Irish Government still owed €47m in household tax charge fees
The latest figures from the Local Government Management Agency show more than 470,000 properties remain unregistered.
The household tax was bitterly opposed when it was introduced at the beginning of last year.
Almost 14 months on and nearly half a million liable homeowners have yet to pay the €100.
According to today’s Sunday Times, Donegal has the lowest level of compliance at 58% while Dun Laoghaire was the most compliant at 86%.
This year, the government decided to replace the household charge with the new Local Property Tax.
But those who have yet to settle their bill are still liable to pay the initial €100 along with a penalty for late payment.
The change simply means it will be added to the new property tax which will be collected by Revenue.
Horse meat found in British supermarkets may be from donkey’s
A law banning horses from Romanian roads may be responsible for the surge in the fraudulent sale of horse meat on the European beef market, a French politician said today.
Horse-drawn carts were a common form of transport for centuries in Romania, but hundreds of thousands of the animals are feared to have been sent to the abattoir after the change in road rules.
The law, which was passed six years ago but only enforced recently, also banned carts drawn by donkeys, leading to speculation among food-industry officials in France that some of the “horse meat” which has turned up on supermarket shelves in Britain, France and Sweden may, in fact, turn out to be donkey meat. “Horses have been banned from Romanian roads and millions of animals have been sent to the slaughterhouse,” said Jose Bove, a veteran campaigner for small farmers who is now vice-president of the European Parliament agriculture committee.
After a couple of days in which the horse meat affair was seen as a largely British problem, the scandal began to be taken seriously by French politicians and newspapers over the weekend.
The French consumer minister, Benoît Hamon, said today that he would not hesitate to take legal action if evidence emerged that the two French companies which handled the meat had been aware of the fraud.
In passing, Mr Hamon also took a swipe at the British Government. He said that London was complaining about weak European food inspection while cutting the budget for EU food-safety checks in Brussels.
Mr Hamon said that preliminary investigation by the French agency that combats consumer fraud had uncovered the Byzantine route taken by the “fake” beef.
It came from abattoirs in Romania through a dealer in Cyprus working through another dealer in Holland to a meat plant in the south of France which sold it to a French-owned factory in Luxembourg which made it into frozen meals sold in supermarkets in 16 countries.
The colourful life of Irish poet and Nobel prize winner W. B. Yeats
The first Irishman to win a Nobel Prize, William Butler Yeats’ life coincided with the establishment of a free Irish state.
He served two terms as an Irish Senator, was instrumental in the Irish literary revival and helped found The National Theatre of Ireland, commonly known as The Abbey Theatre.
Born in 1865, he was the eldest of six, born in Dublin to John Butler Yeats, a lawyer turned painter, and Susan Mary Pollexfen, the daughter of a wealthy business family from County Sligo. In order to pursue his ambition of becoming a portrait painter, Yeats’ father moved the family to London.
In 1867 they moved to 23 Fitzroy Road, Primrose Hill, where they remained until 1873. One of Yeats’ sisters was born at the address and almost 100 years later the plaque, erected in 1957, led Sylvia Plath to inhabit the house.
As a boy, Willie – a nickname he detested – was home-schooled and became captivated by his mother’s storytelling. She was a fond fan of folk and these early experiences were to influence much of his life as a writer.
There were extended stays at the Sligo home of his grandparents before the family finally settled in the bohemian Bedford Park area of Hammersmith in 1879.
Enrolled at the Godolphin School, Hammersmith, Yeats exhibited great intellectual capacity but was a slow learner, particularly with language and mathematics.
A surviving school report states: “Very poor in spelling… Mathematics: Still very backward.” He grew fond of the outdoors, both in London and Ireland, and found an early interest in biology and zoology.
Owing to financial strains the family returned to Ireland where Yeats completed his high school education. He spent time at his father’s studios, which were frequented by writers and artists, and subsequently attended the Metropolitan School of Art, later the National College of Art and Design.
