Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Its the end of the line for drink after the 1pm Galway train joins the banned booze list

 

IRISH RAIL CUSTOMERS WILL HAVE ALCOHOLIC DRINKS CONFISCATED ON A TRAIN SERVICE AFTER COMPLAINTS ABOUT ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR.

The action will immediately come into force on Sundays on the 1pm train from Galway to Heuston Station in Dublin, and catering staff will no longer sell alcohol on board.

Customers boarding the service with alcohol will have it taken away by Irish Rail staff.

Details of the ban will be displayed at stations, and customers booking online will also be notified during the reservation process.

It comes in addition to the ‘alcohol-free’ services operated on certain weekend routes, including the 1.15pm and 3.15pm services from Heuston Station to Waterford on Fridays, and the 3.05pm service from Waterford to Heuston Station on Sundays.

An Irish Rail spokesperson told the Irish Independent the decision had been made following a “high number” of complaints about anti-social behaviour on the train.

“The vast majority of customers who wish to enjoy an alcoholic beverage on board our services do so without impacting in any way on their fellow passengers.

“Unfortunately, there is a minority that do over-indulge, particularly those travelling in large groups such as stag and hen parties, who can disrupt others in a negative way.”

This type of behaviour was most common during weekend services, when customers may be going away for or returning from weekend breaks, Irish Rail said.

“It is a measure we take reluctantly, but we must act when our customers are regularly having their journeys disturbed by a minority.”

The spokesperson confirmed that the measure would be imposed for the “foreseeable future” and, as with all routes, would continue to be monitored for anti-social behaviour.

Irish Rail said said there were no plans at present to introduce the ban on other routes.

Irish Rail also deploys security staff on a number of routes known to play host to anti-social behaviour, including the aforementioned services between Waterford and Heuston Station and from Heuston Station to Galway on Friday afternoons.

It also prohibits the possession or sale of alcohol on some trains on major GAA match days.

Fionnuala Sheahan, director of Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society (MEAS)said that for years Irish people had given social permission for people who drink too much to participate in anti-social behaviour, and that this was a clear message that Irish Rail “has had enough”.

Some 38.8 million passengers travelled with Irish Rail in 2009, down from 43.3 million passengers in the previous year.

€10m western Wild Atlantic Way driving route now launched

 

The Government is spending €10m on the Wild Atlantic Way this year, a 2,500-km driving route from Donegal to Cork aimed at attracting more visitors.

Launching the new initiative today, Junior Tourism Minister Michael Ring described it as “the world’s longest touring route”.

 It stretches along the coast from Malin Head in Donegal to the Old Head of Kinsale taking in over 500 visitor attractions, as well as 53 Blue Flag beaches, 120 golf courses and 50 loop walks.

Mr Ring said it was already providing a hit in key overseas markets like Britain, the US, France and Germany.

“It has massive potential to bring more visitors and jobs to rural communities right along the western seaboard. That’s why we will soon be promoting it even further afield in places like Spain, Italy and the Netherlands,” he said.

The government has allocated €8m for the project this year with Failte Ireland spending another €2m on some 159 “Discovery Point” sites highlighting key attractions such as the Cliffs of Moher in Clare and Dursey Island in Co Cork.

Nearly 4,000 new signs are being erected along the route in time for the start of the tourist season, while a new app is also being developed to assist visitors on the route.

One of Germany and Austria’s largest tour operators Dertour said it was featuring the route on the cover of its current brochure because it would appeal to customers.

“Germans love the coastline and they are always looking for outstanding scenery which they wouldn’t find at home,” said Dino Steinkamp of Dertour.

Irish action Plan for Jobs has 385 item to-do list but no strategy

  

The Irish Government has published its latest Action Plan for Jobs and it has a 385 item to-do list but there is still lack of a strategy.

So there are lots of points to cover but there is no evidence that ministers know what works and what doesn’t.

We noted last December that the much-hyped medium term strategy 2014-2020 would likely be a brochure rather than a plan with an unvarnished analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. That is what was published.

It came just three months after the OECD’s Economic Survey of Ireland recommended empirically-proven policies and sunset clauses in enterprise and innovation supportsand we noted that there is no experience of this in the Irish system.

The OECD said the number of programmes and agencies multiplied during the period of booming growth. “There are now over 170 separate budget lines, sometimes for very small amounts of money, and 11 major funding agencies involved in disbursing the Science Budget, although it is small by international standards.”

This is boring to ministers but nobody else is in charge and for example enterprise agency heads say nothing of substance in public and possibly also in private.

Focus limited fiscal resources on policies empirically-proven to improve employability; this will require systematic evaluation of labour-market programmes through consistent tracking and randomised trials, followed by decisions to close down ineffective schemes while strengthening successful ones.

Reflecting significant uncertainties about the effectiveness of various innovation policy tools, independently and regularly evaluate all actions in this area, strengthen programmes with proven higher returns, and wind down the others. To promote effective evaluation, ensure all innovation and enterprise supports have sunset clauses.”

The latest university rankings shows that Ireland does not have a single university in the top 100 includes mathematics, physics, computer sciences, and all four of the engineering disciplines.

It’s daft to aspire to be world class in science and technology in a country with a tiny indigenous research base and more than 70% of foreign firms spending nothing on R&D.

The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation said last December:

Minister Bruton and the Department of Jobs are unashamedly ambitiousfor the potential of scientific research in Ireland to support economic growth and job-creation in Ireland. In recent years we have improved our ratings for basic research to the point where we are now very competitive internationally – the challenge now is to achieve greater returns in terms of commercial outcomes and jobs from this research.”

