Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Fine Gael waiting on Fianna Fáil to see if they are serious or just tactical on forming a Government

IT SEEMS INEVITABLE THAT THE TWO BIG PARTIES WILL HAVE TO TALK TO ONE ANOTHER

      

Micheál Martin TD, leader of Fianna Fáil, and acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny, leader of Fine Gael.

“The music has started, but nobody wants to dance yet,” was the verdict of one senior Fine Gael figure on the process of government formation that has been stuttering into life over the past 10 days and will continue this week in a quiet Leinster House.

All sides say the process will eventually move to a more decisive phase; all agree that it’s not there yet.

Everyone says a government will be formed eventually, but they do not know who will do it, or how.

Ultimately, it seems inevitable Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will have to talk to one another – if not about a grand coalition, then about the conditions under which a minority government led by either party would function.

Neither side – especially Fianna Fáil – is ready for that stage yet.

But politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum. And so a process of talks between both parties and the Independents and smaller parties will recommence in Leinster House today to explore common policy positions, to build relationships, and – frankly – to give people something to do, and something to talk about.

But even those who are engaged in the process know it is unlikely to be decisive, one way or another.

One Fine Gael Minister insists he and his colleagues are trying to win votes for Enda Kenny to be elected Taoiseach and the more common ground his party can establish with Independents and small parties, the greater the chance that Kenny can put together a minority administration.

But equally, he acknowledges Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will have to strike some agreement if a minority administration is feasible. Jobs Minister Richard Bruton acknowledged the same thing on Monday.

Crucially, the Dáil numbers say the same thing. The formation of a Coalition is a process whose parameters are defined in the first instance by the numbers.

Fianna Fáil’s 43 votes (44 minus Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Feargháil) and Fine Gael’s 51 votes (50 plus Michael Lowry) are so far away from a bare Dáil majority of 79 that, even if this week’s talks with Independents and small parties were to deliver all the votes around the table for either Micheal Martin or Enda Kenny, the two men would still need to talk to one another.

One Independent TD who is not part of the talks summed up this mathematical fact succinctly when asked about his fellow Independents’ contacts with the two big parties: “Sure there’s not enough of them.”

All of this means the talks in Leinster House this week take place in a somewhat unreal atmosphere. The big parties have so far been solicitous, but noncommittal. That will probably continue.

“I thought that at this stage we would be down to concrete things – we need this done in six months, and that legislation passed, and so on. But we’re nowhere near that,” says one Independent participant. “The lack of a sense of urgency from both parties is striking.”

Another participant says the engagement on policy issues with the Fine Gael representatives has been very good. “But I don’t think they’re really trying to get our votes on April 6th.”

That process is unlikely to happen until after the Dáil meets on April 6th, and fails once again to elect a Taoiseach, as all sides expect.

The process will then enter a new and — perhaps more urgent – phase.

At that stage, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will probably have to be a bit clearer on their intentions.

Right now Fine Gael is waiting to see if Fianna Fáil is serious or merely tactical in ruling out a grand coalition. One senior party source summarises the current approach. “Be nice to Fianna Fáil. Let them get this, ‘we won the election’ stuff out of their system. And then we’ll talk to them in a month.”

Irish employees are the fourth happiest in the world  “A new study states”

DUBLIN WORKERS RANK AS THE HAPPIEST IN EUROPE AS COLOMBIA TOPS THE GLOBAL LIST

    

DUBLIN CAME TOP FOR EMPLOYEE HAPPINESS IN EUROPE, BEATING LONDON, STOCKHOLM, ROME AND MADRID.

Irish employees are among the happiest in the world, according to a new survey which ranks Ireland fourth place globally and Dublin coming first among cities in Europe.

The survey of 35 countries ranks Colombia top for job happiness, followed by Mexico, Russia and Ireland. China is in last place.

Dublin came top for employee happiness in Europe, beating London, Stockholm, Rome and Madrid.

The study, conducted by recruitment website Indeed. com, shows that demographic appear to impact on performance with countries that have more older employees among the unhappiest.

