Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

The 1916 Irish Rising commemoration generates lots of interest

 

The SIGNED PHOTO OF MICHAEL COLLINS AND the COUNTESS MARKIEVICZ LETTERS SOLD AT AUCTION

  A log from 1916 kept by Dublin Fire Brigade’s ambulance service which recorded the first fatalities and injuries of the Rising was bought by an unnamed ‘institutional archive’

Collectors of Irish historical memorabilia were out in force – in person and online – at Whyte’s auction last Saturday, where 84% of the 500 lots sold realising €230,000. Some 20% of lots were bought by internet bidders who had registered from various locations in Ireland and overseas including the US, the UK, France, Belgium, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Italy, Israel, Germany and Qatar.

Auctioneer Ian Whyte said there were “many new collectors at the sale – particularly young collectors – which reflects the great interest in Irish history generated by the decade of centenaries”. Although he could not disclose the identity of buyers, Whyte was pleased that “the institutions – the National Museum and National Library among them – were able to acquire what they needed for public collections without invoking the wrath of our EU masters”.

One of the most notable items was a log kept by the Dublin Fire Brigade’s ambulance service during the Easter Rising in 1916. It recorded the first fatalities and injuries – both military and civilian – and sold for €3,800 (€3,000-€5,000) to an unnamed Irish “institutional archive”.

Two uniforms which belonged to General Sir John Maxwell, the British Army leader who suppressed the Rising, sold as a single lot for €6,600, well below the estimate of €15,000-€20,000.

The top lot in the sale, an Irish tricolour reputedly flown over Dublin during the Rising and painted with the slogan “Sinn Féin go deo” (Sinn Féin forever), had an estimate of €30,000-€50,000, but failed to sell.

A very different flag, a large-fringed tricolour embroidered with the words “Garda Siochana. Presented to the Hon Robert E Enright, Commissioner of Police, New York City, from the Irish Police as a Token of Esteem. International Police Conference 1925’’ sold for €1,700 (€1,500-€2,000).

Two previously unpublished letters, dated 1918 and written by Countess Markievicz deploring all things English, including the introduction of Greenwich Mean Time in Ireland, made €1,900 (€2,000-€3,000).

Two letters written in May 1916 by Lady Wimborne, wife of the viceroy and effectively Ireland’s “first lady” during the Easter Rising on notepaper headed “Vice Regal Lodge”, made €1,400 (€1,000-€1,500).

A photograph of women workers in a first World War munitions factory – the National Shell Factory on Dublin’s Parkgate Street – sold for €220 (€150-€200).

A signed photograph of Michael Collins in a Free State army uniform made €900 (€300-€500). However a souvenir programme signed in pencil on the cover by Michael Collins (in Irish as “Micheál Ó Coileáin”) and a ticket for a 1921 concert in his honour at London’s Royal Albert Hall, estimated at €5,000-€7,000, failed to sell.

Farmers of today are Europe’s new Renaissance men

   

“Today’s farmers are new Renaissance men: they must possess the right mix of science, economics, entrepreneurialism, and environmental awareness to meet the challenges of the future.”

That’s according to European Parliament President Martin Schulz who made the comment in a recent speech entitled Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life.

He said we need innovative solutions to meet the double challenge of increasing scarcity and growing demand and stressed that the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy must help farmers to advance in exactly this direction.

In a wide ranging speech on food, Schulz said Europe needs to show its capability to foster a change of culture in the consumption of food.

He cited that the Commission estimates the annual food waste generation in the 28 Member States is over 100 million tonnes, or 179 kilograms per capita.

He said this requires a leap change in our education and habits. The European Parliament set out its position on this in a resolution in January 2012 on how to avoid food waste.

This year the Commission came with a proposal to amend the Waste Framework Directive, aiming at the development of a comprehensive strategy to combat unnecessary food waste.

According to Schulz the sustainability of our food chain in Europe does not mean closing out to the world as some suggest.

He said an open Europe is a Europe that helps lifting millions of people out of poverty and it is one that is advantageous to consumers and helps the competitiveness of our farmers.

“Yet, food is not just another additional tradable commodity like any other,” he said.