So they are “unashamedly ambitious for the potential of scientific research in Ireland” and this is effectively the main enterprise policy. An inflation adjusted €24bn has been spent in the past decade in this area and all they can cite are citations in journals while patent applications are at a 30-year low.

Phased redeployment of Irish hospital staff on the way

  

Staff from St Brigid’s Hospital in Ballinasloe will be redeployed on a phased basis to both community mental health teams in Ballinasloe, and to acute services in Galway and Roscommon, following a consultation process with “no impact for current inpatients in Ballinasloe,” Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health Kathleen Lynch has stated.

Galway and Roscommon Mental Health Services operate as one administrative unit. At present, there are 35 acute psychiatric beds in Galway city, and 22 acute psychiatric beds in both Ballinasloe and Roscommon. This gives a total of 79 beds, serving a population of some 315,000.

A Vision for Change recommends 50 beds for a catchment population of 300,000. In line with policy and operational norms nationally, the provision of 22 beds in both Ballinasloe and Roscommon means that the current overall stock of 79 in the HSE West is too high in relative terms, allied to a corresponding under-development of community-based mental health services, Minister Lynch said in response to Dáil questioning by Deputy Denis Naughten.

In the context of the service improvements now underway, a purpose-built, 50-bed acute mental health unit will be completed in Galway University Hospital in 2015, to replace the existing smaller unit. This unit will consist of 35 general adult mental health beds, with the remaining 15 beds relating to psychiatry of later life, eating disorders and mental health and intellectual disability. The acute unit in Roscommon will continue to provide 22 general adult mental health beds.

The proposed reorganisation of services, following a detailed assessment by HSE West, will provide for a total of 57 general adult mental health beds. This will be a sufficient number of acute psychiatric beds, in line with A Vision for Change, and will also allow the Executive to enhance community-based services through redeployment of some staff from acute services, said Minister Lynch.

10 of the hottest Exercise trends for you to try out

 

Fed-up with your usual workout? Don’t despair, we have the solution. Our expert rates the 10 hottest exercise trends.

Bored of bootcamp and fed up of fitness DVDs? A new survey has found that we’d rather do anything OTHER than exercise, and this includes filling out tax returns, doing house work and even going to a Justin Bieber concert.

Here we reveal 10 new ways to take the weariness out of your workout – and personal trainer Darragh Hayes gives his expert verdict on each.

1 ONLINE TRAINING:

From broadband to waistband, virtual fitness could soon replace fitness DVDs for those looking to shape up at home. Dodging Storm Darwin while doing an exercise class with a real instructor anywhere in the world is just one of the advantages. But the Skype’s the limit.

EXPERT VIEW: “I do online training with clients, but I would only do it with those who already know what they’re doing. If you’re just starting out, it’s better to have somebody standing over you telling you exactly what to do.”

TRY IT: Natalie Portman’s trainer Mary Helen Bowers offers online ballet classes at http://www.balletbeautiful.com

2 RAVE FITNESS:

Dust down your Scooter CD and dig out those glow-sticks. Nineties-style aerobic raves – but with no booze or boys – are back. Clubbers burn up to 600 calories by dancing non-stop for an hour. Best of all, you wake up feeling perky not pukey the next morning.

EXPERT VIEW: “Jumping around like a maniac for an hour will certainly burn calories, but I’m not convinced it will actually burn fat or make you stronger. Be sure to drink lots of water.”

TRY IT: Women-only freestyle dance session ‘Dance Dance Party Party’ (see dancedancepartyparty.com for upcoming Irish dates)

3 OBSTACLE COURSES:

Beanbags are for babies. Today’s toughest obstacle courses for adults include crawling through mud, plunging into ice-cold water and scrambling over 12-foot walls.

Among the extreme outdoor challenges taking place here are Hell & Back, Tough Mudder and Runamuck. Less marathon than mad-athon.

EXPERT VIEW: “In terms of motivation, setting a goal to complete an outdoor challenge is a great idea. Just remember to get into the gym and start lifting to build strength as well!”

TRY IT: Tough Mudder Ireland 2014 takes place on October 4-5 at Punchestown Racecourse, Naas, Co. Kildare (see tough mudder.co.uk)

4 HYBRID EXERCISE:

First Brangelina and now ‘Piloxing’. That’s just one of the hybrid exercise classes springing up all over the country. As well as the fusion of Pilates and boxing, designed to offer the best of both, there’s ‘yogilates’ (yoga and Pilates), ‘zennis’ (zen and tennis) and ‘YAS’ (yoga and spinning). Perfect for indecisive exercisers – or is it?

EXPERT VIEW: “If you want to do Pilates, just do pilates; if you want to box, then box. Any good personal trainer should be able to integrate the strength and conditioning offered by both into your regular fitness regime.”

TRY IT: For a full list of Piloxing instructors in Ireland seehttp://www.piloxing.com

5 BODY-WEIGHT TRAINING:

Feel the burn using nothing but your own body. Forget the fancy gym equipment and go back to basics with press-ups, sit-ups, squat and lunges. It helps prevent osteoporosis, especially for women, by building stronger bones, costs nothing and you don’t even have to change out of your jammies. Triple whammy.

EXPERT VIEW: “Since injuring my back last year, body-weight training has helped recover my strength. I see people coming into the gym who can’t even hold a side plank for 10 seconds. It’s vital to get the basics right before so much as picking up a dumbbell.”