Japan, where the median age in 45, ranked 26th in the survey, while Germany, with a median age of 46, came in 27th place. Ireland’s median age is 36 years, while the overall winner, Colombia, had a median age of just 28.

The top ranking jobs for happiness in Ireland included carpenter, builder, secretary and childcare assistant.

“Those concerned about the prospects of Ireland continuing to attract foreign direct investment should be reassured by the findings of the index, which indicate that Ireland has the happiest workforce in Europe which is an attractive feature for any company looking at setting up here,” said Mariano Mamertino, an economist working for Indeed.

The study was based on an analysis of five different elements contributing to job happiness, namely: work-life balance, quality of management, office culture, job security and advancement, and compensation and benefits.

Irish teens some of the least able to talk to parents about problems that bother them

     

IRISH TEENAGERS ARE AMONG THE LEAST ABLE TO TALK TO THEIR PARENTS ABOUT PROBLEMS THAT INTEREST OR BOTHER THEM AND MANY FEEL THEY DO NOT HAVE HIGH LEVELS OF FAMILY SUPPORT.

Research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found just 42% of Irish 11-year-olds, 33% of 13-year-olds, and 23% of 15-year-olds enjoyed a high quality of communication within their family.

The study of 42 countries and regions, including EU member states, places Ireland fourth from bottom in terms of young people feeling high levels of family support, with the only notable exception being that girls tend to feel more supported the more affluent their family.

It says the number of Irish children having family meals is below average, with 54% of 11-year-olds having dinner daily with one or both parents, falling to 49% for the 13-year-olds and 42% of the 15-year-olds. At breakfast, the rate falls further to 31% at age 11; 19% at age 13; and just 13% at age 15.

The study is the latest in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) research project, which is updated every four years.

It questioned more than 219,000 children aged 11,13, and 15 years, including 4,000 from Ireland, on a range of health-related subjects including diet, exercise, mood, social media use, smoking, drinking, and sex, and analysed the results for trends relating to age, gender, and family wealth.

Ireland was ranked 15th out of the 42 countries for family affluence and had one of the highest proportions of non-nationals among the interview group with 69% of the children being Irish-born to Irish parents; 17% Irish-born to one or two non-Irish parents; and 14% being first-generation immigrants who were born abroad.

The group had one of the highest rates of traditional family type, with 77% of the children living with both parents; 16% living with a single parent; and 6% living in a stepfamily.

They were among the most active texters, but had below-average daily computer use and gaming time. However, they also reported suffering some of the highest levels of cyberbullying.

The proportion classed as overweight or obese was about average: 17% of 11-year-olds, 14% of 13-year-olds, and 15% of 15-year-olds.

There was a marked decrease in mental wellbeing the older the children were, with 16% of 11-year-olds reporting having trouble sleeping more than once a week, rising to 28% at age 15.

At age 11, 10% reported feeling nervous more than once a week. This also rose to 28% by age 15, and while 6% of 11-year-olds said they felt low at least once a week, the same was true for 23% of 15-year-olds.

The Irish group ranked average for exercise levels, better than average for daily vegetable consumption, and below average for alcohol intake and smoking.

Researchers from the Health Promotion Research Centre at NUI Galway were among the international team compiling the study, which will be published in full today.

The team said many patterns of behaviour established during adolescence would continue through adult life so it was essential for policymakers to know how to cultivate good habits and understand how gender, age, and affluence influenced outcomes.

“Increased attention to, and more investment in, programmes that support positive parenting during adolescence are necessary,” said the team.

Sligo-Fest celebrates it’s 15 years of Irish tradition

FESTIVAL IS ON NEXT SATURDAY 19TH @ 11 A.M.

    

Sligo-Fest began in 2001 and in the past 15 years has grown to a St. Patrick’s Day tradition in Sligo and surrounding areas. Hundreds of people attend each year to enjoy Irish fare, crafts, music and fellowship.

In 2001, the old Sligo School, which the community uses as a multi-purpose building, was in need of repair. Sligo United Methodist Church, which stands adjacent to the school, was also in need of repair and funds were limited. A fundraising project was born.

