Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Getting deposit back an issue for ‘60% of renters in Ireland’, USI says

STUDENT LOBBY IN CAMPAIGN TO TACKLE ISSUE OF LANDLORDS WITHHOLDING MONEY

   

UCD CAMPUS IN BELFIELD. A CAMPAIGN TO TACKLE THE ISSUE OF LANDLORDS WITHHOLDING TENANTS’ DEPOSITS WILL BE LAUNCHED BY THE USI.

A campaign to tackle the issue of landlords withholding tenants’ deposits will be launched today by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).

The USI said almost 60% of renters experience difficulties getting their deposit back.

As part of its Homes for Study campaign, the union will announce a partnership with deposit management service Deposify.

The company is backed by Bank of Ireland and, according to its founder, John Bayle, “gives landlords and tenants a joint account for rental deposits, and lets them manage and control how and when deposits are paid and resolve deposit-related disputes”.

DEPOSIT MANAGEMENT

USI president Annie Hoey said: “Last year, Ireland saw many problems in the accommodation sector, but this year USI is at the forefront of finding solutions to these problems, and a deposit management service with Deposify is a perfect solution for deposit disputes.”

The USI is urging anyone with spare rooms to rent them out to students. It will relaunch its website homes.usi.ie, which links students with landlords who can lease rooms to students during the college term tax free up to €12,000 annually.

According to Daft.ie, there is 40% less rental space available compared with last year while rents have increased by over 8% nationally.

Trinity College and UCD last week launched an accommodation campaign in Dublin to encourage homeowners to provide student digs.

The project will include blogs of students’ positive experiences in digs which will be posted online as an encouragement for potential landlords.

The universities said they hope to create several hundred new bed spaces for students in a matter of weeks.

About 2,000 accommodation places at DIT’s new Grangegorman site should be in place by 2018, along with 280 beds at Trinity’s Oisín House on-campus accommodation project.

Sharp increase in number of women dying from alcohol related illness

HALF OF PEOPLE ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL WITH ACUTE ALCOHOL HEPATITIS DIE, SAYS PROF FRANK MURRAY

    

A NEW TREND IS EMERGING OF YOUNGER WOMEN RUNNING INTO PROBLEMS WITH ALCOHOL, A LIVER SPECIALIST HAS SAID.

Prof Frank Murray of Beaumont Hospital and president of Royal College of Physicians in Ireland has warned that Irish people are underestimating how much they drink and the harm it can cause.

Three Irish people die every day as a result of alcohol abuse. Previously these would have been mostly older men drinking heavily in pubs on a regular basis.

However in recent times there has been a huge increase in the number of women being admitted to hospital and dying from liver failure, Prof Murray says.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Prof Murray said, “Commonly they are in their 40s, less commonly in their 30s and sometimes over 40s as well.

“We’ve seen a big change in deaths due to alcohol from being mainly older men to being much more gender balanced and much younger people.”

He said this change has come about because in Ireland and in the UK, most alcohol is now consumed at home rather than in the pub.

“What happens is people buy wine and in some cases people drink half a bottle a night several times during the week and a bottle each day at the weekends. That’s enough to cause liver failure.

  What is considered a safe level of weekly drinking?

“The awful thing is that people frequently have no premonition or warning that they’re going to develop liver failure, and to die as a result of alcohol because the vast majority of people who develop cirrhosis, develop liver failure, haven’t got symptoms before the crisis, and the life threatening component develops.”

BLOOD TESTS NOT PRECISE?

He said that blood tests are not very precise and can often pick up the effects of alcohol rather than alcohol damage.

“The sad fact is we don’t have a great test of impending liver failure or impending advanced damaged leading to cirrhosis and liver death. Any abnormality should be a very serious warning to patients if they’re drinking substantially.

“Unfortunately many people with advanced liver disease will have relatively normal blood tests of the liver.”

Prof Murray said the single most important treatment is to stop consuming alcohol completely.

“There are two components, cirrhosis and the inflammatory component which will fade away if they stop drinking.

“Unfortunately when people get admitted to hospital with acute alcohol hepatitis – half of them die. Frequently that’s their first presentation. They die during that first admission, that’s the first that they know they’re in trouble.

