Daire Hickey · TheJournal.ie

‘LTV... Is that Live TV?’: We asked people how much they know about mortgages

And how much do we know about switching them?

230,000 Japanese centenarians missing

Sep 10th 2010, 7:10 PM 674 Views No Comments

Is there something strange happening in Japan?

From The Daily Edge

Take 5 This post contains videos

TAKE 5: Friday's obligatory funny animal clip

Sep 10th 2010, 4:36 PM 640 Views No Comments

Think you’ve got a monkey on your back? Take a look at this guy.

That's Cold

Employer says five-year pay freeze needed

Sep 10th 2010, 3:51 PM 413 Views No Comments

But SIPTU says no.

Pay Rates Sep 10th 2010, 1:25 PM

AVERAGE weekly earnings are down 3.8% in the past year, according to figures released by the CSO. The figures reflect a 2.2% fall in hours worked and a 1.5% drop in average hourly earnings. The highest falls in weekly earnings were in Education (-9.1%) and Transport (-1.5%). Weekly earnings in the private sector fell by 2.8% compared with a fall of 5.5% in the public sector.

BaNAMA Republic

NAMA says it will move quickly against unpaid loans

Sep 10th 2010, 12:34 PM 470 Views No Comments

But insists its business plan is on track.

Oops This post contains videos

Drunk diplomat speaks out: I never liked you Ban Ki-Moon

Sep 10th 2010, 11:57 AM 482 Views No Comments

And he doesn’t like Americans either.

Health Fail

HSE's €103m budget overrun

Sep 9th 2010, 5:10 PM 695 Views 2 Comments

Highest portion budget deficit recorded at HSE West.

Catholicism

The second miracle of Cardinal Newman paves the way for sainthood

Sep 9th 2010, 5:07 PM 484 Views No Comments

The founder of UCD will be beatified by the Pope later this month.

Goldman Sachs

5 of the biggest fines in corporate history Exclusive

Sep 9th 2010, 4:19 PM 476 Views No Comments

As Goldman Sachs is fined £17.5m, TheJournal.ie looks at the most whopping fines levied on banks and businesses to date.

Bieber Fever This topic is hot on Twitter

Bieber fever: responsible for slowing the internet?

Sep 9th 2010, 2:15 PM 956 Views No Comments

His name is tweeted every 60 seconds…but read on if you still haven’t got a clue who he is.

Gay Marriage

Irish couple aim to be first gay couple to marry in the air Exclusive

Sep 9th 2010, 1:50 PM 623 Views No Comments

But it could be you.

Dieting

Junkfood diet could lead to weight loss, says professor

Sep 9th 2010, 1:26 PM 146 Views No Comments

Big Macs all round! A professor loses half a stone in four days by pigging out.

Blair Book This topic is hot on Twitter

Signed Blair books going for over €263 on eBay

Sep 9th 2010, 11:29 AM 842 Views No Comments

Don’t you wish you queued now?

ESB Aug 18th 2010, 5:12 PM

A MAN who had been threatened that his electricity would be cut off, today chained himself to the ESB headquarters.

Seamus Sherlock, an unemployed Limerick man, chained himself to railings outside the energy providers headquarters in Dublin today, even though his daughter was collecting her leaving cert.

Sherlock was joined by Sinn Fein TD Aengus O’Snodaigh and others as he protested against ESB’s refusal to accept his attempts to pay €50 a week off his outstanding bills.

The ESB has previously said that it would accept instalment payments and do what it could, to ensure that those who are finding it difficult to pay are not cut off, however, Sherlock felt that he had not been afforded any such leniency.

The separated father-of-five had been left a €2,261 bill, when he took over the household in June. He agreed to pay off €1,100 and asked if he could pay off €50 a month. The ESB refused.

Sherlock’s protest comes in the same week that the ESB reveald that 900 people a week are being cut-off.

Dictionary Aug 18th 2010, 4:33 PM

IT WAS the sound that dominated the world cup but only last year many of us had no idea what a vuvuzela was.

Now the word, along with 2,000 others has made it into the third edition Oxford Dictionary of English, which is published today.

Other new words to make it in the dictionary include cheeseball (something that lacks taste or style) and turducken – a roast dish that consists of chicken inside a duck inside a turkey.

