Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Friday

Ireland Debt Outlook Raised at S&P on Impact of Budget Cuts

  

Standard & Poor’s raised its outlook on Ireland’s sovereign rating, saying the government may exceed its targets for debt reduction as the economy recovers.

The ratings company lifted the outlook on the nation’s BBB+ grade to positive from stable, it said in a statement today. There is a one-in-three chance the rating will be raised in the next two years.

  “Ireland could over-achieve its fiscal targets and reduce its government debt faster than we currently expect,” S&P said. “Ireland’s economic recovery is under way.”

S&P also affirmed Germany’s AAA rating today with a stable outlook. That judgment and its view on Ireland contrasts with the company’s decision earlier this week to cut its rating on Italy’s debt to BBB from BBB+, with a negative outlook, because of that country’s continued recession.

Of the three major ratings companies, S&P now has the most positive outlook on Ireland. Fitch Ratings has the nation on BBB+ rating with a stable outlook, while Moody’s Investors Service has it at non-investment grade and a negative outlook. Investors often ignore ratings, evidenced by the rally in Treasuries after the U.S. lost its top grade at S&P in 2011.

While today’s S&P revision is “good news” for Ireland, Moody’s “stubbornness in holding on to its sub-investment grade rating remains an unhelpful overhang on the sovereign” and its banks, Philip O’Sullivan, an economist at Investec Plc (INVP) in Dublin, said in a note.

FISCAL PROGRAM

The Irish government is pressing on with budget savings after needing a bailout in 2010 and is also working on a plan to recoup some of the money it plowed into failing lenders from the euro area’s backstop fund. Ireland’s Finance Ministry said on its Twitter feed that S&P’s improved outlook highlights the success of the country’s fiscal-consolidation program.

The National Treasury Management Agency said the move acknowledges the country’s improved access to capital markets and fiscal situation. Ireland is aiming to be the first euro-area country to exit a bailout at the end of the year.

S&P said government debt will peak at 122 percent of gross domestic product this year and decline to 112 percent by 2016. It said the “strong consensus” among the country’s largest political parties for fiscal consolidation “supports Ireland’s policy and institutional effectiveness.”

OUTLOOK RISKS

While the economy is recovering, S&P said weak foreign demand means growth will remain slow this year and next and risks to the outlook remain. Banks still have “very high levels” of non-performing loans and the country’s access to external funding is “fragile.”

Economic data for the nation has been mixed in recent weeks. The Irish economy slipped back into recession in the first three months of the year to mark a third consecutive quarter of contraction. In contrast, tax revenues exceeded the government’s target by 1 percent in the first half, and the nation’s budget deficit declined.

The yield on 10-year Irish bonds was 3.9 percent today. While it’s up from a low of 3.41 percent in May, it reached a peak of 14.219 percent in 2011.

Yields on sovereign securities moved in the opposite direction from what ratings suggested in 53 percent of 32 upgrades, downgrades and changes in credit outlook last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg published in December. Investors ignored 56 percent of Moody’s rating and outlook changes and 50 percent of those by Standard and Poor’s. That’s worse than the longer-term average of 47 percent, based on more than 300 changes since 1974.

On Germany, S&P said today that it predicts the economy will maintain “steady” growth in the medium term.

“The stable outlook on our long-term rating on Germany reflects our expectation that its public finances will continue to withstand potential financial and economic shocks and that consensus in favor of prudent economic policies will remain,” S&P said.

Irish Mental health service’s ‘failing our children miserably’

   

CHILDREN IN STATE CARE ARE BEING FURTHER TRAUMATISED BY THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM ITSELF, A MAJOR REPORT HAS CLAIMED.

Professionals involved in the service have described it as “traumatised and traumatising” and have pointed to the absence of child-centred care with organisations “focused on their own outputs rather than the child’s needs”.

The Someone To Care report by the Children’s Mental Health Coalition has found substantial deficiencies, poor resource allocation and a focus on crisis management rather than early intervention.

Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed “at the dominance of the medical model in service structure and delivery”.

The report has also pointed to multiple placements and a lack of coordination between State agencies making it hard for children to develop trusting relationships.

It has called for service providers to listen to the voice of the child and involve young people in planning service developments.

FRAMEWORK

It wants a national strategy to address the mental health needs of children and young people in the care of the State and a common assessment framework and on-going monitoring of their needs.