“That’s part of the problem, people don’t identify any symptoms, they’re not out of breath, running out of energy, there’s nothing that they will recognise as specific. Interestingly people who drink heavily feel terrible all the time, that’s the alcohol, rather than the liver disease component of it.

“The majority of people who present with liver failure have not had antecedent symptoms which are attributable to the liver failure itself.”

“Unfortunately many patients who present will die in their initial presentation, or they are in hospital for a very long time with complex problems related to their liver failure.”

Prof Murray said the patients would not make it to liver transplant stage because the liver disease is too severe to get them over the six month period of abstinence that’s required for liver transplant.

He described it a complex and high mortality illness.

“There is a recklessness to it, most people underestimate how much alcohol they consume, by as much as 61%. There is a huge amount of under estimation of what they drink and of the risk.”

Tesco under pressure from Dunne’s as SuperValu remains Ireland’s top grocer

     

SUPERVALU HAS RETAINED ITS POSITION AS THE COUNTRY’S BIGGEST GROCERY RETAILER, WITH DUNNES STORES CONTINUING TO PUT PRESSURE ON TESCO FOR THE NUMBER TWO SPOT, ACCORDING TO NEW DATA THIS MORNING FROM RESEARCH GROUP KANTAR WORLDPANEL.

The survey also shows that the Euro 2016 championship boosted grocery sales here by 3.3% as fans stocked up on booze, soft drinks and snacks.

SuperValu, the brand owned by Cork’s Musgrave Group, had a 22.5% share of Ireland’s multi-billion euro grocery market in the 12 weeks ended July 17.

That was ahead of the 21.9% share held by Tesco, and the 21.3% share that Dunnes Stores has.

Read more: Tesco planning appeals halt expansion moves by supermarket rivals

Both SuperValu and Dunnes Stores enjoyed a boost to the value of their sales in the latest period, but Tesco’s declined.

Lidl has an 11.9% share of the market, while Aldi has 11.2%. The value of sales at Lidl rose 4.5% in the latest period, compared to a 3.7% rise at Aldi.

“Ireland’s involvement in the Euro 2016 certainly looks to have had a positive impact for the major supermarkets,” said Kantar Worldpanel director David Berry. “Alcohol sales over the past 12 weeks are 11pc higher than the same time last year, as consumers stocked up more often and bought more each time they shopped,” he said. “Soft drinks, confectionery, crisps and snacks all also saw positive sales growth as football fans made the most of the opportunity to treat themselves.”

The probe will then take a sample from the asteroid before heading back to Earth for 2023.

Kenmare Resources first-half production more than doubled first six months this year

   

KENMARE’S MANAGING DIRECTOR MICHAEL CARVILL (LEFT PIC), THE COMPANY SAYS POWER SITUATION AT MOMA MINE IS STABLE. 

Dublin-listed Kenmare Resources has reported a big increase in production at its Moma mine in Mozambique in the first half of this year.

The company said this morning that it shipped 309,000 tonnes of finished products from the mine in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 133% compared with the same period last year and a record quarterly figure.

Ilmenite production rose by 18% to 217,900 tonnes and zircon production was up 46% to 16,900 tonnes. The company said market conditions had improved and it had implemented price increases on ilmenite due to be shipped in the third quarter.

The amount of ore mined increased by 5% to just under 7.4 million tonnes.

Kenmare maintained its target of producing 950,000 tonnes of ilmenite this year. It also said production was in the second half of the year was expected to increase further.

Kenmare has also completed a capital restructuring which has reduced its gross debt by 74% to $100m and left it with 75m of additional cash for working capital.

“The strengthening of the balance sheet, allied with falling cash costs and consistent productivity gains at Moma, positions Kenmare to benefit from the improvement in the titanium feedstock market we are currently experiencing as higher ilmenite prices are reflected in revenues for the second half of 2016,” said managing director Michael Carvill.

The company also said that the mine had continued to experience stability in power quality and reliability as a result of the additional transmission capacity commissioned by Electricidade de Mocambique in December.