The internet has coined quite a few words with paywall, microblogging, netbook and biral have all been added to the dictionary in recent years. The financial crisis has also thrown up a few previously unheard of words. Toxic debt, deleveraging (reducing debt by quickly selling assets), quantitative easing and staycation are now in common parlance.

Oxford adds words based on their usage and it is the first dictionary to do so.

Last week some of the words that didn’t make the cut were revealed. Words such as wurfing (searching the net while as work) and earworm (a catchy tune that frequently gets stuck in your head)

Other new entries are :

wardrobe malfunction : when someone exposes an intimate part of their body after clothing slips;
chill pill: a notional pill to make someone calm;
bromance : a close but non-sexual relationship between two men;
LBD (little black dress). This refers to the simple evening or cocktail dress that, it is claimed, should be part of every womans wardrobe; and
frenemy : a person that one is friendly with despite a fundamental dislike.

Rich List Aug 18th 2010, 3:16 PM

RAPPER JAY-Z has topped a list of the world’s richest rappers, beating P Diddy, Eminem and 50 Cent.

Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter made a whopping $63m last year but he still made less than his wife Beyonce. The Empire States of Mind rapper grosses over $1m a gig and has investments in a clothing line, nightclub chain and owns a share of the New Jersey Nets basketball team.

Rapper Lil Wayne has managed to continue his earning despite being behind bars but there are a few who suffered. Kayne West’s earnings fell from $25m last year to $12m this year on foot of an outburst during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at MTV’s VMAs.

Forbes magazine which compiled the list said rappers weren’t hit by the recession. The top 20 rappers racked up over $300m in earnings last year, the same as the previous year.

Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter – $63 Million
Sean “Diddy” Combs – $30 million
Aliuane “Akon” Thiam – $21 million
Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter – $20 million
Andre “Dr. Dre” Young – $17 million
Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges – $16 million
Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus – $15 million
Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley – $14 million
Pharrell Williams – $13 million
Kanye West – $12 million

RTÉ Aug 18th 2010, 2:08 PM

GEALGÓIR Hector Ó hEochagáin will take over 2FM’s breakfast show in October.

Ó hEochagáin, along with Ryan Tubridy spearhead 2FM’s new autumn schedule.

Kicking off next week, Tubridy takes over from the late Gerry Ryan with a show from 9 – 11am. Tubridy will be followed by Colm Hayes, formerly of the Breakfast Show. Hayes former Breakfast Show partner Jim Jim Nugent left the station yesterday deciding to announce his exit via You Tube.

Golden oldie Larry Gogan stays in place from 1 – 2pm. Rick O’Shea will host his show from 2-4.30 while Will Leahy continues on with the drivetime slot till 6pm.

RTE’s Lucy Kennedy and Baz Ashmawy have been given their own weekend breakfast show.

Things To Do Aug 18th 2010, 12:20 PM

DUBLIN’S CULTURE NIGHT launched today with a programme to suit all tastes. Culture Night takes place on Friday September 24 and will see some of the city’s top tourist spots open up late at night, with many of the sites waive their entrance fees.

This year a record 132 venues will open their doors including Christ Church Catherederal, The Science Gallery at Trinity College, The Guinness Storehouse and Dublin Castle’s state apartments.

Other cities around the country are also participating including Galway, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny.

Breaking News Aug 18th 2010, 11:11 AM

GARDAÍ ARE investigating a hoax device found under a vehicle at New Street Gardens in Dublin City at around 4.30am. The scene was cordoned off and the Army Bomb Disposal Team was called to the scene before determining that the device was a hoax.

Optimism Aug 18th 2010, 10:30 AM

HE MAY NOT be popular at home, but he certainly seems to have the respect of his international peers.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has made it in to Newsweek’s list of 10 most respected leaders. Newsweek has nicknamed Cowen “The Fiscal Taskmaster” and have praised him for “prescribing harsh medicine” in a tough economic climate.

The magazine praises the Cowen/Lenihan double-team. “They’ve pushed through austerity packages drastic enough to win the admiration of the international community, raised taxes, and slashed some public salaries by more than 10 percent”.

