Euro zone falls deeper into trouble and deflation as collapse in oil prices bites
Prices in the euro zone drop 0.6% in the year to January, echoing 2009 low.
The government of Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, which faces an election towards the end of the year, predicts Spain will grow by at least 2% this year.
The collapse in oil prices has helped to push the euro zone deeper into deflation, strengthening the case for the European Central Bank’s landmark decision to begin buying government bonds later this year to stave off a serious bout of falling prices in the region.
Prices dropped 0.6% in the year to January, a figure on a par with the lowest reading recorded since the 18-country currency area’s creation, according to Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistics bureau. The flash estimate is the same as the record low recorded in July 2009, during the sovereign debt crisis.
Energy costs, which make up about a 10th of the basket of goods used to measure inflation, had tumbled 8.9% over the past year on the back of a near 60% fall in the price of Brent crude.
The core measure of inflation, which strips out more volatile goods such as food and energy, slowed to a new record low of 0.6%, down from 0.7% in December. The dip in core inflation is concerning as the measure is seen as better reflection of the weakness of domestic demand.
Both estimates will bolster support for the ECB’s quantitative easing package, unleashed by policy makers earlier this month.
Government debt
The ECB will buy €60 billion worth of government debt, asset-backed securities and corporate bonds a month from March until September 2016 to counter a prolonged bout of deflation that threatens to wipe out the region’s stuttering economic recovery.
The fear is that falling prices will prompt consumers to delay purchases, denting already weak demand.
Deflation also exacerbates high debt burdens in parts of the region’s periphery.
Monetary policy makers have said they will keep buying until inflation is headirng towards the central bank’s target of below but close to 2 per cent.
But the fall in oil prices could spur growth in the region by lifting spending on other goods. That appears to have happened in Spain, the region’s fourth- largest economy, which is growing at its fastest pace in seven years despite prices falling by 1.4% in the year to January.
German retail sales figures, also out yesterday, suggested falling oil prices had boosted consumption – though not by as much as expected. A rise in retail sales of 0.2% between November and December missed expectations of a bigger spending surge in the Eurozone’s largest economy.
Spending up
In France, the region’s second-largest economy, consumer spending by volume rose by 1.5% as lower energy costs boosted the amount of energy and food bought by households.
But economists fear the high unemployment rate in the eurozone will constrain prices. The region’s unemployment rate remained high at 11.4%, down just 0.1 per cent from November, according to Eurostat figures published yesterday. That is more than double the US jobless rate.
Half (50%) of Irish households have registered details with Irish Water
Irish Water sets February 2nd registration deadline to ensure accurate water bills in April.
Protesters take part in anti-water charge demonstration before Christmas outside the Irish Water Head Office on Talbot Street, Dublin.
Just over half of the households expected to pay bills to Irish Water have registered their details with the new utility.
The latest figures from Irish Water show 837,400 homes (56%) have given their details out of the estimated 1.5 million customers that will receive their first water bills in April.
Irish Water estimates that up to 1.9 million households will need to respond with registration details.
Irish Water has set a February 2nd deadline for registration to ensure people receive accurate water bills in April. There is no penalty for not registering by this date.
Of that total, an estimated 400,000 households will not be required to pay bills because they deal with water in (drinking water) and water out (waste water) themselves – eg having a private well and septic tank.
About 35,000 households returned their registration packages with no details, according to the water company.
All households, including those who are not Irish Water customers, are eligible to apply for the water conservation grant of €100 but need to register with the company to apply.
The Department of Social Protection has set aside a budget of €130 million to pay for the €100 euro water conservation grant – equivalent to paying the fee to 1.3 million households.
The Department of Environment has confirmed that there is no deadline for households to apply for this grant – which will be paid from September.
“There are no plans currently to introduce a cut-off date,” a spokesman from the Department of Environment said, adding that the budget allocation was based on the 2011 census and feedback from other “demand-led schemes”.
The spokesman said the grant only applied to principal residencies and if applications exceeded the 1.3 million estimate these would be paid.
“Every household who applies and is eligible for the water conservation grant will receive it.”
The total number of households on the 2011 Census in the State was 1.66 million.
The Department of Social Welfare said: “The grant will be paid to the registered householders annually in respect of their primary dwellings, with the first payment to be paid in September 2015 and each subsequent year up to and including 2018.”
An Irish Water spokeswoman said a total of 1,060,000 households have sent back details to the utility company to date on Friday, including around 180,000 responses from homes which are not Irish Water customers.
“We’re anticipating we’ll have a high level compliance in terms of payment but we do have means at our disposal to add charges,” she said.
Irish Water will use the Revenue Commissioner’s local property database to send out bills to those who do not register their details.
The spokeswoman said the company’s focus next month would be properties owned by landlords.
