Donie's all Ireland news BLOG Wednesday

Irish economy recovery begins as employment figures grow

           

The unemployment rate remained at 14.1 per cent in February, unchanged from January.

Employment figures published today give the strongest indication in half a decade that economic recovery has begun.

For the first time since the recession started in 2008, the numbers at work in the economy have risen over a six month period.

In the final quarter of the year, 1.85 million people were in jobs, a rise of 6,500 on three months earlier, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Central Statistics Office.

Revisions to the third quarter data now show that growth was also recorded in that period. It is the first time since employment began to contract in 2008 that jobs growth has been recorded in two consecutive quarters.

This growth, combined with people leaving the jobs market, led to a decline in the numbers formally unemployed by more than 12,000 between the third and fourth quarters of last year.

The number of unemployed stood at 303,500 in the final three months of last year. That amounts to 14.2 per cent of the labour force.

The gradual decline in the unemployment rate has been on-going for a year. It peaked at 15 per cent at the beginning of 2012.

The momentum in the labour market in the second half of last year appears to have continued into 2013.

Separate figures on the jobless benefit claimant count, also published today by the CSO, show the numbers in receipt of benefits continued to fall in the first two months of the year.

In February, 428,000 people were receiving unemployment benefits on a seasonally adjusted basis. This is more than 20,000 lower than the peak figures, reached eighteen months ago.

From these figures, the CSO estimates that the unemployment rate stood at 14.1 per cent in February.

CSO figures show that 87,000 people left Ireland in the 12 months to April 2012, including 46,500 Irish nationals.

The CSO household survey on the labour market found the biggest annual increases in employment were in agriculture, forestry and fishing, up 12.1 per cent or 9,7000. The information and communication sectors were up 7 per cent or 5,400.

Irish Government pledges new scheme to take place of mobility allowance and motorised transport grant

  

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told the Dáil that over €10m, allocated for the mobility allowance and the motorised transport grants this year, will be ring-fenced for a new scheme that will be legally compliant.

Mr Kenny said that the Government had no choice but to close the grants to new applicants and that it would spend the next four months devising the new scheme.

The schemes will be closed to new applicants with immediate effect.

Those currently in receipt of the mobility allowance will continue to receive it for another four months.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin told the Dáil that 5,000 people would be affected by the move and described it as scandalous and reprehensible.

Earlier, Minister of State Kathleen Lynch said the Government “agonised” over its decision to scrap schemes, but had no choice.

The minister said that they were illegal, and could have cost the Exchequer between €170m and €300m to extend eligibility to them in order to comply with the Equal Status Act.

Ms Lynch said she was aware of the hardship the decision would impose.

However, she said the Government could not afford to extend the scheme and could not continue to operate outside the law.

Ms Lynch said the money that funded the scheme has been ring-fenced.

She said that HSE is conducting a review into the transport needs of those in receipt of the payments, and that the “only reassurance” she could offer them is that those needs will be met into the future.

The minister also said that a “full Government approach” was being taken to examine how to introduce a universally accessible transport system.

Decision came as ‘bolt out of the blue’

Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has said the Government gave no indication it was going to scrap the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant scheme.

Ms O’Reilly said the decision came as a “bolt out of the blue”.

A few months ago, the Ombudsman had found that the schemes were being operated illegally by the Department of Health and the HSE.

Their operation contravened the Equal Status Act because they excluded applicants over 66 years and she had recommended that they be brought in line with the law.

After initially accepting her recommendation in April 2011, Ms O’Reilly said the department said last year that these changes would be too expensive.

However, she said that just three weeks ago Minister for Health James Reilly and Minister of State Kathleen Lynch gave no indication that the schemes would be scrapped when they appeared before an Oireachtas committee.

Instead, Ms O’Reilly said they had announced that a review group would be set up to examine the schemes and bring them in line with the law.

The Ombudsman said she understands that the decision to scrap the scheme followed advice from the Attorney General.