Schulz said while investments in agriculture to increase yields and profitability are welcome. Rampant speculation which can have devastating consequences on the lives of millions,

Some 12 ways this winter to slash your heating bills and reduce your future chills & bills

 

As the beautiful warmth of the summer sun fades away temperatures start to drop, one of our biggest financial worries rears it’s ugly head the HEATING BILLS.

Here are a few things you can do to keep you cosy before it starts to get colder.

1. CHECK YOUR BOILER

It might feel like you are spending a lot of money, but servicing your home boiler once a year could actually become a money saver and save you the hassle of unplanned breakdowns.

And if you can afford it, replace your old boiler with a new one as it will improve your central heating system and save you money in the long run. That’s because a boiler that’s 15 years old or more is only around 60-70% efficient, which means 30p of every pound spent on heating and hot water is pretty much wasted.

2. TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR CYLINDERS

 If you have cash to spare, look for a new cylinder for your boiler – because they generally come with a thick layer of built-in insulation.

Alternately, if you are tight on cash, try fitting your old cylinder with new insulation jacket that’s at least 75mm thick.

According to the UK’s Energy Saving Trust, fitting a jacket to an uninsulated cylinder could save you anything from £85-£130 a year (based on a typical gas-heated home in England, Scotland and Wales).

3. INSULATE YOUR PIPES

  A quick and helpful way to conserve your heating would be to insulate your heating and hot water pipes. By doing this, you will prevent unnecessary heat loss and stop them from freezing in the winter.

The easiest way to insulate pipes is to use pre-scored foam tubes, which snap over and around the pipes and come in different diameters for a snug fit.

4. HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR RADIATORS

To make sure your radiators are working at full capacity, bleed them with a radiator key (only when the heating is off and the radiators are cold). Many older radiators don’t have adjustable valves (they only have on and off modes) so fitting new valves will enable you to control the heating.

5. GET SMART WITH TEMPERATURE CONTROL

There are an array of smart systems in the market which allow you to control your heating and hot water with the touch of a smartphone. So instead of leaving the heating on when you go out on a cold day, you can turn it on remotely with your smartphone when you’re on your way home.

One of the newest gizmos is therM, which is compatible with any heating system with a thermostat – if you can do basic wiring, you can fit therM yourself.

6. PUT A LOG ON

While there’s nothing more cosy than snuggling in front of a cosy open fire, the sad thing is, they’re not very energy efficient. On the other hand, majority of wood-burning stoves boast 70% to 90% efficiency, so you get all the benefits of a real fire without your money going up in smoke.

The good news is, wood burners are not as expensive as you think and start at less than £200. Also, as long as it’s sustainably sourced, wood is a more environmentally-friendly fuel than oil or gas and subject to fewer price rises.

7. MIND THOSE GAPS

Did you know around a third of the heat lost from uninsulated houses disappears through the walls? That’s because most homes have cavity walls – the gap in the middle of exterior walls. Filling them with insulation can make your home more energy efficient.

This not only means reduced heating costs, you’ll be making your house “greener” in the process. Cavity wall insulation typically costs £450 to £500 – which sounds steep now but they will last a long time and you will recoup the costs through energy savings.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, installing cavity wall insulation in a three-bed semi (with gas central heating) could save you up to €180 a year.

8. SWAP YOUR FURNITURE

  Does your room feel cold despite having your radiators on full blast? One of the reasons could be that you have a piece of furniture in front of it – say a sofa?

In this case, your best option would be to either move the radiator or swap a horizontal radiator for a vertical one, which will take up less space at sofa level. If you can’t afford to do this, move or replace your furniture to get more out of the existing radiator.

9. CHECK YOUR WINDOWS

Old, especially single-glazed, windows are a major source of heat loss. Replacing windows is obviously expensive, but you can work with what you have by fitting secondary glazing units (clear film you fix in place across the windows) or buying thermal curtains.

You can also fit weatherstripping, which is draught-proofing tape that helps to fill the gap between the frame and the window’s moving parts.

10. GET FABRIC DRAFT EXCLUDERS

They come in all colours, shapes and sizes, and can cold-proof your home immediately, with that added benefit of looking nice.

