Ireland’s TDs set to take three months’ holidays from work/Dáil
FIANNA FÁIL LEADER MICHEÁL MARTIN SAYS PROPOSED PERIOD IS TOO LONG
FIANNA FÁIL LEADER MICHEÁL MARTIN HAS SAID HE THINKS A PERIOD OF DÁIL HOLIDAYS PROPOSED BY FINE GAEL IS TOO LONG.
TDs are set to get around three months’ holidays from the Dáil this summer because of renovations to the Leinster House.
The Fine Gael parliamentary party was told on Wednesday night the Dáil will rise on July 7th and will return later than usual due to repair works being carried out on the building.
The Dáil usually resumes from the summer recess in mid September, which means a later that usual return could ensure that TDs are away from Leinster House for almost three months.
Government chief whip Regina Doherty said a final decision has not yet been made and said “any schedule will be based around works to be carried out”.
She also said it will not affect the sittings of Oireachtas committees, which are expected to continue their business even as the renovations take place.
The renovations to Leinster House will focus on the old, Georgian part of the building which houses the Seanad, but not the Dáil chamber. However, it is understood that access to the chamber and the building will be curtailed during this period.
Speaking at a Fianna Fáil event on Wednesday night to celebrate the centenary of the Easter Rising and the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the party in 1926, Mr Martin said he felt the proposed period for the Dáil to rise is “too early and it is too long”.
“It is a surprise because that hasn’t been communicated to me, although I did speak with the Ceann Comhairle and the Clerk of the Dáil two weeks ago and they were indicating it would be the middle of July, around the 18th.
“The clerk did explain about the structural problems with Leinster House, the old part of Leinster House from his perspective, required urgent remedial works, in terms of securing it and so on. That is something we will have further discussions on.”
He said Fianna Fáil will be discussing the matter with other parties in the Dáil.
An invitation to tender for the renovations published this week said the “proposed works comprise full rewiring of historic Leinster House to current standards”.
This will include the “carrying out of structural strengthening to some existing floors” and other works.
Average Irish house prices climb 7.1% to end of April 2016
Rate of increase significantly lower than 15.8% reported 12 months previously
House prices in Dublin are now 33.1% lower than at their highest level in early 2007 while apartments in the capital are 41.5% lower than they were at the peak of the boom.
The average cost of buying a home in the Republic climbed by 7.1% in the 12 months to the end of April, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.
While the figures suggest that the recovery in the property sector is continuing, the price increases over the last 12 months are significantly lower than 12 months previously when a year-on-year rise of 15.8% was reported.
Around the State, residential property prices increased by 0.3% in April compared with no change in March and a climb of 0.6% in April of last year.
The new figures show that after recording four successive monthly declines to the end of April, the market in Dublin has rebounded somewhat with an increase of 1.6% recorded last month.
Dublin residential property prices are now 4.6% higher than they were a year ago.
The price of residential properties outside Dublin fell by 0.6% in April compared with an increase of 0.3% in the same month last year. However, prices are still 9.5% higher than they were 12 months previously.
House prices in Dublin are now 33.1% lower than at their highest level in early 2007 while apartments in the capital are 41.5% lower than they were at the peak of the boom.
National index
The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland is 35.8% lower than their highest level in September 2007.
Overall, the national index is 33.3% lower than its highest level in 2007.
The managing director of Myhome.ie, Angela Keegan, said the latest statistics indicated that momentum was returning to the Dublin market as it enters the traditional busy buying season.
“On the face of it the fact property prices went up 1.6% in April and house prices went up almost 2% in Dublin is a surprise,” she said. “But March was quieter than usual and it looks as if a lot of people put off making decisions on property until after St Patrick’s Day and Easter. As a result, the market appears to have surged ahead.”
She said the question was now if it would “carry through into the summer. Our view is that while prices increases will continue in positive territory it won’t continue at this level.”
Temporary slowdown
“This is exactly what we predicted,” said Savills’ director of research Dr John McCartney. “Price growth slowed in Dublin last year as tighter mortgage lending forced people into renting. However, this slowdown was always going to be temporary; the shift to renting has forced up rents, attracting investors who are now scrapping to buy properties and driving up prices.”
He warned that “the Dublin market may become increasingly like London, with expensive properties, many of which are owned by investors”.
President Higgins highlights gender inequality at Turkish summit
Michael D Higgins delivers address to World Humanitarian Summit
PRESIDENT MICHAEL D HIGGINS SAID IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO MAKE STATEMENTS ABOUT THE NEED FOR CHANGE. GENDER EQUALITY IS A RIGHT, HE TOLD THE SUMMIT.
President Michael D Higgins has strongly condemned global leaders for their failure to address the growing problem of gender inequality.
In a powerful speech at the World Humanitarian Summit Mr Higgins said the divide is worsening and continuing as we are is not an option.
The President said the conference, attended by 150 political leaders, must ensure commitments “constitute much more than compassionate words on a page yet again”.
He said: “At this moment, rape continues to be persistently used and has increased as a weapon of war; shameful rates of maternal and infant malnutrition persist in many countries; in others, women have no rights or means to control their own fertility.
“The position of women in transit and their acute vulnerability to exploitation and violence, as well as the vulnerability of their children to denial of basic rights to health and education – in Europe and elsewhere – is a cause for the greatest concern.”
Mr Higgins said it is not sufficient to make statements about the need for change.
Gender equality is a right, he told the summit, and a healthy society is not achievable if women and girls are marginalised. Mr Higgins said every nation has a role to play in achieving gender equality, including Ireland.
“Ireland specifically commits to promote the empowered participation of women, in particular in situations of fragility and protracted crises.
“We will ensure that the promotion of universal access to reproductive healthcare is included in our humanitarian action,” he said.
Mr Higgins did not wish to be drawn on whether that should stretch to changing the eighth amendment of the Irish Constitution.
The President’s wife, Sabina, made a strong intervention in the debate but when asked Mr Higgins said it would not be appropriate for him to discuss the issue.
Abuse allegations
Mr Higgins also expressed his revulsion at allegations women and children were abused by United Nations peacekeepers. The UN said it has received 44 reports of sexual abuse by staff in UN missions involving 40 minors.
Mr Higgins said this violence is being perpetrated by those sent to protect and support the most vulnerable of our sisters.
He will travel home today after the two-day summit, where his contributions have been widely praised.
Despite initial hesitations about attending, Mr Higgins said it had been a worthwhile experience.
British prime minister David Cameron, United States president Barack Obama, French president François Hollande and Russian president Vladimir Putin did not attend. Mr Higgins said their absence provided space for others to challenge them.
He said: “The point is, an advantage was taken of the absence of the big figures. If the big five had been there they might have distracted from what turned out to be valuable contributions. There were clear challenges put to the five. Some of them, including myself, included in these the abuse of the veto.
“How could you justify using the veto when you hear what is being told to you about what are basic threats to humanitarian law and the right to live in any kind of dignity.”
The Minister for Health Simon Harris signs European Tobacco products directive into Irish law
The Minister for Health Simon Harris T.D., has signed the Regulations transposing the Tobacco Products Directive into Irish law. The European Union (Manufacture, Presentation and Sale of Tobacco and Related Products) Regulations 2016 came into force on 20 May 2016.
The Regulations provide for more stringent rules for tobacco and related products and, from a public health perspective, focuses on limiting their appeal, in particular to young people. The Regulations include measures for labelling, ingredients, tracking and tracing, cross border distance sales and the regulation of electronic cigarettes, refill containers, herbal products for smoking and novel tobacco products.
More than ten years have passed since the adoption of the first Tobacco Products Directive (2001/37/EC) making it necessary at EU level to bring it in line with market, scientific and international developments in the tobacco sector. The aim of the Directive is to harmonise laws on tobacco products and electronic cigarettes, to facilitate the smooth functioning of the internal market while assuring a high level of public health protection. [Irish presidency]
THE REGULATIONS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING MEASURES: –
1. A ban on cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco with characterising flavours such as fruit flavours, menthol or vanilla;
2. A ban on tobacco products containing certain additives;
3. A ban on any misleading labelling (such as “natural” or “organic”);
4. Increased size for combined health warnings and a requirement to place them on the front and back of the product;
Some additional reporting requirements for tobacco products;
Notification requirements for electronic cigarettes, refill containers, herbal and novel tobacco products;
Registration requirement for cross-border distance sales of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes or refill containers;
- The introduction of a tracking and tracing system;
- Regulation of electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
- Stricter rules on advertising/sponsorship for electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
- Mandatory safety and quality requirements for electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
The Minister in welcoming these Regulations stated “These measures will further complement the tobacco control initiatives already in place and will help to drive down consumption of tobacco and protect public health. I also welcome the clarity provided on the regulation of e-cigarettes, which will give confidence to users in the safety and efficacy of these products”.
“In the area of tobacco control, I am delighted to hear that the UK Government has successfully defended their Standardised Packaging legislation in the courts. I look forward to progressing our Standardised Packaging Regulations in the near future”.
Transposing the Tobacco Products Directive will improve the functioning of the internal market for tobacco and related products, while ensuring a high level of health protection for Irish citizens.
The Regulations include a number of measures as such:
A ban on cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco with characterising flavours such as fruit flavours, menthol or vanilla;
1. A ban on tobacco products containing certain additives;
2. A ban on any misleading labelling (such as “natural” or “organic”);
3. Increased size for combined health warnings and a requirement to place them on the front and back of the product;
Additional reporting requirements for tobacco products;
Notification requirements for electronic cigarettes, refill containers, herbal and novel tobacco products;
Registration requirement for cross-border distance sales of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes or refill containers;
- Introduction of a tracking and tracing system;
- Regulation of electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
- Stricter rules on advertising/sponsorship for electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
Mandatory safety and quality requirements for electronic cigarettes and refill containers;
Certain provisions of the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Act 2015 have been commenced in order to the transpose the measures relating to Articles 13 and 14 of the Directive.
What about an ice-cream that cures your hangover?
ICE-CREAM IS ALREADY A GO-TO ‘CURE’ FOR MANY OF WHO STRUGGLE WITH HANGOVERS – ALL THAT SUGAR AND STOMACH-SETTLING COOLNESS CAN EASE THE TRAUMA OF THE MORNING/AFTERNOON/EVENING AFTER.
However, the South Koreans have gone one step further, with an ice-cream specifically designed to soothe your sorry hungover state.
The Gyeondyo-bar translates as “hang in there”, is grapefruit-flavoured (refreshing), and contains oriental raisin tree fruit juice which is a traditional hangover remedy in South Korea.
There’s science behind it too – a 2012 article in the Journal of Neuroscience found the extract reduced the symptoms of drunkenness in rats.
A press release from the chain of stores selling the ice-cream, Withme FS, said the ice-cream’s name “expresses the hardships of employees who have to suffer a working day after heavy drinking, as well as to provide comfort to those who have to come to work early after frequent nights of drinking”.
We don’t advocate drinking to excess on school nights, but this ice-cream sounds amazing.
Unfortunately, there are no plans as yet to ship the product to
A shocking but awesome find in a Neanderthal cave in France
A ROCK STRUCTURE, BUILT DEEP UNDERGROUND, IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST HOMININ CONSTRUCTIONS EVER FOUND.
IN FEBRUARY 1990, THANKS TO A 15-YEAR-OLD BOY NAMED BRUNO KOWALSCZEWSKI, FOOTSTEPS ECHOED THROUGH THE CHAMBERS OF BRUNIQUEL CAVE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TENS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
The cave sits in France’s scenic Aveyron Valley, but its entrance had long been sealed by an ancient rockslide. Kowalsczewski’s father had detected faint wisps of air emerging from the scree, and the boy spent three years clearing away the rubble. He eventually dug out a tight, thirty-meter-long passage that the thinnest members of the local caving club could squeeze through.
They found themselves in a large, roomy corridor. There were animal bones and signs of bear activity, but nothing recent. The floor was pockmarked with pools of water. The walls were punctuated by stalactites (the ones that hang down) and stalagmites (the ones that stick up).
Some 336 meters into the cave, the caver stumbled across something extraordinary—a vast chamber where several stalagmites had been deliberatelybroken. Most of the 400 pieces had been arranged into two rings—a large one between 4 and 7 metres across, and a smaller one just 2 metres wide. Others had been propped up against these donuts. Yet others had been stacked into four piles. Traces of fire were everywhere, and there was a mass of burnt bones.
These weren’t natural formations, and they weren’t the work of bears. They were built by people.
Recognizing the site’s value, the caver brought in archaeologist Francois Rouzaud. Using carbon-dating, Rouzaud estimated that a burnt bear bone found within the chamber was 47,600 years old, which meant that the stalagmite rings were older than any known cave painting. It also meant that they couldn’t have been the work of Homo sapiens. Their builders must have been the only early humans in the south of France at the time: Neanderthals.
The discovery suggested that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than anyone had given them credit for. They wielded fire, ventured deep underground, and shaped the subterranean rock into complex constructions. Perhaps they even carried out rituals; after all, there was no evidence that anyone actually lived in the cave, so what else were the rings and mounds for?
Rouzaud would never know. In April 1999, while guiding colleagues through a different cave, he suffered a fatal heart attack. With his death, work on the Bruniquel Cave ceased, and its incredible contents were neglected. They’ve only now re-entered the limelight because Sophie Verheyden went on holiday.
“When I announced the age to Jacques, he asked me to repeat it because it was so incredible.”
A life-long caver, Verheyden works at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, where she specializes in stalagmites. She treats them as time capsules, using the chemicals within them to reconstruct the climate of past millennia. So when she learned about Bruniquel Cave, while visiting the region on holiday and seeing a display at a nearby castle, she had only one thought: Why hadn’t anyone dated the broken stalagmites themselves?”
She knew that Rouzaud’s date of 47,600 years was impressive but suspect. Carbon-dating is only accurate for samples younger than 50,000 years, so the Bruniquel material was hitting the technique’s limits. They could well have been much older. To get a better estimate, Verheyden assembled a team including archaeologist Jacques Jaubert and fellow stalagmite expert Dominique Genty. In 2013, they got permission to study the site and crawled into it themselves. “I’m not very big, and I had to put one arm before me and one behind to get through,” says Verheyden. “It’s kind of magical, even without the structures.”
After drilling into the stalagmites and pulling out cylinders of rock, the team could see an obvious transition between two layers. On one side were old minerals that were part of the original stalagmites; on the other were newer layers that had been laid down after the fragments were broken off by the cave’s former users. By measuring uranium levels on either side of the divide, the team could accurately tell when each stalagmite had been snapped off for construction.
Their date? 176,500 years ago, give or take a few millennia.
“When I announced the age to Jacques, he asked me to repeat it because it was so incredible,” says Verheyden. Outside Bruniquel Cave, the earliest, unambiguous human constructions are just 20,000 years old. Most of these are ruins—collapsed collections of mammoth bones and deer antlers. By comparison, the Bruniquel stalagmite rings are well-preserved and far more ancient.
And if Rouzaud’s work made it unlikely that modern humans built the rings,Verheyden’s study grinds that possibility into the dust. Neanderthals must have been responsible. There simply wasn’t any other hominin in that region at that time.
“When you see such a structure so far into the cave, you think of something cultural or religious.”
Why did they build the rings and mounds? The structures weren’t foundations for huts; the chamber contains no stone tools, human bones, or any other sign of permanent occupation, and besides, why build shelter inside a cave? “A plausible explanation is that this was a meeting place for some type of ritual social behavior,” says Paola Villa from the University of Colorado Museum.
“When you see such a structure so far into the cave, you think of something cultural or religious, but that’s not proven,” adds Verheyden. Indeed, despite some fanciful speculations about cave bear cults, no one really knows.
Nor is it clear how the Neanderthals made the structures. Verheyden says it couldn’t have been one lone artisan, toiling away in the dark. Most likely, there was a team, and a technically skilled one at that. They broke rocks deliberately, and arranged them precisely. They used fire, too. More than 120 fragments have red and black streaks that aren’t found elsewhere in the chamber or the cave beyond. They were the result of deliberately applied heat, at intensities strong enough to occasionally crack the rock. “The Neanderthal group responsible for these constructions had a level of social organization that was more complex than previously thought,” the team writes.
These discoveries are part of the Neanderthals’ ongoing rehabilitation. Since their discovery, scientists have tried to understand why they died out and we did not, with the implicit assumption that they were inferior in some important way. Indeed, to describe someone as a Neanderthal today is to accuse them of unsophisticated brutishness.
But we now know that Neanderthals made tools, used fire, made art, buried their dead, and perhaps even had language. “The new findings have ushered a transformation of the Neanderthal from a knuckle-dragging savage rightfully defeated in an evolutionary contest, to a distant cousin that holds clues to our identity,” wrote Lydia Pyne in Nautilus.
And now, we have Bruniquel Cave with its structures that are unprecedented in their complexity, antiquity, and depth within the darkness. We know that 400,000 years ago, some ancient hominins chucked their dead into a cave at Sima de los Huesos, but there’s no evidence of the careful constructions in Bruniquel. There’s evidence of painting and sculpture within caves, but none older than 42,000 years. There are signs that Neanderthals used caves, but nothing to suggest that they frequently ventured deeper than sunlight.
“I think we have several lines of evidence showing that the cognitive abilities and behaviors of Neanderthals were complex,” says Marie Soressi from Leiden University. “But we had no direct evidence of their ability to build. That changes the picture for me. It’s puzzling to find such structures so deep inside the cave.”
To solve these puzzles, Verheyden wants to start cutting into the cave’s floor. It has been covered by layers of calcite, which may conceal specimens that hint at the chamber’s purpose. Verheyden also notes that the entrance they’ve been using cannot possibly have been the only one. “We’re crawling through this small thing and there are bear hollows in the cave. I don’t think the bears went in that way!” she says. “There must have been some other passage that collapsed.”