Last woolly mammoths ‘died of thirst’ some 5,600 years ago

   

ONE OF THE LAST KNOWN GROUPS OF WOOLLY MAMMOTHS DIED OUT BECAUSE OF A LACK OF DRINKING WATER, SCIENTISTS BELIEVE.

The Ice Age beasts were living on a remote island off the coast of Alaska, and scientists have dated their demise to about 5,600 years ago.

They believe that a warming climate caused lakes to become shallower, leaving the animals unable to quench their thirst.

Most of the world’s woolly mammoths had died out by about 10,500 years ago.

Scientists believe that human hunting and environmental changes played a role in their extinction.

But the group living on St Paul Island, which is located in the Bering Sea, managed to cling on for another 5,000 years.

This study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that these animals faced a different threat from their mainland cousins.

The mammoths were contributing to their own demise says Prof Russell Graham, Pennsylvania State University

As the Earth warmed up after the Ice Age, sea levels rose, causing the mammoths’ island home to shrink in size.

This meant that some lakes were lost to the ocean, and as salt water flowed into the remaining reservoirs, freshwater diminished further.

The fur-covered giants were forced to share the ever-scarcer watering holes. But their over-use also caused a major problem.

Lead author Prof Russell Graham, from Pennsylvania State University, said: “As the other lakes dried up, the animals congregated around the water holes.

“They were milling around, which would destroy the vegetation – we see this with modern elephants.

“And this allows for the erosion of sediments to go into the lake, which is creating less and less fresh water.

“The mammoths were contributing to their own demise.”

This study highlights that small populations are very sensitive to changes in the environmentLove Dalen, Swedish Museum of Natural History

He said that if there was not enough rain or melting snow to top the lakes up, the animals may have died very quickly.

“We do know modern elephants require between 70 and 200 litres of water daily,” Prof Graham said.

“We assume mammoths did the same thing. It wouldn’t have taken long if the water hole had dried up. If it had only dried up for a month, it could have been fatal.”

The researchers say climate change happening today could have a similar impact on small islands, with a threat to freshwater putting both animals and humans at risk.

‘Best understood extinction’

Commenting on the study, Love Dalen, professor in evolutionary genetics at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, said: “With this paper, the St Paul Island mammoth population likely represents the most well-described and best understood prehistoric extinction events.

“In a broader perspective, this study highlights that small populations are very sensitive to changes in the environment.”

The very last surviving mammoths lived on Wrangel Island, in the Arctic Ocean. It is thought they died out 4,000 years ago.  

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

IBEC warns of threats to Irish economic growth

BREXIT POSSIBILITY CREATING COMPETITIVENESS RISK FOR IRISH EXPORTERS, SAYS LOBBY GROUP

    

BREXIT YES VOTE COULD SPARK DEVALUATION OF STERLING WHICH WOULD MEAN PRODUCTS FROM IRISH COMPANIES SELLING INTO THE UK WOULD EFFECTIVELY BE 30% MORE

Ibec the employers lobby group, expects economic growth of 4.6% this year and 3.9% for 2017. But it warned that uncertainty from the growing “economic headwinds” facing Ireland means the actual performance could deviate “substantially” from these numbers.

Its latest quarterly economic outlook warned that the possibility of a British exit from the European Union was creating a major competitiveness risk for Irish exporters into the UK. It also warned on the dangers of a global economic slowdown, spiralling wage growth at home and constraints due to Ireland’s acute housing shortage.

Ibec said a Brexit vote could spark a devaluation of sterling. That would mean products from Irish companies selling into the UK would effectively be 30 per cent more expensive following the June referendum than they were in January.

Different path

  Danny McCoy, the chief executive of Ibec, said that even if the UK votes to remain within the EU, it has set itself “on a different path” to the rest of Europe that could harm Irish economic prospects.

“Even if the UK stays, an ever-closer union is not for them. That’s massive [for Ireland]. Over time, it could lead to a significant drift away from the European core,” he said.

Ibec warned the UK would not be bound by state aid rules were it to leave the EU, potentially creating competition for Ireland for mobile foreign investment.

