‘Phil the household Hogan’
Sent condescending text to woman & said to relax and ‘feed the kids’
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Phil the ‘Household’ Hogan along comes an allegation that he sent a un-sensitive, condescending text to a concerned constituent.
When you’re a minister and you’re continuously being described in the news as ‘embattled’, things aren’t going well. So, that’s exactly the time you want to avoid being involved in an abusive text allegation.
But that’s just what happened to Phil. A woman from his Carlow-Kilkenny constituency text the big man to say that children were going hungry while people scrimped to pay the €100 household charge.
She says that she was shocked to get a smug text from the minister reading: “Would u ever relax. And feed the children”. A text which, if it’s true, is not exactly the way to endear the public to you or show that you’re one of the people.
The woman, who’s declining to be named, has made a complaint to the Department of the Taoiseach. She told the Irish Sun: “I was concerned for children suffering so I texted him. His response was unprofessional, disrespectful, arrogant and hard. It was an insult to me and to those who are in serious difficulties.”
So, another Government minister smugly condescending to people. Maybe Shatter and Hogan should ‘relax’ and ‘get a life’!
‘Research shows that’
Intelligent people take less sick time leave
Intelligent people take less sick leave, according to atudy showing a “clear” link between low intellectual ability and long-term work absence.
Intelligent people are more likely to find alternative types of employment if they have to take sick leave
Cognitive ability at a young age has a ”strong impact” on whether sickness stops people from working several decades later, the researchers said.
The study involved more than 23,000 people whose cognitive behaviour was measured in either 1946, 1958 or 1970.
In the 1946 group, 47 per cent of those who were on long-term sick leave had been in the bottom quarter of childhood ability, compared to 13 per cent who were in the highest category.
Some 41 per cent of those off sick from the 1958 cohort were in the lowest quartile of ability, while 32 per cent of the 1970 interviewees were also in this category.
The authors, writing in the journal BMJ Open, stated that over 2.5 million people receive health-related benefits in the UK, including Incapacity Benefit and Employment and Support Allowance.
They claimed that strategies to reduce long-term sick leave should involve education.
”Our findings suggest that health is only one factor in understanding long-term sickness absence.
“We suggest that education should form part of the policy response to long-term sickness absence: for future generations, equipping children with skills necessary for labour market flexibility may inoculate them from the risk of long-term sickness absence,” they wrote.
According to the study low cognitive ability and/or educational attainment is ”likely” to limit the ability to transfer skills. It gives the example of a person with few skills who goes off sick from a labouring job having few options to find alternative employment.
The report, written by experts including Max Henderson of King’s College London, concluded: ”Long-term sick leave is a complex outcome with many risk factors beyond health.
”Cognitive abilities might impact on the way individuals are able to develop strategies to maintain their employment or rapidly find new employment when faced with a range of difficulties.”
New drink-aware.ie campaign
To promote a more moderate drinking style in Ireland
A new campaign being launched today by drinkaware.ie is focusing its efforts on getting Irish drinkers to adopt a more moderate drinking style.
The main message being relayed in the new drinkaware.ie campaign – you can have an exclusive preview of the TV and radio ads here - is that Irish drinkers should slow things down when they’re having a few pints. This campaign is the second major phase of drinkaware.ie’s “Rethinking Our Drinking” initiative and it’s come just in time for the Easter weekend.
The Chief Executive of drinkaware.ie, Fionnuala Sheehan said, “While drinkaware.ie’s campaigns to date have sought to confront society generally, and young people in particular, this campaign has a particular focus on how we drink in Ireland.
“Based on the CSO’s March 2012 adult population figures, the average Irish adult consumed 11.6 litres of pure alcohol (lpa) in 2011, some 3% less than the recently published 11.97 lpa figure for 2010.
“There is still a need to address our style and pattern of drinking in Ireland. While we drink relatively infrequently compared to our European counterparts, we drink a relatively large amount on an occasion of drinking, and we drink at a faster pace.”
According to a Euro-barometer Survey published in 2010, 3% of Irish adult drinkers drink on a daily basis. This is compared with 43% of people in Portugal who have a daily tipple. Around 69% of EU alcohol consumers usually have 2 drinks or less on a drinking occasion. In contrast, research from Millward Browne Lansdowne (MLB) found that the average number of drinks consumed by Irish drinkers during their last session was 5.6 in the pub/club, and 4.2 at home.
So as you can see we don’t drink as often as our European neighbours, but when we do, we go on a bit of a binge and the message from Drink Awareis that that needs to change.
Ms Sheehan added, “Our new ‘Pacing’ campaign challenges our drinking style, encourages us to take control of our drinking, and motivates us to enjoy the benefits of a more moderate style of drinking.
“Today’s launch marks the start of a journey towards a more moderate drinking pace in Ireland. We are encouraged by the findings in MLB’s January 2012 research; 70% of respondents felt that 1-2 standard drinks per hour was a reasonable drinking pace.”
There’s loads more information for pacing yourself over at drinkaware.ie, so why not head on over for a gander, and again, the TV & radio ads, which debut on the national airwaves tomorrow (Wednesday), are worth a look.
Donegal private nursing home six patients died from influenza
The Health Service Executive has confirmed that six residents who died after becoming ill at a private nursing home in Co Donegal had contracted influenza.
Flu the cause of Fahan, Donegal, six nursing home deaths
Six residents who died after becoming ill at a private nursing home in County Donegal had contracted influenza, the Irish Health and Safety Executive has said.
Five of the deaths at Nazareth House in Fahan were in the last five days.
The HSE said tests confirmed that influenza was the cause of the respiratory type illness amongst the residents in the private nursing home.
Samples were tested by the National Virus Reference Laboratory.
The HSE said all residents in the nursing home have received either active or preventative treatment for influenza.
Eleven of the 39 are believed to be showing symptoms.
Dr Darina O’ Flanagan, director of the HSE, said: “The results prove that the measures put in place by the Public Health Department of HSE North West have been appropriate since they became aware of the tragic deaths of residents in the nursing home.”
Dr Peter Wright, director of public hHealth, HSE North West added: “The public health department in HSE North West continues to closely manage and monitor the situation.
“While flu is usually a relatively mild infection it can be a very serious illness among the elderly and is a common cause of death in older people.
“People visiting older residents of the Nazareth nursing home and healthcares staff should ensure that their vaccinations for influenza are up to date.”
It is understood that all of those who died at the nursing home, which is close to Buncrana, were over 80 years old.
Cloud computing is the ‘key to jobs plan for Ireland’
The Government is investing more than one million euro in cloud computing
Ireland could become a world leader in cloud computing thanks to a new 1.2 million euro research programme. Jobs and Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton announced theGovernment investment into the fast-growing technology as part of its Action Plan for Jobs.
“A key part of this Government’s plan for growth and jobs is identifying areas where we believe Ireland has distinct advantages compared to other countries, and taking steps necessary to ensure that we realise our potential in those areas,” said Mr Bruton.
“Cloud computing is one such sector, and the Government believes that between our climate, skills base, telecoms connectivity and existing strengths in ICT, we have the potential to reap substantial benefits in terms of jobs and growth from the global expansion of this sector.”
Cloud computing allows people to store applications and software with companies in “the cloud”, which can be accessed from anywhere over the internet.
The 1.2 million euro investment will be made into a Cloud Computing Technology Research Centre, which will bring academic researchers together aimed at generating business ideas and boosting growth in the sector.
The centre will be made up of a group of higher education institutions including researchers from University College Cork and the Athlone Institute of Technology. Funding will be allocated over the next 12 months.
“Through the Action Plan for Jobs, I am determined to continue implementing change to ensure that Ireland realises its potential in this area and contribute to the jobs and growth we so badly need,” Mr Bruton went on.
Research will focus on cloud computing technology architecture, design and operation, as well as service management and cloud security.
Enterprise Ireland director of ICT commercialisation Gearoid Mooney said the research will be vital to help Irish companies adopt the technology. He said: “Having the capacity to do computing this way is one thing but software companies have to figure out how to make best use of this technology.
Yang Guang – Sunshine – and Tian Tian – Sweetie Together now as hopes for Panda Cubs at Edinburgh Zoo rises
Left photo: Giant pandas Yang Guang, right, and Tian Tian & right photo two baby pandas
The two pandas at Edinburgh Zoo have been brought together in the hope that they will get on well enough to create some baby pandas.
Yang Guang – Sunshine – and Tian Tian – Sweetie – have just two days to become friendly enough to mate or else Tian Tian’s hormones will be on the wane and she will not be eligible for more romance for another 12 months.
Female pandas ovulate just once a year and experts at the zoo had seen signs that their panda was at the right stage to conceive.
Zoo keepers opened a ‘love tunnel’ between the pair’s enclosures but despite being put together five times, for about 15 minutes on each occasion, they have so far failed to mate.
An Edinburgh Zoo spokeswoman said, however, there were “very positive” signs from the meetings.
“Just before each meeting, Tian Tian called out incessantly to Yang Guang and pressed her paws and nose up to the grate separating them.
“Her body language was also very encouraging. Yang Guang has responded promisingly each time.
“Yang Guang showed little aggression during their time together, which included him mounting Tian Tian and panda wrestling.
“Although both pandas have bred before naturally whilst still in China, and both have borne cubs, they are still a relatively inexperienced pair.
“Pandas are only fertile for three days, but it is important to stress we are only at the very early stages of Tian Tian’s breeding season.”
Keepers were on hand to separate the bears if they fall out instead of falling in love, which is not uncommon.
Sunshine weighs 20 stone and Sweetie is not that much slimmer at 14 stone so they could cause considerable physical damage to one another if not kept a sharp eye on.
The zoo is very hopeful of future cubs because Sweetie has already given birth in China to twins while Sunshine has fathered a cub.
If the pair fail to get together naturally, the zoo has said it will consider artificial insemination.
The exact time of gestation is not clear but experts say the time from mating to birth ranges from 95 to 160 days.
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