The report has also called for stability for children in care and in youth justice systems with adequate equitable access to services and training programmes which identify and understand psychological well-being issues.

Orla Barry, Director of Mental Health Reform and incoming Chair of the Children’s Mental Health Coalition, said the report marked “what we hope will be the beginning of a process”.

“It identifies the imperative need for a joined-up system that really addresses the mental health needs of young people in care and in the youth justice system.”

She added that one of the strongest messages from the young people interviewed in the report was the need for stability and continuity in care, which was often missing from their lives.

“If they could develop a single trusting relationship, the impact would be enormous. This means we need the different agencies working with the young people to comprehensively and effectively work together.”

Galway man bit in face by a conger eel ‘lucky to be alive’

  

A GALWAY MAN SAYS THAT HE IS “EXTREMELY LUCKY TO BE ALIVE” AFTER A FREAK INCIDENT WHERE A GIANT CONGER EEL BIT AWAY A HUGE CHUNK OF HIS FACE.

Jimmy Griffin (48), who is an experienced deep sea diver for over 20 years, came into difficulties as he made his way back from an expedition in Killary Fjord, Connemara, Co Galway.

“Suddenly I got hit with what felt like a really strong punch in the face,” Mr Griffin told the IrishIndependent. “I felt like a rag doll. It gripped onto my face and threw me about violently. It was biting, pulling and twisting on my face,” he said.

“I knew I had been attacked but at this stage I didn’t know what happened. I got this horrendous feeling of numbness in the left side of my face,” said Griffin.

“My regulator fell out and my vision became really cloudy because of the blood rising in the water in front of me. The blood looked like octopus ink, very dark,” he added

Mr Griffin attended the dive in Killary Fjord, which was part of a sports gear manufacturer’s promotion to test out new equipment. Despite his experience, it had been over two years since he was last deep sea diving.

“I am a very lucky man to be alive today. I owe my life to so many people who made sure I got to the hospital,” said Griffin

“The plastic surgeons have done a fantastic job. I don’t even know how many stitches I have on both the inside and outside of mouth but they say the scar will eventually be unnoticeable,” he said.

Irish Coastguard issues water safety warning after five drownings during warm weather spell

  

THE IRISH COASTGUARD HAS ISSUED A FRESH SAFETY WARNING FOR THOSE TAKING TO THE WATER DURING THE CONTINUED HEATWAVE. 

Among the advice is to wear a personal floatation device and never swim alone, or after drinking alcohol.

Five people have drowned in the past week, including a 19-year-old man in a Co Roscommon lake last night and a 10-year-old boy in Youghal in east Cork yesterday.

Johnm Leech, Chief Executive of Irish Water Safety, appealed to swimmers to take extreme care.

“Fresh water is more dangerous than salt water, that’s the first thing we’d say,” he explained.

We’d ask everyone to swim on lifeguarded waterways, and there’s a whole list of them with all the hours that lifeguards are on duty [online].”

“The lifeguards are professional, they’re very good at their jobs … they will keep your family safe.”

Cigarette’s and drinking speed up our cognitive decline ‘Scientist’s say’

  

It is already widely acknowledged that smoking and drinking too much are bad for our health. Now a new study has found that when done together, smoking and heavy drinking speed up cognitive decline.

According to UK scientists, these two habits often occur together, therefore they wanted to assess the combined effect of them on cognition – a group of mental processes that include memory, problem solving, decision making and language skills.

They monitored the progress of over 6,400 adults, aged between 45 and 69, over a 10-year-period. All of the participants provided information about their smoking and drinking habits and their cognitive abilities were tested throughout. This included tests on verbal fluency, memory and mathematical reasoning.

The scientists from University College London found that cognitive decline in current smokers who were also heavy drinkers was 36% faster compared to non-smokers who were moderate drinkers. Furthermore, among smokers, the more alcohol a person consumed, the faster the cognitive decline.

“Our research shows that cognitive decline was 36% faster in those people who reported both cigarette smoking and drinking alcohol above the recommended limits. When we looked at people who were heavy-drinking smokers, we found that for every 10 years that they aged, their brains aged the equivalent of 12 years,” explained lead researcher, Dr Gareth Hagger-Johnson.

The recommended weekly allowance of alcohol is no more than 21 units for men and 14 units for women. A unit of alcohol is considered a small glass of wine (100ml), a pub measure of spirits (35.5ml) or a glass of beer/cider/stout (284ml).