David Cameron tops the list, which also features Mohamed Nasheed, president of the Maldives, Nicolas Sarkozy of France and the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Newsweek also lists Ireland as the 17th best country to live. The list puts us ahead of Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Portugal but below the UK, Germany, France and the US. Finland tops the lost. Ireland’s health is praised as seventh best in the world.

RTÉ Aug 18th 2010, 9:54 AM

RTÉ IS refusing to cut the wages of its top talent, despite losing almost €17m last year.

The station says it hopes to break-even this year and although it will continue to reduce costs, the station will not be making cuts to presenters salaries. A spokesperson for RTÉ told the Daily Mail “the same cost discipline which was applied last year will be held in place this year. However, there will be no further wage decreases.”

The station paid over €4.5m to its top 10 presenters in 2008, the last year that figures were available. Pat Kenny, then the top paid presenter at the station earned €950,976 in 2008, nearly four times the salary of Taoiseach Brian Cowen. Ryan Tubridy was paid over €500,000 and the late Gerry Ryan earned almost €630,00.

RTÉ say that it expects advertising to recover somewhat, allowing it to break-even but top advertising execs disagree. Seán McCrave, chief executive of the Institute of Advertising Practitioners of Ireland said all the big government advertising, a staple of RTÉ is gone.

Labour Party communications spokesperson LizMcManus said “if there are further cuts that can be made, they should be made”.

Haiti Aug 17th 2010, 5:27 PM

BILL CLINTON has said that donor countries are still holding out on pledges made to rebuild Haiti.

Clinton, who is chairman of the reconstruction fund, said last week that less than 10% of the $5.3bn pledged has been lodged with the fund, and Ireland is one such country that has yet to make good on its promise.

Ireland has pledged over €13m to fund the reconstruction, but only €4m in emergency aid has been received.

RTE.ie has revealed that the remaining funding was expected to go to the Haiti Reconstruction Fund but a spokesperson for Irish Aid said that no funding has yet been transferred.

A spokesperson for Irish Aid has said it may take till 2012 to lodge all the money.

George Hook Aug 17th 2010, 4:05 PM

HAVE YOU EVER dreamed of holidaying with a legendary Rugby commentator?

No? Well someone must have because American Holidays are offering cruise holidays with the famous Cork broadcaster.

The tour operator says this is the first time ever for such an opportunity – to think it took the recession for them to package together such an offer? “You’ll get enjoy seven nights on the high seas in the company of the outspoken George Hook. Listen to George give seminars on ‘How to beat the recession’ and ‘Irish Rugby to the World Cup 2010′ as well as enjoying his usual craic and repartee,” according to American Holidays.

No doubt George will also be lauding the benefits of Sky plus as well as giving you regular updates on his bowel movements.

And what could someone expect to pay for this unique privilege? Prices start from €1169.

In insight into a night with Hookey

Google Aug 17th 2010, 3:17 PM

GOOGLE has long been criticised for privacy issues. Complaints have been made about Google’s street view, collecting information on wi-fi networks and Google Buzz but Google chief Larry Schmidt has put minds at rest… or has he?

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal Schmidt said that adults should be allowed to change their names in order to get away from information held about their online misdemeanour’s.

He predicts, apparently seriously, that every young person one day will be entitled automatically to change his or her name on reaching adulthood in order to disown youthful hijinks stored on their friends’ social media sites…

“I don’t believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time,” he says… “I mean we really have to think about these things as a society.”

Not sure that’ll fly Larry.

Electric Picnic Aug 17th 2010, 2:46 PM

The Summer’s music festival and nearly over but there is one left – Electric Picnic and tickets are a whopping €240 so we wondered what the best ways to blag your way into the festival maybe.

1. Impersonation

Has anyone ever told you you’re a dead ringer for Rosanna Davison? or that guy off TwoTube? Well, now’s your chance to put it to the test.
Simply line up for the guest list and use that tried and tested line – “don’t you know who I am?” I presume that’s what Rosanna would say if she were there. Pray, of course, that they don’t actually know the celeb look-a-like you’re trying to be – that could be a tad embarrassing.

There are alternatives: you can always impersonate a security guard – it worked for Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris. Grab a high vis vest and a walkie-talkie and walk on in with authority.
2. Request a Press Pass

You know that blog you’ve got? Ya, that one you only posted on once.

