Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Why ‘Brexit’ really matters to the half a million Irish living in Britain

    

IRISH PEOPLE ‘HAVE A GOOD THING GOING’ IN LONDON AND ARE ‘BETTER OFF IN A CONNECTED WORLD’, ACCORDING TO A DUBLINER WHO WAS RECENTLY VOTED CHEF OF THE YEAR AND RUNS FOUR OF THE HOTTEST RESTAURANTS IN THE BRITISH CAPITAL.

Chef Robin Gill and his wife Sarah – who works with him in their restaurants – believe a ‘Leave’ vote in Brexit could seriously affect their business.

‘Why we’re voting to remain’ – ‘Chef of The Year’ Irishman and owner of four London restaurants

“It looks like the economy could take a big hit if the vote is for leave. But more importantly for us, we employ over 60 people and a lot of them are from all over the EU,” Robin told Independent.ie.

“What happens if Britain votes to leave? Will they need work visas? Will they have to go home? London needs talented people to come here from all over the world, I really hope the vote is for staying in.

“We’ve lost really good people with the visa situation in Australia and Canada. I can’t imagine what it would do to our business,” he continued.

“We’re doing well, the economy is doing well, we’re better off in a connected, globalised world. We’re voting Remain”.

Brexit is the biggest political decision to face the UK in four decades – should they stay or should they go?

Upwards of half a million Irish citizens could have a big say on the referendum – on whether Britain should remain in the European Union – on June 23rd.

The Irish living in the UK are in a virtually unique position – they are the second biggest migrant group, standing at around 500,000 and only outnumbered by the 800,000 Poles.

And, due to the historical quirk which sees us still counted amongst former commonwealth or Empire dominions, only the Irish, Cypriots and Maltese get to vote in the referendum.

Irish economists, businessmen and politicians have already had their say, with Enda Kenny causing a bit of a stir when he arrived in London for a Mayo GAA game recently and took the chance to remind the Irish in the UK to vote ‘Remain’.

Bob Geldof and Michael O’Leary of Ryanair have also been loud pro-EU voices.

‘We don’t have a negative view of the EU like the Brits do’ – Irishman and owner of London pop-up bar Six Yard Box5

The Irish in London today are different from their parents and grandparents generation, those who came in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, often with low skills and low expectations.

The New London Irish are typically young, very well-educated and making the most of the city’s booming, globalised economy.

For Irish entrepreneurs like Seb O’Driscoll, a 35-year-old Corkman who runs The Six Yard Box, a hip, pop-up sports bar in Elephant & Castle, there’s no doubt how most Irish will vote.

“The Irish are everywhere in London, and most love it for being a multi-cultural city with huge diversity and a real international feel,” says Seb.

“The sense I get, from guys coming into the bar here, from my friends and the Irish you meet, they’ll all be voting remain. We don’t have a negative view of the EU in the way a lot of Brits do. And we don’t know what’s going to the happen to the economy if we leave”.

UK Chef of The Year Robin reiterated Seb’s comments and said the opportunities for Irish in London are endless.

“I’ve tried to leave eight or nine times and then another opportunity comes across. From that point, it’s just uncontrollable,” he said.

Brexit: The issues Ireland faces if Britain leaves the EU

If Brexit is the result of the referendum, there will be many unknowns for Ireland both economic and geopolitical.

One of the big issues for Ireland will be how the Republic and North of the country interact with the re-establishment of borders a possibility that has already been highlighted by British chancellor George Osborne.

Not since the long-fought for peace process has this issue arisen and we don’t know what the outcome would be.

From an economic perspective, while Ireland’s dependence on the UK as a trade partner has waned in the most recent past, depending on what kind of trade deal Britain would establish with the EU then that could have repercussions here.

Currently the UK, like other member states, has access to 500m people through the single market.

However, the remain side argues that there’s no guarantees that any kind of free trade agreement between the UK and the EU would be an option if Brexit were the outcome.