11. INSPECT YOUR LOFT

  One of the best ways to make your home more energy efficient is to insulate the loft.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, a quarter of the heat in an uninsulated home is lost through the roof. They say that laying 27cm of insulation, which is the recommended depth for mineral wool (other materials may vary), in an uninsulated loft will save you up to £180 a year (based on a three-bed semi with gas central heating).

Even if your loft has insulation, it may not be thick enough. The Trust calculates that if everyone in the UK fitted 27cm of loft insulation, the saving would be almost whopping £500 million a year!

12. AND FINALLY, PILE ON THE JUMPER

While this is no replacement for central heating, you can keep your rising bills in check by layering up with cosy cardis and give the heating a break for a few hours.

Eating disorders most common in women of their 30s

 

WEIGHT-LOSS FADS ARE PUTTING WOMEN’S LIVES IN DANGER, ACCORDING TO BODY-IMAGE EXPERTS

Weight-loss fads are putting women’s lives in danger, according to body-image experts

CALLS to a helpline for people suffering from eating disorders have soared by 92pc in the first six months of the year, disturbing new figures obtained by the Sunday Independent reveal.

And for the first time, the majority of people reaching out for help are women aged between 25 and 35 years – and not image-conscious teenagers.

The latest figures from Bodywhys – the Eating Disorder Association of Ireland – have revealed anorexia, bulimia, binge eating and unhealthy relationships with food are becoming more prevalent in older women and men, largely due to our increasingly hectic lifestyles.

In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Harriet Parsons, psychotherapist and services co-ordinator at Bodywhys, said “life stresses” have shifted the impact age from 19-24 to 25-35 years.

“Although an anti-stigma message is taking effect, people are still reaching out in their late 20s and early 30s where they really thought their life would have been sorted but they find they are still struggling a bit,” she said.

“Among that age group, you would have people with eating disorders since their teens.”

Last year more than 70pc of those attending Bodywhys support groups were over the age of 25, and some have been battling eating disorders for over 10 years.

“There can be a number of triggers at any age,” said Ms Parsons. “It’s usually something happens in a person’s life that causes them conflict, stress and that’s difficult, and they find themselves in a situation where they might not feel strong enough to deal with it.”

From finishing college and starting a new job, to going through a break-up or deciding to go on a diet – all these situations could potentially spark a problem with food.

“If you think of the life changes that might be happening within that age group, lots of people are probably having a significant relationship, marriage or having children and it can unsettle you or destabilise your world.

“It’s a bit like a comfort blanket. It turns into a way of coping- it actually helps them for a while and makes them feel better and stronger and more capable,” Ms Parsons added.

Dr Sarah Prasad, consultant psychiatrist on the eating disorder programme at St Patrick’s University Hospital, Dublin, agreed that eating disorders are “not a teenage problem”. She said the hospital has also experienced more referrals of older individuals battling the illness.

She told the Sunday Independent: “A lot of people associate the disorder with young girls but we’ve had people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s who’ve had long-standing eating disorders and now are completely overwhelmed and can’t cope. “There is huge pressure on shape and body image on top of other stresses of life and that certainly could be a predisposing factor for the development of eating disorders at an older age. Looking a certain way and fitting a stereotypical thin ideal or image is something people are dealing with at every age.”

Developing an eating disorder in your 30s can also bring further problems for recovery.

“Putting your body under stress at any age is always detrimental. There is some evidence to suggest that the later the onset, sometimes the poorer the prognosis,” Dr Prasad said.

Dr Prasad, who deals specifically with adult patients, said she has often discussed fitness blogs, social media sites and all the latest apps during consultations.

“The message is, everything in moderation but some vulnerable individuals who are perfectionist or with low self-esteem might take these blogs to the extreme, thinking it will make them more acceptable or more valued.”

And she is particularly concerned with the most recent weight-loss trend called “thigh gap” where women and girls want their legs to be so slim that their thighs don’t touch when their feet are together.

“A lot of my patients are under that pressure and we constantly have conversations about this ‘thigh gap’ business and they tell me about the pressure they feel in their 20s, when impression is so huge and they think they have to have this gap between their thighs to fit in, and we have overcome this.”

