Sunday 23 May 2010

Ballinrobe v Partry

Ballinrobe Town AFC played away today against Partry Athletic on there grounds behind the church in Partry. The weather was perfect, the crowd were amazing and the game was tense.

John Fitz

Ten minutes to finish Ballinrobe’s John Fitzpatrick scoring the equalizer for there game today against Partry, and then less than two minutes later another goal by JP O Gorman giving Ballinrobe the lead and the win in Partry. 

The final score Ballinrobe Town AFC 2- Partry Athletic

JP O Gorman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Images by Brendan Nutley Photography

Friday 21 May 2010

Passenger Voices Recorded in Cockpit of Doomed Polish Plane

MOSCOW — Aviation authorities offered new details of the plane crash that killed Poland’s president and dozens of other top officials last month, including the revelation that two or more passengers were in the cockpit shortly before the pilots tried to land the aircraft in dense fog.

In a news conference held by officials of Russia and Poland on Wednesday, Edmund Klich, an envoy from the Polish government, said that the cockpit voice recorder showed that the unidentified passengers were speaking in the cockpit 16 to 20 minutes before the April 10 plane crash. The pilots had received at least one warning of poor landing conditions by that point.

The news fueled widespread speculation that the pilots were pressed to land so that President Lech Kaczynski and other dignitaries would not be late for their landmark appearance at a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, in which the Soviets killed more than 20,000 Polish officers and others during World War II.

The aviation officials ruled out the possibility of technical failure, sabotage or terrorism, but offered no definitive conclusion as to what could have caused the retrofitted Tupolev TU-154 to slam into the trees just shy of a western Russian airport.

They said that investigators were exploring whether cellphone use on board the plane or crew inexperience was a factor, and that the presence of the passengers in the cockpit was also being examined.

“It has been established that in the cockpit, there were individuals that were not members of the crew,” said Tatyana Anodina, the head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, a regulatory body.

“As for the influence on the decision making of the crew, this should be investigated,” she said. “This is important for the investigation and for establishing the cause” of the crash.

Ms. Anodina said that one passenger recorded in the cockpit had been identified, but that aviation rules prohibited her from naming that person or releasing any details about what was said in the cockpit.

On Wednesday, the Polish news agency PAP cited anonymous officials in the Polish government who identified one of the passengers recorded in the cockpit as the commander of Poland’s air force, Gen. Andrzej Blasik.

Though Mr. Kaczynski had often clashed with Russia’s leaders, his planned attendance at the memorial service to mark the Katyn massacre was seen by many as an indication that Russia and Poland had overcome years of bitterness and that relations had begun to improve.

Mr. Kaczynski’s delegation — 96 people in all, including the president’s wife — was already an hour and a half behind schedule when the plane took off from Poland for a military airfield in Smolensk, in western Russia, said Aleksei Morozov, another official with the Interstate Aviation Committee.

As the plane approached the airport, air traffic controllers and other pilots in the vicinity repeatedly warned that weather conditions were unfavorable for landing. The first warning came 27 minutes before the crash from dispatchers in Belarus, and was followed by two more from ground crews at the Smolensk airport.

About 11 minutes before the crash, the crew was informed that a Russian plane had failed at two landing attempts and had been diverted to an alternative airport. About four minutes before the crash, Mr. Morozov said, the crew was told that visibility had dropped to around 650 feet because of heavy fog.

The four-person crew, which Mr. Morozov said had been assembled a few days earlier and had received minimal emergency training, ignored the warnings and requested clearance for a landing attempt.

About 18 seconds before the crash, an alarm sounded, warning the pilots to immediately increase altitude. For unknown reasons the pilots did not respond. The plane began to break up after its left wing hit a birch tree that was 12 to 16 inches in diameter, Mr. Morozov said.

“From the time the fuselage started to break up,” he said, “until its complete destruction due to its upside-down impact with the ground took five to six seconds.”

Joanna Berendt

Fake Pilot

The Guy Who Flew Thousands of Passengers As a Fake PilotThis is Thomas Salme, a maintenance engineer who became a Boeing 737 pilot by flying a few nights in a flight simulator and printing a fake airliner pilot license. Amazingly enough, he flew passengers for thirteen years without any incidents.