Well, it’s time you started blogging a little more. It’s not just the broadsheet and music mags who get press passes at festivals, bloggers get passes too, so quickly add the world and its mother to your Twitter and show that you’re uber popular online. You never know, maybe you just might be able to wangle a pass.

Otherwise you could lie and say you’re working for The Daily Planet or your college magazine. Press passes have the added extra of giving you access to a working toilet, complete with bog roll – luxury.

Failing the press pass just get yourself a camera with a huge lens, or better still a video camera and a mic. It worked for former wacky weatherman Alan Hughes who blagged his way into the MTV Awards a few years ago.

3. Just rock up

Last year my mates just rocked on up to Oxegen in their car. “We’re with MTV, we’re looking for the VIP car park” said one. “Do you not have a pass?” answered the security guard, “No, we’re going to collect it, could you please tell us where the VIP car park is?”

Unwittingly they arrived behind the main stage next to Blur and Snow Patrol’s dressing room. “Well, our car will be safe here” they thought, and walked right in… After all, if you’re backstage no one’s going to ask to see your pass just so you can get out to the plebs in the main arena. Now, they were actually going to collect passes but it makes you wonder can anyone just rock up in a car and blag their way in?

4. Become a Band Aid
It seemed to work in the film Almost Famous, but if you’re thinking Band Aid is about getting your musical mates together for a rendition of Do They Know Its Christmas then you’re sadly mistaken. It’s more about batting your eyelids and fraternising with the drummer or a roady. One mate of mine managed to hop on a tour bus and crash her way into a music festival simply because she was a good talker – or so she says.
5. Hop the fence
It’s quite traditional this one, but there have been reports of people hopping fences at Electric Picnic and Oxegen and managing to make it into the main arena with nothing more than a bit of sheep doo on their wellies. Others haven’t been so lucky – at best their attempts to scale festival hoardings have been blocked by security and at worst you could end up like Robert Uhlenake who fell to his death attempting to gain entry to a Metallica concert – perhaps you could avoid this one, or just bring your own ladder.

6. Get a job?
No I don’t mean staking shelves to pay for your ticket, although a bar job at the festival wouldn’t be the worst thing – money, drink and a free pass – what more could one want?

Alternatively you can volunteer at Electric Picnic either over the course of the weekend or in the week leading up to it. If you do 24 hours of work you’ll get a free pass. But don’t think you can just make a dash for it once you get your pass. The guys at Electric Picnic have thought of everything and you’ll have to pay a €240 bond to ensure you’ll fulfill you’re part of the bargain.

7. Tour de Cycle
You could just cycle down. This year the festival, in conjunction with Temple Street Children’s Hospital, is offering those who wish make the 90kn route by bike the opportunity to get in for free. If you can raise €500 and bike down they’ll transport your tent and camping gear to the festival site and even give your bike a lift back to Dublin.

8. Sob story

“My friend’s inside and she has my ticket and my phone’s not working and I don’t know her number, and she’s about to score my boyfriend, and my dog died yesterday and all I want to do is hear LCD Soundsystem ’cause I was meant to see them play in April but they were canceled due to the volcano. Cue tears. It could work, but it’s probably best to stay clear unless you’re a 16-year-old-girl.

9. Bribe the bouncer
How much are these guys getting paid? Not enough, I’m sure, not for all the great work they do. it’s important that they be rewarded for helping out festival patrons – right? A ticket is €240, but perhaps these guys would like an extra €50 on top of their wages? Or even €100? Still cheaper than a ticket. Pray you don’t get a box for being cheeky.

10 Build your own furniture

The European Recycling Platform is giving budding furniture designers the opportunity to win VIP tickets to the festival by designing a piece of furniture out of recyclable materials. So get your pen out, you have till August 20th to submit your design ideas.

If these ideas feel a little too daunting or impractical then perhaps you should just buy a ticket. Three-day camping tickets are €240, but there are no one- day tickets.

Electric Picnic takes place in Stradbally, Co Laois from September 3-5.

Fees Aug 17th 2010, 2:25 PM

TANAISTE and Education Minister Mary Coughlan today ruled out a reintroduction of third-level fees.

The minister put the minds of leaving cert students at ease by saying fees would not be apart of the 2011 Budget.