“Since Sligo originated from the Sligo Furnace Company from Sligo, Ireland, we took the theme of St. Patrick’s Day. Starting with 50 pounds of corn beef and 10 pounds of cabbage, we prayed that people would show up and help us,” said Vivian Fritzinger, a longtime organizer and volunteer.

The first year saw about 50 people attend. It took two additional years to raise enough money to begin work on the buildings.

The rest is history, as each year more and more people return to SligoFest. The group now prepares 200 pounds of corn beef, on average, for about 300 people. Craft booths and entertainment line the area between the two buildings. Featured musicians are Kathy Summers, of Bourbon, and her old time country, gospel, and bluegrass fiddle music; and John Ross and Ross Reed, known as Ross and Ross, who provide a variety of guitar and trombone music.

With the help of some of the men in the community and the church, funds raised from the annual event have been used for a variety of projects, including remodeling the kitchen into a nice, workable area to accommodate the large menu each year.

About six years ago, Gavin Walsh, Sligo, Ireland, began writing a book on the Sligos in the U.S. About 12 or 13 were present, with some no longer called Sligo. Walsh has attended three SligoFests and hopes to be present for the 15th anniversary this year.

“Aside from the food and crafts and music SligoFest is a time for everyone to enjoy some of the history of Sligo. The school walls have pictures of the history of Sligo Furnace Company and many of the visitors have come to SligoFest as a homecoming,” said Fritzinger.

The event is held 18 miles north of Salem, off Highway 19. Turn on Hwy. TT and follow the signs. Music and craft booths begin at 11 a.m. Saturday and the meal is served from noon until 4 p.m., or until the food is gone. On the menu is corned beef and cabbage, Reuben sandwiches, and desserts.

“SligoFest has weathered many changes over the years and we have swept snow off the porch and people have graciously come. Last year there was the fear of high water and I spent the night on the west side of the creek so that I could be there to help in the morning. This year the 100 Acre Wood Road Rally will be out our way, and we invite everyone to enjoy the rally then come and visit SligoFest,” said Fritzinger.

Oldest known Neanderthal DNA reveals clues to their origins

      
Researchers have sequenced the oldest Neanderthal DNA yet discovered, adding another layer of complexity to an emerging understanding of these ancient humans.The oldest Neanderthal DNA yet has been extracted and studied, highlighting the shift among anthropologists away from seeing Neanderthals as primitive humans.

The DNA comes from 28 individuals found inside a Spanish cave, which anthropologists believe is home to a 400,000-year-old burial site. The researchers’ findings from the site, called Sima de los Huesos,appeared Monday in the journal Nature.

“Sima de los Huesos is currently the only non-permafrost site that allow[s] us to study DNA sequences from the Middle Pleistocene, the time period preceding 125,000 years ago,” Matthias Meyer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and lead author said in a press release.

Dr. Meyer praised the care taken in removing the samples from the cave, as technology had not yet advanced sufficiently for the limited DNA to be sequenced. The analysis of their mitochondrial DNA, obtained from a tooth, shoulder blade, and femur, revealed a relationship between the individuals and the Denisovans, an extinct Neanderthal group in Asia, wrote Ewen Callaway in an accompanying commentary.

“It’s fascinating and keeps us all on our toes trying to make sense of it all,” Chris Stringer, a palaeoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, told Nature. “Instead of just being stuck with trying to resolve the last 100,000 years, we can really start to put some dates from DNA further down the human tree.”

The study sheds light on where different lineages may have diverged – and how long ago such divergences may have occurred.

“DNA sequences of the [Sima de los Huesos] hominins diverged more than twice as far back along the lineage from the Altai Neanderthal genome to its ancestor shared with the Denisovan genome than DNA sequences of the Late Pleistocene Neanderthals from Europe and the Caucasus,” according to the study.

This study deepens understanding of Neanderthal history, but it also comes amid a growing shift in anthropological thought. A series of such finds are leading scientists to reject their original view that Neanderthals were very primitive ancestral humans.

“The evidence for cognitive inferiority is simply not there,” Paola Villa, Colorado University-Boulder researcher and co-author of a 2014 paper on the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals, said in a press release. “What we are saying is that the conventional view of Neanderthals is not true.”