By this point he was already writing copious, but unpublished, amounts of poetry. His first lyrics appeared in the Dublin University Review in 1885 and were followed, that summer, with a Shelleyan-style verse drama, The Island Of Statues.
It was also during this period that Yeats read diligently on subjects of the occult, eastern philosophy and various branches of spiritualism, and attended his first séance.
In 1887, the family returned to London and three years later Yeats founded the famous Rhymers’ Club. Initially the group of poets – which included Ernest Rhys, founding editor of the Everyman Library and father of Evelyn Waugh’s childhood playmate, Stella – met at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street. The group, later dubbed the Tragic Generation, published two anthologies and Oscar Wilde attended some of their private meetings.
Back in Bedford Park life was dogged by family tensions and unpaid butcher’s bills, but also characterised by a circle of acquaintance which included the Wildes, William Morris – in whose workshop one of Yeats’ sisters trained as an artist – and George Bernard Shaw. The walls were even adorned with original Morris wallpaper.
By 1888, Yeats apparently knew the Wildes well enough to be invited to Christmas dinner, and managed on one occasion to unintentionally frighten one of Wilde’s sons by telling him an un-Wildean fairy story. Yeats’ attraction with Wilde was not just as an ex-pat middle-class Irish Protestant, but as a conscious phrase-maker who “always dismissed question with epigrams”.
Incapable of speaking any French, Yeats visited Paris on a number of occasions, experiencing a diverse range of subcultures where he experimented with hashish and mescal. This type of lifestyle helped further broaden an already open mind.
Yeats first met Maud Gonne (1866–1953), a 23-year-old heiress and ardent Irish nationalist, in 1889. He developed an obsessive infatuation which led him to propose marriage on at least three occasions, commenting that “the troubling of my life began”.
In 1890 Yeats was initiated in to the Order of The Golden Dawn and adopted the name Demon Est Deus Inversus (Devil Is God Inverted). He was attracted to the society as it best suited his own emotional and spiritual requirements. The order was devoted to magical research and not the achievement of transcendence.
By 1899, Yeats, who years earlier had been introduced to Lady Gregory (1852–1932) by Edward Martyn (1859–1923), established the Irish National Theatre Society.
In 1904, The Abbey Theatre opened its doors to an eager public which could view John Butler Yeats’ portraits as they loitered in the lobby. The first performances were of Gregory’s Spreading the News and Yeats’ Cathleen Ni Houlihan.
Like Karl Marx he was a committed admirer of Balzac, the only novelist whose work he read consistently, and in 1905 bought a 40-volume edition of The Human Comedy.
By 1913, Yeats had been approached by a young American named Ezra Pound. Pound had come to London to meet his hero, having already corresponded with him. He considered Yeats to be “the only poet worthy of serious study”. At one point Pound acted as Yeats’ secretary and took dictation of the first draft of a one-act play, At The Hawk’s Well.
According to reports, when Yeats was living at an address by Euston Square Station (then 18 Woburn Buildings) in the years just before the First World War, he was visited every Monday at 8pm by a group of poets. Those present included T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and John Masefield, who described the sitting room as “the most interesting in London”.
Later at his Faber & Faber offices – now The School of African and Oriental Studies – Eliot proudly displayed a photograph of Yeats on his mantelpiece. The photograph sat next to one of his pen pal friend, Groucho Marx.
Dubbed “the toff wot lives in the Buildings” by locals, Yeats cut a strange figure at the Euston Square address. He was often to be seen walking the surrounding streets swinging his arms wildly. In Dublin, where he was better known, people realised he was possessed by the muse, which inspired his writing, rather than by drink.
Once, when Yeats was visited by the classic scholar E. R. Dodds and accompanied by the writer Louis MacNeice, Dodds asked whether he had ever seen any of the spirits. Yeats was a little piqued with the question but grudgingly responded that he had not. However, with a flash of triumph he retorted that he had often smelt them.
Yeats finally married at the age of 51 having met his bride, Bertha Georgie Hyde-Lees (1892–1968), known as George, through occult circles. She was a loving wife and produced two children, which was something Yeats particularly desired.