Thirteen years of back and forth from Sweden to everywhere else in Europe. Nobody noticed until a couple of months ago, when Salme was caught by the police as he was getting ready for take off. He was in the cockpit of a Boeing 737, with 101 passengers at Amsterdam's Schipol airport. He admits that it was all a crazy idea:

I got the crackpot idea to apply as a co-pilot at a real airline so I made myself a Swedish flying permit with a logo out of regular white paper. It wasn't laminated, and looked like something I'd made at home. It was surprisingly easy. The documents look different everywhere in Europe. An Italian airline doesn't know what a Swedish licence looks like. And you can forge all the IDs you need. I'd train there for two or three hours at a time—at least 15 to 20 times over one and a half years.

Despite putting the lives of thousands at risk, Salme only got fined a couple thousand dollars and was banned from flying for a year. Thinking twice about it, it's kind of reasonable. Despite being crazy enough to pull such a stunt, it's not entirely his fault. After all, how can a company and the flight agencies involved be so absolutely inept? How can they accept a simple printout and put a random guy in the cockpit of a passenger plane without running any background checks? A simple computer search would have probably turned out enough information to stop this from the beginning. I can imagine Frank Abagnale Jr. pulling this stunt in the 60s, but now? There are no excuses.

If anyone needs to be nailed, that's the useless authorities that make us follow all kinds of stupid security procedures to get into an airplane, but can miserably fail to check the identity and qualification of the pilots flying the plane. [Focus]

gizmodo.com

My Live mobile phone stream

Thursday 13 May 2010

From Haiti with love

MONDAY, 10 MAY 2010 18:49

Kay with Wadley, ‘ the two year old with the melting eyes’.
From Haiti with love
Sisterly solidarity was the main focus of the recent visit by Kay Ryan, Noreen Heraty and Bernie Heraty to the devastated and impoverished island of Haiti, where Westport native, Gena Heraty has worked as a volunteer for  over 16 years
SOME people said we were crazy, others thought us brave when we told them we were heading out to visit Gena. We didn’t feel either crazy or brave to be honest. Like all of the Heraty family, and friends of Gena’s alike, our lives had been consumed by Haiti since we  first heard the awful news late that Tuesday night in January. Even though we were so lucky to know early on that Gena was alive, the unfolding story of damage and destruction made every day an anxious one as we wondered what would happen next. We lived through that earthquake in our own small way in those early days, and they were hard days for all of us. We just wanted to see her, to hug her, to hold her and to cry with her – we three felt lucky that on this occasion we were able to do just that. As the world rallied to help, Gena’s reports from Haiti touched the hearts of Irish people throughout the country and, in true Irish fashion, we dug deep and did what we could to help out. The result: the most extraordinary array of fundraising efforts you could ever hope to inspire: cake sales, raffles, quizzes, spellathons, car boot sales, sponsored walks, cycles, dances, race-nights, crazy hair days – you name it, it happened and all proceeds to the Gena Heraty Haiti fund. We cannot tell how much this means to us, the Heraty family – so proud that Gena inspires this generosity, and so grateful that she now has the means to do what she always does – provide help to those who need it. Having been to visit her, and having seen first hand the fantastic work that Gena and her colleagues are doing in Haiti, we thought you might like to share in some of our impressions so here they are.
Haiti at first glance
AS the plane circled over the island of Haiti, one could be forgiven for thinking we were about to commence a Caribbean holiday of a lifetime. Just 90 minutes out of Miami, Haiti should be a weekend hot-spot destination – a Mecca for sun-lovers and orienteers alike. The view from the plane highlighted tropical seas, rugged mountains, white sandy beaches.
Haiti is anything but a dream destination at present. Post the earthquake and the resulting structural damage to the airport complex, visitors to Port-au-Prince’s main airport essentially exit onto the main road to the capital. No kidding. And when you are each hauling two oversized bags filled with humanitarian supplies plus carry-on bags it has to be said that the experience of getting past the thronging masses of ‘helpers’ to where Gena was waiting was a pretty hectic one.