The scientists pointed out that from a public health perspective, ‘the increasing burden associated with cognitive aging could be reduced if lifestyle factors can be modified’.

“We believe that people should not drink alcohol more heavily in the belief that alcohol is a protective factor against cognitive decline. Current advice is that smokers should stop or cut down, and people should avoid heavy alcohol drinking.

“Our study suggests that people should also be advised not to combine these two unhealthy behaviours – particularly from mid-life onwards. Healthy behaviours in midlife may prevent cognitive decline into early old age,” they said.

Deep blue planet HD89733b discovery differs from our Earth

  

DATA FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE HAS HELPED DETERMINE THAT A PLANET ORBITING A NEARBY STAR LIKELY SHARES EARTH’S DEEP-BLUE TONES, BUT THE SIMILARITIES STOP THERE, ASTRONOMERS REPORT.

The planet, HD 189733b, circles a star some 63 light years away, about 372 trillion miles, according to the upcoming Astrophysical Journal Letters report led by the University of Oxford’s Tom Evans. The Jupiter-size planet, about 13% heftier than the largest planet in our solar system, orbits very close to its star, circling it once every 2.2 days. That makes it a (very) ”hot Jupiter” planet, the study notes, with cloud temperatures likely around 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and winds whipping around at 4,350 miles-per-hour.

Astronomers have detected more than 800 “exoplanets” — planets that orbit stars outside our solar system — in the last two decades. HD 189733b was discovered in 2005.

The planet’s clouds are likely blue, based on spectroscope data from Hubble, according to the international team of astronomers. The space telescope peered at the planet, before, during and after it was eclipsed by its star. That enabled the astronomers to subtract the light from the star from the light reflected off the planet, giving them a sense of its color.

“We saw the brightness of the whole system drop in the blue part of the spectrum when the planet passed behind its star,” Evans says, in a statement. “From this, we can gather that the planet is blue, because the signal remained constant.”

The team suggests the blue color likely comes from a hazy atmosphere filled with melting glass particles, ones that scatter blue light.

“It is by no means a giant step forward, but a nice observation with implications for clouds in this hot Jupiter’s atmosphere, one of the key details for those who model the atmospheres of these hot planets,” says planetary theorist Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (D.C.). “It is amazing to think that we can now make measurements that tell us something about the cloud cover on distant exoplanets, and is especially amazing when we cannot even see these hot Jupiters directly.”

Donie's news Ireland BLOG Tuesday

Inter-Departmental Report says Irish State had a ‘significant’ role in Magdalene laundry referrals

  

The entrance to the former Magdalene laundry at St Mary’s Convent on Grace Park Road, Drumcondra, Dublin.

Some 10,000 women and girls entered Magdalene laundries since 1922 with more than a quarter of referrals made or facilitated by the State, a report has found.

The ’Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries’ was published this afternoon.

The report found “significant” State involvement in the laundries.

In the report, the committee said it found “no evidence” to support the perception that “unmarried girls” had babies in the laundries or that many of the women were prostitutes.

“The reality is much more complex” committee chairman Dr Martin McAleese writes in the introduction.

The women admitted to the laundries “have for too long felt the social stigma” of the “wholly inaccurate characterisation” of them as “fallen women”, he said. “[This is] not borne out of facts.”

In the Dáil this afternoon, Taoiseach Enda Kenny expressed his sympathies with survivors of the laundries and the families of those who have died. “To those residents who went into the Magdalene laundries from a variety of ways, 26 per cent from State involvement, I’m sorry for those people that they lived in that kind of environment,” he said. However, he stopped short of issuing a full State apology.

Reasons for Entry

The committee found a wide range of reasons women and girls entered the 10 religious run laundries operating in the State between 1922 and 1996.

Reasons include: referrals by courts, mostly for minor or petty offences; by social services; from industrial and reformatory schools; rejection by foster parents; girls orphaned or in abusive homes; women with mental or physical disabilities; poor and homeless women and girls placed by their families for reasons including socio-moral attitudes.

Women and girls referred from industrial schools and non-State agencies would not have known why they were being sent or how long they had to stay in the laundries, the report finds. Those referred by officials in criminal justice and social services would have been told reason and duration.