Eating disorders manifest in different ways, including the restriction of food, skipping meals, over exercising, a focus on not eating, resulting in the person becoming very underweight.

According to Ms Parsons, the behaviour can then become more and more extreme and, depending on the type of eating disorder, be “very destructive to quality of life”.

“It becomes unmanageable, and they can’t do it anymore, and everything just feels like it’s falling down around them so they seek out help,” she added.

Although an eating disorder is always a subjective experience, Ms Parsons warns “living in a culture where there is a diet industry” makes it more difficult to avoid.

“There is always a focus on the ideal image of that very simple message that if you eat less and exercise more you will be a better person and you’ll be happy. It is a very distorted message.”

Ms Parsons said those affected are “very clear” this is not about media and culture, and they would “not want that idea to be associated with them”.

But it’s also more difficult to identify. “They can be quite high achievers and are living their lives, but really they are not well physically and psychologically.”

And for men in their later 20s and 30s, eating disorders manifest in the same way. “There is a growing pressure on the physicality and physique, so it can be identified by extreme over-exercising, but men also express anorexia, bulimia and eating disorders in exactly the same way as women and girls,” Ms Parsons added.

Scientists are divided over the ethics of attempting to cloning & revive an extinct mammal the Woolly mammoth

AN EXCEPTIONALLY WELL PRESERVED ADULT FEMALE WAS DISCOVERED IN SIBERIA IN MAY 2013

Will woolly mammoths stride the Siberian plains once again? DNA samples from an exceptionally well preserved extinct Mammuthus, found in the snowy wastes of Siberia, have raised the prospect of cloning.

But scientists are divided about raising the species from the dead, 10,000 years after becoming extinct.

Russian scientists were amazed at the condition of the mammoth, found embedded in a chunk of ice on a remote Siberian island. The samples were so well preserved that fresh blood was found within muscle tissue.

The team used carbon dating techniques to reveal the animal had walked the Earth around 40,000 years ago and raised hopes that it could be cloned.

Nicknamed Buttercup, the adult female was discovered in May 2013. At 2.5 metres tall, she is not much larger than an Asian elephant. Incredibly, three legs, most of her body, some of her head and her trunk had survived. She was in her fifties when she became trapped in a peat bog and was eaten by predators, scientists believe.

A Channel 4 film, to be shown next weekend, follows Buttercup’s autopsy in Siberia, and the extraction of high-quality DNA and cells for future use by Sooam, a South Korean biotech company.

The Korean researchers hope to find a cell with a complete nucleus, containing an intact genome.

“We’re getting an unprecedented amount of access to mammoth samples through this collaboration,” said Insung Hwang, a geneticist at Sooam.

“DNA has been distributed to multiple institutes for scientific purposes,” he added.

Dr Tori Herridge, a palaeobiologist based at the Natural History Museum in London said: “The guys from South Korea, who are collecting tissue for cloning, were excited because the better preserved the tissue, the greater their hopes were that there would be some intact DNA.”

However she warned that the dream of bringing the woolly mammoth back to life would be a cruel nightmare for their modern- day descendant, the elephant.

Dr Herridge, an expert in mammoth anatomy, said: “The most fundamental step and ethical concern with this kind of procedure is that you need to have an Asian elephant surrogate mum at some point; cloning a mammoth will require you to experiment on probably many, many Asian elephants.” She added: “The most important thing is how much we can learn without having to go down the route of cloning.”

Dr Herridge questioned “whether or not the justifications for cloning a mammoth are worth the suffering, the concerns of keeping an elephant in captivity, experimenting on her, making her go through a 22-month pregnancy, to potentially give birth to something which won’t live, or to carry something which could be damaging to her. And all of those aspects… I don’t think that they are worth it; the reasons just aren’t there.”

The autopsy has already provided crucial information. The growth rings on the mammoth’s tusks, which grew at a slower rate during pregnancy, revealed she had given birth at least eight times. And examination of her teeth revealed dental abnormalities, indicating she wasn’t able to chew her food properly, which may explain the small stones which were found in her gut.