The minister who is awaiting a report on the development of third-level education for the next 20 years. The report by Dr Colin Hunt was expected to be published in June will now not be published till the Autumn. It is expected that the report will advocate the return of fees.

However, Minister Coughlan has ruled out fees for the lifetime of the current government.

“No that is the government commitment, that is the programme for government” she told Newstalk

“Any decision in the future of 3rd-level education over the next 20 years will have to be considered by government”.

“This is a report that will bring a number of recommendations for the reform of 3rd-level education in this country” she added.

Equality Aug 17th 2010, 11:49 AM

A FORMER Dublin hotel manager has been awarded €100,000 in compensation for victimisation and gender discrimination at the Equality Tribunal.

The tribunal found that Denise Bratt, who worked at the Comfort Inn on Parnell Square in Dublin, between 2003 and 2007 was denied access to promotion, forced to take redundancy and was also under pressure to waive her right to take legal action.

Her employer had planned to open a new hotel nearby and Batt had been told she was a preferred candidate to run the hotel. However, when she returned from maternity leave her employer gave her a lesser role telling her she should “be relieved” as there would not be as much pressure on her. A colleague had been appointed as manager of the new hotel, a job that Batt has not have the opportunity to interview for.

In July 2007, Batt told her employer she was pregnant. When the hotel changed owners in August, her new employers told her they would make her redundant. Batt was later hospitalised following the meeting due to blood pressure, her doctors also feared at the time that Batt may miscarry.

Two days later, Batt was released and allowed home, a supervisor called to her door and asked her to sign a legal waiver in exchange for redundancy. Batt refused and was sent redundancy papers the following day.

The tribunal found against Batt’s employers citing victimisation and gender discrimination.

RTÉ Aug 17th 2010, 9:28 AM

RTÉ HAS announced a €16.5m loss in 2009 after a total revenues at the station declined by 15% to €375m.

The broadcaster revealed the information yesterday in its annual report. RTÉ said the deficit was considerably lower than the €68m that had been forecast.

Advertising at the station was down 33% to €131m, revenue at the station was however bolstered by the €200m paid by TV license holders.

RTÉ said while the advertising industry “remains fragile” the station is expected to break-even in 2010. RTÉ also said that it will continue its restructuring effort and will keep a lid on its expenses. RTÉ reduced staff in the group by over 100 to 2,035 and pay was down from 176.1m in 2008 to 161.3m in 2009.

There was also a 20% cut in in-house programming at the station while the spend on overseas programming rose slightly.

RTÉ said over 784,609 programs had been watched on the RTÉ player. Viewership of RTE.ie is also up, over 62m pages are viewed on the site each month up from 20m in 2005. Nine million pod casts were also downloaded from the station in 2009.

The station’s director general Cathal Goan made €326,000 in 2009, a 6% decrease on his 2008 pay packet. Goan is retiring from RTÉ this year. The front-runners for his job include Managing Director of News and Current Affairs Ed Mulhall and former Ryanair Chief Exec’ and now RTE’s CFO Conor Hayes.

Swimming Aug 16th 2010, 5:01 PM

SHE’S ALREADY taken the silver at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest but Grainne has another hurdle on her hands this week.

The swimming star will, like thousands of others across the country, be receiving her leaving cert results on Wednesday. Grainne told her mother yesterday that, she felt she already had brought home the prize. The swimming star spends six hours a day training and has split her exams over two years to allow her pursue the sport. The 17-year-old will receive the results of three exams this week.

Although Grainne’s passion is in the pool, her mother wants her to do well in her exams too.

Grainne returned home today and their was a heroes welcome at Dublin Airport where friends and family gathered to cheer her success.

Speaking on Today FM this afternoon Murphy said she never expected to win at her first European championships.

Tony Blair Aug 16th 2010, 4:42 PM

FORMER BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to give his £4.6m book advance to charity.

Blair will donate the money to a new sports centre for injured troops. Blair said he will donate all the money from his book A Journey in addition to any further royalties received. The centre, the Royal British Legion’s Battle Back Challenge Centre is due to open in 2012.

“Tony Blair decided on leaving office that he would donate the proceeds of his memoirs to a charity for the Armed Forces as a way of marking the enormous sacrifice they make for the security of our people and the world. The Royal British Legion is just such a cause,” the spokesman said.