The roomful of babies

NOW Gena did tell us before we arrived that there was a roomful  of babies downstairs in her Rehab centre in Tabarre. There were being cared for by another organisation but Gena was housing them temporarily until they found more permanent accommodation of their own. However, while we may have been forewarned we were just not prepared for what we found there. Yes, there was indeed a roomful of babies, and another two rooms of slightly older children, and they quite literally stole our hearts. The first room held about 20 children: ranging in ages from just 20 days old to over two years. All gorgeous, all perfectly health. All abandoned.
You would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the sight and sound of these little innocents – it was our first evening and we were all three bawling our eyes out: so you can imagine the poor Haitian attendants were wondering why in the world Gena had been so excited by the prospect of us coming to visit her.
The next rooms held little ones who had various special needs – some mild, and some more severe. Milly, the cutie who is probably about three years old and suffers from microcephaly. She gets the giggles from being spun around as fast as possible in her buggy; Wadley, the two- year-old with the melting eyes and the slightly lopsided smile; Jean, the little guy with cerebral palsy who was intent on following us around wherever we went. These are just three of  them but they represent the group well.
Port-au-Prince
WE thought we were reasonably well prepared for our journey through Port-au-Prince. We had seen the media coverage, scoured the internet in the immediate aftermath, watched the video clips and, more telling than all, heard first-hand from Gena what was happening on the ground. Alas, the reality of Port-au-Prince is far more shocking, and far worse than any of  our imaginings. For the first 20 minutes or so we reacted with shock and disbelief to the succession of flattened houses, the piles of rubble, the streetscape of tented encampments and tried to capture on camera the scale of the devastation.
However, after about 20 minutes we just fell silent in the jeep – it was beyond shocking if you can imagine that.  All life is played out on the streets and the rubble appears to be part of that landscape now – people walk over it, live on it, or almost under it. There is no doubt that a lot of work is being down to try to start the process of rebuilding. We are no experts, but we can say that in our tour through the city we saw only one heavy machine at work clearing rubble, and only five sites that have been completely cleared – four of these were schools and one was the hospital in Pettionville that Gena mentioned in her early emails. There are over a million people without proper shelter in the city – many without tents and sleeping under plastic or, heaven help us, sheets: the rainy season is upon them and hurricane season is just round the corner.  They need urgent help and on a large scale.
ReHab in Tabarre
There is no doubt that the children and families who are lucky enough to be part of the Gena’s rehabilitation programme at Tabarre get the most excellent care and attention you can imagine from Gena, Norma and staff. The children we met in the rehab centre on this trip were there as a result of injuries sustained from the earthquake. Each child has had the most traumatic experience prior to arriving here, and has suffered truly appalling losses – many have lost one or more parents, sisters, brothers and extended family – and now are coming to terms with life without an arm, a leg, or more severe disability as a result of their injuries. But you have to see these kids – you could not credit the life and hope that they have: nothing is impossible and they just get on with it and adapt to their new circumstances – what we could learn from them! And the parents, these are truly admirable….they sit for hours and days with their child and watch as s/he improves and develops with treatment and care. Those that are living in tents arrive full of joy that their child is getting better, and complain little about the fact that it poured rain on top of that child during the night and will likely do the same again tonight. One of our first visits was to Joanne’s bed – you’ll remember Gena’s telling of the little girl in a coma with severe brain injuries – how fantastic to see Joanne awake and able to swallow food and making daily progress. David marches the length of the corridor with his walking frame and awaiting his prosthetic leg; McKinley learns to feed himself with his new arm…… all stories of hope for a better tomorrow. All people whose stories mean that our help will be needed for a long time to come.
On behalf of Gena and all the Heraty family
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir,
Bernie, Kay and Noreen
May 2010

http://www.mayonews.ie/

Monday 10 May 2010

Croagh Patrick in Three Videos

Going Up the Hill!!
 

 

At the Top

 

 

And don't forget about What Goes up. . . . .

Is coming down, Like it or not!!!

Croagh Patrick Church

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Friday 7 May 2010

Charity event ... High Profile Items

 

Gary Flannery, IT Carlow Students' Union Deputy President will hold a sports memorabilia auction for action prostate cancer on Saturday 8th May in the Dinn RI, Carlow.
With Sports memorabilia from Padraic Harrington, John Treacy, JP McManus & A P McCoy, Sean Kelly and many more, the auction is a must for all sports enthusiasts, memorabilia collectors, home owners and Sports' Bar and Hotel proprietors.

The auction on May 8th will also include signed County jerseys from all 32 counties, three signed Provincial Jerseys, signed International jerseys, signed oversees Club Jerseys and signed memorabilia from Horse Racing, Athletics, Cycling, Golf, Darts and more. All memorabilia will be professionally framed and presented.
Last November Gary Flannery participated in the worldwide organisation that is 'Movember'; this encourages Men to grow their moustache for the month of November to change the face of Men's health. This organisation raises much needed funds for research and awareness into 'Prostate Cancer'.