One of the upsides of a Brexit, of course, would be a likely influx of foreign direct investment with our low 12.5pc corporation tax rate already attractive for multinationals.

On the flip side, the spotlight is on Ireland’s tax treatment of many of these firms and if, for example, Donald Trump was elected US president he has already warned that countries like Ireland are outsmarting the US and taking jobs by attracting American firms here and he has vowed to stop this.

Investigation under way into discovery of ‘angel dust’ in cattle

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONFIRMS POSITIVE TEST RESULT FOR ILLEGAL GROWTH HORMONE CLENBUTEROL

    

THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IS INVESTIGATING A CASE OF ALLEGED UNAUTHORISED USE OF THE ILLEGAL GROWTH-PROMOTING DRUG CLENBUTEROL, OR ANGEL DUST, IN CATTLE.

The Department of Agriculture is investigating a case of alleged unauthorised use of the illegal growth-promoting drug clenbuterol, or angel dust, in cattle.

It confirmed the investigation followed a positive test result for one animal in a random sample but would not identify the location of the farm from which it had come.

The Sunday Times reported that a farm in Monaghan was under investigation and that the animal had been slaughtered at a meat processing plant.

Investigators are understood to be attempting to identify and trace products in which meat from the animal had been used.

In a statement, the department said the random sample was taken as part of the National Residue Control Programme, which tests sheep, pigs, cattle and poultry across the State to ensure they have not been given drugs that may be dangerous if consumed.

The department said it had placed all animals on the farm under restriction pending the completion of the investigation.

“The Food Safety Authority of Ireland is fully aware of the case and has concluded that there is no risk to public health from meat that is on the market.”

Isolated

A single isolated incidence of the use of clenbuterol was uncovered during sampling in 2011 – the first time it had been found since 1999.

On that occasion, two beef cattle tested positive for the banned hormone during an investigation on a farm in Co Monaghan.

The farm was being investigated by customs officials looking into alleged diesel laundering when evidence of the substance was discovered.

The National Residue Control Programme is a component of the State’s food safety controls and is implemented under a service contract with the FSAI.

More than 19,000 samples were tested in 2014, across all eight food-producing species as well as milk, eggs and honey.

Just 42 (0.2%) out of 19,095 samples tested in 2014 were positive. The results were comparable to those returned in 2013, 2012 and 2011.

Last year the department said the “consistently low levels” of positive samples reflected the responsible approach adopted by the vast majority of farmers.

“The extensive testing under the NRCP indicates the absence of illegal administration of banned growth promoting hormones and other banned substances to food-producing animals in Ireland, ” it said publishing figures for the NRCP last year.

“Overall the small number of positives detected related mainly to residues of authorised medicines.”

Big upsurge in judgments and repossessions feared as ‘vulture funds’ close in on debtors

     

More than €4bn worth of court-ordered debts have been registered against 3,243 borrowers since 2010, with Danske Bank obtaining the largest value in judgments once non-bank entities such as Nama and the former Anglo Irish Bank are excluded.

Danske tops the league of banks pursuing Irish debtors in the courts.

Danske obtained almost €56m in registered judgments against 110 debtors in the first five months of the year alone according to credit agency Stubbs Gazette.

Danske was followed by Allied Irish Bank which obtained judgments valued at just over €38m against 34 debtors in the same period.

Since 2010, toxic loans agency Nama, which last week reported profits of €1.8bn in 2015, obtained just under €1bn judgments against 34 borrowers.

The agency’s annual report shows that it generated €9.1bn in cash during 2015, with €8.5bn coming from asset disposals.

It has registered judgments of almost €682m against 814 borrowers since 2010.

Bank of Ireland has pursued a larger number of borrowers (957) during that time, although the value of judgments is significantly less, at some €377.42m

State-owned AIB has pursued 523 borrowers since 2010, securing judgments valued at €422.43m, followed by Ulster Bank which secured judgments valued at some €344m against 211 debtors.