“In making this decision, Tony Blair recognises the courage and sacrifice the armed forces demonstrate day in, day out.”

Blair’s decision to go into Iraq was a controversial one that divided the UK and many believe overshadows his legacy as prime minister.

Blair’s book is due out on Sept 1 and although he will do a series of signings, security measures mean fans will not be allowed take photographs with the retired PM.

Members of the Stop The War Coalition plan to picket Mr Blair’s appearance at London branch of Waterstones and attempt to “arrest” him for alleged war crimes.

Fringe Fest Aug 16th 2010, 3:14 PM

THE 2010 Absolut Dublin Fringe Festival launched today with members of the Dead Zoo.

Highlights of the festival include travel writer Manchán Magan in a dress brandishing a chainsaw, a competition for the world’s sassiest hoola-hooper, elite cocktail mixers, robots and lions.

The festival aims to be Dublin’s edgiest and this years theme is DIY. The famous Spiegeltent is back in Dublin’s George’s Dock along with a tent of mirrors. The festival runs from September 11 to 26

HSE Fail Aug 16th 2010, 2:57 PM

WAITING 24 hours for a bed is not a thing of the past according to figures released by the HSE.

The daily “census” which records how many patients have been waiting for admission to a hospital ward each day at 2pm, shows that in 3% of cases patients wait more than 24 hours for a bed.

The figures also reveal that 39% of patients waited between 12 and 24 hours and 21% waited between six and 12 hours to be admitted.

Connolly Hospital is the only hospital in the country to have patients waiting more than 24 hours to be admitted to a ward after turning up at the emergency department.

Seven hospitals had patients waiting between six and 12 hours to be admitted, Roscommon Hospital, Our Lady’s in Navan, the Adelaide and Meath, the Mercy in Cork and Dublin’s Mater, Beaumont and Connolly hospitals.

The HSE maintains that “the vast majority of patients admitted from the Emergency Department do not wait for admission”. They say that 52% don’t wait at all for admission.

The news comes just as Dr James Reilly revealed that almost 18,000 surgeries were cancelled last year.

Aer Arann Aug 16th 2010, 12:11 PM

AER ARANN passengers were terrified after a jet crashed out of control and intro runway gear at Manchester airport.

The plane which was flying in from Galway, suffered significant damage according to a new report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.

The investigation found the plan moved between 10 and 14 metres beyond where it should have been. It only stopped after the pilot managed to shut its engines down.

None of the 33 passengers on board the plane suffered any injuries but emergency services were called to the scene last October.

Both pilots attempted to stop the aircraft by applying the toe brakes, without success.

‘Recognising that the aircraft was not under control, the commander gave an alert call to the cabin crew and instructed the co-pilot to shut the engines down.’

Investigators concluded that the airplanes breaks failed.

Read

Odd Aug 16th 2010, 11:50 AM

HOTEL CHAIN Crowne Plaza has introduced grass to its meetings rooms in a bizarre move to increase creativity.

The chain is rolling out turf based floors across its hotels in the UK and Ireland. The chain’s Northwood Hotel in Dublin will have a grass meeting room available at no extra cost all this week. A spokeswoman for Corwne said that staff will water the grass each evening and that all the usual meeting room facilities will remain the same.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph Angela Whitlock, author of Walk on the Grass, said: “Research has shown that by the age of 25, as much as 98% of our creativity has vanished.

“The look and feel of the grass is said to remind guests of their childhood and therefore free them of societal barriers that restrict creativity.

“Crowne Plaza’s initiative is perfect because it breaks down the self-imposed rules that prevent us from achieving our full potential.”

Lets hope they turn on the air conditioning – we don’t want wet feet and a ‘grassy arse’.

Strike Aug 16th 2010, 11:11 AM

ELECTRICIAN’S at St James’ Hospital in Dublin are staking a one-day strike today.

The dispute centres around management’s attempts to transfer the responsibility to reset fire alarms at the hospital from electricians to employees of a private security firm.

The hospital says it would save money by doing so, as electricians are currently paid for four to eight hours to simply reset an alarm.

Management at the hospital said “‘Security personnel have traditionally been part of the hospital fire response team and are now engaged in the resetting of fire alarms for which they have been appropriately trained to the satisfaction of experts on fire services management.”

