Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Dunne’s Store’s strike committee to review process next week?

  

A meeting will be held next week to discuss further strike action following the strike by Mandate Union workers at Dunnes Stores on Thursday.

Dunnes Stores staff who are members of the union Mandate, carried out industrial strike action as planned on the 2nd April.

The trade union’s Dunnes Stores national disputes committee, which is comprised of 10 Dunnes Stores employees, planned a one-day strike with a review thereafter.

It will meet next week to decide on the possibility of another day of industrial action.

There was a ballot in the workers’ dispute with the company in early March over low-hour contracts, fair pay and job security.

Union leaders say Dunnes Stores has refused to engage with them over the issue. Dunnes Stores employs more than 10,000 people.

The Mandate trade union says three-quarters of Dunnes workers are on part-time, flexible contracts.  In the 12 weeks leading up to Christmas, Dunnes had 23.5% of the market share of supermarket shopping, second only to Tesco.

107 stores across the country were affected by the strike.

There was no comment from Dunnes Stores, but to coincide with the strike, the store offered a 20% discount off everything online on Thursday.

Bernie Wesley, a Dunnes Stores worker from Dundalk, said: “There is one group of people who can ensure this strike doesn’t go ahead and that’s Dunnes Stores. If Dunnes refuse to engage in meaningful negotiations, the strike will have to go ahead, and we’re urging all Dunnes Stores workers – including those not already in the union – to join and stand together because this is a dispute we can win and we will win.”

Gerry Light, Mandate Assistant General Secretary, said: “Our members in Dunnes are extremely disappointed with the behaviour of their company. Dunnes, like every employer in this state, has a moral responsibility to their own workers and they are failing them in this regard. Nobody wants this industrial action to go ahead but the ultimate responsibility lies with the company who can resolve this dispute with one simple phone call.”

Another Dunnes employee, Cathy McLoughlin, said: “None of us want to go on strike because we really can’t afford it, but what other option have we got? Our employer can stop the strike by simply agreeing to meet our union and we don’t feel that’s an unreasonable request.”

The Labour Court has previously advised Dunnes Stores to engage with unions but the company has so far refused.

Dunnes Stores workers will be back in stores on Friday 3 April.

Repossessions of Irish homes property may occur in 47% of proposed deals on arrears

New figures from Central Bank reveal scale of arrears problem that still exists

  

The rate of house repossession in Ireland is likely to ramp up significantly in the coming months with new figures showing nearly half of the “proposed solutions” for distressed borrowers may involve the loss of properties.

The latest figures from the Central Bank on how the State’s main banks are meeting targets for resolving mortgage arrears reveal the scale of the problem that still exists nearly eight years on from the property crash.

They show 47 per cent of the proposed solutions reported by banks for borrowers in arrears of at least 90 days, equating to 49,698 cases, involve the potential “loss of ownership” for the borrowers.

Significantly, the lion’s share of these cases (30,904) relate owner-occupier mortgages.

The figures for the final quarter of last year show the majority of proposed solutions reported for both owner-occupier and buy-to-let mortgage holders in arrears involved some form of loan restructuring arrangement, while a small number of cases were being resolved through the insolvency legislation.

The figures come as the Government looks at new measures to tackle the mortgage arrears crisis. The Government’s Economic Management Council is understood to have discussed the issue, specifically the high number of repossession cases headed for the courts, at its weekly meeting on Wednesday.

Sources suggest the Government is looking at possible changes to the personal insolvency rules, including some form of review process when banks block proposed insolvencies.

Measures to push the banks to be more active in offering solutions that do not involve repossessions are also being considered, perhaps involving more use of mortgage-to-rent schemes in more difficult cases, with the current rules deemed too restrictive.

However, there still remains the problem of what to do with those borrowers in long-term arrears, who are a long way off being able to pay even a restructured mortgage or who will not engage with the lender.

The Central Bank said the six banks covered by the targets – AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank, ACC and KBC – had “concluded solutions” for 62 per cent of arrears cases of more than 90 days as of the final quarter of last year.This was comfortably ahead of the 45 per cent target, the Central Bank set for the lenders last year.

