Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG 2015

Companies seek credit but Irish consumers focus on repayments

  

Central Bank says home-loan repayments exceeded loan drawdowns by €2.2bn in year.

The Central Bank’s November data shows household loan repayments exceeded loan drawdowns by €335 million during the month, while companies borrowed €139 million more than they repaid.

Companies are back in the market for credit but Irish consumers are still more concerned about paying back old debts than borrowing for fresh spending, according toCentral Bank money and banking statistics .

The November data shows that household loan repayments exceeded loan drawdowns by €335 million during the month, while companies borrowed €139 million more than they repaid.

Companies’ medium-term debt borrowings are the biggest climbers, up a net €205 million in November, suggesting a nascent puck-up in investment. Over the first 11 months of 2014, however, the debt levels of Irish companies fell by 6.4%.

Among consumers, annual repayments had exceeded drawdowns on home loans by €2.2 billion by the end of November, while net repayments on non-housing consumer debts fell by €1.6 billion.

There was €174 billion on deposit at the end of November, with 53% of this accounted for by household savings.

Bank borrowings from the Central Bank, as part of the Eurosystem’s liquidity programme, fell by €1.2 billion, as Irish banks moved back towards more mainstream funding methods.

Irish teens get gastric bands as obesity time-bomb explodes

   

Professor Donal O’Shea

Irish teenagers as young as 15 are being given gastric bands as the numbers needing drastic surgery continue to escalate.

Gastric bands reduce a patient’s stomach size to help prevent them overeating.

Experts say it’s the latest example of Ireland’s spiralling obesity epidemic among the younger age group. One-in-four children are either overweight or obese in Ireland.

“I’ve seen kids who are of such size that they’ve been referred to the UK for consideration of gastric banding,” explained Professor Donal O’Shea (pictured inset).

“The problem is that our treatment services are so underdeveloped that we don’t have the surgery capability for obesity in children in Ireland.

“The scale of the problem in this country is on par with that in Britain.

“And we lag only a little bit behind the US, where 33pc of children are overweight, or obese.

“There has been an absolute explosion in the extreme end of obesity in kids. We have 15-year-olds in this country who weigh 16 and 17 stone.

“We’ve reached a stage where the argument has progressed to what is the best type of operation for children who are obese.

“I’ve referred two patients, aged 15 and 16, to Great Ormond Street for consideration of bariatric surgery.”

Prof O’Shea, who heads the obesity management clinic in St Columcille’s Hospital, Dublin, said the obesity time-bomb was no longer just ticking – it had “exploded”. He said that we were fast heading towards the “nightmare scenario”.

“At current trends we will need obesity surgery for more children in Ireland within the next 10 years. That’s the sad reality.”

Dr Sinead Murphy, consultant paediatrician in Temple Street hospital, said the obesity crisis was affecting children as young as three and four years of age. “A healthy three-year-old should probably weigh about 15 kilos. But we regularly see three-year-olds weigh 25 kilos and upwards – they are clinically obese.”

Dr Murphy said children were presenting with a raft of medical problems as a direct result of their burgeoning waistlines.

“We’re seeing an awful lot of muscular skeletal problems. A lot of children have joint and back pain, and breathing difficulties,” she said.

“Half the kids we’re seeing have high insulin levels, which means they’re on a path to Type-2 diabetes.

“Half of the 10-year-olds we’re seeing have high cholesterol already.”

She said children eligible for bariatric surgery were given “psychological preparation” before going under the knife.

“These children could also be an anesthetic risk because they’re so overweight.”

Ireland’s only dedicated childhood obesity treatment programme, at Dublin’s Temple Street Children’s Hospital, has had a 400pc increase in just one year in referrals of children aged under five.

The long-term effects of being seriously overweight include reduced educational achievement, risk of heart disease and certain cancers, as well as the possibility of developing type 2 diabetes.

“We’re diagnosing diabetes in people in their 20s, and new cancers will double by 2030, driven by the obesity epidemic,” said Prof O’Shea.

“We can’t wait until we have to cope with kidney failure and amputation in people in their 30s and 40s.”

Woman (33) killed in first road fatality of the New Year

  

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

A woman was knocked down and killed in the early hours of this morning.

The 33-year-old was the first road traffic victim of the new year when she was hit by a van.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to the collision in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, at 1.50am.

The fatality happened as road safety chiefs revealed the number of deaths on our roads was up in 2014 compared to the previous year – with 196 people losing their lives.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was removed to the Shiel Hospital, where a post mortem will be held.

“The driver of the van, a male aged in his 50s, was uninjured,” said gardai.

“The scene is preserved to facilitate Garda forensic collision investigators. The road is closed to traffic and diversions are in place.”

Doctor criticised for saying that cancer is ‘the best way to die’

 

Doctor Robert Smith’s comments recognised as a romantic view of dying”.

 The doctor left and former editor of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has been criticised after saying cancer is ‘the best way to die’.

