Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Fianna Fáil party very unlikely to bridge gap in vote for Martin as Taoiseach?

INDEPENDENTS AND SMALLER PARTIES SET TO ABSTAIN OR VOTE AGAINST FF AND FG

    

THE FIANNA FÁIL LEADER MICHEÁL MARTIN IS UNLIKELY TO BRIDGE THE GAP OF 13 VOTES BETWEEN HIM AND FINE GAEL LEADER ENDA KENNY WHEN THE VOTE FOR TAOISEACH TAKES PLACE ON THURSDAY.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is unlikely to bridge the gap of 13 votes between him and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny when the vote for Taoiseach takes place on Thursday.

Notwithstanding a big effort by Fianna Fáil to muster support from Independent TDs backing Mr Martin’s attempts to become Taoiseach, the likelihood is that the 30 Independents and smaller parties will either abstain or vote against the nominations of the two biggest parties.

A senior Fianna Fáil source said last night the likelihood was that Mr Kenny would get the backing of 57 TDs and Mr Martin would get the support of the 44 Fianna Fáil TDs.

The source said it was essentially a “box-ticking” exercise and the real negotiations on a new government would not begin in earnest until after Easter.

That would suggest a new government, in whatever shape, might not be formed until late April or early May.

However, the Fianna Fáil source said the average time it took to form a government in most European countries was between 28 to 32 days.

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The Labour Party

As well as the 50 Fine Gael deputies, Mr Kenny is assured of the support of the seven Labour Party TDs in Thursday’s vote.

This is despite strong misgivings about that strategy voiced at the Labour central council meeting held this weekend.

Some members said the party should abstain or vote against the nomination after its defeat in the election, and as it was going into opposition.

Some members also criticised Labour for being too closely aligned with the Fine Gael message during the campaign.

However, the parliamentary party, which will make the decision on the vote, is of the view that it fought the election as a government and it will support Mr Kenny’s nomination this week.

But that support will be a once-off and the party will then adopt its own position on each issue.

The Ceann comhairle?

Independent TD for Dublin Central Maureen O’Sullivan is seen as a strong favourite for the position of ceann comhairle should she decide to contest the election, which will be the first item on the agenda when the Dáil reconvenes on Thursday.

As contact intensifies in the run-up to Thursday, Mr Martin will meet the Independent alliance group in Dublin this morning, ahead of a parliamentary party meeting this afternoon at which its strategy for the first day of the new Dáil will be decided.

Mr Kenny and Mr Martin have both scheduled meetings with Independent, non-aligned and small parties this week.

No talks or contacts have taken place between any of the three bigger parties.

None of the parties expect them to take place until after the vote on Thursday.

As Mr Kenny is not expected to win a majority of the Dáil, he will remain on as Taoiseach in a caretaker capacity, representing the Government at the shamrock ceremony in the White House next week and presiding over the State’s formal commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.

Separately, Sinn Féin’s ard chomhairle will meet tonight to decide if the party will nominate Gerry Adams for the position of taoiseach.

The Right 2 Change group will also hold a press conference tomorrow outlining its position on government-formation.

Rush for Irish passports brought on by Brexit fears

DESIRE TO REMAIN AN EU CITIZEN AFTER A POSSIBLE LEAVE VOTE IS CITED BY MANY BRITISH-BORN APPLICANTS AS MOTIVATING FACTOR

  

THE NUMBER OF BRITISH-BORN PEOPLE APPLYING FOR IRISH PASSPORTS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR ANCESTRY HAS RISEN SHARPLY IN THE PAST YEAR.

Last weekend, shortly before he sat down to watch Ireland play England in the rugby Six Nations championship, Kevin Warnes posted the application form to renew his Irish passport. Though Warnes was born and has always lived in England and considers himself “completely English”, his mother is originally from Ireland, which allowed him to obtain dual citizenship as a young man in the 1980s when he was doing a lot of travelling in Europe.

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A teacher from Shipley in West Yorkshire, he had allowed his Irish passport to lapse. But the prospect of Britain potentially voting to leave the EU in June“propelled me into action”, he says.

“I have two children and I want them to retain their EU citizenship. I want them to be able to travel, live and work freely in a Europe of open borders, to explore their near world with as much liberty as possible.” As soon as he gets his own passport back, Warnes will apply for Irish citizenship for his teenage daughters as well. “I certainly wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t for Brexit.”

Figures obtained by the Guardian suggest he is far from alone. According to Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, the number of British-born people applying for Irish passports on the basis of their ancestry has risen sharply in the past year, just as the debate over the UK’s potential withdrawal from the EU has intensified before June’s referendum.

Between 2014 and 2015, the number of adults born in England, Scotland or Wales applying for their first Irish passport on the basis of having an Irish-born grandparent increased by more than 33%, from 379 to 507. Applications from those with one or more Irish parent rose by 11% in the same period, from 3,376 to 3,736. In the previous year, the total applying in both categories fell slightly.

Ireland offers automatic citizenship to anyone with an Irish parent, regardless of where they were born, while the grandchildren of citizens are also entitled to claim a passport once their births have been recorded in the country’s foreign births register. Great-grandchildren may also be eligible if their parents had registered by the time of their birth. It has been estimated that as many as six million Britons can claim an Irish-born grandparent.

Northern Ireland is a special case, with anyone born north of the border having the same rights to claim Irish citizenship as elsewhere in the island. There, too, first-time adult applications for Irish passports rose by 14% from 10,672 to 12,159 between 2014 and 2015. Both Britain and Ireland allow citizens to hold dual citizenship.

An Irish government spokeswoman said applicants were not asked their reasons for applying for a passport and so the rise could not be attributed to a single cause.

But anecdotal evidence suggests that the risk of a British leave vote has been a decisive factor for many. Ireland is one of the most pro-European countries in the EU and would be highly unlikely to vote to leave, despite harsh austerity conditions imposed by Brussels as part of a multibillion-euro bailout in 2010.

Siobhan Mooney from London has never even been to Ireland but told the Guardian she decided to apply for citizenship through her Irish-born grandfather because she was getting “quite panicky” at the prospect of a British withdrawal. “I thought, well, if I get my Irish passport then at least if the UK is kicked out I’ve got some legal protection if I want to go and enjoy free movement in Europe.” She said she knew at least two other people who were considering doing the same thing.

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Glen O’Hara, a professor of modern and contemporary history at Oxford Brookes University, said he hadn’t absolutely decided to claim citizenship through his Northern Irish-born grandfather “but it’s nice to know that there’s a fallback position in case Britons really do prove willing to give up their rights as European Union citizens”.

He said he was less concerned with the practicalities of free moment after a potential Brexit – “I should think we’ll join the EEA [European Economic Area] and there’ll be few if any more border controls anyway” – but with the principle of “maintaining my European-ness”.

“I am a European Union citizen as things stand, I regard myself as a European and I don’t see why anyone else has the right to drag me out of that. So I’m thinking of taking a relatively painless joint citizenship route to ensure that I can keep my EU identity and rights, whatever other UK citizens decide.”

G.B. Homeless people given laptops in effort to improve access to jobs market and on-line connectivity

THE INITIATE WANTS TO HELP PEOPLE WHO ARE CUT OUT FROM THE JOB MARKET BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO ACCESS TO COMPUTERS.

    

HOMELESS PEOPLE WERE GIVEN REFURBISHED LAPTOPS IN LONDON THIS WEEK, AS PART OF A NEW SCHEME AIMED TO HELP PEOPLE GET JOBS ON-LINE.

Access to computers and the internet is often taken for granted and this initiative wants to create more digital inclusion.

Eight people using homelessness services in London were the first recipients of ‘Laptops for Homeless Initiative’.

The scheme is the brainchild of social enterprise company SocialBox.Biz in partnership with the charity Thames Reach. The chairman of SocialBox.Biz Peter Paduh said:

Thousands of disenfranchised members of society are cut out from the job market by having no access to computers or the Internet.

“How can we expect the homeless to work past their situation when they have no ability to apply for jobs or learn new skills and trades? Our Laptops For Homeless Initiative was launched to provide the UK’s homeless with a chance to rejoin society and step out of the shadows.

It’s about bettering our communities and societies by taking the laptops some deem as no longer needed and giving them to the people who need them the most.

Camden Deputy Leader Councillor Patricia Callaghan said, “Too many people do not have a home that is decent, affordable and secure.

“Government benefit cuts and changes to the way charities are funded are causing sharp increases in homelessness and rough sleeping.”

Former Sligo Mayor Matt Lyons sold €8.2 million winning Lotto ticket last Saturday

FINE GAEL MEMBER OWNS SHOP IN SLIGO WHERE WINNER OF €8,244,501 JACKPOT BOUGHT TICKET

   

FINE GAEL MAY NOT BE ON A WINNING STREAK, BUT PARTY MEMBER AND FORMER MAYOR OF SLIGO, MATT AND SON ALAN LYONS PICTURED ABOVE WITH CUSTOMERS, IS FEELING LUCKY AFTER SELLING THE €8.2 MILLION WINNING LOTTO TICKET HIS SECOND JACKPOT WINNER IN SIX YEARS.

The well-known councillor now retired confirmed his shop “Shop & Stop” sold the winning ticket last Saturday.

Now he is wondering whether it is a Sligo Rovers fan who will no longer be feeling too downhearted at last night’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Shamrock Rovers.

“We were very busy yesterday ,” said Matt who described the jackpot as “serious money”.

“Sligo Rovers were playing in the Showgrounds. We also had a stag party in and a lot of them bought tickets”.

The former councillor sold a €4m winning ticket in December 2009 but he says this is the biggest Lotto win so far in Sligo.

“I did not win unfortunately – I would be very happy if I did”, he said. As a stream of well wishers called to the busy newsagents he explained the shop caters for a mix of local and passing trade.

“On Saturdays we tend to get a lot of visitors, especially if there is something on in town. There was a big crowd in for the Sligo Rovers match. During the week we tend to get more locals and people who work on the street,” he said.

He said a €20 splurge was not that unusual when the jackpot is so big. “When it gets up to €5m a lot of people would spend that.”

Mr Lyons revealed when he sold the winning €4m ticket in 2009 his son guessed who it was and the new millionaire confirmed his good fortune. “It didn’t change him at all. He kept coming in playing Lotto. He never went public so I can’t say who it was.”

Mr Lyons is hoping yesterday’s winner is from Sligo – or at least not a Shamrock Rovers fan.

“I have no idea who it was. It was just so busy in the shop yesterday.We had hundreds in. But we have the champagne on ice,” he said.

The winning numbers in Saturday’s draw were 2, 8, 16, 24, 33 and 42. The bonus number was 47.

Scientists trying to clone Ice Age cave lion after finding two near-perfectly preserved cubs

   

THE PREHISTORIC BIG CATS WERE FOUND LAST YEAR IN THE SAKHA REPUBLIC IN EASTERN SIBERIA, WHERE THE FREEZING TEMPERATURES KEPT THEM IN GOOD CONDITION.

SCIENTISTS in Russia are trying to clone an Ice Age cave lion after finding two near-perfectly preserved cubs.

The prehistoric big cats were found last year in the Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia, where the freezing temperatures kept them in good condition.

Dr Albert Protopopov, head of the mammoth fauna studies department of the Yakutian Academy of Sciences, said the cubs were found “complete with all their body parts — fur, ears, soft tissue and even whiskers”.

Researchers at the Russian-South Korean project — the Joint Foundation of Molecular Paleontology at North East Russia University — hope they can extract enough DNA from the remains to recreate the extinct animals.

One of the team members, Semyon Grigoriev, is also working on cloning a woolly mammoth using the same process.

Dr Protopopov said he believed the cubs were only a week or two old and may have perished after being hidden in a cave by their mother to protect them from hungry lions.

“This find, beyond any doubt, is sensational,” he said.

One of the cubs will be used to attempt cloning, while the other is destined for a museum.

Researchers are due to return to the cave where they were found this summer to search for the remains of more cubs, or even a lioness.

Cave lions once roamed the planet from Britain to the far east of Russia, until they died out around 10,000 years ago.

It is thought they became extinct because of a decline in large prey like deer and cave bears.    

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Lowering the USC rate could cost Irish exchequer some €364m

   

Lowering the cost of the Universal Social Charge by a percentage point for 1.28m taxpayers earning over €17,575 would cost the exchequer €364m, or over half of all the amount that Finance Minister Michael Noonan has indicated would be available for tax cuts in his pre-election budget next month.

Increasing the €12,012 threshold for paying the USC charge to €14,000 would benefit 80,000 taxpayers and cost the exchequer €22m.

And increasing the same €12,012 entry point for paying the USC by €1,000 and re-aligning the 1.5% band would benefit all 1.74m taxpayers who pay the USC, or 72% of all income earners. That measure alone would cost €49.7m.

The estimates come from the Irish Tax Institute which yesterday published a host of figures on the costs of the fiscal options facing the finance minister in the budget.

Since last April, Minister Noonan has repeatedly said the Coalition plans to unveil an expansionary budget of between €1.2bn and €1.5bn. The measures would be evenly split between tax cuts and spending increases.

But analysts say the Tax Institute figures reveal the dilemma facing the minister.

Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital, said that cutting income tax or announcing other personal tax measures would likely be more beneficial because cutting the USC rates appears very costly.

“There are no easy options,” Mr McQuaid said. “I think they will focus on low income workers this year ahead of the election” because there are likely to be more votes in cutting income tax rates or thresholds.

“It does underline that €750m [in tax cuts] is not a lot of money, but of course they may raise money on petrol because oil prices are low, to compensate,” Mr McQuaid said.

Philip O’Sullivan, chief economist at Investec Ireland, predicted that the minister’s tax changes would cost about the same as the tax measures he introduced in the 2015 budget.

Mr O’Sullivan said there would be probably tax cuts of over €600m benefiting workers. There would however unlikely be any increase in the Vat rate for the hospitality industry because the election is looming, he said.

On possible income tax measures, the Irish Tax Institute says that increasing the 40% income tax band by €1,000 to €34,800 would benefit all single persons earning more than €33,800. That measure would cost the Exchequer €72.4m.

Increasing both 40% income tax bands for married two income earners by €1,000 would cost €74.3m.

On taxes on capital, lowering the 33% tax on gift and inheritance taxes would cost €12m for each percentage point reduction.

The Institute says its research shows that Irish taxpayers on €75,000 pay more personal tax than in Sweden, Spain, the UK and the US.

It says that it is accepted globally that the best way to boost innovation in the economy is to “keep down tax on internationally mobile activities as to attract the key executives who contribute to the economy.”

The country needs “talent to grow our start-ups, our SMEs and to continue attracting international companies to Ireland.”

The Institute argues that other countries, including Scotland, Australia and Belgium, have been eager to tackle the “key issue” of attracting highly-skilled overseas’ staff through the use of personal tax incentives.

Ireland regains it’s top 10 rank at eighth in the list of innovative economies

 

Switzerland holds onto the top spot as Ireland advances three places in Global Innovation Index 2015

Ireland has moved into the top ten of the world’s most innovative economies. Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US are the world’s five most innovative nations, according to the index.

Ireland has moved into eighth position in a list of the world’s most innovative economies, moving past Luxembourg and Denmark in the Global Innovation Index 2015. Last year it fell back three places to 11th in the benchmarking survey.

The annual report, released by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, surveys 141 economies around the world, using 79 indicators to determine innovation capacities and measurable outputs.

Simon Harris, Minister of State for International Financial Services, welcomed the result.

“Ireland’s rise three places into the Top 10 is a welcome acknowledgement that our hard won recovery is recognised internationally, and speaks to this Government’s commitment to rebuild our reputation on the global stage. A continued focus on innovation-supporting policies is key to translating our recovery into a sustainable economy and prosperous society into the future”.

Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US are the world’s five most innovative nations, according to the index, while China, Malaysia, Viet Nam, India, Jordan, Kenya, and Uganda are among a group of countries outperforming their economic peers.

Spanish Armada dead remembered in Streedagh Grange Sligo ceremony

1,100 died when, in violent storms in September 1588, three ships from the Armada were driven ashore and wrecked

    

The Spanish Armada shipwrecks in 1588 at Streedagh, Grange Co Sligo, The lives  lost some 427 years ago were marked as above picture and the laying of a wreath show in the watery grave on the golden sands of Streedagh beach last Saturday the 22nd September 2015.

A ceremony which included the local art group from Drumcliff/Rathcormack Cos Cos pictured left to remember the 1,100 soldiers from three Spanish Armada ships who perished at Streedagh, Co Sligo, more than four centuries ago has been held on the beach there. Hundreds of local people stood for a minute’s silence as the Last Post was played and a wreath carried to the sea by members of the Sligo Sub Aqua Club on Saturday afternoon.

Eddie O’Gorman, chairman of the Grange Armada Development Association, said it was important to mark the spot where so many lost their lives 427 years ago. “Those people got neither a wake nor a burial,” he said.

Locals and tourists etched some 1,100 crosses into the sand on the golden beach to mark each life lost when, in violent storms on September 25th, 1588, three ships from the Armada were driven ashore and wrecked there. La Lavia, La Juliana and the Santa Maria de Vision were part of Philip II of Spain’s failed attempt to invade England.

Attention has focused on the wrecks since the discovery in February of this years timbers from La Juliana. In June and July, divers from the underwater archaeology unit of the Department of Arts,Heritage and the Gaeltacht recovered several cannons.

Declan Bruen from Streedagh discovered the timbers on the beach. He was among those taking part in the weekend ceremony, the highlight of the Celtic Fringe Festival. “I was with the divers when they brought up the cannons and it was remarkable to think that no one had seen them for 427 years,” said Mr Bruen. “But it was very important not to let the 1,100 people who died here be forgotten in all the excitement about the artefacts.”

A local man Seán Gilmartin (86) from Moneygold said the cannons, which were transferred to the National Museum, should find a permanent home near Streedagh. He said “I grew up near the beach and it was my playground and somewhere I fished,” he said, “but it was also a graveyard for many and we should remember that locally.”

Target to reduce mortality missed

      

A study from the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) led by UNICEF on progress to reduce child mortality has revealed that although there has been substantial progress globally during the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Target period of 1990-2015, only 62 of 195 countries with available data have met the MDG target of reducing under-five mortality (U5MR) by two thirds over these 25 years.

The research, published in The Lancet, by Dr Danzhen You and co-authors on behalf of the UN IGME, is the first to include U5MR estimates up to the MDG target year (2015) and to construct scenario-based projections from 2016 to 2030 to provide insights into the burden of under-five deaths over the next 15 years based on the newly proposed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of 25 or fewer under-five deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030.

The global U5MR has fallen from 91 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 43 in 2015. During the same period, absolute under-five deaths worldwide dropped from 12.7 million to 5.9 million. In total, an estimated 236.3 million children under age five died in 1990-2015. The poorest global region of West and Central Africa continues to have the highest U5MR in the world.

Globally, U5MR reduced by 53% in the past 25 years and therefore missed the MDG 4 target (of two-thirds). The data show that two regions — East Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean — achieved the MDG 4 target. At the country level, 62 countries achieved the MDG 4 target. Among them, 24 are low- and lower-middle income countries, from a variety of world regions — including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Bangladesh, Georgia, El Salvador, Bolivia, Egypt, Cambodia, Nepal and Yemen.

Encouragingly, for 102 countries, the data suggest a faster decline in 2000-2015 as compared to 1990-2000. This acceleration since 2000, when the MDGs were established, resulted in about 18 million fewer under-five deaths globally, as compared to a scenario where the pace of decline would have remained the same as in the 1990s.

While there is no doubt that some countries have fared better than others, the data show that there is room for improvement, even in the 116 countries which already, in 2015, have a U5MR lower than 25. Should 2015 rates continue to 2030, a further 6 million children will die in these nations; yet if all of them reached the current lowest U5MR of 2.3 per 1,000 live births recorded among countries with more than 10,000 live births (Finland), then this would be reduced to 2 million.

Should the SDG target be met, this would save the lives of an extra 38 million children under five than if 2015 U5MR are maintained through to 2030. If current mortality rates are maintained, 94 million children will die during 2015-2030; if the rate of progress from 2000-2015 is maintained from 2015-2030 then 69 million will die, while if the SDG target above is met, the death toll in under fives will be 56 million.

In order to achieve the SDG goal on under-5 mortality, a total of 47 countries need to accelerate their U5MR progress, including 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa along with two countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan) in South Asia. The authors highlight that, even with progress in U5MR, the actual numbers of child deaths may remain stagnant or even increase in sub-Saharan Africa, since in the region the under-five child population is likely to increase by around 42 million from 2015-2030.

Thus reduction in under-five mortality rate must outpace increases in under-five child population to continue the decline in total deaths.

300m-year-old volcanoes discovered in Ireland near Mullingar

Geological Survey’s Tellus Programme unearths highly magnetic volcanic rocks

    

An image generated from the aircraft survey showing results of the airborne survey over counties Offaly, Kildare, Meath, rural Dublin and northern parts of Wicklow and Laois.

Geographically, Ireland is often likened to a saucer: upturned at its mountainous edges and flat in the middle. But that reading doesn’t take account of newly discovered volcanoes south of Mullingar.

The Geological Survey’s Tellus Programme has unearthed aspects of the long buried history of counties Roscommon, Longford and Westmeath.

The maps reveal new detail of 300 million-year-old volcanoes on the Westmeath/Offaly border, which appear in the new airborne geophysical data as a cluster of small magnetic bodies.

The survey, conducted using low flying aircraft, also shows prominent bands of highly magnetic volcanic rocks several kilometres deep near Strokestown, Co Roscommon, which are associated with a major geological fault that can be traced through Ireland to Scotland.

The researchers say these structures are considered important in the development of mineral deposits and their location will be of considerable interest to exploration companies.

The survey aircraft, use technology that effectively sees through Ireland’s often deep glacial deposits and extensive peat cover.

“Tellus continues to reveal extraordinary new detail in Ireland’s geological landscape buried beneath our feet, building upon existing data gaps and developing natural resource opportunities,” said Geological Survey of Ireland principal geologist Ray Scanlon.

The fourth phase of Tellus is underway across the east of the country where the airborne survey over counties Offaly, Kildare, Meath, rural county Dublin and northern parts of Wicklow and Laois is almost 60 per cent complete.

Attention is currently focused on county Dublin.

The aim of the programme is to complete the geological ‘jigsaw’ of Ireland which will support better environmental decision making, radon mapping, smart agriculture and increased investment in mineral exploration.