James Treacy, CEO of Stubbs Gazette, said that he anticipates a “huge upsurge” in judgments and repossessions over the coming years as vulture funds move on distressed borrowers whose loans it has bought.

The so-called “vulture funds” own over 40,000 principal homes and investment properties here in Ireland.

It is understood that a fifth of mortgages sold to ‘non-bank’entities are in arrears.

To date, only two judgments valued at 1.8m were secured by one such fund, Goldman Sachs, through Ennis Property Finance, one of its special purpose vehicles, according to Stubbs data.

However, this is expected to rise now that loans are being actively managed.

“The funds have a reputation for being very tough but pragmatic when it comes to doing deals,” said Mr Treacy.

“Presently it would appear that their preferred approach is to negotiate deals outside the courts but that is not to say that this will not change if they are not achieving their forecasted return on investment.

“If their pre-legal strategies are not profitable I would expect to see a huge upsurge in both judgments and repossessions over the coming years.”

David Hall, Director of the Irish Mortgage Holders Association, said that borrowers including professionals such as lawyers, doctors and accountants whose loans have been transferred to vulture funds have been operating under a “false sense of security” for the last 18 months.

“It will be carnage,” said Mr Hall, who said dealing with vulture funds will be a “nightmare” for many borrowers.

“It’s like fighting with Conor McGregor with your hands tied behind your back”.

As much as 4,500 diagnosed with diabetes every week, warns a charity

      

Every week 4,500 people are diagnosed with diabetes across the UK, the charity Diabetes UK has said.  it said that in the last year 235,000 people have been diagnosed with the condition.

The figures, released to mark Diabetes Week, highlight the scale of the “crisis” surrounding the illness, charity chief executive Chris Askew said.

He warned that many people are not aware of the seriousness of the condition.

“This Diabetes Week we are setting the record straight and focusing on the realities of living with the condition,” said Mr Askew.

“There is still a lack of understanding when it comes to people being aware of the seriousness of diabetes and this worries us at Diabetes UK.

“There are over four million people living with the condition in the UK. The fact that 4,500 people will discover they have diabetes over the next seven days is deeply concerning, and highlights the current scale of the crisis.

“Diabetes Week is a time to share our concerns about the scale and seriousness of diabetes, but it is also a fantastic opportunity to highlight that with the right healthcare, support and management, diabetes doesn’t have to hold anyone back.”

Diabetes is a condition where there is too much glucose in the blood because the body cannot use it properly. There are two forms of the condition – Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce insulin. Around one in 10 people with diabetes have Type 1 and it usually affects children or young adults.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or the insulin produced does not work properly. Type 2 diabetes is linked to lifestyle factors such as being overweight.

If diabetes is not properly managed it can lead to serious consequences such as sight loss, limb amputation , kidney failure and stroke.

This is how Nasa thought we would be living in 2100

     

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT DREAMS OF MOVING TO ANOTHER PLANET TO ESCAPE TO IMPENDING DOOM OF OUR DYING EARTH IS SOMETHING KNEW, THEN YOU’RE WRONG.

NASA THOUGHT WE WOULD BE LIVING IN OUTER SPACE BY 2100

RECENTLY RESURFACED IMAGES SHOWS HOW IN 1975, SPACE AGENCY NASA THOUGHT WE WOULD BE LIVING IN 2100.

ILLUSTRATIONS COMMISSIONED BY THE US AGENCY, AND CARRIED OUT BY DON DAVIS AND RICK GUIDICETO, SHOW SEVERAL DIFFERENT CONCEPTS OF HOW HUMANS MIGHT LIVE IN THE NOW-NEAR FUTURE.

FOLLOWING 10 WEEKS OF RESEARCH, LED BY PRINCETON PROFESSOR GERARD O’NEILL, THE TEAM CAME UP WITH THREE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS AS TO HOW WE MIGHT BE LIVING AT THE END OF THE CENTURY.

