Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Petition filed to United Nations on behalf of Irish women travelling for abortion

 

 Amanda Mellet, Ruth Bowie and Siobhán Murphy above picture left, members of the Terminations For Medical Reasons group, are taking the cases to the UN’s Human Rights Committeein Gneva.

First of three petitions to UN from Irish women, Pregnant women, who receive a diagnosis of a fatal foetal abnormality and are forced to leave Ireland for terminations, suffer human rights violations “as serious and as reprehensible . . . as torture, detention or imprisonment”, a leading international human rights activist has said.

Johanna Westeson, of the New York-based Centre for Reproductive Rights, was addressing a press conference in Dublin to announce the filing in Geneva yesterday of the first of three petitions to the United Nations from Irish women alleging that their having had to travel for abortion following such diagnoses amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Member states
Amanda Mellet, Ruth Bowie and Siobhán Murphy, members of the Terminations For Medical Reasons group, are taking the cases to the UN’s Human Rights Committeein Geneva. The committee monitors member states’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The three are supported by the New York centre as well as by Doctors For Choice.

The papers in Ms Mellet’s case were filed yesterday, while those in Ms Bowie’s and Ms Murphy’s cases will be filed early next year.

At the press conference Ms Mellet described her experience of travelling to Liverpool in 2011 to terminate her pregnancy.

“I have no doubt in my mind that being forced to leave Ireland to end my pregnancy of my much-wanted baby, that that journey has overshadowed my grief,” she said.

Ms Westeson, the centre’s Europe director, said all three women had been “profoundly scarred” by the experience.

Ms Mellet had been “denied critical reproductive healthcare in her own country”.

One Day More
Meanwhile the One Day More group, which represents women who choose to continue their pregnancies following fatal foetal diagnoses, issued a statement calling for less focus on abortion and more on peri-natal hospice care.

Spokeswoman Cliona Johnson called for the provision of such care for women who receive such diagnoses. “Peri- natal hospice care is there for parents to support them as soon as they receive a diagnosis. In real terms it gives families an opportunity to prepare to meet their baby and make memories with them, however brief that may be.”

Ireland’s decision to exit bailout without a precautionary ”credit line”

‘is FULLY SUPPORTED’ BY the EU & IMF

 

Dijsselbloem (above pic with Minister Michael Noonan) says Ireland’s exit ‘proves these programmes work’ at meeting in Brussels

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said the Government’s decision to exit the three-year bailout programme next month without seeking precautionary credit funding is “fully supported” by European lenders and the IMF.

Speaking to reporters as he arrived in Brussels for a meeting of euro zone finance ministers, Mr Noonan said the decision was “the best interests of the country” and the “time was right” to return to full market access unaided.

Mr Noonan phoned European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, European economics commissioner Olli Rehn and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde this morning ahead of the Government’s announcement.

“We think that the time is now right for exiting the programme and that may not always be so [...]If we took a precautionary programme we would have to take the decision we made today next year,” the Minister said pointing out that there was no guarantee that the situation would be as benign in a year’s time.

The fact that Ireland would not have to draw on the funds next year as it is already funded into 2014 was also a factor.

“If we took a precautionary programme it was clear that we would not have to use it in 2014. Then the consideration would be, will we take it so that we have an option of extending it?” he said.

Asked about the impact of the decision on the Irish people, MrNoonan said it was a question of sovereignty.

“We spent an awful lot of time getting our freedom and getting the authority to run our own affairs, and there’s not much point in having political freedom if you do not have economic and financial freedom .”

Discussions will now commence on the precise terms of post-programme surveillance for Ireland, with two review missions per year envisaged.

However, euro group president Jeroen Dijsselbloem stressed that while “specific risks and reforms” would be considered, no “measures” would be involved.

A number of euro zone figures today stressed that Ireland’s exit from the bailout was proof that the euro zone’s response to the crisis has worked. Ireland’s exit “proves that these programmes work and deliver when they are successfully implemented,” Mr Dijsselbloem said.

Despite the affirmation of the euro group’s strong support for Ireland’s decision, there had been differences of opinion between the various troika members on the best strategy for Ireland.

With Ireland scheduled to take part in next year’s European banking stress tests, the European Central Bank in particular is understood to have had concerns about problems in the Irish banking system and favoured the use of a precautionary credit line.

In contrast, the European Commission advocated a so-called ‘clean exit’ , with Mr Dijsselbloem supporting an early decision on the issue.

