Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Varadkar and Coveney in dogfight for power as gap closes on successor to Enda

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The likely lads to succeed Enda Kenny above?

Simon Coveney has dramatically narrowed rival Leo Varadkar’s lead as the public’s favourite to succeed Enda Kenny yes but there is also clear evidence that a third candidate could emerge to win a Fine Gael leadership contest, according to a Sunday Independent/Kantar Millward Brown opinion poll.

Social Protection Minister Mr Varadkar (27%) has a slight lead over Housing Minister Mr Coveney (23%), but almost a quarter of all voters favour somebody else (16%) or neither (8%) of the two front-runners to lead Fine Gael, according to the nationwide poll.

This is the first time that those polled were offered a choice of just two candidates to succeed Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Mr Kenny.

Mr Varadkar (37%) extends his lead over Mr Coveney (28%) among Fine Gael supporters, according to the opinion poll, but again almost one-quarter of party supporters favour somebody else (15%), or neither front-runner (7%), should Mr Kenny decide to step down.

Yesterday, Mr Varadkar increased the pressure on Mr Kenny to make his continued leadership intentions known, but the Taoiseach told the Sunday Independent he intended to “focus on the job in hand” which, his spokesman said, he would carry out with “continued dedication and dignity”.

But today’s opinion poll contains further findings which will add to the mounting pressure on Mr Kenny to resign. The state of the parties shows Fianna Fail (33%) — up six points since a comparable poll in October — has opened up an eight-point lead over Fine Gael (25%), down four points.

Fianna Fail is extending its lead — it is now at its highest point since 2008 — at a time when there has been a marked increase in consumer confidence.

The poll finds 23% believe they are better off than they were last year,  a seven-point increase, and 21pc feel worse off, a nine-point decrease, while 27% feel they will be better off next year, a seven point increase, and 14% feel they will be worse off, a nine- point decrease.

The poll also shows Sinn Fein (20%) unchanged, Labour (6%) down two points, the Greens (2pc) unchanged and Independents/others (14%) down one point.

Mr Varadkar told the Sunday Independent: “Everyone is waiting to hear from the Taoiseach. The current situation is distracting and destabilising for the Government, the party and the country. I have full confidence in the Taoiseach to settle it.”

Simon Coveney and his wife Ruth at the wedding Photo: Gerry Mooney

However, Mr Coveney said the Taoiseach should not be forced to “set a date” for his departure.

“Enda is still the leader of our party – he has been for 15 years. I think he deserves the respect to be given time and space to make any decisions he thinks he needs to make.”

Today’s poll also finds Mr Kenny’s satisfaction rating (27%) down just two points and dissatisfaction rating (62%) up three points since October. Furthermore, satisfaction with the Government (27%), down four points, and dissatisfaction (64%), up two points, have not significantly changed despite recent political turmoil.

The poll, among a representative sample of 960, was carried out between February 6 and 16 and has a margin of error of 3.2%.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin (44%), up one point, remains comfortably the most popular party leader with an unchanged dissatisfaction rating of 40%.

However, only a slim majority (53%), down one point, want Mr Kenny to resign as Fine Gael leader while 25%, up one point, want him to remain. Fascinatingly, a majority (57%) of Fine Gael supporters say Mr Kenny should remain leader, a finding which may encourage him to resist pressure to resign and choose the time of his own departure. Furthermore, 73% of Fine Gael supporters are satisfied with his leadership.

Also interestingly, of those who believe Mr Kenny should remain, more opt for Mr Coveney (29%) than Mr Varadkar (27%c) as his successor, a finding which indicates that the Housing Minister is in a position to win the backing of more of Mr Kenny’s supporters in a leadership contest.

Of those who believe Mr Kenny should resign, 31% would support Mr Varadkar and 28% would support Mr Coveney.

These findings show that while Mr Varadkar must be the favourite to succeed Mr Kenny, a Fine Gael leadership contest would be far from a foregone conclusion.

Yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said Fine Gael needed to “keep calm and measured over the next few months” or the party would “catapult ourselves into a messy general election that will play into the hands of Sinn Fein and the loony left”.

Today’s opinion poll, however, finds that support for Independents and smaller parties has almost halved since the General Election.

Furthermore, when asked which party or political grouping they would not consider voting for in the next election, the poll finds that the Socialist Party (22%), up seven points; AAA-PBP (22%), up four points; Greens (20%), up three points; and Social Democrats (14%), up four points, appear to be falling out of favour with voters, while 36%, down two points, say they would not consider voting for Sinn Fein.