In a statement last night, Ms O’Reilly said she hoped that the Government’s promised review of the transport needs of people with disabilities would proceed as speedily as possible.

She said it is entirely regrettable that the department’s failure to tackle these matters in a timely, coherent and rational manner has now imposed hardship on more than 5,000 people with disabilities, who will find their transport needs compromised when the schemes are discontinued.

Disability Federation CEO ‘appalled’ by decision

Disability Federation of Ireland CEO John Dolan said he is “appalled” at the decision to discontinue the schemes.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Dolan said that news of the cut had come “out of the blue”, and compared it to the consultation process that preceded the new agreement on the public service agreement.

“We have here, no consultation, no engagement, out of the blue comes a statement that says people who are living on less than €200 a week, €10,000 a year, with an extra at the max of this scheme, an extra €2,500, will have that taken away, that’s a 20%, an up to 20% cut,” Mr Dolan said.

“This strikes right at the heart of people who are already, like everyone else, struggling to make ends meet.”

Mr Dolan said that despite a three-year review of the Department of Health’s Disability Services Programme, the department choose not to review these travel allowances, even though it was aware of the Ombudsman’s concerns that their terms were too narrow.

He was critical of what he called the department’s “Bart Simpson approach” where he said it seeks to blame others for the decisions it makes, which have a negative impact on those with disabilities.

“This department is a sick bureaucratic monster, if you go back to last August it blamed the Troika for taking €10m out of PA (personal assistant) services for people with disabilities, yesterday and today it’s blaming the equality legislation and the Ombudsman.

“There is a major issue for a Government that says it’s beyond Kathleen Lynch and it’s beyond the Department of Health.

“There’s an issue here for the Government to get to grips with a department that seems to be coming up with a Bart Simpson approach to everything, it’s always someone else’s fault that we have to screw people with disabilities to the floor.”

Disability rights campaigner Suzy Byrne described the decision to end the schemes as a “disgrace”.

She said the decision will hit those on waiting lists for the allowances very hard.

Up to 4,700 people receive a mobility allowance and 300 receive a motorised transport grant.

China is Ireland’s next major key export destination

  

China is expected to become the fourth biggest export destination for Ireland by 2030, experts have predicted.

HSBC’s global trade forecasts have identified the UK, the USA and German as the top three destinations.

But it said that the main growth areas for its exports lie in emerging Asia.

“This is evidenced by forecasted growth in exports to China of 11pc per annum in the period 2016 to 2030,” HSBC said.

“Alongside China, the forecasts also show India and Vietnam as the fastest-growing export markets to 2030, with Malaysia and Indonesia also becoming increasingly important.”

Ireland’s overall export performance is expected to be relatively favourable compared to its Western European peers.

Exports will be driven by chemicals, pharmaceuticals, scientific apparatus, and IT equipment.

Monroe’s of Galway is Ireland’s music Venue of Year 2012

  

Galway music venue Monroe’s has been named the IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year.

The winners in the Regional Categories were: The Olympia (Dublin); The Set Theatre, Kilkenny (Rest of Leinster); Glór Irish Music Centre, Ennis, Co Clare (Munster); McGrory’s, Culdaff, Co Donegal (Ulster) and Róisín Dubh, Galway (Connacht).

Electric Picnic was named IMRO Festival of the Year and @ The Marquee Cork was IMRO Best Small Festival.

The overall winner of the Hot Press Live Music Venue of the Year was The O2, as voted for by readers, with special commendations for the Set Theatre in Kilkenny and the Cork Opera House.

Victor Finn, CEO of the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO), said: “An extensive and vibrant venue network is the lifeblood of any strong live music sector. These awards acknowledge and applaud those venues and festivals throughout Ireland that excel in creating a memorable and exhilarating environment for music fans and performers alike.

“We would like to congratulate all of the winning and nominated venues and festivals and pay tribute to the contribution that they make to local communities from a cultural and economic perspective.”

Fish oil can protect people against skin cancer,  

A new study claims

 

Taking a regular dose of fish oil rich in omega-3 could help protect against skin cancer, a new study has claimed.