When over 500 staff and students signed a petition for Gary to keep his 'Tache' late last November he saw an opening to raise a considerable amount of money for 'Action Prostate Cancer' deciding a 'Sports Memorabilia Auction' would be the best option'.
Gary Flannery said: "I saw it as a huge opportunity to raise much needed funds for a very worthy cause. The more I got involved the more people I met who had been affected by the illness".
All proceeds will be given directly to 'Irish Cancer Society' for Action Prostate Cancer Research and Awareness.

"I hope the night will be a success whatever the outcome I just want to see a substantial amount raised for Action Prostate Cancer. It was a credit to see so many sport stars willing to help and meeting them was an incredible experience," said Gary.
Donations can be made by writing a cheque made payable to 'Irish Cancer Society' referencing his Registration Number 421090 and mailing it to: Movember - Irish Cancer Society, 43/45 Northumberland Road, Dublin 4.
Tickets can purchased from Gary on 087 7697080 and cost €20. Price includes: Entry to into the venue for the auction, entertainment provided by Bluemoose after the auction and some light refreshments.
For further information on the event check out: www.gfcharityauction.com

Thursday 6 May 2010

Search and Rescue Helicopters – The Shannon Story

HelicopterSearch and Rescue Helicopters – The Shannon Story

Article courtesy of CHC Ireland Ltd

As the Shannon Search and Rescue base celebrates 20 years of operations in 2009, we look back at how the service has grown from a courageous idea into a proud institution - that isn’t resting on its laurels…

For centuries, tragedies at sea just off the West Coast of Ireland were a sad reality that came with the territory of making a living on one of the wildest coastlines in the world. It took one tragedy too many, the determination of a few, and new technology available to the Coast Guard - in the shape of rugged helicopters - to begin the Irish Search and Rescue service that protects and serves the country today. That beginning dawned for Shannon in 1989 when the Air Corps inaugurated the service with Dauphin helicopters and, for the first time, Shannon had a dedicated SAR capability to rescue injured people out at sea and bring them to a place of safety.

The following year, the service was outsourced to a civilian contractor as part of a reorganisation in Defence, and the Irish Coast Guard was able to select helicopters that were better suited to the role. Daithi O Cearbhallain, an ex-Air Corps winchman - who flew on the very first mission out of Shannon and is now Chief Crewman for the Coast Guard Helicopter Service - explains that this was significant for 3 key reasons: “the Sikorsky S-61 is a big beast of an aircraft which means it can carry more fuel to go further out to sea, it can carry more casualties, and has lots of room for the Paramedics to work on those casualties”. Prior to that time, however, this wasn’t the case as “the cabin was very cramped to work in, you couldn’t stand up, and the best we could do for the survivor was apply first aid”. This meant that “scoop and run” was the method of rescue and the speed of the helicopter was the key factor in a good outcome for the survivor.

Over the next 15 years the service was expanded with three additional bases strategically located at Sligo, Waterford and Dublin providing 24 hour coverage over all of Ireland. Although no mission can ever be considered routine, some are dramatically tense. One such mission flew out of Shannon in February 2002 to rescue 10 fishermen who had run aground in stormy conditions just off Dingle. Captain Mark Kelly, who leads the Helicopter Service today was one of the pilots on that night: “When we got there, the Valencia Lifeboat was already on scene, but the fishing boat was too far up on the rocks for them to reach and was rolling really badly in the surf, with the 10 lads clinging for dear life to the top. We got in as close as we could – we were looking up at some local people literally kneeling and praying on the top of the cliff – winched Pete Leonard down and got them all on board safely and away to hospital”. Peter received the Michael Heffernan Silver Medal for Marine Gallantry and Mark and the other crewmembers - Derek Nequest, the skipper of the aircraft, and John Manning, the Winch Operator - all received the Marine Ministerial Letter of Appreciation for Meritorious Service - just one of over a dozen similar awards received by the Shannon base alone over the last 2 decades.