TRY IT: “When it comes to squatting, it’s a myth that you have to go ‘ass to grass’,” says Darragh. “Keeping your knees in front of your toes, squat until you’re parallel with the floor.”

6 ACTIVE SITTING:

Now you can shape up by literally sitting on your backside. Sedentary workers are increasingly throwing away their chairs in a bid to burn calories as they work. Instead, you balance on an inflatable exercise ball, which engages tummy muscles and improves your posture – not to mention your balance.

EXPERT VIEW: “Sitting on an exercise ball intermittently is fine, but for eight hours a day it could cause your core muscles to become fatigued. Doing bodyweight core exercises like the plank or side plank will have the same effect.”

TRY IT: Pro Fitness 65cm Gym Ball, €8.95, available from Argos.ie

7 GET-FIT GADGETS:

Fitness gadgets have come a long way since the humble pedometer. From smart scales that gauge your body-fat percentage to sweat-resistant headphones, losing weight has gone all hi-tech. Nike’s FuelBand activity tracker even reminds you to move if you’ve been watching telly for too long. Big blubber is watching you!

EXPERT VIEW: “No gadget is going to get your body fat down or build muscle, so don’t expect them to. If you’re hungry, eat. If you’re not, don’t. It’s as simple as that. Unless you’re training for a competition, I think fitness gadgets are a waste of time.”

TRY IT: Nike+ Fuelband SE, €139, available from store.nike.com

8 HIIT:

If you’re time poor, and not so flush with cash either, this year’s hottest trend for ‘High-Intensity Interval Training’ could be just the trick. Torching around 15 calories per minute, studies show that a 10-minute HIIT – including push-ups and burpees – burns more calories than half an hour on the treadmill. And, as it’s over in mere minutes, the boredom excuse is invalid.

EXPERT VIEW: “High-intensity interval training blows training on a treadmill or cross trainer out of the water. It’s great for losing fat and building muscle. Do it using your own body weight, or add weights for a tougher workout.”

TRY IT: The Fit Factory, Kells, Co Meath offers HIIT classes (see facebook.com/ fitfactorymeath)

9 ANTI-GRAVITY YOGA:

Super-toned singer Pink wowed with her aerial performance at the Grammys last month. And now more and more people here are hanging out at the gym too. The Cirque de Soleil-style classes involve practising yoga moves in a hammock for maximum flexibility.

EXPERT VIEW: “I have Olympic rings and TRX equipment in my gym that I use as part of any session. But I wouldn’t base a whole session around suspension training as there’s only so much you can do with it.”

TRY IT: For details of anti-gravity yoga classes available in Ireland, seehttp://www.antigravityyoga.ie

10 GROUP TRAINING:

You don’t have to be a celeb to afford a personal trainer – any more. Tighten your belt in more ways than one by simply sharing a trainer with one or more gym buddy. Mind you, even counting our Facebook friends, we probably still can’t afford trainer to the stars Tracy Anderson.

EXPERT VIEW: “I’m a stickler for technique. When you’ve got 25 or 30 people in a class, like some bootcamps, there’s no way you can ensure everyone is exercising correctly. For those who can’t afford one-to-one training, sharing a trainer is a great idea.”

TRY IT: The Cover Model Body Gym offers ladies-only group training (limited to six per class), €300 for 12 sessions (see covermodelbodypersonal training.com)

Wild beavers in England seen for first time in centuries

 

Footage of a family of beavers filmed in a Devon river is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in up to 500 years

Two beavers were caught on camera playing at night while a third one (in background) is gnawing a tree on the banks of the River Otter, Devon. Tom Buckley got the footage with a hidden infrared motion sensor camera. Photograph: Tom Buckley

A family of wild beavers has been seen in the England countryside in what is believed to be the first sighting of its kind in up to 500 years.

Three European beavers (Castor fiber), believed to be adults, have been filmed together on the River Otter in east Devon and can be seen gnawing at the base of trees, grooming themselves and playing together.

Experts said the sighting was “highly significant” as it strongly suggested a small breeding population of beavers now existed outside captivity.

European beavers were once widespread in the UK but were hunted to extinction by the 16th century in England and Wales for their fur, medicinal value and meat.

There have been successful reintroduction schemes in other parts of the UK. In 2009, three beaver families were released into forest lochs near the Sound of Jura in Argyll, while plans to release the species into the wild in Wales have also moved a step closer. The sighting in Devon would be the first time in centuries that European beavers have bred in the wild in England.

Wild beavers return to Scotland Link to video: How wild beavers made their return to Britain

The footage was captured by local retired environmental scientist Tom Buckley, who noticed some trees had been felled in the area in late last year. Together with landowner David Lawrence, he installed three motion sensor cameras along a 400-500m stretch of the river. A lone beaver was spotted on the farm in January and last July a woman claimed she saw a beaver on the river.

“We’d seen bits of trees chewed and cut down and I was starting to think that it was a sign of beavers even though I couldn’t believe it,” Buckley said.

Beaver expert Derek Gow confirmed that one of the animals filmed by Buckley was a juvenile and the family may have been in the wild for years. Buckley does not know where they have come from or exactly where their home is.

“When I first saw that first beaver it was such a shock. When I saw three it was slightly different – we knew there was one around and we were tracking its activities. When we watched film and all of a sudden another appeared, and then another – I would not just say that was amazing – one was speechless realising what was happening. We had no idea there was more than one, and they are all quite large and active as well.”

Devon Wildlife Trust has been running its own Beaver Project since 2011, when an adult male and female were introduced to a securely fenced compound in the north-west of the county.

But the beavers remain in their compound and are not the source of the population now seen on the River Otter.

Steve Hussey from the Devon Wildlife Trust said he supported the reintroduction of beavers to England but that it had to be “properly planned”.

“In principle, we would like to see the European beaver reintroduced to England but recognise that a great deal of work needs to be done before this can happen.”

He said the beavers should be left alone and observed using a rigorous monitoring programme.

“This group of beavers provides us with a unique opportunity to learn lessons about their behaviour and their impact on the local landscape … [the group] could contribute to this process if they are subjected to thorough scientific study.

Beavers are a “keystone species”, meaning they provide more important ecosystem services than their numbers alone would suggest. Known as “ecological engineers”, their dams, burrows and ditches and the branches they drag into the water create habitats for a host of other species. Their dams slow rivers down, reducing scouring and erosion, and improving water quality by holding back silt.

During the recent wet weather and flooding crisis, naturalists called for the reintroduction of beavers to control floods.

Otter tracks and spraint was found alongside the beaver prints, indicating they may have been interacting with wild otters too.

Hussey added: “There’s evidence that otters, beavers are coming together here face to face perhaps for the first time in two or 300 years.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is investigating the sighting as it is against the law to release beavers in England. A spokeswoman said the department would “look into this case and will consider what action to take”.

She said she could not comment on whether the beavers could be removed from the site or destroyed.

Buckley said: “This beaver family has been around for at least a couple of years and no one seems to have noticed them. They haven’t caused any trouble for anybody and it’s only because they’ve been caught on camera that people know they are here. To think about destroying them is totally out of order. This is an insight into what the potential impact is if they are already in a place and at the moment that impact would seem to be zero.”  

Donie's news Ireland daily BLOG Wednesday

Construction sector is set to grow in Ireland by 30% for next 4 years 

 

It is hoped that a boost in the Irish construction industry will begin to attract emigrants back home to Ireland.

A new report by the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland has forecast growth of 30% within the sector over the next four years, with the creation of almost 30,000 jobs.

It is predicted that the upward trend in activity will be driven by the private commercial and residential sectors.

President of the SCSI, Micheál O’Connor, says Dublin is the main driving force behind the positive outlook.

Mr O’Connor also said they have concerns about being able to fill the jobs in the growing sector.

“A lot of construction workers have emigrated and also there’s a lack of school leavers embarking on a career in construction or property,” Mr O’Connor said.

“So that’s going to be a real concern, and it will see a need for potentially emigrants to return home and re-engage in the construction and property sector.”

Irish Government defeated in a Seanad vote on upwards-only rent reviews

 

Independent Senator Fergal Quinn Bill passes narrowly

The Government has been defeated in the Seanad in a vote on a Private Member’s Bill ending upward only rent reviews.The Bill, moved by Independent Senator Feargal Quinn, was carried by 23 votes to 22, in a division where Senators walked through the Ta and Nil lobbies, having received the backing of fellow Independents.

Earlier, there had been a tie in an electronic vote and the Bill was defeated on the casting vote of Fine GaelCathaoirleach Paddy Burke. When Mr Quinn’s supporters called for a “walk through’’ vote, Independent Senator Paul Bradford had arrived in the chamber and supported the Bill.

The Bill now goes to the Dáil for consideration.

Mr Quinn said his Bill, the Upward Only (Clauses and Reviews) Bill 2013, was anything but arbitrary or discriminatory.

“The reason this Bill targets upward only clauses in the commercial sector is because of the damage which has been done to that sector by the existence of such clauses,’’ he added.

Mr Quinn said the legislation did not seek to impose any burden on landlords as a class, and it merely sought to allow market rents to prevail.

Sligo capital of the North-West out to resurrect its fortunes

 

Like so many other places in the Irish State ‘The capital of the northwest Sligo’ lost the run of itself during the boom period.

Sligo rightly sees itself as the “capital of the northwest”, easily outpacing Enniskillen. With a royal charter granted in 1613, it defines itself as a “city” even though the population within the perfect circle that marks the urban boundary is fewer than 20,000 – a far cry from the European threshold of 100,000 for city status.

Designated as a development “gateway” under the 2002 National Spatial Strategy (NSS), Sligo has significant strengths – not least its unrivalled topographical setting, with Ben Bulben on one side and Knocknarea on the other, and the fast-flowing Garavogue river sweeping right through the town centre.

Borough architect Seán Martin notes that Sligo experienced a “dramatic period of change in the 19th century when our port, which could then be considered the equivalent of an international airport, was bringing trade, farming materials, plant, stock, coal and timber to and from Sligo”, generating local prosperity.

Much of this wealth was invested in fine buildings such as Sligo courthouse, the Town Hall, bank branches such as the superb Victorian Italianate Ulster Bank at Hyde Bridge, the Model School that lives on as the Niland Gallery and the former St Columba’s mental asylum, which is now an unusual Clarion Hotel.

Like so many other places in Ireland, though, Sligo lost the run of itself during the boom years. Hugely optimistic population projections were made and large tracts of land on the outskirts were rezoned for residential development.

Crazy prices were paid, even by the local authority, for land in areas such as Bellinode.

In town, river walks were laid out along both sides of the Garavogue, lined by new apartment buildings and old warehouses with cafes and shops at quay level. The old Silver Swan Hotel, at Hyde Bridge, was replaced by an angular glazed prow-like structure, The Glasshouse, Hotel, with a vacant eight-storey apartment block alongside it.