• Names taken off Brexit campaign letter
• Top banker and JD Wetherspoon boss back Brexit
• Cantillon: Brexit numbers inexact, but the message is clear

On the upside, it said a Brexit could create opportunities for the Irish financial sector to capitalise by attracting UK-domiciled institutions that want an EU “home”.

Sean Kelly, leader of the Fine Gael delegation in the European Parliament, also warned yesterday of the dangers of a Brexit for Ireland, which he said would “severely damage” trade.

Ibec’s report predicts “continued increases in rental prices in and around the main cities” in Ireland due to the accommodation shortage.

“The current housing crisis is a supply side problem and is not likely to go away until enough houses are built to meet demand,” it said. However, it warned that building costs were still too high.

“There is a lazy assumption out there that just because house prices are rising, there will be huge investment in building,” said Mr McCoy. “But it isn’t like that. Investors in the sector have other places to put their money, such as into commercial property.”

Ibec is forecasting 2.1% employment growth, or an extra 40,000 jobs in the economy, with short-term unemployment almost down to pre-crisis levels. Wages will grow by about 2% this year.

The improvement in the labour market, meanwhile, should lead to a 4.1% increase in consumer spending in 2016, it said, although retail competition will keep price growth to a minimum.

Luas dispute

However, Ibec warned that the Luas dispute was an example of how wage demands are spiralling in some sectors and that the economy needs to focus on maintaining competitiveness.

“If wage growth stays within productivity growth, then you’ve no problem,” said Mr McCoy, “but there is no way of co-ordinating wages at a national level.”

He said that he was not calling for a return to a centralised system of collective bargaining over wages, as per the pre-crash social partnership deals, “but there does need to be some centralised forum for social dialogue on the elements that affect pay. We need an anchor for wage expectations.”

Ibec highlighted that there was a “ clear upward momentum in wage trends”, especially in certain sectors such as technology and in administration and support services.

It said that the still relatively high unemployment level of 8.8% was not acting as an effective brake on wage growth, as it normally would, because of the concentration of long-term unemployment in jobless figures.

Ireland’s brewers building a brighter future for their trade

  

RAY RYAN REPORTS THAT BREWERS IN IRELAND ARE BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE FOR THEMSELVES BY INCREASING THEIR INVESTMENT IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT.

Beer production remains an important sector within the Irish drinks industry in terms of indigenous manufacturing and the provision of jobs.

It accounts for about 50% of the market, directly employs around 2,500 people, and exports more than 40% of its production.

Exports last year increased by over 10% to around €265m as stronger trade to Britain, other European Union markets and the United States is helping to boost trade.

The craft beer sector in Ireland continues to be a success story, making up an estimated 1.2% of the market, with 40% of microbreweries exporting.

That represents a small portion of the overall Irish beverage exports to 130 markets worldwide last year. However, it highlights a huge potential for growth.

The craft beer industry alone is worth an estimated $12.5bn in annual sales in the United States. New York and Boston, cities with large numbers of people with Irish ancestry and many Irish pubs, are obvious marketing targets.

A number of Irish brewers are already exporting to the US. Some are focusing on on-trade channels while others are connecting with craft breweries and creating partnerships that are potentially beneficial to both sides.

With beer consumption in Ireland now approaching the average level of most northern European countries, the Irish Brewers Association is working to ensure that people are aware of their industry’s contribution to social and economic life.

Over 60 microbreweries now operate in Ireland with 22 of them having started in the past two years. The number is expected to exceed 100 by 2020.

The value added by the overall beer sector to the economy was €1.72bn in 2014. It spends €400m purchasing goods and services including transport and agricultural products.

It raised some €425m in excise receipts. The beer- related contribution to employment represents 44,741 jobs.

A new report by Europe Economics, ‘The Contribution made by Beer to the European Economy’ commissioned by the Brewers of Europe, found that brewing companies in Ireland are responding to the opportunities and challenges they are facing by increasing investment, particularly in product development.

The report says production fell slightly between 2013 and 2014, which it says reflects conditions in international markets.

It also says that the industry exported 2.8 million hectolitres of beer in 2014, and that 64% of beer in Ireland is consumed “in the on-trade”, meaning in restaurants and pubs.

The report also found the total beer-related contribution to government revenues increased from 2013 to 2014, with increases in excise duties and on-trade and off-trade Vat, in particular.

Jonathan McDade, the head of the Irish Brewers Association, said the Irish beer industry is experiencing an exciting period of development.

“As the report states, investment in product development is also up. These trends reflect an increasingly diverse beer sector, with more high-quality Irish beer products for consumers at home and abroad,” he said.

“This is having a knock on effect on employment, up by around 370 between 2013 and 2014 to almost 44,800 jobs,” he said.

Seamus O’Hara, managing director, Carlow Brewing Company (O’Hara’s Craft Beers), is the new chairman of the Irish Brewers Association, the representative industry group for brewers and beer distributors.

He grew up in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow. After completing a master’s degree in biotechnology at UCD, he moved to Britain, where he worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors with firms such as AstraZenca and Glaxo Smith Kline.

It was during this time that he was first exposed to the diversity and flavours of craft beers. In 1991, he moved back to Ireland, where he took up a position with Enterprise Ireland and 10 years later he left to co-found a new venture-capital firm, Seroba-Kernel.

In 1996, he and his brother Eamon set up Carlow Brewing Company on a small-scale part-time basis. In 2011, Seamus made the decision to move full-time into brewing.

The company’s website says there has never been a more exciting time to be part of the craft beer scene in Ireland.

“Craft beer consumers are becoming more numerous, confident and adventurous than ever before leading to demand for a wide variety of flavours and styles.

“Pubs and off-licenses are playing their part too and many now stock a broad range of Irish craft beer to meet customer demand,” it says.

Half of everything that the Carlow brewery produces is exported to more than 25 countries, including the US, France, Italy, Russia, Norway and Croatia.

Mr O’Hara, one of the craft brewing industry’s most recognisable pioneers, told the recent Teagasc National Malting Barely Growers Association conference that the sector is a growing business.

The craft beer products are still relatively small at 1.5% to 2% of the overall beer market in Ireland but with the right momentum there is a potential to grow this to 10%. “It is a great honour to be entrusted with the role of chairperson of the Irish Brewers Association, particularly as the Carlow Brewing Company celebrates its 20 year anniversary this year.

“The Irish Brewers Association, has represented the interest of brewers in Ireland since 1908. Since then the industry has changed drastically and in 2016 we continue to experience exciting developments, with new breweries opening across the country and established players expanding and investing,” he said.

Mr O’Hara said the number of microbreweries operating here has more than trebled since 2012. Consumers have never had more choice. His appointment association chairman was another acknowledgement of the importance of the craft sector to the wider brewing industry.

“I hope that I can use my experience in developing a small but successful brewery within a fledgling industry to guide the Irish Brewers Association over the next two years,” he said.

British pet insurers paid out record claims for last year 2015

  

PET INSURERS DEALT WITH 686,000 CLAIMS FOR DOGS.

Pet insurers paid out a record £657 million in claims in 2015 – equating to £1.8 million every day – according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The figures show that in 2015, t he number and cost of claims reached record levels, with 911,000 pet insurance claims made, up 9% on 2014. Their cost, at £657 million, was also up 9% on the previous year.

The average claim was for £721 last year, while the average pet insurance premium was £241.

Pet insurers dealt with 686,000 claims for dogs costing £501 million. For cats, 193,000 claims were handled, worth £105 million.

Despite the record payouts last year, most pet owners remain uninsured, the ABI said. Only one in four of the nine million dog owners and one in seven of the 7.9 million cat owners are thought to have pet insurance.

The ABI said some of the more unusual pet insurance claims handled include the r emoval of a sock eaten by a dog, and treatment for a cat which fell from a fourth floor window.

Mark Shepherd, general insurance manager at the ABI, said: “The record levels of claims handled by pet insurers highlights that owning a pet can be costly as well as rewarding.”

Protein rich weight loss diet can lead to a better night’s sleep

   

Previous studies have already linked the effect of sleep on weight loss and diet but a new study looked on the opposite perspective and focused on the effect of protein weight loss diet on sleep.

A group of researchers from the Purdue University in Indiana found out that obese and overweight people who follow a high protein-diet for several months have better sleep at night. The study initially involved 14 participants – 11 women and 3 men – who were asked to follow a high-protein diet based on pork and beef or soy and legume products in the first pilot study. On the other hand, the main study focused on 44 obese and overweight participants with ages 35 to 65 years old who were assigned into two groups; the first group was asked to follow a normal protein diet while the other group was given a high protein weight loss diet.  The study was led by Wayne Campbell, a professor of nutrition science at Purdue University, and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The protein diets given to the participants were designed by a dietitian who ensured that the participants’ daily recommended energy intakes were met. Furthermore, a total of 750 calories worth of carbohydrates and fats were removed from the diets per day while maintaining the amount of protein assigned to each group. The protein sources for the diets were beef, pork, soy, legumes and milk protein.

The participants of the main study were able to adapt to the diet after three weeks and continued on their protein diets for 16 weeks. During this period, the participants were able to consume 0.8 or 1.5 kilograms of protein for each kg of body weight daily. They were also given a survey every month to assess the quality of their sleep during the course of the study.

In the pilot study, results showed that the 14 participants reported to have better sleep after four weeks of consuming a high protein weight loss diet. The same trend was observed in the sleep quality of participants who followed the high protein diet in the main study after three to four months.

ANTARCTIC BIRDS CAN RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE, AND ATTACK INTRUDERS

    

ANTARCTIC BROWN SKUAS ARE CAPABLE OF RECOGNIZING INDIVIDUAL HUMANS, A NEW PAPER HAS SHOWN.

Birds living among people are able to differentiate between individual humans but scientists have now found that skuas (above right) living in remote Antarctica can also recognise people who had previously accessed their nests. The researchers from Inha University and Korea Polar Research Institute in South Korea performed a series of experiments on brown skuas living in Antarctica.

Antarctic brown skuas are large brownish birds that eat fish and other small animals, and they have been known to steal prey from other predators. They’ve even been observed pilfering sips of breast milk from nursing elephant seals. Living life as a food thief, or a kleptoparasite as biologists call it, requires a relatively high level of intelligence.

But brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus) may be even smarter than we thought. A study published in March in the journal Animal Cognition found that these large birds can recognize individual people.

Korean scientists at a research station on King George Island, off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, embarked on a study of seven brown skua nests, to see if the birds were breeding and how many young they were having. However, they noticed that the birds would begin to act much more aggressively and even attack—swooping in on researchers and hitting them on the head with their feet—after the researcher had visited the nest a couple times.

Antarctic brown skuas are capable of recognizing individual humans, a new paper has shown.

But it didn’t stop there. “When I was with other researchers, the birds flew over me and tried to hit me,” said Yeong-Deok Han, a doctoral student at Inha University, in a statement. “Even when I changed my field clothes, they followed me. The birds seemed to know me no matter what I wear.”

This strongly suggested that the brown skuas were recognizing Han. Other birds such as crows, ravens and magpies have already been shown to recognize individual humans. However, this ability remains rare among birds, so far as we know.  To further explore this possibility, the scientists set up an experiment in which a pair of researchers—one who had approached the nest before (labeled as the “intruder), and one who hadn’t—walked toward the nest and waited for a few seconds as the birds flew toward them. They then walked in different directions (away from the nest). In each case, for all seven breeding pairs of birds tested, the skuas followed the intruder and ignored the newcomer.

“It is amazing that brown skuas, which evolved and lived in human-free habitats, recognized individual humans just after three or four visits,” said Won Young Lee, a senior researcher from Korea Polar Research Institute. “It seems that they have very high levels of cognitive abilities.”

Since the change of clothes didn’t deter the birds, it suggests they are able to recognize humans by looking at their face, or perhaps recognizing differences in body posture and gait, according to the study.

Most birds that can recognize human individuals, like crows, have lived in the same area as humans for longer, so it’s possible that evolution could have helped select for this human-identifying ability. With brown skuas, however, they have only been exposed to humans since the 1950s, so evolutionary pressures almost certainly haven’t played a role in developing this ability, the researchers wrote.