Throughout the development of the service, the Shannon helicopter has always been the busiest, and remains as much a reassuring presence for injured or sick people on the Aran Islands as for trawler crews in the grimmest conditions at sea. Last year alone, the Shannon rescue crews conducted a new record of 161 missions and this year they are on course to do even more, having flown 118 rescue missions at the time of press. The number of missions has continued to grow year on year as the capabilities of the helicopters and crews expand and develop. The pilots routinely practice approaches to vessels in near-blind conditions, using their skills and the helicopter’s specialist avionics to get into a good position from which the winchcrew can then talk them in the rest of the way. O Cearbhallain isn’t stopping there, however: “We’ve a great bunch of lads here who know how to keep making this great mission even better. We’re getting tremendous leadership from the Coast Guard to improve our Paramedics’ skills even further and they are very active in helping not just the winchcrew, but the pilots and engineers to focus in on future capabilities that will allow us to go out further, faster and safer than before to save the lives of people that, 20 years ago, simply wouldn’t have had a chance”. Thanks to the Irish Coast Guard Helicopters and their dedicated crews, a lot more people can get that chance.

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Radio Science E-Skip beacon

 

As of 12:00 UTC May 3rd, a Radio Science E-Skip propagation beacon has been activated from the eastern coast of North America.

QRG is 70.005MHz. ERP is currently 3kW aimed at the EU. The beacon is scheduled to run 24 hours a day until September 1st unless there are technical issues precluding that.

The beacon is non-Amateur and sadly no 2-way QSOs could take place.
Any and all reception reports via e-mail to:

 wa1zms (at) att (dot) net
73,
Brian

ISS Exceptionally Bright - 10:13pm Tonight

The International Space Station (ISS) is visible in Irish skies until May 14. The ISS appears as an extremely bright star-like object in evening skies and is the brightest object in the sky apart from the Moon. This man-made object is a spectacular sight and we urge all of you to go outside and watch as it passes over.

Tonight, the International Space Station will be visible at 10:13pm and will be seen to pass on front of Saturn and Mars from different parts of Ireland - a remarkable sight to behold!

These locations will be issued on our text service this evening and will read something similar to the text message sent on May 1st which read "See ISS high in South at 10:33pm, passing in front of Saturn for those along a line from Ennis to Dublin Airport!!!". To receive a message to your mobile with these ISS details simply text SPACE to 57003 (reply STOP to unsubscribe). Each text costs 1euro, and only one message will be sent per day. Proceeds help to promote interest in astronomy across Ireland.

Remember to email your observations of the ISS to iss@astronomy.ie and we will do our best to include your report in a forthcoming issue of 'Astronomy & Space' magazine. For more information about the Space Station click HERE.

Astronomy Ireland Logo

Bringing The House Down in Limerick

This is the Drogheda Brass Band's championship-winning performance at the National Band Championships of Ireland in Limerick University, Sunday, April 18th 2010. This was our own choice piece, Land of the Long White Cloud, by Philip Sparke. Adjudicator was Tim Reynish. We won the championship brass section, joint winners of the own choice, best band in the championship section of the contest (including concert bands) and best overall band in the contest. It was our fourth victory in the championship section in a row

Mythical Ireland

Island of the Setting Sun

Ham Radio Ireland - the diary of a recently licenced Irish radio amateur - EI2KC (ex EI8GHB)

These videos were brought to you courtesy of Mythical Ireland

Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers

 

 

 

 

Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers

Price:
£22.95 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

First lady's first tweet

By Ed Henry, Senior White House CorrespondentCNN's Ed Henry helps first lady Michelle Obama -- with Jay Leno and Robert Gibbs -- send out her first tweet.

Washington (CNN) -- It was my first chance to spend some quality time at dinner with First Lady Michelle Obama, so I decided to do what my pal Ali Velshi would probably do in the same situation: get her hooked on Twitter.

I was sitting with the first lady and Jay Leno at the head table for Saturday night's White House Correspondents Association Dinner because I'm a member of the association's board, a front-row seat to the slew of celebrities who walked up to gawk at Mrs. Obama and the president, who was a few seats from me.

Teen sensation Justin Beiber, famous-for-being-famous Kim Kardashian, comedian Chevy Chase and actor Morgan Freeman all walked up to the rope line separating the head table from the rest of the ballroom to send the first couple a shout-out.

I was snapping pics of the celebrity parade on my iPhone and posting them to my Twitter account, @edhenrycnn, during dessert, just a few minutes before the president and Leno would take their turns at telling some jokes.

Leno, a social media skeptic, finally turned to me with squinted eyes and said in a conspiratorial tone, "Are you tweeting right now?"

I confessed to Leno that I was, sparking Mrs. Obama to ask me whether journalists find value in social media or whether it's mostly trivial. I said I find it helpful to get feedback, good and bad, from people who follow my tweets.

When Mrs. Obama mentioned that she had never tweeted, I noted that the president had sent out his first tweet a few months ago from a Red Cross account to promote relief to Haiti and wondered aloud: "Why don't you send out your first tweet on my iPhone?"

The first lady laughed and said her press staff wouldn't be happy if she went rogue like that. Besides, she said, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs would have to sign off first.

Noting that Gibbs was sitting at the other end of the head table, I stood and told the first lady I'd ask him.

To my surprise, Gibbs instantly told me it was a fun idea, on one condition: I had to first send out a tweet saying he had endorsed it, so that colleagues on Mrs. Obama's staff were not blindsided.

I typed out a tweet saying, "i am trying to coax First Lady to do her first ever tweet. Gibbs @presssec just gave his blessing."

Then I walked back to Mrs. Obama to tell her the good news. But she told me good-naturedly, "Gibbs did not say that; you're lying!" I assured the first lady I would not tell her a fib, which prompted Leno to jump to his feet to say he'd go get Gibbs to sort this out once and for all.

A laughing Gibbs came over and advised the first lady it would be a harmless exercise, but she was skeptical until the commander in chief finally weighed in.

Hearing the light-hearted argument playing out a few seats down, the president asked, "What's going on?"

The first lady explained her dilemma, but the president waved his hand as if to say "no big deal" and told her to go for it.

I handed the first lady my iPhone, but it quickly became apparent that she had very little experiences with this smartphone. Like many people, she said, "How do you type on this?"

Gibbs, who was looking over our shoulders, suggested that I type it out, so I told Mrs. Obama to start dictating the note. I started my typing "from flotus," as in "first lady of the United States."

She joked about the pressure of coming up with something interesting to say. She started simply with how she was at the dinner and dictated, "this is officially my first Twitter" and added her thoughts about the comedy acts about to perform.

I knew Mrs. Obama should have called it her first "tweet," but I didn't want to be in the uncomfortable position of correcting the first lady -- my mom would be appalled -- and sounding like a tech know-it-all.

She asked Gibbs for his opinion on what she had dictated, and he said the proper way to say it was that it was her first tweet. Mrs. Obama grilled me on whether Gibbs was right, and I said he was but I didn't want to be the one changing her words, so she politely asked me to change it so that she sounded as hip as possible.

The final version, for the history books: "from flotus: 'here at dinner this is officially my first Tweet. i am looking forward to some good laughs from the potus and jay'".

Some of my followers were particularly amused that Mrs. Obama referred to her husband as "the potus" -- as in the president of the United States -- and started re-tweeting it.

It also got me a few more followers, which brings me back to Ali Velshi.

On our daily segment on his show -- the "Ed Henry Segment," of course -- Velshi and I tease each other about necktie choices and who has more people following our tweets.

For the record, I have 12,313 followers as of this morning. Velshi seems stuck on 11,025.

So let me take this opportunity to encourage the first lady to set up her own Twitter account. I bet it will be a smart way for her to push her initiatives, just as former first lady Laura Bush now has a Twitter account to help sell her memoirs and talk up her pet causes, too.

Besides, I'm hoping Mrs. Obama will follow me, and not Velshi, since I hooked her up with her first tweet.

Oil Slick To Be Set On Fire By Coast Guard

The US coast guard says it will set fire to a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

There are fears the spill could become one of the worst in US history.

"This oil will then be towed to a more remote area, where it will be ignited and burned in a controlled manner," a statement said.

The slick covers an area 48 miles long and 39 miles wide, close to the Mississippi Delta.

Attempts to seal the leaking well using robot submarines operating some 1,500m (5,000ft) down on the ocean floor have so far failed.

The huge slick is now threatening the coast of Louisiana.

Fire boat response crews tackle blazing remnants of Deepwater Horizon oil rig

The Deepwater Horizon rig caught fire and collapsed killing 11 workers

There are fears a shift in winds could push it inland this weekend.

Rear Admiral Mary Landry said: "I am going to say right up front, the BP efforts to secure the blow-out preventer have not yet been successful.

"If we don't secure the well, yes, this will be one of the most significant oil spills in US history."

BP, which leases the site known as the Deepwater Horizonplatform, says an estimated 42,000 gallons of oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day after the rig caught fire and sank last week, killing 11 workers.

Sky News Logo

Driver Backs Into Wall

An Oklahoma driver has escaped unharmed after accidentally reversing his car though a car park wall.