In a statement today IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said Ireland was in a “strong position” in terms of its bond yields and sizable cash buffer, though the statement made no mention of the decision to exit the bailout without a backstop. “We look forward to continuing to work with the authorities as they address the challenges that remain.”

‘Right decision’

Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil this morning that it was the “right decision for Ireland”, and the Government would publish a new medium-term economic strategy in the wake of the announcement.

Most Cabinet Ministers were in the Dáil along with a large turnout of TDs for the special announcement.

The Government had engaged extensively with international institutions and partners on Ireland’s exit strategy and they had indicated “we will continue to receive their strong support”.

Ireland’s early household property tax returns for next year takes in some €50m

  

Some 300,000 people have filed their 2014 property tax returns.

The Government is set to take in €50m extra from the property tax this year due to the number of people paying for next year’s tax before Christmas.

Today is the deadline for all paper returns for next year.

And it’s emerged that the government has increased its estimate for the sum generated by the property tax this year.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has confirmed that he has increased the estimate from €250m to €300m due to the numbers paying next year’s property tax in advance. But he has also increased his property tax estimate for next year from €500m to €550m.

This means that the total take from the property tax in its first year-and-a-half of operation will be €850m.

Estimate: That is €100m higher than the previous estimate of €750m.

In response to a parliamentary question from Labour TD Kevin Humphreys, Mr Noonan said he expected the same pattern of early payment of the property tax to continue next year. But he also said there were a number of one-off factors which would contribute to the higher than expected property tax revenue. These include:

* A Revenue crackdown on the 150,000 homeowners who have not paid the tax.

* Deducting €200 from the wages and social welfare payments of people who have not paid the household charge in the New Year. So far, they have been paid around €700,000 by people who had previously refused to pay up.

* City and county councils will be paying the last year’s property tax bill for the houses they own after having been granted a six month respite.

One-in-3 people reverse pre-diabetes discovery successfully with a good diet

 

irish HEALTH CUTBACKS MEAN YOUNG ADULTS WITH DIABETES HAVE TO WAIT LONGER TO SEE A DOCTOR AND THE VISITS ARE RUSHED, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY BY IRISH DOCTORS.

The VHI, in a separate study found that almost one in three people screened and found to have pre-diabetes, improved their lifestyle enough to reverse the diagnosis within 12 months.

In the first study carried out by the Royal College of Surgeons and the Department of Sociology in University College Cork, it emerged that government cuts in funding were having a significant impact on young adults with type 1 diabetes.

Clinical visits were “too short, frequently rushed and there was not enough time to discuss issues properly”.

RELIANCE: It also found “an over-reliance on junior doctors and the continuity of care in the service provided was not optimal”.

Diabetes care was unevenly distributed around the country with rural services under-resourced.

Equipment like insulin pumps were only available from specialist clinics and young people often had to travel long distances to get them.

Meanwh ile the Vhi study screened about 30,000 people for type 2 diabetes and found that about 7,000 were pre-diabetes.

Of these, 32% changed their lifestyle enough to revert to normal blood glucose within a year.

Ming the Mollusc world’s oldest creature was 507 old.

BUT SCIENTISTS KILLED IT OFF

 

Ming’s (above left)  life came to an abrupt end seven years ago when scientists from Bangor University dredged the seabed near Iceland (pictured above right) as part of a study into climate change

World’s oldest creature – known as Ming the mollusc – is proven even older than previously thought

Ming the Mollusc was 507 when he died, according to new research 

When scientists inadvertently killed what turned out to be the world’s oldest living creature, it was bad enough.

Now, their mistake has been compounded after further research found it was even older – at 507 years.

The ocean quahog – a type of deep-sea clam – was dredged alive from the bottom of the North Atlantic near Iceland in 2006 by researchers. They then put it in a freezer, as is normal practice, unaware of its age.

It was only when it was taken to a laboratory that scientists from Bangor University studied it and concluded it was 400 years old.

The discovery made it into the Guinness Book of World Records however by this time, it was too late for Ming the Mollusc – named after the Chinese dynasty on the throne when its life began.

Now, after examining the ocean quahog more closely, using more refined methods, the researchers have found the animal was actually 100 years older than they first thought.

Dr Paul Butler, from the University’s School of Ocean Sciences, said: “We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we’ve got the right age now.”