Mr Hwang accepted that “there are inherent ethical questions that we have to address”.

“That’s why we have to start discussing the implications now,” he said. “Some of our colleagues are still working on analysing the genome from Buttercup’s specimen. This is a long and complicated process that is unlikely to be finished anytime in the near future.

“Bringing back the mammoth either through cloning or genetic engineering would be an extremely long process as well. We’re trying hard to make this possible within our generation.”  

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E-fits of suspected abduction man in Madeleine McCann case  ‘now released’

 

Detectives hunting for missing Madeleine McCann have issued two images of a man they urgently want to trace as part of the investigation.

The e-fit pictures, showing a white male, aged between 20 and 40, with short brown hair, were compiled by separate witnesses who both spotted him in the resort of Praia da Luz on the evening the three year-old disappeared.

While the two pictures appear to show a person with slightly different features detectives are convinced it is the same person they are seeking.

The images will be broadcast tonight on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme as part of a renewed international appeal.

   Madeleine disappeared on the evening of May 3 2007 as she slept in her family’s holiday apartment on the Algarve with her younger brother and sister.

Her parents were dining a short distance away with a group of friends at a Tapas restaurant within the resort’s complex and realised she was missing when they checked on her at around 10pm.

Detectives from Scotland Yard, who have been leading a fresh investigation into Madeleine’s abduction, will use tonight’s programme to also reveal significant new thinking around the timeline of the events leading up to her disappearance.

A detailed reconstruction of the McCann family’s movements on the afternoon and evening of May 3, 2007, will be broadcast in the hope of jogging someone’s memory and unlocking a crucial clue.

More than 440 witnesses have been spoken to by officers, who have spent two years reviewing all the evidence collected by Portuguese police and privatedetectives.

As well as identifying 41 “persons of interest”, the Scotland Yard inquiry – dubbed Operation Grange – has thrown up a number of potential suspects who witnesses have been able to describe in detail.

A spokesman for the Operation Grange team said detectives now had a far more detailed understanding of the times when an abduction could have taken place and this had given the statements from two witnesses particular significance.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, said: “Today I am asking the public for their help.

“Whilst this man may or may not be the key to unlocking this investigation, tracing and speaking to him is of vital importance to us.

“We have witnesses placing him in the resort area around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.

“This is far from our only line of inquiry and there will be e-fits released of other sightings as well, who we are equally keen to trace. These people were seen on the day of Madeleine’s disappearance and the days leading up to it.”

The Portuguese authorities shelved their investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance in July 2008, forcing her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, to employ teams of private detectives to continue the hunt.

But in May 2011, four years after her disappearance, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, with the backing of Prime Minster David Cameron, ordered Scotland Yard to begin a review of all the evidence.

Earlier this summer the Metropolitan Police announced the review was being turned into a formal investigation with more than 30 detectives and police staff working on the case full time.

After months of careful negotiations, their counterparts in Portugal, the Policia Judiciaria, agreed to co-operate and there are now six dedicated officers based in Faro on the Algarve.

The e-fit images are seen as a significant step forward in the investigation, but it is hoped the Crimewatch reconstruction will also throw up some fresh lines of inquiry, despite the passage of time.

The appeals will also be broadcast in Germany and Holland where many of the tourists staying in Praia da Luz at the time were from.

DCI Redwood explained: “Where we have been able to make massive steps forward is by drawing together all the material gathered to date, and reviewing it as a whole.

“We continue to put Madeleine at the heart of our investigation and I would urge people to watch Crimewatch tonight and if you can help identify this man or have any information about our new appeal points please contact us.

He added: “If you were in and around the Praia da Luz resort on Thursday, 3 May 2007, but you have not yet spoken to police, and you think you may have information, please pass it on.

“I would also like to ask for the help of the local community in Praia da Luz. Portugal is a key country for us to trace any outstanding witnesses and our appeals will be repeated there.

“We still have a lot of material to investigate and much work to do. Your information could be the vital piece we need to finally answer what happened to Madeleine.”

Tonight’s broadcast will also feature an emotional appeal from Mr and Mrs McCann, who describe their continuing torment.