Tribalism is still a problem in Northern Ireland politics after 20 years of peace

  

It is no great surprise to see that Northern Ireland politics are still as polarised as ever nearly two decades after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in a wave of optimism that society here could be changed forever.

It is no great surprise to see that Northern Ireland politics are still as polarised as ever nearly two decades after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in a wave of optimism that society here could be changed forever.

The survey from the Electoral Reform Society shows that only a tiny proportion of unionists or nationalists would ever contemplate voting first for a party outside their own bloc.

And even though the STV system allows voters to give their preferences right through the list for their constituency, few Catholics or Protestants would put their mark in the box of an opposing party.

Around one-third of all preferences were for parties outside the big four – DUP, Sinn Fein, SDLP and UUP – but that does not give a corresponding return of Assembly Members. The centre ground still remains a minority.

Little wonder that UUP leader Mike Nesbitt received such a cold shoulder from even his own party when he said he would vote for a SDLP candidate as a second preference in the forthcoming election. His gesture may be the ideal way to conduct politics, but obviously tribal considerations trump real cross-party co-operation.

So where did it all go wrong after the Good Friday Agreement? The hope for a brighter future was fuelled first by the ending of conflict, but the guerrilla war conducted by the DUP and Sinn Fein against the original power-sharing partners, the UUP and SDLP, ensured that devolution never gained the momentum it should have.

The decision eventually by the DUP and Sinn Fein to share power offered new hope, but this has dwindled over the last decade as the parties both retreated towards the trenches in a welter of bad feeling and even more virulent language.

We are now a fortnight away from a new election, but the prospect of an early return to devolved government seems remote.

The inevitable conclusion – unless there is an unprecedented sea-change in voting habits – is that the majority of those who go to the polls are content to keep to their tribal silos no matter what the implications.

The one glimmer of hope is that a significant number of the 45% of voters who didn’t bother going to the polls last May – either through apathy or weariness -turn out this time and change voting patterns to register their displeasure with the status quo. History is not encouraging.

An Irish mum shares a heart-breaking video of her 21-year-old scoliosis daughter in agonising pain?

   The Video.  http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/heartbreaking-scoliosis-video-shows-sufferer-9845391

A KILDARE MUM TINA O’KELLY HAS SHARED A VIDEO OF HER 21-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER COLLEEN IN AGONY AND PLEADED WITH HEALTH MINISTER SIMON HARRIS FOR A SURGERY DATE.

Colleen O’Kelly has Joubert Syndrome and has now been waiting for an appointment for two years just to get on the list for scoliosis surgery.

Her mum Tina says that Colleen’s condition will worsen, unless she is granted surgery. The rate of curvature of her daughter’s spine is at 97%, and apart from causing Colleen to live with agonising chronic pain, it significantly increases her risk of lung collapse, pneumonia, and respiratory infections.

Tina spoke to Her Family about the heart-breaking situation,

“I wish that the HSE management and the government would stop blaming each other and just get together to get the root of this mess.

The HSE says it’s caused by a lack of money and the government say that it’s not a lack of money that’s the problem, but rather mismanagement of it.

While they are busy squabbling with each other nothing is getting done.”

The Naas mum explained that her 21-year-old daughter has already undergone a kidney transplant but unfortunately Colleen still has no date for surgery to correct the painful curvature of her spine,

“When Colleen turned 18 she had to be transferred from the care of Crumlin to Tallaght hospital as an adult patient. Her doctor in Crumlin essentially had to write a letter referring her to himself – from one of his patient lists to another.

She has waited two years just to get on another waiting list, she has been on the surgery waiting list since last August. The secretary said she’d ask the doctor for a 7th of March listing but I have heard nothing.”

Tina told us that Colleen is a fighter who has been through so much but has managed to keep a smile on her face,

“She is normally such a happy, happy person. She has flown through her transplant…through everything…with a smile on her face. That’s why it’s so heart-breaking to see her suffering like this now. She doesn’t have to suffer like this. This is avoidable.”

Tina says that she agonised over sharing a video of her daughter crying in pain, but she wants people to see the completely avoidable reality that they live with on a daily basis,

“Everyone that knows Colleen knows how amazingly happy she is. Lately her scoliosis has really been causing awful problems for her and it’s heart-breaking. She has no date for surgery. We have no idea when it will be.

This is the reality of living with this condition. It’s getting worse and compromising her health that we have fought so hard for all her life. It’s compromising her kidney transplant.

We wait every day for word from Tallaght.

We want her pain to end – she’s been through enough – and call on Simon Harris to fix this. ”

Take a minute to boost your fitness the easy way & it works

ROSE COSTELLO LOOKS AT THE QUICKEST AND SIMPLEST WAY TO GET FITTER?

    

If you think that running for the bus is a waste of time, think again. Even if you don’t catch that bus, you will be doing a lot more for your fitness than you might realise. The latest research shows that taking exercise in short bursts could be just what the doctor ordered.

It’s known as high-intensity interval training (Hiit) and it is now part of any fitness instructor’s offering. Even those who can’t be bothered to go to a gym or who don’t have the time can benefit.

High-intensity training means really pushing yourself for a short amount of time, resting, then pushing yourself again. What’s shocking is how little time it can take to make a difference to your fitness.

A report published in the PLOS One journal last year followed two groups over 12 weeks: one spent just 10 minutes on training that included intense intervals that added up to one minute; the second group worked out at a moderate, even pace for 45 minutes. The surprise is that the two groups saw similar improvements in health. There are a number of other studies showing equally encouraging results.

Claire Mc Glynn, a competitive weightlifter and personal trainer at cmgfit.com in Dublin, loves to use Hiit and says it is the best and quickest way to achieve positive results in your physical and mental health. “It’s very simple really – everyone knows that when you put 100 per cent of effort into something, you get the best results and there is no exception when it comes to exercise.”

Level of intensity?

Mc Glynn points out that she can do the same Hiit routine as a beginner, but if they both do it at their top level of intensity, they both benefit dramatically. There is no need for modification of a routine for beginners. They key is to feel that you are pushing past your own comfort.

They might curse me for asking them to do it,” she says, “but once they’re doing it, the adrenaline kicks in and it’s just a matter of working through the process. Afterwards, endorphins – happy hormones – have been released and they’re tired, yet contented and have an air of accomplishment, and sometimes surprise at what they have been able to achieve.”

The 29-year-old runs hardcore classes in CrossFit353, which involves using heavy weights or pushing around massive tyres for fun. But she also teaches members of the Retired Teachers’ Association of Ireland, who are between 50 and 70.

“Their progress has been unbelievable. Many started with me two years ago and now they are blitzing sessions of many, many squats, lunges, push-ups, plank holds for up to three minutes and so on. Their mobility, strength, fitness, self-belief and confidence has increased tenfold.”

Hiit also boosts your metabolism, ie the rate at which you burn calories, for hours afterwards.

No class needed?

Good form is key on whatever exercise you are doing, she says. “There is no point in repping out 100 squats if your back is rounded and knees are caving in, you’ll just do more harm than good.”

You don’t have to join a class to experience the benefit, however. These are principles you can put into practice every day. This doesn’t mean you should give up on beach walks, rather that you should run after that bus with abandon, for a minute anyway. And regardless of whether you catch it or not, you will have done yourself some good.

The World Health Organisation advises adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a week or at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity. Incorporating Hiit doesn’t mean slacking off, simply realising that a few sharp bursts can be valuable too.

If you cannot exercise most days, but try to get out at the weekend, take heart. A report last month in the JAMA Internal Medicinejournal shows that “weekend warriors”, who did all their exercise on one or two days of the week, were found to lower their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 41 per cent and cancer by 18 per cent, compared with the inactive. Even those who didn’t manage to get the 150 minutes of activity advised by the WHO reduced their risk of early death by one-third.

Push yourself

For those not exercising now, walking quickly can count as “high-intensity” if you push yourself. Even a brisk 20-minute daily walk could reduce your risk of early death, according to research published in the American Journal of Clinical Exercise in 2015. The study of more than 334,000 Europeans found that twice as many deaths may be attributable to a lack of physical activity compared with the number attributable to obesity, but that a modest increase in physical activity could have significant health benefits.

An earlier study in the Lancet in 2012 said that inactivity was killing about as many people as smoking.

If you have been following this series, you should be eating a pretty balanced diet that gives you more energy. Put that energy to good use by adding in some extra exercise – or even just some exercise.

An effective way?

The maxim still holds that you cannot outrun a bad diet, but to be healthy you need to do some exercise too. Using the principles of high-intensity interval training is an easy and effective way to achieve results without putting in too much effort.

Ashley Borden of the Body Foundation in California, who has trained actor Ryan Gosling, says she uses Hiit training because it is efficient, burns fat and builds muscle. There is no need to have any fancy equipment either, just the focus to really go for it for half a minute at a time.

This all comes with a proviso, of course: as with any form of exercise, you need to be in fairly decent shape to get started. If not, or if you are on medication or have any concerns or conditions, check with your doctor first. And wear the appropriate footwear. Then go for it.

GM ‘surrogate hens’ could lay eggs of rare chicken breeds,

SO SCIENTISTS SAY

A radical plan to maintain diversity of gene pool proposes the use of genetically modified chickens as surrogate mothers?

    

SOME OF THE GENETICALLY MODIFIED CHICKENS BRED BY SCIENTISTS AT THE ROSLIN INSTITUTE.

The Rumpless Game is squawky and, as its name suggests, lacks a tail, while the Burmese Bantam, has fantastically flared leg feathers and a head like a feather duster. But the true value of rare chicken breeds, according to a team of scientists working to save them from obsolescence, is not their decorative crests and plumage, but the diversity they bring to the chicken gene pool.

In a radical plan to preserve rare varieties such as the Nankin, Scots Dumpy and Sicilian Buttercup, scientists at the the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute have bred genetically modified chickens designed to act as surrogates that would be capable of laying eggs from any rare breed.

Speaking to journalists at the AAAS conference in Boston, Mike McGrew, who is leading the project, said: “These chickens are a first step in saving and protecting rare poultry breeds from loss.”

The surrogacy technique, which places a new, mind-bending twist on the classic chicken or egg question, involves first genetically engineering hens to be sterile. This is done by deleting a gene, called DDX4, that is required for the development of primordial follicles (the precursors to eggs) meaning that the surrogate hens will never lay eggs that are biologically their own.

A baby bantam. The scientists’ ultimate goal is to create a gene bank of chicken breeds preserved for posterity.

A batch of sterile GM chicks hatched at the Roslin Institute in 2016, becoming the first genetically modified birds created in Europe. “We produced a hen that doesn’t have any eggs,” said McGrew, who is first author on a paper on the work published this week in the journal Development.

The next step will be to transplant follicles from rare birds into the surrogate (this is done before the surrogate chick is hatched from its own egg), meaning it would go on to lay eggs belonging to entirely different breeds of chicken.

Given that the hens would also need to be artificially inseminated with sperm from the same rare variety, the approach may appear unnecessarily convoluted. Why not just breed the rare birds the normal way?

The scientists’ ultimate goal is to create a gene bank of chicken breeds preserved for posterity, and since primordial follicles can be frozen efficiently, while eggs cannot, the surrogacy technique serves an essential work-around.

The Roslin team has set up the Frozen Aviary, a £14m project aimed at preserving a wide variety of poultry breeds.

“We’re interested in chicken because that is the animal which is the most consumed animal on the planet and we want to protect all the different breeds of chickens that we have,” said McGrew. “So we can freeze down all the breeds of chicken.”

McGrew predicts that the surrogates will be able to lay eggs from any breed, including chicken’s wild predecessor, the red junglefowl, but he is doubtful about whether it will work efficiently across species – it is not likely that the surrogate hens will be giving birth to eagle chicks, for instance.

Richard Broad, a field officer for the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, said the idea was appealing: “You can save all kinds of breeds, put them in a freezer and there would be a genetic ark for us.”

A Salmon Faverolle chicken. Scientists say rare breeds can bring diversity to the chicken gene pool.

“If you had one in every country it would be a wonderful thing. In terms of usefulness, we couldn’t wish for anything better – it would be unbelievably useful.”

Broad agreed that rare chickens could be a source of valuable genetic variation, potentially carrying variants that would provide resistance against new forms of avian flu. “It’s not what we’re protecting in the breeds that’s important, it’s what those breeds represent in their genes,” he said.

The Frozen Aviary, which would allow scientists to rapidly expand populations that contained a protective gene for a new disease, bring breeds back to life after they had been declared extinct and provide an insurance against commercial breeds, which have been honed for their fast-growing, being wiped out by a disease.

The avian biobank currently has genetic material from 25 different breeds and more than 500 samples from individual birds, all stored in liquid nitrogen cryostats. “They should be good – as long as the power doesn’t go out – for decades,” said McGrew.

At present, the team is focused on chicken breeds, but expects the technique to work to preserve rare varieties of ducks, geese and quail. Previously, scientists in Dubai used a similar technique in male birds to create a houbara (a large bustard) fathered by a cockerel.

In the future, it may also be possible to use the technique to conserve endangered species such as golden eagles – although this would depend on a suitable surrogate being identified.

“The question remains open on how evolutionarily related they have to be for them to transplant them,” said McGrew. “You need a bird that can be bred in captivity and produce a lot of eggs.”    

Donie's all Ireland news Blog

Irish anti-smoking laws & measures saved 1,700 lives, ‘New study shows’

     

As much as 1,700 people in Ireland who would have died from tobacco-related illnesses are alive today because of anti-smoking laws in the country, a new study reveals.

Measures such as significant hikes in the price of tobacco and the workplace smoking ban, introduced in Ireland in 2004, have prolonged the lives of 1,716 people.

The figures, published last week in Tobacco Control Journal, part of the British Medical Journal, relate to a period between 1998 and 2010.

The information forms the first of 11 studies to examine the effects of smoking cessation measures in European countries.

One of the authors of the report, Prof Luke Clancy, said price hikes were the most significant factor in making people quit smoking in Ireland.

He said it was a surprise that the second-biggest factor in making people quit was the workplace ban, which was controversially introduced in 2004.

The measure was brought in to protect workers from second-hand smoke and was not expected to be a deterrent to smoking in its own right.

Ireland scored poorly on media campaigns and smoking cessation services which, for instance, the UK is very strong on, he said.

Prof Clancy said 1,000 fewer people in Ireland die each year from smoking-related illnesses than in 1998.

At present, about 5,500 people die of such illnesses every year; 20 years ago the figure was 6,500.

He attributed the big decrease to advances in the treatment of strokes, cardiovascular problems and cancer which are brought on by smoking, but also the continuing decrease in smoking from a peak in 1975 of more than 50 per cent of the adult population.

The figure at present is about half that.

The survey predicted that rates of smoking will be at 20 per cent by 2040, resulting in 27,768 fewer deaths by that time.

However, if smoking rates were halved, the number of lives saved would be closer to 40,000, Prof Clancy maintained.

Finland is the first country in the world to set a target of having a smoke-free society by 2040.

Nigerian woman who ran prostitution service jailed for three years

       

The Nigerian woman with an address of no fixed abode who ran a prostitution service and kept brothels in Sligo and Longford has been jailed for three years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Charity Ajayioba (36) later claimed that she had been trafficked to Ireland and was forced to work here as a prostitute to pay back a debt.

The court heard that the brothels earned €90,000 over 36 months and that there were at least two to three women working at each location.

Patrick Reynolds BL, defending, suggested to Detective Sergeant Frank McGrath that Ajayioba was “trapped in this country and moved around as a prostitute”.

“My investigation led me to believe that she was neither a victim of human trafficking nor was she a victim of sexual exploitation. I believe she was a suspect in this investigation at all times,” Det Sgt McGrath told the court.

He accepted that although analysis of Ajayioba’s bank statements showed sums of money going into her account, she was arrested with “only the clothes on her back” and gardai have no evidence that she has any other assets.

Det Sgt McGrath told Garret Baker BL, prosecuting, that the State’s principal witness was a prostitute who had been working for Ajayioba.

This woman came to garda attention when they raided a house in the Rathbaun Estate, in Sligo, after it was noted that a number of Nigerian woman had been living there without making themselves known to the relevant authorities.

Det Sgt McGrath said the prostitute later made a detailed 31 page statement to gardai outlining where the prostitution took place and identifying three properties in Sligo and one in Longford.

She claimed that she had earned €44,300 at that stage working as a prostitute and she had given half of that directly to Ajayioba, the remainder went on rent and bills.

Ajayioba, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to directing the activities of a prostitute and keeping a brothel in Sligo on March 22, 2007. She has no previous convictions and has been in custody since her arrest in April 2011. She was also arrested at that time on “an immigration matter”.

Det Sgt McGrath said Ajayioba was arrested in Ballymun and although she initially denied the offence and knowing the State witness, she later made “certain admissions”.

Mr Reynolds suggested to Judge Martin Nolan that Ajayioba had been “forced to keep a brothel”.

“She did what she had to do to survive. There is no indication that she reaped the benefits of this. She had to pay back a debt. The money went into her account and it went out,” Mr Reynolds said.

“Gardai suggest she is a much bigger player than she was but my client cannot be sentenced on a nudge, nudge, wink, wink,” counsel said.

Judge Nolan said Det Sgt McGrath did not accept Mr Reynolds’s submission that his client was “only a small bit ahead of the State’s chief witness” and said that counsel had no evidence to offer in support of Ajayiboa’s proposition.

Mr Baker said he didn’t think it was fair to suggest that the Det Sgt McGrath was adopting a “nudge, nudge, wink, wink approach to the prosecution of the case”.

Judge Nolan said Ajayioba had been directing at least one prostitute and was keeping brothels.

He accepted the facts of the case were “unclear” as to what position Ajayioba held, her level of control or the amount of profit she made in the running of these brothels.

Judge Nolan said Ajayioba was entitled to “credit” for her pleas of guilty but said they were serious offences before he jailed her for three years.

Minister Reilly’s new move on hospitals revamp with 3 new appointments

      

Health Minister James Reilly has announced three new appointments as part of his ongoing revamp of how hospitals are run.

He has also established a oversight group to oversee the recent national recommendations on hospital safety and governance in the recent HIQA report on Tallaght Hospital. The setting up of hospital groups followed by independent hospital trusts to manage hospitals is a major element of Dr Reilly’s reform programme, which also includes the phasing out of the HSE and the introduction of universal health insurance.

The first two hospital groups to be established cover Galway-Roscommon and mid-western hospitals.

Minister Reilly has appopinted Noel Daly to chair the Galway-Roscommon group, and Prof Niall O’Higgins is to chair the mid-western group.

Noel Daly is a former Chief Executive of An Bord Altranais and has served in senior management posts in the health service in Ireland and the UK.

Niall O’Higgins is a former Professor of Surgery at UCD and was chair of the group that published proposals that were eventually used as the template for the reorganisation of cancer services in recent years.

Minister Reilly has also announced that international experts in patient safety and governance are being included in the new oversight group on the HIQA recommendations. The group will begin its work before the end of the month.

The group includes members from Denmark and the UK.

The Minister has also announced the appointment of Prof John Higgins to his Special Delivery Unit to chair a strategic board to assist in the design and establishment of hospital groups.

Prof Higgins is head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Cork University Maternity Hospital and head of the medical school at UCC.

Dr Reilly said the new appointments will assist in the development of  HIQA recommendations on improving competence and accountabillity of hospital boards.

Socialising can help reduce symptoms of depression  ‘Irish research reveals’

Socialising can help reduce the symptoms of depression, new research has revealed.

        

The Minister for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People Kathleen Lynch officially launched the report

Spending time with a friend, going for a coffee or visiting a museum are among activities found to help people with mental health problems.

A study, carried out by researchers from University College Dublin and led by Dr Ann Sheridan, saw participants given €20 a month to spend on taking part in a social activity.

At the beginning, 20pc of the 100 taking part who had already been receiving treatment for depression said they had no contact with friends.

A third of them never talked to neighbours, 35pc lived alone and half never attended social groups.

“By the end of the study, all of the participants reported feeling better about themselves, having more confidence to socialise in their community, and experiencing fewer symptoms of depression,” said Dr Sheridan.

The subjects took part in a social activity for at least two hours a week, some were paired with a volunteer to form a friendship, and they were all asked to keep a diary of their social activities.

Figures show that around 390,000 adults across the country experience some form of psychological distress at any given time.

As many as 320,000 of those contact their GP in connection with mental health problems.

“The evidence from this study is unequivocal,” added Dr Sheridan, a lecturer at the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems at UCD.

“Supporting the development of positive relationships and increasing social activity helps with the treatment of mental health difficulties.”

Minister for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People Kathleen Lynch officially launched the report, which was funded by the Health Research Board.

She said the study showed that conventional medical treatments for depression can be supplemented by social support from family and friends.

“Increased social interaction helps sufferers to rebuild their self-esteem, which in turn enables them to maintain and develop positive relationships and

Donie's Ireland news Blog Thursday

New figures show increased demand for MS Ireland services ‘A reflection of our difficult times’

        

New and recent figures issued from MS Ireland show increased demand for the organisation’s services in the first quarter of this year.

MS Ireland is calling on the  government to improve access to treatments for people with MS such as Tysabri and Gilenya. The organisation says that the drugs are “widely available” to MS sufferers in other EU countries and are used to treat relapsing-remitting MS.

Tarragh Donohoe of MS Ireland said that both drugs are considered ‘second-line’ treatment and that if people with MS are not taking those, then it’s likely they’re not getting any treatment at all.

“Tysabri is currently available on hospital budgets, but most don’t stretch to actually cover it,” Donohoe said. Meanwhile, Gilenya has been on the HSE reimbursement list “for months” but has not yet been approved for the scheme.

Donohoe said that MS Ireland believes “people should have as much choice as possible when it comes to their treatment”, but that people with MS should talk to their neurologist before starting any new treatment as the drugs have side effects.

Support: According to its report for the first quarter of 2012, the organisation provided a home visit service to 1,757 people with MS around Ireland (up from 1,524 in Q1 2011).

Over the first three months of this year, 89 people who were recently diagnosed with MS requested a home visit from MS Ireland – up from 72 for the same period of last year. The organisation also provided 234 individual physiotherapy and exercise classes, and 63 counselling and personal development sessions.

MSI’s chief executive Ava Battles says that the increased demand for services “reflects the difficult times people with MS face”.

“In addition to the nationwide impact of reduced income and cuts, people with MS also have to cope with the added expenses of living with a disability, reduced care packages, cuts in housing grants and denial of vital services, benefits and treatments.”

Battles also appealed to the public to help the organisation fundraise for the continued provision of services: “The extra demand on services means we need to fight harder for appropriate funding from the government and work harder to fundraise.”

New vomiting bug restrictions at Sligo General Hospital

  

Sligo General Hospital is restricting visitors in an attempt to stop the spread of the winter vomiting bug.

The Health Service Executive said more patients than usual were presenting with vomiting and diarrhoea, and this led to increased pressure on beds.

The HSE said visiting was permitted only in exceptional circumstances by immediate relatives and only during designated visiting times.

The vomiting bug, while rarely causing severe problems, can be debilitating to small children or older people who are already ill or infirm.

Those affected should drink plenty of fluids, maintain strict hygiene and avoid visiting hospitals or nursing homes.

If symptoms persist, patients are advised to contact their GP by phone before attending the surgery to limit the spread of the virus.

Rising Irish temperatures and rainfall recorded in the past 30 years

 

Ireland’s average temperatures have risen by 0.75 degrees over the last two decades, according to new Met Éireann figures.

The rise has been described as “significant” and in line with projections of a 3-6 degree increase in world temperatures by the end of the century.

Met Éireann’s head of forecasting, Gerald Fleming, said the increases showed there was “no argument” that the weather was getting warmer, but he cautioned against seeing that as a trend.

He said the dispute was whether this was caused by man-made carbon dioxide emissions or simple variability in climate.

The spring and summer months are significantly warmer. The south Leinster and east Munster areas have recorded the greatest average rise in temperatures.

The Irish climate is also getting wetter. Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry recorded the equivalent of a month’s extra rainfall in the 30-year period between 1981 and 2010 compared to the equivalent period between 1961 and 1990.

The west of Ireland is on average 8 per cent wetter than it was in the previous 30-year period.

It will come as no surprise, given the wet summers of recent years, that the average increase in rainfall in July across the country is 15 per cent, a figure which Met Éireann senior climatologist Séamus Walsh described as the “most surprising” of all to emerge from the new data.

July is the warmest month, followed by August and June. The coldest month is January, followed closely by February and then December.

Autumn is warmer in Ireland than spring.

Met Éireann’s climate averages for Ireland are based on 10 million pieces of data collected over a 50-year period dating back to 1961.

The long-term average temperatures of the period 1981-2010 show a 0.5 degree increase in comparison to 1961-1990, which is the baseline for measuring climate averages.

However, when the overlapping years between 1981-1990 are discounted, the difference in temperatures between the periods 1961-1980 and 1991-2010 is 0.75 degrees.

“When you look at long-term averages, 0.5 of a degree is a lot,” Mr Fleming said.

“If you look at what is being said about a rise in temperature by the end of the century, an increase of 0.5 of a degree in a 20- to 30-year period is actually quite significant.”

Overall the country has had a 5 per cent increase in rainfall between the two 30-year periods.

While the amount of rainfall in Dublin has increased by just 2 per cent, there has been a rise of closer to 8-9 per cent in the west of Ireland, with a clear east-west split in a line stretching from Cavan to Waterford.

Mr Walsh said rainfall patterns were prone to variability.

The increases in rainfall may be the result of the wet summers of 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the flood conditions of 2009 which were a once-in-500-years event for many parts of the west of Ireland.

“There is huge year-to-year variability in rainfall,” he said.

“Where you get very wet summers in the noughties, they contributed to the increases in rainfall.

“There is no evidence that there is a change in the extreme values of rainfall. We have looked at that and there are no definite trends.”

Mr Walsh said temperature was a much more stable indicator of climate change.

He said there was a “definite trend” in a decreasing number of frosty days.

Sunshine levels have showed little variability by comparison, though the sunniest parts of the country, along the east and south coasts, have seen sunshine increases of more than 5 per cent in certain months.

Big Focus on eye dangers within diabetes & the lack of awareness?

       

Over 75% of people with diabetes are unaware of a common condition that causes blindness, diabetic macular edema (DME), according to research.

DME is a form of diabetic retinopathy (DR) that causes blindness in adults with diabetes. In Ireland, one person a week goes blind from DR.

Members of Diabetes Ireland took part in the study, and the results showed that 42% of people with diabetes are most worried about eyesight problems developing, over a quarter are concerned with kidney damage and a further quarter with heart conditions.

However, one in four people with diabetes do not go to their annual eye examination, despite the fact that 42% are worried about the development of eye problems. Dr has no symptoms in its early stages, emphasing the need to attend for eye tests.

A public information evening has been arranged for tonight to raise awareness about eyesight dangers for people with diabetes, available treatment for people with DR and highlighting the importance of full eye examinations today* (May 31).

In Ireland there are over 200,000 people living with diabetes and it is estimated that about 30,000 people are undiagnosed.

To reduce the risk of vision loss diabetes must be managed carefully and people should attend all their healthcare appointments including an annual full eye examination said Kieran O’Leary, CEO of Diabetes Ireland.

A number of organisations including; Diabetes Ireland, the Association of Optometrists Ireland (AOI), the National Council for the Blind in Ireland, Fighting Blindness and the Irish College of Ophthalmologists (ICO) are hosting the information evening.

*Information Evening: VisualEYES the Risks: Managing Your Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy at 6.30pm, May 31 at the O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel, Dublin 2.

Chlamydia screening campaign not cost effective in Ireland ‘academics claim’

  

A National screening campaign for a common sexually transmitted infection that can cause infertility is not cost effective, academics found.

More than 6,000 men and women last year were diagnosed with chlamydia a silent infection with no symptoms that can remain undetected, untreated, and lead to complications like ectopic pregnancies.

But Ireland’s small population and the strain already on the health service means a screening programme would not be cost effective, researchers said.

Dr Emer O’Connell, consultant in public health medicine, said screening for chlamydia is available in many countries.

“However, some countries such as Australia are reviewing the effectiveness of this measure,” she said.

“In Ireland, due to our small population and the strain already on our health service, a screening programme for chlamydia would not be cost effective because it would be difficult to achieve the necessary coverage levels to reduce the level of infection.”

Chlamydia is the most commonly reported bacterial STI in Ireland, with highest numbers reported in patients in their 20s.

The number of cases has soared from 1,000 in 1997, to 3,353 in 2005, 5,781 in 2009 and 6,008 by 2011 – accounting for more than half of all STIs reported.

As it remains undetected it can spread easily and causes pelvic inflammatory disease in up to 30pc of infected women who are not treated, leading to ectopic pregnancy and infertility.

The chlamydia screening pilot study in Ireland found stigma was often a barrier that stopped young people seeking or accepting an STI test.

However, 95pc of professionals and 75pc of students would take a test if offered.

Eight out of 10 could inform their current partner if they tested positive for chlamydia, but this rate fell to 55-60pc in the case of telling previous partners.

More than 6,000 people took part in the study, funded by the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre and supported by the Health Research Board.

Dr Diarmuid O’Donovan, of NUI Galway, said the study shows how to protect the sexual health of young Irish people.

“Given these findings, a national sexual health plan should include primary prevention activities such as sex education, condom distribution and the provision of information on how to seek care for STIs,” he added.

“Therefore, we recommend the inclusion of primary care-delivered chlamydia detection and case management services as part of a national action plan to promote sexual health.”