The N4 dual-carriageway was driven through the town centre, isolating Sligo’s cathedral from the railway station, and the envisaged “streetscape” along its length – intended to present a new face of Sligo – never materialised. Neither did the Treasury Holdings plan for a major shopping centre on the Wine Street car park.

The twice-daily scheduled Aer Arann air service to and from Dublin ceased operating three years ago after its PSO (public service obligation) subsidy was withdrawn. Passenger numbers had plummeted to 26,000 a year – and it turned out that the subsidy was costing taxpayers €95 for each passenger.

 On the plus side, Strandhill Airport – owned 50% by the Sligo County Council – is still the base for an Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue helicopter and it is used regularly to fly out fresh shellfish to France.

The Dublin-Sligo rail service has also been improved, with trains now running frequently, and more is promised.

Unlike Limerick, there is no specific new vision or strategy for Sligo once its county and borough councils merge, other than the current Sligo County Development Plan (2011-2017) and the borough’s Sligo and Environs development plan (2010-2016). These will no doubt be reconciled after the councils become a single authority.

Even though the borough did not have an independent corporation, Seán Martin believes that it will “not be so challenging to make transition” because there is not another big urban centre in the county;  The new municipality of North Sligo would largely consist of the urban area and satellites from Ballysadare to Rosses Point.

Irish Nurses workload is too much? Results show education is linked to the patients survival rate

Prof Anne Scott (above picture right), of the School of Nursing in Dublin City University, who led the Irish arm of the study, said there was a significant variation in nurse staff ratios between hospitals and even wards here.

Between administering medications (as above) and coordinating care, nurses are some of the busiest health care professionals, often placed as the first point of contact for patients. Perhaps it comes as no surprise, then, that a recent study suggests patients are more likely to die after common surgeries when the nurses who care for them have heavier workloads.

Results of the study are published in The Lancet, where researchers from nine European countries report on data derived from over 420,000 patients in 300 hospitals.

They say that for every extra patient added to a nurse’s average workload, the chance of surgical patients dying within 30 days of admission increases by 7%.

However, they also found that a 10% increase in the ratio of nurses who hold a bachelor degree is linked to a 7% decrease in the risk of death.

To conduct their study, the team evaluated responses from more than 26,500 nurses and reviewed medical records for the hundreds of thousands of patients aged 50 years or older who were discharged after common surgeries, such as hip/knee replacements, appendectomy, gall bladder surgery and vascular procedures.

Their investigation took into account each patient’s risk of death and included age, sex, type of surgery, type of admission and the presence of certain chronic conditions. In addition, the team considered hospital characteristics, such as bed size, teaching status and technology.

Lead researcher Prof. Linda Aiken, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in the US, says:

“Our findings emphasize the risk to patients that could emerge in response to nurse staffing cuts under recent austerity measures, and suggest that an increased emphasis on bachelor’s education for nurses could reduce hospital deaths.”

‘EVIDENCE MAY BE DEEMED TOO EXPENSIVE TO ACT UPON’

In detail, the report shows that the overall percentage of patients who died in the hospital within 30 days of admission was low, between an average of 1.0-1.5%.

But this percentage varied from hospital to hospital and ranged from less than 1% to more than 7%, the researchers say.

Additionally, nurse workload and education levels differ among countries. For example, the average patient-to-nurse ratio in Spain was 12:7, whereas in Norway this was 5:2.

In terms of education, all nurses in Spain and Norway had a bachelor’s degree, compared with an average of only 10% in Switzerland. In England, 28% of nurses had bachelor’s degrees.

The authors write about their findings in detail:

“These associations imply that patients in hospitals in which 60% of nurses had bachelor’s degrees and nurses cared for an average of six patients would have almost 30% lower mortality than patients in hospitals in which only 30% of nurses had bachelor’s degrees and nurses cared for an average of eight patients.”

Prof. Aiken says the European findings mirror data from the US suggesting “that a safe level of hospital nursing staff might help to reduce surgical mortality, and challenge the widely held view that nurses’ experience is more important than their education.”

The team says their findings back a European Union (EU) decision last year to approve education for nurses within higher education institutions starting after 12 years of general education.

In a linked comment to the study, Alvisa Palese, from the University of Udine in Italy, and Roger Watson, from the University of Hull in the UK, write that this latest research provides support for appropriate patient-to-nurse ratios.

“Whether these findings are used to inform health care policy or how they are implemented in practice will be interesting to see,” they say.

Kepler telescope bags huge haul of planets

 

The science team sifting data from the US space agency’s (Nasa) Kepler telescope says it has identified 715 new planets beyond our Solar System.

In the nearly two decades since the first so-called exoplanet was discovered, researchers had claimed the detection of just over 1,000 new worlds.

Kepler’s latest bounty orbit only 305 stars, meaning they are all in multi-planet systems.

The vast majority, 95%, are smaller than our Neptune, which is four times the radius of the Earth.

Four of the new planets are less than 2.5 times the radius of Earth, and they orbit their host suns in the “habitable zone” – the region around a star where water can keep a liquid state.

Whether that is the case on these planets cannot be known for sure – Kepler’s targets are hundreds of light-years in the distance, and this is too far away for very detailed investigation.

The Kepler space telescope was launched in 2009 on a $600m (£360m) mission to assess the likely population of Earth-sized planets in our Milky Way Galaxy.

Faulty pointing mechanisms eventually blunted its abilities last year, but not before it had identified thousands of possible, or “candidate”, worlds in a small patch of sky in the Constellation Lyra.

It did this by looking for transits – the periodic dips in light that occur when planets move across the faces of stars.

Of something like 3,600 candidates recorded, just over 20% have now been moved up to the status of confirmed detections by the Kepler team.

“This is the largest windfall of planets that’s ever been announced at one time,” said Douglas Hudgins from Nasa’s astrophysics division.

“Second, these results establish that planetary systems with multiple planets around one star, like our own Solar System, are in fact common.

“Third, we know that small planets – planets ranging from the size of Neptune down to the size of the Earth – make up the majority of planets in our galaxy.”

When Kepler first started its work, the number of confirmed planets came at a trickle.

Scientists had to be sure that the variations in brightness being observed were indeed caused by transiting planets and not by a couple of stars orbiting and eclipsing each other.

The follow-up work required to make this distinction – between candidate and confirmation – was laborious.

But the sudden dump of new planets announced on Wednesday has exploited a new statistical approach referred to as “verification by multiplicity”.

This rests on the recognition that if a star displays multiple dips in light, it must be planets that are responsible because it is very difficult for several stars to orbit each other in a similar way and maintain a stable configuration.

“This technique that we’ve introduced for wholesale planet validation will be productive in the future. These results are based on the first two years of Kepler observations and with each additional year, we’ll be able to bring in a few hundred more planets,” explained Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at Nasa’s Ames Research Center.

Sara Seager is a professor of planetary science and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but is not involved in the Kepler mission.

She commented: “With hundreds of new validated planets, Kepler reinforces its major finding that small planets are extremely common in our galaxy. And I’m super-excited about this, being one of the people working on the next generation of space telescopes – we hope to put up direct imaging missions, and we need to be reassured that small planets are common.” 

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Europe forecasts a lower growth rate for Ireland in 2014

 

The European Commission’s forecast of 1.8% GDP growth is lower than rate cited by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan last week as being a trigger for income tax cuts.

Ireland’s economy is expected to grow by 1.8% this year, the European Commission said this afternoon, putting it at odds with Central Bank estimates last month which predicted that the economy would grow by 2.1% in 2014.

According to the European Commission’s economic growth forecasts published today, Ireland’s economy will grow by 1.8% this year, and 2.9% in 2015. Unemployment is expected to come in at 11.9% this year and 11.2% next year, slightly below the European average.

The figures show that Ireland’s debt to GDP ratio remains stubbornly high at 122.3% last year, though this is expected to dip slightly to 120.3% this year, and 119.7% next. Ireland has the fourth largest debt to GDP ratio in the EU after Greece, Italy and Portugal.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said last week that income tax cuts could be made in this year’s budget. He also hinted that a growth rate of over 2% would strengthen the case for income tax cuts. “If various independent forecasters are correct, and the economy is growing faster than the 2% forecast, that should give taxation buoyancy,” he said last week at a conference in Brussels.

Ireland’s relatively high debt to GDP ratio has previously been cited by officials in Dublin as one rationale for Ireland’s bid for further debt relief for its banks through the euro zone’s rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). About a third of the debt to GDP figure relates to the bailout of banks in Ireland.

According to the Commission’s analysis of the Irish economy, the expiry of patents in the pharmaceutical sector could pose a threat to Ireland’s economic progress. However, the country is poised to benefit from faster-than-expected economic growth in the UK, it said.

“Given the importance of UK trade, in particular for indigenous Irish firms, the accelerated rate of UK recovery represents an important upside risk for growth, employment and the current-account position, “the Commission said.

The analysis notes that, after a slow start to 2013, growth began to pick up in the third quarter of last year. “There are indications domestic demand is starting to perform more strongly, as the labour market has continued along a steady path of improvement across different sectors.”

In its forecasts the European Commission also downgraded its forecasts for Italy. It predicts that the Italian economy will expand by 0.6% this year, compared to the figure of 0.7% forecast in November. Italy’s debt will rise to 133.7% of GDP in 2014, one of the highest in the European Union.

Today’s forecasts also suggest that France will miss its deficit targets next year, although the commission raised its forecast for French growth this year to 1 per cent from 0.9%, boosted by consumer spending. France has been under pressure from Brussels to implement structural economic reforms in order to reduce its budget deficit. Among the issues highlighted by the European Commission in today’s report is France’s shrinking share of the export market. “Net exports are expected to provide nil contribution to growth in 2014 and to dampen it again in 2015,” the Commission said.

James Reilly to ban hospital queue jumping under new health insurance plan

  

But patients can still pay out of their own pockets to get the treatment that they can afford.

Families will not be able to jump queues for medical treatment by paying extra under Health Minister James Reilly’s radical health insurance plan.

The reform will have massive implications for the two million people who currently hold private health cover.

Insurance companies will be specifically banned from offering quicker access to hospitals for standard treatments – though they will still be able to offer other benefits such as private rooms.

Regardless of the restrictions that may be placed on companies, it will remain possible for patients to pay upfront out of their own pockets to see a specialist or have an operation if they have fears for their health.

The Universal Health Insurance (UHI) plan, which the minister hopes to have implemented in five years’ time, will ensure everyone gets the same basic package of benefits.

The aim is to end the two-tier health service, where public patients wait longer than private insurance holders for treatment.

The core principle of UHI is healthcare being equally available to each member of society and treatment based solely on medical need, not income. Under the new system, private health insurance companies like the VHI will continue to trade and are likely to have an increase in the number of customers as everyone will have to acquire some form of cover.

Those who can’t afford the premium will have it paid for fully or be heavily subsidised by the State.

Dr Reilly estimated yesterday that the 40pc of the population that holds a medical card will get their health insurance paid in full, with another 30pc getting a heavy subsidy.

But in a complete break from the current two-tier system, which allows private policy holders fast access to specialists and treatments, the new system will specifically forbid queue-jumping – even if you pay more.

The change will mean the 2,052,000 people – roughly half the population – who hold health insurance will no longer have the edge over everybody else in getting treatment faster.

UHI will cover basic GP and acute hospital needs and some people may wish to obtain cover for services outside of that standard package of care.

But paying more for ‘Supplementary Health Insurance’ won’t grant quicker access to treatment.

In explaining how UHI works specifically, the government document says: “No insurer may sell a supplementary health insurance policy conferring faster access to services covered by the standard package of care.”

The reference to preventing faster access is actually contained twice in the document as it also says it won’t be allowed under the basic package under the “principle of social solidarity”.

“Neither insurers nor providers operating within the UHI system will be allowed to sell faster access to services covered by the UHI standard package of care.”

The specific services to be covered by UHI have yet to be determined. The minister plans for the public to be consulted on what to be included.

However, this document does list the components of a “preferred policy option” for inclusion under UHI, as follows:

1. * Universal primary care, including core GP and community nurse services and the maternity and infant care scheme.
2. * Chronic disease and case management for those who meet specific critical criteria.
3. * Rehabilitative care, for a period not exceeding 12 months.
4. * Acute hospital care, including all inpatient, daycare and outpatient care.
5. * Acute mental health care, including acute mental health services provided by community mental health teams, in outpatient clinics, day hospitals, day centres and acute inpatient setting for a period not exceeding 12 months.
6. * Step-down care, provided in a residential care setting or in a person’s home for a defined period of time.

The change-over to UHI to end the two-tier system of access is the agreed policy of the Coalition.

Fine Gael and the Labour Party both campaigned for the policy and it is included in the Programme for Government.

Labour was making the case for UHI for almost a decade before Fine Gael came on board.

Dr Reilly’s draft of the consultation document, known as a White Paper, was discussed by ministers last night and is due to be published in the coming weeks.

The paper has come under fire for lacking detail on the cost of UHI, with the Department of Finance and Department of Public Expenditure expressing concern about the financial implications.

Dr Reilly has sought to assuage these concerns by saying there will be a cap on the amount of money to be spent by the State, which will be linked to national income.

Nonetheless, the document contains no specifics on the costs associated with the switch to UHI – either to the public or the Exchequer.

Son receives suspended sentence for attempted murder of his Mother

   

GERALD VOLLRATH 2ND FROM RIGHT PIC. ABOVE ADMITTED HOLDING A PILLOW TO HIS DYING MOTHER’S FACE

Gerard Vollrath has been spared jail and given a suspended three-year sentence after pleading guilty to the attempted murder of his elderly mother in a nursing home , after the judge ruled that his motivation was entirely compassionate

A 47-year-old Waterford man has been spared jail and given a suspended three-year sentence after pleading guilty to the attempted murder of his elderly mother in a nursing home , after the judge ruled that his motivation was entirely compassionate.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said that in Mr Gerald Vollrath’s case, he could be facing life imprisonment were it not for the prosecution’s inability to prove that Mrs Veronica Vollrath was still alive when he pressed a pillow to her face.

He noted that the DPP had accepted his plea to attempted murder and said the available penalties ranged from a suspended sentence to life imprisonment.

Veronica (Vera) Vollrath (83) was pronounced dead on January 9th, 2012 at Killure Bridge Nursing Home, Killure, Co Waterford.

Her death was expected but her son admitted holding a pillow over her face while keeping vigil by her death bed, and the Austrian resident was charged with her murder.

Gerald Vollrath, an aviation worker, of Tramore Heights, Tramore pleaded not guilty to her murder, but the murder charge against him was dropped in December, and he pleaded guilty to attempted murder instead.

The Central Criminal Court was told last week that this was because pathological exams had found no sign of suffocation and that it could not be said with absolute certainty that she was not already dead.

Mrs Vollrath had suffered a severe stroke, had Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart and kidney problems and was receiving end-of-life care.

He was keeping vigil by her side on the night of January 8th when he put a pillow over her face and held it there for up to two minutes. Staff did not suspect anything other than a natural death.

Mr Vollrath revealed what he had done later that morning. He told Gardaí that his mother previously indicated that she would not like to be helpless in the situation in which she was.

The court heard that the Gardaí’s view was that Mr Vollrath’s only concern was his mother’s suffering.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said last week that this was the first time he had encountered anything of this nature in 50 years and adjourned sentencing.

Before passing sentence today, he described the case as distressing.

He said that mercy killing was a concept totally unknown to our law. He then quoted from an English case, where a mother had taken the life of her severely disabled son with the intention of ending his suffering.

“The law of murder does not distinguish between murder committed for malevolent reasons and murder motivated by familial love… Mercy killing is murder,” he said, quoting a judicial decision in that case.

“Even a life lived at the extremes of disability is not one jot less precious than the life of an able-bodied person,” it continued.

“Until parliament decides otherwise, the law recognises a distinction between the withdrawal of treatment supporting life, which, subject to stringent conditions, may be lawful, and the active termination of life, which is unlawful,” concluded the quotation.

Mr Justice Carney noted that the mother in that case had been captured by the mandatory life sentence.

In relation to sentencing Mr Vollrat,h the judge said he took a number of mitigating factors into account when deciding on a sentence.

“The motivation was entirely compassionate and not at all malevolent,” he said.