A quahog’s shell grows by a layer every year, in the summer when the water is warmer and food is plentiful. It means that when its shell is cut in half, scientists can count the lines in a similar way trees can be dated by rings in their trunks.

The growth rings can be seen in two places; on the outside of the shell and at the hinge where the two halves meet. The hinge is generally considered by scientists as the best place to count the rings, as it is protected from outside elements.

When researchers originally dated Ming, they counted the rings at the hinge.

However because it was so old, many had become compressed. When they looked again at the outside of the shell, they found more rings.

It means the mollusc was born in 1499 – just seven years after Columbus discovered America and before Henry VIII had even married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in 1509.

Scientists say they can study the clam’s layers to find out about sea temperatures and water masses from thousands of years ago.

Jan Heinemeier, associate professor at the University of Denmark, who helped date Ming, told Science Nordic: “The fact alone that we got our hands on an animal that’s 507 years old is incredibly fascinating, but the really exciting thing is of course everything we can learn from studying the mollusc.”

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Irish Junior Doctors stage publicity stunt to protest against James Reilly’s health policies

  

More than 800 Irish based junior doctors have sent symbolic “boarding passes” to Health Minister James Reilly warning they may have to go abroad because of his health policies, including a cut in salaries for newly-appointed hospital consultants.

The campaign was organised by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) which represents junior doctors who are also angry at the standard of training they are getting in hospitals as well as their long working weeks which can clock up to 80 hours.

Dr. Mark Murphy, chair of the IMO’s NCHD (junior doctor) committee, said: “We are approaching a crossroads for the NCHD grade in the Irish healthcare services. There is deep unease amongst my colleagues that medicine is becoming a tainted profession and that there is an agenda to portray the medical profession as though they are driven by greed.

”IMO president Dr Paul McKeown added: “These figures represent a deep well of disquiet and apprehension amongst some of the most talented and skilled young professionals in this country and they make me fear for the future delivery of medical care in our health service.

“We have put in place a policy that is leading to the export of our brightest and best and while we may not feel the repercussions for a few years, I have no doubt that our Health Service will suffer if these figures become a reality.

”Junior doctors who are appointed to a full-time consultant post will be paid lower salaries than existing specialists following a decision by the minister to pay new entrants 30pc less.

It means that new consultants will be paid €116,000 if they are on a contract allowing them to treat public and private patients or €121,000 if they are confined to public patients only

Families in Ireland dodging the dentist as cuts-backs bite home

    

As much as a million cash-strapped consumers are postponing dental treatments because of cutbacks to State schemes.

Patients are waiting until they feel pain before going to the dentist, which has resulted in a 93pc increase in the number of tooth extractions and a rise in gum disease and dental infections.

Nine in 10 dentists have reported a drop in attendances at their clinics. But 92pc have seen an increase in gum disease and 84pc have found a rise in dental infections.

Almost eight in 10 dentists say there has been an increase in the number of patients presenting with pain and the majority of professionals say State schemes are not now fit for purpose.

The dental crisis is starkly outlined in a survey of more than 300 dentists, carried out on behalf of the Irish Dental Association and published today.

It found that almost one in three people had postponed treatment because of restrictions to the Medical Card and PRSI schemes.

A similar number — equating to 1.1 million people — said they expected to visit the dentist less frequently from now on due to the cutbacks.

Head of the IDA’s General Practice Group, Dr Peter Gannon, described the findings as “alarming”.

Continuing lack of clarity over entitlements meant large numbers of people were neglecting their dental health and only visiting their dentist when forced to do so by pain.

“I am concerned that we are returning to the days of extractions and dentures,” said Dr Gannon.

“We know already that dental decay is the most common chronic disease affecting Irish children and these findings indicate that dental decay, gum disease and dental infections are rising across all age groups.

“It’s clear a ‘silent epidemic’ of dental and oral disease is affecting a significant proportion of the population and this underlines the need for people to prioritise their oral health,” he said.

Dr Gannon called on the Government to commit extra resources to both schemes immediately, to introduce a National Oral Health Policy and appoint a Chief Dental Officer to the Department of Health.

Bread that lasts for 60 days could cut food waste

  

An American company has developed a technique that it says can make bread stay mould-free for 60 days.

The bread is zapped in a sophisticated microwave array which kills the spores that cause the problem.

The company claims it could significantly reduce the amount of wasted bread – in the UK alone, almost a third of loaves purchased.

The technique can also be used with a wide range of foods including fresh turkey and many fruits and vegetables.

World of waste

Food waste is a massive problem in most developed countries. In the US, figures released this year suggest that the average American family throws away 40% of the food they purchase – which adds up to $165bn (£102bn) annually.

Bread is a major culprit, with 32% of loaves purchased in the UK thrown out as waste when they could be eaten, according to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The machine uses similar technology to a home microwave

One of the biggest threats to bread is mould. As loaves are usually wrapped in plastic, any water in the bread that evaporates from within is trapped and makes the surface moist. This provides excellent growing conditions forRhizopus stolonifer, the fungus that leads to mould.

In normal conditions, bread will go mouldy in around 10 days.

But an American company called Microzap says it has developed a technique that will keep the bread mould free for two months.

At its laboratory on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, chief executive Don Stull showed off the long, metallic microwave device that resembles an industrial production line. Originally designed to kill bacteria such as MRSA and salmonella, the researchers discovered it could kill the mould spores in bread in around 10 seconds.

“We treated a slice of bread in the device, we then checked the mould that was in that bread over time against a control, ” he explained.

“And at 60 days it had the same mould content as it had when it came out of the oven.”

Question of taste

The machine the team has built uses much the same technology as found in commercial microwaves – but with some important differences, according to Mr Stull.

“We introduce the microwave frequencies in different ways, through a slotted radiator. We get a basically homogeneous signal density in our chamber – in other words, we don’t get the hot and cold spots you get in your home microwave.”

The company’s device has attracted plenty of interest from bread manufacturers – but it is worried that it could push up costs in an industry where margins are very tight.

And there is also a concern that consumers might not take to bread that lasts for so long. Mr Stull acknowledges it might be difficult to convince some people of the benefits.

“We’ll have to get some consumer acceptance of that,” he said. “Most people do it by feel and if you still have that quality feel they probably will accept it. “

Mr Stull believes that the technology could impact bread in other ways. He said that bread manufacturers added lots of preservatives to try and fight mould, but then must add extra chemicals to mask the taste of the preservatives. If bakers were able to use the microwave technology, they would be able to avoid these additives.

While a wholesale change in the bread industry might be difficult to achieve, there may be more potential with other foods, including ground turkey.

In 2011, food giant Cargill had to recall 16 million kg of the product after a salmonella outbreak. Mr Stull believes that using microwaves would be an effective way of treating this and several other products ranging from jalapenos to pet foods.

The only fruit that his device was unable to treat effectively were cantaloupes.

“We’ve used our tumbler machine to treat them, he says “but you can’t tumble cantaloupes because they damage.”

Sinn Féin claim Coalition are ‘targeting children in budget’

   

Sinn Féin says the latest budget leaks about cuts to child benefit shows the coalition is “planning to go after children”. 

A €10 cut across the board in the payment has been pencilled into Brendan Howlin’s portion of the budget for next Wednesday.

Pearse Doherty claimed that: “It was the children’s shoes before, now it’s taking the clothes off their backs. But it doesn’t surprise me.”

Meanwhile, one member of the Cabinet says reports of major rows between ministers are “grossly exaggerated”.

Ministers gathered twice yesterday for special budget meetings with health and social protection the main areas for discussion.

Sources say exchanges in the cabinet room have turned into blazing rows at times and although Richard Bruton didn’t deny the heated exchanges, he said they have been blown out of proportion

Ministers return to planning the budget at a special meeting tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said cutting child benefit would be a breach of the Labour Party’s coalition pledges.

  “Any attempt to cut Child Benefit would be a blatant breach of election pledges from the Labour Party which, before the general election, described proposed Child Benefit cuts by Fine Gael as a ‘cut too far’. The Labour Party put posters up across the state claiming that it would protect Child Benefit.

“Just a few short weeks ago we had the Children’s Referendum to strengthen the rights of children in the constitution. It would be an outrage if, in the wake of the people passing of that amendment, this government were to attack Child Benefit, a cut that would hit the most vulnerable children and families the hardest.

“For his part James Reilly, as Fine Gael Health spokesperson, opposed the imposition by Mary Harney of prescription charges for medical card holders. Not only has he failed to abolish the charges as he demanded in opposition, but he now proposes to increase them.”

Dublin the place to be in when ringing in the New Year

Dublin’s fair city is the place to be when ringing in the New Year, according to Lonely Planet.