ONE IDEA IS THE CYLINDRICAL COLONY WHICH WOULD BE SIMILAR TO THAT SHOWN IN THE 2014 CHRISTOPHER NOLAN MOVIE INTERSTELLAR COULD BE HOME FOR UP TO ONE MILLION PEOPLE.

• NASA launches spacecraft to STOP Earth-bound KILLER asteroid
• Hubble telescope captures baby star BURNING through gas cloud

ANOTHER IDEA IS THE BERNAL SPHERE WHICH WOULD BE A STRUCTURE ROTATING AROUND A LARGE SPACECRAFT AND FINALLY THE TOROIDAL COLONY.

ALL THREE OF THE DESIGNS HAD ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY THAT WAS CREATED FROM CENTRIFUGAL FORCE, AND POWERED BY SOLAR ENERGY.

PROFESSOR O’NEILL HAD HOPED THAT WORK ON THESE STRUCTURES WOULD BEGIN IN THE 1990S, BUT THAT TIME HAS PASSED WITHOUT IT HAPPENING, AND HE HAS SINCE PASSED AWAY.

1. Artificial greenery was also a concept
2. The colony might have looked cylindrical
3. A circular tunnel may have revolved around Earth

HOWEVER, NASA CONTRACTOR AND SPACE SETTLEMENT EXPERT DR AL GLOBUS SAID THAT IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO DO SO IN THE FUTURE.

HE SAID: “WHETHER IT WILL HAPPEN OR NOT IS REALLY HARD TO SAY. WHETHER IT CAN HAPPEN, ABSOLUTELY.

“IF WE AS A PEOPLE DECIDE TO DO IT, WE CAN DO IT. WE HAVE THE SCIENTIFIC CAPABILITY, FINANCIAL CAPABILITY, THERE IS SIMPLY NO QUESTION WE CAN DO IT.

“IN TWO OR THREE DECADES WE MIGHT HAVE A COUPLE OF SMALL HOTELS [IN ORBIT], AND PEOPLE MOVING IN ON A REGULAR BASIS.

“ALL THAT IS ON A TIME SCALE MEASURED IN DECADES, OR IN THE WORST CASE CENTURIES.”   

Donie's News Ireland BLOG Wednesday

Michael D Higgins urges public intellectual debate on issues at the heart of Irish society

 

President Michael D Higgins launching the book Up the Republic: Towards a New Ireland, edited by Fintan O’Toole, at the Royal Irish Academy last night

President Michael D Higgins last night said Ireland had paid “a high price” for its “recent relationship with anti-intellectualism” and called on public figures to engage in debate about issues at the heart of society.

Mr Higgins was speaking in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin at the launch of the book Up the Republic: Towards a New Ireland, edited by Fintan O’Toole. He said he hoped the collection of essays on rebuilding the Republic would “propel its readers into action”. He commended the “courageousness” of its contributors in engaging with the “urgent” matters facing the country.

“I passionately believe in the importance of public intellectuals engaging in debate and discussions about issues that must be at the heart of our society and democracy,” he said.

“In my inaugural address a year ago, I said I wanted my tenure as Uachtarán na hÉireann to be a presidency of ideas. The crisis that Ireland currently faces is not just an economic crisis.

“It is also a crisis caused by the failure of ideas and by the failure of policymakers and influence formers to adequately challenge prevailing assumptions and models that were regarded as holy writ.”

Celtic Tiger

“There is general consensus that never again should we replicate the hubristic mistakes of the Celtic Tiger,” Mr Higgins added. “By its speculative nature, the Celtic Tiger economy was bound to end in tears . . . [and] the materialistic values which it gave rise to be not a particularly becoming version of Irishness.”

He had opened his speech by pointing out that, while his presence at the book’s launch was not an “endorsement of its content”, being president did “not require [him] to recount long-held convictions or resile from previously expressed views”.

While the office required him to respect the constitutional boundaries between the various branches of the State, he had “sufficient scope for the necessary critical and positive contributions I wish to make”.

O’Toole commended Mr Higgins’s “great war against cynicism” in his speech. “We’ve never needed to fight that war quite so urgently as we do now,” he said.

