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Discarded Christmas trees are abandoned on sand dunes in Lancashire, in the hope that they will catch passing sand and help to generate the dunes.
Daily Fix
The Daily Fix: Friday
In tonight’s fix: Downgrades for France – and difficulty for us? Plus: yet more rows over septic tanks, victory for workers at La Senza, and every presentation you’ve ever seen…
EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a roundup of the day’s main news – plus any bits and pieces you may have missed…
- France is set to lose its coveted AAA rating from the agency Standard & Poor’s later this evening. The downgrade will mean that the EU bailout fund is also likely to lose its AAA rating – which in turn will make it more expensive to raise cash for our bailout.
- There’s also bad news emerging from Greece, where talks between the government and private bondholders are said to have broken down. Greece needs to get a 50 per cent ‘haircut’ on its bonds as part of its second bailout.
- The European Commission has insisted that Ireland will not face fines next month if it doesn’t have septic tank laws in place by then – after the government said it needed to rush laws through the Dáil in order to avoid fines kicking in on February 3.
- The High Court has appointed a ‘special manager’ to a credit union in Newbridge, after a number of issues arose in compiling its financial statements for 2011. The Central Bank insists members should not worry about their cash.
- Good news for the staff at La Senza – although they’re facing into the weekend without jobs, they have secured the wages and overtime they were seeking for work in December and January.
- A 40-year-old man is appearing in Naas District Court this evening in connection with the attempted abduction of a family in Kilmeade last April.
- Dubliners beware: the city council will introduce new fees for calling its fire brigades from next Monday. The charges start at €500.
- A better day on the jobs front: a call centre in Waterford which was set up only six months ago is to recruit 250 new staff.
Dublin-based Nigerians protest outside their country’s embassy in Leeson Park, Dublin, in solidarity with #OccupyNigeria protests takign place in their homeland. Nigerians are protesting about the scrapping of a fuel subsidy, though protests have spread to include anger at political corruption. (Thanks to the reader who sent this in.)
- A court in Oslo has appointed psychiatrists to carry out further psychological tests on Anders Behring Breivik, the man who admits to the twin attacks on Oslo and Utoya Island in July.
- NT GR8: The government says it won’t consider plans for personalised car registration plates – because the system we already have is the envy of the world.
- Budweiser has bought Budweiser, leaving only Budweiser between it and the ‘Budweiser’ brand. Confused? Read this.
- Even if Europe is collapsing, Ireland is planning on going back to the bond markets later this year – in the first steps of weaning itself off EU-IMF financial aid.
- Some good news for cinema fans in the capital – the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield will be reopening to be used as a venue for the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.
- You might remember the video we shared last weekend about an Australian girl whose bungee cord snapped – plunging her into crocodile-infested water below. Zambia’s tourism minister has taken the plunge himself in order to prove the safety of the bungee attraction.
- “I’ve just seen Stacey Slater hit Archie Mitchell over the head.” “Will they need an ambulance?” “They will do, yeah.” That is an actual call made to 999 last year.
- Where is the love? Dublin City Council has cut off the ‘love locks’ from the Ha’penny Bridge, claiming the locks could damage the bridge’s structure.
- Fancy taking a cruise recreating the fatal maiden voyage of the Titanic, 100 years to the day after it sank? You’re too late.
- It’s Friday, and on Friday we do some animal slideshows. Today’s selection: ducklings.
- Oi! Northern Irelanders! The former mayor of Belfast wants you to brush up on your handshaking etiquette.
- Those of you in college – or who have been in the last few years – might find this pretty funny: in essence, it’s every presentation, ever.