Talks between management and the Union, the TEEU broke down last week. The TEEU have already had two half day stoppages.

Breaking News Aug 16th 2010, 11:04 AM

AN OVERTURNED truck is blocking the N4 Dublin to Sligo road at Kinnegad. The truck is being removed but junction 13 at Correllstown will be closed till 11. Gardaí are advising motorists to exit at junction 12.

Aug 16th 2010, 11:01 AM

WE MUST be looking for a bargain because high street store H&M has seen its profits rise by over 11%.

The Swedish chain had only expected a 1% increase in like-for-like sales but saw sales rise dramatically in July. The retailer is the world’s third biggest by turnover.

Total sales for H&M including newly opened stores increased by 21%. H&M said its total number of stores worldwide was 2,066 in July, from 1,828 a year earlier.

H&M refused to comments but Soren Lontoff Hansen an analyst at Sydband told Reuters that sales improved due to positive consumer sentiment, hot weather and an improvement in key markets such as Germany and Sweden.

In June H&M posted second quarter profits in line with expectations, but the group said a strengthening dollar and higher costs could hurt its gross margin in the months to come.

Sales for H&M in Ireland were €58m in 2009. The company opened their first store in Dundrum in 2005 and has opened 10 more stores across the country.

Fine Gael Aug 15th 2010, 2:18 PM

LIAM COADY, the driver and long time personal friend of Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, died suddenly in London on Friday evening.

Cody, 64, was holidaying in London with friends and is believed to have died of natural causes.

Coady was a Castlebar Town Councillor and also served as Chairman of Castlebar Urban District Council during that time. He was a joint proprietor with his brother Adrian of Coady’s Bar and Funeral Directors, Linenhall Street, Castlebar, before taking up his position with Fine Gael.

He was a well-known friend and confidant of Deputy Kenny. The Castlebar native supported Kenny through the recent Fine Gael heave, and was also friendly with Kenny’s late father Henry.

A spokeswoman for Fine Gael said it came as a great shock to Kenny and the party:

Liam was a much-loved figure around Leinster House, he was loved by anyone who met him. He went everywhere with Enda and could always be seen in the background, they were very good friends and went back a long way and went back a long way.

Last night tributes were paid to Coady by party members from across the country. Cork-based councillor John Buttimer described him as “a true gentleman with a great sense of life and wit. A real loss.”

Liam Cody is survived by his wife Kathleen, daughter Regina and her husband Declan Sweeny.

Breaking News Aug 12th 2010, 5:08 PM

PSNI are investigating a third pipe bomb attack in Antrim. The device was discovered partially exploded at a house in the Birch Hill Park area today. The explosion cause scorch damage to a window. Another device was found yesterday at a house in Fir Grove Lane.

Larry Murphy Aug 12th 2010, 4:50 PM

RELEASED EARLIER TODAY, convicted rapist Larry Murphy was last spotted by a chasing press pack getting out of a taxi on Grafton St. But did Larry Murphy go for a burger?

Murphy had been followed by a large number of press from the tabloid newspapers, as well as members of the Gardaí, after he was released from Arbour Hill prison at 10.15am. He later went to Coolock Gardaí station to make a formal complaint against the media.

Reporters continued to follow Murphy, however, and trailed him as he went to Grafton street, according to RTÉ, before disappearing into the crowd. However, one user on Facebook says Murphy was spotted in McDonalds.

Writing on the wall of a Facebook group called “Sightings of Larry Murphy”, Tom Brennan wrote:

He was in Mc Donald’s on Grafton St, few gardai walked in and, two walked out again and one stood at the door. He isn’t wearing the same hoodie (denim jacket over red t-shirt) but still has baseball cap and sunglasses. He left after his meal and walked quickly up towards the St Stephens Green centre with his head down, followed by two of the gardai

Boards.ie users have also said Murphy was sighted going towards Connolly Station while another user said they had spotted Murphy on Talbot Street.

Gardaí are said to know where Murphy is, however. As a registered sex offender he is obliged to sign on at a police station each week, and must inform Gardaí of his permanent address within seven days.

The Irish Sun are said to have plastered posters of Murphy with the line ‘Beware: Rapist’ across Wicklow.