strong trait in the workforce.

“But in a move that is likely to thwart economic recovery, short-term unsecured creditors are still owed €1.19bn, which has serious knock-on effects for business cash flow, employment and consumer sentiment.”

3,000 Adults in Ireland and 2,000 Children are on ‘behaviour warnings’ Leading to ASBO’s

   

More than 3,000 adults in Ireland are just one step away from getting an ASBO. 

Antisocial Behaviour Orders were introduced in 2007 to stamp out hostile or disruptive activity in communities like loud music at night. 

Figures from the Department of Justice show that by the end of November last year, 3033 adults were on behaviour warnings, more than double the figure from two years before.

Almost 2,000 children were also issued with behaviour warnings, but the number of people on full ASBOs remains very small.

House prices down 50% since peak of the boom as further falls are expected

WARNING: Banks must do something or values will plummet even further

    

HOUSE prices have plunged by over 50pc since the peak of the boom — and the sharp fall is unlikely to stop anytime soon.

Two surveys published today reveal a stark outlook for homeowners, with prices set to plummet even further this year as the eurozone debt crisis rages on.

The average asking price for a property is now just over €175,000 — less than half of the €366,000 price tag homes fetched when prices reached their peak in 2007.

Experts have warned that unless banks start lending again to potential buyers and the economy experiences growth, prices will fall even further.

Property website Daft.ie has revealed that prices fell almost 8pc in the final three months of 2011, and a massive 18pc during the year overall.

SHOCKING: And MyHome.ie reported that prices dropped by 13pc over the past 12 months.

The average price of a house in Dublin is now estimated at €268,000 — a shocking 50pc drop since 2006. And some properties in the capital have fallen a dramatic 60pc in value.

Ronan Lyons, economist with Daft.ie, said that although people will see the drop in value of their homes as a bad thing, it is important that the market eventually bottoms out.

“It is tempting to see larger house price falls as a bad thing and no doubt many, particularly those in negative equity, will see this dramatic fall in those terms. But if the size of the correction in prices is determined by fundamental factors, then it is better for prices to race to the finishing line than crawl there.”

Mr Lyons added that without finance being made available by banks, there is a risk prices could fall by up to 65pc before coming back. “This is down to the banks who will not resume lending until the Government’s stress tests stop punishing them for doing so,” he added.