Writing in the BMJ, Richard Smith said people with the disease have an opportunity to reflect on life before it ends, something not afforded to those who die suddenly.

Smith said dying from dementia or organ failure is a much worse fate.

“The long, slow death from dementia may be the most awful as you are slowly erased, but then again when death comes it may be just a light kiss.

“Death from organ failure—respiratory, cardiac, or kidney—will have you far too much in hospital and in the hands of doctors.

So death from cancer is the best … You can say goodbye, reflect on your life, leave last messages, perhaps visit special places for a last time, listen to favourite pieces of music, read loved poems, and prepare, according to your beliefs, to meet your maker or enjoy eternal oblivion.

“This is, I recognise, a romantic view of dying, but it is achievable with love, morphine, and whisky. But stay away from overambitious oncologists, and let’s stop wasting billions trying to cure cancer, potentially leaving us to die a much more horrible death.”

In the article, Smith also urged charities and the medical world to “stop wasting billions trying to cure cancer”.

Cancer Research UK were among those to criticise his comments, labelling them “nihilistic”.

Over 96,000 new cars sold in Ireland last year 2014

  

2014 was a BUMPER year for new car sales with over 96,000 new cars sold in Ireland last year

This represents a 30% on the number of new cars sold in 2013 – or more than 22,000 extra vehicles.

The car industry had predicted total sales of approximately 85,000-90,000 units at the start of the year.

More than 21,000 new commercial cars were sold in 2014, up 43% on 2013 figures.

Over 1,000 motorcycles were also sold – representing a 25% annual increase.

Used car sales, which had remained relatively unchanged for the past number of years, increased by almost 50,000 vehicles in 2014. More than 835,000 used vehicles changed hands during the year, an increase of 6.3%.

Used cars imported into Ireland from other jurisdictions such as Great Britain and Northern Ireland were also up by 8.4%, with 54,290 used vehicles registered in 2014.

Michael Rochford, Managing Director of Motorcheck.ie – the site that compiled the figures – said 2014 had been “a really positive year for the motor trade all round”.

Early indications are that the positive trends will continue in 2015 with new car sales predicted to breach the magical 100,000 units. This was last achieved in 2008 when 142,000 units were sold.

The five most popular car models in 2014 were:

1. Volkwagen Golf
2. Nissan Qashqai
3. Ford Focus
4. Ford Fiesta
5. Toyota Corolla

Researchers find that Birds slur their songs when drunk,

Just like humans do

  

A surprising new research suggests that birds have trouble singing and calling after downing a few drinks. Researchers found that birds act similar to humans after ingesting alcohol. According to researchers from Oregon Health and Science University, they offered juice spiked with alcohol to Zebra Finches birds (above right).

According to researchers, the birds’ slurs were similar to how people slur after ingesting alcohol. The researchers found that after drinking alcohol, the birds slurred their songs with a distinct drunken vibe.

The study published in the journal PLOS ONE stated that the zebra finch birds were intoxicated by the researchers for the study. According to the study, the acoustic structures of zebra finches’ songs were slurred at best. The researchers had chosen the bird because it learns a song in a way similar to how people learn speech. It was easy for researchers to identify whether the birds slur their songs after drinking alcohol.

According to the researchers, they have found remarkable similarities in how the bird song and humans speech learned and then produced. Those similarities allowed the researchers to better understand the effect of alcohol on the bird.

For the study, the researchers had given simple white grape juice to a group of birds, while they gave juice spiked with strong ethanol to another group. Second group of birds was not able to maintain their song’s normal structure and tempo.

The researchers said, “We did not detect visible effects on the birds’ general behaviors or health, as indicated by the normal appearance of feathers and the ability to perch, feed, maintain normal posture and fly inside the cage.”  

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Enda Kenny denies a Cabinet split on property tax in Dail today?

 

FF LEADER martin CHALLENGES enda KENNY ON ruairi QUINN's RESIGNATION.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has denied that the Cabinet is split on the property tax.

He told the Dáil today that there was no basis for the “division’’ among ministers, as claimed by Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin.

He added that the tax was an alternative to increased income taxes and the details involved were still being worked out by the Government.

“The law says that the elected representatives of the people, whatever the shade of opinion on the council, are entitled to reduce the property charges by 15% if they so wish,’’ he added.

“It is a matter for them to make that decision.’’

Mr. Kenny said the Government had already decided that 80% of the charges collected would be kept in each local authority area.

Mr. Martin said media reports had said there was a significant split in the Cabinet on the issue, with Fine Gael wanting to charge local authorities more.

Services devolved from central government would have to be paid for, he added.

Mr. Kenny said he was sorry to see Mr. Martin acting on “the absolute gospel belief of what you read in the papers’’.

Earlier, Mr. Martin asked the Taoiseach to confirm that Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn had resigned from the Cabinet.