“None of us can begin to imagine the confusion and fear experienced by these young girls, in many cases little more than children,” Dr McAleese writes. “Not knowing why they were there, feeling abandoned, wondering whether they had done something wrong and not knowing when, if ever, they would get out to and see their families again”.

State involvement

The committee found “significant State involvement” with the laundries, Dr McAleese states.

Referrals were made or facilitated by the State made up 26.5 per cent (2,124) of the 8,025 cases for which reasons are known.

Some 8 per cent of women were referred to by the criminal justice system, either on remand, as a condition of probation or less formal referrals such as from the Garda. Some of the criminal justice referrals were based on legislation while others were ad hoc or informal. Common crimes included failure to purchase a ticket, larceny, vagrancy, assault.

Almost 8 per cent were referred from industrial schools, another almost 7 per cent from health and social services and almost 4 per cent from mother and baby homes. Some women were referred to laundries by the health and social services because it was cheaper than State-run facilities, the report said.

The report found direct State involvement in: routes of entry, workplace regulations and inspections, funding and financial assistance to laundries, routes of exit, death registrations.

The committee found the laundries were as workplaces subject to the Factories Acts and inspected by the State to the same extent as commercial laundries. The records show the laundries were generally compliant but standards are not equivalent to current workplaces.

Conditions in the laundries

The girls found themselves alone in a “harsh and physically demanding work environment”, Dr McAleese writes. The laundries were “lonely and frightening” places for many of the women.

The committee does not make findings on treatment of women because of the small sample of women available to share their experiences. However, the women who shared their experiences made no sexual abuse allegations against nuns.

Most women described the atmosphere as “cold” with a “rigid and uncompromising regime of physically demanding work and prayer” with many instances of “verbal censure”. Most women spoke of hurt due to the “loss of freedom”, the “lack of information on when they could leave” and denial of contact with family.

The former industrial school residents made a “clear distinction” between schools and laundries. They said the ill-treatment and abuse prevalent in the school was not experienced in the laundries.

The religious orders say protection of privacy was they reason some women were given a house or class name instead of heir birth name. However, the committee says many of the women “felt as though their identity was being erased”.

Six in 10 women spent less than a year in the laundries, the report finds.

Funding

State funding included capitation, grants and laundry contracts.

At one laundry, almost a fifth of business over a sample period was from the State.

The committee found the laundries operated on a subsistence or break-even basis rather than being commercial or highly profitable.

Religious Congregations

The four congregations who operated the laundries expressed their regret at the impact. Reflecting on the report, the Sisters of the Good Shepherds, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Religious Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of Mercy said:

“We have become increasingly aware that whereas our intention was to provide refuge and a safe haven, the impact on some who have experienced our care has been something different. We are aware that for some, their experience of our care has been deeply wounding, we deeply regret this.”

The first Magdalene laundry in Ireland opened on Dublin’s Leeson Street in 1767. Four female religious congregations came to dominate the running of the laundries.

The Good Shepherd Sisters also operated a Magdalene laundry in Belfast until 1977.

There were 10 Magdalene laundries in the Republic following independence. These were at Waterford, New Ross, two in Cork, Limerick, Galway, and four in Dublin at Dún Laoghaire, Donnybrook, Drumcondra and Gloucester Street/Seán MacDermott Street. This latter – and last – laundry closed in October 1996.

Hopes of an Irish recovery  grow’s with January 2013 surplus of €704m

  

Ireland found its way back in the black last month — but it will mean little unless a deal is done on the Anglo debt.

The figures for last month show that Ireland is continuing to bounce back, even if its on the shoulders of hard-pressed taxpayers.

The exchequer was left with a €704m surplus.

Department of Finance officials said that the tax-take was better than expected.

Throwing caution to the wind, Minister Michael Noonan said: “I would expect that this would be the year that the economy turns.”

However, there are still serious tensions within Government over the need to secure a deal on the promissory note for Anglo Irish Bank.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore are said to be at odds over how to approach the negotiation process.

Labour are ramping up the pressure for a deal with rumbles that failure to reach one could prove fatal for the coalition.

Excited

However, Fine Gael are taking a much more subtle approach even with the next annual repayment of €3.1bn due on March 31.

“I don’t understand why people are getting so excited about it at present with two months to go,” said Mr Noonan.

He said that talks on a deal that would see Ireland postpone the payment “seem to be going well”.