The figures also show banks had “proposed solutions” for 97 per cent of 104,938 borrowers on their books with arrears of at least 90 days, again meeting the Central Bank’s target of 85 per cent.

Proposed and concluded solutions increased by 4,625 and 7,194 respectively over the quarter with the majority of the change due to increases in the restructure category, which continued a trend from last year.

Of the reported concluded solutions, some 40,837 (60 per cent) involved repayment and restructure arrangements, including split mortgages, term extensions, arrears capitalisations and borrowers clearing their arrears.

According to information supplied to the Central Bank, 91 per cent of the concluded restructure and insolvency solutions are reported to be meeting the terms of the arrangements.

Where the lenders take legal action that may result in loss of ownership for a borrower, the Central Bank said, they are required to comply with the Central Bank’s Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears for owner-occupier mortgages, and must be prepared to re-engage with borrowers to explore alternative solutions.

“Therefore, even where repossession proceedings are in progress, in many cases lenders and borrowers may still agree an alternative solution through meaningful engagement by both parties and avoid repossession as an ultimate outcome,” it added.

The Government is expected to publish revised proposals to deal with the arrears issue before the end of this month.

Some Irish people embarrassed about bowel cancer diagnosis

   

Around 2,400 men and women are newly diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in Ireland, yet many people still find the disease very embarrassing to talk about, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) has said.

It has revealed that more people view the bowel cancer section on the ICS website than any other section. Last year alone, there were almost 80,000 visits to the bowel cancer information pages of the site.

“The total number of visitors to the signs and symptoms page for bowel cancer was over three times the number of visitors to the prostate cancer pages (25,000) and four times the number of visitors to the breast cancer pages (20,000) in the same time period,” the ICS noted.

The highest number of visitors were from the 25-34 age group (26%), followed by the 35-44 age group (25%). Almost three in four visitors were female and some of the top key words used to look up the page included bowel cancer symptoms, colon cancer symptoms and bleeding anus.

“Bowel cancer is a cancer that affects both men and women but there still remains a high embarrassment factor that people feel when discussing the signs and symptoms. The fact that it is the most visited section of our website bears this out. Some people feel awkward mentioning symptoms to family, friends and even their GP, so they look elsewhere for their information and support,” explained ICS nursing services manager, Joan Kelly.

She pointed out that if people are embarrassed or reluctant to seek help, this could lead to a delay in diagnosis.

“Bowel cancer is extremely treatable once it’s caught early, however we are still seeing almost 50% of bowel cancers diagnosed at stage three and four when more complex treatments are required. As a result, bowel cancer mortality rates remain steady since 2006 at 40%,” Ms Kelly commented.

Bowel cancer causes around 1,000 deaths in Ireland annually.

The symptoms of bowel cancer include:

• Pain or discomfort in your abdomen or back passage.
• A change in your normal bowel motion, such as constipation or diarrhoea
• A feeling that you have not emptied your bowel fully after a motion
• Weight loss
• Rectal bleeding or blood in the stools

The ICS wants to make people aware that they can reduce their risk of bowel cancer by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For example, adults who exercise more and consume a healthy diet can reduce their risk of the disease by up to 40%.

The ICS is also urging people to take part in the bowel cancer screening programme, BowelScreen, if invited. This is currently aimed at adults aged 60-69.

Finally, the ICS is appealing to people to be aware of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer and to attend a doctor if they notice any of these.

“We are urging people to spot bowel cancer early and be aware of the early warning signs, and if they have any concerns, call 1800 200 700 to speak to a cancer nurse or speak to their GP,” Ms Kelly added.

Pain killer Paracetamol ‘does not help with back pain or arthritis’

Over-the-counter painkiller may do more harm than good, researchers have warned

  

Paracetamol does not help back pain or arthritis and may cause dangerous side-effects if taken long term.

Paracetamol does not stop lower back pain or help the ache of arthritis and doctors should consider prescribing exercise instead, a major review has found.

The over-the-counter painkiller, which is taken by millions of people in Britain for back problems, was found to be no better than placebo.

Around 26 million people suffer from back pain in Britain while nearly nine million have sought medical help for osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.

But although clinical guidelines recommend paracetamol as the first line drug treatment for both conditions it has little effect and could cause long term liver damage, the University of Sydney warned in the British Medical Journal.

Lead author Gustavo Machado said the new research showed that guidance must be changed.

“Paracetamol is the most widely used over-the counter medicine for musculoskeletal conditions so it is critical that we review treatment recommendations in light of this new evidence,” he said.

“In our research, paracetamol for low back pain and osteoarthritis was also shown to be associated with higher risk of liver toxicity in patients.

“Patients were nearly four times more likely to have abnormal results on liver function tests compared to those taking placebo pills.”

In 2013 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) warned that continued use of paracetamol could lead to heart, kidney and intestinal problems, and recommended GPs only prescribe the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time.

However the drugs regulator was forced into a u-turn last year following criticism from the Royal College of GPs and arthritis charities who said it would have a drastic impact on GP pain management.

NHS spends £80 million a year on paracetamol prescriptions

Long-term use of paracetamol can lead to high blood pressure and stroke

Parents warned against giving paracetamol and ibuprofen for mild fever

The NHS spends around £80 million a year prescribing paracetamol yet other treatments such as spinal manipulation, exercise, acupuncture and psychological therapies are known to be effective.

Professor Christian Mallen, of the Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre, at Keele University, Staffordshire, said: “Non-pharmacological treatments work, are safe and have benefits that reach beyond the musculoskeletal system.”

“These findings encourage us to reassess the role of paracetamol as the key analgesic in management osteoarthritis and spinal pain.

“Changing behaviour of doctors and their patients is notoriously difficult but the findings emphasis that the time has come to shift our attention away from tablets as the default option for managing chronic musculoskeletal pain.

The new study included 13 randomised controlled studies that looked at the effects of paracetamol use compared with a placebo in around 40,000 patients.

The study showed that for lower back pain, paracetamol had no effect and did not reduce disability or improve quality of life compared with the use of a placebo. For osteoarthritis, they found small, but not clinically important benefits in the reduction of pain and disability.

Paracetamol use for osteoarthritis was also shown to increase the likelihood of having abnormal results on liver function tests by almost four times compared with a placebo.

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Senior author Associate Professor Manuela Ferreira of the George Institute for Global Health and the University of Sydney added: “This latest research, the most comprehensive systematic review of its kind, reaffirms this with an even larger, global patient base.

“We urgently need to take stock of the evidence for common musculoskeletal conditions, a largely under-recognised health priority, and make sure people are receiving appropriate care.”

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is currently carrying out a wide-ranging review into the dangers of paracetamol. Nice has said will continue to recommend the painkiller until that review is complete.

The drugs regulator said it could not comment on the new research because it was too close to the general election.

Endangered high brown butterfly

species records a 10-year high

   

The warm start to 2014 boosted the number of some butterflies, including the critically endangered High Brown Fritillary, a survey has found.

More than half of 56 species studied saw their numbers rise compared with the previous year, according to the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme.

The High Brown Fritillary also benefited from schemes to restore habitat, said Butterfly Conservation.

But others – such as the cabbage white – struggled in high summer.

The High Brown Fritillary is one of only two butterflies classed as critically endangered in the UK so it is fantastic news that numbers are at their highest level for more than a decadeDr Tom Brereton, Butterfly Conservation

Cooler conditions later in the year meant the butterfly season peaked early, the study by Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology found.

Known for its black and orange wings and swift flight, the High Brown Fritillary was once widespread across England and Wales but numbers have declined massively since the 1970s.

It is now down to a single colony in Wales and only two remaining strongholds in England, around Morecambe Bay and on Dartmoor.

The survey found the butterfly recorded its best year for a decade.

This was due to both the warm, wet spring, which was good for emerging caterpillars, and wildlife-friendly farming schemes to restore the woodland and moorland slopes where it breeds, said Butterfly Conservation.

Its head of monitoring, Dr Tom Brereton, said the butterfly was on the road to recovery but there was still a long way to go.

“The High Brown Fritillary is one of only two butterflies classed as critically endangered in the UK so it is fantastic news that numbers are at their highest level for more than a decade,” he said.

“A huge amount of work coordinated by Butterfly Conservation has been put into conserving this butterfly in recent years, especially through wildlife-friendly farming schemes, so the results will come as a welcome boost to all involved.”

The warmer than average spring and early summer in 2014 also helped other species of butterfly which emerge early in the year, including the Marbled White, Ringlet and Brimstone, which all had their best year since the survey began in 1976.

The survey recorded a 26% increase in numbers compared to 2013 for the threatened Duke of Burgundy, while the rare Lulworth skipper also fared well.

But some butterflies that emerge in high summer struggled in the colder August weather, including the Chalk Hill Blue, Adonis Blue and the two “cabbage white” species.

Overall, 32 of the 56 species studied by the monitoring scheme saw their numbers rise compared to 2013, one showed no change, and 23 species saw numbers fall.

Around 100,000 more butterflies were counted across the UK in 2014 than in 2013.

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Ireland’s economy is no longer built around one industry,

We have left the Celtic Tiger behind says Kenny

  

Taoiseach tells US audience that country has left excesses of Celtic Tiger behind.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny started his St Patrick’s Day trip to the United States by telling an audience of businesspeople in Atlanta that Ireland had moved beyond an economy built around one industry.

Speaking at a business breakfast to the Irish Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta, Mr Kenny spoke about the country’s recovery saying that it had left behind the excesses of the unsustainable economic boom era.

“The so-called Celtic Tiger years were a veneer driven in many cases by shallowness and by greed,” the Taoiseach said.

“The economy was expected to be built and to be sustained on one platform only and that collapsed with all the consequences that came with it. But now it is different where all the sectors are growing, all of them, and that is the broad-based economic growth that we are pleased to see happening.” Mr Kenny told the business audience that Ireland had endured a “torrid time” over the last number of years and the Government had to take some “very difficult decisions” .

“Thanks to the sacrifices made by many hundreds and thousands of the Irish people and the decisions taken by Government as part of a clear strategy and a clear plan, I can say with confidence here in Atlanta that the economic recovery has now taken hold in Ireland, is taking hold in Ireland and will be managed very carefully for the benefits of everybody’s future, ” he said.

The Taoiseach paid tribute to Irish-American businessman Don Keough, the former veteran executive of Atlanta-based Coca Cola and economic adviser to the Government who died recently, describing his advice as “always a source of great assurance and of great strengths”.

“The best tribute we can pay Don is to build on that strong relationship that he helped create [between Ireland and Atlanta],” he said.

Afterwards, Mr Kenny met Coca Cola chief executive Muhtar Kent and Irishman Irial Finan, executive vice president of the company and president of the bottling investments and supply chain, at the company’s worldwide headquarters.

The Taoiseach is on a six-day visit to the US for St Patrick’s Day. He will travel to Austin, Texas where he will officially open the new Irish consulate before he travels on toWashington for business meetings on Monday.

He will meet US President Barack Obama in the White House on St Patrick’s Day on Tuesday for their annual meeting in the Oval Office and for the St Patrick’s Day lunch hosted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner at the US Capitol.

These leading Irish people tell us why they’re involved with Renua Ireland

 

These three ordinary people who want to run for Ireland’s newest party in the next election.

LUCINDA CREIGHTON was definitely the star of the show at the launch of Renua Ireland today, but the party also had a number of its members in attendance.

Renua has 180 people who want to run in the general election. Not all of them will with Creighton indicating that the party will field between 50 and 60 candidates at the next election.

We spoke to three of them to gauge why they wanted to get involved and what persuaded them to run for the country’s newest political party.

  Mailo Power, a hotelier in Waterford, says the reason she got involved was because of the challenges that are facing family-run businesses like her own.

It’s a voice for those people who are actually struggling, the whole idea of cashflow and all that was a major challenge for us.

“I’ll be going forward as a candidate for the selection process in Waterford. None of us are confirmed candidates, we all have to go through the selection process, but I’ll be putting my name in the hat!”

  Anne Farrell, from Roscommon, says she’s always been politically interested but resisted the urge to get “dragged into it” up until now.

She describes Creighton as a “very vibrant, young, steely, confident girl”.

On this occasion when Lucinda Creighton took the stand she did on the vote in Dáil Éireann, I respected her stance on the issue. She voted against her own party, one which she was, politically, moving upwards in. I found that her honesty and integrity appealed to me.

She said the Irish people are “crying out for honesty and integrity” and to be included in the process of government. For her it was a case of “do it now, or shut up”.

Farrell is the sister of Labour senator John Kelly. Michael D Higgins was one of her tutors in NUIG “back in the day” and she did canvass for Labour in Galway in the past.

But ultimately, she hopes to run for the party in Roscommon-Galway East.

Finally, we also spoke to Shane Dunphy above main picture is a social worker, commentator and journalist, who wants to run for the party in Wexford “if they’ll have me”.

One of the things that just struck me time and time again when I was a child protection worker was the fact that everybody who was working in the area was full of the best intentions in the world, wanting to do the best for their clients. But they were hamstrung by lack of finances, resources, social workers, and psychologists on the ground.

He said in Renua Ireland he has found people who are “absolutely committed to making real change”.

He says getting involved was an opportunity to implement “real, positive change”.

Anglo Irish wind-down leaves €1.85 billion for unsecured creditors

  

Pedestrians are seen walking past a branch of the Anglo Irish Bank in Dublin in this September 30,

The winding down of the lender at the heart of Ireland’s 2010 financial crisis has left 1.85 billion euros for unsecured creditors which may be distributed before the end of the year, the Irish finance ministry said on Friday.

Anglo Irish Bank’s wind-down vehicle, the Irish Banking Resolution Corporation (IBRC), has paid 14.7 billion euros to creditors and has given deadlines to unsecured creditors for further claims, the ministry said in a statement.

“The Special Liquidators inform me that they could be in a position to make an interim distribution to unsecured creditors in the last quarter of this year,” Finance Minister Michael Noonan said in a statement.

He said there was no risk that the state would need to inject additional funds into the lender.

IBRC was put into liquidation in 2013 in a deal that released Dublin from a commitment to quickly pay off a 29 billion-euro debt incurred by Anglo Irish.

FIND OUT WHERE IRELAND RANKS IN THE LONGEST WORKING HOURS IN EUROPE?

  

If you’re heading to the pub this weekend, here’s the proof you need to know you deserve it.

We’re a hard-working bunch, and it appears we’re carrying a fair share of the load with our European neighbours.

The latest news from Statista has outlined the longest working hours in Europe… and let’s just say we’re glad we’re not toiling away in Greece.

Coming in at 42 hours a week, the Greeks topped the poll for longest hours in a working week, followed closely by Portugal on 39.3 and Spain at 38 hours per week.

The study also found France falling to number four with 37.5 hours per week.

Ireland came in at number seven on the list – with the Irish workforce racking up 35.4 hours on average per week. We fair marginally better than Italy and our neighbours over in the UK who averaged 36.9 and 36.5 hours respectively.

So feel free to order another pint and have a sleep-in in the morning.

AFTER THE WEEK YOU’VE HAD, YOU DESERVE IT.

Grafton Street Dublin goes green to celebrate St Pat’s & its new pavements

  

Grafton Street above left before the street was repaved.

Dublin’s Grafton Street will go green on Friday night in a joint celebration of St Patrick and the completion of the street’s repaving scheme.

The €4 million repaving project saw sections of the street cordoned off for months at a time since May 2013 so that the old red brick surface could be replaced with stone.

With the project now completed the council is moving on to the streets to its west, starting with Johnson’s Court, a narrow lane that runs from Grafton Street to the Powerscourt Town Centre, and the pedestrianised section of Wicklow St.

Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke will perform the ceremonial switching on of the new street lights at 6.45pm. The lighting will be green for this weekend to mark the St. Patrick’s Festival. “This will showcase a new public lighting feature which allows the council to change the colour of street lights on Grafton Street to mark special occasions,” the council said.

Mr Burke thanked businesses and shoppers for their patience during the work. “Following these works Grafton Street is now an even bigger draw for shoppers and tourists. The works were carried out with the minimum of disruption and that is a credit to everyone involved, in particular the City Council, the contractor, the businesses and members of the public.”

Work on Wicklow Street and Johnson Court is due to start next month and be completed by late September at a cost of €0.5 million.

The work is part of the Grafton Street Quarter Public Realm Plan published in 2013, which envisages a €14 million investment over three years to upgrade the largely Victorian area from St Stephen’s Green to College Green and from South Great George’s Street to Kildare Street.

Ultrasound technology may help to treat Alzheimer’s

    

In a breakthrough, scientists have found that non-invasive ultrasound technology can be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and restore memory in mice.

Researchers from Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland discovered that the innovative drug-free approach breaks apart the neurotoxic amyloid plaques that result in memory loss and cognitive decline.

Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research director Professor Jurgen Gotz said the new treatment method could revolutionise Alzheimer’s treatment by restoring memory.

“We’re extremely excited by this innovation of treating Alzheimer’s without using drug therapeutics,” Gotz said.

“The ultrasound waves oscillate tremendously quickly, activating microglial cells that digest and remove the amyloid plaques that destroy brain synapses,” Gotz said.

The approach is able to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier, activating mechanisms that clear toxic protein clumps and restoring memory functions.

“With our approach the blood-brain barrier’s opening is only temporary for a few hours, so it quickly restores its protective role,” Gotz said.

Researchers have tested the new approach using mice with an Alzheimer’s model, and the next step is to scale the research in higher animal models ahead of human clinical trials, which are at least two years away.

“This treatment restored memory function to the same level of normal healthy mice,” Gotz said.

“We’re also working on seeing whether this method clears toxic protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases other than Alzheimer’s and whether this also restores executive functions, including decision-making and motor control,” Gotz said.

Ancient teeth found in Sri Lanka shows of earlier human life in the rain-forests

  

The site of Batadomba-lena in Sri Lanka, where human teeth dating back 20,000 years old were excavated, is pictured in this undated photo for March 11, 2015.

People adapted to living in tropical rainforests thousands of years earlier than previously known, say scientists who found crucial evidence in 20,000-year-old fossilized human teeth discovered in Sri Lanka.

The researchers said there has been a debate about when our species began living in rainforests, with some experts arguing such habitats may have been too daunting for early human hunter-gathers.

In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, the scientists examined teeth from 26 people found at various archaeological sites in Sri Lanka for evidence of whether their diet consisted of rainforest plants and animals. They obtained small tooth enamel samples and analyzed them with an instrument called a mass spectrometer.

Almost all the teeth, including the oldest ones from about 20,000 years ago found at the Batadomba-lena rock shelter in southwestern Sri Lanka, indicated a diet primarily of food from the rainforest.

“Humans have been manipulating and living within dynamic rainforest environments for at least 20,000 years and probably even longer,” said University of Oxford archaeologist Patrick Roberts, who studies early human adaptations. “The lifestyle, as we can see, was dedicated rainforest subsistence.”

Scientists previously had not found direct evidence of human occupation of rainforest regions before about 10,000 years ago.

Compared with open habitats, rainforests present difficulties such as dense vegetation that makes it tough to get around; small, nimble and often arboreal prey animals; and a bewildering array of plants and fruit, including poisonous ones.

“However, it is clear that hunting and gathering communities in Sri Lanka figured out how to adapt to such settings,” said Oxford archaeologist Mike Petraglia, another of the researchers.

The researchers said these people hunted monkeys, giant squirrels, mouse deer, porcupines and other mammals, as well as freshwater and forest snails, while also eating nuts and starchy rainforest plants.

“These results further the picture that our species was incredibly adaptive, and it is arguably this that made us the first species to expand across the diversity of the globe’s ecologies and environments,” Roberts said.

While the study provides the earliest direct evidence for human reliance on rainforest resources, the researchers said other evidence suggests people may have taken to Sri Lanka’s rainforests as early as 38,000 years ago.

Roberts said archaeological work in Africa, Southeast Asia and Melanesia suggests humans may have used rainforest resources at least 45,000 years ago.