Mr McCann will say: “When it’s a special occasion, when you should be at your happiest and Madeleine’s not there, that’s when it really hits home. Obviously, Madeleine’s birthday goes without saying.”

His wife adds: “It’s when you have big family occasions really. That’s it isn’t it? ‘Family occasion’ and you haven’t got your complete family.”

She adds: “We’re not the ones that has done something wrong here. It’s the person who’s gone into that apartment and taken a little girl away from her family.”

Only the ‘bits and bobs’ of Irish budget now to be decided  “says Minister Noonan”

 

TAOISEACH SAYS ALL MINISTERS MUST ‘MEASURE UP’ IN EFFORT TO PUT COUNTRY BACK TO WORK

The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan addressing the second day of the Fine Gael National Conference in Limerick.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said there is little work left to do on the budget and that the State had a strong “backstop” in place for when it exits the international bailout.Speaking at the Fine Gael national conference in Limerick, the Minister said there were only a few “bit and bobs” left to decide on when the Cabinet meets tomorrow for the last time before he and Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin outline the budget on Tuesday.

He joked to delegates that they would be “astounded by all the good news I am announcing”.

Asked about Mr. Noonan’s comment, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said there would be some good news in the budget in the area of jobs and he indicated the Government was keen to find a way to support small and medium sized businesses.

He said a decision on where the funds to support jobs measures would be decided on at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting.

Mr Kenny said the final decisions that needed to be made were not about any individual department and that all ministers would be required “to measure up in the national effort to put our country back to work”.

“This is not an easy situation but we will try to be as fair and equitable as possible,” he said.

Fine Gael is seen to be stepping up pressure on Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton to make better use of declining welfare expenditure to stimulate employment. Mr Kenny last night made reference to welfare traps and suggested the pace of reform in Ms Burton’s department needed to pick up so people would not be stuck on the Live Register for years.

Today, Mr Kenny said he had co-operated very strongly with Ms Burton who had “overseen a change in the way social protection services interact with the live register by reducing that for 15 consecutive months.

“The Live Register is no longer seen as a long list of disillusioned people but where there is competence and experience and they should be motivated by the opportunity to get back into the world of work and be seen to be rewarded. “

Regarding the Department of Health, Mr Kenny said spending was within €1million of where it was supposed to be by the end of September but that a final decision on how much money would be needed for next year would be decided on tomorrow.

Mr Noonan said it was his decision to attempt to lower the State’s deficit in 2014 below the 5.1 per cent of GDP target set by the troika as he wanted to ensure fiscal adjustment was “finished by 2015”.

“The longer the adjustment takes, the greater the uncertainty that will hang over the economy,” he said. “And uncertainty will cause people to defer investment and spending decisions, which is the last thing we need now that the recovery in the labour force is taking hold.”

Lowering the deficit to 4.8 per cent, which the Government is targeting through a €2.5 billion adjustment, meant the economy had “a sufficient buffer in the event of international shocks,” Mr Noonan added.

He said the cash balance of some €25 billion held by the National Treasury Management Agency meant the State already had a backstop in place for when the bailout was exited.

Looking to the future, Mr Noonan said Ireland cannot go back to “an economy built on the quicksand of a credit and property bubble”.

The national conference is continuing in Limerick today with a number of ministers taking part in the event before returning to Dublin tomorrow for a final Cabinet meeting to lock down the last details of the budget.

Hundreds of party delegates from across the country are attending the conference and the main event today will be an address from Mr Kenny at 8.30pm.

Ministers are participating in sessions on subjects such as lifelong learning, health, political reform, justice and the Gathering.

Our Priory hell is now over thanks to brave Stephanie Meehan

      

Stephanie Meehan (34) and her late partner Fiachra Daly (37), along with Oisin (6) and nine-month-old Cerys pictured together by the Christmas tree in 2011 before Fiachra took his life,

Priory Hall residents have thanked brave widow Stephanie Meehan for helping to end their two-year nightmare, saying: “Fiachra would be proud.”

The 100 families who were forced out of their homes gave full credit to the mum-of-two for forcing the Government to act.