The University of Manchester researchers carried out the first clinical trial to examine the impact of the fish oil on the skin immunity of volunteers.

The study found that taking a regular dose of fish oil boosted skin immunity to sunlight. Specifically, it also reduced sunlight-induced suppression of the immune system, known as immunosuppression, which affects the body’s ability to fight skin cancer and infection.

Led by Professor Lesley Rhodes, Professor of Experimental Dermatology from the Photobiology Unit Dermatology Centre at the University, researchers analysed the effect of taking omega-3 on 79 healthy volunteers.

“There has been research in this area carried out on mice in the past but this is the first time that there has been a clinical trial directly in people,” Rhodes said.

“This study adds to the evidence that omega-3 is a potential nutrient to protect against skin cancer,” she said.

“Although the changes we found when someone took the oil were small, they suggest that a continuous low level of chemoprevention from taking omega-3 could reduce the risk of skin cancer over an individual’s lifetime,” she said in a statement.

Patients who volunteered for the trial took a 4g dose of omega-3, which is about one and a half portions of oily fish, daily and were then exposed to the equivalent of either 8, 15 or 30 minutes of summer midday sun in Manchester using a special light machine.

Other patients took a placebo, before being exposed to the light machine. Immunosuppression was 50 per cent lower in people who took the supplement and were exposed to 8 and 15 minutes of sun compared with people who did not take the supplement.

The study showed little influence on those in the 30 minute group.

Rhodes, who also works at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, stressed that the omega-3 was not a substitute for sunscreen and physical protection, and that omega-3 should be regarded as an additional small measure to help protect skin from sun damage.

Rhodes’ team is now continuing their research with further omega-3 studies being carried out on healthy volunteers at Salford Royal.

Can Olive Oil and Nuts Prevent Heart Attacks?

  

A NEW STUDY, JUST PUBLISHED ONLINE IN THE PRESTIGIOUS NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, WAS ABLE TO PROVE THAT DIET — A TASTY AND RATHER EASY TO KEEP ONE, AT THAT — WAS ABLE TO REDUCE STROKE AND HEART DISEASE BY 30 PERCENT.

The study, led by Dr. Ramón Estruch from Barcelona, Spain, involved 7,447 people ages 55 to 80, all at higher risk for heart disease due to diabetes or at least three risk factors for heart disease, such as obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, elevated levels of bad cholesterol, or a family history of early heart disease.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups:

• Mediterranean diet supplemented with approximately four cups a week of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• Mediterranean diet supplemented with an additional ounce daily of walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds
• Control group that was counseled to eat a low-fat diet that did not include olive oil or nuts. This group received small nonfood gifts.

Both Mediterranean diet groups were encouraged to consume olive oil, nuts, fresh fruits and veggies (at least five a day), legumes, white meat and wine in moderation with meals, and discouraged from soft drinks, commercial bakery goods such as pastries and sweets, and red meat.Sofrito (a sauce made with tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs, slowly simmered with olive oil) was also recommended — at least two servings a week.

The control group was advised to eat low-fat dairy, fruits and veggies (at least five a day), lean fish and seafood, and discouraged from vegetable oils (including olive oil), commercial bakery goods, nuts, fried foods, red and processed fatty meat and fatty fish.

To be fair, the study doesn’t really compare the Mediterranean diet to a low-fat one, because the control group didn’t really adhere to a low-fat diet — they must have found it hard. So the comparison is really between a Mediterranean diet and a “whatever goes” diet.

Although people in all three groups had similar diets before the study started, compliance with the Mediterranean diet was good, and was verified not just by participants’ report, but also by measuring urinary hydroxytyrosol, a marker of olive oil intake, and blood alpha-linolenic acid, a marker of walnut consumption.

The participants were followed for the occurrence of heart attacks, strokes and death from heart disease. After an average followup of almost five years, 288 such events happened. Both Mediterranean diet groups experienced 30 percent less such events compared with the control group.