Ralph Huson got his foot stuck between the brake and accelerator on his Mercedes and shot the car through the outer wall of a multi-storey car park.

His vehicle was left with its boot hanging out over a busy street - seven stories above ground.

Mr Huson, 67, escaped unharmed but the C-class sent bricks raining down on cars parked below.

Several windscreens were smashed and he faces a large insurance claim.

Eventually the authorities drove the car forward because the rear wheels had not slipped off the edge.

The hole has since been covered up with plywood.

Sky News Logo

vegetable oil car

A car that runs on vegetable oil could be the greenest in Britain, its inventor has claimed.

Buzz Knapp-Fisher in his car.

Mr Knapp-Fisher says his "womble truck" can reach speeds of 110mph

Environmentalist Buzz Knapp-Fisher bought a scrap vehicle six years ago for only £250 and adapted it to run on chip fat.

He has replaced the large petrol engine with a biodiesel one and as a result, it emits fewer carbon fumes than normal cars.

His so-called "womble truck" is made up of parts from 21 different cars and can reach speeds of 110mph.

Mr Knapp-Fisher said as well as being environmentally friendly, the car was cheap to run.

"She has been very reliable over the years and so I haven't really had to replace anything," he said.

"The aim of the exercise is to apply the different methods of moving around but proving to people that you don't need oil.

"We will have to start living a low-carbon lifestyle and a lot of people in the country are using electric or biodiesel cars and so there is a growing move towards it."

He now hopes to develop electric and hydrogen cars based on the design of his womble truck.

Sky News Logo

Monday 3 May 2010

Three Spanish women admit running Limerick brothel

 

Three Spanish women have been told to leave the country after they admitted running a brothel in Limerick city.

New ash-cloud threat to Dublin and Shannon flights

 

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has warned that Dublin, Shannon and some regional northern airports may see flight restrictions tomorrow.

BreakingNews.ie

BP vows to clean up US oil slick

 

Oil giant BP says it is "absolutely responsible" for cleaning up the massive oil spill off the US Gulf of Mexico coast.

Saturday 1 May 2010

Passing Again

DSC_3741

The international Space Station is in our sky’s again this week and man is she bright. Tonight at 22:27 she raced over Ballinrobe in all her glory. Cloud cover got in the way for about 15seconds but the cloud as dark as they were could not stop the bright reflection of the ISS coming through. Below is the list of visible times for the next month. Happy Looking!.

DSC_3760

DATE-------     TIME----        DURATION       
01 MAY 2010    22:27:44         00:10:01   
02 MAY 2010    22:52:43        00:10:12   
03 MAY 2010    23:17:48         00:10:14   
04 MAY 2010    22:07:50        00:10:12   
04 MAY 2010    23:42:54         00:10:11   
05 MAY 2010    22:32:52         00:10:14   
06 MAY 2010    00:08:00        00:09:59   
06 MAY 2010    22:57:56         00:10:11   
07 MAY 2010    23:22:58         00:09:58   
08 MAY 2010    22:12:52         00:10:10   
08 MAY 2010    23:48:04        00:09:24   
09 MAY 2010    22:37:52         00:09:56   
10 MAY 2010    00:13:20        00:08:06   
10 MAY 2010    23:02:55        00:09:20   
11 MAY 2010    00:39:16         00:05:04   
11 MAY 2010    23:28:09        00:07:59   
12 MAY 2010    22:17:40         00:09:17   
12 MAY 2010    23:54:08        00:04:46   
13 MAY 2010    22:42:53        00:07:52   
14 MAY 2010    23:08:55        00:04:26   
16 MAY 2010    22:23:38        00:04:04   

Gerry Ryan

gerryRyan 

It is with profound sadness that RTE has learned of the sudden death of broadcaster Gerry Ryan.
There will be a tribute to Gerry tomorrow (Saturday) on 2fm between 10AM and 12PM.

There is a book of condolences open for members of the public to pay their respect in the reception of Radio Centre in RTE, Donnybrook.

The book is open to sign between 12PM-6PM Saturday and 12PM-6PM Sunday.
The thoughts and prayers of all RTE staff are with Gerry's family and his friends.
RTE has been asked by Gerry Ryan's family to say:
"Gerry Ryan died today. Moira and his children are in complete shock. Please respect their privacy at this time."

Kevin Dawson
Head of Corporate Communications, RTE

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