Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG.

President Higgins signs Water Services Bill into law

 

Áras an Uachtaráin says requests were received to refer legislation to the people.

President Michael D Higgins signed the Water Services Bill into law after giving it careful consideration, a statement said.

President Higgins has today signed into law the Water Services Bill which will allow the water charges to come into effect from next week.

A statement issued from Áras an Uachtaráin today said:

“President Michael D Higgins, having given careful consideration to all aspects of the Bill and the submissions he received, today signed the Water Services Bill 2014.”

The statement added that the President had received a number of submissions about the Bill including a number of requests to refer the Bill to the people for decision under Article 27 of Bunreacht na hÉireann.

However, the statement added: “Article 27 of Bunreacht na hÉireann applies only where Bills have been deemed by virtue of Article 23 of Bunreacht na hÉireann to have been passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas.

“Article 27 of Bunreacht na hÉireann therefore did not apply in this case. The President gave consideration to the Bill, taking into account Bunreacht na hÉireann including Article 26 and the submissions received.”

Unions say- Nurses will be struck off register if €150 fee is not paid

  

NURSES MUST PAY THE NEW €150 REGISTRATION FEE.

Nurses and midwives have been warned they will be working illegally if they fail to pay a new €150 registration fee, due on January 1.

A row between the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and nursing unions over a 50% hike in the annual charge that allows them to practice has deepened, after the board accused unions of “misleading” their members.

In a strongly-worded statement, the board said nurses who refuse to pay the tariff will be struck off its register in February or March after receiving a 28-day reminder notice.

It said employers, including the HSE, have confirmed they will not employ nurses and midwives who were removed from the register.

The board said unions were misleading members by advising them that it was still acceptable to pay last year’s rate of €100.

It said a badge unions were distributing in relation to the €100 payment had no legal standing, and was not an alternative to the registration certificate they were legally obliged to obtain.

More than 1,000 nurses hold protest over registration fee00:00 / 02:11

The board denied the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s claim that talks were under way between it, the unions and Department of Health on the charge, known as the Annual Retention Fee.

“The board would like to unequivocally state that the board has to be self-funding, which means that registration fees for 2015, due on January 1, must remain €150,” it said. “For unions to advise otherwise to registrants is misleading.”

It said it confirmed at its last meeting this year that full payment of the €150 fee was required for registrants to get a valid 2015 certificate.

In a letter to directors of nursing, INMO General Secretary Liam Doran said the annual retention fee did not have to be paid by January 1.

He said a further reminder would be sent around February 2, allowing another 28 days for payment, and no employer could interfere with nurses’ employment arrangements during this period. Mr Doran advised members to pay the existing fee of €100 after January 5, or when their “personal circumstances allow”, and claimed the board would accept it as an interim payment.

Nurses say they cannot afford the fee hike, which the board says is necessary mainly due to a rise in its legal costs. More than a thousand nurses and midwives protested at the fee hike outside its Blackrock office during a meeting of the nursing board last month.

More people die in Ireland from heart disease and stroke related illness

THAN ANY OTHER CAUSE OF DEATH

 

The Irish Heart Foundation has launched a new On The Dry initiative. 

More people die in Ireland today from heart and stroke related illnesses than from any other cause of death.

That’s despte the fact that 80% of cardiovascualr disease is preventable.

The Irish Heart Foundation has launched a new On The Dry initiative aimed at encouraging people to give up alcohol for the month of January.

Barry Dempsey is CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation. 

He says the idea is to help people have a healthier start to the New Year while also raising funds for the charity.

Meanwhile:-

Irish Heart Foundation urging adults to learn how to take their own pulse

  

Accordingly more than 40,000 people over 50 years old in Ireland suffer from Atrial Fibrillation

This winter the Irish Heart Foundation is urging adults to learn how to take their own pulse regularly to detect the most common heart rhythm disorder, Atrial Fibrillation, which carries a five-fold additional risk of stroke.

According to the charity, more than 40,000 people over 50 years old in Ireland suffer from Atrial Fibrillation, but the vast majority are unaware of it. In fact, just 26% of the population have heard of the condition.

Atrial Fibrillation often has no symptoms, so most people don’t know they have it. However, there can be warning signs, including: palpitations, tiredness, shortness of breath, dizziness, or feeling faint.

According to the Foundation, the causes of Atrial Fibrillation are not always clear, but the chance of developing it can go up if a person has one or more medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Atrial Fibrillation can affect adults of any age, but it is more common as people get older.

Dr Angie Brown, Medical Director of the Irish Heart Foundation, said: “Although Atrial Fibrillation is generally not life-threatening, it is a serious condition and can lead to serious complications such as stroke and other heart problems.

“By knowing how to take your own pulse or by having it regularly checked, you can detect the condition. The recommended normal heart rate is between 60 and 100 heartbeats per minute, but some people can have heart rates over 100. You should see your doctor if you have a persistent heart rate above 120 beats per minute or below 40 beats.”

“Atrial Fibrillation is a very common cause of disabling stroke in Ireland and by raising awareness of a condition that affects tens of thousands of people in Ireland, and the need for checking your heart rate; we can prevent more strokes and ultimately save lives.”

According to the Foundation, about 10,000 people suffer strokes in Ireland annually and around 2,000 die as a result. Atrial Fibrillation is a major factor in one third of strokes. The average stroke destroys two million brain cells every minute and it can result in death or disability if people don’t Act F.A.S.T. and call 999.

 F.A.S.T. warning signs:

• Face – has their face fallen on one side?  Can they smile?
• Arms – can they raise both arms and keep them there?
• Speech – is their speech slurred?
• Time – time to call 999 if you see any one of these signs.

Cut price pub Wetherspoon’s to open 200 new bars across Ireland and UK

  

The company will shortly open new pubs in Cork City and Swords, Blanchardstown and Camden St in Dublin

UK pub chain JD Wetherspoon plans to open 200 new pubs across Ireland and the UK over the next five years.

The company, which will shortly open new pubs in Cork City and Swords, Blanchardstown and Camden St in Dublin, said it will invest £400m (€510m) in developing the new pubs.

“We are looking forward to opening the new pubs, many of which will be in areas where Wetherspoon is not yet represented,” Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said.

Wetherspoon currently operates 931 pubs and employs more than 34,000 staff.

It recently made headlines for dropping Heineken products from its offering after a dispute over supply for its Irish pubs.

Wetherspoons opened its new pub, the Forty Foot, overlooking Dun Laoghaire Harbour, with neither Guinness or Murphy’s stout on tap nor Heineken or Foster’s lager.

Kegs of two English-brewed stouts were on sale at the rock bottom price of €2.50 a pint – undercutting average Dublin prices by at least €2 a pint. A selection of Irish craft beers were also on sale, including the highly rated O’Hara’s.

A selection of Irish, Czech, American and English lagers were also on offer at either €2.50 or €2.95 a pint – again a €2 or €2.50 discount on standard city prices.

And in a further blow to the established pub trade, Wetherspoons’ two Irish pubs, the Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire and the Three Tun Tavern in Blackrock, have slashed the price of vodka, gin, whiskey and other spirits.

Premium brand Absolut vodka is selling at €3.95 with a free mixer. An extra measure costs €2 so a double vodka and tonic costs €5.95 at the Forty Foot.

Even in the notably cheap Pavillion bar at Trinity a single vodka and tonic costs €5.60. In a trendy Temple Bar pub, admittedly among the most expensive pubs in the country, a standard spirit and baby mixer costs just shy of €10.

The pub chain insisted that the decision not to sell Guinness and other Diageo-supplied beers including Budweiser, Smithwick’s and Carlsberg at the Three Tun Tavern in Blackrock, which opened in July, has not had a negative impact.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover spots alien coffin on Mars

   

NASA’s Curiosity Rover has found an alien coffin on Mars. The stone picture object above looks like a coffin,

The ‘coffin’ was discovered by Will Farrar from WhatsUpintheSky37as he trawled through a library of pictures sent back by the Mars rover Curiosity.

The hunters of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have spotted an object that looks strangely like a coffin on the Martian surface.

It looks to be about 3.2 ft (one metre) across and 1.5ft (0.4 metres) wide and high, reported Daily Mail.

“This stone object looks like a coffin,” researcher Scott Waring of the UFO Sightings Daily was quoted as saying.

According to Waring, the object may simply be a stone formation but wonders if NASA could turn the Curiosity rover around and take a closer look at the “coffin”.

The object that looks like a coffin can be a figment of imagination of the UFO watchers but if not, science will take another leap into the unknown, getting much closer this time.   

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG Friday

New Justice reform pledged following Guerin 300 page report

 

INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE WHISTLE-BLOWER CLAIMS FINDS SHATTER AND GARDAÍ FAILED TO ADEQUATELY INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald have said a “root and branch analysis” of the Irish justice system will be carried out as a result of the findings of an investigation by barrister Sean Guerin into allegations of corruption and malpractice in the force published today.

In his 300-page report on a dossier of claims handed in by Garda whistleblower Sgt. Maurice McCabe, Mr Guerin concludes that An Garda Síochána and former minister for justice Alan Shatter failed in their duties to properly investigate matters raised by Sgt McCabe.

THE REPORT VINDICATES SERGEANT MCCABE CLAIMS.

It says a comprehensive commission of investigation is “desirable in the public interest” to ensure “continuing confidence in the institution of An Garda Síochána and the criminal justice system”.

Responding to the report this evening, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said a root and branch analysis of the policy and practice of the administration of justice in Ireland is now needed. Mr Kenny said the Dail would debate the content of the Guerin report next week and he would welcome the contributions of all members.

“This is not just about politics, it is about getting it right for the people of our country-for the citizens, for the next generation, for everybody to have integrity, belief and faith in an Garda siochana, in the accountability, in the transparency in the way it is run,” he told reporters in Gort, Co Galway.

The newly appointed Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said its findings reaffirm that “we must now enter a new era of policing in this country and that organisational reform and cultural change is essential.”

She said it raises “fundamental questions about the treatment and response to victims of crime which must be addressed as a matter of priority. The content and the findings are extremely grave.”

Interim Garda commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan said she was studying the report’s findings closely in conjunction with senior management “ to identify immediate actions that can be taken as part of our process of change that is currently underway”.

Sergeant Maurice McCabe tonight welcomed the findings of the Guerin report and said it had vindicated him.

“It is a good day after six years of fighting the system. Now I hope my family and I can move on.”

Sgt McCabe expressed his thanks to Fianna Fail leader Michael Martin for taking on his case and forwarding his file outlining his concerns over Garda conduct to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Sgt also mentioned that despite the findings of the Guerin report “I am still restricted from accessing Pulse”. He added that there had been no contact from anyone in senior Garda management after the report was published.

The findings? 

Mr Guerin found that the “overall impression given by the internal Garda investigative process was that complaints or matters of concern were put through a process of filtration or distillation so that, by the end of the process, any matter of concern had been removed as a form of impurity, and only what was good was found to remain.”

Mr Guerin said the terms of reference for such a commission should include “definite matters of urgent public importance” such as:

- two incidents involving Jerry McGrath, who was later convicted of murdering Sylvia Roche-Kelly in Limerick 2007

- the investigation of sexual offences and child pornography offences by a priest with particular regard to the loss of a computer seized during the course of that investigation

Car sales in Ireland up 30.7% in first four months of this year

 

THE NUMBER OF NEW PRIVATE CARS ON IRISH ROADS ROSE 44.9% LAST MONTH.

The number of new private cars licensed for the first time rose by 30.7% in the year to the end of April, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The data show there were 51,123 new private cars licensed over the four-month period. The number of used imported cars licensed was 18,154, a rise of 21.8% compared to the same period a year earlier.

The number of new private cars on Irish roads rose 44.9% last month to 11,757, as against 8,113 cars for the same month a year earlier.

There were 1,502 new goods vehicles registered in April 2014, up 33% on April 2013.

Overall, the total number of all vehicles licensed in April 2014 was 20,593, up 32.3% compared with the 15,567 vehicles registered in the corresponding month last year.

Volkswagen was the most popular new private car to be licensed last month, followed by Nissan, Toyota and Ford.

Of the 11,757 new private cars licensed last month, 74.2% were diesel and 24.7%, petrol.

Seven Irish children killed by horror flesh eating bug over 2 years

  

Seven  children have died from a lethal flesh eating bug that has been spreading in Ireland over the past two years.

The terrifying disease is now killing in higher numbers than meningitis and more than half of the 66 children who contracted the infection had to be treated in hospital intensive care units, with 70% needing surgery.

The invasive Group A Streptococcus infection (iGAS) hit three times as many girls as boys and 42% of those infected were aged two years or younger.

In some cases the disease was so aggressive that doctors had “little time for effective intervention”, a major European conference in Dublin has heard.

Two Irish doctors, Prof Karina Butler, consultant pediatrician at Our Lady’s Hospital in Crumlin, and Dr Juliette Lucey, from the infectious diseases departments at Our Lady’s and Temple Street Children’s Hospitals, described a “resurgence” of iGas in this country in the past two years.

They told the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases in the National Conference Centre that 66 children were identified with confirmed or probable iGAS infection in the past two years.

Seven of these children died and half of the infected children were admitted to hospital intensive care units. They included 15 children with severe breathing difficulties, pneumonia and other serious lung and throat conditions.

Surgery was needed in 70% of cases to insert chest drains for complicated lung abscesses, remove infected skin around wounds or make incisions to relieve pressure.

COMPLICATION OF CHICKENPOX: Prof Butler said that one-in-five 20% of children developed iGas as a complication of chickenpox, but almost half (42%) had no identifiable risk factor.

She stressed the need for an effective vaccine and also said more vaccinations against chickenpox could prevent up to 20% of the iGas cases.

iGas is now killing more children than meningitis in children’s hospital across the country. It has a rate of more than 10% compared to 3-5% for meningitis in children and young people in this country.

“Much of the spotlight in recent years has been on diseases such as meningitis, whooping cough and other well-known infections in children,” she added.

“iGAS infections in children and young people are now on the rise in Ireland and most likely in other developed nations too.”

The infectious disease expert also said that while over 50% of the children needed to be treated in intensive care units, most of them had no identifiable risk for severe disease.

“Early identification and appropriate treatment and, ultimately GAS vaccination, are needed if outcomes are to improve,” she said.

The infection is difficult to diagnose but prompt diagnosis and treatment are essential and surgically removing infected tissue “may be life-saving”.

Increase in the number of Irish people facing heart failure

  

The number of people developing heart failure in Ireland is on the rise.

The Irish Heart Foundation says there has been an increase in the number of cases due to “an ageing population, obesity andpoor lifestyle“

Around 90,000 people in Ireland live with heart failure, but the group says thousands of people are at risk of missing fatal symptoms.

TODAY IS HEART FAILURE AWARENESS DAY.

Consultant cardiologist at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin Professor Kenneth McDonald said: “Heart failure is a very prevalent problem in Ireland. There are approximately 100,000 people with this condition.”

“It occurs as a result of many other heart conditions such as heart attacks, for example, or long-standing high blood pressure.

“What people become aware of is increasing breathlessness with activity, or fatigue.”

Ireland reduces its greenhouse gas emissions by 11.5% in 2013

 

Electricity sector emissions fall 11.5% while food and drink industry gases rise 4%.

Greenhouse gas emissions by the electricity sector fell 11.5% in Ireland last year.

Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissons fell in 2013, largely because of an 11.5 % drop in emissions from the electricity sector, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

It said this decrease may be partly due to extended shutdowns of units at the 1,200-megawatt Moneypoint coal-fired power station on the Shannon estuary coupled with the availability of renewables.

Large energy users covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) cut their contribution by 7% compared to 2012, while cement industry emissions fell by 4% due to lower production.

Almost 100 major industrial installations in Ireland participate in the ETS. These include sites operating in the power generation, cement, lime, oil refining, food and drink, pharmaceuticals and electronics.

Bucking the trend, companies in the food and drink sector reported an overall increase of 4% in their emissions last year, reflecting strong growth in production in this export-led sector.

“Overall, recorded emissions show a welcome downward trend for 2013,” said EPA senior manager Dr Maria Martin. “However, this result does not detract from our awareness of the need to decouple carbon emissions from economic growth.

“We need radical structural reform of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in order to ensure that the price of carbon will be at a level which incentivises real change in how we manage our energy requirements and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions”.

Earthly astronomers catch best-ever image of MASSIVE solar flare

  

Five telescopes catch X-class belch in exquisite detail. 

A combined effort by four space telescopes and one Earth-bound observatory has successfully snapped the best images yet of a huge solar flare that erupted from the Sun’s surface.

The solar explosion occurred at 1:48pm EDT (5:48pm GMT) on March 29 and was an X-class flare, the largest type yet recorded by astronomers. The combined imaging from all the astronomical instruments involved has produced the most detailed pictures and video yet of the coronal mass ejection for future study.

NASA had three space-based telescopes focused on the area – the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, (IRIS), the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), and the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager – with the Japanese Space Agency’s Hinode spacecraft and the National Solar Observatory’s Dunn Solar Telescope in New Mexico also sending in data.

Each of the five telescopes focused on different regions of the flare’s path out of the Sun’s environs. NASA’s SDO, for example, took images of the flare in relation to the entire star, whereas IRIS peered deep into the Sun’s lower atmosphere to image the first flare recorded by that orbital platform.

The whole effort was coordinated by the Dunn Solar Telescope, which identified the most likely spot for a big flare. It pinpointed the probable eruption point a day in advance of the flare, giving time for orbital platforms to focus in and, luckily, the eruption occurred at a good viewing time for the Dunn team to see it here on Earth.

“This is the most comprehensive data set ever collected by NASA’s Heliophysics Systems Observatory,” said Jonathan Cirtain, project scientist for Hinode at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

“Some of the spacecraft observe the whole sun all the time, but three of the observatories had coordinated in advance to focus on a specific active region of the sun. We need at least a day to program in observation time and the target – so it was extremely fortunate that we caught this X-class flare.”

The size of the solar flare makes this an ideal event for larger study – X-class coronal mass ejections are the largest observed by man so far, although it’s theorized that a solar eruption in 1859 that burnt out telegraph systems across Europe and the US was an as-yet-unseen Z-class flare – at least 40 times as large as March’s display.

Were such a huge flare to occur today, the effects could be catastrophic. Satellites would be disabled and Earth-bound electric systems could take a major hammering and fail completely. A solar eruption 25 years ago knocked out power over large parts of Quebec and polar satellites suffered serious problems.

By coordinating observations, NASA and other space agencies are trying to learn as much as they can about the most violent phenomena in our Solar System. Doing so not only helps understand the Sun’s workings better, but could also allow the development of mitigation strategies,