The book’s other essayists are legal journalist Dearbhail McDonald, poet Theo Dorgan, and academics Iseult Honohan, Elaine Byrne, Tom Hickey, Fred Powell and Philip Pettit.

New bank (Danske) to replace 27 National Irish Bank branches closed today

      

National Irish Branch closed its 27 branches around the country and rebranded them as Danske Bank today.

NIB customers will now have to use post offices, phone or internet banking, or use one of the bank’s new small advisory centres to conduct their banking business.

About 100 staff are leaving under a voluntary redundancy scheme because of the branch closures.

Danske Bank Advisory Centres will be open in nine locations next week where customers can meet advisors face-to-face.

These will be located in Waterford, Athlone, Cork, Limerick, Letterkenny and across Dublin in the IFSC, Tallaght, Swords and Stillorgan.

The head of the Credit Review Office, John Trethowan, said that the physical presence of banks has a lot to do with lending to business.

Branch closures can make whole business communities feel remote and isolated, he said.

He said that loan applications are not now dealt with locally, but at a central office in Dublin, and he said people do not like that.

“With physical locations contracting as banks reduce their cost base, there’s more to be done by banks when thinking about how they interface with customers.”

As well as NIB’s 27 branch closures today, last month AIB closed 44 branches out of a total of 67 marked for closure this year.

Bank of Ireland recently closed a landmark branch in Limerick city, and is slashing services at 40 branches, instead of closing them.

Permanent TSB will close up to 19 branches out of a total of 92. Ulster Bank is expected to close up to 40 of its branches next year. EBS, which is now part of AIB, is also expected to close a number of branches.

Woman ‘denied a termination’ dies in Galway hospital

    

Savita Halappanavar, who was found to be miscarrying when admitted, died of septicaemia at University Hospital Galway pictured above.

Two investigations are under way into the death of a woman who was 17 weeks pregnant, at University Hospital Galway last month.

Savita Halappanavar (31), a dentist, presented with back pain at the hospital on October 21st, was found to be miscarrying, and died of septicaemia a week later.

Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar (34), an engineer at Boston Scientific in Galway, says she asked several times over a three-day period that the pregnancy be terminated. He says that, having been told she was miscarrying, and after one day in severe pain, Ms Halappanavar asked for a medical termination.

This was refused, he says, because the foetal heartbeat was still present and they were told, “this is a Catholic country”.

She spent a further 2½ days “in agony” until the foetal heartbeat stopped.

Intensive care

The dead foetus was removed and Savita was taken to the high dependency unit and then the intensive care unit, where she died of septicaemia on the 28th.

An autopsy carried out by Dr Grace Callagy two days later found she died of septicaemia “documented ante-mortem” and E.coli ESBL.

A hospital spokesman confirmed the Health Service Executive had begun an investigation while the hospital had also instigated an internal investigation. He said the hospital extended its sympathy to the family and friends of Ms Halappanavar but could not discuss the details of any individual case.

Speaking from Belgaum in the Karnataka region of southwest India, Mr Halappanavar said an internal examination was performed when she first presented.

“The doctor told us the cervix was fully dilated, amniotic fluid was leaking and unfortunately the baby wouldn’t survive.” The doctor, he says, said it should be over in a few hours. There followed three days, he says, of the foetal heartbeat being checked several times a day.

“Savita was really in agony. She was very upset, but she accepted she was losing the baby. When the consultant came on the ward rounds on Monday morning Savita asked if they could not save the baby could they induce to end the pregnancy. The consultant said, ‘As long as there is a foetal heartbeat we can’t do anything’.

“Again on Tuesday morning, the ward rounds and the same discussion. The consultant said it was the law, that this is a Catholic country. Savita [a Hindu] said: ‘I am neither Irish nor Catholic’ but they said there was nothing they could do.

“That evening she developed shakes and shivering and she was vomiting. She went to use the toilet and she collapsed. There were big alarms and a doctor took bloods and started her on antibiotics.