Quite encouraging! Especially since neither group was given a low-calorie diet or advised to lose weight — which could of course reduce heart disease and stroke risk, but isn’t easy to do. As a matter of fact, the Mediterranean diet with EVOO group was encouraged to eat four tablespoons of the oil each day, which is 450 calories in EVOO alone! The Mediterranean diet with nuts group was supplied with about 200 calories a day in walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts.

What’s special about this study?

The Mediterranean diet has shown its protective benefits against several diseases in many studies. A meta-analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition combined the findings of many prospective studies, pooling more than 2 million people, and showed that greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet — in line with pretty minor lifestyle changes, like eating a good amount of fruits and some nuts — was associated with 8 percent reduction in death, 10 percent reduction in cardiovascular illness and cardiac death, 6 percent reduction in cancer
and 13 percent reduction in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, and to offer some protection from stroke and mild cognitive losses.

This study adds to previous evidence, and stands out due to its scientific rigor — it is a large, randomized controlled clinical trial, in which people were allocated by chance alone to eat in a certain way, were followed for a long time, and were compared to a control group. Its results were also so conclusive that the trial was stopped early in order to report the results and allow the control group to enjoy the benefits of the Mediterranean treatment.

What’s the health-promoting ingredient in the Mediterranean diet?

So what should it be? Should we dip bread in olive oil twice a day or snack on almonds?

Let’s remember that this study tested the effects of a Mediterranean diet on heart disease and stroke. As much as we’d like to learn a magic trick from its findings, we cannot conclude that avoiding commercially baked goods, avoiding soda, eating sofrito, replacing red meat with fish, or nibbling walnuts saves lives. The people in the study changed many eating habits during the study period.

The Mediterranean diet is an eating pattern, a total plan, and should adopted as one. We don’t know which part of the package confers the most benefit, all we know is that the pattern works as a whole; all parts of it are
probably beneficial, and it very well might be that they work in combination with each other. The Mediterranean lifestyle — allowing for leisurely food enjoyment and social interaction — might be just as important.

I think the Mediterranean diet would be worth adopting for the sheer pleasure of it, and the health benefits are just another great reason to go Mediterranean.

But I’d stop short of the at-least-four-tablespoons-EVOO-daily the participants in this study were advised to eat. Way too many calories — leaves too little to play with if you’re also aiming for an energy-balanced diet.

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Tuesday

Ireland’s Bank Eligible Liabilities Guarantees Scheme (ELG)  is to end on 31st March

   

MINISTER FOR FINANCE MICHAEL NOONAN: SAID ‘SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS’ HAD BEEN MADE IN ADDRESSING IRELAND’S BANKING PROBLEMS.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has  announced the Eligible Liabilities Guarantees Scheme (ELG)  is to end.

The scheme will be closed on March 28th.

There had been growing expectations that the scheme, which was put in place in December 2009 to protect deposits in Irish covered banks, was set to be phased out, given the improving position of Irish banks.

“The Irish banking system failed the Irish people and the mismanagement of the banks and the crisis has cost the Irish taxpayer €62 billion,” Mr Noonan said this afternoon. “All of the Government actions since taking office in March 2011, both at home and abroad, are designed to repair this damage and break the negative link between the banks and the State. We are making significant progress in this regard and the ending of the Guarantee for new liabilities marks another step forward.”

The current scheme was set to run until June 30th, 2013, and late last year ratings agency Fitch warned that this would likely be the last extension.

Mr Noonan said the bank guarantee scheme had proved controversial.

“We feel the time is right and the banking system in Ireland is normal enough to proceed without the guarantee, ” he said.

“The guarantee was a decision made in an emergency and we have moved out of the emergency ward now. We have moved back to normal conditions.”

Mr Noonan said the banks would welcome the Government decision, taken at today’s Cabinet meeting, because the guarantee was costing them money.

Mr Noonan said Fine Gael had voted for the guarantee because the then finance minister Brian Lenihan said the banks had a liquidity problem rather than a solvency problem.