Mr Kenny said Mr. Quinn, who at the time was announcing his resignation to journalists at press briefing on the Dail plinth, should be given the courtesy to make a statement.

Mr. Martin said the primacy of parliament was important.

Irish Water to deliver a price plan to energy regulator soon

 

Commission critical pricing plan, including the cost per litre for Irish water, has not been submitted to it in advance of an announcement. 

Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen: TDs and Senators “would have hoped to have been privy to it, and had hoped to ask questions on it”

The exact pricing structure for water charges being proposed by Irish Water will be submitted to the Commission for Energy Regulation today, but is not expected to be published until next week at the earliest.

  The commission appeared before the Oireachtas environment committee yesterday, but said Irish Water’s pricing plan, including the cost per litre, had not been submitted to it in advance.

The deadline for submitting the plan is today, and an Irish Water spokeswoman confirmed it will be provided to the commission.

However, the commission confirmed to the committee that Irish Water had sought to reduce the free allocation of 38,000 litres per child, as had been originally announced by the Government.

While Irish Water said this is “unrealistic” the commission said in its presentation to the committee this will only be granted in the event of more “robust research and consumption analysis”.

Members of the environment committee were severely critical of Irish Water for not providing the submission in advance of their meeting.

Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen, the acting chairman, said TDs and Senators “would have hoped to have been privy to it, and had hoped to ask questions on it”.

“I don’t want to mince my words, we are disappointed, some are angered. We are at a loss today. This is the latest in a series of delays.”

Paul McGowan of the commission said it shared the committee’s disappointment, and it repeated the Government commitment that the average household will pay €240, although some homes will pay more and others will pay less.

Labour Party TD Kevin Humphreys said the meeting yesterday was a waste of time, and said Irish Water was “showing contempt” by failing to provide the requested information.

Irish smoking rates drop as more teenagers quit cigarettes

  

Teenagers are “fighting back” against big tobacco companies, with only about one-in-eight now lighting up, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) has revealed.

Their remarks came ahead of the X-Hale Film Festival, for which young people produced dozens of short movies about cigarette use.

“We know that the tobacco industry needs to target teenagers to replace the smokers who have already died from their addiction or who have quit,” said Kevin O’Hagan of the ICS.

“The X-Hale Film Festival gives the next generation the opportunity to fight back and they have certainly done that via the 47 films which have been showcased.

DEATH

“Currently, 5,500 smokers a year die from tobacco related illnesses. These youth groups have sent a rallying call to their peers and to Government to ensure that their generation won’t follow this same path of premature death.

“THEY WANT TO SMOKE OUT BIG TOBACCO FIRMS FROM THIS COUNTRY FOR GOOD,” HE ADDED.

In 1998, some 21.2pc of young people were smokers compared to 11.9pc in 2010, data from Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) shows.

There has also been a notable fall in rates of young people who have tried smoking.

In 2002, some 62.1pc of 15 to 17-year-olds had given it a go, compared to 45.7pc in 2010.

In addition, a decline from 60.2pc to 48.9pc was seen between 2002 and 2010 in the percentage of those who had their first cigarette aged 13 or younger.

The ICS said Ireland is on track to have less than 5pc of the population smoking by 2025. X-Hale films highlight the harmful effects of smoking.

Some 43 youth groups showcased their films at Smithfield’s Lighthouse Cinema yesterday.

The works can be viewed online (www.cancer.ie/xhale). To date, they have received more than 21,000 views.

SHIFT

“The trend in Ireland around smoking is changing. We are seeing a huge cultural shift into how smoking is treated and how it is perceived,” said John McCormack, chief executive of the ICS.

MEANWHILE-

Early alcohol tippling at 14 years ‘A binge drinking risk’

  

Early alcohol drinking experience is one of a wide range of factors that can be used to identify future binge drinkers, research now suggests.

A single glass of wine or beer at the age of 14 can help a young teenager along the path to binge drinking, say scientists.

Early alcohol experience is one of a wide range of factors that can be used to identify future binge drinkers, new research has shown.

Others include personality traits such as risk and sensation seeking, family history, genetics and brain structure.

Combined together, they were able to predict who from a large group of 14-year-olds would be binge drinking by the age of 16 with 70% accuracy.

Having even a single alcoholic drink at the age of 14 was shown to be a “powerful” predictor of binge drinking, possibly because of its association with risk-taking and impulsivity.

Dr Hugh Garavan, from the University of Vermont in Canada, who co-led the study, said the vulnerable period between the ages of 14 and 16 was “critical” to a young person’s future drinking behaviour.

“Just delaying people drinking by six months or a year is actually a very, very substantial intervention that would have vast beneficial consequences,” he added.

A computer was used to analyse a wealth of data on more than 2,000 14-year-olds from England, Ireland, France and Germany. All were participants in IMAGEN, a major ongoing study of adolescent development.

The software looked for patterns that singled out those youngsters who went on to become binge drinkers by the age of 16 – defined as having got drunk on at least three separate occasions.

Results were confirmed by predicting binge drinking with the same accuracy in a separate group of teenagers. The findings appear in the latest issue of the journal Nature.

“Notably, it’s not the case that there’s a single one or two or three variables that are critical,” said Dr Garavan. “The final model was very broad – it suggests that a wide mixture of reasons underlie teenage drinking.”

One surprising discovery was that bigger brains in 14-year-olds are associated with future binge drinking.

Adolescents undergo significant rewiring in their developing brains, so that it is normal for their brains to reduce to a more efficient size. Bigger brains in adolescents are therefore a sign of immaturity.

“There’s refining and sculpting of the brain, and most of the grey matter – the neurons and the connections between them – is getting smaller and the white matter (made from nerve fibres) is getting larger,” said Dr Garavan. “Kids with more immature brains – those that are still larger – are more likely to drink.”

Co-author and IMAGEN leader Professor Gunter Schumann, from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, said: “We aimed to develop a ‘gold standard’ model for predicting teenage behaviour, which can be used as a benchmark for the development of simpler, widely applicable prediction models.

“This work will inform the development of specific early interventions in carriers of the risk profile to reduce the incidence of adolescent substance abuse. We now propose to extend analysis of the IMAGEN data in order to investigate the development of substance use patterns in the context of moderating environmental factors, such as exposure to nicotine or drugs as well as psychosocial stress.”

Research suggests culling badger’s not an effective to stop the spread of bovine TB?

  

AN ANTI-CULL PROTESTER OUTSIDE THE BRITISH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT IN LONDON.

New research has suggested that culling badgers is not an effective way of reducing tuberculosis in cattle.

A study which models the way in which TB spreads across Britain using data on cattle dating back to the 1990′s found that few options could reverse annual increases in the disease.

The research, published in the journal Nature, found that only culling the whole herd when infection was found, vaccination of cattle, or additional national testing for infection would be effective in stemming the rise of the disease.

However, researchers said whole-herd culling would initially involve a 20-fold increase in the number of cattle slaughtered and the measure was a “draconian” one, which they did not advocate.

The latest analysis was seized on by anti-cull campaigners as further evidence that culling badgers to control TB in cattle did not work, but the British government rejected the findings, saying badger culling was necessary as part of measures to prevent the disease.

The model looked at transmission of bovine TB within farms, between nearby farms, and between more distant farms due to cattle movement. It also modelled the effects of control strategies on the potential spread of TB.

It assessed whether new TB cases, or breakdowns, in herds were caused by movement of cattle between farms, infection being missed during testing as the test is only around 70% effective, or by infection from the farm environment, and found 40% of new cases were due to a combination of all three.

The study was unable to separate out transmission from badgers and from other routes in the environment such as pasture where the disease lingered.

However the farm environment seemed to play a “relatively minor role” in onward transmission of TB, Professor Matt Keeling, of the University of Warwick and one of the study’s authors, said.

“Only 15% of breakdowns are solely due to the environment and although the majority do feature the environment in there somewhere, if you get rid of all the environmental transmissions you’d only expect to stop around 15% of new breakdowns,” he said.

Cutting environmental transmission between farms by half, which could represent the impact of a large scale badger cull, has “relatively little effect”, the researchers found, and predicted that controlling badger populations would have a limited effect on TB.

Halving environmental transmission could cut the rise in TB from 10% annually to 6%, they suggested.

Prof Keeling said: “If we reduce transmission from the environment to other farms by a factor of about 50% this has a limited impact on what we see in the future, it would slow the increase in cases but not completely eliminate it.”

The research found that culling the entire herd if an animal tests positive had by far the greatest effect, reducing infected cattle, numbers slaughtered and affected farms by 80% compared to standard measures after six years.

But it also had a huge cost, requiring the slaughter of 20 times the number of cattle than would otherwise be killed as part of TB control measures, although in the long run fewer animals would be slaughtered.

Vaccination had a marked effect in reducing the disease, although the vaccine offers cattle only limited protection.

Increased testing leads initially to more cattle slaughtered and farms placed under restrictions for being infected, but does reduce the disease in later years.

Prof Keeling said Transmission is complicated, it’s multifaceted. This means you’ve got cattle to cattle transmission, you’ve got movement of infected animals and you’ve got infection from the environment and all of these play a role.

“This means there’s no easy strategy that’s ever going to rapidly eradicate infection, and what we’ve predicted is without substantial changes in policy we’re probably going to see this historical 10% rise in cases year on year to continue.

“And we only really found three strategies that stop this rise, and that’s either improved or additional testing, vaccination of cattle that slows disease progression and culling all animals on a farm which obviously is a quite draconian measure.”

He and fellow researcher Dr Ellen Brooks-Pollock were not criticising existing control measures, did not advocate any one policy and that whole-herd culling was never put forward as a viable policy, they said.

The model presented a “dispassionate analysis” of the information available, the researchers said.

British farming minister George Eustice said: “We cannot accept the paper’s findings because it does not investigate the full range of ways in which TB could spread. What this paper proposes would finish off the cattle and dairy industry in this country.

“TB is devastating for our dairy and cattle farmers and, along with blanket testing and removal of infected cattle, biosecurity measures, vaccination and cattle movement controls, culls will help get this disease under control.”

The British environment department’s chief scientific adviser, Professor Ian Boyd, said:  “Based on our current understanding of the disease cycle, the more severe control measures suggested by the paper would probably result in a rapid decline in the cattle industry in areas where TB occurs.

“However, the study reinforces the basis of the current TB control strategy which is designed to cope with complex and diverse routes of infection.”

The British government introduced a TB control strategy which includes more cattle movement controls, testing, development of vaccinations for cattle and badgers, and two pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

But Dominic Dyer, of the Badger Trust and Care for the Wild, said: “The government and the farming industry have focused far too much on badgers and nowhere near enough on the gaping holes in cattle management policy, which have been letting this disease through.

“This research confirms that the vast majority of new bTB outbreaks are due to poor TB testing, biosecurity and cattle control movements, so maybe farmers will now be convinced to give badgers a break and start focusing on methods that will actually work.”

Over-fishing and pollution means Caribbean coral reefs may disappear in 20 years

  

Caribbean coral reefs are on course to disappear “in the next 20 years” because overfishing and pollution is killing off grazers such as parrot fish and sea urchins which are vital for their survival, a new environmental report claims.

“Even if we could somehow make climate change disappear tomorrow, these reefs would continue their decline,” said Jeremy Jackson, lead author of the report and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s senior adviser on coral reefs. “We must immediately address the grazing problem for the reefs to stand any chance of surviving future climate shifts.”

The report – deemed “the most detailed and comprehensive study of its kind published to date,” was formed from more than 35,000 studies spanning 90 Caribbean locations – since 1970, reported the ICUN on its website.

ICUN collaborated with Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in conducting the study.

Coral reefs in the region have deteriorated by more than 50 percent over the past 40 years. However, the report’s authors insist that further deterioration over the upcoming 20 years is avoidable.

“The rate at which the Caribbean corals have been declining is truly alarming,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Program. “But this study brings some very encouraging news: the fate of Caribbean corals is not beyond our control and there are some very concrete steps that we can take to help them recover.”ll / flickr.com

Protection from overfishing, restoring the parrotfish populations and cracking down on coastal pollution could all contribute to the ongoing survival of the reefs.

Grazers are essential and their removal breaks the equilibrium of the ecosystem, letting algae smother reefs, and the spike in bulk shipping in the 1960s and 1970s has contributed to the introduction of pathogens and “invasive species”.

“Barbuda is about to ban all catches of parrotfish and grazing sea urchins, and set aside one-third of its coastal waters as marine reserves,” said Ayana Johnson of the Waitt Institute’s Blue Halo Initiative.

The institute is working alongside Barbuda in the development of its new management plan. “This is the kind of aggressive management that needs to be replicated regionally if we are going to increase the resilience of Caribbean reefs,” she said.

However, the need for reef preservation stretches far beyond the Caribbean. In May, UNESCO condemned the Australian government’s approval of dumping dredged sand and mud in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

UNESCO has noted a “serious decline in the condition of the Great Barrier Reef, including in coral recruitment and reef-building across extensive parts of the property,” saying that the Reef’s World Heritage status could even be downgraded.  

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Irish Teens with self-esteem worries are smoking a lot to control their weight

 

More than one in 10 girls and one in eight boys are smoking to control their weight, according to a new survey on teenagers’ body image.

And some boys also resort to excessive body-building and the use of supplements to bulk up their physiques.

The findings show 43pc of of the 10- to 21-year-olds surveyed are not happy with how they look and this lack of self-confidence is worst among 15- year-olds.

The opinions of 2,156 teenagers from Comhairle na nOg — youth councils across the country — were canvassed as part of the report ‘How We See It: Report of a Survey on Young People’s Body Image’, which was overseen by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

Young people are most like to be self-critical about their appearance when they compare themselves with others, while 46pc of teens, particularly boys, say bullying affects their self-image.

More than four in 10 feel conscious of their weight, while the influence of media and celebrities can also lead to poor self-esteem.

Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald, who launched the survey, said: “It is clear that for many young people concerns over body image can be a source of much stress and pressure.”

The survey revealed:

- More than one in five 15-year-old girls exercised to control their weight. But 18-year-old boys were least likely to do this.

- Twice as many girls as boys said they did not take enough exercise to stay healthy.

- More boys (15pc) than girls said they took more exercise than was healthy.

- More than half of all the young people surveyed said their body image interfered with their participation in activities such as swimming, dating, and putting photographs on Facebook.

Girls are twice as likely as boys to take part in these activities. Some 85pc of the girls in the survey put time into their appearance compared with 54pc of boys.

Dissatisfaction with body image among Irish teens is high by international standards — it is 32pc in Australia. But satisfaction with body image among Irish young people improves again after the age of 15.

The report makes a number of recommendations, including the rollout of a body awareness campaign and the expansion of personal development programmes in education.

180 Voluntary redundancies sought at Abbotts Sligo manufacturing plant

   

A total of 180 voluntary redundancies are to be sought at the Abbott plant in Sligo. The news was announced to workers in Ballytivnan following a meeting earlier.

Management said that is is part of a scheme to streamline its global nutrition business.

The facility is part of the company’s nutrition division, manufacturing tubes and feeding devices.

Abbott is one of the major employers in the Sligo area – having been established there in 1974.

Workers leaving the plant this afternoon declined to comment.

Deputy Michael Colreavy, Sinn Féin TD for Sligo/North Leitrim has expressed disappointment at the announcement of 180 redundancies by Abbott, at its Nutrition Plant in Ballytivnan, Sligo today.

Deputy Michael Colreavy, Sinn Féin TD for Sligo/North Leitrim expressed disappointment at the announcement.

“The people of the Northwest were delighted when Abbott announced 175 new jobs at their pharmaceutical operations in Sligo earlier this year,” he said.

“Today’s announcement is a major blow to the community with news of the redundancy programme, for implementation by the end of 2013, with the loss of 180 jobs.

“Abbott is held in high regard in the Sligo area and I hope that the company will minimise the job losses with retraining and redeployment. I also hope that those who accept voluntary redundancies receive a fair deal.

“I call on the Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, and junior minister, John Perry TD, to work closely with the company to identify areas for redeployment in the Sligo area and for development of the northwest in general.”

Anna Haslam a pioneer standing up for women politics in Ireland

   

Anna Haslam, with help from the writings of her husband, Thomas, was a pioneer in persuading women of all political hues to stand for election

A limestone seat in the centre of St Stephen’s Green in Dublin bears an inscription honouring Anna and Thomas Haslam for their “long years of public service chiefly devoted to the enfranchisement of women.” 

Anna Haslam, a pioneer in every 19th-century Irish feminist campaign, fought for votes for women from 1866 when she was part of the first salvo as a signatory of John Stuart Mill’s petition to Parliament. In 1918, a woman of almost ninety, she went to the polls surrounded by flowers and flags, flanked by unionist, Irish Party and Sinn Féin women, united in her honour to celebrate the victory of the vote. This display of unity by activist women from all shades of political opinion acknowledged Anna’s pivotal role in the fight for the vote.

Anna and Thomas Haslam were founding members of the Dublin Women’s Suffrage Association (DWSA) in 1876. This marked the start of a sustained campaign in Dublin for votes for women. There had been sporadic suffrage activity prior to this, including the publication of a short-lived journal, The Woman’s Advocate, by Thomas Haslam in 1874. Membership of the DWSA was open to men and women and included many members of Parliament, unionist and nationalist.

Many members were Quakers. Although its leadership was unionist, it was non-party and attracted members of all political affiliation. It is difficult now to appreciate the radical nature of the early suffrage movement. Its activities – collecting signatures for petitions to Parliament, writing letters, holding meetings– appear tame when compared with the more flamboyant behaviour of the suffragettes who came after them. The early suffragists challenged the prevailing precepts that citizenship was possible only for male heads of households and that the subjection of women by men was natural.

They challenged the ideology that a woman’s place was in the home and that it was shocking for her to speak in public. When Millicent Fawcett, the English suffrage leader, addressed a suffrage meeting in 1869, her husband was criticised in parliament for allowing her to speak in such an “advanced” and “unsexing” a manner.

The minute book of the DWSA, held in the National Archives of Ireland, contains a record of 213 meetings, all of which Anna Haslam attended, between 1876 and 1913. Although it was a Dublin-centred association, great efforts were made to involve women all over Ireland. Emphasis was placed on the educational role of the DWSA. It held public and private meetings at which prominent English suffragists were invited to speak and worked to overcome the “prevailing ignorance” of Dubliners regarding votes for women; copies of the Women’s Suffrage Journal were deposited in reading-rooms and libraries all over the city.

Many members of Parliament who supported women’s suffrage brought bills to Parliament, none of which succeeded, despite considerable support. This was because suffrage bills never received government support and it was notoriously difficult for private members’ bills to succeed in parliament. There was huge disappointment when the 1884 Reform Act, which significantly extended the male franchise, did not include a clause giving the vote to women householders.

Anna Haslam, aided by the writings of her husband Thomas, continued the fight, and in 1896 women in Ireland won the right to be elected as Poor Law Guardians, members of the official bodies which administered the Poor Law. Anna then spearheaded a campaign to encourage qualified women to stand for election. In 1898 women won eligiblility to vote in local government elections, and to stand for election as rural and urban district councillors.

This was a significant breakthrough which made the case for parliamentary suffrage compelling, when one considers the absurdity of being voted onto bodies which administered the law while being precluded from a having a voice in the parliament which framed that law. By the end of 1898 there were 85 women Poor Law Guardians, 31 of whom were were also rural district councillors. In acknowledgement the DWSA changed its name to Irish Women’s Suffrage and Local Government Association (IWSLGA).

The 20th century saw the rise of the suffragette movement in England, followed in Ireland by the foundation of the Irish Women’s Franchise League (IWFL) by Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and Gretta Cousins, who had been recruited by Anna as members of the IWSLGA. Anna continued her constitutional efforts, although overshadowed by the militant, younger and more flamboyant campaign of the IWFL.

In February 1918, over 50 years after the Mill petition was presented to Parliament, the Representation of People Act enfranchised women over 30 in Great Britain and Ireland. In December 1918, she recorded her vote in the midst of “an admiring feminine throng”. In 1914 Francis Sheehy Skeffington wrote that the achievements of Thomas and Anna Haslam were too often forgotten by those “who have entered into the harvest of their labours.” They deserve to be remembered.

The Eyre Family of Galway City

  

A horse drawn tram fill up with passengers in Eyre Square, Galway City around 1900

  Galway recently celebrated the 300^th anniversary of Eyre Square becoming a public park. On 12 May 1712, the Mayor of Galway, Edward Eyre, presented the open ground in front of his house to the corporation. The following is a brief account of the Eyres and some prominent members of this family.

Eyre is a surname of great antiquity in England. It is derived from the old French word for heir and was written ‘le Eir’ and ‘leEyer’. Legend has it that the first Eyre arrived in England with William the Conqueror and that he saved the life of the future king at the Battle of Hastings.

After freeing Prince William from a situation in which he could not breathe, William named his rescuer Eyre. Although mainly associated with Ireland after the Cromwellian invasion, there were, however, English officials of that name in the country during the sixteenth century. A number are listed in the ‘Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns’. 

However, according to MacLysaght, one of the first of this family to arrive in Ireland was a Colonel John Eyre. Along with his younger brother, Edward, he arrived in Dublin as part of the invasion force under Oliver Cromwell in 1649. They were both officers in the Cromwellian army and were in the company of Lieutenant General Edmund Ludlow, under whom they saw much of their service during the Parliamentarian War of 1641-51.

The arrival of the Cromwellian forces in Galway is well documented. It was a terrible period, not just in Galway’s history, but also in the history of Ireland. On 8 July 1651, Sir Charles Coote, Lord President of Connacht and commander of the Cromwellian forces, arrived at the gates of Galway City. He demanded its immediate surrender.

The city authorities refused and the people of Galway braced themselves for the consequences of their decision. Outside the city walls, the Cromwellians were busy preparing for a strong siege. Coote had a substantial force under his command, consisting of 2,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry. After a nine-month siege, the city surrendered and became the last town in England and Scotland or Ireland to fall to the Parliamentarian Armies.

Among the Cromwellians who had arrived in Galway was the aforementioned Colonel John Eyre. Following the siege, the Eyre family gained control of much property throughout the city and county. John Eyre obtained extensive grants of land also. He built Eyrecourt castle and village, which is named after him. Another area named after this family is Eyreville, also in County Galway.

The Eyres became one of the most influential Cromwellian families to settle in County Galway. Five of them held the office of sheriff between 1675 and 1809. Many others held the office of mayor.

The first member of this family to hold the mayoral office was Colonel John Eyre, who was elected Mayor of Galway in 1661. John Eyre was born in 1623, the son of Giles Eyre of Brickworth, Wiltshire, who, in 1640, sat with three of his sons in the Council of Oliver Cromwell. John Eyre’s mother was Jane. She was the daughter of Ambrose Snelgrove of Redlynch in Wiltshire.

In 1657, John Eyre was a member of the commission for settling the land and housing issues in counties Galway and Mayo for the Commonwealth. This was part of the Cromwellian Land Confiscations, when the Irish and, indeed, many of the Anglo Irish lost their property to the new settlers.

While serving on this commission, Eyre acquired land formally owned by the O’Maddens near Ballinasloe, which became the basis for the Eyrecourt estate. Eyre also disposed families such as O’Kelly, Horan, and Burke in southeast Galway. John was also the ancestor of the Eyreville families. He served two terms as Recorder for the corporation and, along with his brother, Edward, he served as a member of parliament in 1661.

In 1662, he married Mary, daughter of Philip Bygoe, who was High-Sheriff of King’s County. In 1681, John Eyre served as High-Sheriff of County Galway. He died on 22 April 1685 and was survived by two sons, John and Samuel. Both his sons entered the military service and both also served as Mayors of Galway, John in 1704, 1705 and 1706, and Samuel Eyre in 1712 and 1713.

His brother, Edward, was elected mayor in 1663. Edward was born in 1626, the sixth son of Giles Eyre. As mentioned already, Edward arrived in Ireland during the Cromwellian war and was also attached to the military. He was the Recorder for Galway in 1661 and 1662.

Over time, Edward Eyre also obtained a considerable amount of property, formally owned by the now dispossessed ancient families of the town. He also acquired leases on properties in Woodquay, Suckeen, Eyre Street, Forthill and Victoria Place. He also served as Mayor of the Staple and, in 1670, he obtained a number of other leases, among them the area now known as Eyre Square. He acquired this property on a ninety-nine lease at a yearly rent of £3.

Among the properties he acquired was the former home of Robert Martin Fitz-Jasper, which was located close to Eyre Square. It was situated approximately on the site of the present day Great Southern Hotel. It was here that Eyre set up his home in Galway.

Following the Restoration of Charles II, Robert Martin was issued with a King’s warrant, granting him re-ownership of the house. However, when Martin approached Eyre with the warrant, Eyre laughed in Martin’s face, telling him he placed no value on the King’s Order and would not vacate the property. Eyre was obviously a good politician, as Martin’s bid to have his property restored failed even before the Irish Lord Justices. Eyre was, in fact, praised for his integrity and in being a loyal servant of the King.

Edward Eyre married a lady named Jane and had three sons and two daughters, the first of whom was also named Edward. He was born in Galway in 1663 and became mayor in 1710 and 1711. Edward (Senior) was an alderman in 1771 and served on the town council in 1774. He continued to play an active role in corporation affairs, serving up to the time of his death in 1683.

Edward was the ancestor of the Hedges-Eyre family of Macroom Castle, County Cork. He was buried in St Nicholas’ Collegiate Churchyard and his memorial describes him as: ‘…a thorough honest Englishman which plain character be-speakes him eminently possessed of all good and virtuous qualities. He lived greatly beloved by all who knew him, and died much lamented’.

One of his descendents, William Hedges Eyre, bequeathed an annual sum out of the Galway salmon fishery to charity.

Richard Hedges Eyre of Macroom Castle married Frances Browne, the daughter of the Second Viscount Kenmare. In 1777, their daughter Helena married the Very Reverend George Maunsell, Dean of Leighlin. Their second son Robert Hedges Eyre Maunsell married his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Maunsell of Plassey in County Limerick. It was possibly through this branch of the family that Fort Eyre in Shantalla and Maunsell Road takes their names.

Events of note: More Eyre family connections to follow. The St Bridget’s Terrace Residents Association are organising a Christmas party for 14 December 2012 in the Western Hotel, Prospect Hill. It is part of the 100 years anniversary celebrations. Tickets are available from Brian Kennedy.

Dolphins ‘stay awake for 15 days’

  

Dolphins can stay alert and active for 15 days or more by sleeping with one half of their brain at a time, scientists in the United States have learned.

The trick of keeping half the brain continuously awake is vital to the sea mammals’ survival, experts believe.

It allows them to come to the surface every so often to breath, and remain constantly vigilant for sharks.

Scientists in California tested the ability of two bottlenose dolphins to echolocate accurately over periods of time which would have left other animals sleep-deprived and exhausted. The dolphins, a male called Nay and female called Say, had to swim around a pen looking for phantom sonar targets.

Each of the eight targets consisted of a device that picked up dolphin sound pulses and sent back “phantom”echoes. When a dolphin detected an echo from an activated target, it responded by pressing a paddle. Correct detection triggered a tone, signalling success, and the dolphin was rewarded with a fish. False alarms led to no tone and no reward.

Over three sessions of five continuous days both dolphins did well, with success rates of up to 99%, but Say outperformed her male partner. The scientists then went on to test Say further by repeating the same experiment over a period of 30 days.

In the event, a storm cut the trial short after 15 days had elapsed. However, during this time Say’s performance hardly deteriorated at all. The findings were published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE.

Lead researcher Dr Brian Branstetter, from the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego, said: “These majestic beasts are true unwavering sentinels of the sea. The demands of ocean life on air breathing dolphins have led to incredible capabilities, one of which is the ability to continuously, perhaps indefinitely, maintain vigilant behaviour through echolocation.”

The scientists wrote: “From an anthropomorphic viewpoint, the ability of the dolphin to continuously monitor its environment for days without interruption seems extreme. However, the biological, sensory and cognitive ecology of these animals is relatively unique and demanding.

“If dolphins sleep like terrestrial animals, they might drown. If dolphins fail to maintain vigilance, they become susceptible to predation. As a result, the apparent ‘extreme’ capabilities these animals possess are likely to be quite normal, unspectacular, and necessary for survival from the dolphin’s perspective.”