  The tourist guide has chosen its top five destinations for New Year’s Eve 2012 and has included Dublin in it.

The other choices were Prague in the Czech Republic, the New South Wales coast, Chiang Mai in Thailand and the French Alps. The Lonely Planet website chose Dublin for the impressive annual fireworks display and “the torchlit procession of floats, fire breathers and stilt walkers”.

This year’s New Year’s festival will be bigger to mark the start of The Gathering 2013. People worldwide have been invited to take part in a procession with candles, lanterns or torches, followed by an open air concert at College Green.

 More than 5,000 people attended the New Year’s Eve event in Dublin last year where The Coronas, Paul Brady, Damien Dempsey, Bressie and members of the Riverdance troupe performed.

Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar described Dublin’s inclusion as a positive message. “I would urge Irish people everywhere to join in the celebrations in Dublin or with their own local festival.”

Irish archaeologists hit jackpot with Fermanagh bog finds

   

Archaeologists at work on the site left picture and a Crannog on the right. 

A Fermanagh bog is revealing how our ancient farming ancestors were far more sophisticated than we could ever have imagined.

Archaeologists have hit the jackpot with the first crannog to have been dug up in Northern Ireland in 50 years — saying the internationally important find is rewriting our understanding of Ulster’s history.

Normally the approach taken is to avoid disturbing crannogs, but this one at Drumclay on the outskirts of Enniskillen lay in the path of the Cherrymount Link bypass and will eventually vanish beneath the Tarmac.

But since the summer a small army of archaeologists has been busy trying to extract as much information as possible from what is proving to be one of the most significant crannogs ever uncovered in Ireland.

To date the 27 archaeologists on site have uncovered remains of 30 houses while digging down three metres of layers.

The lake settlement in Fermanagh appears to have been continuously occupied for more than 1,000 years, from the sixth century to the 17th century, and may have been settled earlier.

   The dig has revealed a treasure trove of almost 4,000 artefacts, revealing a snapshot of life over 1,000 years. So much has been found that archaeologists have likened it to an urban site transported to the Fermanagh lakeland.

Among the most striking finds are a unique wooden bowl carved with a Latin cross, the largest pottery collection ever found in a crannog in Northern Ireland, some exquisite combs made from antler and bone, gaming pieces, leather shoes, bone-handled knives and dress pins.

Archaeologists believe people may have lived there from 600 AD to 1600 AD, and it was probably the home of a noble family, with perhaps four or five houses inhabited at any time. Parents, grandparents, children and servants would all have stayed on the crannog.

It is thought that the same wealthy native Irish farming families probably lived here for many generations in roundhouses and large rectangular houses, often dismantling their homes after only five to 10 years to build new homes on the same spot.

The artefacts uncovered so far date back to 900 AD but there are still a number of layers of settlement yet to be excavated.

Stormont Environment Minister Alex Attwood visited the site on Thursday and announced plans for an open day this Saturday to allow the public to tour the crannog and talk to the archaeologists.

“On my two visits to date, I have found the site, the dig, and the archaeology beyond my imagination, enormously exciting and changing my view of our history and Irish life,” he said.

“This is the first substantial scientific excavation of a crannog in Northern Ireland. What has been found has the potential not only to be internationally important but ultimately to lead to a reassessment of life in Ulster in early Christian and medieval times.”

The Drumclay Crannog open day this weekend will comprise a series of talks that will take place at the Fermanagh County Museum, followed by a guided tour of the archaeological site. Access to the site for this tour can only be obtained via an official coach. For booking call 028 6632 5000.

Four fascinating discoveries

1. A wooden bowl (top) incised with a Latin cross and with symmetrical perforations on the base. Unique in Ireland, at least 1,000 years old and may have been a wine strainer or implement for communion or baptism. Raises interesting questions about clergy’s control of the crannog.

2. Eighteen combs have been found, including some beautiful examples made of antler with bone rivets including three components. One dates back to 1050 to 1185AD. It was a fashion among the ‘glitterati’ of the day to wear these on thongs round their necks.

3. Numerous stick pins have been found in the hearths of the houses. These would have been used to pin cloaks in place. It’s suggested that one particularly long and ornate pin could have doubled as a stiletto-like weapon. Lords were expected to leave their weapons at the door, but could keep dress pins.

4. A pawn-like gaming piece, suggesting that the families played board games by the fire.