Anthropologists are shifting our popular stereotype of an underdeveloped, even crass, Neanderthal as they discover more about these ancient humans’ capabilities, Sudeshna Chowdhury wrote for The Christian Science Monitor:

Microfossils found in their teeth show that Neanderthals had a diverse diet that included aquatic foods, small and fast game such as birds and rabbits, date palms, and grass seeds.

Recent information available on “Neandertal use of ochre and manganese as well as on Neandertal production of pitch, the presence of transported and ochre-smeared shells, of ornaments such as eagle claws and perhaps bird feathers,” goes to show that they had cultural rituals.

The earliest efforts to sequence the Neanderthal genome concluded in 2010 and suggested, as The Christian Science Monitor’s Pete Spotts wrote, “We have met Neanderthals, and they are us – or about 1 to 4 percent of each of us.” The genome, then only 60 percent complete, provided evidence that Neanderthals mated with human ancestors, thus preserving parts of the same genome that researchers found in a state of ancient preservation in Sima de los Huesos, Spain.

Since then, scientists have suggested that Neanderthals’ intelligence led them to create art. Controversial evidence emerged in 2012 that paintings in another Spanish cave were too old to be the product of ancient Homo sapiens, Seth Borenstein wrote for the Associated Press. Although conflict exists among researchers, Neanderthals may have even created sculpture.

Such paintings are “one of the most exquisite examples of human symbolic behavior,” Joao Zilhao, an anthropologist at the University of Barcelona, told the AP. “And that, that’s what makes us human.”   

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Greater parental involvement ‘needed to tackle Ireland’s bullying problem’ 
 

Consultations with children aged between 13 and 17-years-old have revealed pupils would like to see more involvement from parents and students when it comes to implementing anti-bullying policies.

Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland, Children’s Ombudsman Emily Logan explained how she discussed Cyber-bullying with 300 teenagers in a bid to gather information that can be used to help schools develop strategies on managing bullying.

It was noted that many students not only felt sympathetic towards victims, but also the perpetrators, claiming many may be acting out in response to problems at home or in their community.

“I think children are keen that …teachers and principals reach out into their communities to engage with parents and the children in trying to resolve these problems,” Ms Logan stated.

The consultations revealed that many youngsters believe more information that explains what cyber bullying entails needs to be made available.

Special school assemblies held at the start of the year were suggested as one way for principals explain what forms harassment can take and that it will not be tolerated.

Irish exports surge by 10% in 3^rdquarter, set for record year

 

Exports surged by 10 per cent in the third quarter and are now on track for a record year with sales set to top €183 billion.

The Irish Exporters Association (IEA) said exports in July, August and September had been boosted by euro weakness against the dollar and sterling and by strong growth in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and medical devices which accounted for 61 per cent of manufacturing exports.

It also reported continued strong growth in the services sector, particularly in computer services. In contrast, computer hardware and agri-food exports were down.

The IEA also warned that exports to the growing markets of Asia, Africa, Russia and South America were disappointing.

Aer Lingus airline is ‘strategically important to growth of exports’

     

Aer Lingus is of “strategic importance” to the growth of the export industry, the head of the Irish Exports Association said today.

The airline’s cargo facility ships a significant proportion of the country’s trade in goods between Ireland the US, accounting for about half of the value of exports, and 43 per cent of imports.

John Whelan said the Government had not given enough consideration to how vital the airline cargo facility was to high tech and life sciences exporters. It warned that Ryanair could possibly drop the air cargo facility if its takeover of the airline was successful, as the airline did not carry air cargo on its current network.

“At risk is the €18 billion of pharmaceutical and medical technology that is exported by airfreight to the US and €4.5 billion of high-tech imports required for a wide range of manufacturing companies in Ireland.

“The daily airfreight connection to the US has been at the heart of Irish export growth for several decades. Let us not forget this is our largest export market as well as our main source of foreign direct investment,” he said. “The daily airfreight link is a strategic trade corridor for Ireland and must be treated as such.”

World’s rarest whale seen for first time

     

When two of the exceedingly rare spade-toothed whales washed up on a New Zealand shore, they were initially mistaken for the more common Gray’s beaked whales (pictured above)

The world’s rarest whale has been seen for the first time after a mother and calf were washed up on a beach in New Zealand.

Spade-toothed beaked whales were first discovered in 1872 when bone fragments were found on a remote Pacific island, but until now the species has remained entirely hidden from human view.

In the 140 years since they were first discovered, the only sign that the creatures’ continued existence lay in two partial skulls found in New Zealand in the 1950s and Chile in 1986.

Now scientists have reported a complete description of the whales, which are thought to spend most of their lives in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean, only rarely coming to the surface.

The Mother and her male calf were stranded on Opape Beach at the northern tip of New Zealand in December 2010 but were initially thought to be of a much more common species known as Gray’s beaked whales.

It was only after routine DNA analysis that experts realised their true identity.

Dr Rochelle Constantine of the University of Auckland said: “This is the first time this species — a whale over five meters in length — has ever been seen as a complete specimen, and we were lucky enough to find two of them.

“Up until now, all we have known about the spade-toothed beaked whale was from three partial skulls collected from New Zealand and Chile over a 140-year period. It is remarkable that we know almost nothing about such a large mammal.”

Because the animals had never been seen very little is known about their behaviour, but writing in the Current Biology journal, the researchers suggested they were likely to be “exceptionally deep divers, foraging for squid and small fish and spending little time at the surface.”

Dr Constantine said it was unclear why the species has been so elusive, but added: “It may be that they are simply an offshore species that lives and dies in the deep ocean waters and only rarely wash ashore. New Zealand is surrounded by massive oceans. There is a lot of marine life that remains unknown to us.”

Good  bye battery? One day your heart might power your pacemaker

  

Researchers reported last Sunday that it may soon be possible to power a pacemaker by a patient’s beating heart.

The team, which presented its work at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2012 in Los Angeles, developed an energy harvesting device that someday might take the vibrations created by a heartbeat and convert them into enough electrical energy to power a pacemaker, said lead author M. Amin Karami, a research fellow in the department of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

That may save many patients from repeated surgeries, he said.

Pacemakers, which are usually implanted in the chest, are used to control abnormal heart rhythms. One of the major problems with the devices in use today is that their batteries typically run out of juice after  five to seven years of operation.  For younger people with pacemakers, that means enduring repeated surgeries to implant replacements.  But a pacemaker that harvested its own energy might be able to operate indefinitely.

“If we had a mechanism to generate this small amount of power, you’d never have to recharge it,” said Karami, in a video released by the American Heart Association (and available for viewing above.)

According to their research abstract, Karami and his colleagues first measured images of cardiac wall motion to estimate the vibrations created by a beating heart.  Then, they used a mechanical shaking device to reproduce the same amount of vibration.

Taking a piezoelectric harvester — a harvester made with a smart material that can generate electricity when stretched or pushed out of shape — and mounting it on their shaker, they recorded how much power they could produce over 100 heart beats at differing heart rates.

The team’s energy harvester was able to generate more than 10 times the power required to operate a pacemaker, as long as heart rate was between 20 and 600 beats per minute.  At just over an inch square, it was about half the size of the batteries used in today’s pacemakers.

The team does not yet have a prototype pacemaker using the energy harvester, Karami said, and will need to conduct safety testing in animals and humans.

Modified tomatoes can lower our bad cholesterol, say Californian scientists

 

Scientists have come up with a tasty way to lower bad cholesterol. All it takes is a helping of genetically modified tomatoes.

The more positive side of genetic modification (GM) of foodstuffs was presented yesterday at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Los Angeles.

Companies have been modifying food crops for years but mainly to deliver benefits such as insect and fungus resistance, attributes of little interest to the consumer.

  Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, modified the tomatoes so the plant could produce an experimental drug for use against bad cholesterol and clogged arteries.

The drug, which is a peptide, is the first of its kind made in a plant that can be eaten, the researchers, led by Prof Alan Fogelman, told the meeting.

The drug mimics one of the effects caused by good cholesterol in helping to clear out bad cholesterol.

Strict science did not, however, dictate his choice of the tomato, Prof Fogelman acknowledged – he just likes them. The team could just as well have used any fruit or vegetable.

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Irish women forcibly adopted in the 1950’s demand access to their files from the state

   

Tens of thousands of people were sent for adoption around the 1950s after their mothers were deemed too young or unfit

Two women who lived for years not knowing they had been forcibly adopted have called for official State records to be opened to try and trace their birth mothers.

Theresa Tinggal, 58, and Maria Dumbell, 42, are among tens of thousands of people sent for adoption around the 1950s after their mothers were deemed too young or unfit.

“I was handed over to my adoptive parents at two-days-old and then registered as their legal child,” Ms Tinggal said. “It came as a great shock therefore when I discovered that I wasn’t who I thought I was.”

The Government has delayed until next year, plans for new adoption legislation which would allow people access to files to trace biological parents.

The women claim the Health Service Executive (HSE) has told them they cannot release files linked to informal adoptions.

Ms Tinggal was brought up as Theresa Hiney. The nurse who helped deliver her kept records of her own and a box with 1,000 names, including her name, has been recovered by her relatives. “The state could have found my birth mother but they didn’t really bother,” she said.

A website – adoptedillegally-ireland.com – has been set up to try and bring together people affected by adoptions authorised by hospitals, churches, religious orders and doctors after judging a mother unfit.

Ms Dumbell found out she was adopted when she applied for a passport. She discovered her birth was never registered and she only got an Irish passport after threatening a human rights lawsuit in Europe. “The attitude of the Irish Government when I asked them for information was ‘Well, things were done illegally then and we don’t know who you are’,” she said.

Clare Daly TD, who supports the women’s cause, said the records exist. She added: “It is not good enough to talk about guaranteeing children’s rights in a new referendum if we continue to ignore children failed in the past. The right to identity is the most basic human right.”

A spokeswoman for the Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said she had no difficulty in meeting the women. She said they had been urged to discuss their cases with the national specialist for adoption in the HSE before she would meet them. The minister has also been pursuing the new legislation with the Attorney General’s office.

Treasury Holdings to go into liquidation

   

Treasury holdings directors. Johnny Ronan (left) and Richard Barrett.

Treasury Holdings lawyers have today told the High Court that they will not be opposing an application by KBC Bank to wind up the group next week.

The move clears the way for liquidators to be appointed to the business, which was previously one of Ireland’s largest property operations.

It directly employs up to 45 people at its headquarters in Dublin.

At its height, Treasury Holdings was a multibillion euro property business with operations spanning as far as China.

But after the boom, it crashed with debts of around €2.7bn and it has spent much of the past year in a protracted legal battle with Nama.

Today, lawyers for Treasury Holdings told the High Court it will not be opposing a petition to wind up the business by KBC Bank on Tuesday next.

KBC says that it is owed more than €70m for the development of Spencer Dock in Dublin.

The move to liquidate the group is supported by Nama over concerns that assets of a Treasury subsidiary in Singapore were transferred to a company in the Channel Islands linked to Treasury director Richard Barrett. 

This will be raised on Tuesday as KBC’s lawyers say they have not received an adequate explanation for this overnight transaction.

Wind energy delivery worth ‘30,000 jobs and €18bn to Ireland’

   

Ireland should aim to supply the rest of Europe, especially Britain, with wind energy, which has the potential to create 30,000 jobs here, a leading figure in the industry urged yesterday.

Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) chief executive Kenneth Matthews also called for joined-up thinking between Government and enterprise to deliver the economic potential of wind energy. Upwards of 2,000 people now work in the fast-growing sector.

“For the first time, being at the edge of Europe gives us an advantage. Our ambition should be to provide Europe with wind energy,” Mr Matthews said.

Speaking at the launch of a new IWEA policy paper at a conference in Killarney, he said renewable energy exporting was a significant national opportunity that needed to be seized. He said the policy paper would help the Government ensure the framework was correct to realise this potential.

Mr Matthews said government policy to facilitate 4GW (gigawatts) of wind energy produced for the domestic market and 6GW for export could deliver up to 18,400 jobs by 2020.

He said renewable energy divisions are needed in the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Forfá: “If state agencies work in tandem with industry, they could attract turbine manufacturers to Ireland, as well as supplying turbines to projects here.

  “An Irish base could then be used as a launch-pad into the European onshore and sizeable UK offshore market. This cooperative approach could unlock an additional 9,000-12,000 jobs, bringing the true jobs total up to 30,400 by 2020.” 

The paper also calls on Government to develop a joint Irish-UK government policy. The UK needs 18GW of wind energy before 2020 and a policy should facilitate the achievement of at least 6GW of wind energy for export from Ireland. That would attract investment of more than €18bn into our economy, Mr Matthews said.

The paper also calls for a government-industry implementation group to bring together private and public stakeholders, agencies and private capital.

In a keynote address, Minister for Arts and Heritage Jimmy Deenihan welcomed the policy paper, saying it provided industry and the Government with a roadmap to maximising the benefits of wind energy.

Airtricity managing director Stephen Wheeler said the approach should be much more ambitious than it has been up to now: “The rest of Europe and, in particular, our closest neighbours the UK need renewable energy, Ireland, has the resources, the comparative advantage and the talent to deliver.”

Sligo widow sues over the contract killing of her husband

   

The widow of a Co Sligo man who was shot and killed in 1999 is suing four men for damages over her husband’s murder.

Margaret Madden, 58, a B&B owner at Lough Gara House in Monasteraden is suing the men for the loss of her husband and her own shock, pain and distress.

Terence Madden, 52, bled to death after being shot in both legs at close range on 28 January 1999.

Michael Doohan, a former member of the Defence Forces, and formerly of Ashbury Lawns, Ballinode, Co Sligo, Joseph Herron, formerly of Chapel street, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, and Patrick McGrath, formerly of Cuilpruglish, Gurteen in Co Sligo, received life sentences at the Special Criminal Court in 2000 for their part in the murder.

A fourth man, Thomas Derrig, of Battlefield, Culfadda, Ballymote, Co Sligo, received a three year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to the possession a sawn-off shotgun.

The High Court heard that Doohan’s family and the Madden’s were neighbours and that both families ran B&B businesses.

The court was told that the murder arose from resentment felt by  Doohan towards Terence Madden over the erection of B&B signs.

Resentment had also built over another incident when Mr Madden arrived at Doohan’s father’s funeral in 1997 to sympathise with the family.

Irish Parents urged to check their children’s weight regularly ‘like their eyesight’

   

Children’s weight, like their eyesight, should be checked regularly, a nutrition expert has told the joint committee on health and children.

Safefood’s director of human health and nutrition, Dr Cliodhna Foley Nolan, said parents did not find it easy to accept that their child was overweight or obese.

“We need to ‘normalise’ the taking of weight and waistline measurements so it is not seen as criticism or an insult. It should be the same as getting their eyes checked.”

Dr Foley Nolan said Safefood-funded community and pre-school programmes were conditioning parents so they were health aware and, eventually, at a point were they were comfortable with having their children screened.

Senator John Crown asked if fear of causing eating disorders was making people shy away from the issue of addressing children’s weight.

Dr Foley Nolan said the fear about triggering eating disorders, especially in teenage girls, had been overstated. 

However, Safefood was ensuring that all information it provided on healthy eating was both constructive and positive. 

“We know that we are getting the message out there — that there is a better lifestyle choice but it is a slow burn,” she said. 

“That is why we need all the encouragement and support we can get from you [the committee], in terms of policies and funding.” 

Sen Crown, who is a doctor and practices cancer medicine, said obesity was one of the risk factors for a number of cancers. 

“And, surprisingly, if you have cancer, the chances that you do better in treatment is higher if you are not obese. 

“It could be argued that, after smoking, it is perhaps the second biggest risk factor that our population is facing right now in terms of cancer.” 

Sen Crown said there was no food that was dangerous when eaten in moderation, just as there was no food that was safe when eaten in excess. 

“Simply banning certain foods won’t work. 

“You have got to get the message across to people that it is the total volume and number of calories and the efficiency with which you absorb that food that makes the difference.” 

Meanwhile, an international conference in Dublin to mark the 10th anniversary of the European Food Safety Authority heard that counterfeit food was likely to become an increasing concern in the future. 

Chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Prof Alan Reilly, said the European regulatory agencies needed to be alert to emerging health risks, because of the free movement of foods across borders and the potential threat from food fraud. 

He warned that the food fraud could sometimes pose a very serious health risk: “Tragically, this was the case in the Czech Republic recently where alcoholic products were unscrupulously contaminated with methanol, resulting in a number of deaths.” 

He said there needed to be a high level of co-ordination among regulators and enforcement agencies. 

Curiosity rover pauses to get the scoop on Mars

     NASA’s intrepid Mars rover is pausing near fine-grained sand dunes to take soil samples that will be used to clean out any traces of Earth’s environment in the rover’s sample collection system.

Martian sandbox: An area dubbed “Rocknest” features fine-grained sands that will be scooped up by the Curiosity rover to test its sampling system and to clean out any lingering traces of Earth’s environment.

After creeping about 500 yards across the rocky floor of Gale Crater on the way to an intriguing intersection of different terrain types, the Mars Curiosity rover is pausing for a few weeks near fine-grained sand dunes to scoop up soil and run it through the vehicle’s sample acquisition system to clean out any lingering traces of Earth’s environment.

After three such “rinse and repeat” cycles, a scoop on the end of the rover’s robot arm will deposit small samples into a pair of sophisticated laboratory instruments, the Chemistry and Mineralogy experiment, or CheMin, and the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, known as SAM. CheMin will use X-ray diffraction to identify the minerals in a sample while SAM will employ two spectrometers and a gas chromatograph to look for signs of organic compounds.

But first, all traces of Earth’s environment must be cleaned away to eliminate any chance of contaminating a Mars sample.

“Even though we make this hardware super squeaky clean when it’s delivered and assembled at the Jet Propulsion (Laboratory),…by virtue of its just being on Earth you get a kind of residual oily film that is impossible to avoid,” said Daniel Limonadi, a sampling system engineer at JPL. “And the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument is so sensitive we really have to scrub away this layer of oils that accumulates on Earth.”

Curiosity has rolled about 1,600 feet since landing August 6, heading toward an area known as Glenelg, where orbital photographs show three different types of terrain converging. Along the way, engineers have been testing and calibrating the rover’s instruments and subsystems, snapping pictures and collecting data.

Among the last items to be tested are a scoop on the end of the rover’s robot arm and an impact drill. Both devices are designed to deliver soil samples to inlets on the top of the rover’s body leading to the SAM and CheMin instruments.

Engineers have been looking for fine-grained sand to test the scoop system and to clean out its internal components. And they found what they were looking for at a site dubbed Rocknest, a football field shy of Glenelg. Rocknest measures about 8 feet by 16 feet and features dunelike deposits of sand as well as a variety of exposed rocks.

“What we’re doing at the site is we take the sand sample, this fine-grained material, and we effectively use it to rinse our mouth three times and then kind of spit out,” Limonadi said. “We will take a scoop, we will vibrate that sand on all the different surfaces to effectively sandblast those surfaces, then we dump that material out and we rinse and repeat three times to finish cleaning everything out…. Our Earth-based testing has found that to be supereffective at cleaning.”

The first scoop will be collected Saturday, and if all goes well, the cleaning process will be finished in the next week and a half, with part of the third sample being delivered to the CheMin instrument. A fourth sample then will be shared by both CheMin and SAM.

With the scoop tests complete, Curiosity will continue on to Glenelg where its impact drill will be put to the test for the first time, probably sometime in November. Though the scoop can collect soil samples from the surface, the drill will produce debris from the interior of targeted rocks, using the same delivery system employed by the scoop to reach the laboratory instruments.

“Getting these samples is kind of the keystone of the rover mission,” said Mike Watkins, a mission manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “We’re being deliberately, incredibly careful. So not just taking (samples), but every time we take one, stop, open it up, take a look at it, make a video of us dropping it off. We’re taking a lot of extra steps here to make sure we understand exactly what’s going on, [things] we won’t have to do every time we do a scoop in the future.”