He also noted Mrs Vollrath’s family’s desire for compassion, Mr Vollrath’s early plea and genuine remorse, his work history, employer support, lack of previous convictions and the support of his wife and family.

He imposed a three-year sentence, but suspended it on Mr Vollrath entering into a € 1,000 bond to be of good behaviour for three years.

Mr Vollrath, who had his eyes closed throughout the sentencing, winked at family members on hearing the outcome.

Outside the courtroom, he embraced family members as well as members of the gardaí.

Flanked by his family, he paused outside the courthouse while his solicitor, Ken Cunningham, spoke on his behalf.

He thanked all of those who had offered their support and encouragement over the past two ‘very difficult’ years. He thanked his legal team for their expertise, dedication, and commitment to bringing the matter to a conclusion.

He thanked his family for the unwavering support, sympathy, compassion and love they had shown him through ‘this very difficult time for all concerned’.

He asked the media to respect the privacy of his family and to allow them to rebuild their lives.

Mortgage lending in Ireland 5.6% down last year on 2012 

 

Value and volume of mortgages issued falls but estimates suggest that less than one in two purchases is now made with a mortgage

Figures show that the average loan size increased to € 172,118 in the fourth quarter of 2013, up 4.1% on Q4 2012. The average mortgage drawn down for property purchase increased on a year-on-year basis for the first time since Q2 2008, reaching € 179,934

Despite an ongoing resurgence in the property market, mortgage lending fell in 2013, as the number of mortgages issued fell by 5.6% down to 14,985 and the value of mortgages dropped by a similar percentage, down to €2.5 billion.

The decline was evident in the fourth quarter of last year, with the IBF/Pwc Mortgage Market profile pointing to a decline of 13.9% in the number of mortgages given out, and a 10.3% decline in value, when compared with the same quarter in 2012.

Dermot O’Leary, economist with Goodbody Stockbrokers, described the outturn as “underwhelming”, adding that it can be partly explained by the low level of supply of properties and the presence of cash transactions.

“On the latter issue, we estimate that only 46% of transactions were carried out using a mortgage last year, down from 56% in 2012,” he said.

The figures may also be distorted by the effect of people rushing to buy at the end of 2012 in order to take advantage of mortgage interest relief before it was abolished.

First time buyers and mover purchasers, continued to dominate the market in 2013, accounting for almost 90% (87.8%) of new mortgages issued. In effect, over 90% (93%) of all mortgage credit now goes to the home purchasing segments of the market.

The average loan size increased to € 172,118 in the fourth quarter of 2013, up 4.1% on Q4 2012. The average mortgage drawn down for property purchase increased on a year-on-year basis for the first time since Q2 2008, reaching € 179,934.

Goodbody is forecasting growth in the value of mortgages drawn down of 29% to € 3.3 billion this year, with a further expansion to € 4.2 billion in 2015.

Cyber-bullying of Irish children and teens up 33% on 2013

 

The cyber-bullying of children and teenagers is on the increase with 33% more students reporting cyber-bullying this year 2014 compared with 2013.

Results show that only one in four parents monitor their children’s internet activity.

Thousands of parents and children were interviewed as part of the annual survey, carried out by the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD)

The survey revealed that bullying is not just within the grounds of the school yard, with an 80% increase from last year in students admitting to having been bullied by a peer online.

The aim of the survey is to highlight the presence of cyberbullying among Irish young people and to help schools and parents to tackle the problem.

The results show that younger parents tend to be more aware of the dangers of online bullying with 64% of parents under the age of 35 saying they monitor their child’s online activity on a weekly basis.

This figure was much smaller among older parents with only 40pc of parents over the age of 45 making the same inquires with their kids.

RESULTS

Fifteen % of parents admitted to never checking up on their children as they use the web. Director of NAPD Clive Byrne said the results show that much more needs to be done to tackle online bullying, stressing the difference between “what parents are aware of and what is actually happening,” in the lives of Irish children.

She urged parents to remember that cyberbullying can follow their children home “through the medium of their phones or on the web”.

She added that parents who don’t monitor their children’s online activity “will be less likely to detect online bullying when it occurs”.

Large volcanoes helped slow global warming

LIVERMORE SCIENTISTS CONCLUDE

  

Large volcanoes erupting earlier this century have helped cool the planet, partially offsetting warming produced by greenhouse gases, according to a study led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

In a paper published in the Feb. 23 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers say that despite increasing greenhouse gas emissions, global mean temperatures on the Earth’s surface and those in the troposphere — the lowest portion of Earth’s atmosphere — have shown relatively little warming since 1998.

According to the study, scientists looking for a cause have found “significant correlations” between tiny droplets of sulfuric acid released during larger volcanic eruptions — also known as “volcanic aerosols” — and satellite estimates of lower tropospheric temperatures. The study concludes volcanic eruptions have contributed to a “warming hiatus”; the aerosols reflecting sunlight back to space, cooling Earth temperatures.

“In the last decade, the amount of volcanic aerosol in the stratosphere has increased, so more sunlight is being reflected back into space,” said Lawrence Livermore climate scientist Benjamin Santer, the study’s lead author. “This has created a natural cooling of the planet and has partly offset the increase in surface and atmospheric temperatures due to human influence.”

The study indicates other possible factors for the slowdown, including the temporary cooling effect of internal climate noise, an unusually low and long solar cycle, and an increase in sulfur dioxide emissions from China.

Livermore scientists Céline Bonfils, Jeff Painter, Mark Zelinka and Karl Taylor contributed to the study. Other contributors include Remote Sensing Systems, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and the Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis.