Irish Religious orders will be pursued for compensation costs
MINISTER RUAIRI QUINN STATES
The Government has vowed to pursue religious orders for half the €1.46bn cost of compensating their victims.
The congregations which were responsible for horrific child abuse in schools, orphanages, borstals and other institutions will now be under deepening pressure to stump up the €250m shortfall.
Four orders have already indicated they are willing to consider transferring more school buildings and other educational infrastructure on top of what has been offered.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said some properties will be used in the public and voluntary sectors and others sold with the proceeds used to pay for support services for survivors.
“The Government is obviously disappointed that the congregations have not agreed to a 50:50 share of the very considerable cost for redress,” Mr Quinn said.
“Today’s decision represents the most pragmatic way to maximise the level of contributions to be made by the congregations and the management bodies so that the taxpayer does not bear an unreasonable burden of the costs.”
Eighteen religious orders were identified by the Ryan inquiry over the decades of abuse suffered by youngsters.
The final compensation costs includes €1.25bn on the redress scheme and associated litigation and €88.6m for the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.
Another €110m has been spent on the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund; €10m on the Faoiseamh Counselling service; and €12.7m to educate former residents.
The congregations of priests and nuns initially offered just €128m in cash, property and counselling services as part of a controversial indemnity deal dating back to 2002. Only €106m of this was ever realised.
This offer was increased in 2009 to €348.5m after the Ryan report called for the 50:50 split between state and church.
A cash offer of €113m was boosted by property which the orders valued at €235.5m.
But only €70m has been realised – €68m of the cash and just €2m of the property.
The Government complained at the time that the State would only make use of a quarter of the properties offered – 12 sites, valued at €60m.
It had been looking at taking ownership of schools, nursing homes, playing fields and land to make up the shortfall.
The offers of property included 49 Christian Brothers’ playing fields; Presentation Sisters’ St Bernard’s Group Home, Fethard, Tipperary; Sisters of Our Lady of Charity childcare facility at Gracepark Rd, Drumcondra, Dublin; and Sisters of St Clare primary school, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.
The Sisters of Mercy offered several schools: St Joseph’s VEC College, Carrick on Suir; the Adult Education Centre, Waterford; land at Convent Road, Cahir; Seamount Convent and College, Kinvara, Galway; Scoil Mhuire Secondary and Mercy Primary School, Ennistymon, Clare; and the Old Primary School and Hall, Trim, Meath.
The order also put forward the McAuley Centre, Kells, Meath; Beaumont Convalescent Home and grounds, north Dublin; 33 acres at the National Rehabilitation Hospital Dun Laoghaire; and St Anne’s Lenaboy Castle, Taylor’s Hill, Galway.
The Government said it will propose long-term option on further Sisters of Mercy properties including two convents in Cork, two primary schools in Mayo, and schools in Longford, Leitrim and Meath.
Calls for Irish prison reform as extended lock-up damages prisoners mental health
Prisoners subjected to many hour's of lock-up are at a greater risk of mental health breakdown
With more than 200 convicts limited to one or two hours a day outside a cell, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has claimed that the practice should only ever be used as a temporary arrangement. It claimed that prisoners on lock up for 15 days or more are at risk of irreversible harmful psychological effects from insomnia and confusion to hallucinations and mental illness.
Liam Herrick, IPRT executive director, said maximum lock-up should be a fortnight at a time. “The potential harm to prisoners’ mental health that can be caused by extended periods of isolation means that the practice of holding any category of prisoner on 22- or 23-hour lock up must only ever be a temporary measure,” he said. “Meaningful rehabilitation is simply impossible in such conditions, and this damaging practice will have long term negative consequences for the prisoner and for society.
” The Irish Prison Service said that it is actively considering using the St Patrick’s Institution – which is to be closed as a young offenders’ centre – as a single unit for prisoners on lock up. As of yesterday 150 inmates were on 23 hour lock up – 114 for their own protection or the protection of others; 32 for discipline reasons; and four for medical care.
Another 61 are on 22 hour lock up – 57 for their own protection or the protection of others; one for discipline reasons; and three for medical care. The IPS said 4,100 people are in custody in the country’s prisons and about one third of those on lock up are not being held in single cells. “Our primary responsibility is to protect the safety of our prisoners in our care.
Prisoners on restricted regime are under review and this could involve transfer to another prison where they might not be required to be on the regime,” a spokesman said. The IPRT claimed that on March 20 this year there were 193 prisoners on 23-hour lock up. It said isolation cells or solitary confinement should never be used for remand prisoners, mentally disabled prisoners, or under 18s.
Prisoners on lock up are treated on a case-by-case basis and their one or two hours of free time will be split between shower and exercise, free association and time with probation officers or psychologists. Mr Herrick rejected the argument that prisoners safety was paramount and described any longer than 15 day lock-up as prolonged solitary confinement. “It is a challenge for any prison service to balance prisoner safety while at the same time providing prisoners with a reasonable and humane regime,” he said.
“However, locking up prisoners for more than 22 hours a day cannot be a solution in itself to prisoner safety concerns. In developing much needed policy and procedures in relation to protection, the Irish Prison Service must ensure that current high levels of isolation and restricted regimes are significantly reduced.
” The IPRT said the United Nations special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendez has proposed a ban on prolonged solitary confinement – more than 15 days – as well as solitary confinement used as a penalty, in pre-trial detention, for persons with mental disabilities, and for juveniles.
There won’t be blood left "Ireland in danger of serious donation shortage"
NEARLY 5,000 PINTS OF BLOOD NEEDED ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO AVOID CRISIS
More than 6,000 units of blood – around 4,800 pints – need to be collected by next week to avoid a drastic shortage around the country, it has emerged.
A severe fall-off in donations means that key blood groups have only three days of supplies left.
And the heatwave is partially to blame – during the glorious sunny spell the number of people giving blood dropped by 10%.
Paddy Bowler, Operations Director of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) said Tuesday: “People are sidetracked, they’ve got this wonderful weather when they come home in the evenings.
“And they’re inclined to go out in the garden or play a round of golf as opposed to coming to a donation clinic.
“The decline started about three or four weeks ago when we noticed the attendances dropping off and the collections dropping off.
“We have supply to keep us going for the next three days so we need people to come through our doors Wednesday and Thursday which are our main collection days.
“We also have three clinics that are opened on Sunday which are up on our website.
“We’re collecting all of next week as well so we really do need people to make that extra effort.
“The main blood types affected are group O+, O- and A-, which is 5% of the population’s blood type.
“O+ is 47% of the population’s type and O- is about 14%.
“A+ has four days of regular supply left and makes up about 26% of the population.
“It’s up to over 90% of the population.”
The IBTS has warned that if people do not give blood soon, it will have a significant impact on available supplies.
Mr Bowler told the Irish Mirror: “We’re shipping blood out to the hospitals every day.
“They have a little stock of their own but the concern is if supply levels drop any further, it moves us into that space where we might have to say to hospitals that we have to cancel out the surgery.
“We’re not there yet and that’s what we’re trying to avoid because we have to conserve the blood.
“In that situation, blood would have to be conserved for A&E patients, emergency surgeries and maternity.
“Between now and the end of next week, we need to be collecting somewhere in the region of about 6,000 units of blood.”
The IBTS is urging donors to make a special effort to give blood in the run up to the bank holiday weekend and in the following weeks.
Inclusion of fathers’ names on birth certs is to become compulsory
Registrars will also get new powers to halt all the “sham” marriages
The inclusion of fathers’ names on birth certificates will become compulsory for the first time under planned new legislation discussed at Cabinet today.
The inclusion of fathers’ names on birth certificates will become compulsory for the first time under planned new legislation discussed at Cabinet today.
Civil registrars will get also new powers to prevent so-called “sham” marriages.
A memo on the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2013 brought to Cabinet by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton was approved, meaning a law to amend the 2004 legislation can be drafted.
In cases where the parents of a baby are not married to each other, the current position on fathers’ names on birth certificates is that a father is not required to give information on the registration of a birth. A mother is not required to supply the father’s details.
The amendment would make the provision of such information compulsory other than in exceptional circumstances.
The Law Reform Commission has previously recommended the compulsory joint registration of the birth of a child where the parents are not married.
The Commission argued that automatic joint registration would reinforce the right of a child to know their parents.
Meanwhile, the Bill aims to make marriages of convenience much more difficult to contract in the future. Such marriages tend to be entered into for the purpose of one of the parties gaining an automatic right of residency based on marriage to a person who already has a right of residency.
Under current legislation, it is not possible to prevent a marriage taking place, even where it is suspected to be a marriage of convenience.
The planned legislation would give registrars the right to investigate a suspected “sham” marriage of convenience. The registrar can refuse to issue a marriage registration form, which would effectively block the marriage from going ahead, and can notify the immigration authorities.
The recently-published Annual Report of the Registrar General for 2012 said a legislative solution was required to enable the State to take steps to prevent such marriages from taking place.
Irish media firms will fail if a digital platform is not developed
Companies in Ireland will struggle to survive unless they have a digital platform, industry analysts have warned.
Pricewater house Coopers say Irish people are demanding more content though digital channels and companies – especially media agencies – could fail if they don’t cater to the changing demand.
In line with the current government drive to further stimulate Ireland’s digital sector, PWC have released its latest Global entertainment and media outlook: 2013-2017, reflecting a nation that demands content online.
“Traditional media will still dominate but as we have seen with the proliferation of smart phones tablets, people are constantly connected,” says Amy Ball of PWC.
“What that means is that they expect to be able to access content on the move – wherever, whenever.”
According to the report released earlier today, internet access is set to grow significantly, in turn sparking consumer demand for more digital content. This will have naturally an impact on the country’s media sector at large, says Ball.
“Anybody operating in this space needs to have a digital platform – otherwise they may not survive.
“Last year we forecast that the entertainment and media sector would grow by 2.7pc. We’ve increased that significantly to say that over the next five years, this will grow by 4.2pc, fuelled primarily by digital.”
By 2017, PWC predicts that at least 42pc of the overall market will be represented by media.
Advertising is going to be a key area of growth, according to the report findings, again primarily driven by the internet and digital, with growth of 27.2pc expected on an annual basis for the next few years.
Ireland’s landscape has acted as a deterrent for some time now “because it is a very hilly and disparate country”, with broadband fibre expensive and cumbersome to lay and mobile coverage nonexistent in many rural areas.
But Ball says that this is changing. “The next generation networks will offer really good speeds, really good data quality, much greater reach because it is a far reaching technology and it’s easy to deploy.”
61 tons of Silver bullion recovered from a shipwreck off the coast of Ireland
TREASURE HUNTERS SALVAGE £23 MILLION WORTH OF SILVER BARS FROM SHIP SUNK BY THE NAZIS
Odyssey Marine Exploration senior project members Andrew Craig and Ernie Tapanes inspecting the first silver bars recovered from the SS Gairsoppa site. The treasure hunters have salvaged another £23 million of silver bars from the ship sunk by the Nazis in the North Atlantic.
Treasure hunters have salvaged another £23 million (€26.7 million) of silver bars from a ship sunk by the Nazis in the North Atlantic.
Odyssey Marine Exploration recovered 61 tons of bullion this month, 1574 precious bars, from the SS Gairsoppa, a 126 metre British cargo ship that went down in February 1941 about 300 miles off Ireland in international waters.
Odyssey Marine, pioneers in the field of deep water treasure hunting, exploration and salvage, have taken about 99 per cent of the insured silver from the ship.
Greg Stemm, Odyssey’s chief executive, said the recovery has been an extremely complex operation.
“To add to the complications, the remaining insured silver was stored in a small compartment that was very difficult to access,” he said.
In total, Odyssey has taken 2,792 silver bars from the ship, including the latest haul of ingots weighing about 1,100 ounces each or almost 1.8 million troy ounces. Last year’s payload of 1,218 bars was valued at £25m as silver prices were higher then.
In the latest haul, 462 bars were of very high purity silver, .999 silver, and stamped with the brand HM Mint Bombay.
The precious metal — a world record recovery because of the depth and size — was taken ashore in Bristol and sent to a secure location in the UK. It will be analysed and refined before being sold.
Odyssey was given a salvage contract by the UK Department for Transport and the company will retain 80 per cent of the net value of the cargo.
Sources, including Lloyd’s record of War Losses, indicate additional uninsured government-owned silver may have been on the SS Gairsoppa when it was holed by a German U-boat on its way to Galway bay, but none has been found to date.
Mark Gordon, Odyssey’s president, said: “We have accomplished a world-record recovery at a depth never achieved before. We’re continuing to apply our unique expertise to pioneer deep-ocean projects that result in the discovery and recovery of lost cultural heritage, valuable cargoes and important and needed natural resources.”
The recovery operations were conducted from the 89 metre Seabed Worker with 5,000m (16,404ft) depth-rated remotely operated vehicles.
Odyssey will begin work on the SS Mantola, a 137 metre British-flagged steamer lost in 1917 and found in 2011, which reportedly carried about 600,000 troy ounces of silver insured under the UK War Risk insurance programme.
Dolphins ‘can call each other by name’
The research sheds new light on the intelligence of dolphins
Scientists have found further evidence that dolphins call each other by “name”.
Research has revealed that the marine mammals use a unique whistle to identify each other.
A team from the University of St Andrews in Scotland found that when the animals hear their own call played back to them, they respond.
Dr Vincent Janik, from the university’s Sea Mammal Research Unit, said: “(Dolphins) live in this three-dimensional environment, offshore without any kind of landmarks and they need to stay together as a group.
“These animals live in an environment where they need a very efficient system to stay in touch.”
Signature whistles: It had been-long suspected that dolphins use distinctive whistles in much the same way that humans use names.
Previous research found that these calls were used frequently, and dolphins in the same groups were able to learn and copy the unusual sounds.
But this is the first time that the animals response to being addressed by their “name” has been studied.
Most of the time they can’t see each other, they can’t use smell underwater… and they also don’t tend to hang out in one spot”
To investigate, researchers recorded a group of wild-bottlenose dolphins , capturing each animal’s signature sound.
They then played these calls back using underwater speakers.
“We played signature whistles of animals in the group, we also played other whistles in their repertoire and then signature whistles of different populations – animals they had never seen in their lives,” explained Dr Janik.
The researchers found that individuals only responded to their own calls, by sounding their whistle back.
The team believes the dolphins are acting like humans: when they hear their name, they answer.
Dr Janik said this skill probably came about to help the animals to stick together in a group in their vast underwater habitat.
He said: “Most of the time they can’t see each other, they can’t use smell underwater, which is a very important sense in mammals for recognition, and they also don’t tend to hang out in one spot, so they don’t have nests or burrows that they return to.”
The researchers believe this is the first time this has been seen in an animal, although other studies have suggested some species of parrot may use sounds to label others in their group.
Dr Janik said that understanding how this skill evolved in parallel in very different groups of animals could tell us more about how communication developed in humans.
