5,000 jobs created by the IDA in Ireland so far this year,
But big challenges lie ahead
IDA chief executive Barry O’Leary
THE IDA said today its client companies have created some 5,000 jobs so far this year. In its half year report the development agency said this year’s performance followed the creation of 13,000 positions last year.
After job losses are removed, companies backed by the IDA employed a net 6,000 new people in 2011 – the best performance in 10 years.
Chief executive Barry O’Leary said the numbers were positive for “Ireland Inc” but added that more and more countries were competing with Ireland to attract investment from overseas.
”Due to a lack of domestic demand and budget deficits many countries are ramping up their attempts to attract inward investment, and that is making the playing field for getting foreign companies to come here much more competitive than ever,” he said.
Mr O’Leary highlighted the wide range of companies that have invested in Ireland and claimed that was a testament to the reputation the country has earned and rebuilt since the economic crash but warned the global economic problems could cause issues going forward.
“There are challenging headwinds facing IDA and Ireland with little growth in European demand, moderate growth in the US and a slowdown in the economies of China and India,” he claimed.
Republic of Ireland growth in 2011 twice Previous estimate’s @ 1.4%
The Republic of Ireland’s growth rate last year was double previous estimates at 1.4% but this year started badly, official figures show.
The revision to the 2011 figures came after the final quarter of last year was shown to have grown 0.7%, rather than shrunk 0.2% as had been thought.
It means Ireland escaped technical recession last year – two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
But the economy shrank by 1.1% in the first three months of this year.
The figures were produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Ireland is struggling to get its economy back on its feet after it was forced to ask for an 85bn-euro (£67bn) bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in November 2010.
It has been cutting public spending and raising revenue.
A visit from the so-called troika of officials overseeing the austerity programme – the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - has just ended.
It was the group’s seventh review of the country’s economic programme and concluded the policy implementations are on track in what it called a “challenging environment”.
In a sign of returning confidence, earlier this month the Irish government took its first tentative step back into private capital markets after two years, raising 500m euros in a small-sized issue of three-month bills.
The troika review mission said it had supported the country’s return to the open market.
It concluded that there were specific problems affecting the economy, including household debt levels and unemployment, which it said was “unacceptably high”.
Galway University Hospital Cancer services to continue
Galway University Hospital is to continue as one of three satellite centres providing oesophagogastric cancer services, according the Labour Deputy Derek Nolan.
Galway University Hospital is to remain one of three satellite centres providing oesophagogastric cancer services nationally.
While fears had been expressed recently that treatment for oesophageal and stomach cancer could be withdrawn from the West, Deputy Derek Nolan confirmed today that the current facilities would be maintained.
He continued to add that this was excellent news for Galway as it will ensure that patients will continue to access radical surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy in the city with further access to the collective expertise and experience across all four centres.
“This is very welcome news for Galway residents as there had been some speculation that services for oesophageal and stomach cancer – which are together called oesophagogastric cancer – could be withdrawn this year. This would have meant that some cancer patients would have been forced to travel to Dublin every year for treatment,” he explained.
“These fears were without foundation and today we can categorically confirm that Galway University Hospital, which is a centre of excellence for this type of cancer along with Beaumont Hospital, St James’ Hospital and the Mercy Hospital in Cork, will continue its great work to save the lives of people who are enduring this terrible disease.”
Two people killed in Donegal and Sligo crashes
The N13 in Donegal on the left, and the 26-year-old man was pronounced dead at Sligo General Hospital
AN 18-YEAR-OLD MAN has died following a crash involving two cars in Donegal.
The teenager was the sole occupant of one of the cars involved in the crash, which happened just before midnight last night at Callan in Drumkeen.
He was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital where he died this afternoon as a result of his injuries.
The two people in the other vehicle – a 38-year-old male driver and a 23-year-old female passengers – are being treated for their injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening.
The N13 road was closed to allow for Garda investigators to examine the scene but has since reopened.
Elsewhere, a 26-year-old man was killed in a motorcycle crash at Doonamarry, Ballygawley in Sligo at 8.20pm last night.
He was taken to Sligo General Hospital but was later pronounced dead.
Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to both accidents.
How your brain paralyzes muscles while you sleep
DURING REM SLEEP—THE DEEP SLEEP WHERE MOST RECALLED DREAMS OCCUR—YOUR EYES CONTINUE TO MOVE BUT THE REST OF THE BODY’S MUSCLES ARE STOPPED, POTENTIALLY TO PREVENT INJURY.
The discovery that two brain chemical systems team-up to paralyze muscles during sleep could offer clues to sleep disorder.
The chemical systems work together to paralyze skeletal muscles during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, according to a study published in the July 11 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. The finding may help scientists better understand and treat disorders, including narcolepsy, tooth grinding, and REM sleep behavior disorder.
In a series of experiments, University of Toronto neuroscientists Patricia L. Brooks and John H. Peever found that the neurotransmitters gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine caused REM sleep paralysis in rats by “switching off” the specialized cells in the brain that allow muscles to be active. This finding reversed earlier beliefs that glycine was a lone inhibitor of these motor neurons.
“The study’s findings are relevant to anyone who has ever watched a sleeping pet twitch, gotten kicked by a bed partner, or has known someone with the sleep disorder narcolepsy,” says Dennis J. McGinty, a behavioral neuroscientist and sleep researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study.
“By identifying the neurotransmitters and receptors involved in sleep-related paralysis, this study points us to possible molecular targets for developing treatments for sleep-related motor disorders, which can often be debilitating,” McGinty says.
The researchers measured electrical activity in the facial muscles responsible for chewing of sleeping rats. Brain cells called trigeminal motor neurons communicate the brain’s message to move to these muscles. Previous research suggested neurotransmitter receptors called ionotropic GABAA/glycine receptors in the motor neurons caused REM sleep paralysis. However, when the researchers blocked these receptors, REM sleep paralysis still occurred.
The researchers found that to prevent REM sleep paralysis, they had to block both the ionotropic receptors and metabotropic GABAB receptors, a different receptor system. In other words, when the motor cells were cut off from all sources of GABA and glycine, the paralysis did not occur, allowing the rats to exhibit high levels of muscle activity when their muscles should have been inactive. The data suggest the two neurotransmitters must both be present together to maintain motor control during sleep, rather than working separately.
The finding could be especially helpful for those with REM sleep disorder, a disease that causes people to act out their dreams. This can cause serious injuries to patients and others around them. It is also often an early indicator of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s.
“Understanding the precise mechanism behind these chemicals’ role in REM sleep disorder is particularly important because about 80 percent of people who have it eventually develop a neurodegenerative disease, such as Parkinson’s disease,” study author Peever adds. “REM sleep behavior disorder could be an early marker of these diseases, and curing it may help prevent or even stop their development,” he says.
This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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