Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Banker’s McAteer and Whelan to enjoy 240 hours of community service “Ha Ha”

 

Judge concludes hearing saying: ‘Thank you gentlemen. Enjoy your community service’

William McAteer (left) of Rathgar, Dublin, and Pat Whelan of Malahide, Dublin, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this morning.

Two former directors of Anglo Irish Bank have each been sentenced to 240 hours community service for giving illegal loans to developers to buy shares in the bank.

North-Dublin-based Patrick Whelan (53) Anglo’s former director of lending in Ireland, and 63-year-old William McAteer, the bank’s former finance director, have been sentenced to 240 hours of community service to be completed over the course of the next year.

Judge Martin Nolan handed down the sentence and said: “Thank you gentlemen. Enjoy your community service”.

The two men were convicted in April of giving the loans to ten customers of the bank six years ago, but they were found not guilty of illegal lending to members of the Quinn family.

Judge Martin Nolan said in April that he felt it would be unfair to imprison either man as he believed the Financial Regulator “led them into error and illegality”.

He said he believed that the Regulator had effectively given the “green light” to allow the illegal purchase of Anglo shares.

Judge Martin Nolan had adjourned sentencing to assess the men’s suitability for community service. The type of community service the two former bankers could be asked to carry out includes ground clearance, graffiti removal, maintenance, the improvement of parks and other services.

Mr Whelan and Mr McAteer had been convicted of giving illegal loans to a group of developers known as the ‘Maple Ten’ to buy shares in Anglo in July 2008. Anglo their trial had heard feared the entire bank would have collapsed otherwise.

The developers loaned to include well-known names like Paddy McKillen, Gerry Gannon and Joe O’Reilly. Judge Martin Nolan said of the ten men: “They were certainly good men and acting with good motives.”

Mr McAteer and Mr Whelan were the first prosecution of offences under section 60 of the 1963 Companies Act. The loans were part of a larger scheme to try and place a huge interest in the bank built up by businessman Sean Quinn in its shares.

Mr McAteer grew up in Co Donegal and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1975. After becoming a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers, McAteer became managing director of Paul Coulson’s Yeoman International Leasing, a venture capital lending firm. In 1992 he joined Anglo in a senior role. He was finance director of the bank for 15-years when it expanded rapidly.

Mr. Whelan grew up in inner-city Dublin, on Marlborough Street. He worked with AIB before joining Anglo in the late 1980s. By 1997 Mr. Whelan was an associate director in the bank and was mainly involved in lending before moving in 2002 into group risk. In 2006 he joined the board of Anglo, and the following year was made head of Irish lending.

According to the Prison Service a judge can impose a community service order of between 40 and 240 hours’ work.

While the judge specifies the duration the type of work is determined by the probation service.

There are eight categories of community service listed on the Prison Service website. These include:

1. Ground clearance work and general gardening projects;
2. Graffiti removal; environmental work;
3. Recycling projects;
4. Basic building maintenance and landscaping;
5. Improvements to park and community facilities;
6. Painting and decorating in community centres etc;
7. Assisting voluntary and community clubs, facilities and bodies;
8. Working with individuals or groups in need;
9. Supporting local initiatives.

Stop huffing and puffing & blaming companies for using Irish tax system

 

Apple’s profits might bypass tax coffers of the US and UK, but it does not mean that the money is gone

Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland made international headlines.

In May 2013, Apple was one of several US multinationals in the hot seat before a bipartisan US senate subcommittee investigating the use of corporate tax avoidance schemes.

Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland made international headlines, as Apple chief executive Tim Cook revealed that the company paid a sixth of Ireland’s multinational tax rate of 12.5%.

The Irish Government was quick to deny assertions that it was providing a “tax haven” to such companies.

Two of the senators leading the investigation retorted with a joint statement, insisting: “Most reasonable people would agree that negotiating special tax arrangements that allow companies to pay little or no income tax meets a common-sense definition of a tax haven.”

In the same year, a similar scenario played out before a parliamentary subcommittee in the UK. Companies highlighted this time included Google and Amazon. Over there, it was noted, Amazon paid just £2.4 million in corporate taxes in 2012 on sales of £4.3 billion.

Ireland came up in those discussions too, as a base through which many of these companies with UK subsidiaries funnelled their tax (lets set aside that if, as UK tax campaigners have argued, Amazon and its compatriots were taxed in each country on the basis of what each country contributes to overall revenue – about 10 per cent in the case of Amazon UK – Amazon in the UK would be entitled to a large tax credit now due to recent global losses).

The fact is, all this huffing and puffing of government investigatory committees remains just so much grandstanding.

Last week, an American president finally had the courage to argue, in a hard-hitting speech in Los Angeles, that the time has come to – yes – change the American tax system to prevent American corporate profits from heading off on productive international tours. Ireland, of course, got yet another mention.

GAMING THE SYSTEM

“What we are trying to do is to say that if you simply acquire a small company in Ireland or some other country to take advantage of the low tax rate [and] you start saying, ‘we are now magically an Irish company’, despite the fact that you might have only 100 employees there and you have got 10,000 employees in the United States, you are just gaming the system. You are an American company,” President Obama said.

He also identified one of the other hallmarks of the US corporate system whereby many benefit from subsidies and market supports,even now and then, full-on bailouts, at the expense of the US taxpayer.

25% of babies born here are now to non-Irish parents

   

ONE-IN-FOUR (25%) OF CHILDREN BORN HERE IN 2012 WERE TO NON-NATIONAL MOTHERS.

The mothers hailed mostly from EU accession states, Asia and Africa, a new study on Ireland’s children of immigrants reveals.

Interestingly, the team found that while English was the most commonly spoken language in their homes – even when neither parent was Irish – more than half of the children who had at least one parent from the EU accession states didn’t speak English.

The most commonly spoken languages in those homes were Polish (66%), Lithuanian (17%), Russian (9%) and Romanian (5%).

The findings are included in the first-ever study of the children of migrant parents here entitled ‘New Irish Families: A profile of Second Generation Children and their Families’ by researchers at Trinity College.

The study also found that mothers born outside of Ireland tended to be much more educated than their Irish counterparts.

Sixty percent of non-Irish mothers born elsewhere in the EU – excluding the UK – had attained a third-level degree or higher, while close to half (46%) of Asian mothers had a third-level degree compared to just 28% of Irish mothers.

Yet despite their education, families with at least one parent from the EU accession states, Asia or Africa, were found to be at greater risk of poverty and with lower household incomes and jobs predominantly in semi-skilled or unskilled sectors.

Conversely, families with at least one parent from established EU member states were found to be the most socio-economically advanced group.

The study, led by Trinity College sociologist Antje Roder, was conducted in order to gauge the impact of the mass influx of migrants over the past decade on Irish society in years to come.

“Very little is known about (migrant) children born and raised in Ireland whose families will face different challenges to those that moved here with their foreign-born children,” the report states.

Children with diabetes to suffer ill-care after good improvements made recently

  

Children’s health will suffer with the loss of a quality paediatric diabetes service at University Hospital Limerick, a national campaign group has warned.

Over the last year, children’s diabetes services at the hospital had improved dramatically with the appointment of a full time locum endocrinologist replacing one on ‘half-time’.

The full-time consultant was solely concerned with medical care for more than 250 children with type 1 diabetes and, as a result, there was a fivefold increase in care and support.

Diabetes Ireland said families had been delighted and patients had received quarterly medical appointments.

HOWEVER, THE FULL-TIME POST IS REVERTING BACK TO A HALF-TIME POSITION.

Dr Anna Clarke of Diabetes Ireland said that, at a minimum, Limerick and Galway required a part-time post in each hospital to support their care plan.

“Cutting the Limerick service medical support by a fifth will put children’s health at risk on a daily basis and we will end up spending more on inpatient treatment and long-term complications. Our children deserve better,” she said.

Children with type 1 diabetes, an auto-immune condition, need three-monthly reviews to ensure their growth and development.

Diabetes Ireland said the part-time consultant could not physically review the 250 children attending Limerick four times a year.

Parents of the children now fear appointments will slip from next month when the service reverts back to a ‘half-time’ post.

John Saunders, whose 10-year-old son attends Limerick, had been very impressed with the management response to addressing personnel shortages in the past year.

“The improvements have been tangible for our son as well as for all children attending,” said Mr Saunders.

“It is vital to build on rather than reverse recent gains. To reduce resources now as patient numbers continue to grow would be a severe blow to the health and morale of all who use and work in this service.”

The part-time consultant is to be shared with Galway University hospitals as part of the plan to implement the type 1 diabetes model of care for under fives.

The care plan will see all children in the age category having access to insulin pump therapy, the optimal treatment for most young people with diabetes.

Dr Clarke said she was worried that what happened at Limerick would set a precedent for the rest of the country. “The whole of the west should be up in arms about this, not just people in the Limerick area.”

A Care plan

1. Four children a week are being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, a lifelong condition requiring intensive medical and personal management to reduce the risks of complications in later life.
2. Type 1 diabetes is an auto immune condition that affects a child’s ability to control the glucose level in the blood.
3. Insulin is required regularly, either as injections or continuous infusion (pump) which must be balanced to food intake and physical activity level.
4. Managing a child with diabetes requires education, motivation and ongoing support of the family from the specialist paediatric diabetes team.

- Diabetes Ireland’s helpline number — 1850 909909;www.diabetes.ie

The benefits of a short daily run “too good to miss out on”

  

Running for just seven minutes a day could cut your risk of heart disease by almost 50%.

Running first thing in the morning or straight after work can seem like a slog. But what if doing it for just seven minutes could already have a huge impact on your health? A new study suggests a short run, even at a slow pace, could dramatically decrease your chance of heart disease.

Iowa University conducted a study with 55,137 adults aged between 18 and 100 and the result was that exercise did not have to leave you shattered in order to benefit your health.

The long-term research followed the lives of the people involved over 15 years. During this time, over 3,000 died, with 1,217 deaths linked to heart disease.

Runners made up just under a quarter of the study population and results showed their general health and lifespan to be much better and higher. Runners’ risk of heart disease and stroke was 45 per cent lower than non-runners and there was a decrease in risk of death from all causes by 30%. Runners also lived, on average, three years longer.

All that was needed was around 51 minutes a week. This works out at just seven per day. Running slower than six miles an hour for fewer than six miles a week also reduced the risk of death.

Unfortunately there’s some bad news for those putting in more effort – those who ran for less than an hour per week benefited just as much as those who ran for more than three hours a week (don’t let that put you off though!)

But the great news is that this study could finally motivate those who don’t think they have enough time to squeeze in a workout.

“Since time is one of the strongest barriers to participate in physical activity, the study may motivate more people to start running and continue to run as an attainable health goal for mortality benefits,” lead scientist Dr Duck-Chul Lee said.

“Running may be a better exercise option than more moderate intensity exercises for healthy but sedentary people.

“[This is because] it produces similar, if not greater, mortality benefits in five to ten minutes, compared to the 15 to 20 minutes per day of moderate intensity activity that many find too time consuming.”

If you walk to and from work or the station every morning, consider using this time to squeeze in a quick run. Pack some trainers to change into after work and build just ten minutes of jogging in a day.

Massive dinosaurs evolved and eventually shrank into agile flying birds

 

Birds evolved from heropod dinosaurs, the only dinosaurs that kept getting inexorably smaller, scientists find

Massive meat-eating ground-dwelling dinosaurs shrunk over 50 million years and evolved into agile flying birds, according to new research.

Scientists from the University of Southampton have presented in the journal Science a detailed family tree of dinosaurs and their bird descendants, which maps out the evolutionary transformation.

They showed that the branch of theropod dinosaurs, which gave rise to modern birds, were the only dinosaurs that kept getting inexorably smaller.

Darren Naish, vertebrate palaeontologist, said: ”These bird ancestors also evolved new adaptations, such as feathers, wishbones and wings, four times faster than other dinosaurs.”

Associate professor Michael Lee, from the University of Adelaide, added: ”Birds evolved through a unique phase of sustained miniaturisation in dinosaurs.

”Being smaller and lighter in the land of giants, with rapidly evolving anatomical adaptations, provided these bird ancestors with new ecological opportunities, such as the ability to climb trees, glide and fly. Ultimately, this evolutionary flexibility helped birds survive the deadly meteorite impact which killed off all their dinosaurian cousins.”

Co-author Gareth Dyke, senior lecturer in vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Southampton, said: ”The dinosaurs most closely related to birds are all small, and many of them – such as the aptly named Microraptor – had some ability to climb and glide.”

The study examined more than 1,500 anatomical traits of dinosaurs to reconstruct their family tree. The researchers used sophisticated mathematical modelling to trace evolving adaptions and changing body size over time and across dinosaur branches.

The international team also included Andrea Cau, from the University of Bologna and Museo Geologico Giovanni Capellini.

The study concluded that the branch of dinosaurs leading to birds was more evolutionary innovative than other dinosaur lineages.

Associate Prof Lee added: ”Birds out-shrank and out-evolved their dinosaurian ancestors, surviving where their larger, less evolvable relatives could not.”

Bumblebees can spot which flowers have the best pollen before they land

  

Not all flowers are created equal and now, it turns out that bumblebees can tell the difference.

Not all flowers are created equal and now, it turns out that bumblebees can tell the difference. Scientists have found that these insects can connect differences in pollen quality with floral features, like petal color, so that they only land on flowers that offer the best rewards.

Bees don’t ingest pollen while foraging on flower. That’s why researchers have long wondered how these insects could form associative relationships between what a flower looks like and the quality of its pollen. In order to find out, the scientists examined bumblebee forages under controlled conditions.

“There is still very little known about how bees decide which flowers to visit for pollen collection,” said Natalie Hempel de Ibarra, one of the researchers, in a news release. “Easily learning floral features based on pollen rewards, without needing any nectar rewards, is a fast and effective way to recognize those flower species which bees have previously experienced to be the best ones.”

The researchers manipulated the quality of pollen offered to the bees under controlled conditions by diluting the samples. Then, the scientists examined which pollen the bees preferred to collect, and if they could differentiate quality before landing by smell and sight of the pollen alone. In all, the researchers presented the bees with four different colored discs containing stronger and less diluted pollen.

“Bees need to be able to select flowers providing the most nutritious food for rearing their young,” said Elizabeth Nicholls, one of the researchers. “Since bumblebees don’t eat pollen when foraging, it was unclear if or how they might be able to assess differences in quality. Here we’ve shown that they are able to detect differences in pollen, even before landing, which means they may be able to tell, just from the color of the petals, which flowers are worth visiting.”    

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Wednesday

Smirking Enda Kenny drives Healy-Rae mad and Michael Martin pure daft in Dail

 

Enda Kenny takes stick over the Seanad

Michael Healy-Rae kept shouting about Bobby Ewing. “It’s a Dallas moment” he shrieked. “Bizarre” said Michael. “Unprecedented.”

The Taoiseach came in for a lot of stick over his attitude to the Seanad yesterday. Outside of the Government parties, the general view in the Dáil is that Enda is still sulking.

He supported the abolition of the Upper House during last year’s referendum and the public – in Enda’s own words – disregarded his opinion and gave him “a wallop”. His response? “Fair enough, so. Suit yourselves!”

And now, he stands by with a smile while the rescued Seanad slips from shabby gentility to a state of neglect. He gave them their choice – yes or no. What more do they want?

At least that’s what the Opposition thinks. They might not be wrong. When the Dáil was putting questions to the Taoiseach on Seanad reform, a press release landed fromLabour Senator John Whelan, complaining bitterly about this week’s “appalling one and a half day sitting of the Seanad”.

Whelan said this “slack Seanad schedule” was at odds with the spirit of reform and blamed “some in Government” for their continuing efforts to “undermine” the Upper House. He wants it known that this short schedule is not the fault of Senators, who are crying out to get stuck into some hard work.

‘BAD IMPRESSION’

But the Dáil is sending no legislation through for them to discuss while Ministers – senior and junior – simply aren’t coming over to take debates.

“That’s wrong and sends out a woeful bad impression of the upper house,” fumed Whelan. So back to the Lower House, where Enda takes the questions on Seanad reform with a little smirk on his face, like he’s quite enjoying himself.

Richard Boyd-Barrett had to pull him up on the smirking. Michael Healy-Rae joined in: “It’s no laughing matter.”

In considering the issue of Seanad reform, Enda began by reading a written reply outlining all the discussions his Government was going to have about the future of the Upper House and how it might become more useful and relevant.

Following discussions with the various party leaders and political groupings in Leinster House last December, the Taoiseach said they agreed that a joint taskforce would look at the matter of electoral reform. There was a lot of talk of “timelines” and “scoping” exercises while, naturally, taking full account of the “stakeholders”.

TASKFORCE

The Fianna Fáil leader looked for further details of this task force. There were none. In fact, by the end of the session, Enda said such a force “examining some future options will not be considered within the lifetime of this Government”.

Micheál Martin nearly had a seizure. “U-turn!” he cried. “In 45 minutes he’s just said the exact opposite.” The Ceann Comhairle had to tell him to stop jumping up and down. Enda just smiled.

Irish services sector shows strong growth in all areas

   

 Sector records show 18th straight month of growth just below December’s seven-year high

Investec PMI of activity in the services sector, which covers businesses from banks to hotels, came in at 61.5 in January.

Ireland’s services sector began the year on a solid footing with strong exports keeping its growth rate near the seven-year high recorded in December, a survey showed this morning.

The Investec Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of activity in the services sector, which covers businesses from banks to hotels and accounts for 70 per cent of economic output, came in at 61.5 in January, far above the 50 line that divides expansions in activity from contractions.

It was the sector’s 18th straight month of growth and was only a touch lower than December’s 61.8 – the highest reading since February 2007.

It was also far above the euro zone average of 54.0, itself the strongest month the 18-member bloc has posted since mid-2011.

“With order books and payrolls on the rise and the expectations component standing at its joint-highest level since October 2006, it is clear that the outlook for the services sector in Ireland remains very encouraging indeed,” said Investec Ireland chief economist Philip O’Sullivan.

In one encouraging sign, the subindex for new export business among firms rose to 64.9 from 62.6, the 30th straight month of growth and the highest since this subindex began.

Ireland’s usually robust export sector has been struggling due to the mixed picture in Europe and the expiry of patents among the large cluster of drugs companies located in the country. But the government expects exports to rebound this year and grow by 1.9 per cent.

A very casual approach to our regulations is adding to Ireland’s obesity crisis

 

World Health Organisation finds Irish fast food consumption growing at sharp pace

A casual approach to regulating the “invisible hand” of the fast food industry could be contributing to Ireland’s growing obesity crisis, a new report from the World Health Organisation has warned.

A casual approach to regulating the “invisible hand” of the fast food industry could be contributing to Ireland’s growing obesity crisis, a new report from the World Health Organisation has warned.

The research tracked purchases of fast food products across 25 of the world’s richest countries between 1999 and 2008 and found that they increased in all 25 over the period, with the Republic of Ireland recording one of the highest rates of increase.

The document, written by teams based in Ireland and the US, says governments in the world’s wealthiest countries could slow – and possibly even reverse – a growing epidemic of obesity in by taking measures to counter fast food consumption.The report is the first to look at the effects of deregulation in the economy, including the agricultural and food sectors and the resulting increase in fast food transactions on obesity over time.

Rather than looking at the density of fast food outlets or self-reported fast food consumption as past research has done, the authors instead relied on data on the number of fast food transactions per capita in 25 high-income countries, including Ireland, and compared them with figures on body mass index (BMI) in the same countries over the same time period.

They found that as the average number of annual fast food transactions per capita increased, the average also BMI rose.

The sharpest increases in transactions were recorded in Canada which saw an annual increase of 16.6 fast food purchases per capita, followed byAustralia - where a 14.7 increase was recorded – and Ireland where an average increase of 12.3 transactions was recorded.

The research said that each additional fast food meal consumes saw the average BMI increase by 0.03 points. Between 1999 and 2008, the average BMI in the 25 wealthy countries studied went from 25.8 to 26.4. Anything over 25 is considered overweight.

The lowest increases in fast food transactions were in countries with more stringent market regulation such as Italy (1.5), the Netherlands (1.8), Greece (1.9) and Belgium (2.1).

“Unless governments take steps to regulate their economies, the invisible hand of the market will continue to promote obesity worldwide with disastrous consequences for future public health and economic productivity,” said lead author Dr Roberto De Vogli of the department of public health sciences at the University of California, Davis.

“This study shows how important public policies are for addressing the epidemic of obesity,” said Dr Francesco Branca, director of the department of nutrition for health and development at the World Health Organisation.

The report suggests that governments introduce economic incentives for growers to sell healthy and fresh foods and disincentives for industries selling heavily-processed foods and soft drinks with a high sugar content.

It also says zoning polices to control the number and type of food outlets in any one area could be trialled, as well as tighter regulation of the advertising of certain foods to children.

Unreal picture shows red Squirrels taking a SELFIE with abandoned camera

  Limelight huggers: The red squirrels loved the camera

The native squirrels have been in decline in Britain after struggling to compete for food – but now they are on the rise again

This is the moment a cheeky squirrel posed for a selfie when a photographer turned his back on his camera.

And its companion obviously thought it could do a better job of taking the picture, because it got behind the lens too.

Photography teacher Peter Smith was doing a photoshoot in Formby, Merseyside, to add to his portfolio of wildlife shots when the cheeky creatures gave him a surprise.

Mr Smith had only turned his back for a second when the furry squirrel jumped in front of the lens and enjoyed its brief minute of fame.

Alan Wright, of the Wildlife Trust, said it was good to draw attention to the plight of the red squirrel, which has been in serious decline in Britain since the introduction of the grey squirrel, as they compete for food and habitat.

He added: “We have a stronghold of these mammals on the Sefton Coast where they are showing signs of recovery after losing large numbers to a deadly virus.

“The exciting news is that this native squirrel is battling back and now spreading eastwards into areas of West Lancashire and Greater Manchester.”

Bumblebees can fly in air thinner than a top of Mount Everest

     

With their big bodies and tiny wings, bumblebees may not seem like impressive fliers. But now researchers report that these flying insects are masters of high-elevation flight, and can theoretically fly higher than Mount Everest.

At higher altitudes, the air is “thinner,” meaning it is less dense and contains less oxygen. For humans, this makes it harder to breathe, especially when paired with the physical exertion of climbing a mountain. But Michael Dillon, an ecologist and co-author of the paper, told Smithsonian that humans get off easy:

“For flying insects, it’s even worse. The air density is reduced, so it’s hard to actually produce forces by flapping your wings. There’s just fewer molecules in the air to push against.”

Plus flying insects require more oxygen, relative to their body size, than any other species. Add cold temperatures into the mix, and it’s no surprise that most insects are rarely found flying in altitudes above 13,000 feet (4,000 m).

Bumblebees Flying High

Bumblebees are the exception. These big-bodied bugs have been found buzzing between wildflowers above 18,000 feet (5,600 m). Dillon and his colleagues wanted to see just how high these bumbling fliers could go, so they captured six alpine bumblebees and brought them into the lab.

The scientists put the bees in flight simulation chambers—clear plexiglas boxes measuring about 12 inches (30 cm) on a side. Starting at 10,700 feet (3,250 m) the researchers tested to see if the bees were able to fly to the top half of the box. Then they used a hand pump to decrease the barometric pressure in the chamber, simulating an increase in altitude. All the bees were able to take off at altitudes up to 26,000 feet (8,000 m). The winningest bee reached an impressive 30,000 feet (9,125 m)—higher, even, than Mount Everest.

On the Wing

To find out how the bumblebees did it, researchers recorded and analyzed digital videos of the flights. They noted that the bees didn’t flap their wings any faster as the simulated altitude increased. Instead, they increased their “stroke amplitude”—reaching a little farther with each beat of the wing. As Dillon told Smithsonian,

“They beat their wings through a wider arc so that each time they move their wings through that arc they’re actually pushing their wings against more molecules than they would otherwise.”

This trick explains, at least in part, why these lumbering bees can fly so high, according to the paper published in Biology Letters.  

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Ireland’s five-year borrowing costs hit a record low of 1.62% after rating’s upgrade

 

Yields on five-year bonds fall 17 basis points to 1.62%, lower than equivalent US bonds

Moody’s upgrading of Ireland’s credit rating by one notch to Baa3 on Friday, the lowest investment grade, meant investors previously restricted from buying junk-rated debt were once again able buy Irish bonds.

The State’s five-year borrowing costs fell to a record 92-year low today on the back of Moody’s decision to restore Ireland’s credit rating to investment grade.

Yields on five-year Irish bonds dropped 17 basis points to 1.621% at one stage, lower than equivalent US yields, as investors anticipated further upgrades in the coming months.

Yields on benchmark 10-year Irish bonds fell 20 basis points to 3.24% close to an eight-year low.

Moody’s upgrading of Ireland’s credit rating by one notch to Baa3 on Friday, the lowest investment grade, meant investors previously restricted from buying junk-rated debt were once again able to buy Irish bonds.

Yields on Irish debt have fallen steadily since mid-2011, at the height of the euro zone debt crisis, when five-year Irish yields topped 18%, and ten-year yields were 14 per cent.

Welcoming the positive market reaction, National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) chief executive John Corrigan said the agency still had about €4 billion to raise this year, though the size of the individual auctions would be “modest”.

Mr Corrigan said he hoped Ireland may benefit from a further rating upgrade, possibly within 15-18 months if the Government stuck to its fiscal targets, and that Friday’s decision by Moody’s may bring interest in Irish bonds from Japan and the Far East.

He also indicated to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme that the agency intended to make an announcement regarding its auction plan for the year in a week or two.

Despite an EU-wide bond market rally today, which saw yields on German bunds fall to a six-week low, the premium investors require to hold Irish debt over German debt shrank to 152 basis points – its lowest level since early 2010 several months before the country was forced to seek an international bailout.

“Ireland has clearly turned a corner and you’re starting to see that reflected in the ratings,” said Allan von Mehren, the chief analyst at Danske Bank.

“We’re going to see a continued grind lower in yields in peripheral countries as investors look for places where they can get yield pick-up and as long as fundamentals are also improving,” he said.

Citigroup strategist Peter Goves said that the rating action came earlier than anticipated and goes beyond expectations. He said Irish bonds may now gravitate toward the “soft core” of euro zone more quickly than anticipated, and suggested another Moody’s upgrade later in 2014 was a possibility.

Standards and Poor’s and Fitch rate Irish debt three notches above junk at BBB+. S&P lifted its outlook to positive last year while Fitch, scheduled to give an update in a month’s time, has a stable outlook.

“Ratings agencies are catching up with reality,” said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research at Daiwa Capital Markets. “Yields are still closer to the periphery (than top-rated states) so you can’t argue the rally is excessive.”

“Bottom line, the Moody’s move on Ireland was overdue but is still an important confirmation of the market discount, and especially as the market is discounting more positive developments,” said Padhraic Garvey, global head of developed markets debt & rates strategy at ING Bank in Amsterdam.

Mr Garvey noted that ING’s own credit rating model pitches Ireland at BBB+, and thus suggests that Moody’s is “still behind the pace”.

The cost of insuring against an Irish default also fell today. Five-year credit default swaps broke below 100 basis point for the first time since 2008, to 93 basis points, according to Markit.

World’s 85 richest people own nearly half of the world's wealth

  

A tiny elite like Warren Buffett (above right) comprising the richest 85 individuals hold wealth equivalent to that owned by the bottom half of the world’s population, a report says.

The report by worldwide development organisation Oxfam, titled ‘Working For the Few’, published ahead of the World Economic Forum meet in Davos, details the impact that widening inequality is having in both developed and developing nations.

“Wealthy elites have co-opted political power to rig the rules of the economic game. undermining democracy and creating a world where the 85 richest people own the wealth of half of the world’s population,” Oxfam claimed.

It further added that since the late 1970s, tax rates for the richest have fallen in 29 of the 30 countries for which data are available, meaning that in many places the rich not only get more money but also pay less tax on it.

As per the report, in the last 25 years wealth has become even more concentrated in the hands of fewer people so much that one per cent of the world’s families own almost half (46 per cent) of the world’s wealth.

Oxfam wants governments to take urgent action to reverse the trend. It is asking those attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) to make six-point personal pledge to tackle the problem.

“It is staggering that in the 21st Century, half of the world’s population own no more than a tiny elite whose numbers could all sit comfortably in a single train carriage,” ” Oxfam Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said.

The report alleged that the richest individuals and companies in the world hide trillions of dollars away from the tax man in a web of tax havens around the world. “It is estimated that $21 trillion is held unrecorded and off-shore,” it said.

The report further added that in India, the number of billionaires increased tenfold in the past decade, aided by a highly regressive tax structure and the wealthy exploiting their government connections, while spending on the poorest remains remarkably low.

Moreover, seven out of ten people live in countries where economic inequality has increased in the last 30 years. Besides, the richest one per cent increased their share of income in 24 out of 26 countries for which we have data between 1980 and 2012.

The richest one per cent increased their share of income in 24 out of 26 countries for which we have data between 1980 and 2012.
Budget supermarkets Lidl and Aldi now more popular with shoppers than any other chain

More and more punters in Ireland now flocking to the cut-price stores

  

Cut-price grocery stores Lidl and Aldi are now more popular with shoppers than any other chain.

A Behaviour & Attitudes survey for Checkout Magazine found 62% of consumers have shopped in one or both in the past year, compared to 48% in Tesco, 41% in SuperValu and 36% in Dunnes.

When it came to choosing a store for the “main shop”, Lidl and Aldi again came out on top with 30% – an increase of 21% on the previous year.

That’s compared to 20% who choose Tesco for their big shop, 19% who opt for Dunnes and another19% who prefer Super Valu.

Checkout editor Stephen Wynne-Jones cited the survey as proof the discount stores have become part of the shopping landscape here.

He said: “These figures illustrate what many in the industry have believed for some time, the discounters have ‘entered the mainstream’ in the eyes of Irish shoppers.

“As the economic clouds start to recede, it will be interesting to see whether the significant growth enjoyed by both Aldi and Lidl can be sustained.”

Of those surveyed, 92% said they have a Lidl in their local area while 86% have an Aldi, illustrating how the retailers have spread their reach nationwide.

The study also discovered the overall weekly grocery spend has seen its first increase in six years, with weekly spend up by 6%, bringing grocery bills back to 2010 levels.

In terms of the supermarkets that have gained most from this increase, Dunnes Stores has seen a 12% rise since last year.

Last November, Tesco began what many dubbed a price-war as they looked to ways of combating the loss of their customers to the likes of Aldi and Lidl.

The Tesco “price promise” allows customers to compare products they bring to the till with similar products available in the German stores.

If the Tesco product is more expensive, customers will receive a voucher for the difference. The offer applies to 1,400 products in the store.

However, the scheme was well received by Aldi, who issued a statement welcoming the “admission by Tesco that it is more expensive”.

Heartfelt appeal for return of watches stolen "given by dying father to his sons" 

  

Two watches (LIKE ABOVE) which were to be given to his two sons when they reached 21 were stolen in Co Louth last week.

Thieves who stole engraved watches left by a dying father in Co Louth to his two young sons have been asked to “to give them back”.

They were specially engraved by Stephen Carroll (38) for his sons the week before he died in November.

“They are the only tangible gift Stephen left for his eldest sons and they are just heart-broken that they have been stolen,” said Mr Carroll’s sister-in-law Kerrie Carroll.

The Omega watches have little or no monetary value, according to his family.

HIS FAMILY HAS APPEALED TO THE THIEVES TO “GIVE THEM BACK.

Drop them to a church, to the Gardai or leave them somewhere they will be found but just give them back. There will be no questions asked.”

Mr Carroll and his wife Breffnie (39) have three sons, Senan (10), Keelan (8) and Roan (4) . The watches were given to Mr Carroll for his 21st and 30th birthdays.

According to his sister-in-law when Mr Carroll diagnosed with kidney cancer 18 months, he spent a lot of time thinking about special momentos to leave for his beloved children.

“He wanted to leave something for the boys to have and they were to each be given a watch when they too reach 21,” explained Kerrie.

Mr Carroll died last November but “lived long enough to see the engraving. It was what he wanted. He wanted to have the engraving done and he thought a long time about it” said Kerrie.

Mr Carroll and his family run the well known Carroll newsagents and Hallmark shops in Dundalk, Drogheda,Monaghan and Navan.

Mr Carroll is from Blackrock, Co Louth and the watches were being kept by his parents Ian and Anita in their family home in Blackrock.

They were away from the house and last Friday thieves forced their way in.

“We are all devastated that this has happened. The watches have no resale value at all because of the unique engravings on them. To us they have sentimental value that we could not put a price on. This is very hard on all of the family especially coming so soon after Stephen’s death,” added Kerrie.

