Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG upodate

Inflation remains flat across OECD countries membership

New figures show annual rate of inflation unchanged

    

Excluding food and energy, the annual inflation rate across the OECD stood at 1.6% for the third consecutive month

Global inflation rates remained flat during the year to June, according to new figures compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The group said the annual rate of inflation across its 34 members was unchanged at 0.6%. Excluding food and energy, the annual rate stood at 1.6% for the third consecutive month.

Energy prices continued to fall in the year by minute 9.3%, slightly lower than the 9.8% decline recorded in May. Food price inflation slowed to 1.5% in June as against 1.6% for the preceding month.

In the year to June, inflation was broadly stable in most major OECD economies. In France, inflation was up 0.3% while it expanded from 0.9% to 1% in Canada and from 0.1% to 0.2% in Italy. Inflation decreased slightly in Japan, falling to 0.4% from 0.5%. It also declined in the UK.

Denis O’Brien’s legal action against the Dáil is ‘foolish’ says Lucinda Creighton

   

Renua leader Lucinda Creighton says she thinks that a legal action by Denis O’Brien against a Dáil Committee is very”foolish”.

Mr O’Brien is taking a case against all 10 members of the Committee on Procedures and Privileges.

It’s after the CPP rejected his complaint that Deputy Catherine Murphy abused parliamentary privilege when making claims about his banking arrangements with IBRC.

Deputy Creighton says it’s essential to defend the integrity of the Houses of the Oireachtas.

“I think this is very unwise and foolish, it’s ill-judged and it’s very misfortunate that Mr O’Brien has chosen to go down this road,” said Deputy Creighton.

“I totally support and fully stand by the members of the committee and indeed by the right of Deputy Murphy to speak on the record in the Dáil on issues that are of huge public concern, and we will continue to maintain that position, and to support the right of members of the Oireachtas to speak without fear on the floor of the Dáil.”

Vehicles and licences to be linked in a points clampdown in Ireland

New central register for Gardaí, courts and RSA

  

New plans would see car owners being required to provide licence details when they purchase a car and each time they transfer ownership – so that a vehicle would always be linked with its driver or driver

Every vehicle on the road will be linked directly to the driver’s licence for the first time, in a radical overhaul designed to ensure that penalty points effectively punish those who have committed motoring offences.

A new central register will be accessible to the Courts Service, the gardaí and the Road Safety Authority (RSA), which is responsible for the allocation of penalty points.

It would see car owners being required to provide licence details when they purchase a car and each time they transfer ownership – so that a vehicle would always be linked with its driver or drivers.

The move is a solution to problems which have dogged the enforcement of the penalty points system.

These include the failure by seven motorists out of every 10 convicted of penalty point offences to produce their licence in court, thus avoiding having the points applied to their licence.

It would also help authorities keep a better track of motorists who have been disqualified from driving.

Sources said the proposal had been discussed extensively by a working group comprising the Department of Justice, Department of Transport, An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service and the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

It is not yet clear what sort of financial investment would be needed in order to implement a system of matching driving licences to vehicles.

However, if the costings can be agreed upon, the initiative could be officially announced by the end of the year.

Details of the proposal come just weeks after the Irish Independent revealed how more than 20,000 motorists had taken advantage of a loophole to avoid getting penalty points on their licences. These were drivers who failed to produce their licences in court over the course of a 15-month period.

Some 72% of motorists convicted of penalty point offences between January 2014 and March of this year managed to avoid the imposition of penalty points in this way.

Significant efforts have been made by the Courts Service to ensure that licences are presented, including the prominent signage and announcements at the beginning of sittings informing motorists of the requirement.

However, in many cases these warnings are still simply being ignored.

It is thought that the new scheme linking licences with cars would get rid of the need to record licence numbers in courts.

Instead, there would be a central register where the details are stored and these would be accessible to the relevant authorities.

Under the current system, when licence numbers are not provided in court, the RSA has to do a time- and resource-consuming matching exercise to ensure that points are applied to the licence of the offender.

Although it is an offence not to produce your licence in court, punishable by a fine of up to €2,000, the law is regularly flouted and until recently was not being enforced by Gardaí.

The force initiated a crackdown last month, with Gardaí prosecuting people for not producing their licences when requested to do so by the judge or the registrar.

Gardaí are due to announce figures on such prosecutions later in the week, but it is understood that at least 30 arrests were made within days.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transport has said it is confident that a separate loophole, which threatened to void penalty points that were issued between August and December of last year, has now been fully closed.

Loopholes

One driver, an Athlone woman Kim Nugent, successfully challenged the imposition of six penalty points, which would have given her a total of 12 and therefore an automatic disqualification.

Her legal team argued that a technical loophole, relating to the failure to properly commence certain relevant legislation from 2010, had the effect of rendering the endorsement and penalty points null and void.

The case was settled and Ms Nugent had her points cancelled.

However, a department spokesman said it was confident that it could successfully fight off any other challenges.

Ms Nugent succeeded as her case had been lodged before the loophole was closed.

A recent survey indicates that cars with dangerous defects are on the road in Ireland

 

A survey by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry has found that half of their members see cars presenting with dangerous defects around once or twice a month.

93% of garages have seen cars come in with dangerous tyres in the past three months.

SIMI is calling on car owners to keep up their car maintenance as a priority.

Director General Alan Nolan said that it could be a matter of life and death.

“If you don’t get your car serviced and looked after and checked to make sure that it doesn’t have anything dangerous arising, it’s not just about your investment into the car, and that’s important, but it’s about your family in the car, yourself in the car, and other people on the road,” said Mr Nolan.

“And I think the increase in fatalities on the road indicate that there isn’t the same degree of care about servicing cars as there was pre-recession.”

Early diagnosis of lung cancer is critical when dealing with it

 

Lung cancer is the fourth commonest cause of cancer in Ireland. About 2,000 Irish people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year. Around 8 in 10 cases develop in people over the age of 60, usually in smokers. If lung cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, there is a chance of a cure. In general, the more advanced the cancer (the more it has grown and spread), the less chance that treatment will be curative.

TYPES OF LUNG CANCER

Primary lung cancers arise from cells within the lung. The two most common types are called small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). NSCLCs include squamous cell cancers (the most common type of lung cancer), adenocarcinoma and large-cell carcinoma. About 1 in 5 cases of lung cancer are SCLC; the remainder are NSCLC. All these types of lung cancers arise from various cells which line the airways (bronchi). There are some other, rarer types of primary lung cancer which arise from other types of cells within the lung.

Secondary lung cancers (or lung metastases) are tumours which have spread to the lung from another cancer somewhere else in the body. The lung is a common site for metastases from other cancers. This is because all blood flows through the lungs and may contain tumour cells from any other part of the body.

WHAT CAUSES LUNG CANCER?

Smoking is a major risk factor and is the main cause of lung cancer. Compared with non-smokers, those who smoke between 1-14 cigarettes a day have eight times the risk of dying from lung cancer. Those who smoke 25 or more cigarettes a day have 25 times the risk.

Non-smokers have a low risk of developing lung cancer. However, people who are regularly exposed to other people’s smoke (passive smokers) have a small increased risk. People who work with certain substances have an increased risk, especially if they also smoke. These substances include radioactive materials, asbestos, nickel and chromium. People who live in areas where there is a high level of background radiation from radon have a small increased risk. Air pollution may be a small risk too.

A family history of lung cancer in a first-degree relative (mother, father, brother, sister) slightly increases the risk of lung cancer. But note: most cases of lung cancer do not run in families.

THE SYMPTOMS OF LUNG CANCER

The symptoms of lung cancer can vary between different people. Many people do not have symptoms in the early stages and lung cancer may be diagnosed when a chest X-ray is performed for a different reason. Initial symptoms of lung cancer may include one or more of the following:

• Persistent cough.
• Coughing up blood or bloodstained phlegm (sputum).
• Chest and/or shoulder pains.
• Tiredness and loss of energy.
• Weight loss.
• Shortness of breath or wheezing – especially if a tumour is growing in a main airway and is partially blocking the airflow.
• Hoarse voice.
• A change in shape at the end of your fingers (clubbing).

If the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, various other symptoms can develop such as bone pain or swelling of the neck or above the collarbone.

THE DIAGNOSIS

If a doctor suspects that you may have lung cancer, the common initial test is a chest X-ray. This is a simple and quick test and may show changes such as abnormal shadowing. However, a chest X-ray cannot confirm cancer, as there are various other causes of shadowing on a chest X-ray. Other tests are therefore needed.

You may be offered a computerised tomography (CT) scan and other investigations which will help to confirm the diagnosis of lung cancer. You may need other tests which not only provide more information about the cancer but also help to detect whether or not it has spread.

THE TREATMENT OPTIONS

Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The treatment advised for each case depends on various factors, such as:

• The site of the primary tumour in the lung.
• The type of cancer.
• The stage of the cancer (how large the cancer is and whether it has spread).

The types of treatment regimes for SCLC and NSCLC can be very different.

You should have a full discussion with a specialist who knows your case. They will be able to give the pros and cons, likely success rate, possible side-effects and details about the possible treatment options for your type of cancer.

Bonobos can talk like human babies

   

Infants have a limited range of communication options — but they make it work. Moms and dads know that a certain squeal can mean both “I’m happy” and “Change me.” Long before they start speaking, children as young as three months old are able to use sounds to express both positive and negative emotions.

For a long time scientists thought that “functional flexibility,” the ability to produce vocalizations in a range of emotional states and situations before language develops, was unique to human infants. But it turns out that may not be the case after all.

New research shows that wild bonobos, our closest living relative in the primate world, can vocalize in a similar manner by using a squeaking sound, termed “the peep,” that requires context to be understood. Peeps are high-pitched sounds which are short in duration and produced with a closed mouth.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham, UK and the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland conducted research on bonobos in their native setting in the Congo. They found that bonobos utilized “the peep” in a wide range of situations across positive, negative and neutral situations without variation in acoustic structure, which means that the listener must take into account the context into order to discern what the bonobo is communicating.

“I was struck by how frequent their peeps were, and how many different contexts they produce them in,” lead researcher Dr. Zanna Clay from the University of Birmingham’s School of Psychology said in a press release. “It became apparent that because we couldn’t always differentiate between peeps, we needed to understand the context to get to the root of their communication.”

The researchers found that peeps made during negative contexts were acoustically distinct, however, which they believe is a result of higher subglottal air pressure during call production. Negative situations are charged, tense and urgent and can produce physiological consequences that could alter vocal tones.

The findings challenge the belief that animal vocalizations are tied to specific contexts or emotional state, which suggests that “functional flexibility” has evolutionary roots that predate the evolution of human speech.

“We felt that it was premature to conclude that this ability is uniquely human, especially as no one had really looked for it in the great apes,” Dr. Clay said. “It appears that the more we look, the more similarity we find between animals and humans.”   

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Noonan says repossession threats are mainly to get owners to engage

 

‘I think what the figures show is the banks using the courts to get people to engage with them’

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan at the start of the Eurogroup meeting of finance ministers at the EU council headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium.

Banks are using the threat of repossession to get home owners to engage with them, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said.

Mr Noonan is in Brussels at a meeting of finance ministers where he was asked for his reaction to figures published in The Irish Times showing banks are attempting to repossess more than 7,000 homes across the State.

“I don’t think the figures show a lot of houses being repossessed by banks. I think what the figures show is the banks using the courts to get people to engage with them who haven’t engaged,” Mr Noonan told reporters.

“The Government position is we don’t see repossession as a solution and we don’t want repossession to be a solution, but there is a whole menu of solutions.

“Over 90,000 mortgages have been restructured over the last three years. In December alone, 2,500 mortgages have been restructured.

“What we want people to do is to engage with their lenders and see if they can work out a restructuring that will be suitable for their particular case, but we don’t see repossession as part of the solution.”

The Data released to The Irish Times by the courts service indicates that, as of January 1st, some 7,101 civil bills for repossession had been lodged by the banks across the State’s 26 circuit courts.

The largest volume, 1,420, are lodged in Dublin Circuit Court, followed by 564 in Meath, 543 in Cork Circuit Court and 412 in Galway. The next-highest number, 405, are active in Co Kildare, underlining increasing distress among mortgage holders in the commuter counties around Dublin. In Wicklow there are 255 active bills for repossession lodged by banks.

The legal rights organisation Flac (Free Legal Advice Centres) proposed that early financial and legal advice be provided for people trying to negotiate a restructure of their mortgage debt. The group has proposed a three-point solution to the problems of those in arrears on a family home.

The group said that if the Government was serious about tackling mortgage arrears on family homes in a way that would keep people in their family homes, it would have to provide adequate financial and legal advice in a timely way to people who are trying to negotiate restructure of their mortgage debt.

An independent service which could objectively assess whether a sustainable mortgage restructure was possible and what that it might be would also be required.

Thirdly, radical reform of the mortgage-to-rent scheme in order to allow those with recognisably unsustainable mortgages to ensure reasonable housing was required.

Flac director Noeline Blackwell said the organisation had long predicted that a rise in repossessions “was bound to result when lenders have an absolute discretion to decide whether a loan is sustainable or not”.

“The Central Bank’s Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears has proved to be ineffective as a counterbalance and even when it is working perfectly, it is only a tick-box exercise.

A real effort to keep people in their family homes will need a much stronger commitment from government to solve this poisonous problem in our society,” Ms Blackwell said.

It was “entirely wrong that poor, over-indebted people have been expected to go in to negotiate the roof over their own heads with lenders on their own unless they can get assistance from MABS, organisations such as Flac, or from private professionals working pro bono.

Flac’s senior policy analyst Paul Joyce said the State’s own figures showed that the number of re-possession applications on family homes was “rising inexorably” and would continue to do so as lenders dealt with those cases where arrears and difficulty had become more entrenched.

The advocacy body said it was known that about 38,000 households had been in arrears for more than two years and said this was the only category of mortgage arrears that is increasing in the last number of reports from the Central Bank.

“This means that the extent of the problem can be quantified, ” Flac said.

It said it did not accept that all of these cases were unsustainable mortgages.

Separately, the People Before Profit group said the escalation of home repossessions showed the “utter failure” of government insolvency and banking policies.

People Before Profit said the escalation in the number of repossessions also showed the need to “take the bailed out banks into full public ownership and entirely change their mandate”.

TD Richard Boyd Barrett said “the looming avalanche” of repossessions showed the need for the banks to be put under public ownership and put a stop to ‘for profit’ banking”.

“It simply beggars belief that banks which are only still standing because of a massive bailout by the citizens of this country are being allowed to turf many of those same citizens out of their homes.”

Independent TD for Roscommon South-Leitrim Michael Fitzmaurice said he would urge support for the Bill being proposed by Labour TD Willie Penrose on the insolvency problem.

He said it would “put pressure on the banks to sort out mortgage and other debt problems in a more sympathetic way”.

Figures released to The Irish Times by the courts service indicate that, as of January 1st, some 7,101 civil bills for repossession had been lodged by the banks across the State’s 26 circuit courts.

The largest volume, 1,420, are lodged in Dublin Circuit Court, followed by 564 in Meath, 543 in Cork Circuit Court and 412 in Galway. The next-highest number, 405, are active in Co Kildare, underlining increasing distress among mortgage holders in the commuter counties around Dublin. In Wicklow there are 255 active bills for repossession lodged by banks.

The Titanic Belfast beats the Eiffel Tower to the ‘best tourist attraction’ spot

  

The Titanic Belfast has fended off one of the most iconic buildings in Europe to be named the continent’s best visitor attraction.

The 300m Eiffel Tower may have breathtaking views of Paris, bit it was Northern Ireland’s top tourist spot which won over judges at a major travel awards event in Berlin.

It also beat off stiff competition from artist Claude Monet’s Grand Gardens in France and the London Eye.

Inside an impressive exterior – designed to resemble the ship’s prow – Titanic Belfast contains a number of exhibitions on early 20th Centrury Belfast, the ship-building industry, the ship’s sinking and its legacy.

It was the only attraction from across Ireland to be recognised at the European Group Travel Awards.

CEO of Tourism Ireland Niall Gibbons said: “Congratulations to Titanic Belfast on this very well deserved award. Since its opening in 2012, Titanic Belfast has become a truly iconic and ‘must visit’ attraction for overseas visitors to Belfast.”

The inaugural European Group Travel Awards (EGTA) were organised to recognise and celebrate the best suppliers in the group travel sector, with group travel buyers around Europe asked to submit their nominees in 21 different categories

MH370 missing airline report offers no answers or clues as search goes on

 

Report reveals nothing unusual about crew, flight, except that locator beacon battery expired

As families of victims on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 marked the first anniversary of the plane’s disappearance yesterday, they remained hopeful for answers in the world’s biggest aviation mystery, as leaders of Malaysia, China and Australia indicated they would not give up the search for the jet and the 239 people on board.

But any hopes that the release yesterday of the most comprehensive report to date on the disappearance of the Boeing 777 would shed some light on its fate did not materialise.

The 584-page report by a 19-member independent investigation group led by Malaysia went into minute details about the crew’s lives, including their medical and financial records and training. It also detailed the aircraft’s service record, as well as the weather, communications systems and other aspects of the flight. Nothing unusual was revealed, except for the previously undisclosed fact that the battery of the underwater locator beacon for the plane’s data recorder had expired more than a year before the plane vanished on March 8, 2014.

The lack of a beacon would have only added to the extraordinary challenges faced by search teams in the aftermath of the plane’s disappearance, as they listened in vain for signals from the devices in the deep waters far off the Australian coast.

Prime Minister Najib Razak said yesterday (SUN) that Malaysia remained committed to the search for the missing jetliner.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China, where most of the passengers came from, said his government will provide “all needed service to every next of kin” and help uphold their “legitimate and lawful rights and interests.”

“A year has passed, the plane has not been located, but the search effort will continue,” he told a news conference in Beijing. “Today must be a difficult day for the next of kin … Our hearts are with you.”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott added that the hunt for the plane will not end even if the scouring of the current search area comes up empty.

Vowing never to give up on the search for their loved ones, family members of those aboard the plane wore symbolic T-shirts and released white balloons yesterday to mark the anniversary of the jet’s disappearance.

In Kuala Lumpur, Voice 370, a support group for the kin of those on board, hosted a “Day of Remembrance” at Publika Mall.

How you can save as much as €275 on your electricity bills this year

    

Energy companies have benefited hugely from a plunge in wholesale gas prices over the last year

Families will soon get the chance to save up to €275 a year on their electricity bills as the first of the price cuts announced by energy companies earlier this year starts to kick in.

In just over a week’s time, Bord Gais Energy will cut its electricity prices by 2.5% and its gas prices by 3.5%. Although the gas price cut is well below the 5% reduction introduced by its sister company, British Gas, earlier this year, these cuts are a step in the right direction.

Energy companies have benefited hugely from a plunge in wholesale gas prices over the last year so it’s about time consumers started to see gas and electricity prices fall.

Once its price reductions kick in on March 16, an average household will pay €996 a year for their electricity – as long as they sign up to Bord Gais’s cheapest energy deal.

That deal includes its €100 cashback offer and its 10pc electricity discount. Under this cashback offer, you get €100 off your electricity bill if you sign up to Bord Gais, pay your bills by level pay direct debit (where you pay the same amount every month for your electricity), and receive your bills online. To secure its 10pc electricity discount, you must sign up to Bord Gais for a year.

At €996 a year, the cost of electricity for a typical household under that Bord Gais deal is €65 less a year than one of the best deals on the market for new electricity customers – Electric Ireland’s Value Saver (direct debit and online billing) offer. Under that Value Saver deal, an average household would pay €1,061 a year for their electricity.

A typical household could, however, be paying between €1,193 and €1,271 a year for their electricity if they’re on standard, rather than discounted electricity rates – depending on the supplier. A family paying standard electricity rates could therefore save as much as €275 by signing up to Bord Gais’s cheapest electricity deal this year.

Remember Bord Gais’s cashback deal is a once-off offer so it is unlikely to be available after a year. The 10pc discount will also expire after the first year – and revert to a 5pc discount instead. This means you will probably get your electricity cheaper with another supplier after your first year with Bord Gais.

This applies to any discounted energy deal you sign up to.

“Most discounts run out after a year – so once you’ve been with the same provider for a year, check what rate you’re paying for your electricity or gas,” said Simon Moynihan, communications director with the personal finance website, bonkers.ie. For this reason, be prepared to switch your energy company if you want to grab some of the best electricity and gas deals out there. The best offers are usually only available to new or returning customers – rather than existing ones.

Switching energy provider is free and straightforward. First choose the supplier you wish to move to. Then, get a copy of your latest electricity or gas bill and have it to hand when you contact the supplier you want to switch to. You will be asked for your Meter Point Registration Number (MPRN) if switching your electricity, or your Gas Point Registration Number (GPRN) if switching gas. You will find these numbers on your energy meters – and latest bills.

Your new supplier will ask for a meter reading – as well as your address. It will then make the necessary arrangements with your old supplier to have your account switched. You will need to give your new supplier your bank details if you are going to pay by direct debit.

Understand and be comfortable with the terms and conditions of your contract before you sign up to a new supplier. You often need to stay with the same company for at least a year to qualify for a discount. There are usually break fees if you end your contract before the year (or whatever the minimum term is) is up.

Your key priority when switching should be to save money. Be wary of using prepaid meters to do so as electricity usually works out more expensive when you pay for it in this way.

“Generally, electricity is up to €300 more expensive a year with pre-pay meters than you would pay if you went with the cheapest deal,” said Mr Moynihan.

Bord Gais won’t be the only energy company cutting its prices this year. Electric Ireland, which reduced its electricity prices by 2pc last November, will cut its gas prices by 2.5pc from April 1. On the same date, SSE Airtricity will chop its gas and electricity prices while Flogas will cut its gas prices. There will be plenty of opportunities to save money on your electricity and gas bills in the coming months – so get moving.

Irish customers more likely to switch insurers, A global survey finds

ONLY 3% HAD COMPLETE TRUST IN INSURANCE PROVIDER

  

“Irish customers often research prices online when policies are taken out and this is also a trigger for switching,” James Maher of EY Ireland said.

Some 45% of Irish customers are likely to switch insurance provider in the next 12 months, according to the findings of EY’s Global Consumer Insurance Survey.

This figure, which excludes life insurance, can be compared with 26% globally.

This is largely attributed to the fact that Irish consumer decisions are often motivated by the costs and terms of their policy.

The survey of about 24,000 people in 30 countries examined what matters most in the relationship customers have with their insurers, how they interact and how satisfied they are with the range of policy offerings.

Half of Irish respondents claimed to have moderate trust in their insurance providers. Only 3%  had complete trust – the lowest figure globally.

James Maher, insurance sector lead for financial services at EY Ireland said: “The low levels of trust and high degrees of switching intent among Irish customers may reflect the limited personal interaction they have with their insurers.

“Irish customers often research prices online when policies are taken out and this is also a trigger for switching.”

SCIENTISTS UNCORK 170 YEAR OLD BEER

 

IF YOU HAVE EVER WONDERED WHAT A 170-YEAR-OLD BOTTLE OF SHIPWRECKED BEER TASTES OF THEN WONDER NO MORE – VINEGARY, “GOATY” AND OF SOUR MILK.

That was the conclusion of a research team, led by John Londesborough of the Technical Research Center of Finland, when they uncorked two bottles recovered from a shipwreck off the coast of Finland in 2010. Dating back to the 1840s, scientists hoped to discovering what a 19th century beer might have tasted of and provide an insight into how the beverage was made.

The 2.8 to 3.2% beers were perhaps surprisingly a “bright golden yellow, with little haze,” diluted by seawater by up to 30% percent, which also meant their original alcohol content could have been much higher at the point of bottling. The beer itself was said to have developed some unpleasant aromas including yeast extract, cabbage, plastic, burnt rubber, overripe cheese, goat and sulfur, likely to have been caused by bacteria growing inside the bottles for decades.

However despite bacterial degradation and seawater dilution, scientists were able to analyse the beer to ascertain its original flavour compounds, revealing specific flavours of “green leaf”, sweet apple and rose which would made then similar to modern larger than ales and stouts.

The team’s findings were published in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry last month, which said the two bottles contained different beers with bitterness lower in the first bottle indicating a modern light lager, and higher in the second bottle.

“Compared to modern beers, the shipwreck beers contained similar levels of potassium but 15- to 60-fold more sodium, presumably derived from sea water. This may have diluted the beers up to 30%,” the scientists wrote. “Ethanol contents were low (2.8-3.2%) compared to typical modern lagers and ales. The mass ratios of glycerol and ethanol were 4.5% for both shipwreck beers, which is typical for a yeast fermentation product.”

“In summary, these two, about 170-year-old bottles contained two different beers, one more strongly hopped than the other with the low α-acid yielding hop varieties common in the 19th century.”

Since the beers were discovered, a brewery in Finland has recreated what they believe to be as close to the real thing as possible. Called Stallhagen Historic Beer 1843, the beer is a ‘spontaneously fermented beer’ using malt and wheat.

The bottles were discovered on a shipwrecked schooner in the Baltic Sea 165ft (50 metres) deep off the coast of the Åland Islands in Finland, along with several bottles of Champagne from Piper-Heidsieck and Veuve Clicquot, 11 of which were auctioned in Paris in 2012.