“The next morning I said she was so sick and asked again that they just end it,“but they said they could not.”

Critically ill

At lunchtime the foetal heart had stopped and Ms Halappanavar was brought to theatre to have the womb contents removed. “When she came out she was talking okay but she was very sick. That’s the last time I spoke to her.”

At 11 pm he got a call from the hospital. “They said they were shifting her to intensive care. Her heart and pulse were low, her temperature was high. She was sedated and critical but stable. She stayed stable on Friday but by 7pm on Saturday they said her heart, kidneys and liver weren’t functioning. She was critically ill. That night, we lost her.”

Mr Halappanavar took his wife’s body home on Thursday, November 1st, where she was cremated and laid to rest on November 3rd.

The hospital spokesman said that in general sudden hospital deaths were reported to the coroner. In the case of maternal deaths, a risk review of the case was carried out.

External experts were involved in this review and the family consulted on the terms of reference. They were also interviewed by the review team and given a copy of the report.

Irish hospital’s doctors need to clean up their act on hand hygiene

   

Irish hospital’s doctors are not unique in having a poor record when it comes to washing their hands between hospital patients.

Several hygiene audits in other countries have found that they are the worst offenders among hospital staff. The latest figures from the Health Service Executive (HSE) show that more than three in 10 doctors were not taking precautions, despite knowing they are putting patients at risk of a potentially life-threatening infection like MRSA.

The HSE does not ask why doctors are breaching this cardinal infection control rule. But doctors have traditionally insisted they are busy people with many patients to examine and treat.

Their mind is so focused on their healing role they forget to use the wash-hand basin or alcohol hand rub.

The basins and hand rub may also not be conveniently available in several hospitals.

What is even more worrying is that this audit involved an observational study. One presumes the doctors were aware the researcher was nearby with their clipboard.

It begs the question: what happens when they are not being monitored?

Nurses are the most diligent for handwashing. But the overall compliance rate for all staff is still just 81.6pc.

Clearly there is still a cultural problem in our hospitals with following this basic precaution.

Allowing for the pressures on health staff, the findings signal that a stricter approach must be taken by hospitals, up to and including disciplinary action for putting patients’ lives at risk.

‘Rogue planet’ found wandering around space

A rogue planet wandering through the cosmos apparently without a star to orbit has been identified by an international team using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.

It’s the first time astronomers have been able to look closely at planets of its kind without getting interference from intense nearby light.

“These objects are important, as they can either help us understand more about how planets may be ejected from planetary systems, or how very light objects can arise from the star formation process,” Philippe Delorme, a University of Grenoble, France, astronomer who was lead writer on the project

“If this little object is a planet that has been ejected from its native system, it conjures up the striking image of orphaned worlds, drifting in the emptiness of space.”

Possible examples of free-floating planets have been found and identified, but it hasn’t been possible to determine much about them.

In this case, however, the object — dubbed CFBDSIR2149 — seems to be part of a nearby stream of young stars known as the AB Doradus Moving Group.

“Looking for planets around their stars is akin to studying a firefly sitting one centimetre away from a distant, powerful car headlight,” said Delorme.

“This nearby free-floating object offered the opportunity to study the firefly in detail without the dazzling lights of the car messing everything up.”

ABLE TO MAKE INFERENCES

Researchers found it in observations from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and harnessed the power of European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope to examine it more closely.

Because it’s in motion with other planets, astronomers have been able to make inferences about its age and properties.

“We find that [the object] is probably a 4-7 Jupiter masses, free-floating planet with an effective temperature of ~700K and a log g of ~4.0, typical of the late T-type exoplanets that are targeted by direct imaging,” Delorme wrote.

The Canadians on the project included study co-authors Etienne Artigau and Jonathan Gagné of the University of Montreal.

“We observed hundreds of millions of stars and planets, but we only found one homeless planet in our neighbourhood,” Artigau told the BBC.

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Institut National des Science de l’Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii.