Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Simon Coveney says his party Fine Gael ‘willing to talk about water’

ENDA KENNY SAYS FG WILL ‘ENGAGE FULLY’ ON COALITION OPTIONS

    

The current position: 156 out of 158 seats have been filled, 39 out of 40 constituencies completed and there was a 65% national turnout.

Water now on the table? 

Fine Gael will put a framework in place in which it will discuss a number of policy areas such as housing, taxation and water charges, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has said.

Speaking today, Simon Coveney said Fine Gael will “certainly be willing to talk about water”?

Fianna Fáil has said water charges and the abolition of Irish Water would be a major issue if it is support a government.

“We need to take on board, within reason, what they are looking for,” Mr Coveney said of other parties and groupings.

Taoiseach is committed?

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has committed Fine Gael to engaging with other parties to discuss the changed circumstances that have arisen following the election.

In a statement, Mr Kenny said that despite the disappointing outcome of the election Fine Gael was determined to play its part in providing the Irish people with a Government committed to working on their behalf.

“We will engage fully and inclusively with other parties, groups and independent deputies to ensure that such a Government is established,” he said.

Mr Kenny said that following a meeting of Fine Gael Ministers today they would continue internal party discussions with the incoming Fine Gael parliamentary party on Thursday.

“In consultation with our elected representatives, we will formulate a set of principles that will guide Fine Gael participation in a future government. These principles will take account of the issues of concern that were highlighted and prioritised by the Irish people during the election campaign.

“We look forward to discussing these and other ideas with the other parties and groups in a new Dáil that reflects the changed circumstances following the election,” he said.

Fine Gael ministers also discussed possible political reforms and Mr Kenny said Fine Gael looks forward to discussing ideas “with the other parties and groups in a new Dáil that reflects the changed circumstances following the election”.

Mr Kenny said the Fine Gael parliamentary party “formulate a set of principles that will guide Fine Gael participation in a future government”.

“These principles will take account of the issues of concern that were highlighted and prioritised by the Irish people during the election campaign.”

Some Fine Gael ministers are now understood to be open to the idea of a rotating Taoiseach, if Fianna Fáil are to enter into Coalition.

Ireland’s unemployment rate declines by 0.1% in February this year

the NUMBER OF JOBLESS FEMALES UNCHANGED FROM JANUARY TO FEBRUARY TO 6.8%

  

THE SEASONALLY ADJUSTED NUMBER OF PERSONS UNEMPLOYED WAS 190,900 LAST MONTH THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FELL BY 0.1% IN FEBRUARY TO 8.8%, NEW FIGURES FROM THE CENTRAL STATISTICS OFFICE (CSO) SHOW.

This marks its lowest level since December 2008. Total numbers unemployed in Ireland have now fallen by 42% from the 327,000 peak recorded in 2011.

Compared to the same month a year ago, the unemployment rate declined by 1.2% with youth unemployment falling from 20.3% in January to 20.1% in February.

The seasonally adjusted number of persons unemployed was 190,900 last month, down 2,000 compared to January and a decrease of 23,400 when compared to February 2015.

The number of unemployed males fell by 1,300 from January to February to 124,900. The seasonally adjusted rate for males was 10.5%, down from 10.6% in January and 11.5% for the same month a year earlier.

The number of unemployed females was 6.8%, unchanged on January but down from 8.2% in February 2015. In February, there were 66,100 unemployed women recorded, down 600 on the prior month.

Davy chief economist Conall Mac Coille said that at face value, the pace of decline in Ireland’s unemployment appears to have slowed over the past 12 months. However, he noted that the more measured rate reflects a pick-up in labour force growth.

His counterpart at Merrion Capital, Alan McQuaid, said that with the economy continuing to grow strongly, an average jobless rate of 8.5% is now envisaged for 2016, with another net increase in employment of close on 50,000.

Euro zone unemployment meanwhile fell for a third consecutive month in January, dropping to its lowest level since August 2011.

New figures from Eurostat reveal the jobless rate declined by 0.1% to 10.3% in the first month of the year with 6.647 million unemployed in the people in the euro zone and 21.789 millon for the European Union as a whole.

Could a new drug stop hair going grey?

A gene called IRF4 is known to be responsible for hair colour?

    

SCIENTISTS HAVE IDENTIFIED THE GENE THAT TURNS EVERY SHADE TO SILVER AND SAY A DRUG TO STOP IT CAN BE PRODUCED.

Since time immemorial the first grey hair has been an unwelcome sign of the passing years and disguising its appearance has given rise to an industry of shampoos and dyes and a host of old wives’ tales.

But future generations face an altogether brighter prospect, after British scientists identified the gene responsible. They are confident that it will be possible to produce drugs or cosmetics to switch it off.

Grey hair is a result of the depletion of melanin, which is responsible for the pigment in hair, skin and eyes.

It was already known that a gene called IRF4 played a crucial role in hair colour, but researchers at University College London have now, for the first time, linked it to lack of colour.

“This is the first time a gene for greying has been identified in humans,” said Dr Kaustubh Adhikari, of UCL’s cell and developmental biology department, the lead author of the study.

“These findings have potential forensic and cosmetic applications. Preventing grey hair is a possibility and even reversing grey hair might not be impossible.”

The team analysed DNA samples from more than 6,600 volunteers recruited in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru, including individuals of European, native American and African ancestry, giving a large variation in head hair appearance.

Visual traits of each individual were compared to analysis of their DNA to identify the genes responsible.

The finding could also ultimately make it possible to change hair or eye colour without using dyes. It could simply become a matter of taking a n enzyme which changed the expression of the related genes, turning blondes into brunettes, preventing grey hair or making brown eyes blue.

The team also identified genes linked to the ability to grow a bushy beard, to eyebrow thickness and likelihood of a monobrow and hair curliness.

The findings could help develop forensic techniques to build a visual profiles based on an individual’s genetic make-up, showing for example that a suspect had curly hair.

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

Met Eireann issue warnings as Storm Jake is set to slam into Ireland

HIGH WINDS AND SNOW ARE ON THE WAY, THANKS TO STORM JAKE.

  

MET EIREANN HAVE THIS AFTERNOON ISSUED A NUMBER OF WARNINGS ABOUT THE HIGH WINDS, ICE AND SNOW THAT STORM JAKE IS SET TO BRING TO THE COUNTRY OVERNIGHT.

The most serious of the warnings is a Status Orange warning for the north, west and south coastal regions.

Winds there will be between 65 and 75kph but gusts will hit between 110 and 130kph.

That warning is in effect from 10pm tonight until 8am tomorrow.

There is a Status Yellow warning for the rest of the country regarding wind, with strong winds expected to gust up to 110kph.

That warning is in effect for 12 hours from 10pm tonight.

Unfortunately, it is not just winds we will have to deal with tonight, as there is also a Status Yellow warning for snow and ice in Connacht, Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal.

They are forecasting ‘heavy’ snow showers, with accumulations of up to 3cm expected, with larger amounts on higher ground, between 10pm and 9am tomorrow.

Met Eireann also explained a little more about what we can expect from Storm Jake.

On their site they say: ‘A depression in the Atlantic to the south of Iceland will track eastwards to the North of Ireland tonight and become complex. A small low pressure centre or trough is expected to cross northern parts of Ireland and will sustain a very strong core of winds over the southern two thirds of the country, producing a storm force gradient in western and southern sea areas and an orange status wind warning has been issued for coastal counties of the north, west and south.’

Scientists have found a new way to detect messages from aliens

    

The ‘transit zone’ within which distant observers could spot the Earth passing in front of the sun  (Axel Quetz (MPIA)/Axel Mellinger/PA)The new proposal involves turning a collective ear to Earth’s “transit zone” – the thin slice of space from which our planet’s passage past the sun can be detected.

Scientists have come up with a new plan to avoid “missed calls” from extraterrestrials trying to contact Earth.

The idea is based on the premise that alien astronomers will use the same techniques that we do to search for life-sustaining planets.

One of the key methods is to measure the dimming light caused by a planet crossing or “transiting” the front of its parent star.

If most extraterrestrial signals are focused on this region, this would reduce the chances of missing them.

Dr Rene Heller, from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen, Germany, said: “It’s impossible to predict whether extraterrestrials use the same observational techniques as we do.

“But they will have to deal with the same physical principles as we do and Earth’s solar transits are an obvious method to detect us.”

“The key point of this strategy is that it confines the search area to a very small part of the sky. As a consequence, it might take us less than a human lifespan to find out whether or not there are extraterrestrial astronomers who have found the Earth.

“They may have detected Earth’s biogenic atmosphere and started to contact whoever is home.”

The scientists have compiled a list of 82 nearby sun-like stars within the transit zone considered to have the best chance of hosting planets supporting highly-evolved life.

The star catalogue is being offered as an immediate target list for Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Life) initiatives.

‘A smart wallpaper’ could power our future homes

    

Scientists in Surrey have created super-thin flexible graphene sheets, which they believe could be used to create ‘smart wallpaper’ capable of generating electricity from the smallest amounts of light and heat.

Researchers working at the University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology institute (ATI) used a technique called nanotexturing to create the sheets, which involves growing graphene around a textured metallic surface.

The team took inspiration for the design of the sheets from the natural world, mimicking the unique structure of moths’ eyes in the construction of the material.

Professor Ravi Silva, head of the ATI, explained: “Moths’ eyes have microscopic patterning that allows them to see in the dimmest conditions. These work by channelling light towards the middle of the eye, with the added benefit of eliminating reflections, which would otherwise alert predators of their location.”

Graphene is known for its high electrical conductivity and strength, but is traditionally inefficient at light absorption. Typically, a graphene sheet would only absorb around two to three per cent of the light that hits it.

However, by patterning graphene in a similar way to moths’ eyes, they boosted its absorbency by 90 per cent, creating the most light-absorbent material for its weight that has ever been created.

The technology is still in the early stages, but the team have big ambitions for the future. They see these sheets being embedded in wallpaper and window panes, absorbing waste light and heat from inside and outside the home and converting it to electricity, which could then be used for a number of applications.

They also believe a number of ‘Internet of Things’ devices could be coated in these sheets, meaning they would not need to be constantly recharged or connected to the mains.

The next step for the team is to start incorporating their material in different existing technologies. They are currently looking for industry partners to help take their creation forward.    

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

No easy wins for Irish Government in their battle with the banks

 

It is a good bet that standard variable mortgage rates might fall in the months ahead, but not massively?

‘This is a messy one for Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and his colleagues. The Central Bank does not want powers to control interest rates and in its report to the Department of Finance is believed to say that the average profits being made on lending are not excessive.’

Like a parent trying to insist some older offspring behave themselves before they finally move out of home, the Government is trying to control the behaviour of the banks, while at the same time promising to get them off the State books as soon as possible. Trouble is it will take a good while to get them to pack up and move on completely, and in the meantime they aren’t doing what they are told.

Helped by the public mood which holds that the banks are showing little gratitude for being bailed out, the Government has no problem in painting them as unreasonable. The banks are fingered for exercising their veto to turn down personal insolvency arrangements, for being too quick to take court action in cases of arrears and for profiteering from high standard variable mortgage rates.

There is some validity in these claims, but we need a reality check, too. No banking system can deliver a perfect blend of rock-bottom mortgage borrowing rates and zero home repossessions, not least our battered banks, which are still recovering from the crisis. Ministers know this, even if they might not say it, and so the mortgage arrears package was set up to go so far, but not to undermine the fundamental system of secured mortgage lending. Because if banks can’t take your home as security, then they will charge you a lot more for your loan.

In fighting on a couple of fronts against the banks, the Government needs to be careful how it sets up the battleground. On mortgage arrears, the political goalposts are, at least, moveable, though this is a problem the Government can never be seen to “solve”. But on mortgage interest rates it risks a defeat if the banks won’t move – which is why in next week’s meetings with bank chiefs, Minister Michael Noonan will give a “move or else” messageto the bankers.

The mortgage arrears package announced this week was designed to make the insolvency process more accessible and efficient, and also to encourage banks and borrowers to do deals more readily outside this process. This will help some dealing with debt, but won’t change the fundamental maths for many who can’t afford their mortgage. It will be presented as putting manners on the banks, though the banks won’t be too concerned about the veto move, which will only be relevant in a limited number of the cases.

Banks have been too slow to deal with arrears – largely in collusion with the authorities in the period up to mid-2013. Now progress is finally being made and the banks are acting, even if this creates its own problems for the Government.

Damage limitation

Politically, this is a case of damage limitation, as the Government can’t end repossession actions altogether. The State can’t pay people’s mortgages on an ongoing basis. And it can’t abandon the whole system of secured lending, as doing that would push up the cost to everyone of getting a mortgage. And this brings us to the other battlefront.

While there are 30,000-plus in long-term arrears, there are 300,000 or so on standard variable mortgages. This is an even trickier political problem both because of the numbers involved and because the Government will now be seen to either “win” or “lose”, depending on whether the banks agree to cut rates, or not. Ministers have framed this as a move by Government to get the banks to act and unless the banks move, they will be seen to have lost.

This is a messy one for Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and his colleagues. The Central Bank does not want powers to control interest rates. In its report to the Department of Finance, it is believed to say that the average profits being made on lending are not excessive. But this average counts in tracker mortgage, which are yielding very low returns to banks.

The Central Bank’s own figures show that standard variable mortgage rates here are high relative to the rest of Europe. The report makes the point that, in a properly competitive market, this Irish mortgage rate premium would be eroded by competition. Unfortunately, as banks across Europe retrench behind national borders, there is no sign of a new entrant to shake up the market here.

Intriguingly, the report also says that it might be wise for banks to reduce their standard variable rates, to head off a likely response from the political system.

But what might that response be ? No doubt Noonan will not be backward in going forward when he meets the bank chiefs. So far State-owned AIB has cut standard variable rates , but the other banks say they won’t move .

The political hectoring won’t bother them too much. What might is increased competition among existing lenders for switcher business – there are some signs of this for those on low loan-to-value ratios – or the threat of any real action from Government. Noonan will have to persuade them that this threat is real.

A Bank levy?

Would the Government increase the bank levy? Or would it push the Central Bank to introduce some cap on rates? I suspect Ministers will try to up the pressure first, in the hope that some movement comes. The tough talking from Ministers suggests they believe some of the banks, at least, will move, though by how much is another question. And the flipside is likely to be lower rates for depositors.

A properly competitive banking market is the real fix for this, but we are a long way from that yet. I would bet that standard variable mortgage rates might fall in the months ahead, but not massively. They will remain stuck stubbornly above the level elsewhere in Europe. The best result the Government might get out of this battle with the banks is a draw.

An Aer Lingus takeover would boost tourism in Ireland

  

The deal would secure the carrier’s future, says ITIC chief

Tourism bosses support IAG’s bid for Aer Lingus, new research shows.

Almost 70% of respondents were broadly in favour of the proposed sale of Aer Lingus to IAG in a new poll.

Just 20% were opposed, while 12% classed themselves as “undecided” or “don’t know”. The poll of 88 senior tourism executives was conducted on behalf of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC).

The Government still has not made a decision about whether or not to sell to IAG, six months after IAG made its preliminary approach to buy the airline. It is offering to pay a total of €2.55 per Aer Lingus share. The company’s shares traded around the €2.40 mark last week. The Government wants assurances on the future use of Heathrow slots, connectivity and jobs.

“The deal would secure the future of the carrier and opens up global connectivity opportunities that otherwise would not be realised” said ITIC chairman Paul Gallagher.

The poll also revealed the tourism bosses felt negatively towards the Government’s new tourism plans. The targets set are not ambitious enough, senior industry executives believe.

Tourism Minister Paschal Donohoe’s three main aims are to grow revenue from overseas tourism to €5bn per year, increase the number of people working in the sector from 200,000 to 250,000 and attract 10 million visitors to Ireland by 2025.

The steps it wants to take to reach those aims include encouraging more events, festivals and conferences, improving training and skills standards in the industry and ensuring the communities and local authorities play a stronger role.

But less than a third of respondents to the tourism poll endorsed the targets. One in three gave them a negative rating.

“The last tourism policy document from the period 2003-2013 had a target of 10 million visitors and €6bn to be achieved by 2013.

“We should be more ambitious, given that almost eight million visitors will come here this year,” said Gallagher.

Looking beyond the sale of Aer Lingus and Government targets, the research showed healthy growth in the tourism industry, with the majority of businesses predicting growth in profitability and employment in the next three years.

Almost two out of three are planning to grow capacity between now and 2018. One in eight is planning for 20% plus expansion.

Only 2% of doctors signed up for free Irish GP care for under-6s scheme

Says a survey

    

Just 2% of GPs have signed up to the free GP care for under-6s scheme, according to a new survey.

The independent poll, commissioned by the National Association of General Practioners (NAGP), was carried out between May 13- 16 and surveyed 1,048 GPs.

It suggests that only 21% of GPs intend to sign up for the scheme before the May 27 deadline, while 23% plan on signing over the next three months.

The figures fall far short of the minimum threshold of 40% set by the Minister for Health.

A significant proportion of the 1,048 GPs surveyed remain unsure. Just under 30% remain unsure about signing before May 27 and 43% are unsure whether they will sign of not sign before September.

Of the unsure group, 52.4% said they are more likely not to sign that to sign.

Of note, 75% said they feel coerced and under duress to sign the contract.

It has also emerged in certain areas around the country, all GPs are planning to actively boycott the scheme, which is due to be rolled out from July.

NAGP chief Chris Goodey said that as well as a lack of information available to doctors, the free GP care scheme also poses a litany of other issues.

“We’re consistently seeing mass emigration of GPs and this doesn’t do anything to curb that trend,” he said.

“We still stand by the fact that it doesn’t provide [for] any of the inequities of care, for example you could still have a child who is disabled or has cancer who is seven years old, who’s paying for their treatment and paying to see a GP ,and yet you see a perfectly healthy under-6-year-old getting free treatment.”

New drug offers hope to cystic fibrosis patients

  

A new groundbreaking” cystic fibrosis therapy could profoundly improve patients’ quality of life, say doctors.

Patients often die before their 40s as mucus clogs and damages their lungs and leaves them prone to infection.

A major trial on 1,108 patients, in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed a combination of drugs could bypass the genetic errors that cause the disease and may increase life expectancy.

The Cystic Fibrosis Trust said it could “improve the lives of many”.

One in every 2,500 babies in the UK has cystic fibrosis.

Errors in sufferers’ DNA – inherited from their parents – damage the microscopic machinery that controls salt and water levels in the linings of the lungs.

The result is a thick mucus that inexorably damages the lungs.

Antibiotics help prevent infection and drugs can loosen the mucus, but nothing deals with the fundamental problem for most patients.

The combination of drugs – lumacaftor and ivacaftor – were designed to repair that microscopic machinery.

The trial showed that those patients given the cocktail for 24 weeks had better lung function.

Cystic fibrosis also affects the mucus lining in the gut so the doctors were pleased to see the patients also gained weight in the trial.

‘A fundamental treatment’

Prof Stuart Elborn, who led the European part of the trial from Queen’s University Belfast, told the BBC News website: “This is very exciting and it really demonstrates that we can correct the basic defects in cystic fibrosis.

“This is likely to become a fundamental treatment for cystic fibrosis.

“Starting in children may prevent the disease process developing if we correct the basic defect early in life.

“Will this improve survival for people with cystic fibrosis? We would anticipate it would have a really good chance of doing that, but we don’t know for sure yet.”

There are however, many types of error in the DNA that can culminate in cystic fibrosis.

This treatment combination should work on around half of patients, while one of the drugs on its own corrects a small proportion of errors.

New treatments are still required for the remaining patients.

‘Groundbreaking’

Susanna McColley, professor of paediatrics at Northwestern University, said these were “groundbreaking findings” that showed the future of treating cystic fibrosis.

She told the BBC: “For subjects I’ve cared for, they felt better in ways that are not necessarily measurable.

“One young woman said, and this is a direct quote, her CF ‘is not a problem’.”

Janet Allen, the director of research at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust charity, said: “These results open up a new front in the fight against cystic fibrosis and this combination therapy looks set to be an important additional treatment option that could improve the lives of many.

“As this leading edge of science continues to be explored and better understood, we are hopeful that a future of personalised medicines is increasingly within reach.”

The therapy is being examined by regulators around the world

New 1,000ft tower built in the heart of the Amazon rain forest to monitor climate

It is taller than the Shard and the Eiffel Tower and dwarfs the Statue of Liberty

 

The massive tower has been built in a remote part of the Amazon jungle.

Research teams must work amid the jaguars, snakes and jungle threats

It’s equipped with dozens of scientific instruments to monitor atmosphere

The structure is taller than the Eiffel Tower, The Shard and Statue of LibertyA huge tower dwarfing some of the world’s greatest landmarks has been erected in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in a bid to gather new data on the state of our atmosphere.The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory stands 1066ft (325m) high in a remote part of the Amazon jungle, where it was constructed and will be operated by a team of two amid the threat of jaguars, snakes and other wild animals.Equipped with scientific instruments to monitor greenhouse gases, the weather and aerosols, it is hoped data taken by the tower revealing changes in our climate will one day help inform lawmakers.+11

The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory sits in the remote Amazon jungle around 95miles northeast of Manaus+11

A worker paints the massive structure as he hangs at a head-spinning height above the rainforest canopy+11

The worker trusts his safety harness as he leans backwards to paint the massive metal tower11

At a height of 1,066ft (325m), it is three feet taller than the Eiffel Tower and about 50ft taller than The Shard

A worker monitors scientific instruments on a much smaller tower nearby as the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory is seen stretching upwards in the distance

The sun sets over the extremely remote and untouched part of the rainforest where the tower was constructed

Construction of the joint German-Brazilian initiative began in 2009. Located 95miles northeast of Manaus, it will begin collecting data later this year.

Dr. Jurgen Kesselmeier, the project co-ordinator, said because the Amazon rain forest remained the largest contiguous rainforest on earth, the tower’s remote location was perfect for studying scientific properties of the atmosphere without interference from humans.

He said: ‘The height of the measuring tower will allow us to investigate the transport of air masses and their alteration through the forest over a distance of several hundred kilometers.’

Antonio Manzi, a researcher for the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, told The Independent: ‘For science, this is a very big and complex piece of work.

‘Here in Brazil, we had a great and well-documented interest in having a tall tower to better study the mechanisms of the atmosphere’s surface. Various scientific questions made this a necessity.’

The tower has taken the crown of the tallest structure in South America, and dwarfs famous landmarks across the globe.

It is three feet taller than the Eiffel Tower, about 50ft taller than London’s Shard and more than 700ft higher than New York’s Statue of Liberty.