However all sides have been buoyed by yesterday’s exchequer results.

The main reasons for the improvement was a €1.1bn profit from the sale of bonds used to bailout Bank of Ireland to international investors.

While the sale netted the Government €1bn in January, it will rob the State of a steady income from the bonds in future.

Meanwhile, in other good news, ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said Ireland was the “standout” country in the eurozone.

It believes we may recover more quickly than previously anticipated.

Two cannabis seizures in Co Leitrim villages

    

Cannabis plants worth over €500,000 were found in two separate searches.

Gardaí in Leitrim have made two separate seizures of cannabis plants with an estimated street value of €490,000.

Members of the divisional drugs unit attached to Carrick-on-Shannon searched two premises in the county yesterday, a Garda spokesman said.

A house in the Kilclare area of Carrick-on-Shannon was searched at about 3.30pm  and plants with an estimated street value of €240,000 were seized.

A 44-year-old man was arrested at the scene and is being held at Manorhamilton Garda station under section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.

In a separate investigation. a premises in the Aughamore area of Carrick-on-Shannon was searched. Cannabis plants with an estimated street value of €250,000 were seized in the course of this search, gardaí said.

A 41-year-old man was arrested at the scene and he is detained at Carrick-on-Shannon Garda station under section 2 of the Criminal Justice(Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.

Investigations into both incidents are ongoing.

Two sea eagles found dead in County Kerry

  

Two more white-tailed sea eagle, introduced to the Killarney National Park from Norway as part of the raptor re-introduction programme over the past five years, have been found dead.

Two more white-tailed sea eagles, introduced to the Killarney National Park from Norway as part of the raptor reintroduction programme over the past five years, have been found dead.

Twenty six of the original 100 birds have now been recovered dead, 12 of them poisoned.

Poisoning has been confirmed in the case of a female bird found on the sea shore near Glengarriff, Co Cork on January 18th. She had been introduced in 2010.

A second bird has now been found at Derrynane, on the Ring of Kerry, and the carcass is being analysed to determine cause of death.

Test results from the State Laboratory in Celbridge confirmed the Glengarriff bird had been poisoned, presumably as a result of eating carrion.

The white-tailed eagle, golden eagle, and red kite reintroduction projects in the Republic are managed by the Golden Eagle Trust in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Environment.

A total of 100 white-tailed sea eagles have been released in Killarney National Park, Co Kerry as part of the release phase of the reintroduction programme. The first breeding attempt of the reintroduction programme was a pair that nested on Lough Derg, Co Clare in 2012. At least six pairs could potentially nest in 2013.

Project manager Dr Allan Mee has appealed for vigilance and protection for the birds. “As we are no longer releasing birds into the wild it is vital that we now start producing our own chicks in the wild to replace any birds that are lost and maintain the population. We are hoping that this year will be a milestone for the reintroduction project.”

A number of pairs could be expected to breed this year, he said.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, said: “The poisoning of an eagle in County Cork is very serious. Eagles are protected by law, they are majestic birds of prey, and their reintroduction to Ireland is an important and very worthwhile project. My department is providing any assistance it can to the gardaí in the investigation of this matter.”

Scientists testing for Northern Ireland ‘giant gene’

THE SKELETON OF CHARLES BYRNE IS ON DISPLAY IN THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN LONDON

Scientists in Belfast want to establish if the genetic blip that saw an 18th Century Irishman sprout to more than seven-and-a-half feet is widespread in the area he was from.

A geneticist at Queen’s University has appealed for people whose families originate from the east Tyrone and south County Londonderry areas to take part in screening for gigantism.

Professor Patrick Morrison said they would test DNA for an altered gene that can cause the body to produce too much growth hormone.

He said that most of the people who have the condition do not know they have it and suffer no ill effects.

Doctors from Queen Mary, University of London, are also taking part in the study that looks for a gene called AIP, which causes abnormal growth of the pituitary gland.

The gene at the heart of the study is the one that caused 18th century patient Charles Byrne, born near Cookstown in County Tyrone and known as the ‘Irish giant’, to grow to more than seven and a half feet tall.

Sophisticated genetic calculations identified that Byrne and the living patients who were found to carry the gene shared a common ancestor, and that the mutation is about 1,500 years old.

It is thought to be particularly prevalent in south County Londonderry and in the east of Tyrone.