“It’s not the landlord’s bill, it’s the tenant’s bill because they are using the service,” she said.
There has been a surge in phone calls to their help line in the last week with an average of 5,000 a day, up from 1,500 before Christmas.
She said there were no queues or backlogs and the numbers were much lower than the 25,000 calls received daily in October.
The spokeswoman said 565,000 water meters had been installed to date, halfway to the planned total to be installed of 1.03 million.
Gerry Adams blames the Taoiseach Kenny for Dáil debate collapse
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams says his party is not trying to undermine the Ceann Comhairle.
Opposition parties criticised Sean Barrett for cancelling a Dáil debate on a Commission of Inquiry into Garda malpractice.
The Ceann Comhairle said it may overlap with a High Court case being taken by Alan Shatter.
Fianna Fáil has called on Mr Barrett to withdraw claims that the Opposition is trying to undermine him.
Deputy Adams has said that responsibility for the cancellation of the debate lies with the Taoiseach.
“There’s no plan by Sinn Féin to undermine the Ceann Comhairle,” he said.
“There always has t be somebody who chairs the meetings and makes sure that everybody’s within Standing Orders, and we may have concerns about how he did that, but the Taoiseach is the person who allowed the controversy to build, and refused to take a sensible approach.”
How a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of Gallstones
A healthy diet and lifestyle is key to avoiding most health problems. But with gallstones, thought to affect as many as one in six people, with famous sufferers including the likes of Eric Clapton and the Dalai Lama, it’s not quite that simple.
In fact some lifestyle factors which may seem healthy, like low-fat diets and losing weight quickly, plus not drinking alcohol, can actually make gallstones more likely.
One of the most common medical and surgical conditions, it’s believed they occur due to chemical imbalances in bile stored in the gallbladder; this leads to tiny crystals developing, which can grow into gallstones, ranging from many as small as grains of sand, to one the size of a pebble.
GP Dr Sarah Brewer, whose book Overcoming Gallstones has just been published, points out that 70% of gallstones are made from cholesterol, and a diet high in saturated fat and pre-formed cholesterol increases the amount of the substance being pumped by the liver into bile, making it more likely gallstones will form.
However, she warns that “the opposite is also true”. A diet that’s unusually low in fat can promote gallstones, as the gallbladder mainly contracts in response to dietary fats, so it empties less frequently if a low-fat diet is followed, or if dieters eat less regularly than normal. Bile can pool in the gallbladder, giving gallstones more chance to form.
Dr Brewer references a study of almost 90,000 nurses, which found that losing 4kg-10kg in weight over a two year period increased the risk of gallstones by 44%, and those who lost more than 10kg were almost twice as likely to develop them, with a 94% increased risk. Avoiding gallstones may even be aided by a moderate intake of alcohol.
Dr Brewer says: “Alcohol acts as a solvent, helping to stop the components of gallstones precipitating out of the solution in stored bile. This is probably the main way in which a moderate intake of alcohol reduces gallstone formation but please don’t use this as an excuse to increase your intake!
“And you may think you’re doing good by trying to lose weight, cutting back on fats and being really strict on your diet, but your gallbladder can become under-active, the bile in it sludges, and you’re more likely to develop stones.But other than that, it’s all the usual messages?
Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, high fibre, nuts.
You can take steps to reduce the risk, and even if you do develop gallstones, not everybody has symptoms. “Where lifestyle factors are a probably cause, there’s lots you can do to ensure … you don’t develop more gallstones,” advises Dr Brewer, who’s also a registered nutritionist.
She says plant sterols, fibre and vitamin C can all help prevent the condition, and a diet rich in monounsaturated fats from foods like olive, Macadamia nut and avocado oils can also be beneficial, as can omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, like those found in flaxseed, walnut and fish oils.
Dr Brewer says nutritional and herbal supplements, like vitamin C, magnesium and lecithin, may help to reduce stone formation or enlargement. “If you eat the right food and take the right supplements, and avoid things that are going to make gallstones worse, then you can live with them quite happily— and many people do, without even knowing they’ve got them.”
After I moved back home to Ireland, ‘Lucy Michael said nothing felt normal’
It was exhilarating at first, but the pressures of a new job and a long commute were isolating, and I felt the absence of everything I had left behind.
Lucy Michael says “Nothing felt normal. The exhilaration of the move home had dissipated, the pressures of a new job and a long commute were isolating and I had started to feel the absence of everything I had left behind. I worried.”
Suddenly, in the midst of a cold English winter, I decided I was going home. I held my decision close for months. I had applied for jobs in Ireland selectively over the years, repeating my intention to make a life there, but my colleagues had heard it from Irish people before, and I think they never really believed it. When I finally did hand in my notice they counselled against such a rash move. I still had no job to go home to.