After Irish Independence in 1922, Yeats was appointed to the Irish Senate and in 1924 he was selected to sit on a Coinage Committee which decided the designs for the new currency.
Some 16 years before his death, in 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. On receipt of the award he said: “I consider this honour has come to me less as an individual than as a representative of Irish literature; it is part of Europe’s welcome to the Free State.”
Let’s go and sow some seeds & bear the fruit’s later
Buy the right plant varieties and you’ll be on the way to harvesting bumper crops of fruit this summer
Although there’s less than a month to go until the end of another bare-root season, there’s still just enough time to order and plant young, bare-rooted fruit bushes, trees and canes. But choosing the very best varieties can be a bewildering process so here is a brief guide.
Raspberries
Raspberries are one of the most rewarding of fruits to grow, but keep in mind the fact that they do need a deep, fertile, well-drained, weed-free soil in full sun. Many different varieties are available; some cropping as early as June while others will produce fruit well into autumn. One of the best and most reliable earlies is ‘Glen Moy’. Slightly later (mid-summer) is ‘Glen Fyne’, a highly productive variety with plenty of sweet, flavoursome fruits. If you have the space and would like to extend the raspberry season even further, go for the ever-reliable ‘Autumn Bliss’ or the higher-yielding but more demanding ‘Himbo Top’ or ‘Joan J’.
Redcurrants
Another fruit that’s easy to grow, freezes well and can be used in a myriad of ways. ‘Jonkheer Van Tets’ or JVT as it’s known in the trade, is the classic variety to look out for; it’s early to ripen, highly productive and flavoursome. ‘Rovada’ is a good choice for a frosty garden.
Blackcurrants
One of the few fruits that will tolerate light shade but prefers a sunny site and a rich, moist but free-draining soil is blackcurrants. If yours is prone to being waterlogged, try ‘Ben Connan’, which is more tolerant of damp conditions. If you’re growing the fruit on an allotment, Roger Muir of the highly-regarded Ken Muir specialist fruit nursery in the UK recommends ‘Ben Hope’, a heavy-cropping variety that’s particularly disease and pest-resistant. Where space is at a premium, go for ‘Ben Sarek’ or ‘Ben Gairn’, compact plants that produce lots of large, tasty, juicy berries. I’ve also heard great things of ‘Titania’, a new, long-fruiting, high-yielding, Swedish variety with large, tasty berries.
Blackberries
I’ve tasted the fruit of a lot of different blackberry cultivars over the years and have almost always been disappointed – the large, glossy fruits may look lovely but I’ve found them to be tasteless at best, sour at worst. The exception is ‘Fantasia’, an August-fruiting variety that combines the brambly taste of the wild blackberry with the better attributes of the modern cultivars; in this case, exceptionally large berries and high productivity.
Browsing through the online catalogue of the specialist nursery RV Roger recently, I was astonished to discover that they stock more than 70 different varieties of this tasty summer fruit. Amongst the best are old classics such as the sweet, dark-red skinned ‘Whinham’s Industry’, the Finnish varieties ‘Hinnonmaki Red’ and ‘Hinnonmaki Yellow’, ‘Careless’ and ‘Invicta’ (the latter two are heavy cropping, culinary types).
Figs
Unless you can offer a very sheltered, sunny spot against a warm south-facing wall or a glasshouse/polytunnel, forget trying to grow your own figs. But if you have such a spot, count yourself lucky for there are few things more delicious than the taste of a ripe fig picked warm from the tree. The most reliable and widely available is ‘Brown Turkey’. To encourage a heavy crop, Roger Muir recommends restricting the roots by planting into what’s known as a root restriction bag. Or use the Victorian gardeners’ technique of burying a flat paving slab roughly 60-90cm below the root ball.
Pears
Another tree fruit that requires a sunny sheltered spot if it’s to prosper. The late-season ‘Concorde’ is one of the most reliable varieties, as is ‘Conference’. The tasty ‘Doyenne du Comice’ is also worth seeking out but isn’t as reliable a cropper. As with apples, seek specific advice as regards suitable rootstock and pollination partners.
Plums
The most reliable (if not, sadly the tastiest) is the self-fertile ‘Victoria’.
Apples
Among the most reliable is the early dessert apple ‘Katya’ (or ‘Katy’) which produces an abundance of tasty, bright red fruit, ‘James Grieve’ (early dessert variety with flavoursome fruits), ‘Fiesta’ (late dessert variety, crisp fruit) and ‘Greensleeves’ (mid-season dessert, crisp green fruit). Of the old Irish heritage varieties, look out for ‘Irish Peach’, ‘Widow’s Friend’, ‘Cavan Sugarcane’, ‘Sam Young’ (all dessert varieties), ‘Uncle John’s Cooker’ and ‘Bloody Butcher (both cookers) and the self-rooting, dual-purpose ‘Mrs Perry’. Remember that the eventual size of the tree will depend on the training method and the rootstock used, while most also require pollinating partners. Any good nursery/garden centre should be able to offer advice in this regard.
Nurseries: englishsfruitnursery.ie (Wexford); irishseedsavers.ie(Clare); McNamara’s (Cork, 021-4613733);futureforests.net(Cork); kenmuir.co.uk(UK-based but post to Ireland); readsnursery.co.uk(also post bare-root to Ireland).
Curiosity Mars rover takes historic drill sample
The two holes drilled at John Klein. The test hole (R) is 16mm wide and 20mm deep. The sample hole (L) is 64mm deep. A volume of the grey powder has been picked up and will be sent for analysis
Nasa’s Curiosity Mars rover has finally drilled deep enough into a rock to acquire a powdered sample for analysis.
The fine grey material from the 6cm-hole will be sieved and inspected before being delivered to the robot’s onboard labs in the coming days.
It will represent a historic first in planetary exploration – never before has the interior of a rock on another world been probed in such a way.
The US space agency said the drilling was an immense achievement.
“This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August, another proud day for America,” said John Grunsfeld, Nasa’s associate administrator for science.
Drilling is absolutely central to the rover’s mission in Gale Crater, a deep bowl sited on Mars’ equator.
Curiosity is investigating whether past environments at this location could ever have supported life, and getting inside rocks to analyse their make-up will provide some of the most telling evidence.
Engineers have waited a full six months before deploying the drill tool, which is held on the end of the rover’s 2.2m-long robotic arm.
Its first action was just to hammer down briefly on a rock target last weekend – a simple check to prove the machinery was behaving as it should.
This was followed in the week by the drill turning in the chosen rock to cut a shallow, 2cm hole.
It produced a fine powder that engineers deemed suitable to try to pick up. So, the command was given to drill a second hole that was deep enough to push some cuttings into the tool’s sample acquisition chamber.
Some of this material will be used to scrub the machinery’s innards of any contamination that may have travelled with the rover from Earth.
The rest will be sorted to a size and volume that can be put inside Curiosity’s Chemin and Sam labs.
These instruments will determine the rock sample’s precise chemistry and mineralogy, and identify any interesting carbon chemistry that may be present.
Chemin will likely set to work on the powder first. This is because its findings can influence the settings run in the Sam experiments.
“We may alter our temperatures depending on what they see in Chemin,” Paul Mahaffy, the principal investigator on Sam, told the BBC on Friday.
The flat slabs of rock currently being investigated by the rover have been dubbed “John Klein”, the name of a Curiosity engineer who died in 2011. They lie in a small depression referred to as Yellowknife Bay, about half a kilometre from the robot’s point of touchdown last year.
The rocks contain very fine-grained sediments but are cut through with pale veins of what could be calcium sulphate.
Curiosity has already seen plenty of evidence for past running water in Gale Crater and the results from the drill-hole analysis are expected to reveal further information about that wet history.
No comments:
Post a Comment