While most people who carry the gene do not experience any health problems, it can lead to acromegaly – a condition in which a benign enlargement of the pituitary gland causes excess growth of muscles, cartilage and bones.

This excess growth can lead to other complications, including loss of side vision and hormone disturbances.

It is estimated more than two thirds of those who carry the mutation do not develop the condition and therefore have no idea they have it.

Professor Patrick Morrison said most of the people with the condition are unaware of it

Prof Morrison said that they would be visiting the area to conduct mobile screening to identify carriers so that they, and their families, can access screening and treatment if necessary, to help prevent potential health problems in the future.

“The particular gene mutation for which people will be screened is for a gene called AIP, which causes abnormal growth of the pituitary gland. It was first identified in 2011 in patients from south Derry and east Tyrone who are living with familial acromegaly – an inherited form of acromegaly or gigantism,” he said.

“People with the gene may not necessarily be tall but they may have other health conditions which could be linked to this altered gene.”

He said the screening involves giving a saliva sample by spitting into a tube and takes about 10 minutes.

Marta Korbonits, Professor of Endocrinology at Barts and the London School of Medicine Queen Mary, said they have been screening a number of patients from Northern Ireland with acromegaly for the gene.

“We also know, however, that over two-thirds of those who carry the mutation do not develop the condition and therefore will have no idea that they carry the gene abnormality,” she said.

“This is why it is important to look at the local general population in the geographical area from where many of the patients originate from.

“Testing in the general public will tell us more about how widespread the condition has become.”

Screening will take place on 8 and 9 February in the Tesco carpark, Cookstown, and on 1 and 2 March in the Tesco carpark, Dungannon.

Living in the sunshine may ‘reduce arthritis risk’

   

LIVING IN A SUNNIER CLIMATE MAY REDUCE THE RISK OF DEVELOPING RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, ACCORDING TO US RESEARCHERS.

Their study of more than 200,000 women, published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, suggested a link between sunlight and the risk of developing the disease.

They speculated that vitamin D, which is produced in sunlight, may protect the body.

Experts warned that people should not spend all day in the sun.

Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by the body’s own immune system attacking the joints and it can be intensely painful.

It is more common in women, but the reason why a patient’s own defences turn against them is unknown.

Sunny side

Researchers at Harvard Medical School followed two groups of more than 100,000 women. The first were monitored from 1976 onwards, the second from 1989.

Their health was then compared with estimates of the levels of UV-B radiation they were exposed to, based on where they lived.

In the 1976 group, those in the sunniest parts of the US getting the highest levels of sunshine were 21% less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than those getting the least UV radiation.

We cannot advocate everybody sitting in the sunshine all day to protect from rheumatoid arthritis, because UV-B burns people and increases the risk of skin cancer”

However, UV levels had no affect upon the risk of rheumatoid arthritis is the 1989 group.

The report’s authors said: “Our study adds to the growing evidence that exposure to UV-B light is associated with decreased risk of rheumatoid arthritis.”

They suggested that “differences in sun protective behaviours, eg greater use of sun block” could explain why the younger group of women showed no benefit from living in sunnier climes.

One theory is that difference in levels of vitamin D, which is produced when UV radiation hits the skin, could affect the odds of developing the disease. Low levels of vitamin D have already been implicated other immune system disorders such as multiple sclerosis.

Dr Chris Deighton, the president of the British Society for Rheumatology, said it was an “interesting study” which “gives us more clues” about how the environment can affect the chances of getting rheumatoid arthritis.

He added: “We cannot advocate everybody sitting in the sunshine all day to protect from rheumatoid arthritis, because UV-B burns people and increases the risk of skin cancer.

“The treatment options in rheumatology have transformed the lives of patients with this crippling disease in recent years and anything that adds to our knowledge is welcomed.”

Sunshine vitamin

Prof Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK, said: “Studies that have been undertaken have not shown, thus far, that vitamin D is a useful treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.

“We know that many people with arthritis have low levels of vitamin D and this can have a powerful effect on the types of immune cells which may cause this condition.

“We’re currently doing research to find out how this happens and are performing lab studies to find out whether vitamin D can alter the aggressive immune response found in rheumatoid arthritis and turn it into a less harmful or even a protective one.

“In the meantime, until we know more, the best thing that people can do is to go out in the sunshine for up to 15 minutes in the summer months and expose their face and arms to the sun to top up their vitamin D levels.”