It was her heart-rending letter to Taoiseach Enda Kenny after the suicide of her partner Fiachra Daly that finally brought an end to their trauma.

“A little over a month ago, she made the decision to speak out about the death of her partner, Fiachra Daly. It was her strength and dignity that made this Government finally take notice of the national disgrace that is Priory Hall,” the residents said in a joint statement.

“The price she has paid is more than anyone should have to bear, and every resident owes her a debt of gratitude we can never repay.

“We have no doubt that Fiachra is proud of her.”

Smile: A small group, including Ms Meehan, met the Taoiseach last night to tease out the finer details of the resolution.

Afterwards, the 35-year-old managed to smile as she said: “We can now move on.”

The government plan will allow the families to transfer their Priory Hall loans to Dublin City Council and start afresh.

Their rent will be paid for 12 months while they search for a new home, and they will have the option of a 100pc mortgage.

It will be two years next Thursday since the residents were evacuated from the apartments in Donaghmede.

Outside Government Buildings last night, Ms Meehan said: “He [Taoiseach Enda Kenny] has just assured me that myself and my two children will now have a safe home to live in, which is what myself, Fiachra and all of the residents have wanted from the very beginning. I think from today we can start to move forward.

“What I would wish for is that Fiachra was here to celebrate this moving forward with me and that’s the downside,” she added.

Father-of-two Fiachra Daly (37) was found dead at his rented home in Balgriffin in July, leaving behind two children, Oisin (8) and Cerys (2).

Weeks later, Stephanie went public with the demand letters the family received from a bank in the days before her partner took his life.

The banks have agreed to contribute to the legal fees incurred by homeowners since they were put out of their homes due to the serious fire defects.

Martin McAleese, the husband of former president Mary McAleese, will now oversee the implementation of the plan.

While the deal will see banks engage with residents on a case-by-case basis, it is expected that every homeowner will be granted a pre-approved mortgage on their homes.

Buy-to-let investors will be given a two-year moratorium on mortgages while €10m refurbishment works take place.

Talking about mental health the only way of breaking the cycle of suicide’s in Ireland

 2014

There is no one simple solution in attempting to tackle the devastating issue of suicide, but a repositioning of the status of mental health in society would see huge strides forward taken.

This is the central thesis of an argument put forward by Cycle Against Suicide, a national charity seeking to confront the stigma attached to seeking help for mental health and create awareness of the support available to those who seek it.

Limerick man Maghnus Collins recently took up a position at the head of the organisation, whose cycle this year around Ireland had 2,500 participants and who used the funds raised to speak to 15,000 people – school children primarily – about suicide.

Next year on the two week cycle, which will overnight in Newcastle West and host an large scale event in the city, they hope to double those numbers.

Given the tragic circumstances that have gripped Limerick in recent days, facilitating a frank debate about these issues can be only considered as positive.

“What we are trying to do is to promote help-seeking behaviour,” explained Maghnus.

“We have very simple messages in that it is okay not to feel okay and more than okay to ask for help as well as highlighting where the help is in communities and fostering interaction between communities and their local mental health organisations.”

The idea is to direct people toward the resources in their own communities and make them aware of what services are available.

“Help is going to look very different for every person, there is no silver bullet,” he explained. “For some people it will be an organisation like Pieta House or Console or Reachout.ie – for other people it might be going to the local GP or talking at their GAA club, whatever it is.

“It is about highlighting what support is available, and because we aren’t involved in the front line service provision, we have an advantage in that we can make a lot of noise and point people in the right direction.”

While the cycle is the charity’s flagship event, they work all year round through a range of initiatives, primarily working with schools. Talking is the key, Maghnus explained. “We certainly believe that talking about suicide and saying the word is a positive thing; whilst we are very reticent to normalise anything as devastating as suicide, it is worse again if we pretend it isn’t happening,” he said.

“It is a discussion we have to have as a society, and it is something that we can’t just address when there is a devastating story in the news, it is something that we have to address over a sustained and ongoing period of time.

“We need to start a conversation where it becomes absolutely normal to say that you are not feeling yourself, and just make it as normal as it would be to say I feel sick or have a physical ailment.”

