Closure threat to Dublin-Sligo rail line services
While no decision has yet been made to cut the Dublin-Sligo rail services, Irish Rail has confirmed to the Leader that “in view of the impact of the ongoing economic recession on our business, we have to examine the level of demand for our train services on all routes at all different times of the day and the week”.
Barry Kenny, Corporate Communications Manager at Irish Rail, confirmed in a statement: “Where there are trains that are greatly under-utilised, it may be necessary for us to amend the schedules accordingly.”
He added: “Before we can do this, we are required to obtain the approval of the National Transport Authority (NTA). We also intend to publish any draft schedules on our website, and invite our customers to give us feedback as part of a public consultation on the proposed schedules.”
Mr Kenny advised, however, that no changes would occur to the schedule for the remainder of 2012.
Speaking about passenger numbers on the Dublin-Sligo line, Mr Kenny confirmed that a total of 1.23 million passenger journeys were made on the line in 2011 and that “year-to-date 2012 sees demand largely unchanged”.
“The busiest times daily are the commuting focused hours (morning arrivals into Dublin, afternoon/early evening departures from Dublin), and Friday afternoon (Dublin-Sligo) and Sunday afternoon (Sligo-Dublin), would be the busiest times of the week.
“Journeys beyond the commuter belt on the 19:05 would be very low, indicating a limited demand for late evening services at present,” he added.
Monthly retail sales rise as overall annual trend stays negative
The volume of retail sales rose by 0.7 per cent in July as hardware, fuel and textile businesses recorded a modest increase in trade.
The volume of retail sales rose by 0.7 per cent in July as hardware, fuel and textile businesses recorded a modest increase in trade.
However, the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) data showed retail sales continued to fall on an annual basis, declining by 1.5 per cent year-on-year as the sector remained in the doldrums.
Separately, a KBC Ireland/ESRI survey showed a marked increase in Irish consumer sentiment in August which reached its highest level in almost five years as pessimistic views about the economy abated.
The index rose to 70 in August, up from 67.7 in July. Seven months out of last eight have now increased.
The CSO figures showed the volume of retail sales, excluding the volatile motor trade, increased by 1.1 per cent in July compared with the previous month, while there was an annual decrease of 0.5 per cent.
The sectors with the largest monthly volume increase were clothing, footwear and textiles (+5 per cent); hardware, paints and glass (+4.5 per cent); and fuel (+3.8 per cent).
A monthly decrease was seen in electrical goods (-1.9 per cent); bar trade (-1.7 per cent) as well as books, newspapers and stationery (- 0.9 per cent).
The figures showed the value of retail sales rose by 0.9 per cent in July following a drop of 1.5 per cent in June. This was the first monthly rise in the value of retail sales sine March. However, the annual change remained in the negative at -1.6 per cent.
Retail Excellence Ireland chief executive David Fitzsimons welcomed the increase in sales but warned the industry continues to be in a state of great distress”.
He said budget speculation is killing consumer sentiment. “We would ask the Government and media to refrain from any budget commentary until it is necessary to do so,” he said.
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association said the lack of consumer confidence was crippling the retail sector.
Isme chief executive Mark Fielding said: “The retail industry, with excess capacity, reduced consumer spend and rising government influenced costs has been attempting to adjust its cost base in the changed economic conditions.
“However the biggest costs to retailers, such as inequitable commercial rates, unrealistic rents and uncompetitive labour costs have remained stubbornly high. These costs, together with recent transport fuel increases continue to make life hell for SME retailers, who, due to pathetic government inaction, will result in more closures and job loses,” he said.
Ken Maginnis MP quits Ulster Unionist Party
Former Fermanagh South Tyrone MP Ken Maginnis is leaving the Ulster Unionist Party
Lord Ken Maginnis said the election of Mike Nesbitt as UUP leader was a “mistake”.
Mr Nesbitt said he regretted Lord Maginnis’s decision to leave the party. He said “recent matters could have been resolved”.
Lord Maginnis lost the party whip at Westminster in June after controversial comments about homosexuality on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan show.
The peer called homosexuality “unnatural and deviant”.
He says he has no regrets about those comments.
‘Offhand’
The unionist peer says he has had hundreds of messages of support for his opposition to gay marriage.
Lord Maginnis said he found the recent Gay Pride march through Belfast “offensive”.
The former MP said people did not want the moral values of society undermined, did not want a change in the age of sexual consent, and did not want the legalisation of paedophilia.
Lord Maginnis says he does not regret his comments about homosexuality
He said he had objected to the “thin end of the wedge” and thought the majority of people in Northern Ireland agreed with him.
He had fallen out with Mr Nesbitt over the Nolan show remarks, when he had ignored the leader’s rule that no party member should broadcast on the topic without first informing the Ulster Unionist press office.
Lord Maginnis said he had been treated in an offhand way by the current leader Mike Nesbitt, and had no intention of clearing his statements with the Ulster Unionist press office.
He argued that under Mr Nesbitt’s leadership the party had accelerated its demise in terms of its connection with the wider unionist community.
Lord Maginnis said that although he has resigned from the UUP he does not want to lead an exodus.
He was an MP for 18 years, from 1983 to 2001.
A former major in the Ulster Defence Regiment, Ken Maginnis was well known during the troubles, taking a strong line on security matters but a more moderate stance on political talks.
An MP from 1983, he strongly backed David Trimble’s decision to sign the Good Friday Agreement.
In more recent years Lord Maginnis played a role in securing the victories of first Tom Elliott then Mike Nesbitt as Ulster Unionist leaders.
Mr Nesbitt said Mr Maginnis’s departure was not the outcome he had been seeking although he said he would respect his decision.
“On behalf of the party and the unionist people more widely, we owe a debt of gratitude to Ken Maginnis,” he said.
“He was the sort of progressive unionist I admire. I regret we will not have access to his experience and expertise as we move to rebuild and revive this great party.”
Protest
Lord Maginnis was a member of the House of Commons Select Committee on Defence from 1984 to 1985 and a member of the House of Commons Select Committee that worked on the 1990 Armed Forces Bill.
He was chairman of the Southern Health and Social Services Board from 1989 – 1991.
As a member of the old Northern Ireland Assembly from 1982 – 1986, he was chairman of the security committee from 1983-86.
In 1987 he served a short term in prison for refusing to pay car tax in protest at the Anglo Irish Agreement.
He was a member of Dungannon District Council in County Tyrone from May 1981 to 1993.
In 1991 he was chairman of the council for a period under a local power-sharing arrangement.
Lord Maginnis worked as a teacher at Cookstown Secondary School in County Tyrone from 1959 to 1960, Drumglass Primary School, in Dungannon 1960 from 1966 and was principal of Pomeroy Primary School from 1966 to 1982.
Three well preserved 230-million-year-old insects found in Italy
(On the right) These 230-million year old pieces of amber each have an insect inside.
Scientists said on Monday they have found three well-preserved ancient insects frozen in amber – and time – in what may be Earth’s oldest bug trap.
The discovery in north-eastern Italy may sound like something out of Jurassic Park, but these bugs are even older than that.
They are about 230 million years old, which puts them in the Triassic time period. This also makes them about 100 million years older than the oldest insects previously found trapped in amber, or fossilised tree resin.
Mr Derek Briggs, Director of Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History, who was not part of the research, called the discovery tantalising, saying it could help researchers further understand how life evolved on land.
The discovery was reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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