My professional work is about immigration, so alongside job-hunting I read everything I could about returning migrants. I listened to Irish radio to catch up on the chat. I planned for the higher living costs. I even learned to declutter by giving away my books, which prompted friends to take my departure rather more seriously.
Back in Dublin my impending return was no secret. We celebrated my decision. I laughed and joked with friends about what great times we would have when we were all together again, with their kids who had been born and become people while I was away.
I finally found a good job in Ireland, packed up my flat and was grateful to family and friends for welcoming me home with open arms. My boyfriend booked almost weekly visits for the first few months, to help me settle into my new job without the pressure to travel. I was in the best position anybody coming home could hope for.
I read another story in the Generation Emigration section of The Irish Times about a woman who, home from the US after 30 years, was shocked by the difference and prepared to feel like an outsider for a long time to come. For me it was different. I had been home every two months right through the 12 years I was away. I thought I would slip easily into Dublin life.
It started after about a month. I couldn’t place the breathlessness that would hit me out of nowhere, making me exhausted and tearful. I blamed exhaustion and ongoing bronchitis, but I knew it was more than that.
Nothing felt normal. The exhilaration of the move home had dissipated, the pressures of a new job and a long commute were isolating, and I had started to feel the absence of everything I had left behind. I worried.
For three months I could not put words to the roller coaster I was on. I couldn’t explain it to family and friends in Ireland; it felt like disloyalty to admit missing my other life. I missed my friends in England. A while back a few of us had talked about quitting our jobs and moving to other places. It seemed exciting at the time, but I moved before they did, and then suddenly I was here and they were still there together – and I had left a hole in a fabric I could not see while I was still part of the pattern.
None of my friends could imagine that moving home to Ireland would have any trace of sadness for me; I had talked so much about Dublin. I never expected to grieve for a life overseas I willingly gave up. I suspect at least one close friend in England has not yet forgiven me for the betrayal of leaving. She no longer tells me her secrets, denies me the privileges of our close friendship. I don’t think she really believed I would leave either.
Other close friends acknowledged my future absence and planned early visits. In turn I accepted their need to make plans without me, even though it stung.
But now, the other side of Christmas, it’s easier to see the bigger picture. The “Goodbye and Good Luck!” cards on the wall in my new home don’t make me so sad any more. Photos of friends start to populate the wall, too, reminding me that I used to love living across two countries and travelled easily between them – and to remind me not to be too careless with the friends I left behind.
A 5 metre female killer whale washed up on beach in Co Waterford
Biologists say 5 metre carcass is so large it must be cut up on beach before being removed
A female killer whale is seen on the beach at Saleens near Tramore, Co Waterford.
Marine biologists are working to remove the body of a killer whale which washed up on a beach near Tramore in Waterford on Friday morning.
The five metre whale was spotted by a passerby who alerted members of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG).
It is believed the predatory mammal may have died of malnutrition and was dead before it washed up on shore.
“It’s probably a young female, but its teeth are worn down which is kind of surprising. Looking at the teeth you’d think it’s a very old animal,” said Andrew Malcolm of the IWDG.
“When you see the teeth as worn down as that you would speculate that it could be malnourished, and that it wasn’t getting enough to eat.
“It doesn’t look particularly malnourished to me compared to some I’ve seen washed up, but we won’t be able to tell for sure until after the postmortem,” he added.
The large size of the creature means that it will have to be removed from the beach on a phased basis.
Members of the marine biology unit at Galway Mayo IT are currently working on extracting vital organs and blubber from the stricken animal. It is hoped its skeleton can be preserved and mounted in the local area following the postmortem.
“The cutting up of the animal would be done on the beach. If it was a smaller animal they’d probably stick it on a trailer and take it back, but because it’s such a big animal stranded on the beach means that it will have to be done on-site,” said Mr Malcolm.
Sightings of orca whales in Irish waters are rare and just 15 carcasses have been recovered from these shores over the course of the last century.
The last such record was at Tullaghan Bay, Co Mayo in 2010.
The whale’s location has perplexed some, given that virtually all killer whale sightings occur along the west and south west coast. Indeed, the last sighting in the Dunmore East area was recorded four decades ago, according to Mr Malcolm.
He says that although a pod of nine whales regularly visits the waters off Ireland’s west coast it is not thought the Tramore whale belongs to that group.
Saleen beach has been busy since the discovery was made with people visiting the site to look at the deceased animal.
“It’s pretty mad down here, there’s just a constant stream of people coming, taking selfies of themselves with the whale,” said Mr Malcolm.
He also cautioned against any physical contact with the whale’s remains, as it is not yet certain as to whether it died of some kind of contractible illness or disease.
Members of the IWDG are on site to protect the scene from vandals.
This follows the carving of names and initials into the body of a sperm whale which washed up in nearby Dungarvan two years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment