Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Sunday

‘Care and trust’ should define our Irishness for the New Year

SAYS PRESIDENT MD HIGGINS

Christmas message extends wishes ‘in a special way’ to emigrants abroad

Care and trust should define a shared sense of Irishness in the New Year, President Michael D Higgins has said.

He reflected on the sacrifice and hardship of recent times and said his next year would be dedicated to the service of the people.

He extended warmest Christmas wishes “in a special way to our emigrants abroad and to the members of the extended Irish family wherever they may be.”

“During 2014 I will be encouraging the widest possible discussion of ethics in every aspect of our lives, nationally and globally,” Mr Higgins said.

“This will, I hope, make a contribution towards moving beyond a version of our society and economy that has brought so much hardship, required so much sacrifice.

“As a new year beckons, I am confident that Irish people will draw on the character and resilience they have so often shown to craft a vision of our shared Irishness that is defined by the values of care, solidarity, trust and responsibility.

“In the year ahead, I will continue to dedicate my abilities to the service of the Irish people at home and abroad, and I greatly look forward to the state visit to our nearest neighbours and friends in the United Kingdom in April.”

Some of the jewels plucked from NAMA’s crown

  

The bank faced with the task of having to repay €7.5m in Nama bonds by the end of 2013, officials at the State’s ‘bad bank’ set about selling its most prized assets.

As one senior Nama source told the Sunday Independent last week: “It was 2010 and it was 2011 and we had to repay €7.5bn in Nama bonds by the end of 2013. It’s on the public record.

“We had a target to repay those bonds within three years.

“Where the hell were we going to get the money from? So we looked at who had the best assets and we said ‘let’s sell those’.”

So Nama went looking for the proverbial family silver and sold it off at a time when the credit which drives and supports property prices was all but absent.

The most valuable jewels in Nama’s crown included:

BATTERSEA POWER STATION

Widely held as London’s most exciting development opportunity in decades, and it was the dream of Treasury Holdings’ chiefs Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett to finally bring it to fruition.

But when their companies’ debts went into Nama, that dream came to an end and the agency along with the Treasury duo’s other lender, Lloyd Banking Group, appointed administrators with a view to recovering the project’s combined £502m (€599m) debt.

Ultimately, the site was sold to a Malaysian consortium headed by SP Setia,Sime Darby and EPF, for a reported £400m (€477m).

The identity of the buyer proved to be bitterly ironic for Messrs Ronan and Barrett given that they themselves had very nearly agreed a deal with SP Setia and Sime Darby to sell Battersea before their loans were called in by Nama.

Claridge’s, the Berkeley and the Connaught HOTEL’S, 

The iconic hotels were acquired at the height of the boom by an Irish consortium led by financier Derek Quinlan and property tycoon Paddy McKillen; the establishment of Nama saw a massive portion of the debt behind them being transferred to the agency. In 2011, Nama sold those loans which underpin Mr Quinlan’s shareholding for €800m to the Barclay brothers, who are Mr McKiillen’s rivals for control of the London landmarks.

European shares set for best week in eight months

   

European shares rose on Friday, staying on track for their best week in eight months, with cruise ship operator Carnival up on forecast-beating results and broad sentiment boosted by greater clarity on US monetary policy.

The Federal Reserve this week said it would trim monthly bond purchases by $10 billion, sugar-coating the reduced stimulus with a signal that interest rates were likely to stay ultra-low for longer than previously expected.

Carnival rallies as results prompt broker upgrades 

Although the taper came earlier than many had forecast, markets had plenty of time to prepare for the move – first flagged in May – and the Fed’s decision removed the policy uncertainty that had kept many investors on the sidelines. “Clearly it’s still a very accommodative policy and will be remaining so for some time by the look of it,” Kevin Lilley, manager of the Old Mutual European Equity fund, said.

Strong US growth data on Friday bolstered investor confidence that the world’s biggest economy can withstand a scaling back of stimulus. With European equity investors already sitting on gains of nearly 30 percent from the past two years, traders said many had already closed their books for 2013, with few willing to gamble their profits in the final days of the year.

“It will be low volume, low volatility and going slightly higher,” said Peter Garnry, strategist at Saxo Bank. The FTSE urofirst 300 had risen 0.4% to 1,286.63 points by 1503 GMT. That takes its gains so far this week to 3.5 percent, putting it on track for its biggest weekly rise since April.

Carnival was one of the top gainers, up 2.8% after several brokers upgraded the stock following forecast-beating quarterly results the previous day. “We have been hoping that new CEO Arnold Donald could be a change agent and it appears that CCL is making some positive steps towards a business transformation. Additionally, following a better-than-expected Q4 and 2014 guidance, now is the right time to get onboard,” analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note, upgrading it to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’.

Volumes on Carnival stood at 2-1/2 times their 90-day daily average approaching the end of the session, compared to 85% on the FTSEurofirst 300. The rally pushed Carnival shares to three-month highs, breaking well above technical resistance at the 200-day moving average.

The charts outlook also brightened for the broader market, opening the door for more gains on the Euro STOXX 50 index of euro zone blue-chips, last up 0.3 percent at 3,041.46 points. . A rise of some 4 percent this week has hoisted the index back above its 50-day moving average, now at 3,025. “I think it could probably push a little higher in the near term and it’s quite possible that we could see a test of … 3,098 (the high posted towards the end of last month),” Charles Stanley analyst Bill McNamara said.

Cancer DNA model research helps pinpoint risks

SAYS CARDIFF UNIVERSITY SCIENTIST

   

A new DNA model for bowel and womb cancer will help diagnose those at high risk, it is claimed.

It follows work by an international group of scientists, including one from Cardiff University.

They have been researching how an inherited condition called Lynch Syndrome can increase the risk of bowel, womb and other cancers.

The new model of previously unhelpful DNA data can now be put to use.

  Dr Ian Frayling of Cardiff University: 

“As a result of this work, doctors will now be able to say much more confidently whether those patients have Lynch Syndrome, and therefore whether they are at a higher risk of cancer,” said Dr Ian Frayling from Cardiff University’s Institute of Medical Genetics.

He is one of the members of the International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumours (InSiGHT) which organised the research.

“What we have been able to do is effectively refine genetic information in the InSiGHT database and provide a more accurate answer of the risk of getting cancer,” he said.

“This will help to save more lives, because by giving a definite answer to more patients, they will be able to access the specialist screening that they need.”

‘Genetic limbo’

The findings have been published in the journal Nature Genetics.

In the UK alone, about 16,000 people die from bowel cancer every year, and womb cancer affects about 2,000 women making it the commonest form of gynaecological cancer.

Wales also has the highest rates for womb cancer in the UK.

In all those cancer cases, it is estimated that some 5% develop the diseases as a result of having Lynch Syndrome.

Patients who currently have genetic testing for Lynch Syndrome are often given an inconclusive result which leaves them unsure of whether they face a high risk of cancer.

“It will also save NHS resources and be safer because we will be able to reassure people that they are not at risk and so don’t need the extra screening,” added Dr Frayling.

“As a result of this, colleagues and the families they care for all over the UK are now benefiting, and we are working on incorporating this into the UK guidelines on testing for Lynch Syndrome.”

Irish drug company Jazz Pharmaceuticals to Buy Gentium for $1 Billion

  

The Irish drug maker Jazz Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire Gentium in a deal valued at about $1 billion, diversifying its portfolio of treatments for rare diseases.

A Jazz subsidiary will make an all-cash tender offer of $57 a share for all of Gentium’s ordinary stock and American depositary shares. Gentium’s shares were down 1.3 percent to $55.65 at the close of trading on Nasdaq on Thursday.

Gentium, an Italian biopharmaceutical company that develops treatments for rare diseases, was granted approval in October by the European Commission to sell its keynote drug Defitelio, a treatment for severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease.

“Incorporating Gentium into Jazz Pharmaceuticals is a strong strategic fit as Defitelio would diversify our development and commercial portfolio and complement our clinical experience in hematology/oncology and our expertise in reaching targeted physicians who treat serious medical conditions,” said Bruce Cozadd, Jazz’s chairman and chief executive.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies and Gentium’s board, management and certain shareholders have agreed to tender their shares, representing about 15 percent of the company’s stock. The deal is conditioned on at least 66.7 percent of the company’s shares being tendered.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.

Through the first nine months of the year, Jazz posted revenue of $636.6 million, a 58 percent increase over the prior-year period.

Jazz is financing the transaction with a combination of cash on hand as well as an incremental term loan and borrowings under its existing senior secured credit facility. Barclays, its financial adviser, also has committed to a $500 million incremental term loan.

Jefferies served as Gentium’s financial adviser. Gentium’s legal advisers were Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Gianni, Origoni, Grippo & Cappelli.

Jazz’s legal counsel were Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Baker & McKenzie; Cooley; Hogan Lovells; and Gattai, Minoli & Partners.

Experts Link Agriculture to Rising Levels of Climate Change Impacts

   

Climate change experts have directly linked agricultural sector to the global warming, causing the devastating effects of climate change to both flora and Fauna. 

The experts under the auspice of adaptation to climate change and Insurance (ACCI) say that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is ever increasing due to cutting down of trees and burning of fossil fuel to facilitate farming activities.

Speaking to Africa Science News in Busia County during a climate change adaptation workshop, the project national coordinator Joab Osumba noted that carbon molecules absorb heat rays causing an upward change in temperature, thus destabilizing the atmosphere.
Osumba further disclosed that methane gas and nitrous oxide emitted from livestock and fertilizers respectively have contributed immensely to the adverse effects of climate change in Africa.

Adaptation to Climate Change and Insurance is a Non Governmental Organization that advocates for crops that are adaptive to climate change in Busia and Homabay Counties for the last three years.
The Organization has been funded to the tune of 2.8m Euros, by the Government of Germany through giz, and implemented by the government of Kenya, Ministry of Agriculture.

However Mr. Osumba confirmed that following an independent study on adaptive crops in Western Kenya regions, sweet potatoes, sorghum and cassava are resilient and adaptive against climate change.

The experts regretted that despite the biting effects of climate change, most farmers in the region do not appreciate insurance services to carter for agricultural losses occasioned by the climate change.
Said Osumba, “I challenge farmers, not only in Busia and Homabay, but across the Country to embrace Insurance covers against crop failures since climate change is here to stay”

Most farmers have not been keen on the impact of agriculture on climate change and Osumba calls on experts in the agricultural sector to join hands with other entities in fight against menace of climate change.

He urged that farmers should be taken through the best farming practices as a mitigative measure against the upward temperature change.

He further observed that the UNEP’s carbon credit initiative and promotion of scientifically approved adaptive crops is the way to go in the 21st C  to tackle climate change problem.

Donies Ireland news BLOG Sunday

Christmas message from Michael D Higgins states it’s communities that make Ireland what it is today

   

Ireland is defined by its people and not its economic hardship, President Michael D Higgins said today.

In his Christmas message the President said it was the diverse and very hard working communities striving to help themselves that really made Ireland.

President Higgins: “As our economy has contracted in recent times, many people are feeling the consequences, in terms of employment or income. However, our economic condition does not, on its own, define who we are.

“We are, for example, a country with a network of communities, that are increasingly active in responding to their own, and their society’s, difficulties.

“We also have the resource of our scattered people around the world, who support each other, and who value their connection with their homeland.”

The President also recognised the difficulties being faced by some families because of rising unemployment, emigration and family bereavement.

He added: “Christmas provides an opportunity for us all to pause, reflect, and celebrate the things that we rightly cherish. It is a time when we, as citizens, as families, and as communities turn our minds to what is really important – family, friendship, neighbourliness and homecoming.

“At this time especially, those of us who are fortunate enough to have a joyous Christmas should be mindful of the need to reach out to others who – due to loss, emigration, illness or financial circumstances are going through a difficult time.”

Special recognition was given to the emergency crews, Gardaí, prison officers, Defence forces and medical staff who would be provided essential services over the Christmas period.

President Higgins said: “I thank all these public service personnel for their dedicated service to our community.

“There is much to be proud of, and much to build on, as we prepare for the New Year and look forward with hope and courage to realising all the possibilities that it presents.

“May I wish all the Irish at home and abroad, and those who live and work with them, a very happy and peaceful Christmas and a New Year full of promise, health and fulfilment.”

Irish women running the show at the worlds top businesses

  

Irish business women are running the show at the top of the worlds corporate giants Apple, PayPal and Disney

WHILE women at the top of Fortune 500 firms are scarce and the EU baulks at measures to get gender balance on boards, a group of usually deeply conservative Arab states is changing things.

Dubai and the other Arab Emirates have made it compulsory for private companies and public bodies to have women on their boards. Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoumtweeted the decision last week, saying women had “proved themselves” and should be part of decision-making.

Irish women are also proving themselves in top companies, at home and internationally. Here’s our list of the most notable ones who have managed to smash a well-manicured fist through glass ceilings at home and abroad.

Best-known as the woman who bagged 1,000 jobs for Ireland, Louise Phelan runs PayPal’s European operation, having been headhunted by the €3bn revenue online transactions giant six years ago. She is one of 17 children from a farming family in Co Laois.

Not a techie but a language graduate, Facebook Ireland boss Sonia Flynn is head honcho at the social network firm’s international headquarters. Prior to that she was one of the original team that set up Google’s Dublin operation.

Una Fox is a Disney vice-president, having joined the magic kingdom from Yahoo, where she was a director. She works on market technologies and client strategies at Disney’s Burbank head office. Fox has been in California since the heady dot-com boom days, having started out working for Cisco in Paris after studying at UCC, moving to the US with KPMG.

Based in London, Clare Gilmartin has spearheaded eBay’s recent transformation from a second-hand goods auction hub to a retailer of top brand names like Superdry and French Connection. The UCD commerce grad is vice-president of Ebay’s marketplaces business of 50 million shoppers in Europe. She previously worked for Boston Consulting and Unilever.

Guardian of one of the world’s biggest brands, Lorraine Twohill is Google’s global marketing vice-president at its Silicon Valleynerve centre. The Carlow native worked for Bord Failte and then travel portal Opodo, where she was talent spotted by a Google executive and invited to the US for “a chat”. Twenty-two interviews later, she was hired.

Adele Cooper is Facebook’s director of global marketing and communications at its Palo Alto HQ. Born and raised in Dublin, she’s a Stanford graduate with a Harvard MBA.

Kerrywoman Cora Creed is digital operations vice-president of industry ‘big four’, Sony Music Entertainment. From Listowel originally, she works between New York and Salzburg in Austria.

Until recently Crumlin girl Lorna Donohoe was a top executive at Playboy’s €1bn international retail operation. Now she’s president of LMD Branding, a luxury and entertainment licensing company that has Playboy and Conde Naste as clients.

Founder and CEO of mega- recruiter Alexander Mann, Britain-based Dubliner Rosaleen Blair runs a business that has 1,500 employees across 60 countries, taking over €85m in fee income last year. Clients include Deloitte, Nike and Microsoft.

Ex-banker Catherine Day is secretary general of the European Commission, the first woman to hold the role. The recent years of eurozone financial turmoil have brought fiscal matters increasingly into the crosshairs of her job as Europe’s top civil servant.

One of Hollywood’s top powerbrokers, superagent Hylda Queally has guided the career of Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. The 51-year-old from Barefield, Co Clare, first started her own agency at 22 and now works for powerhouse agent CAA in Los Angeles.

The chief operating officer of Swiss financial services colossus UBS wealth management division in New York is Anita Sands. Prior to that the Co Louth girl was Royal Bank of Canada’s youngest ever senior vice-president. No surprise that she’s rather brainy, but perhaps her qualification is unusual in banking: she’s got a PhD in atomic and molecular physics from Queen’s University of Belfast.

Another of Manhattan’s top female bankers is Deirdre O’Connor. The Goldman Sachs managing director from Cobh is controller of investment strategies, including investment partner hedge funds and private equity funds worth €30bn.

As manager of Microsoft’s European operations Cathriona Hallahan controls an area worth €25bn to the company’s commercial business. She is also general manager of its Irish arm and sits on the board of VHI.

UCD business alumna Sharon McCooey is LinkedIn’s international finance director at the business networking firm’s Dublin-based HQ, where its global financial operation is also located.

Computer giant Apple’s Irish operation, where close to 3,000 people are employed, has Cathy Kearney at the helm. Kearney is also senior director of Apple’s European operations.

Susan Dargan is head of Boston financial house State Street’s global business in Ireland. More than €450bn- worth of client assets are managed out of Ireland, with over 2,000 staff employed there.

Two women hold top jobs at Ireland-based pharma multinationals, with Loretto Callaghan running Novartis Ireland and Sandra Gannon in charge at generic giant Teva’s Irish business.

