News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Tuesday 27th September 2016

Michael Noonan outlines Budget tax cuts to Cabinet

USC reductions and inheritance tax changes planned

   

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan: The Government has about €1 billion to spend in the Budget, split on a 2:1 basis between spending increases and tax cuts.

A range of tax cuts – including reductions in the USC and changes to inheritance tax – have been outlined to Cabinet by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.

With Budget 2017 two weeks away, Mr Noonan outlined a rough outline of the plans to his ministerial colleagues at Cabinet on Tuesday.

The Government has about €1 billion to spend in the Budget, split on a 2:1 basis between spending increases and tax cuts.

Mr Noonan told Ministers that he is likely to reduce the lowest two USC rates by half a point each – from 1 per cent and 3 per cent to 0.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively.

He will also raise the threshold at which people enter the lowest USC rate, effectively taking more people out of the USC net. The USC entry point is currently set at €13,000.

The Minister will also further increase the threshold at which inheritance tax for gifts between parents and children will be levied.

In his last budget, Mr Noonan began a process of gradually increasing the inheritance tax thresholds – by raising it from €225,000 to €280,000.

It is understood that Budget 2017, which will be presented on October 11th, will raise it again by as much as €40,000, as part of a multi-year process to eventually raise it to €500,000.

However, while the Government is planning to raise the threshold, it is not proposing to cut the 33 per cent tax rate applied to bequests over the threshold. This rate increased in 2009 from 20 per cent.

A tax credit for self-employed people announced in last year’s budget will also be extended.

The “earned income tax credit” worth up €550 was announced last year and it is likely to be doubled in a fortnight’s time.

Mr Noonan also told his colleagues he intended to help first time house buyers, but did not give any specifics, and said he will provide further support for start up companies.

Children’s Minister Zappone and Fine Gael at odds over childcare proposals

   

Party members unhappy Minister for Children’s scheme neglects ‘squeezed middle’

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone had put forward a plan for a subsidised childcare scheme initially aimed at lower income families.

The Minister tasked with drafting the Government’s childcare plan was kept in the dark as alternatives to her proposed scheme, which was criticised for neglecting middle-income earners, were mooted in budget talks.

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone had put forward a plan for a subsidised childcare scheme initially aimed at lower income families.

However, a number of Fine Gael members were unhappy as the proposal did not help the ‘squeezed middle’ – those earning between €32,800 and €70,000 – and wanted the subsidies to be given to parents across all income groups.

Alternative options to the Minister’s proposals were discussed elsewhere in Government – unbeknown to her – as recently as late last week, when concerns about the plan were being raised.

The Minister’s scheme, as outlined to a Cabinet sub-committee, suggested the initial steps would focus on families with a combined parental income of €47,000 or less, with the income thresholds rising over a number of years.

One of the alternative options discussed was rolling out subsidised childcare over a number of years based on the age of the child. For example, in the first year it would cover children aged up to one before being broadened over time to cover those aged up to three, when they can begin to avail of free pre-school care.

Sources said such a proposal would have income limits, meaning it would not apply to the State’s wealthiest people.

Such a proposal is likely to be more favourable to Fine Gael backbenchers but a spokesman for Ms Zappone last night stressed it had not been discussed with her or the Department of Children.

The spokesman also said Ms Zappone fully intended to stick to her plan.

A spokesman for Ms Zappone said: “These anonymous sources in no way reflect the content of the ongoing budget negotiations.”

While Taoiseach Enda Kenny last week said Ms Zappone had been asked to restructure elements of the scheme, he yesterday indicated it would focus on low incomes and “expand as the economy improves and more money becomes available”.

Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan outlined a range of likely tax cuts at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting. The Government has around €1 billion to spend in the budget, which Ministers have said will be split on a 2:1 basis between spending increases and tax cuts.

Mr Noonan told his colleagues he was likely to reduce the lowest two USC rates by half a point each – from 1 per cent and 3 per cent to 0.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively.

Threshold

He will also raise the €13,000 threshold at which people enter the lowest USC rate, effectively taking more out of the USC net.

The threshold for inheritance tax on gifts between parents and children is also expected to be raised from €280,000 to €320,000.

A tax credit for self-employed people will also be extended. An “earned income tax credit” worth up to €550 was announced last year and it is likely to be doubled in a fortnight’s time. Mr Noonan also told his colleagues he intended to help first-time house buyers but did not give any specifics, and said he would give further support to start-up firms.

World’s first baby born with new 3 parent technique.  “It’s revolutionary.”

 

It’s a boy! A five-month-old boy (middle picture) is the first baby to be born using a new technique that incorporates DNA from three people, New Scientist can reveal. “This is great news and a huge deal,” says Dusko Ilic at King’s College London, who wasn’t involved in the work. “It’s revolutionary.”

The controversial technique, which allows parents with rare genetic mutations to have healthy babies, has only been legally approved in the UK. But the birth of the child, whose Jordanian parents were treated by a US-based team in Mexico, should fast-forward progress around the world, say embryologists.

The boy’s mother carries genes for Leigh syndrome, a fatal disorder that affects the developing nervous system. Genes for the disease reside in DNA in the mitochondria, which provide energy for our cells and carry just 37 genes that are passed down to us from our mothers. This is separate from the majority of our DNA, which is housed in each cell’s nucleus.

Around a quarter of her mitochondria have the disease-causing mutation. While she is healthy, Leigh syndrome was responsible for the deaths of her first two children. The couple sought out the help of John Zhang and his team at theNew Hope Fertility Center in New York City.

Zhang has been working on a way to avoid mitochondrial disease using a so-called “three-parent” technique. In theory, there are a few ways of doing this. The method approved in the UK is called pronuclear transfer and involves fertilising both the mother’s egg and a donor egg with the father’s sperm. Before the fertilised eggs start dividing into early-stage embryos, each nucleus is removed. The nucleus from the donor’s fertilised egg is discarded and replaced by that from the mother’s fertilised egg.

But this technique wasn’t appropriate for the couple – as Muslims, they were opposed to the destruction of two embryos. So Zhang took a different approach, called spindle nuclear transfer. He removed the nucleus from one of the mother’s eggs and inserted it into a donor egg that had had its own nucleus removed. The resulting egg – with nuclear DNA from the mother and mitochondrial DNA from a donor – was then fertilised with the father’s sperm.

Zhang’s team used this approach to create five embryos, only one of which developed normally. This embryo was implanted in the mother and the child was born nine months later. “It’s exciting news,” says Bert Smeets at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The team will describe the findings at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Scientific Congress in Salt Lake City in October.

Neither method has been approved in the US, so Zhang went to Mexico instead, where he says “there are no rules”. He is adamant that he made the right choice. “To save lives is the ethical thing to do,” he says.

The team seems to have taken an ethical approach with their technique, says Sian Harding, who reviewed the ethics of the UK procedure. The team avoided destroying embryos, and used a male embryo, so that the resulting child wouldn’t pass on any inherited mitochondrial DNA. “It’s as good as or better than what we’ll do in the UK,” says Harding.

A remaining concern is safety. Last time embryologists tried to create a baby using DNA from three people was in the 1990s, when they injected mitochondrial DNA from a donor into another woman’s egg, along with sperm from her partner. Some of the babies went on to develop genetic disorders, and the technique was banned. The problem may have arisen from the babies having mitochondria from two sources.

When Zhang and his colleagues tested the boy’s mitochondria, they found that less than 1 per cent carry the mutation. Hopefully, this is too low to cause any problems; generally it is thought to take around 18 per cent of mitochondria to be affected before problems start. “It’s very good,” says Ilic.

Smeets agrees, but cautions that the team should monitor the child to make sure the levels stay low. There’s a chance that faulty mitochondria could be better at replicating, and gradually increase in number, he says. “We need to wait for more births, and to carefully judge them,” says Smeets.

Two women, one man and a baby

A Jordanian couple has been trying to start a family for almost 20 years. Ten years after they married, she became pregnant, but it ended in the first of four miscarriages.

In 2005, the couple gave birth to a baby girl. It was then that they discovered the probable cause of their fertility problems: a genetic mutation in the mother’s mitochondria. Their daughter was born with Leigh syndrome, which affects the brain, muscles and nerves of developing infants. Sadly, she died aged six. The couple’s second child had the same disorder, and lived for 8 months.

Using a controversial “three-parent baby” technique (see main story), the boy was born on 6 April 2016. He is showing no signs of disease.

JUROR’S excused for a fortnight as judge considers legal issue in FitzPatrick trial

  

The former Anglo Irish Bank director Sean FitzPatrick.

JURORS in the trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick have been told they will not be required again until Monday week.

Judge John Aylmer told the jury there was a legal issue which he had to deal with before the trial can proceed.

“That is not unusual,” he said.

Mr FitzPatrick (68), of Whitshed Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow, is facing 27 separate charges of misleading Anglo’s auditors Ernst & Young.

Before they retired all of the charges were read to them.

Judge Aylmer said when they return counsel for the prosecution Dominic McGinn would open the case.

“That lengthy and daunting indictment will be made clear to you,” he said.

The judge said it was “an awful lot to digest” but it would be explained.

Judge Aylmer reminded the jury not to seek information about the case outside the courtroom.

“For God’s sake don’t be tempted to publish your own views on the matter on social media,” he added.

The trial is expected to last 12 weeks. Mr FitzPatrick has denied the charges.

These include 21 counts of making misleading, false or deceptive statements to the auditors of Anglo Irish Bank, contrary to section 197 of the Companies Act 1990.

The offences allegedly occurred on dates between 2002 and 2007 and carry a maximum five year jail term.

They include five counts alleging Mr FitzPatrick did not disclose to auditors Ernst & Young arrangements temporarily reducing the balance of loans to him or persons connected to him at the end of the financial year. The reductions cited ranged in size from €4.3m to €88.9m.

He also faces six charges of giving false information contrary to section 242 of the Companies Act 1990 on dates between 2002 and 2008.

The offences carry a maximum jail term of three years. All counts relate to Mr FitzPatrick allegedly producing financial statements giving a false figure for the aggregate value of loans to directors of Anglo.

Half of Pluto’s heart contains liquid water; NASA finds miracle on the dwarf planet

    

NASA made an interesting discovery about Pluto and announced it hours before the press brief about Jupiter’s Europa. Even so far from the sun, the dwarf planet has liquid water.

Early last year, Pluto’s “heart” was discovered and it made the world coo at the dwarf planet. Though removed under the classification of what counts as a “real” planet, the dwarf planet continues to astound as scientists find that even so far away from the heat of the sun, Pluto actually has liquid water.

Due to the distance of Pluto from the sun, it should only contain layers upon layers of ice. But last year, when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) New Horizon spacecraft flew past it, scientists began to suspect that there might be a subsurface ocean.

Since the discovery of Pluto’s heart, a team led by Brandon Johnson, an assistant professor in Brown University, focused on getting to know the Sputnik Planum or the western lobe of the heart. The team believed that the love was caused by an asteroid impact. But the interesting and more pressing question arose when the Planum demonstrated positive mass instead of the opposite.

“An impact crater is basically a hole in the ground. You’re taking a bunch of material and blasting it out, so you expect it to have negative mass anomaly, but that’s not what we see with Sputnik Planum,” said Johnson, as reported by Express.

Pluto once again defies expectations and instead shows that the crate has positive mass as a result of the meteor which in turn caused the subsurface ocean to even out across the dwarf planet. Because it was so astounding, natural curiosity took over and the scientists wanted to “run computer models of the impact to see if this is something that would actually happen.”

The results of their tests yielded and stated that the production of a positive mass anomaly is sensitive to how thick, how salty, and how dense the water is. Thus, the ocean layer of at least 100 kilometers “has to be there.”

Though the thermal models of Pluto’s structure do suggest the existence of a liquid ocean, scientists are still on the lookout of important information that can explain how it is possible in the first place. Once again, Pluto astounds the scientific community, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Tuesday 12th July 2016

Irish charities regulator to examine trusts set up towards tax avoidance claims

Stephen Donnelly tells the Dáil that debt buyer paid €250 corporation tax on €300m profit?

   

Social Democrat TDs Stephen Donnelly, Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall at the launch of the Social Democrats private member’s motion regarding regulation in the charity sector.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald will ask the charities regulator to examine the issue of charitable trusts, a number of which a TD claimed, had been set up specifically to avoid paying tax in Ireland.

Ms Fitzgerald was responding to Social Democrats TD Stephen Donnelly who highlighted the case of companies using charities to allow the firms avoid paying tax.

Mr Donnelly for the second time in a week in the Dáil had raised the case of Oaktree Capital, which deals in distressed mortgages and uses another firm to invest those funds.

He said Oaktree had paid €80 million for distressed mortgages in Ireland and expected to make a profit of between €300 million and €320 million.

Last year it had income of €14 million but paid corporation tax of just €250.

He said profits “should rightly be taxed in this country with the benefit going to the exchequer”.

He said the firm had three shares, each in the ownership of a charitable trust. “All three are controlled by one of Ireland’s top law firms, Matheson, ” he said.

He said charitable status should not be available to hedge funds, debt collectors, “to companies operating in the shadow banking sector in Ireland with the specific aim of avoiding paying taxes in this country”.

The Wicklow TD said it deprived the State of very valuable taxes “that it could be using to provide the public services that the real charities have stepped in to provide”.

Ms Fitzgerald said she would bring the issues to the charities regulator, adding that Mr Donnelly had raised relevant points about charitable status.

Anti-corruption agency

Both were speaking in a debate on a Social Democrats private member’s motion calling for the establishment of an anti-corruption agency, and for a critical review of the HSE’s 2014 revised framework for all organisations it funds.

The debate follows the controversies involving financial irregularities at the suicide charity Console and pay and pensions top-ups to senior executives at the St John of God organisation.

Introducing the debate, Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said “we tend to deal with the scandal rather than prevent its occurrence in the first place.”

She said there was only a very small number of dysfunctional charities “but they bring the whole sector into disrepute”.

Ms Murphy said 50 per cent of the sector’s income came from statutory grants.

“One has to question the effectiveness of a lot of the funding and one has to question whether it would be better utilised in a more streamlined sector where it could be more accurately targeted.”

She pointed out that there were more than 200 suicide charities and as a result funding was fragmented and disjointed. “An amalgamation or an umbrella of those charities would be very welcome,” she believed and it was the same with housing and animal-welfare charities.

The Tánaiste said “the public must have confidence that the money they donate to charity will be managed and used correctly at all times. Anything less is a betrayal of the goodwill of thousands of people around the country and of the taxpayer.”

She said one of the key roles of the charities regulator was to safeguard the future of the charity sector and there had been significant progress.

Ms Fitzgerald said the regulator was engaged with more than 12,500 charitable organisations.

“It has received approximately 300 concerns raised against 132 entities, the majority of which were charities. These concerns ranged from issues to do with an organisation’s purpose to the quality of services provided.” The Minister said the number represented about 1 per cent of all charities.

Referring to the Social Democrats’ call for the establishment of an anti-corruption agency, Ms Fitzgerald acknowledged they were “motivated by a concern to enhance the way in which a broad range of wrongdoing is addressed”.

But she said it was not clear how the amalgamation of the functions of a wide range of agencies with widely varying functions would, of itself, enhance the capacity of the State to fight corruption.

Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan said serious allegations of misappropriation of funds were matters for An Garda Síochána.

“Any misappropriation from funds of charities is theft and should be treated in same way as any other theft,” he insisted.

Mr O’Callaghan added that had the charities regulator been fully implemented when it was passed a number of years ago, inspectors would have been in place and the dysfunction that occurred might have been prevented.

Irish off-licences seek ban on below-cost selling of alcohol

National Off-Licence Association also calls for cut to excise duty

    V   

        Off=Licences                            Supermarkets

The umbrella group for off-licences is calling on Government to reduce excise duty and ban below cost selling of alcohol.

The umbrella group for off-licences is calling on Government to reduce excise duty and ban below-cost selling of alcohol.

In a pre-budget submission, the National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) said Ireland had the highest excise on wine in the EU and the third highest tax on beer and spirits.

It claimed the budgetary hikes on excise made during the financial crisis have pushed many off-licences to the brink of commercial failure.

Retailers and suppliers have to raise and pay an extra €17,958 per 1,000 cases of wine in excise and Vat due to increases in Budget 2013 and 2014.

The sector’s difficulties are exacerbated by competition from mixed traders, mainly supermarkets, which now control about 80% of alcohol sales in the Republic.

The group claimed supermarkets typically absorb tax increases on popular products – by as much as 68% to keep alcohol prices low and maintain footfall.

The group, which represents about 300 businesses – employing 5,900 people in the Republic, wants the Government to reintroduce a ban on the below cost selling of alcohol.

Alcohol Bill

The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill, which is before the Dáil, contains provisions for the establishment of minimum unit pricing measures to prevent below-cost selling.

A potential obstacle comes in the form of a recent European Court of Justice ruling, which found similar legislation in Scotland contravened EU law.

As part of the submission, NOffLA released the results of its 2016-member survey which indicated that 55% of off-licences would struggle to remain open if the current level of excise is increased in Budget 2017, jeopardising thousands of jobs.

Conversely, the survey suggested if the current level is excise is reduced 81% of respondents would re-invest in their business.

“We are calling on the new Government to take positive and decisive action that will safeguard jobs, encourage local investment and ultimately contribute to the development of local communities,” Noffla’s government affairs director, Evelyn Jones, said.

“A reversal of the punitive Budget 2014 excise increase on alcohol combined with a reduction of the tax on wine, which is significantly higher than that of cider and beer, would facilitate business and indeed consumer choice,” she said.

“Finally, we believe tighter controls on out-of-state online retailers should be introduced to promote higher levels of responsible retailing thus protecting the general public, alcohol consumers and retailers,” she added.

As much as 44% of working adults think their work impacts on their health?

Most say their workplace is supportive of actions to improve their health

   

A new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll finds that more than four in ten ie. 4 in 10 of working adults (44%) say their current job has an impact on their overall health, and one in four (28%) say that impact is positive.

However, in the survey of more than 1,600 workers in the U.S., one in six workers (16%) report that their current job has a negative impact on their health. Workers most likely to say their job has a negative impact on their overall health include those with disabilities (35%), those in dangerous jobs (27%), those in low-paying jobs (26%), those working 50+ hours per week (25%), and those working in the retail sector (26%).

A number of working adults also report that their job has a negative impact on their levels of stress (43%), eating habits (28%), sleeping habits (27%), and weight (22%). “The takeaway here is that job number one for U.S. employers is to reduce stress in the workplace,” said Robert J. Blendon, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who directed the survey.

Note: View the soon to be posted on-demand recording of Harvard Chan School’s July 11, 2016 Forum webcast, Health in the American Workplace: Are We Doing Enough?, for more perspectives on the topic: https://theforum.sph.harvard.edu/events/health-in-the-american-workplace-are-we-doing-enough/

A summer-long series on the topic began airing July 11, 2016 on NPR.

View the complete poll findings.

The key Findings are:-

Figure 1. Do you think your current job is good or bad for your [INSERT ITEM], or does it not have an impact one way or another?

Responses: Stress Level: bad impact, 43%, no impact, 39%, good impact, 16%;

Eating Habits: bad impact, 28%, no impact, 56%, good impact, 15%;

Sleeping Habits: bad impact, 27%, no impact, 55%, good impact, 17%;

Weight: bad impact, 22%, no impact, 57%, good impact, 19%

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% because Don’t Know/Refused responses are not shown.

Chemicals and contaminants top list of biggest health concerns in the workplace

About one in five working adults (22%) say that something at their job may be harmful to their health, including 43% of construction or outdoor workers and 34% of workers in medical jobs.

Among workers with any health concerns about their workplace, the most frequently cited health concerns mentioned are chemicals and other contaminants (30%), unhealthy air (13%), accidents or injuries (12%), and stress (11%).

About one in four workers rate their workplace as fair or poor in providing a healthy work environment; about half are offered wellness or health improvement programs

About one in four workers (24%) rate their workplace as only fair or poor in providing a healthy work environment; however, 34% give their workplace a rating of excellent. About half (51%) say their workplace offers any formal wellness or health improvement programs to help keep themselves healthy.

“Every year, U.S. businesses lose more than $225 billion because of sick and absent workers,” said Robert Wood Johnson President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey. “But I believe that business drives culture change and with them on board we can succeed in building a Culture of Health in America. It’s not a hard connection to make. In many companies as much as 50 percent of profits are eaten up by health care costs.”

Nearly half of all workers (45%) rate their workplace as only fair or poor in providing healthy food options. Over half of workers in factory or manufacturing jobs (55%), medical jobs (52%), retail outlets (52%), and construction or outdoor jobs (51%) give their workplace a fair or poor rating at providing healthy food options.

A majority of ‘workaholics’ say they work longer hours because it is important to their career; half say they enjoy working longer hours.

About one in five working adults (19%) say they work 50 or more hours per week in their main job; these workers are called ‘workaholics’ in this study. When given a list of possible reasons why they work 50+ hours per week, a majority of these workers (56%) say they do so because it’s important for their career to work longer hours, 50% say they enjoy doing so, and just 37% say they do it because they need the money.

A majority of working adults say they still go to work when they are sick

A majority (55%) of working adults say they still go to work always or most of the time when they have a cold or the flu, including more than half (60%) of those who work in medical jobs and half (50%) of restaurant workers.

Types of workers who are most likely to still go to work always or most of the time when they are sick include those working 50+ hours per week in their main job (70%), those working two or more jobs (68%), workers in low-paying jobs (65%), and younger workers ages 18-29 (60%).

Low-wage workers often face worse conditions than high-wage workers.

Working adults in self-reported low-paying jobs often report worse working conditions than those in high-paying jobs. For instance, more than four in ten workers in low-paying jobs report facing potentially dangerous situations at work (45% vs. 33% in high-paying jobs), and almost two-thirds (65% vs. 48% in high-paying jobs) say they still go to work always or most of the time when they are sick.

One in four workers in low-paying jobs (26%) say their job has a negative impact on their overall health, compared to just 14% of those in high-paying jobs. “In an era of concern about low-wage workers, it’s clear they face more negative health impacts from their jobs compared to those who are paid substantially more,” said Blendon.

Methodology of report?

This poll is part of an ongoing series of surveys developed by researchers at the Harvard Opinion Research Program (HORP) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NPR. The research team consists of the following members at each institution.

• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Robert J. Blendon, Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis and Executive Director of HORP; John M. Benson, Research Scientist and Managing Director of HORP; Justin M. Sayde, Administrative and Research Manager; and Mary T. Gorski, Research Fellow.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Fred Mann, Vice President, Communications; Carolyn Miller, Senior Program Officer, Research and Evaluation; and Joe Costello, Director of Marketing.
• NPR: Anne Gudenkauf, Senior Supervising Editor, Science Desk; and Joe Neel, Deputy Senior Supervising Editor, Science Desk.

Interviews were conducted by SSRS of Media (PA) via telephone (including both landline and cell phone) using random-digit dialing, January 6 – February 7, 2016, among a nationally representative probability sample of 1,601 workers in the U.S. In this survey, “workers” are defined as adults working full- or part-time who are either employers or work for someone else in their main job (not self-employed), and who work for 20 hours or more hours per week in their main job. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The margin of error for total respondents is +/- 2.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Possible sources of non-sampling error include non-response bias, as well as question wording and ordering effects. Non-response in telephone surveys produces some known biases in survey-derived estimates because participation tends to vary for different subgroups of the population. To compensate for these known biases and for variations in probability of selection within and across households, sample data are weighted by cell phone/landline use and demographics (sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, and number of adults in household) to reflect the true population. Other techniques, including random-digit dialing, replicate subsamples, and systematic respondent selection within households, are used to ensure that the sample is representative.

People with disabilities have right to a proper professional service,

Says Junior Minister McGrath

    

The Minister of State for Disabilities Finian McGrath has said that people with disabilities have a right to “proper professional service”.

His comments come after HSE took control of three centres run by the Irish Society for Autism.

A total of 47 adult residents with autism were living in the three farm-based centres at Cluain Farm in Westmeath, Dunfirth Farm in Kildare, and Sarshill House in Co Wexford

“We need to be able to ensure that these people get a proper, professional service,” said Mr McGrath.

“And we also need to change the mindset as well in relation to the whole idea of people with disabilities in charities – as far as I’m concerned, people with disabilities have rights [including] their right to proper services.”

Investigations by the healthcare watchdog HIQA last year revealed that drugs were used to chemically restrain patients, while others left the premises unnoticed or engaged in self-harm.

The charity admitted it has been experiencing “some difficulty in achieving regulation with HIQA”.

It added: “These have been very challenging times for all concerned including our residents and staff, many of whom have been with us for a long time.”

Despite initial objections to two of the takeovers, which were later dropped, the charity said: “We are a small organisation and we believe that, in the long term, this decision is in the best interest of our residents.”

A new MRI technique shows what drinking water does for your appetite, stomach and brain?

   

Stomach MRI images combined with functional fMRI of the brain activity have provided scientists new insight into how the brain listens to the stomach during eating. Researchers show — for the first time — real time data of the brain, the stomach, and people’s feelings of satiety measured simultaneously during a meal.

Activation in the insula is increased when the stomach is distended more.

Stomach MRI images combined with functional fMRI of the brain activity have provided scientists new insight into how the brain listens to the stomach during eating. Research from Wageningen University in the Netherlands shows and for the first time an real time data of the brain, the stomach, and people’s feelings of satiety measured simultaneously during a meal, in a study to be reported this week at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, held in Porto, Portugal.

The researchers collected data from 19 participants during two separate sessions with different consumption procedures and found that a simple change like drinking more water can alter messages from the stomach interpreted as fullness by the brain. This new research approach can be used to investigate the interplay between satiety feelings, volume of the stomach and activity in the brain.

In the experiment, participants drank a milk-shake on an empty stomach, which was followed by a small (50 mL) or large glass of water (350 mL). MRI images were used to see how the different amounts of water affected stretching of the stomach: the large glass of water doubled the stomach content compared to the small glass. Together with this larger volume subjects reported to have less hunger and felt fuller.

This novel approach — combining information obtained simultaneously from MRI images of the stomach, feelings reported by the subjects, and brain scans — can offer new insights which would otherwise have been unknown, for example that activation in a brain area called the mid-temporal gyrus seems is in some way influenced by the increased water load in this experiment. The Wageningen University scientists developed the combined MRI method as part of the European Nudge-it research project, which seeks to discover simple changes that promote healthier eating. They will use it to search for a brain signature that leads people to decide to stop eating, to determine how strategies like water with a meal can be effective at feeling fuller sooner.

“Combining these types of measurements is difficult, because MRI scanners are usually set-up to perform only one type of scan. We’ve been able to very quickly switch the scanner from one functionality to another to do this type of research” says Guido Camps, lead author of the study. “In conclusion, we’ve found that simply adding water increases stomach distension, curbs appetite in the short term and increases regional brain activity.”

Global warming is shifting the Earth’s clouds, A new study shows

The warming of the planet over the past few decades has shifted a key band of clouds poleward and increased the heights of clouds tops 

     

Clouds are a key component of the Earth’s climate system.

The reaction of clouds to a warming atmosphere has been one of the major sources of uncertainty in estimating exactly how much the world will heat up from the accumulation of greenhouse gases, as some changes would enhance warming, while others would counteract it.

The study, detailed Monday in the journal Nature, overcomes problems with the satellite record and shows that observations support projections from climate models. But the work is only a first step in understanding the relationship between climate change and clouds, with many uncertainties still to untangle, scientists not involved with the research said.

While clouds are a key component of the climate system, helping to regulate theplanet’s temperature, their small scale makes them difficult to accurately represent in climate models.

Using satellite observations to look for trends is also problematic because they come solely from weather satellites, which aren’t geared to producing consistent, long-term records. In addition, some satellites have been replaced over time, have changed orbit, or seen degradation of their sensors, introducing false trends.

Joel Norris of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and his colleagues had previously figured out a way to remove those artifacts in the satellite data to reveal actual trends since the early 1980s. They focused on looking for those patterns that showed up in different climate models and that our physical understanding of the atmosphere supports.

Namely, the observations showed that the main area of storm tracks in the middle latitudes of both hemispheres shifted poleward, expanding the area of dryness in the subtropics, and that the height of the highest cloud tops had increased.

Such changes reinforce global warming: There is less solar radiation at the high latitudes near the poles, so as clouds shift that way, they have less radiation to reflect back to space. High cloud tops mean that more of the radiation that is absorbed and re-emitted by Earth’s surface is trapped by the clouds (akin to the greenhouse effect).

To investigate whether these changes in cloud patterns could be chalked up to the natural variation of the climate system, Norris and his team compared climate models that included external influences like rising greenhouse gases and volcanic eruptions with those that did not. The former showed the same trends as the observations, while the latter didn’t.

“The pattern of cloud change we see is the pattern associated with global warming,” Norris said.

Kate Marvel, a climate researcher with NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, agreed but cautioned that the cloud shifts are also consistent with what would be expected during recovery from major volcano eruptions, of which there were two at the beginning of the study period.

“More work is needed to tease out the relative roles of greenhouse gas emissions and volcanic eruptions,” she said in an email.

Norris plans to tackle this question in future work, as well estimating exactly how much clouds have changed.

The study also doesn’t deal with some of the cloud changes that are expected to be most important, namely those to low clouds in the subtropics, Bjorn Stevens, of the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, said in an email. Stevens is the lead author of the chapter on clouds and aerosols in the most recentIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.

Monday’s study is a step toward better understanding how clouds will change along with the climate, and lays bare the limitations of the satellite record and the need for better long-term observations, said Stevens, who was not involved with the research.

“This study reminds us how poorly prepared we are for detecting signals that might portend more extreme (both large and small) climate changes than are presently anticipated,” he said.

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Sunday 24th April 2016

Fine Gael willing to offer Fianna Fáil suspension of water charges

Enda Kenny said to have offered a temporary halt to charges to end deadlock

   

The two parties have agreed in principle to establish an independent commission to examine the future of Irish Water.

Fine Gael is willing to offer Fianna Fáil a temporary suspension of water charges in a bid to end the political deadlock.

Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny is understood to have told the Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin he will pause the levies while an independent commission explores a new charging regime.

In return Mr Kenny is seeking a firm commitment to re-introduce the charges after the commission reports. The Fine Gael leader is believed to have made the offer to Mr Martin at a meeting on Saturday and sought reassurances in return.

However, Mr Martin said he could not promise their return during the 32nd Dáil due to the huge opposition.

Instead, Fianna Fail wants the commission’s conclusions to be presented to an Oireachtas committee which will debate the findings and decide the way forward.

Mr Martin and Mr Kenny had a brief discussion yesterday at the Arbour Hill 1916 commemorations. They were due to hold further talks last night ahead of a meeting of the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil negotiating teams today.

Commitment

A Fine Gael source said: “There is agreement on both sides that this cannot continue and we are willing to go that bit further to ensure this impasse ends. This is a temporary suspension and we would need a commitment from Fianna Fáil that the charges would be brought back after the commission reports and a written agreement alongside that.”

The two parties have agreed in principle to establish an independent commission to examine the future of Irish Water. Any agreement would see the terms of reference stretch to a new charging regime and Fine Gael would be eager to ensure it reported back within a certain date.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both have their parliamentary parties on standby for a meeting tonight in the event an agreement is reached today.

Both sides’ positions seemed to harden in public yesterday as Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan insisted the charges and the utility cannot be abolished.

Conclusion

Fianna Fáil TDs Marc MacSharry and Timmy Dooley said no agreement could be reached without the suspension of charges. However, a Fianna Fáil source insisted there was a resolve to bring the talks to a conclusion and avoid a second election.

The issue of Irish Water is still the biggest policy issue dividing the parties but there are still some concerns surrounding childcare, health and housing.

The two parties are at odds over provision of career guidance counsellors, an extension of the mortgage interest relief scheme, funding for deprived areas and rural crime.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar is to meet members of the Independent Alliance today in a bid to secure their support for a Fine Gael-minority government. He has offered Waterford TD John Halligan a clinical review of the 24-hour care at the regional hospital and an extension of hours.

Fine Gael is hopeful it can win the support of the six members of the Alliance, two of the five rural TDs Denis Naughten and Michael Harty as well as Michael Healy-Rae and Maureen O’Sullivan. Noel Grealish, of the rural alliance, is also said to be strongly considering supporting the party.

90% of Irish motorists say rising insurance costs are ‘biggest issue’

AA survey finds facilities for cyclists important to just a third of motorists

   

The AA director of consumer affairs Conor Faughnan said the rising cost of insurance was “major frustration” for motorists.

More than nine out of ten motorists believe the cost of car insurance will be the biggest motoring issue they’ll face this year, according to a survey by the AA.

The survey of 8,800 motorists by AA Motor Insurance found that road safety ranks as the second most common concern for motorists (87 per cent), while the need to repair damaged roads came in third (77 per cent).

Another area of concern for motorists was the rate of motor tax with 72 per cent believing the charge to be “very important” in 2016.

Other issues important to motorists were the cost of petrol and diesel (68 per cent), the provision of improved public transport resources (49 per cent) and vehicle registration tax (40 per cent).

The survey also found traffic congestion to be a major issue for 46 per cent of motorists.

Providing and improving facilities for cyclists was an important issue for just 32 per cent of respondents.

Only 35 percent identified Irish Rail and Luas expansions as “very important” while a third were of the same opinion in relation to building new roads.

AA director of consumer affairs Conor Faughnan said the rising cost of car insurance was a “major frustration” for Irish motorists.

“We have seen an increase of almost 40 per cent in under as little as 24 months which the AA regards as an unacceptable burden on motorists,” he said.

“Prominent, visible traffic policing is every bit as important though and is critical to road safety.

“The AA believes the gardaí remain committed to this task, but the Government needs to ensure that gardaí have the necessary resources to carry out their jobs.

“It’s also worth remembering that more gardaí on the roads would see the cost of car premiums gradually decrease owing to a reduction in collisions, and subsequent claims.”

He added it was a “sad state of affairs” when the safety of road users was a secondary issue for motorists.

“This is exactly why we need leadership to be provided from the top level of Government to help stabilise the cost of car insurance,” he said.

“In the meantime, we must continue to promote road safety and responsible driving amongst all road users.”

An open letter to Minister Leo Varadkar

   

UCC Welfare Officer Katie Quinlan has written a stirring open letter to Minister for Health Leo Varadkar over proposed cuts to the mental health budget in 2016.

Earlier this week it was announced that €12m is to be taken from the budget this year, money that had been previously ringfenced to cover an issue that effects thousands and thousands of Irish people, both directly and indirectly.

Varadkar explained that the money had been earmarked for 1,550 new mental health staff across the country this year, a figure that became unrealistic.

Katie’s letter, however, simply asks why the money wasn’t directed into other areas around the treatment of mental health problems rather than removed entirely to cover other areas of the health spectrum.

This is a very strong message, and we’re happy to support it.

The letter begins…  Dear Mr. Varadkar,

This week I have watched you disregard a significant portion of this country’s population in one swift cruel move.

This week I watched you, a Government official, blatantly do a 180 on a promise you made to various mental health charities and advocates in the past few months.

This week I have watched mental health issues develop a small hint of that stigma we’ve fought so hard to remove.

Counselling has saved my life.

That’s not an easy thing to say and that’s probably the first time I have ever admitted it. Medication has saved many of my friends. Talk therapy has saved members of my family. I don’t buy this whole “one in five suffer with mental health issues” statistic, I think everyone is fighting their own fight. Some of us just need more help.

Your decision to cut mental health funding tells those that need more help that they can’t have it. Those that get the courage and conviction to reach out are now at more of a risk of having their plea for help fall on deaf ears.

We’re a country that bows its heads and gets on with things. We’re Irish, we’re stubborn and we’re incessantly polite.

Now is the time we need to fight.

This fight isn’t to remove an extra charge on our weekly bills or to increase the money we receive each week, this fight is to save our siblings, parents and friends’ lives.

This fight is to tell the pathetic substitute we have for government that we will not allow them alienate the people we need to help most.

For long enough this country has behaved as if mental health issues do not exist. We’ve brushed it all under the carpet, sedated the conversation and hoped it would all go away.

Now that we’re having the open and frank conversation on mental health you want to rip the funding from services that do their utmost for those who need it.

Have you ever listened to someone plead with you to let them take their own life? Have you ever spent hours wishing you could just make it all go away, just make all the thoughts stop? Have you ever watched someone spend hours trying to figure out why they feel so desolate? Have you ever woken up to the news that your friend just couldn’t take it any more and decided to end it all?

I have. Both in my work and in my personal life.

I can’t and I won’t sit back while you take money from services are saving lives every single day.

I plead with you, Mr. Varadkar, don’t allow the message that “help isn’t available” spread to the people who need us most.

I don’t want to sit at another funeral because my government took money from the service that could have saved this person.

I don’t want to have to worry when I advise someone to present at their local emergency room when everything becomes too much.

Don’t bring us back 50 years to a place where mental health is a taboo and we all just bow our heads and get on with it.

‘Anti-ageing’ gin claims to drive away wrinkles with each sip

  

The alcoholic drink named ‘Anti-AGin’, was developed by the UK-based Bompas and Parr, that creates food art using gelatin desserts.

The newly launched drink that costs about £35 a bottle may provide a novel way to consume collagen.

A UK-based company claims to have developed the world’s first anti-ageing gin, an alcoholic drink infused with collagen that may make you look younger.

The newly launched drink that costs about £35 a bottle may provide a novel way to consume collagen aside from the usual capsules available in the market. The beauty and cosmetic industry markets collagen because as people get older, they lose this valuable component, resulting in lack of firmness and wrinkles.

The alcoholic drink named ‘Anti-AGin’, was developed by the UK-based Bompas and Parr, that creates food art using gelatin desserts.

The 40 per cent spirit is a combination of chamomile and tea tree scents. Other ingredients include witch-hazel, nettle, juniper, coriander and angelica root, the ‘Tech Times’ reported.

“The ingredients were specifically chosen due to their revitalising qualities, including healing sun-damage, being rich in minerals, inhibiting scar formation and to help smooth cellulite,” Warner Leisure Hotels, which commissioned the drink, wrote in its website.

Collagen is naturally produced by the body, but as people age, its production diminishes. Taking in products with collagen or using beauty products with it, could help reduce wrinkles and other signs of premature ageing on the skin.

Massive coral reef discovered in the Amazon River

     

The University of Georgia’s Patricia Yager, oversees ocean sampling equipment before it’s lowered into the Amazon River plume.

The Amazon River, known for its array of wildlife from pink dolphins to flesh-eating piranhas, has revealed a new treasure — a massive coral reef that stretches for some 600 miles, scientists say.

A team of scientists from Brazil and the United States discovered the reef in the muddy waters at the mouth of the Amazon, according to a report published in the journal Science on Friday.

The reef system spans 3,600-square miles along the ocean floor, stretching from French Guiana to Brazil’s Maranhao state along the edge of South America’s continental shelf.

The finding is surprising because large rivers normally create gaps in reef distribution due to unfavorable conditions such as salinity, pH and light penetration. However, this coral reef system seems to be healthy, according to the report.

American and Brazilian researchers collected this sample of coral.

The carbonate structure, which functions as a waterway passage for fish and other marine life, is home to a big colony of sponges and other creatures that thrive in low-light waters. The study recorded 73 reef fish species, many of them carnivorous.

An international team of scientists from the University of Georgia and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro was on an expedition to learn more about Amazon River plumes when it made the discovery. Plumes are where the river’s freshwater mixes with the ocean’s saltwater.

“Our expedition into the Brazil Exclusive Economic Zone was primarily focused on sampling the mouth of the Amazon,” Patricia Yager, an associate professor with the University of Georgia and principal investigator of the project, said in a statement.

The Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean, creating a plume where freshwater and salt water mix.

However, Yager also wanted to explore the premise of a scientific article from the 1970s that mentioned a scientist capturing reef fish along the continental shelf, which suggested a coral reef may be somewhere in the area.

The search proved fruitful. “We brought up the most amazing and colorful animals I had ever seen on an expedition,” Yager said.

The paper details the reef and the variations in its fish, sponges and other marine life along the shelf due to the amount of light in the area and the plume’s movement. The southern part of the reef, which gets more light, has a wide spectrum of reef critters. Further north, as the light diminishes, the wildlife transitions to creatures like sponges.

Along with the discovery of the reef, researchers also found evidence suggesting this Amazonian jewel may already be threatened.

“From ocean acidification and ocean warming to plans for offshore oil exploration right on top of these new discoveries, the whole system is at risk from human impacts,” Yager said.

News of the extensive reef structure comes as various coral reef systems continue to suffer around the world because of warmer water temperatures and other factors, according to NOAA.

A photo taken on September 22, 2014, shows bleached coral on the Reef, a key Australian tourist attraction.

Tourism on the Great Barrier Reef generates an annual income of A$5 billion ($3.9 billion) and employs nearly 70,000 people.

Of the reefs surveyed in the northern third of the Reef, 81% are characterized as “severely bleached.”

Driven by ocean temperatures that have been 1-2 degrees Celsius (1.8-3.6° F) above average, the bleaching event has left large sections of coral drained of all color and fighting for survival.

The Reef has suffered two mass bleaching events, in 1998 and 2002, but the extent of the bleaching in these years was less severe than in 2016.

Dramatic coral bleaching, seen in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from March 2016.

Some of the bleaching of reefs in the northern section has been described as “extreme.”

Bleaching occurs when the marine algae that live inside corals die. Of the reefs surveyed in the northern third of the Great Barrier Reef, 81% are characterized as “severely bleached.”

“At some reefs, the final death toll is likely to exceed 90%,” Andrew Baird, of the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, says.

A photo taken on September 22, 2014, shows bleached coral on the Reef, a key Australian tourist attraction.

Tourism on the Great Barrier Reef generates an annual income of A$5 billion ($3.9 billion) and employs nearly 70,000 people.

Of the reefs surveyed in the northern third of the Reef, 81% are characterized as “severely bleached.”

Driven by ocean temperatures that have been 1-2 degrees Celsius (1.8-3.6° F) above average, the bleaching event has left large sections of coral drained of all color and fighting for survival.

The Reef has suffered two mass bleaching events, in 1998 and 2002, but the extent of the bleaching in these years was less severe than in 2016.

Dramatic coral bleaching, seen in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from March 2016.

Some of the bleaching of reefs in the northern section has been described as “extreme.”

9 photos: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers ‘extreme’ coral bleaching

Bleaching occurs when the marine algae that live inside corals die. Of the reefs surveyed in the northern third of the Great Barrier Reef, 81% are characterized as “severely bleached.”

“At some reefs, the final death toll is likely to exceed 90%,” Andrew Baird, of the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, says.

A photo taken on September 22, 2014, shows bleached coral on the Reef, a key Australian tourist attraction.

A recent report from ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies showed that 90% of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia is suffering from coral bleaching, which is caused by changes in ocean conditions such as temperature, light or nutrition.

This bleaching happens as algae and other organisms living on the structure leave, depriving the coral of its major food source and causing it to turn white.

Coral bleaching is considered “the most widespread and conspicuous impact of climate change,” according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Saturday 23rd January 2016

‘Solvency of banks’ reference removed from Irish Government statement

Inquiry finds press release after bank guarantee was altered

  

The former Governor of the Central Bank John Hurley has objected to the finding of the inquiry.

A reference to the solvency of the banks was removed from a government statement issued on the morning of the bank guarantee, the Oireachtas banking inquiry has found.

It was learned that the parliamentary committee has established that the press release on September 30th, 2008 – confirming the government decision to introduce a blanket bank guarantee – was altered to take out a claim that the institutions had sufficient funds.

This raises questions about how long before the bank bailout in November 2010 was the government aware the banks were insolvent.

The Oireachtas committee is also expected to dismiss the suggestion that Anglo Irish Bank would have defaulted if a guarantee was not agreed that night.

The inquiry, which was set up to investigate the cause of the crash, will confirm the Central Bank lobbied for a blanket bank guarantee, but had a contingency plan in place if one was not signed off in September 2008.

Nine months

It will also conclude the guarantee was not decided on that night, and was being examined by the government and other State institutions for nine months before the decision was made.

The final report of the committee is highly critical of the Financial Regulator, the Central Bank and successive governments for failing to see the risks in the run-up to the economic crash.It will conclude the regulator and the Central Bank had sufficient powers to intervene, but did not.

Former governor of the Central Bank John Hurley has objected to this finding.

Strategy memo

The report, which will be published in full on Wednesday, will criticise the government for ignoring the advice of the Department of Finance in the budget strategy memo laid out every April. It will find that, in every year bar one, it exceeded the department’s figures when drawing up its annual budgets.

There is also criticism of the department for an over-reliance on the advice of the Central Bank, and insists it should have carried out its own risk assessment.

The final report also finds there was no cost-benefit analysis of the property tax incentives introduced by successive governments. It concludes had they been amended or abolished sooner it might have mitigated the impact of the property crash.

The inquiry also found the European Central Bank refused to allow Ireland to burn senior bondholders.

It confirms the former president of the ECB, Jean Claude Trichet, directly intervened and warned Minister for Finance Michael Noonan that a “bomb” would go off in Dublin if it moved to introduce burden-sharing.

The report does not estimate how much could have been saved, but outlines the various figures quoted by the National Treasury Management Agency and former International Monetary Fund official Ajai Chopra, who claimed it could have saved up to €9 billion.

Thousands of protesters join anti-water charge demonstrations

      

Protesters from the Right2Water movement opposed to water taxes and austerity gather in Dublin.

Thousands of anti-water charge campaigners have taken part in a series of nationwide protests on Saturday last.

Around 30 demonstrations were organised in towns and cities up and down the country as part of the sixth day of action by the Right2Water movement.

The movement is led by community and political representatives and trade unions.

Ahead of the main events, a number of campaigners staged a picket at the Fine Gael ard fheis in Citywest in Dublin.

Campaign spokesman and general secretary of the Mandate union John Douglas said the controversial water charges should be at the top of the agenda for the forthcoming General Election.

“We promised over a year and a half ago that we would make water charges the number one issue for this election and today’s set of demonstrations is a step towards that objective,” he said.

“Water charges are an unfair imposition on the public and they serve no purpose other than a transfer of wealth from the poorest to the wealthiest in our society and they’re also about lining up the future privatisation of our water services.”

The largest protest was staged in Dublin outside the GPO on O’Connell Street.

Right2Water, backed by trade unions including Mandate, Unite, the Communication Workers’ Union, power union the TEEU, and the Civil and Public Services Union, plans to follow the latest rallies with another major demonstration on the Saturday before the election day.

It also plans a high profile conference with a panel of international speakers at the height of the election campaign.

Right2Water’s latest campaign centres on claims that households use 10% of water produced in the country compared with big business and agriculture but they pay nearly 80% of costs.

It has also attacked Irish Water figures which found 61% of customers have paid a bill.

Right2Water claims Irish Water should have taken in 225 million euro in charges to date but has only collected 110 million euro and it has spent 80 million euro on conservation grants.

At the last major rally last August, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Dublin.

A Belfast company wins mammogram tender to Sligo Hospital

A mobile mammography service will soon begin to treat Sligo patients

 

Northern Ireland’s leading cancer charity has won the contract to provide a mobile mammogram service to Sligo and the North West.

It means up to 300 breast cancer survivors in Sligo and Leitrim will soon be able to have follow-up treatment here without having to travel to Galway.

In what will be seen as a coup for his election campaign, Sligo-Leitrim Deputy John Perry confirmed the news yesterday (Monday) that the tender for follow-up mammography services at Sligo University Hospital has been awarded to Action Cancer.

Deputy Perry said the satellite follow-up service will “provide a safe, quality and evidenced based service to women in the Sligo, Leitrim and South Donegal area.”

“I can confirm that a company named Action Cancer, Belfast has been awarded the tender from HSE procurement,” said Deputy Perry.

“I’m pleased now that the Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal areas will be served. I expect it will begin as soon as early March,” he said.

“A site has been identified by management at Sligo University Hospital for the mobile service and I very much welcome this fast progression for provision of the service. This is something I have fought tooth and nail for since 2011 and that this was a red-line issue for me,” he added.

Hundreds of patients travel for follow-up treatment to Galway annually and the initial decision not to provide a service in Sligo was “grossly unfair and had to be reversed,” he said.

The service will operate under the governance of the Symptomatic Disease Service at Galway and all reporting will be carried out by HSE Consultant Radiologists in UHG. The tender requires that the mobile service is of a comparable standard and quality to that provided in Galway and that it can be linked electronically to the Group’s imaging system. The mobile service will be shared between hospitals in the SAOLTA group, ie Sligo, Letterkenny, Castlebar, Roscommon, Portiuncula, UHG and Merlin Park in Galway.

‘Doppelganger’ Two look-alike strangers take DNA test to find out if they are related

  

‘What does that mean for doppelgangers? Everyone who looks the same – are they related in some sense?’

Irene Adams and Niamh Geaney, both from Ireland, took a DNA test to see if they were related.

Two strangers who were told they look so alike that they could be related have taken a DNA test to find out whether this could be the case.

Niamh Geaney and Irene Adams, both 26, underwent the test after repeatedly being asked by people if they were blood-related.

M/s Adams is the “third doppelganger” M/s Geaney has found since she set up Twin Strangers, an online project aiming to match people who have never met but look alike.

Since setting up the website with friends, the Dubliner has met two similar-looking strangers – one who lived just a few miles away, and the second residing in Genoa. M/s Adams also lives in Ireland.

M/s Geaney, a student and television presenter, and M/s Adams took a DNA test to find out whether they were sisters, half-sisters or related in any way going back 20,000 years in their ancestry.

The results showed that there was a zero% chance of the women being sisters, at 150,000-1 odds, and neither did they share one parent.

M/s Geaney – who describes herself as a “global doppelganger hunter” – said the results to determine whether the pair are related in any way was the one she was “most worried about”.

“This is the one that could show that we are related in some sense. And then what does that mean for doppelgangers?” she said

“Everyone who looks the same – are they related in some sense?”

The test revealed that M/s Geaney and M/s Adams’ ancestors were descended from different parts of the world and so they could not possibly be related.

“Not sisters, not half-sisters, not even related up to 20,000 years ago. It’s Mental,” M/s Geaney added.

Twin Strangers matches lookalikes by asking them to upload photos and selecting the facial features they feel best match them.

Eleven Rules you should follow if you want Healthy hair

    

In an age of blowout bars, extreme dye jobs, and perms (yes, they’re back!), it’s not a question of if your hair is damaged but of how bad the situation really is. Before you start feeling hopeless because you’d sooner sell your soul than give up your flatiron, consider that even wrecked hair can be revived with a few sneaky little adjustments to your routine, according to scientists. Shinier, healthier-looking hair is just 11 tricks (and one roll of paper towels) away.

RULE: 1 Get it wet less often.

Water makes hair swell from the inside, which forces the cuticle up. “When that happens over and over again, you get frizz and breakage,” says cosmetic chemist Randy Schueller. “Don’t wash your hair more than you have to. Whenever you can skip a day, that’s great.” Instead, embrace a dry shampoo that’s a hard-core oil and odor absorber. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo removes grease and sweat from your hair rather than just coating it with powder.

RULE: 2 Stock your shower.

On those days when you do wash your hair, add a pre-shampoo–yep, that’s a thing now–to your routine. It works like a sealant, “smoothing the hair’s cuticle before it gets wet so there’s less damage,” says cosmetic chemist Ni’Kita Wilson, who recommends this for all hair types except fine. It also protects against friction from massaging in shampoo. “When your hair rubs together, the edges fray,” she explains. We like Nexxus Color Assure Pre-Wash Primer and Tresemmé Beauty-Full Volume Pre-Wash Conditioner.

RULE: 3 Get smarter about your shampoo.

Don’t worry about sulfates or no sulfates. “We tested sulfates against other cleansers and didn’t see any difference in terms of damage or fading color,” says Schueller. “All shampoos have detergents that strip oil and color from hair.” And don’t even think of touching a clarifying formula since they’re meant to strip your hair of anything and everything. What you want is a shampoo that says “damage repairing” on the label and has proteins to strengthen hair (we like L’Oréal Paris Advanced Haircare Total Repair 5 Restoring Shampoo) or a cleansing conditioner, which has the lowest concentration of detergents. One word of warning to fans of hair spray, silicone serum, or mousse: You’ll need to alternate a cleansing conditioner (we like Purely Perfect Cleansing Creme) with regular shampoo. “Cleansing conditioners can’t remove all that product residue that makes hair less flexible and leads to breakage,” says Wilson.

RULE: 4 Change the way you think about conditioner.

We all know they smooth frizz and make your hair softer and shinier. But if you own a blow-dryer or flatiron, you should also know that conditioners are critical to heat protection. “It’s just as important as heat-protectant spray, if not more, because conditioner is better at coating the hair,” says Wilson. Skim labels for ingredients that won’t rinse off–words with “methicone” or “polyquaternium” in them–or just get one of our favorites: Dove Quench Absolute Conditioner. Leave it on for at least five minutes, and then rinse with cool water. “This allows for more residual conditioner to be left on the hair,” she says.

RULE: 5 Just add layers.

Since heat is the worst thing for your hair, double down with a heat-protectant spray. But recognize that if it’s going to work, you’ve got to apply it the legit hairstylist way: Grab small sections of damp hair and mist each one up and down the length (two or three spritzes per section). When you’re finished, comb your hair to distribute the formula–heat protectants are pretty useless if they’re not applied all over, says Wilson, and getting there takes only a few seconds. Look for one that protects hair up to 450 degrees (it’ll say so on the label), like Style Sexy Hair 450 Degree Protect Heat Defense Hot Tool Spray, or Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Styling Heat Protect Spray for second-day hair.

RULE: 6 Move things along.

Anything that speeds up a blowout is good–less heat means less damage–so humor us with an experiment. Blot (don’t rub) your hair with a towel, then do the same with paper towels. You’ll be shocked at how much more water comes out of your hair and how it makes blowouts take half the time, says hairstylist Adir Abergel. Add a quick-dry spray and you’ll be watching the Today show again in no time. L’Oréal Paris Advanced Hairstyle Blow Dry It Quick Dry Primer Spraycontains ingredients that wick water away from hair (isododecane) and protect against heat (silicones), says Schueller.

RULE: 7 Save your old shirts.

We kid you not: Your cotton Madonna Virgin Tour tee is gentler on your hair than a Frette towel for drying. It’s why top hairstylists, including Mark Townsend, keep them on hand. “They don’t rough up the cuticle as much, so you don’t have to work as hard to smooth the hair and make it look healthy,” he says.

RULE: 8 Cool your head.

If your hair feels hot after you blow-dry or flatiron it, that means it’s still frying. “If you remove a steak from the grill, it still continues to cook, and it’s the same thing with heat retention from a blow-dryer, flatiron, or curling iron,” says Wilson. Hit the cold-shot button on your dryer.

RULE 9:  Get creative.

If you air-dry your hair overnight, you can minimize damage and free up time for snoozing, coffee, whatever in the morning. One trick that works for all hair types: Sleep with damp hair in two loose braids. “It smooths frizz, loosens curls, and gives straight hair beachy waves,” says hairstylist Mara Roszak.

RULE: 10 Do treat yourself.

Weekly scalp treatments make a bigger difference in the long run than you’d think. “Keeping the hair follicles clean prevents the blockage and inflammation that leads to thinning hair later in life,” says dermatologist Neil Sadick. Try Sachajuan Scalp Treatment with salicylic acid, which is better at cleaning the hair follicle than the cleansers in shampoo. If you’re pressed for time, “dandruff shampoos are great for cleaning the scalp, even if you don’t have dandruff,” says Sadick, who recommendsHead & Shoulders Instant Relief Shampoo.

RULE: 11 Boost the shine factor.

Sure, you could use shine sprays and serums, but they’re like fake boobs–they change things, but they don’t always look so natural. Dry oils, which contain the lightest silicones and oils, create the most believable shine. “They smooth the hair’s cuticle, which is the hallmark of healthy hair,” says Wilson

More men needed with singing talent to join “Tone Cold Sober” Sligo barbershop group

    

Left picture “Tone Cold Sober” as they were in 2015, and at the Strandhill markets during Xmas 2015 raising money for charity and right picture in 2010 when they won the National Male Chorus trophy at the 22nd International Barbershop Singing Convention which took place in the University of Limerick Concert Hall.

Tone Cold Sober, the well-established Sligo barbershop singing chorus group pictured above left, often seen and heard at charity events like at the Stranhill markets and civic functions. The ever popular group of singers based in Strandhill are in recruitment mode for the next few weeks.

They had a great first night last Wednesday attracting some 14 new men singers to the Clarion Hotel for an enjoyable and fun loving session.  The thirty or so men learned the Beatles number “All MY LOVING” in no time and at the end of the night sang it in 4-part harmony as if they were singing A Cappella together all of their lives.

The “learn to Sing” free event continues for the next three weeks and the club are offering another opportunity to men of over 18 years who enjoy singing and who could not make it on the first to come along next week.

This event is totally free and men will learn to sing in 4 part A Cappella style. The programme starts again at 8pm till 10pm for the next three Wednesday nights January 27^th, February the 3^rd and the 10^th in The Clarion Hotel.

By the end of the fourth session two popular songs, specially arranged in four-part harmony, will be ready for public performance. Irish men enjoy singing but may feel inhibited doing so in public and for one reason or the other maybe from their school days have never had the chance or confidence to give it a go. This well tried and tested programme is designed to help break down such inhibitions. Everyone, including all current members of TCS will be learning the same songs. In that way it’s a level playing field for one and all.

Participants can consider joining the Chorus at some time and any-time in the future. Those interested are asked to text their name to 087-2444548.

Animals more capable of empathy than previously thought, A study finds

Researcher found that prairie voles would console one another after experiencing stress

    

The prairie vole is capable of consoling behaviour that previously was only known to humans and a few almost human like animals, such as chimpanzees.

A new study has found that prairie voles will console other voles who are feeling stressed – which researchers have described as evidence of empathy.

A study team at Emory University set up an experiment where pairs of voles isolated from each other, and one of them was exposed to mild shocks.

When they were reunited, the voles who hadn’t been shocked would lick their partners sooner and for longer durations than specimens in a control group who were separated but not exposed to shocks.

The consoling behavior only took place between voles who were familiar with each other, and not between strangers. According to researchers Larry Young and James Burkett, this demonstrates that the behavior was not simply a reaction to aversive cues.

The study authors said: “Scientists have been reluctant to attribute empathy to animals, often assuming selfish motives. These explanations have never worked well for consolation behavior, however, which is why this study is so important.”

Prairie voles are known for maintaining lifelong, monogamous partnerships, in which both parents will look after their offspring.

Until recently it was thought that only humans, great apes, and large-brained mammals such as dolphins and elephants were capable of showing consolation behavior towards one another. This latest study is the first time empathy has been identified in rodents.

Researchers also investigated the effects of blocking the oxytocin receptor in the voles’ brains, given that the neurotransmitter is associated with empathy in humans. In a series of consolation experiments, it was found that blocking oxytocin did stop the animals from consoling each other, but did not affect their self-grooming behaviour.

Their report, published this week by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said: “Many complex human traits have their roots in fundamental brain processes that are shared among many other species. We now have the opportunity to explore in detail the neural mechanisms underlying empathetic responses in a laboratory rodent with clear implications for humans.”

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Friday 15th January 2016

Ireland’s second-level teachers to stage a one day strike before election

Lecturers in institutes of technology to also engage in work stoppages early next month

   

Areas of concern identified by the TUI include income poverty for teachers and casualisation. 

Second level teachers are planning to stage a one-day strike prior to the forthcoming general election.

The move could affect students in about 350 schools across the country, mainly in the vocational, community and comprehensive sectors.

The executive of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) decided on Friday to stage a one-day strike after members voted by a margin of 89 per cent in favour of industrial action.

The date of the planned strike has not yet been determined .

The union said on Friday that the the stoppage in second level schools would go ahead unless its demand for “meaningful talks” are areas of significant concern was met.

Lecturers in institutes of technology, who are also represented by the TUI, are separately planning to stage a one-day strike on February 3rd over serious concerns about issues within their sector.

The areas of concern identified by the TUI include income poverty for teachers, casualisation,what it described as a collapse of student support systems as well as greater bureaucracy in the education sector.

TUI president Gerry Quinn said: “Following an overwhelming mandate for industrial action from members, TUI’s executive committee today decided that unless the union’s demand for talks on a number of crisis issues is met, teachers will take a day’s strike action before the general election.”

The Department of Education said it was open to engaging with the TUI “on issues of mutual concern in the context of their continuing co-operation with collective agreements”.

It said an increase of more than €200 million in the education budget had allowed for a cut in the pupil teacher ratio at primary level and second-level, the employment of approximately 3000 more teachers, and the enhancement of school leadership.

The Department of Education said it was also currently implementing reforms to tackle casualisation in the teacher profession on foot of a report last year by an expert group.

The TUI said that those who entered the teaching profession from February 2012 had been placed on a severely reduced scale which meant their starting salary declined by 21.7 per cent compared to those appointed prior to 2011 (based on contract of full hours).

“To make matters worse, for several years now, second-level teachers have been applying for fractions of jobs with no guarantee of being retained from year to year. Some 30 per cent of second-level teachers are employed on a temporary and/or part-time basis and this proportion grows to 50 per cent for those under 35.

“As a result of casualisation, students are often taught by a succession of teachers in a given subject area over the course of the Junior or Leaving Certificate cycles. Clearly, this is undesirable.”

The TUI also said it was being reported to it that it is becoming increasingly difficult for schools to attract new teachers in certain subject areas.

Bus Éireann unveils a €50m bus fleet with power sockets and more leg room

Economic growth fuelling increase in bus passenger numbers says Paschal Donohoe

   

Bus Éireann launches new €50m fleet of the future. Tim Gaston of the National Transport Authority is pictured with Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe and Martin Nolan chief executive of Bus Éireann and Teelin the dog.

Bus Éireann’s new €50 million fleet of the future featuring power sockets, free wifi, monitors, and increased leg room has gone on show in Dublin.

A total on 116 new vehicles including 82 seater double deck commuter coaches and 78 seater double deck buses have been bought for city services in Cork, Limerick and Galway as well as commuter services in the greater Dublin area.

The state-of-the-art vehicles also feature real time passenger information, are wheelchair accessible and have lower fuel emissions

Four of the new buses were officially unveiled at King’s Inns, Dublin , by Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe on Friday.

Mr Donohoe said economic growth was driving an increase in bus passenger numbers. He said the funding , provided by his department via the National Transport Authority, would help deliver a more modern, reliable and comfortable fleet by reducing the average age and maintenance costs. “Ensuring that public transport is an attractive option is central to encouraging people to leave the car at home” he said.

Passenger trips made on all Bus Éireann city and rural routes along with commercial and other services amounted to 37.8 million in 2015, up 700,0000 on 2014 figures.

More than 500,000 extra journeys were made on subsidised Public Service Obligation services last year, while more than 200, 000 extra trips were made on commercial and other services

Passenger journeys in Cork city grew by over eight per cent, while commuter journeys to Dublin -were also up from 6.7 million to 6.8 million.

Bus Éireann chief executive Martin Nolan said last year was a second year of increasing passenger journeys on Bus Éireann services.The funding investment in these new vehicles was both progressive and necessary, he said.

Irish flu activity increases significantly says the HPSC

  

All indicators of influenza activity in Ireland increased significantly during week one of the 2016 season (week ending January 10, 2016), with activity at moderate levels.

According to the latest weekly flu report, influenza A(H1)pdm09 and influenza B are co-circulating, with increasing hospitalisations and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions reported during this period.

“It is now recommended that antivirals be considered for the treatment or prevention of influenza in high risk groups,” the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) recommended, as the number of reported cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) in Ireland has increased in the past week.

During week 1, 2016 the GP consultation rate for ILI increased to 48.5 per 100,000 population from an updated rate of 11.3 per 100,000 during week 53, 2015 (week ending January 3, 2016). ILI rates have increased above the Irish baseline ILI threshold (18 per 100,000 population) for the first time this season, which means that flu is actively circulating in the community, said HPSC Director Dr Darina O’Flanagan.

“Influenza-like illness increased in all age groups but particularly in those aged less than 65 years. Although flu is starting to circulate, flu activity remains at moderate levels,” she said.

“Prevention is better than cure, and the increase in flu activity means it is even more important to get your flu jab if you are in an at-risk group.”

The highest rates reported in the 15-64 year age group and the predominant influenza viruses circulating are influenza A(H1)pdm09 and influenza B. The proportion of influenza-related calls to GP out-of-hours services remained elevated during week 1 2016.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) positivity also remained at high levels during week 1. Positive detections of adenovirus, parainfluenza viruses and human metapneumovirus were reported with respiratory admissions reported from a network of sentinel hospitals having also been at high levels during week 53.

According to the report, there have been 76 confirmed influenza hospitalised cases notified to the HPSC for the 2015/2016 season to date, with six new confirmed influenza cases admitted to critical care units and reported to HPSC during the week ending January 10, 2016, bringing the season total to 13 cases. Four confirmed influenza cases have died so far this flu season.

Four acute respiratory/influenza outbreaks were reported to the HPSC during the week ending January 10, 2016, one in an acute hospital setting and three in residential care facilities.

The 2015/16 influenza season has started in Europe; with the proportion of influenza virus-positive sentinel specimens over 10 per cent for three consecutive weeks, states the report, with viruses characterised to date this season in Europe genetically similar to the strains recommended for inclusion in this winter’s trivalent or quadrivalent vaccines for the northern hemisphere.

You’ll soon be able to delete those annoying default Apple apps

   

iPhone neat freaks can breathe a sigh of relief after it emerged the beta of the latest version of iOS will enable users to remove native apps they don’t use.

Reddit user bfodder noticed that in the beta version of iOS 9.3, with a little tweaking, a user could delete the native apps that previously were untouchable.

This means so-called bloatware apps such as Stocks, Tips, Find Friends and iBooks – often rarely used and consigned to a folder in the corner of your home screen – could be removed completely.

There is a catch however, the process required to remove apps is not only complicated (and involves paying £79 to be in Apple’s Developer Program), but also only applies to some types of users.

In order to make the changes, bfodder had to so some editing in the Configurator program – this is normally only accessible to businesses and schools who need to tailor devices to their needs. In short, it means that this option may never become completely accessible to the general iPhone user.

However, iOS 9.3 is still in beta, so things can still change before it is put on general release to the public. Also, Apple has shown signs recently of softening its stance on native apps, with another shortcut (which you can see below), that enables users to hide apps they don’t use but can’t delete.

With Android beginning to cut down on pre-installed apps as well, it appears bloatware could be on the way out.

NASA takes a look at possible ice volcano’s on Pluto

The New Horizons spacecraft delivers a closer look at what might be a dramatic ice volcano on the surface of Pluto.re

   

Everyone knows what a volcano looks like. It spews out hot lava, spits fire and screams “Don’t touch me!” If you were an astronaut faced with a volcano on Pluto, you might see something very different than what we’re familiar with here on Earth. NASA thinks the dwarf planet may have ice volcanoes on its surface.

NASA has known about the possibility of ice volcanoes on Pluto since last year, but a new image released on Thursday gives scientists a closer look at one of the potential sites for such exotic activity. The New Horizons spacecraft zoomed in for a close flyby in July and has been sending back data and images ever since. The composite color image shows a feature called Wright Mons, named for the pioneering Wright brothers. Wright Mons is massive at 90 miles (150 kilometers) across and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) high. If NASA confirms that it is an ice volcano, then “it would be the largest such feature discovered in the outer solar system.”arge Image

This could be an ice volcano on Pluto.

Ice volcanoes, also known as cryovolcanoes, kick out a slush containing ice, nitrogen, ammonia and methane, as opposed to the molten rock spit out by Earth volcanoes. Scientists suspect ice volcanoes exist on Saturn’s moon Titan and Neptune’s moon Triton. “To put them in perspective — if Mount Vesuvius had been a cryovolcano, its lava would have frozen the residents of Pompeii,” says NASA scientist Rosaly Lopes.

Wright Mons is located near the bottom left-side point of Pluto’s heart, a heart-shaped formation that covers a large part of the dwarf planet’s surface. The area in the close-up image is notable for its lack of impact craters. NASA says this tells scientists the surface here was created relatively recently and may point to volcanic activity as the culprit.

Pluto is a surprisingly diverse place. Its surface is covered with icy plains, ancient cratered areas and possible dunes. There’s even a pitted area that scientists say acts like an icy lava lamp.

New Horizons launched in 2006, the same year Pluto was demoted from a full planet to dwarf-planet status. The spacecraft reached its main destination in 2015, but there are still plenty of discoveries to be made and new mysteries to be solved as NASA works through the heaps of data and images coming back from deep into space.

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Monday 29th September 2015

The Taoiseach opens New Research Centres to benefit front-line patient care in Galway

    

NUI Galway have opened the Lambe Institute for Translational Research and HRB Clinical Research Facility at University Hospital Galway.

The co-location of these two facilities in one building on hospital grounds will mean basic laboratory research conducted in the translational research facility can be evaluated in clinical trials in the clinical research facility and ultimately benefit patients faster.

Some examples of the types of studies undertaken in the two facilities will include: Predicting risk of breast cancer due to inherited characteristics. Stem cell trials to help improve blood flow in legs of diabetic patients and prevent amputation. Clinical trials in blood cancer patients to establish whether new treatments can be combined with existing treatment for better outcomes. How implantable medical devices can provide new solutions for patients.

Officially opening the building, An Taoiseach said, “I am delighted to celebrate the opening of this new clinical and translational facility made up of the Lambe Institute for Translational Research and the Health Research Board Clinical Research Facility. This project represents a truly innovative partnership between NUI Galway, Health Research Board, Saolta University Health Care Group, and HSE supported by private philanthropy through Galway University Foundation.

Ireland is recognised as an emerging global hub for the ‘medtech’ sector. Galway is at the very heart of this development and NUI Galway is the powerhouse for much of this progress.”

NUI Galway President, Dr Jim Browne, said,“Today is a milestone in the development of medicine at NUI Galway.

NUI Galway has given strategic priority to the development of biomedical engineering science. Over the past two decades we have invested heavily in this area, with major new research facilities on our campus. Our researchers advance scientific knowledge to address health challenges. Here in this building that scientific knowledge is being developed into novel treatments, which are then carefully applied in the clinical setting and tested in clinical trials led by NUI Galway.”

Commenting, Maurice Power, CEO, Saolta University Health Care Group said, “This exciting new facility brings together leading-edge medical research directly to the bedside of patients at University Hospital Galway and the wider Hospital Group.  For our patients, the facility will provide inpatient and outpatient beds, a minor operations room, endoscopy, endocrine and cardiorespiratory suites, a phlebotomy room and a biometrics unit.  As well as its primary function in benefiting our patients it will also allow our Hospital Group attract and retain the highest calibre of medical professionals.”

Speaking at the launch Dr Ronan Lambe, said, “It is a great privilege for my wife and I to be associated with such a state of the art facility which will enhance the reputation of NUI Galway as a centre of excellence for Bio Medical Research.”

The proximity of the University to UHG will enable direct patient access and collaborative trial input from the hospital Oncology/Haematology Clinical Trials Unit. The CRF will ensure that patients in the West and North West of Ireland have access to a number of new cancer therapies that would otherwise not have been available to them. Clinical trials are active in the treatment of melanoma, multiple myeloma, mantel cell lymphoma, breast, prostate, lung, care

Latest statistics show an increase in Ireland’s gun crime

Sharp drop in murders but 28% increase in car hijackings and related crimes

   

Possession of a firearm increased by 21%t to 214 cases in the 12-month period to the end of June. Many forms of serious crime have increased, though the murder rate has fallen significantly in the Republic.

Burglaries were up by 9%, to 27,890 cases reported to the Garda, in the latest 12-month period for which crime trends are now available.

The latest data, published by the Central Statistics Office, also revealed further increases in the level of those offences most closely associated with organised crime gangs.

Possession of a firearm increased by 21% to 214 cases in the 12-month period to the end of June, compared to the 12-month period to the end of June last year.

It may suggest resurgence in gun crime after a sharp decline since the 2007-2008 period when the drugs trade collapsed along with the wider economy.

However, the latest data also reveals cases of discharging a firearm were down by 2%.

Controlled drugs offences overall were down by 1.2% to 14,488 crimes.

Cultivation of drugs and possession of drugs for personal use were down, by 19% and 1% respectively.

However, the crime of drug dealing – possession of drugs for sale or supply – increased by 1%, to 3,448 cases.

There was a very sharp decline in murders; down by 37% to 38, from 60 cases in the previous periods

Sexual offences increased by 3% and within that rise was a jump of 7% in the crime of rape of a male or female, to 478 cases. Other sexual assaults were also up, by 7%.

Driving a vehicle under the influence of drugs and drink were both down; by 13 per cent and 4% respectively.

Some 6,450 motorists were detected driving over the legal alcohol limit in the 12-month period while 232 were caught driving under the influence of drugs.

Car hijackings and related crimes increased by 28%, to 110 cases. There were 7,392 cars stolen in the period, three crimes lower than the previous year.

Homicide offences – of which murders are but one category – have decreased to 60 from 93, a fall of 36%.

Attempts of threats to murder, assaults and harassments are up 10%, to 16,054 offences.

Kidnapping and related offences have decreased by 4%, to 131 offences.

Fraud and other deception related crimes have shown an increase of 6%, to 5,337 crimes. Public order crime has decreased by 5%, to 32,866 offences.

Bullied obese children miss long periods of school year

  

Aoife Brinkley, a senior clinical psychologist at the child obesity service at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, said seven out of ten children at the clinic reported bullying, with one tenth self-harming as a result, and suffering with depression and anxiety disorders.

With a quarter of Irish children classed as overweight or obese, it is thought more and more will be psychologically affected by bullying as a new international report pinpointed weight as the most common form of playground teasing.

Dr Brinkley said children with obesity can be so affected by bullying they can no longer face going into the classroom. “We see kids refusing to go to school. We would have a little group that have struggled or missed a huge amount of school because of the bullying they have experienced.”

The leading psychologist said she has seen bullying resulting in children becoming so socially anxious they can’t go outside their house.

“We would have a lot of children who have attempted to hurt themselves and harm themselves. We would have children with depression, symptoms of anxiety.

“There is a lot of social anxiety where children or teenagers are struggling to go outside the house because they feel so self-conscious.

“It can become a vicious cycle where a young person teased or bullied doesn’t want to leave the house and is gaining weight because they are not leaving the house.”

She said bullying can begin to have much more serious consequences towards the end of primary school.

“Maybe they have been bullied on and off from third class and fourth class but maybe things continuing into fifth class and sixth class, so it means that transition to secondary school is particularly difficult for those kids.”

She said a survey carried out among children with obesity attending the W82GO Healthy Lifestyles Programme in Temple Street, which sees an average of 150 children a year, showed 57% of children experienced moderate bullying with 11% subjected to severe bullying.

“With girls it tends to be name-calling, left out of games. As they get older it tends to be more of a serious nature. Targeted exclusion over a period of time, repeated comments and we have had some children where there has been quite serious cyber bullying on social media.”

She said there are also a lot of misconceptions around childhood obesity in Ireland. “A lot of the stigma is that people think that it’s simple — that they need to eat less or be more active. That is true to some degree but sometimes there are barriers to stop them doing that which are absolutely insurmountable whether it’s parents’ substance use or mental health within the family.

“I’d like to break down the myth that it is a simple thing or it is the parents’ fault. It is very complex and a really difficult thing to change.”

VHI policies are to rise by average of 2% from November

Health insurer says price rise is required to cover the increasing cost of customer claims

    

The Insurer says the increase is the first in 20 months.

The State’s largest health insurer VHI is to introduce an average premium price increase of 2% from November.

In a statement the company said the increases would range from between 1% and 5% depending on the cover.

Declan Moran, VHI’s director of marketing, said the increase was the first in 20 months and was necessary to cover the rising cost of claims.

Lovely Letterkenny scoops tidy towns of Ireland top spot

 

Clonegal, Co Carlow, Listowel Co Kerry and Westport among other category winners

Letterkenny, Co Donegal, has been named Ireland’s Tidiest Town for 2015 in the annual Supervalu National Tidy Towns Awards competition.has been named Ireland’s Tidiest Town for

Letterkenny, Co Donegal, has been named Ireland’s Tidiest Town for 2015 in the annual Supervalu National Tidy Towns Awards competition.

It beat 860 villages and towns across the State to become the eighth town in Donegal to win the award since the competition began in 1958. Letterkenny was also named as Ireland’s tidiest large urban centre.

Other winners included: Clonegal, Co Carlow, which was named tidiest village; Listowel, Co Kerry, which was named tidiest small town and Westport, Co Mayo, received the award of tidiest large town,

Evidence of water makes issue of life on Mars a hot topic

New discovery takes scientists tantalisingly close to uncovering actual life on Red Planet

   

Portions of the Martian surface shot by Nasa’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show many channels on a scarp in the Hellas impact basin, in this photograph taken January 14th, 2011 and released by Nasa on March 9th, 2011. Scientists have found the first evidence that briny water may flow on the surface of Mars during the planet’s summer months, a paper published on Monday showed.

The answer to a question which has troubled scientists, science fiction writers and rock singers for generations has taken a giant leap forward with the discovery of liquid water flowing freely on the Red Planet.

While past Martian probes have revealed hints of rivers, lakes and even oceans which dried up a long time ago on the planet far, far away, this new discovery offering concrete evidence of water still flowing freely there – at least during the planet’s summer months – takes scientists tantalisingly close to uncovering actual life on Mars.

Nasa’s discovery of water running hundreds of metres down the planet’s canyons and craters has been hailed across this world as a scientific breakthrough of huge importance.

“It is the first verification of liquid flow on Mars and it is very significant,” said Kevin Nolan of the School of Applied Science at the IT in Tallaght. “It is so hard for liquid water to form on the Martian surface, so if we are finding it on the surface then it is very likely there are significant quantities underground too.”

He said it was an accepted scientific fact on Earth that “where there is water, there is life, there is no exception – and that is why Nasa has been following the water on other planets for decades”.

The Martian water only flows when the surface of the planet rises above -23C. Despite the freezing conditions, it can still flow because a high salt content drops the point at which it freezes far below zero degrees Celsius.

Scientists have yet to establish the source of the water but are working off theories that it rises up from underground ice or condenses out of the thin Martian atmosphere.

The newly discovered trickles will most likely by used by space explorers to map the best sites to seek out life on Mars and to establish landing spots for future human missions.

“If we find there is life on two of eight planets in our solar system then it suggests that life is widespread throughout the universe,” Mr Nolan said.

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Wednesday 15th July 2015

Only just 46% of Irish Water clients have paid their bill

   

Irish Water is expected to announce today that less than half of its customers have paid water charges.

Just 46% of households who must pay have done so, the company will say, almost eight months to the day since the Coalition announced the revised flat-rate charging scheme.

Government sources confirmed the figures yesterday and said the board of Irish Water was being notified of the payments before they are announced by the semi-state company today.

“They are quite good given the opposition to the charges,” said a Government source. “They will climb substantially with the new measures coming in too. The problem is a lot of people leave it until the last minute.”

Households were given until the end of June to register with Irish Water to be allowed apply for conservation grants, which will be given to customers in September. Under the revised charging structure announced by the Government last November, single adult households in receipt of the grant will pay a maximum €60 a year while multi-adult residences must pay €160 a year.

However, there is no official deadline for when households must pay their bills. Under legislation passed by the Coalition last week, customers cannot be taken to court and forced to pay their charges until at least seven unpaid bills have passed — by which time it would be 2017.

People must have unpaid water bills of at least €500 before they are taken to court for debts to be deducted from salary, welfare or pensions.

In May, the Irish Examiner revealed the average rate of registration up until February was 69%, with 10 of 26 counties having registration rates above 75%.

As of last month, more than 1.3m people had registered with Irish Water. It is expected the company will today say that 1m of these are customers who are required to pay charges. The rest include households which, while not paying for charges because they are on water schemes or have their own wells, will be entitled to the conservation grants. This means 540,000 households, having registered as customers, have yet to pay charges.

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy said he and colleagues had tried six times over two months to obtain figures from Irish Water about the numbers who had paid their bills.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny surprised the Dublin TD when the Fine Gael leader said that Irish Water would reveal the data today. A Government spokesman said the Cabinet did not discuss the figures at its weekly meeting yesterday.

Irish Water refused to answer questions on the payment figures last night and would only say they would be released today.

The first billing cycle for Irish Water has just finished after bills for the first quarter of the year were delivered between April and last month. It is understood the board of Ervia, Irish Water’s parent firm, is aware of the level of payments.

The Government came under pressure in recent weeks to publish the payment figures after introducing sanctions or compliance measures to force tenants to pay charges and deduct people’s wages or dole if bills remain unpaid.

Anti-water charge campaigners are expected to use the low payment levels to criticise Irish Water and raise questions about whether the project has worked.

Meanwhile, the Right2Water campaign has announced proposals for a further national demonstration against water charges on August 29. “It’s very clear this government believes the water charges issue has gone away,” the group said in a statement. “We’re saying very firmly that it hasn’t and this will be the biggest issue when it comes to the next general election.”

The payment rates may also raise questions as to whether Irish Water will pass a Eurostat test this year as an independent entity

No qualified pancreas transplant surgeon available in Ireland

Seanad asks Leo to explain?

Health Minister Leo Varadkar forced to appear before Seanad tonight to explain the issue.

  

Leo Varadkar and Surgeon David Hikey now retired.

The Government suffered two defeats in the Seanad today.

Coalition senators were outvoted by the Opposition who demanded that Health Minister Leo Varadkar appear to discuss the issue of pancreas transplants.

The Government was defeated by 24 to 23 following a Fianna Fáil motion tabled by Kerry senator Mark Daly.

Fianna Fáil Seanad leader Darragh O’Brien told the Upper House: “We have been trying to get answers from Minister for Health Leo Varadkar, for some time now, on behalf of patients whose lives are at risk, as Ireland remains without any surgeon qualified to carry out pancreas transplants.’’

Mr Varadkar was forced to then appear at 9pm tonight to discuss the issue.

Later, a Fianna Fáil motion calling for a reversal of cuts to lone parents was passed.

A Fine Gael source said they expect further defeats in the Seanad in the coming weeks due to the Government’s minority.

IAG-Aer Lingus take-over deal cleared for by the EU

  

Merged IAG-Aer Lingus will have to offer for sale five pairs of landing slots at London Gatwick

The proposed €1.36 billion takeover of Aer Lingus by IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, has cleared its last major obstacle after the European Commission conditionally approved the deal yesterday evening.

IAG has committed to offering for sale five pairs of landing slots at London Gatwick, specifically for flights to Dublin and Belfast, to get the deal over the line. IAG has also promised the commission it will enter into agreements with IAG’s long-haul rivals to maintain route link-ups with Aer Lingus’s network.

The commission said it had concerns that the original terms of the merger would have lead to “insufficient competition on several routes”, including Dublin-London, Belfast-London and Dublin-Chicago. It said it also feared that IAG might try to prevent Aer Lingus from connecting its flights with those of IAG’s long-haul rivals. Since the deal was first notified to the commission on May 27th, however, IAG returned with specific competition remedy proposals to sway Margrethe Vestager, the competition commissioner, to rubber stamp the merger.

“By obtaining significant concessions . . . the commission has ensured that air passengers will continue to have a choice of airlines at competitive prices,” said Ms Vestager.

Under the terms of the approval, the merged IAG-Aer Lingus will have to offer for sale the five Gatwick slot pairs, although it is understood these will not necessarily be existing Aer Lingus slots. Iberia and British Airways, both owned by IAG, also own Gatwick slots. The commission has stipulated that whoever buys the slots will have to commit to use them for flights to Dublin and Belfast.

Aer Lingus and IAG confirmed to the stock market last night that at least two of the slot pairs must be used for flights to Dublin, while one must be used for Belfast. Aer Lingus shareholders are to vote tomorrow to approve measures designed to facilitate a commitment to the Government that connectivity will be maintained between Dublin and London Heathrow.

An Post seeks permission to offer customers current accounts

   

Providing banking services through post offices was recommended in a report done for Communications Minister Alex White in May

An Post has applied for a licence to allow it to offer current accounts to customers.

The move is at an early stage, but could provide a threat to the major banks. It is understood An Post is seeking to operate full current accounts.

Taxpayer-rescued banks have reacted to the financial crash by gradually removing free banking options for householders.

Now the 1,000-plus post offices countrywide could challenge the dominance of the main banks by offering better-value current accounts.

An Post has been trying to get back into consumer banking since Belgium bank Fortis pulled out of a joint venture with it, called Postbank, in 2010.

Post offices currently offer banking services for customers of AIB and Ulster Bank.

An Post does not need a banking partner to offer current accounts – day-to-day payments servicing accounts. Providing banking services through post offices was recommended in a report done for Communications Minister Alex White in May by a committee headed up by entrepreneur Bobby Kerr.

Dail Independents launch Social Democrats political party

Group pledges to abolish water charges and repeal the eighth amendment

  

A new party called the Social Democrats has been launched by three prominent Independent TDs: Catherine Murphy from Kildare North, Wicklow’s Stephen Donnelly and Róisín Shortall who represents Dublin North West. Mary Minihan reports.

The three prominent Independent TDs who launched the Social Democrats party said they would insist on the abolition of water charges if negotiating to take part in a new government.

Catherine Murphy from Kildare North, Wicklow’s Stephen Donnelly and Róisín Shortall, who represents Dublin North West, will share the leadership of the new party until after the general election.

“If we are in a position to be negotiating a programme for government, our position is that water charges would immediately be abolished. Our position is that the public ownership of the utility would be absolutely guaranteed,” Mr Donnelly said at the launch of the party.

“Irish Water is set up for privatisation. We would immediately remove that as an option. We would immediately pause the water metering implementation.”

Mr Donnelly said his household had not paid water charges “to the best of my knowledge”.

He said his family, part of “the negative equity generation”, had moved house three times in seven months. However, he said he “probably would” pay water charges, while Ms Murphy and Ms Shortall confirmed they had not paid.

Making their announcement at the Civic Offices in Wood Quay in Dublin, the trio said they wanted to see a 2:1 investment in public services relative to tax cuts in the upcoming budget.

They were critical of the Government’s proposed 50-50 split between tax cuts and spending increases.

They also said they were committed to extending paid parental leave to move towards a system where children could be cared for at home for at least the first 12 months of their lives.

Ms Murphy said the party hoped to attract “people of conviction” to contest the election under its banner. “Our intention is to deliver a social democratic vision that is very much in the Nordic tradition,” she said.

Asked about the party’s stance on abortion, Ms Murphy said they all agreed the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution had to be repealed and replaced by legislation.

There were a variety of views in society that needed to be adequately consulted so the vast majority of people could subscribe to the legislation, she added.

Ms Shortall said the “policy-based” party hoped to contest the election in every constituency.

She said the party would make a decision about a leader after the election, when she hoped its Dáil representation would be much larger.

She said the party had done a lot of work on its proposals to enhance childcare. Quality of and access to pre-school services should be improved, she said.

The party is also proposing the establishment of “child clinics” in all communities, “so that we can practice that principle of prevention and early intervention when it comes to wellbeing, particularly in relation to children”.

Ms Shortall said nobody else had been approached to run for the party, but that would happen. She also hoped people would approach the party in the coming weeks and months.

Independent Senator Katherine Zappone, who was previously in talks with the TDs, announced last month she would contest the Dáil election as an Independent candidate in Dublin South West.

A document distributed by the party at the launch event said its key policy areas were “strong economy, open government and social vision”.

The party’s values were listed as: “progress; equality; democracy and sustainability”.

Mr Donnelly said the traditional Irish approach to planning, investment and public services was short-term. “The Irish people deserve more than this and are demanding more than this.”

There was a growing demand for better education, healthcare, jobs and society, he said.

“New vision, fresh ideas, better approaches, these are what need to be put in place and ultimately that is what today and the Social Democrats are about.”

Ms Murphy said the Social Democrats wanted to end the practice of judges being appointed by politicians.

She said they wanted to see the Official Secrets Act replaced because they believed that openness was the key to good governance.

“We’re not interested in getting into auction politics. We believe in option politics,” she said.

She said the “standard merry-go-round of scandal, inquiry and report, but no real lessons learned” had to stop. It was “corrosive and offensive” to the values of Irish people

Seaweed that tastes like bacon/rashers

 

Close up of dulse seaweed being grown and harvested at Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport Oregon. Chris Langdon has been growing and studying it for decades and is now working with the Food Innovation Center in Portland on creating healthly and appealing dishes.

Oregon State University researcher Chris Langdon wasn’t looking for the next hipster snack when he started growing a special strain of seaweed 15 years ago. But he may have found it.

Dulse is a leafy red seaweed that grows along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. It’s packed with minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, and contains up to 16 percent protein by dry weight.

“The original goal was to create a super-food for abalone, because high-quality abalone is treasured, especially in Asia,” Langdon said in a statement, referring to a slug-like mollusk popular on restaurant tables in some parts of the world.

But when he tried the dulse himself, he realized it was surprisingly delicious — at least his version of it.

“In Europe, they add [dulse] powder to smoothies, or add flakes onto food,” Langdon said. “There hasn’t been a lot of interest in using it in a fresh form. But this stuff is pretty amazing. When you fry it, which I have done, it tastes like bacon, not seaweed. And it’s a pretty strong bacon flavor.”

When he brought in the marketing savvy of OSU business school teacher Chuck Toombs and the expert taste buds of research chef Jason Ball, dulse’s potential as people food floated to the surface.

“Dulse is a super-food, with twice the nutritional value of kale,” Toombs said. “And OSU had developed this variety that can be farmed, with the potential for a new industry for Oregon.”

Currently there are no commercial dulse-growing operations in the U.S. harvesting the plant for human consumption. But Langdon has patented his strain and Toombs’ MBA students are preparing a marketing plan for a new line of specialty foods.

“The dulse grows using a water recirculation system,” Langdon said. “Theoretically, you could create an industry in eastern Oregon almost as easily as you could along the coast with a bit of supplementation. You just need a modest amount of seawater and some sunshine.”

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Sunday 31st May 2015

Plans for new Dublin Airport runway ready for take-off

   

Plans for a €300m second runway at Dublin Airport have gained dramatic new impetus following the IAG takeover of Aer Lingus which includes plans to use Dublin airport to feed traffic from Europe to North America.

Over the next five years IAG plan to boost Aer Lingus feeder traffic through Dublin by an extra 2.4m passengers a year.

But even before the IAG bid for Aer Lingus emerged earlier this year the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) had reignited plans for a new runway on the 2,500 acre site at Collinstown.

New research released last week by the respected aviation website anna aero shows that Dublin is the fastest growing airport in Europe for long-haul traffic this year

Now plans for the construction of a second runway, which first emerged more than 30 years ago, look set to be fast tracked.

Planning permission for a new east-west runway, 1.6 kilometres to the north and parallel to the existing main runway was granted back in 2007 and remains valid for the next two years.

But air industry sources suggest a new planning application may have to be lodged because the original permission contained 31 restrictive conditions including a requirement that no flights operate from the second runway between 11pm and 7am.

The hour between 6am and 7am remains the airport’s busiest time and a ban on flights leaving a new second runway before 7am is considered impractical. Passenger numbers travelling through Dublin leapt by 8% to 21.7 million last year and are already 15% up on that figure in the first four months of 2015.

A DAA spokesperson said “We are currently examining the various options regarding the delivery of a second parallel runway at Dublin Airport, but have not yet made a final decision in relation to this issue.”

“A second parallel runway has been part of the overall development plan for Dublin Airport for several decades and we’re fortunate that land was earmarked for this project many years ago within the overall Dublin Airport campus.”

“The various options relating to its development will be carefully considered before the company makes a final decision on the best way forward and a second runway remains a central element of Dublin Airport’s long-term plans,” the DAA spokesman confirmed

Dublin Airport now has two flights per day to Dubai and Abu Dhabi with Emirates and Etihad both flying twice a day since last year.

Passenger numbers to the Middle East and North Africa doubled between 2011 and 2013.

The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) has ruled that Dublin Airport will not be allowed to pass on any of the costs associated with the development of a second runway until passenger numbers pass 25 million in a 12 month period.

Between 2010 and 2014, Dublin Airport increased its transatlantic passenger numbers by 42% with seven new transatlantic services during the same period.

This summer, Dublin Airport will be the sixth largest airport in Europe for services to North America with 318 flights per week (159 weekly departures) between Dublin and 15 separate destinations in the United States and Canada.

Fianna Fáil want new law to allow Irish Central Bank to lower mortgage rates

  

Fianna Fáil has said legislation is needed to force banks to lower their variable mortgage rates.

It comes as Bank of Ireland yesterday announced that it is reducing its fixed-rate mortgages by 0.3%.

It has made no announcement on its variable rate however, which stands at 4.5%.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan recently met with financial institutions to ask that they reduce variable rates in line with falling ECB rates.

Fianna Fáil Finance Spokesperson Michael McGrath said that legislation might be the only way to deal with this problem.

“I firmly believe that legislation is going to be required in the Oireachtas to give the Central Bank power to intervene where a market failure has occurred – and one has occurred in the Irish mortgage market – and to put a cap on the level of rates that the banks are charging variable rate customers,” he said.

“This issue is simply not going to go away.

“The Minister met with the banks a couple of weeks ago and, judging by this reaction from Bank of Ireland, those meetings have simply failed.”

Meanwhile back at the bank of money:

Irish Central Bank spends €55,000 on biscuits last year 2014?

The Irish Central Bank spent €55,000 on biscuits last year?

   

It looks like bankers have a very sweet tooth judging by figures released of the Central Bank’s food bill for 2014.

The bill was published in The Sunday Business Post today and shows that €55,000 was spent on biscuits alone last year.

The total is part of a sweet deal for staff which sees their food, tea, coffee and refreshments subsidised to the tune of over €1 million.

Banks bosses said the treats are also snapped up at seminars and meetings as well as press conferences and briefings.

Kidney Health could be a better way to predict heart disease risk

 

Kidney function could be a better gauge of heart attack risk than cholesterol levels and blood pressure, according to a recently conducted study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

According to a JHSPH news release, the researchers reviewed data collected from 637,000 patients in 24 studies who had no history of heart disease and found that results from common kidney function tests, which are used to assess levels creatine in the blood and the amount of albumin leaking out of the kidney into urine, improved the successful prediction rate of heart problems.

The amount of creatinine in the blood reflects how well the kidneys are filtering out waste.  Higher amounts of albumin indicate the presence of kidney damage.  In the study’s participants, the levels of creatinine and albuminuria predicted cardiovascular disease in general, particularly heart failure, heart attack and stroke.

Albuminuria was found to be the strongest predictor, outperforming cholesterol levels and blood pressure as a risk assessor for heart failure and death from heart attack or stroke. The study’s lead author Kunihiro Matsushita, MD, PhD, an assistant scientist at Bloomberg School’s Department of Epidemiology, believes that the study’s findings show that health care providers can use data on kidney damage and kidney function to better understand a patient’s risk of cardiovascular disease.

Cholesterol levels and blood pressure tests are good indicators of cardiovascular risk, but they are not perfect.  This study tells us we could do even better with information that often times we are already collecting. People with chronic kidney disease are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease as those with healthy kidneys and roughly half of them die from it before they reach kidney failure

While the biological mechanisms linking kidney disease to cardiovascular disease aren’t well understood, Matsushita says that poorly functioning kidneys can lead to a fluid overload that may result in heart failure.

The results of the study were published in The Lancet’s journal Diabetes and Endocrinology on May 29. In other news about heart disease here at Immortal News, treating depression with antidepressants has been shown to lowers rates of death, coronary artery disease and stroke.

ICSA calls for standalone hen harrier compensation scheme

   

The ICSA has called for a standalone scheme to provide proper compensation for farmers with hen harrier designation

ICSA Rural Development Chairman Billy Gray said that while there is some provision for hen harrier designation in GLAS, this covers a maximum of 19ha and is unsuitable for many farmers with larger designated areas.

“ICSA is adamant that there should be no designation without compensation – farmers must be compensated fully and equally for every designated hectare of their land,” Gray said.

The ICSA Rural Development Chairman was speaking after a meeting in Templeglantine, Co. Limerick recently.

Gray also suggested that it was time to revisit the blanket ban on new afforestation on designated ground.

“The scientific basis for this ban is far from categorical. For example, it is now accepted that the first 12 years of a forestry plantation provide ideal cover for the hen harrier.

“As modern sitka spruce plantations can be brought to clearfell in as little as 25 years, and Christmas trees in a far shorter time.

It is clear that there is at the very minimum scope for staggered plantation mixed in with some open ground.

He said that this is especially pertinent to farmers with large designations in excess of 20ha.

The Rural Development Chairman said that while a more flexible approach to forestry would certainly be helpful, there is no getting away from the fact that there must be a stand-alone scheme covering every hectare of ground affected by hen harrier designation.

“Now that the Government is loosening the purse strings to provide substantial amounts of money for public sector pay rises, there is no good reason why a relatively small amount of money could not be set aside for such a scheme,”

Top gynaecologist warns women to have babies by age thirty.

To avoid the ‘devastation and regret’ of infertility

   

A new mother holding a sleeping newborn infant in hospital

A top UK fertility specialist has said that women who have children after thirty are placing a huge pressure on the British health system and warned them to start having children in their twenties.

Consultant gynaecologist Professor Geeta Nargund believes the UK faces a ‘fertility time-bomb’ as the average age a woman has her first child continues to rise.

The lead consultant for reproductive medicine at St George’s Hospital in London claims that fertility issues encountered by women who begin trying for a baby in their thirties place “costly and largely unnecessary burden on the NHS” as they opt for IVF and other means of conceiving.

In a letter to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan obtained by The Sunday Mail, Professor Nargund wrote: “I have witnessed all too often the shock and agony on the faces of women who realise they have left it too late to start a family.

“For so many, this news comes as a genuine surprise and the sense of devastation and regret can be overwhelming.

“And so often the cry will be “Why did no one warn me about this?”’

Professor Nargund believes that children should be given ‘age appropriate’ information from primary school to university to highlight the importance of having children when they are at an optimum age.

“Information is power and the best way to empower people to take control of their fertility is through education.”

“Ideally, if a woman is ready for a child, she should start trying by the time she is 30. She should consider having a child early because as a woman gets older, her fertility declines sharply.”

“As women get older, they experience more complex fertility problems, so treatment tends to be less successful and more expensive.

“On average, more [IVF] treatment cycles are required for a successful pregnancy. So educating people about fertility is very important for the public purse, because it will help us to get more babies within the same NHS budget.”

In the UK IVF is funded by the NHS. IVFs success rate remains at just one birth per four cycles of IVF which costs the health system £20,000 (€28,000). In 2013, the NHS funded over 25,500 cycles in England and Wales.

Professor Nargund had her first child at 29 and said: “My biological clock was absolutely on my mind.”

The doctor revealed that many women are badly misinformed about their fertility.

“Educated women are not necessarily educated about their fertility,” she said.

The average age Irish women have their first baby is 30.3.

We are drinking dinosaur pee every day we drink water:

    

Here’s Why

Do you drink water? If so, how would you react if we told you that all the water you’ve ever drunk and all the water you are ever going to drink in the future comes from the urine of a dinosaur?

The average American drinks four cups of water every day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is far short of the recommended eight glasses of water every day and is equivalent to around four cups of dinosaur pee.

Whether it is tap, filtered, bottled, sparkling or sourced from the Himalayan glaciers and sparkled with gold dust, you are just actually drinking the liquid wastes of an ancient beast, says science-centric YouTube channel Curious Minds.

A video explaining this theory says a very small percentage of all the water in the world is available for drinking purposes, but it is still a huge amount of water to provide for the needs of every human being that has ever walked on the surface of the Earth for the last 200,000 years.

Every year, around 121,000 cubic miles of water, or about the equivalent of 42 Superior Lakes, falls down on Earth and constantly flows through the rivers, lakes, ground reservoirs and everywhere else it passes through, including inside the guts of people and animals that drink it.

So what do dinosaurs have to do with all this? Unlike humans, who have been on Earth for a tiny fraction of the 186 million years that dinosaurs ruled this planet, the beasts were here far longer than we have ever been. In that long span of time, it is very likely that the dinosaurs have drunk all the water available back then, and all the water available now is simply water that has passed through a dinosaur’s kidneys making its way through the never-ending water cycle.

“Humans consume a lot of water, but our species hasn’t had the numbers or time to process a large portion of the Earth’s water. Dinosaurs on the other hand had a long time to drink water,” the video explains. “The Mesozoic era – the reign of the dinosaurs – lasted for 186 million years.

That gave them time to drink a lot of water. So while most molecules in your eight-ounce glass have never been drunk by another human, almost every single molecule has been drunk by a dinosaur.”

Charles Fisherman, author of “The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water,” says water molecules are extremely resilient, and it’s likely that all water molecules present now were the same water molecules available for billions of years.

“All the water on Earth has been through a dinosaur kidney,” Fishermantells Marketplace.org. “Every bottle of Evian you drink from is Tyrannosaurus Rex pee. All the water on Earth has been here for 4.5 billion years. It’s all toilet-to-tap at some level.”

Believe it or believe it not?

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Saturday 9th May 20915

The UK Conservative Party’s victory & what it means for Ireland next year?

 

‘The lesson for Enda Kenny and Joan Burton is that poor poll results may mean nothing when people are faced with choosing a government’

‘Fine Gael will aspire to a similar share of the national vote as the Conservatives but will get nothing like the seat bonus provided by the straight vote system.’ Above, people in London take copies of a free newspaper showing the Conservative Party’s election victory.

David Cameron’s stunning election victory has a number of implications for Ireland and one of them is that the Coalition has every chance winning a second term if the two parties in power hold their nerve and fight a coherent campaign.

Fine Gael TDs in particular were buoyed up by the result in the UK on the basis that it showed that voters are prepared to reward a party in power that has taken some very unpopular decisions in the national interest.

The reaction of Labour TDs in Leinster House was more nuanced. They were all naturally disappointed at the dismal failure of their sister party across the water to do better, but some were also quietly heartened by the lesson that governments can retain power in a time of “austerity”.

The twin planks of the Conservative victory were the promise of stability based on the party’s record in government and the attack on the Scottish nationalists as an insidious force who wanted to hold the rest of the UK to ransom.

“There is an obvious parallel here,” said one excited Fine Gael TD. “We are the only party that can offer the voters stability and Sinn Féin represents the same kind of bogeyman for middle Ireland as the Scots nats do for middle England.”

Of course there are some very important differences between Ireland and the UK and there are no guarantees that the electorate here will view the world in the same terms as British voters.

The difference in the electoral systems is also very important. Fine Gael will aspire to a similar share of the national vote as the Conservatives but will get nothing like the seat bonus provided by the straight vote system.

The converse, though, is that while the Labour Party here is in a position very akin to the Liberal Democrats, proportional representation should ensure that the loss of seats will be on nothing like the same scale.

Another feature of the British outcome that has given both Coalition parties here a shot in the arm is that nobody saw it coming. The polls, the pundits and the politicians all forecast a hung parliament but in the event it was nothing like that.

The lesson for Enda Kenny and Joan Burton is that poor poll results over the past two years may mean nothing when people are faced with the responsibility of choosing a government.

The Conservatives won because the British electorate did not see a viable alternative government on offer. The Irish electorate will be confronted with the same dilemma and if Fine Gael and Labour play their cards right they could win the extra votes needed to get them over the line.

There are no obvious UK parallels with the position Fianna Fáil finds itself in. Making itself relevant to the formation of government is the big challenge facing the main Opposition party given that it has ruled out coalition with either Fine Gael or Sinn Féin.

As for Sinn Féin, the party’s prospects lie somewhere between those of the SNP and UKIP, both of which place nationalism at the heart of their appeal. The straight vote system means that the SNP got far more seats than its vote warranted while UKIP got far fewer. Sinn Féin will certainly improve its position here – the only question is by how much.

The setback for Sinn Féin in Fermanagh South Tyrone and the slight drop in its support on other constituencies was welcome news for the Government parties in Dublin and for Fianna Fáil.

It demonstrated that the rise of Sinn Féin is not as inexorable as is so widely assumed while the performance of the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists showed there is still room for moderate parties on both the nationalist and unionist sides of the sectarian debate.

In terms of its most immediate direct impact on this country, Cameron’s victory means that a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union is now certain to happen in the next couple of years.

The potential damage that a UK exit would have on Ireland has caused considerable unease in this country across the political spectrum as well as among business and trade union leaders.

However, the scale of Mr Cameron’s victory is something of a silver lining from an Irish point of view as it puts him in a strong position to lead the EU referendum debate and fight the campaign on ground of his choosing.

If it had been a hung parliament, as almost all of the polls and pundits were suggesting, Cameron might have retained power but would have been dependent on his own anti-EU right wing or even UKIP.

That would have made it very difficult for him to get an EU reform package strong enough to placate the variety of anti-European forces in the UK and the referendum campaign could have turned into an unwinnable proposition.

“David Cameron wants the UK to remain in the EU. This election victory puts him in a strong position to get a good deal from his EU partners and to convince the British public to stay, so it’s not a bad result at all,” said one senior Government politician.

The Brussels think-tank Open Europe came up with a similar analysis in advance of the British election. In a detailed report last week it argued that in the long term a Labour victory would have made a British exit from the EU more rather than less likely.

That said, real concerns remain in Ireland about the outcome the referendum on EU membership. The Government here will have to do everything in its power to ensure that the British get the kind of deal that will enable Cameron to sell it to the British public.

Taoiseach Kenny heckled by anti-water charge protesters in Sligo

     

About 100 people turn backs on Enda Kenny and US ambassador at Civil War event

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was heckled by anti-water charges protesters in Sligo on Saturday.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and US ambassador Kevin O’Malley were heckled and jeered by protesters at a ceremony in Co Sligo on Saturday to honour the Irish who fought in the American Civil War.

About 100 anti-water charges and anti-war protesters turned their backs on speakers including Mr Kenny and the ambassador as a monument was unveiled in Ballymote marking the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.

Throughout the ceremony the protesters practically drowned out the speakers – who also included local Fine Gael TD John Perry – calling them “traitors”.

They repeatedly shouted “war mongers” and “American troops out of Shannon” throughout the Ambassador’s speech.

Before the ceremony began, those taking part in the rally were urged to turn their backs in silence by one participant who said that otherwise they would be demonised by the media.

Afterwards Mr Kenny said he was well used to peaceful protests which were part of our democracy but “but you would expect in a place like this that respect would be shown for the national anthems and for visitors from the US especially for the ambassador, himself the son of Irish emigrants”. He noted that the protesters did “respectfully” observe a minute’s silence for those who died in the war.

The Taoiseach was in Ballymote for the unveiling of a monument , a sculpture in bronze, of a solider on horseback, dedicated to the memory of the Irish who served and died during the American Civil War.

The ceremony was attended by a few hundred people including locals who shook hands with Mr Kenny on his arrival, and some of whom expressed disapproval at the nature of the noisy protest.

There were angry scenes when the ceremony ended as gardaí erected a barrier and refused to allow some of those who had been involved in the demonstration to exit the area until the Taoiseach’s entourage left. Some of the protesters sat on the road in protest as Sligo county councillor Seamus O’Boyle (People Before Profit) pleaded with gardaí to let them through.

On arrival Mr Kenny was greeted with placards saying ‘No attachment orders for the bankers’ , ‘US war machine out of Shannon’ and ‘Where’s the monument for one million dead Iraqis’.

Throughout the speeches about a dozen uniformed gardaí and members of the Garda public order unit separated the demonstrators from the podium where singer Eunjoo Goh performed both the Irish and US national anthems.

Members of the Irish UN Veterans association also attended including 72-year-old James Taheny from Riverston Co Sligo who fought at the siege of Jadotville in The Congo in 1961. “Today is very important to me”, he said.

Irish Life’s profits rise 54% to €57m in quarter

  

Profits at Irish Life shot up 54% in the first three months of the year to €57m.

The insurer was sold by the State to Canada’s Great-West Lifeco for €1.3bn in 2013.

Irish Life contributing profits of €57m (CAD$80m) to the CAD$700m of net earnings at Great West Lifeco in the first three months of the year, the company said.

Irish profits in the quarter were up from €34m in the same quarter in 2014, the company said. “Assets under management at ILIM exceeded €50bn for the first time at the end of Q1 2015 as markets continued to rise,” according to Bill Kyle, chief executive officer, Irish Life Group.

“In addition we achieved strong sales of our Multi-Asset Portfolio Strategies (MAPS) to the institutional and retail markets.” Irish Life MAPS investment funds doubled in size over the last six months, he said.

Dairy consumption increases well in the US 

1. Consumption of dairy products increased strongly in the united states during March according to statistics from the US Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service and Foreign Agricultural Service.

Cheese consumption was reported at 1 billion lbs (454,545 tonnes), up 3.8% on March 2014. Despite a decline of 5.1% in total cheese exports to 75.6 million lbs (34,363 tonnes), domestic consumption grew by 4.6% to 938.4 million lbs (426,545 tonnes), which supported the overall increase.

Butter consumption increased by 8.5% on March last year. Weaknesses in exports were offset by a 28% jump in US domestic consumption.

Non-fat dry milk consumption was reported at 205.8 million lbs (94,772 tonnes) up 20.2% on March 2014. The overall increase was supported by a 6.6% increase in exports and a 47.1% increase in domestic consumption.

The improvement in the US economy, which has led to more consumers eating out, is the main reason for increased cheese and butter consumption.

If this increase continues, it will have the effect of reducing quantities of dairy produce on the world export market for the remainder of this year. The US exported 16% of their total dairy production in 2014. This amounted to the equivalent of 15 million tonnes of milk production.

The strong US dollar is leaving US dairy exports much less competitive but the increase in home consumption should prevent any collapse in prices.

Can a computer beat one of the world’s best poker players?

 

Strategy games such as chess have long been considered important ways to measure artificial intelligence. But A.I. researchers at Carnegie Mellon University chose a different method of research, and in some ways, a more challenging game: poker.

Doug Polk, 26, is considered the best heads up, or one on one, no limit Texas hold ’em player in the world. He’s defeated countless opponents and won millions of dollars.

Polk bet his reputation that he could beat Claudico, Carnegie Mellon’s artificial intelligence super computer.

“You’re playing a cold-blooded killer because when he goes all in and you snap him off and win his stack, he’s not scared now, he’s just computing, right?” Polk said.

For the past two weeks, Polk and three other professional poker players each played 20,000 hands against Claudico at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh.

Viewers from more than 100 countries watched online, but nobody paid closer attention than the man responsible for Claudico, professor Tuomas Sandholm.

“The computer definitely bluffs and does all sorts of other tricks that human poker players know, but the key is that we don’t program in the bluffing,” Sandholm said. “So the algorithms themselves figure out the strategy, how to bluff, when to bluff, in what situations and so forth.*

In 1997, the world watched in wonder when IBM’s Deep Blue, whose research originated at Carnegie Mellon, defeated the world’s best chess player, Garry Kasparov. And again in 2011 when Watson bested “Jeopardy” champion Ken Jennings.

So why is poker a better gauge of A.I. than playing “Jeopardy” or chess?

“In chess it’s a game of complete information, so when it’s your turn to move you know exactly what the state of the world is, what the state of the game is,” Sandholm said. “In poker, you don’t.

“This is really to be able to assist humans and companies in interacting, let’s say in negotiation,” Sandholm said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if you had an agent that helped you strategize in the world when you’re buying a car or buying insurance?”

Jason Les studied computer science in college before becoming an online poker pro. It turns out his education wasn’t much of a help. But he was still happy he signed up to play a computer.

“I thought this was a historic event and a big landmark in poker and artificial intelligence,” he said. “And I’m happy that I came up here and I was able to be a part of the winning team.”

Well, not exactly. According to Carnegie Mellon, the pros’ combined $732,000 lead in fake money makes it a statistical tie. The university plans to rewrite Claudico’s algorithms.

News Ireland daily BLOG by Donie

Tuesday 24th February 2015

Jailed water protesters can get out of Mountjoy Prison if they agree to court orders

 

Judge says ‘door to this court is open’ for four protesters who left him with no alternative

Protester Kenneth Hanlon outside Mountjoy Prison during a demonstration over the imprisonment of water charges demonstrators.

Jailed water charge protesters can free themselves simply by undertaking to abide by court orders not to interfere with meter installers, a High Court judge has said.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said the “door to this court is open” to the four protesters who had left him with no alternative but to jail them.

He was speaking after a fifth man, jailed in his absence because he is in the Canary Islands for health reasons, wrote agreeing to abide by the orders.

A stay was put on the committal to prison order against Michael Batty (64) of Edenmore Avenue, Raheny, Dublin, until Tuesday as he was abroad for health reasons.

When the matter came before Mr Justice Gilligan on Tuesday, he adjourned it again until March 9th after the court heard Mr Batty was now agreeing to abide by the court orders.

Mr Batty was one of five people who the judge ordered last week should be committed to prison for breaching orders not to interfere with water meter installersGMC Sierra.

In a letter from Mr Batty handed in to the judge Tuesday by his solicitor Cahir O’Higgins, Mr Batty apologised for not appearing in court last week as he was a chronic asthmatic who had gone abroad to a hot climate with financial help from his family.

He could not afford to change his March 6th return flight date, but was prepared to give an undertaking to sign a bond not to breach any injunction.

Mr Justice Gilligan said in view of Mr Batty’s attitude, it was only fair the court should hear further submissions on the matter after he had returned from abroad. He listed the matter again for March 9th.

Mr Higgins said he felt he had to bring to the court’s attention that three of the other four people jailed last week for contempt, spent three days in 23-hour lock up.

While the reason given for this was that they had to be processed, Mr O’Higgins said this was, along with their loss of liberty, an additional punishment which was not sanctioned or fair. While it was not malicious, it had stopped when he wrote to the prison authorities.

He was not making any application to the court in relation to it but it was important the judge in the case should know.

Mr Justice Gilligan said this was not a matter for the court but for the prison governor.

The judge said as Mr O’Higgins had made a statement, he too wanted to make a statement in view of the widespread publicity and discussion about this matter and to clarify the situation.

The four people in prison were “not there as a result of peaceful protest” but because the court had made an order which they breached.

“It was open to them to appeal that order if they were dissatisfied”, he said.

He hoped they would see from Mr Batty’s case the options open to them.

“It is important people in the general community know that it is open to them to apologise for their contempt and give an undertaking to abide by the orders”, he said.

They had effectively left the court with no other choice but to impose sentences for contempt.

However, if any of the four wished to adopt the same attitude as Mr Batty “then the door of this court is open to them”, he said.

Meanwhile:-

Landlords given just weeks to forward names of tenants to Irish Water

 

The numbers registering in the rental sector are significantly less than among owner-occupiers

  Elizabeth Arnett: “Landlord and tenants can confirm details at any time.”

Landlords, including local authorities, have been warned that they have just weeks to contact Irish Water with the names of tenants or they may be held liable for all water charges on whatever properties they own.

The utility was forced to issue the warning after it emerged that the numbers registering for the service across the rental sector was significantly less than among owner-occupiers.

While roughly 30 per cent of would-be customers of the utility would be expected to come from rental properties, the number of completed registrations from that sector currently stands at just 17 per cent. The remaining 83 per cent of those who have registered are owner-occupiers.

Irish Water has said it is now in a position to contact landlords directly after being given the green light to act by the Data Protection Commission (DPC).

The utility’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Arnett, said earlier this month it had been cleared to seek the names of tenants, including those who live in local authority housing. She told The Irish Times the DPC had confirmed that “once we have gone through the processes correctly and allowed all occupants ample time to come forward then we can approach the landlords”.

She stressed that all landlords – including local authorities which control the bulk of the rental market — would be treated the same when it came to billing. If more than one person is named on a lease, it will be up to the landlord to provide the name of just one tenant. Irish Water will then engage directly with the named individual “and provide them with an opportunity to confirm their details”.

Ms Arnett stressed that it would be in tenants’ best interests to contact the utility directly as failure to do so would mean they could not avail of the Government’s €100 water conservation grant. She said single-adult households would also run the risk of being hit with annual bills of €260 instead of €160.

“Landlord and tenants can confirm details at any time. However Irish Water would encourage an early response to ensure details are as accurate as possible in advance of billing,” she said.

She said some 1.22 million of the 1.9 million homes across the State had contacted Irish Water with almost a million responses coming from among the 1.5 million households on the public network, a response rate of two-thirds.

Irish motorists warned about stolen NCT certs

  

Irish motorists have been warned to be on the lookout for stolen NCT certs.

Vehicle history expert CARTELL.IE has issued an image of one of the stolen Certificates, and says it fears that ‘unscrupulous’ individuals may be using others lie it on cars they have for sale.

Cartell said that an armed holdup at an NCT centre in Drogheda in October 2013 resulted in the theft of 850 official certificates.

Jeff Aherne, Director, Cartell.ie, said the certificate was one of the 850 certificates stolen in a raid in 2013.

‘Understandably, these certificates will look completely authentic, as they were stolen at source, but the numbers on the certificates are not in official circulation.

‘The consumer is encouraged to verify the numbers on the NCT Certificate with the official records to authenticate the certificate. Verification of the official NCT number with official records held by the Government is one of the many services provided by Cartell.’

These stolen certificates may be displayed in the window of vehicles offered for sale in the market. It is also possible that unscrupulous individuals are offering these stolen certificates for sale and buyers may not be aware that purchase and display of these certificates constitutes an offence.

Using a motor vehicle without a valid NCT Test Certificate is an offence contrary to Section 18 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 as amended by Road Traffic Act 2006, section 18. Conviction for this offence carries five penalty points and Courts may impose a fine of up to €2,000 and/or up to three months’ imprisonment.

Ireland moves up 2 places to 9th in EU’s digital economy index

    

Ireland moves up 2 places to 9th in EU’s digital index

The latest European Union (EU) Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) is out and shows improvement for Ireland having risen two places to ninth out of the 28 EU member states.

The findings released today compiles data from each country to determine its level of connectivity, its internet skills and how intertwined digital technologies – particularly services including cloud, e-commerce and e-invoices – are developed and was sourced using data obtained between 2013 and 2014.

According to these new figures, Ireland has scored 0.52 out of a score of 1 on the digital performance index putting it at slightly above the average of the cluster of medium performance countries at 0.51, and ahead of the EU Average of 0.47.

This marked a minor improvement on last year’s figure which saw Ireland ranked eleventh with an overall score of 0.49 – just above the cluster countries (0.47) and above the EU average (0.44).

From their findings, during the past year, take-up of high-speed broadband in Ireland has increased considerably with subscription numbers increasing from 30% to 40%, while use of internet services has also increased with 71pc of Irish people using video on-demand, 63% using social networking, 62% using online shopping, 60% using online banking and 56% of internet users using eGovernment actively.

The report goes on however, to say that more progress is needed in Ireland on increasing digital skills with only 53% of the population having digital skills at a level to operate effectively online, down from 56% in 2012.

The best-perfoming country in the EU was found to be Denmark who scored an index of 0.68, while the worst performing country overall is Romania with an index score of just 0.31.

There no fools? A survey finds out

Dogs do know when people are lying

   

Japanese researchers find dogs learn to distrust people after being deceived.

Don’t try to fool your dog with that trick of pretending to throw the ball but actually keeping it in your hand — he or she will not only know you’re lying, but will actually stop believing you when you are telling the truth.

A new study from Japan finds that dogs can quickly distrust a human who is not being truthful and can hold onto that distrust for some time.

“Dogs have more sophisticated social intelligence than we thought. This social intelligence evolved selectively in their long life history with humans,” lead study author Akiko Takaoka of Kyoto University told the BBC.

Takaoka tested 34 different dogs by presenting them with two containers, one full of treats and the other empty.

In the first round of testing, the researchers would stand between the boxes and point to the one filled with food, which the dogs happily ate.

In the second round, the same researchers pointed to the empty box, confusing the poor animal.

Then, in a third round, the same person would point at the container with the food, but the dogs would not go to that container.

Takaoka suggests that experience had taught the dogs not to trust the person doing the pointing.

To test that theory, another individual was brought in to point at the full container. This time the dogs jumped at the box and ate the food.

The researchers say the behavior shows dogs are able to distinguish between a “good actor” and a “bad actor” and learn not to trust the person who deceived it.

Takaoka tells the BBC she was surprised that the dogs “devalued the reliability of a human” so quickly.

Maybe that’s why Eclipse the dog took to riding a Seattle bus.

Buddha statue reveals the remains of a mummified monk inside

 

The mummified remains of a monk have been revealed inside a nearly 1,000-year old Chinese statue of a Buddha.

The mummy inside the gold-painted papier-mache statue is believed to be that of Liuquan, a Buddhist master of the Chinese Meditation School who died around the year 1100, researchers said. It’s the only Chinese Buddhist mummy to undergo scientific research in the West.

The statue was on display last year at the Drents Museum as part of an exhibit on mummies. It was an cited as an example of self-mummification, an excruciating, years-long process of meditation, starvation, dehydration and poisoning that some Buddhist monks undertook to achieve enlightenment and veneration.

When the exhibit ended in August, a CT scan at the Meander Medical Center in the Netherlands revealed the seated skeleton. Samples taken from organ cavities provided one big surprise: paper scraps printed with ancient Chinese characters indicating the high-status monk may have been worshiped as a Buddha.

The finding was first reported in December but did not get wide notice. Irish Archaeology carried a report over the weekend, which apparently started the news ball rolling.

But the revelation is not, as some reports claim, “a shocking discovery,” The History Blog notes: “It was known to be inside the statue all along . that’s why it was sent to the Drents Museum in the first place as part of the Mummies exhibition.”

The mummy’s existence was discovered in 1996 when the statue was being restored in the Netherlands, Live Science reported, explaining what was found, how its age was determined and when the first detailed skeletal imaging was performed.

DNA tests were conducted on bone samples, and the Dutch team plans to publish its finding in a forthcoming monograph.

Researchers still have not determined whether the monk mummified himself, a practice that was also widespread in Japan and that was outlawed in the 19th century. If he did, the process was gruesome, as Ancient Origins explained:

“For the first 1,000 days, the monks ceased all food except nuts, seeds, fruits and berries and they engaged in extensive physical activity to strip themselves of all body fat. For the next one thousand days, their diet was restricted to just bark and roots. Near the end of this period, they would drink poisonous tea made from the sap of the Urushi tree, which caused vomiting and a rapid loss of body fluids. It also acted as a preservative and killed off maggots and bacteria that would cause the body to decay after death.”