He said that tied the party into voting for something it probably shouldn’t have voted for.

However he stressed he did not want to criticise the late Mr Lenihan. He said decisions had to be taken quickly in the Department of Finance.

“I don’t really want to look back,” he said.

The ELG imposts a high cost on the banks, which include Bank of Ireland, AIB and Permanent TSB, as they must pay for protection of their depositors.

The scheme provides for an unconditional and irrevocable State guarantee for certain eligible liabilities (including deposits) of up to five years in maturity incurred by participating institutions from the date they joined the scheme until the closure of the scheme on certain terms and conditions.

It was introduced as a measure to maintain the stability of the financial system in the State and succeeded the government’s blanket guarantee of September 30th, 2008.

It is separate to the Deposit Guarantee Scheme, which protects deposits of up to €100,000. The Central Bank said this scheme was unaffected by today’s announcement.

The total amount guaranteed under the ELG scheme at September 30th, 2012 was €78 billion.

Between July 2011 and the end of January this year, State-guaranteed banks’ deposits increased 10 per cent to €154.3 billion, the Department of Finance said earlier this month.

Their European Central Bank funding reliance fell about 30 per cent to €48 billion in the same period, it said.

Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks withdrew their UK units from the ELG programme last year. Both banks said in November they are prepared for the expiry of the guarantee.

Labour TD Ciarán Lynch, who chairs the Oireachtas committee on finance and public expenditure, welcomed the ending of the scheme.

“This is a very significant and positive announcement and highlights the progress that this Government is making day to repair the damage caused by the banking crisis and the mismanagement of the economy by the previous Government,” he said.

“We are slowly but surely dismantling the infrastructure of economic catastrophe that was put in place by the Fianna Fail, beginning with the Blanket Bank Guarantee in 2008 and ending when they sold out our economic sovereignty to the Troika in 2010.”

Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath said the ending of the ELG scheme was “a necessary step towards normalising the banking system”.

“In recent months, the Irish banks have managed to successfully raise funds outside of the guarantee scheme and deposit levels have stabilised. Since its introduction, the ELG scheme has played an important role in ensuring affordable access to funding for the banks and has yielded around €1 billion a year for the exchequer by way of fees from the participating banks.”

Shane Filan’s Sligo mansion is now up for sale

  

• The mansion that formerly belonged to bankrupt Westlife star Shane Filan has been put on the market.

The Castledale house in Carraroe, Co Sligo – once home to singer Shane (33), his wife Gillian and their young family – has a price tag of €990,000.

This is a far cry from the estimated €4m the house cost to build.

The move comes as the father-of-three continues to deal with debts of up to €23m.

The well-known singer – who is rumoured to be releasing a solo album this year – was declared bankrupt in the UK last June.

He now lives in a €2.5m house in Surrey with wife Gillian and their three children Nicole (7), Shane (4) and Patrick (3) as he works through his financial problems.

The detached house has five bedrooms and six bathrooms and has been listed by Sherry Fitzgerald Draper with a guide price of €990,000 – although it’s expected to go for more than that.

Shane built the house from scratch in 2004 after being given the land by a relative and it’s estimated that he splashed out up to €4m on building it.

The Bank of Scotland is owed €3.85m on the home.

Covering an area of nearly 10,000sq ft and set on almost five acres of landscaped gardens, the waterfront home with a natural stone finish includes a bar and an entertainment lounge as well as a cinema area and a sun-room.

It is controlled by electronic gates with trees and shrubs blocking it from the road.

Many Irish office workers are highly stressed

   

Forty per cent of office workers and small business owners are highly stressed in their job, with Monday mornings being the most stressful time for many, a new study has found.

As part of the study, several hundred workers were surveyed about stress, while the body temperatures of a group of volunteers were also taken at set times over a five-day period.

The temperature results showed that four in 10 workers had a stress temperature of 18-24 Celsius. This indicates that they are highly stressed or are suffering from anxiety.