Eating disorders can effect a Women’s reproductive health

 

Women with eating disorders are less likely to have children than women of the same age who do not have these disorders, a new study has found.

According to Finnish scientists, an estimated 5-10% of young women in Western countries suffer from an eating disorders at some stage. They decided to look into the link between these disorders and possible reproductive health problems.

They looked at around 11,000 women over a 15-year period. More than 2,200 of these were attending an eating disorder clinic.

The study found that the biggest discrepancy was among women with anorexia. The number of pregnancies in this group was less than half of that of the women without eating disorders.

The study also found that women with bulimia were more than twice as likely to seek an abortion if they did become pregnant, compared to women without eating disorders.

Meanwhile, among women with binge-eating disorder who did become pregnant, almost half of these pregnancies ended in miscarriage.

“This study does not provide an explanation for the reproductive health problems observed in women with eating disorders. Based on previous research, however, it seems likely that the problems can at least partially be attributed to the eating disorder. Both being underweight and obese are known to be associated with the increased risk of infertility and miscarriage,” explained the scientists from the University of Helsinki.

However, they noted that eating disorders can also cause irregular periods, or the total absence of periods. This can lead to ‘neglecting contraception and ultimately to unwanted pregnancies’.

“Early recognition, effective care and sufficiently long follow-up periods for eating disorders are crucial in the prevention of reproductive health problems,” the team added.

Scientist Peter Higgs did not know he had won Nobel Prize

    

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Prof Peter Higgs has revealed he did not know he had won the award until a woman congratulated him in the street.

Prof Higgs, who does not own a mobile phone, said a former neighbour had pulled up in her car as he was returning from lunch in Edinburgh.

He added: “She congratulated me on the news and I said ‘oh, what news?’”

The woman had been alerted by her daughter in London that Prof Higgs had won the award, he revealed.

He added: “I heard more about it obviously when I got home and started reading the messages.”

The 84-year-old emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh was recognised by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for his work on the theory of the particle which shares his name, the Higgs boson.

He shares this year’s physics prize with Francois Englert of Belgium, and joins the ranks of past Nobel winners including Marie Curie and Albert Einstein.

‘God particle’

The existence of the so-called “God particle”, said to give matter its substance, or mass, was proved almost 50 years later by a team from the European nuclear research facility (Cern) and its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Speaking for the first time about the award at a media conference at the University of Edinburgh, he said: “How do I feel? Well, obviously I’m delighted and rather relieved in a sense that it’s all over. It has been a long time coming.”

An old friend told him he had been nominated as far back as 1980, he said.

Prof Higgs added: “In terms of later events, it seemed to me for many years that the experimental verification might not come in my lifetime.

“But since the start up of the LHC it has been pretty clear that they would get there, and despite some mishaps they did get there”.

Stressing the involvement of other theorists and Cern, he added: “I think clearly they should, but it is going to be even more difficult for the Nobel Committee to allocate the credit when it comes to an organisation like Cern.

“I should remind you that although only two of us have shared this prize, Francois Englert of Brussels and myself, that the work in 1964 involved three groups of people, (including) two in Brussels.

“Unfortunately Robert Brout died a few years ago so is no longer able to be awarded the prize, but he would certainly have been one of thewinners if he had still been alive.

“But there were three others who also contributed and it is already difficult to allocate the credit amongst the theorists.

“Although a lot of people seem to think I did all this single-handed, it was actually part of a theoretical programme which had been started in 1960.”

Landmark research

Prof Higgs was born in Newcastle, but developed his theory while working at the University of Edinburgh.

The landmark research that defined what was to become known as the Higgs boson was published in 1964.

Discovering the particle became one of the most sought-after goals in science, and the team of scientists behind the $10bn LHC at Cern made proving its existence a key priority.

In July of last year, physicists at Cern confirmed the discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson.

Prof Higgs, who had often been uncomfortable with the attention his theory brought, was in Geneva to hear the news, and wiped a tear from his eye as the announcement was made.

Reacting to the discovery at the time, he told reporters: “It’s very nice to be right sometimes.”