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EVERY WEEK, TheJournal.ie offers a selection of statistics and numerical nuggets to help you digest the week that has just passed.
62 – The number of people murdered in Ireland in the twelve months to the end of June. That’s a fall of 23.5 per cent on the previous twelve months.
4,700 – The number of teachers and other school staff who were overpaid in the first half of last year, because the Department of Education was late in introducing a pay cut for new public servants. The staff were overpaid to the tune of €1.17 million.
€25,518,000,000 – Ireland’s State deficit for the year 2011 – its biggest ever – according to the 2011 annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. That’s €5,561.59 per person living in Ireland.
75 per cent – The income tax rate that France has introduced for those who earn more than €1 million a year. The move is part of a €37 billion budget announced by Francois Hollande’s administration, needed to bring the country’s deficit within EU limits.
303 seconds – One person emigrated from Ireland an average of every 303 seconds in the year up to April 2012, according to new population figures this week. 87,100 people left Ireland in the twelve months covered by the latest population estimates – that’s 238 a day. On average, an Irish person moves away every 11 minutes and 20 seconds.
2014 per cent – The amount by which non-pay spending in the Office of the President at Waterford IT increased in eight years, during the tenure of Prof Kieran Byrne. Spending there was around €30,000 a year in 2000 when Byrne began – and peaked at €634,308 in 2008.
0 – The number of jails in the Vatican. The shortage of prison space means the Pope’s former butler Paolo Gabriele would have to serve his time in an Italian prison if he’s convicted by a Vatican court over the leaking of sensitive papal memos. Of course, the Pope might forgive him anyway.
€33,100 – The severance pay that former junior health minister Róisín Shortall will receive over the next 19 months after quitting her ministerial role. Her 19 months’ service as a Minister of State qualifies her for a severance allowance for the next two years, on top of her Dáil salary of €92,672.
€27,870 – The amount by which Alex White’s annual pay is about to increase. White is to fill the ministerial job left behind by Shortall – and will inherit the €37,370 in extra wages that go with it. He’ll have to give up his spot as an Oireachtas committee chairman, though, for which he already gets €9,500 a year.
94 per cent – The proportion of the country’s unemployed people who would be financially better off with work, according to an ESRI report – which undermines a working paper previously published by the economic think-tank. The latest report says only a small number of people with excessive childcare costs would be better off staying at home instead.
€1,770 – The fine Darren Heraty has been ordered to pay after kicking a politician in the bum during a televised press conference. Heraty told an Australian court that he only kicked John Elferink for “a stupid, drunken prank”.
€638,847 – The amount spent by Dublin City Council providing private security for the ill-fated Priory Hall complex – or, rather, the 26 apartments owned by the council itself. The spending, uncovered exclusively by TheJournal.ie, come despite a series of break-ins at privately-owned apartments at the Donaghmede site.
€2.2 million – The amount saved by customers of BoardsDeals.ie in the last two-and-a-bit years. The discount deals website issued its final offers yesterday, saying it doesn’t believe the daily deals industry has a long shelf-life. Its staff are being transferred to other roles in the Distilled Media group.
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Jesus Christ, hopefully he makes a full recovery, lot of people are driving like crazy nowadays.
@Anthony Burke: How do you know this accident had anything to do with driving standards?
@Anthony Burke: A bit harsh to start shifting the blame when you haven’t a clue of the circumstances.
@John O Brien: typical defensive attitude. Put it this way – it doesn’t matter if it was a pedestrian, cyclist, dog or other car that was in the way, no-one should be driving at such a speed that they can’t stop for any of these, especially when there are no cars on the road. If a child is airlifted to hospital after “a collision between two vehicles”, you can be sure the other vehicle wasn’t paying enough attention.
@John O Brien: agree! I see 11 year old cyclists speeding every day! NOT!
speedy recovery little man!
@Brynþór Patrekursson: so if the car was driving 50km on a 50km road and a person/child/cat/dog came out in front of your bumper it’s the drivers fault for not being able to stop on time?
Quick and full recovery for the child and hopefully the driver is ok too(if not at fault).
@Anthony Burke: I was going to my local shop today in a rural spot and a ups driver nearly came up on the path. He was going way too fast in a village with a 50km,ph limit. Must have been been going 90/100 . He was on 2 wheels going around the bend.
@Aviationdub: It could be, if 50 km was not an appropriate speed to be driving at, given the conditions. E.g, driving past a football match, funeral, etc just after the event has ended. Obviously, the other cyclist, pedestrian, etc has some responsibility (unless they’re 5 years old). If a person parachutes down in front of the car, saying the driver was at fault would be unreasonable.
@Aviationdub: yes, you are supposed to anticipate hazards. You slow down on bends and anywhere you can’t see a good distance ahead.
Also pedestrians have been crazy on the roads recently. Well the country roads, they are walking in the middle of the road sometimes in twos and threes very dangerous. They probably think they’re ok as there is not much traffic on the roads but one car can do a lot of damage to a pedestrian.
@lunadoran: perhaps drivers should drive to the conditions and the road. Those twos and threes could just as easily be a person with a double buggy, an oncoming tractor, a person on a horse, etc ……. Saying 2 or 3 pedestrians are dangerous is poor show for driver
@Eoin Scanlon: Walking 2 or 3 abreast on a country road is poor judgement. Maybe you should think of any poor person who rounds a bend and has insufficient time to avoid a collision. It’s not always the driver’s fault.
@lunadoran: Jeesus! – they’re supposed to be on the road. No excuses during a pandemic where cars are down 95% and everyone knows pedestrians and cyclists have to keep bigger distances apart. Far, far, too many unnecessary journeys by arrogant individuals, especially in rural areas. And arrogant individuals mixed with cars result in injuries like this.
@lunadoran: Slow down! Where are these people supposed to walk? Their are no pavements on a lot of rural roads.
@lunadoran: its actually safer to cycle /walk in the middle of the road.
Get well soon .. You are in my prayers young man
Praying you recover, God bless you and your family
Drivers are exploiting the pandemic to drive like total maniacs. Speeding up more than 50%. The roads are getting out of control .
@Bob Moore: also noticing a lot of cyclists completely ignoring traffic lights at busy junctions due to lack of traffic.. and not taking any real time to look in all directions!!
@Lydia McLoughlin: make sure you get the anti cyclists jibe on an article about a poor 11 year old smashed by a car
@Lydia McLoughlin: Really bad form Lydia. Think next time before you post. Cyclists don’t kill thousands of people around the world every year
This boy was innocently riding his bike.
Very, very insensitive of you. Cop on.
@Eoin Scanlon: I’m a cyclist and a driver. I find both your comments to be poorly timed. There are plenty of bad drivers, plenty of bad cyclists and plenty of pedestrians who practise poor judgement. My thoughts are with this child and his family at this moment in time.
Incredibly small minded people writing comments. I hope this poor 11 year old child makes a full recovery and thoughts and prayers with both his family and that of the driver. A bit of humanity goes along way over arguing with strangers getting insignificant jibes in. Roads are for everyone. Everyone who uses them has a responsibility for their own safety as well as that of other users. It doesn’t make every driver, cyclist or pedestrian involved in an accident open to idiotic comments by people who have no idea of the circumstances.
@Sandra Whelehan: agree Sandra.. but with great (horse) power comes great(er) responsibility. You can’t say an 11 year old on a bicycle is is responsible for his/her own safety. It’s up to us adults who drive to look out for other road users.
@Alan Kelly: Of course he’s responsible for his own safety if he’s on a road. What a strange thing to say.
@Johnny 5: hand in your driving license at your nearest Garda Station please.
@Alan Kelly: I know of a young girl (family member of my mams best friend) who literally ran out in front of a car, the car was going about 30km speed at tops, her friends all ran across the main road and she followed a couple of minutes later, ran from behind a parked car without looking. Anyways the car hit her, the way she landed on the road unfortunately gave her fatal injuries.
The poor car driver was never the same, he actually became very good friends with the young girls mam and they helped each other through the grief.
At the end of the day, it was a tragic accident pure and simple and there was no way of avoiding it. Moral of the story, accidents happen and it’s not always the drivers fault.
Hopefully the young lad makes a full and quick recovery.
@Aviationdub: yeah that can happen…that’s why you should always drive slowly past parked cars. As you approach cars, look for pedestrians feet under the parked cars. Same goes for buses at bus stops, watch out for passengers alighting and crossing the road in front of the bus! Like I said..when driving, we have a greater responsibility to look out for more vulnerable road users.
@Alan Kelly: So I should avert my attention from the road in front and look to see whether I can see feet under a parked car? Surely then I’m more at risk of knocking a pedestrian down coming from the other side? Maybe, just maybe all road users should learn the rules of the road? You’re basically saying all drivers should drive at 20 kms per hour because pedestrians are eejits.
@Johnny 5: you could look 5 times while approaching a parked and still not see a child dart out at the last second, thats even going at 20km. As I said freak accidents can happen and will always happen, we will never be able to stop it unfortunately.
@Johnny 5: Should we examine your 20 km/h proposal further? It might improve road safety.
@Johnny 5: no, just drive with due care and attention.
@Sandra Whelehan: well said.
@Sandra Whelehan: every time there is a crime which justifiably opens debate, people say “now is not the time- let people grieve”. Mass shootings for example.
@Alan Kelly: can I keep my license so?
Incredibly narrow country road but quite straight in places which inclines some motorists to drive too fast. Know the area very well
Don’t have to be speeding to injure an 11 year old.
Get well soon ☘️
A little boy is fighting for his life and look at most of the comments. People bickering about who is to blame and not one of you knows the facts. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Please God little Daithi makes a full recovery
@Decko49: Exactly……..a child of 11 in 5th class in primary school. Hope he makes a full recover.
I live in the country and around every corner is more people out walking than ive ever seen before, drivers need to really slow down on small roads particularly, i worry for them when I see them walking, just takes one ejit to wreck a family…
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