The most stressful time of the week was found to be first thing on a Monday morning, with almost six in 10 people showing signs of stress at this time. The second most stressful time of the week was Monday evening.

Friday was also found to be one of the most stressful days of the week. The least stressful day was Wednesday, with just one in three people recording signs of stress then.

Meanwhile, the survey of workers revealed that at least one in four people feel stressed about their job on a daily basis, while almost half believe that work stress affects their health.

One in three admitted to comfort eating in an attempt to deal with their stress.

Almost half said that they work unpaid overtime, but one in five of these said this is because they are afraid of losing their job otherwise.

According to Neil Shah, who conducted the Stress At Work study on behalf of Viking office supplies, the results show that many people are dangerously stressed, but they may not even be aware of this.

“Tension and stress can manifest themselves in many different ways, but can be linked to long-term health problems such as headaches, heart problems and depression.

“From a business point of view a stress free worker is a more productive, proactive and valuable one. Ensuring really simple things like people taking a lunch break or doing exercises in the office can make a huge difference,” he said.

Sleep study shows that a lack of enough sleep affects our genes

  

Researchers say a lack of sleep changes our genes, which means it affects our bodies and can even make us ill.

The team at the University of Surrey tested the blood of people who had different amounts of sleep.

The study showed that more than 700 genes changed when people had slept only 6 hours a night for a week.

This is important because the genes are all linked to protein which helps rebuild tissue in the body.

Researchers say this shows not enough sleep could make it difficult for your body to mend.

TIPS FOR GETTING A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP

• Go to bed at the same time each night even on weekends. This helps your body clock get used to these times.
• Sleep in a comfortable bed.
• Create a calm bedroom environment. Sleep in a dark room and avoid turning your bedroom into an entertainment centre with televisions, computers and stereos.
• Regular exercise is a great way to improve your sleep. Just be careful not to do it close too bed time as exercise produces stimulants that stop the brain from relaxing quickly.
• A healthy diet will also help but eating a large heavy meal too close to bedtime will interfere with your sleep.

Millionaire man wants to fund private mission holidays to Mars

   

World’s first space tourist plans privately-funded mission to the Red Planet when it makes its nearest approach to Earth in 2018

It has been a long-cherished dream of space enthusiasts, as well as lovers of science fiction, but now it seems that someone has finally come up with an ambitious – and some say realistic – plan to send two astronauts to Mars in just five years’ time.

Tomorrow at the National Press Club in Washington, multi-millionaire Dennis Tito – the world’s first space tourist – is expected to reveal how he hopes to launch a privately-funded mission to Mars in 2018, when the Red Planet makes its nearest approach to Earth.

Little is known about the “Inspiration Mars” mission accept that it is Tito’s brainchild and that he has garnered some high-profile supporters, including Jonathan Clark, the associate professor of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine who has flown on the Space Shuttle six times as the crew’s surgeon.

Dr Clark told The Independent that he is not supposed to talk about the mission until all is revealed at the Washington conference this evening, but he dismissed suggestions that the plan is not a serious one.

“I wouldn’t be involved if I didn’t think there was something to it. I don’t want to pre-empt the announcement, but it’s a very in-depth study that has gone into it,” Dr Clark said.

The Inspiration Mars mission will send two astronauts on a simple return trip to Mars, flying around the far side of the planet once but without going into orbit. Scientifically, the 501-day mission will accomplish next to nothing. The probes, landers and robots already sent to Mars have sent back far more interesting and useful data than this manned mission is ever going to be able to gather.

However, in terms of human endurance and psychology, the mission could set new precedents in space exploration. For 17 months, two people will experience what it is like to be cooped up together in a space module not much bigger than a small bathroom with the ever-present risk of something going fatally wrong.

Galway man found guilty of sexual assault on four girls

  

The Galway village of Killimor where the sexual assaults occurred.