The most senior woman in Irish banking (not that there are many of those) is Ellvena Graham,Ulster Bank’s chief operating officer, with 30 years of experience in the sector. She is also on the ESB board.

Maeve Carton is the financial brains behind €18bn revenue listed building materials firm CRH, where she has been a key player since 1988 and joined the board as finance director in 2010. She’s paid well: her remuneration in 2011 came to over €1m.

Big Global icrease in life expectancy rate since 1970

   

Since 1970 global life expectancy has increased by 10 years

Average life expectancy around the world has increased by around a decade since 1970, new research has shown.

But while people are living longer, they are also more likely to be struggling with chronic disease and disability.

New estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study show that, worldwide, men’s average lifespan rose from 56.4 years in 1970 to 67.5 in 2010. That of women increased by more than 12 years from 61.2 to 73.3.

However, the gulf in life expectancy between the richest and poorest countries remains largely unchanged at around 40 years.

In 2010, Japanese women had the longest life expectancy at birth in the world, living to an average age of 85.9. For men, Iceland topped the longevity table. An Icelandic man born in 2010 could expect to reach his 80th birthday.

The biggest increase in lifespan since 1970 was seen in the Maldives, where men’s life expectancy rose by 54.4% and women’s by 57.6%. Average age at death for women in the Indian Ocean island nation went up from 51 to 80.4. Other rapid gains in life expectancy of more than 20 years occurred in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran and Peru.

However, it was a different story in southern sub-Saharan Africa, where men’s life expectancy decreased by 1.3 years between 1970 and 2010, and women’s by almost a year.

Haiti had the lowest life expectancy anywhere – just 32.5 years for men and 43.6 for women – but this was almost entirely due to the devastating earthquake that struck the country in January 2010.

The lifespan study was one of a series of Global Burden of Disease papers published in The Lancet medical journal. One striking finding was that while deaths among children under five declined by almost 60% since 1970, the number of people dying between the ages of 15 and 49 shot up by 44%.

Dr Haidong Wang, one of the authors from the University of Washington in Seattle, US, said: “Because more children are now surviving to adulthood compared to earlier decades, health policymakers globally will need to pay much more attention to preventing deaths in young adults.. in the coming years.”

Major award for Galway cancer researcher

  

A Galway cancer researcher has been awarded a Research Fellowship Award of €230,000 to develop new strategies to help improve treatments for patients with colon cancer.

Dr Aideen Ryan above from Ballinasloe has received the award from the Irish Cancer Society. Colon cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths in Ireland and represents a significant health problem.

In many instances, colon cancer spreads to other organs, which is called metastasis. When this happens it is most likely to result in death. New ways to tackle the problem of colon cancer metastasis have had very little success, but Aideen’s research is taking a fresh approach by focusing on the cancer cells interaction with the immune system.

Dr Ryan collaborates with mentor Prof. Laurence Egan at NUI Galway, and collaborators Prof. Matthew Griffin also of NUI Galway and Dr Aileen Houston at UCC.

Their previous research has shown how the body’s own immune system affects how colon cancer cells spread. The team aims to discover the factors that control the immune systems interaction with colon cancer.

Dr Ryan states: “Blocking these factors would enable us to develop new drugs that could, in turn, be used to make our immune response to cancer stronger. This novel approach to cancer treatment could potentially result in better treatments and consequently a better prognosis and quality of life for patients with colon cancer.”

Galway firm Meterlogix to create 12 jobs

   

A newly launched Galway energy management firm is to create 12 jobs over the next two years.

Meterlogix, which launched its website Meterlogix.ie last week, has been in development since 2010 and has already opened a UK office. Meterlogix’s live monitoring system allows companies to more accurately measure their energy usage.

“The process of developing this business has been a fantastic experience,” commented Ollie Walsh, Managing Director. “We have partnered with a number of companies around the west of Ireland and midlands to develop a business that we never could have on our own.”

The company partnered with Avova in Athlone to develop the software, Parkmore Electrical in Ballinasloe for installation, MM Qualtech in Galway for manufacturing, Micromarketing in Galway for strategy, and several environmental businesses, such as Enerit in Galway and Candelas in Mayo for introductions to potential customers.

“This model has worked really well for us,” explained Mr Walsh.

Meterlogix also recently received a ‘Highly Commended Award’ from InterTrade Ireland for its entry into the All Ireland Seedcorn Business Competition.