One watch is an Omega Constellation model which is engraved on the back with “To Keelan love Daddy x” while the other is an Omega Seamaster and is engraved “To Senan love Daddy x”.

She said: “We are hoping that someone, somewhere has a conscience and returns these watches to an utterly devastated family. These were the only tangible memories we have of him.”

The family is using the media, to highlight details of the watches in case they are offered for sale.

Gardai in Blackrock are investigating the theft.

Can socially engaging meals help Irish elderly people?

      

A new Irish study is planning to investigate the importance of nutritious and socially engaging meals among older people.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin are appealing for volunteers to take part in the study, which aims to see whether such meals could help to fight age-related problems in cognition, frailty and overall quality of life. They will do this by tackling the two areas of malnutrition and social isolation.

According to the researchers, many older people in Ireland who live independently are at risk of malnutrition. This refers to under-nutrition that affects a person’s health and wellbeing. It can come about if the body cannot use food properly, which can lead to a person losing weight and developing nutritional deficiencies. Certain diseases can also lead to appetite suppression.

Across the EU, including in Ireland, an estimated 5-15% of older adults are already affected. Malnutrition can lead to frailty and impaired cognition, such as memory problems. Cognition is also essential for physical health and social wellbeing.

Meanwhile, another major risk for older adults is social isolation. This can come about as a result of frailty, illness or bereavement.

According to the researchers from Trinity’s NEIL (Neuro-Enhancement for Independent Lives) Programme, isolation and loneliness are as bad for a person as obesity and smoking. They are associated with an increased risk of depression, frailty, sleep problems and dying.

Figures suggest that around 6% of Irish adults over the age of 60 are at risk of social isolation.

This new study aims to tackle the two issues of malnutrition and social isolation. It aims to tap into the 20% of older adults in Ireland who actively volunteer in their communities, to deliver and evaluate a mealtime intervention to older people who are socially isolated.

The intervention will emphaise the social element of the meal as much as the nutritious element. The volunteers will provide nutritional advice, but will also spend time with the isolated people, planning and cooking the meal together and then eating it together as well.

The two-year RelAte study wants to assess whether nutritious and socially engaging meals can mitigate against age-related decline and help people maintain their independence for longer.

The study requires two types of volunteer:

-50 people over the age of 55, who would like to be trained as a NEIL volunteer. They will be expected to deliver the mealtime intervention -100 socially isolated people over the age of 60 who are currently living alone.

“Physical health, mental health, and engagement with life are the three core aspects of healthy ageing and independent living. We hope the two-year RelAte study will show that social interaction and good nutrition can impact positively on quality of life, frailty and cognitive function,” explained principal investigator, Dr Sabina Brennan.

Almost commenting on the study, Prof Brian Lawlor of Trinity College, emphasised that the provision of home-based support for the ageing population ‘is an economic necessity of both national and international priority.’

“At an individual level, home-based care provides individuals with the independence they require to maintain their health, activities and sense of identity in their own home. The RelAte project has far-reaching implications for home-based support and for maintenance of independence into late life, both at a national and an international level,” he said.

The size of Bumblebees drastically reduced by common pesticides,

BEE HEALTH EXPERTS WARN US

  

A study by Royal Holloway University of London reports that exposure to a commonly used pesticide causes stunted growth in bumblebees.

When exposed to the pesticide pyrethroid, which is used on flowering crops to prevent insect damage, the bumblebees, which are pollinators of flowering plants, grow less and go on to produce young that hatch in smaller sizes, the researchers said.

The investigation was done over a four-month period, where researchers recorded the size of the bees, weighing them on micro-scales and monitoring the size of queens and and male drones produced by the colony.

“We already know that larger bumblebees are more effective at foraging,” said researcher Gemma Baron. “Our result, revealing that this pesticide causes bees to hatch out at a smaller size, is of concern as the size of workers produced in the field is likely to be a key component of colony success, with smaller bees being less efficient at collecting nectar and pollen from flowers.”

Baron and her colleagues report that the research was the first to be carried out on pyrethroid pesticides across the entire lifecycle of bumblebees.

“Bumblebees are essential to our food chain so it’s critical we understand how wild bees might be impacted by the chemicals we are putting into the environment. We know we have to protect plants from insect damage but we need to find a balance and ensure we are not harming our bees in the process,” said Mark Brown, a professor at Royal Holloway who was involved in the study.

The researchers contend that in light of their results there will likely be further bans on pyrethroid pesticides throughout the European Union, where there is already a moratorium on the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides, which have been linked to colony collapse disorder.

“Our work provides a significant step forward in understanding the detrimental impact of pesticides other than neonicotinoids on wild bees,” Nigel Raine, an expert on bee health.

“Further studies using colonies placed in the field are essential to understand the full impacts, and conducting such studies needs to be a priority for scientists and governments,” he said.