The girls were aged between five and 12 at the time of the sexual assaults

A Galway man has been found guilty by a jury of the sexual assault of four schoolgirls over a 10-year period.The man had denied 23 charges of sexual assault against four girls in the east Galway village of Killimor, on various dates between 1996 and 2006.

He cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims.

The girls were aged between five and 12 at the time.

All four victims broke down while being cross-examined during the five-day trial at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.

They told the jury of three women and nine men that the accused sexually assaulted each of them in turn.

The jury found the man guilty of all but one charge, following six-and a half hours of deliberation over two days.

He will be sentenced on 7 March.

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Water metering to deliver 400 jobs for unemployed and graduates in Ireland

  

400 jobs for the unemployed through the water metering project – Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan today said the programme is an opportunity for skilled workers to re-enter the workforce.

The Irish Water Metering Programme will set aside around 400 jobs for people from small, local businesses, the long term unemployed and graduates.

The programme is set to create up to 2,000 jobs in total – 1,600 jobs installing meters and a further 400 in Irish Water’s call centre.

The installation of water meters will start in July this year and will run until September 2016, during which time over one million meters will be installed in homes across the country. The charges themselves will kick in in 2014.

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Phil Hogan said the jobs will be created with “particular focus on ensuring that skilled workers are given an opportunity to re-enter the workforce and for small businesses to benefit. “Irish water will install 27,000 meters per month, which is a challenging target but deliverable by having local crews working on the ground,” said Minister Hogan. He added that sufficient training would be provided.

Irish Water is currently tendering for the provision of over one million meters and boundary boxes, as well as regional management contractors to run the metering programme and a customer call centre. It is expected that contracts will be awarded in May.

Irish Water Meters installation training information click here

The Irish drink problem is hidden in plain sight, and it’s getting worse

  

Drug-related crime and deaths are constantly highlighted in the media but the fact that the problems caused by alcohol abuse are much greater than those caused by illegal drugs is hidden in plain sight.

Alcohol consumption in Ireland is 12 litres of pure alcohol per person per year – putting Irish people among the highest consumers in the EU of 27.

Consumption doubled between 1970 and 2003, when it peaked at a record level of 14.3 litres at a time when alcohol consumption was falling in most developed countries.

Consumption fell to 11.5 litres in 2009 but increased again to 12 litres in 2012, despite a fall in overall consumer spending in that period.

The huge increase in alcohol consumption has led to a commensurate increase in alcohol-related harms to society.

The problems related to high alcohol consumption in Ireland are exacerbated by the fact that over half of Irish drinkers have a harmful pattern of drinking, usually referred to as “binge drinking”.

At least four people die every day in Ireland from an alcohol related illness.

A quarter of those attending accident and emergency departments have alcohol- related injuries.

Illnesses: Alcohol-related admissions to acute hospitals doubled between 1995 and 2008.

On an average day, about 2,000 Irish hospital beds are occupied by people suffering from alcohol-related illnesses.

Most of those patients are not suffering from conditions such as liver cirrhosis, though these have almost trebled over the past 15 years.

The majority are in hospital suffering from illnesses such as coronary heart disease, strokes and cancers to which their alcohol consumption has contributed significantly.

Some are recovering from unsuccessful attempts to take their own lives as alcohol is a factor in half of all suicides.

Solidarity vigil for Galway City Magdalene women

    

A solidarity vigil for the women who were retained at the Sisters of Mercy Magdalene Laundry in Galway City will take place this Sunday 3 March.

The event has been organised to offer for the people of Galway an opportunity to acknowledge and commemorate those women, both the deceased and the survivors, who were forced into the Magdalene Laundry.

At the vigil, playwright Patricia Burke Brogan, whose stage play ‘Eclipsed’ depicted the lives of the women cast into these institutions, will perform a reading from her work.

The play, first produced in Galway in 1992, exposed the judgement, repression and harshness that the ‘inmates’ suffered under these regimes.

Catherine Connolly, who had been vocal in calling for “a frank and humble apology…as a first step in the healing process”, will give a short address as Gaeilge and in English, while Treasa Ni Cheannabhain, a renowned sean-nos singer from County Galway, will give a rendition of some of her fitting songs.

The vigil will take place at the ‘Women of the Magdalene Laundry’ memorial statue on Forster Street on Sunday 3 March at 3.30pm and organisers have encouraged people to bring along flowers or candles.

The vigil is supported by a number of womens and social justice groups in Galway City including Galway Debt Justice, Galway Pro-Choice, and Women in Media and Entertainment.

Court sittings to continue on Aran Islands

   

The Courts Service sittings in Cill Rónáin on Inis Mor will not be affected in the review of our courts service in Ireland.  

Court sittings are to continue on the Aran Islands, following a review conducted by the Courts Service. A public consultation in relation to 13 court venues around the country has been ongoing for the last few months.Seven of the locations in question are in Counties Mayo and Galway.

The Courts Service said sittings in Cill Rónáin on Inis Mor will not be affected.

Business at An Spidéal will be transferred elsewhere following the review.

A new location for the court in Derrynea in south Connemara has been identified.

The Court Service says this will result in an improved venue for sittings in that area.

No decisions have been made in relation to the four locations under review in Co Mayo. These are at Achill, Ballyhaunis, Swinford and Westport.

The consultations involve discussions with solicitors, gardai and community groups.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes abandons Antarctic crossing after suffering frostbite

 

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has abandoned his winter crossing of the Antarctic due to frostbite, after making the “small slip” of removing his glove in -30C temperatures.

The 68-year-old explorer hoped to become the first person to cross the frozen continent in winter later this year, but pulled out of the journey after suffering the injury during training.

A spokesman for the expedition, dubbed the “Coldest Journey on Earth”, said Sir Ranulph had fallen while skiing in a blizzard and attempted to fix his binding with his bare hands.

His five team-mates are attempting to extract him to South Africa, but have agreed to embark on the 2,000-mile (3,219km) without him, beginning on March 21.

Tony Medniuk of the Coldest Journey expedition told the BBC: “In seeking to reattach his binding he felt that he couldn’t get it on and had to take his glove off in very cold conditions and exposed his hand to snow and as a consequence he has contracted frostbite.

“After five years of preparation, a small slip like this and a few moments can undermine the most meticulous preparation.”

The team will attempt to transport Sir Ranulph 43 miles (70km) by skidoo to the Princess Elisabeth Station, from where he can be flown to Cape Town via the Antarctic Novo airbase, but are unable to leave until the current blizzard subsides.

The veteran explorer has experience of frostbite from his previous expeditions, losing the top third of all the fingers on his left hand during an expedition to the North Pole in 2000.

On his return to Britain, he removed his fingertips himself using a fretsaw after reportedly balking at the cost and time it would take doctors to amputate them.

Hannah McKeand, a polar guide who has trekked to the South Pole a world record six times, said frostbite is now extremely rare on polar voyages but might occur if someone had lost core body temperature, for example after not eating enough.

Taking precautions against the injury is “absolutely basic Antarctic 101″, but Sir Ranulph’s previous frostbite would have made him more vulnerable to a second bout, she told the Telegraph.

She said: “I take my gloves off to do things all the time. If there is something like a broken ski binding or a really fiddly job you really need your bare hands to do, experience tells us you are going to be able to do that.

“The problem with [Sir Ranulph] is he has suffered severe frostbite before, and the moment you have suffered any cold injury of that nature you are susceptible to it in those digits for the rest of your life.”

Sir Ranulph, described by Guinness World Records as the world’s greatest living explorer, holds the distinction of being the first person to walk to both poles and crossed Antarctica unsupported in 1992-93.

But his attempt to cross the continent during its winter months was to be his most daunting challenge, in conditions of almost permanent darkness and temperatures as low as -90C.

The furthest anyone has ventured into Antarctica during its coldest season until now was a 60-mile (97km) expedition in the early 20th century.

A spokesman said Sir Ranulph would continue to support Seeing is Believing, the expedition’s chosen charity.

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