NEWS FROM IRELAND

CLAUDY REPORT - A Northern Ireland report issued last week says that the RUC (Police) investigating a bombing that killed 9 people in Claudy, Co. Derry, in 1972, believed that a Catholic priest was a ringleader of the IRA gang that planted the bomb, but yet never questioned him. However, as Bishop Edward Daly argues in a newspaper column, only suspicion and no evidence has ever been offered to support the claim that a priest was involved. No one was ever convicted for the 1972 bombings which killed 5 Catholics and 4 Protestants.

WORLD RANKING - Newsweek magazine recently ranked Ireland's Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Brian Cowen, as one of the top 10 political leaders in the world, calling him a "fiscal taskmaster" who has "managed to win serious respect" by prescribing "harsh medicine" after the Irish economy was staggered by the banking crisis.

SCIENCE IRELAND - Ireland has been ranked among the top 20 science hubs in the world, according to Thomson Reuters Essential Scientific Indicators. Researchers in Ireland now publish more research on a per capita basis than the United States, Germany, France or Spain, and Ireland is ranked third in the world for immunology research. In 2009, Science Foundation Ireland, an Irish governmental agency, linked 184 multinational firms and 165 small- and medium-sized enterprises with academic teams in Ireland's Universities.

TIME CHANGE? - The Irish government may permanently move the clocks forward by an hour by switching from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to Central European Time. If the proposal is approved, the sun won't go down on Galway Bay until close to 11.30 pm in June, while in December, it won't rise until at least 9.40 am. The idea is also being considered by the UK government as a way to reduce the number of road fatalities and lessen carbon emissions.

UNIVERSITY FEES - University education is free in Ireland. Now an Irish government report recommends that college students should "contribute to the cost of their education" through a government loan that would have to be repaid once they had reached a certain income threshold after graduating. The Government is under increasing pressure from universities to reintroduce fees to allow them to cope with record student numbers.

COLLINS COMMEMORATION - The 2010 Michael Collins commemoration at B�al na mBl�th in Co. Cork, an event closely associated with Ireland's Fine Gael party, for the first time ever had a member of the Fianna F�il party deliver the oration at the annual commemoration of Collins' killing during Ireland's Civil War in 1922. The Fine Gael party emerged from those who, like Collins, supported the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty while the Fianna F�il party emerged from those who opposed the treaty.

IRISH TROOPS - Almost one in five members of Ireland's Defense Forces served on an overseas UN mission last year with Chad accounting for the highest number of troop deployments. Irish troops are also deployed in Kosovo, Lebanon, Western Sahara and Afghanistan.

NAVY SHIPS - The Irish Navy comprises a flotilla of eight ships, all named after famous women from Irish mythology. The ship prefix L� stands for Long �ireannach (Irish ship), and the ship names are L� Emer, L� Aoife, L� Aisling, L� R�is�n, L� Niamh, L� Eithne, L� Orla, and L� Ciara.

PIPING CHAMPIONS - Dublin's St Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band took the top award in the World Pipe Band Championships 2010 held recently in Glasgow while the runners up band was from Lisburn, Co. Antrim. A total of 240 bands from 16 countries took part in the competitions.

RENTA-CASTLE - The Irish Landmark Trust rents out as self catering accommodations 19 historical landmarks or buildings of architectural importance around Ireland, including Castles, Lighthouses and Gate Lodges. Among them are the Loop Head Lighthouse in Co Clare; Clomantagh Castle in Co Kilkenny; Termon House in Dungloe, Co Donegal; Helen's Tower, Bangor, Co Down; and the Wicklow Lighthouse at Dunbur Head, Co Wicklow.

LANDLORDING - A Church of England vicar and his wife, English descendents of a family that left Ireland 90 years ago, are now laying claim to land in the picturesque seaside resort of Rosses Point, Co Sligo. Residents of the former Middleton Estate face uncertainty over the ground on which their homes stand in one of the most valuable locations in Ireland's northwest

STROAN FOUNTAIN - The 18th century Stroan Fountain a "unique" architectural folly near Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, will be restored with funding from various groups including the Belfast-based Follies Trust. The fountain was built in 1766 by public subscription as a water source for the tenants, and was still in use in the 1960s.

AUSSIE HERO - The Australian Ambassador to Ireland was recently in Galway to unveil a plaque on the birth home of Robert O'Hara Burke, the Galway-born explorer who led the first successful expedition from south to north Australia. Burke led the Victorian Exploring Expedition which left Melbourne on August 20th, 1860, with a total of 19 men, 27 camels and 28 horses. However, Burke died of starvation on the return journey the following year.

CONNEMARA PONIES - The 87th Annual Connemara Pony Show took place recently in Clifden, Co. Galway, with up to 400 ridden and breeding ponies for sale. The height of the Breeding Connemara Pony as set by the Connemara Pony Breeders Society is 128cms (4 feet 2.4 inches) to 148cms (4 feet 10.27 inches). The American Connemara Pony Society promotes ownership and standards in the USA for Ireland's only native breed.

JACKSON TRAIL - Several tourist groups have taken specially-arranged tours on the theme of Michael Jackson's Westmeath connections. In 2006, the late superstar stayed for 5 months in two Irish country homes in Rosemount, Co. Westmeath, at Coolatore House and at Grouse Lodge where Jackson stayed in a three-bedroom cottage that had been converted from a cowshed!  'The Michael Jackson Trail' includes some of Jackson's former haunts such as the historic twin hills of Cnoc Aiste and Uisneach, Athlone's 

GUINNESS TRAIL - Tourists now regularly visit the grave of Arthur Guinness in Oughterard, near Celbridge, Co. Kildare, inspired by the Arthur's Day celebration launched last year as a marketing ploy by Guinness for the company's 250th anniversary. Arthur Guinness died in 1893 and was buried in small sixth century graveyard that also holds the remains of a Round Tower and numerous tombs.

TOUGH PILGRIMAGE - Lough Derg, Ireland's toughest pilgrimage, this year attracted its highest numbers in five years. The three-day pilgrimage requires pilgrims to go barefoot, endure a 72-hour fast, keep a 24-hour vigil and complete nine "stations" which involve walking and kneeling at a series of rocky penitentiary beds while reciting a continuous litany of prayers. Pilgrims on the final summer weekend included people from Ireland, Britain, the US, Croatia, Latvia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Russia and Switzerland.

BREHON LAW -Brehon Law is the body of ancient Irish native law which was generally operational in Gaelic areas until the early 17th century. They were first set down on parchment in the 7th century and were named after wanderings lawyers, the Brehons, whose role was closer to that of an arbitrator. Although Irish society was male-dominated, under Brehon Law women had greater freedom, independence and rights to property than in other European societies of the time.

MANDARIN IRISH - An Irish-born boy came in the top five of the All China Story Telling competition which took place recently in Hangzhou, China, impressing the judges with his rendition of the story of Little Red Riding Hood - in Mandarin. The storytelling competition is judged on storytelling ability, technical skills in Mandarin and stage presence, and this was the first time a child from outside Asia made it to the final.

CONVICT WOMEN - An Irish woman banished to an Australian penal colony in 1842 for allegedly stealing cloth from a local shop was highlighted when 25,566 convict women transported to Australia from Britain and Ireland between 1788 - 1853 were remembered in a memorial that was dedicated recently in Cork. The Roses from the Heart project involves the making of bonnets to commemorate the transported women and the contribution each made towards the founding of a new nation.