TOUGH WINTER - December 2010 was the coldest December in Ireland as far back as the mid-19th century. In Castlederg, Co Tyrone, it got to minus 1.5 F on December 23. The all-time record is minus 2.4 F in 1881 in Co Sligo. What was most remarkable about the cold spell was the coldness of the daytimes. On December 21 in Co Cavan, the temperature never got above 15 F, making it the coldest ever day recorded in Ireland. The sudden thaw which came on St Stephen's Day (December 26) caused numerous burst water mains and pipes that left tens of thousands of homes without water.

IRISH WAY - The Irish Way program has brought more than 3,000 high school aged students to Ireland over the past 36 years. The students travel around Ireland in the summertime, studying the history, arts and culture of Ireland. A program of the Irish American Cultural Institute, visit www.irishway.org for details.

RUSSIAN EXPULSION - The Irish government recently ordered the expulsion of a Russian diplomat after concluding that Russian intelligence agents produced fake Irish passports that were used by members of a espionage ring uncovered in the US last June. US investigators broke up the spy ring and deported 10 people as part of a spy swap with Russia. The last time Russian diplomats were expelled from Ireland was in 1983.

HERITAGE CERTIFICATES - Shortly after the Irish government announced last year that they would be offering authentic Certificates of Irish Heritage to people of Irish heritage who are not eligible for Irish citizenship, several websites started selling their own "Certificates of Irish Heritage". These sites have nothing to do with the Irish government offering and the certificates are not official as the Irish government's scheme is not yet in operation. A Kerry-based company, Fexco, will operate the official syestem which will also provide discount offers to travelers to Ireland.

BARON ADAMS? - When Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams resigned as a British MP, he was appointed "crown steward and bailiff of the manor of Northstead" under a British tradition that requires him to accept a "crown position" if he wants to resign. The only other ways a seat can be declared vacant are "death, disqualification or expulsion". In line with Sinn Féin policy, Adams never took his seat in the House of Commons and never entered the Parliament at Westminster, and he now refuses to accept the appointment which would make him a Baron. The standoff continues.

FAMILY VALOR - In 1857, Irishman Patrick Donoghue (1820-1876) was awarded Britain's highest military honor, the Victoria Cross, while fighting with the British Army in India. In 1862, his younger brother Timothy Donoghue (1824-1908), was awarded America's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor, while fighting with the 69th Regiment at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Both were born in Nenagh, Co Tipperary.

GAA DRUG TESTS - 92 intercounty Gaelic Football and Hurling players were drug tested in 2010, with all the unannounced tests being negative for signs of doping. Sixty percent of the tests followed games while the other 40% took place during training sessions. The GAA's amateur players have been tested annually since 2001 using the same tests given to Olympic athletes and sports professionals.

BELFAST MUSEUM - A barge on the river Lagan in Belfast has been restored to create a dedicated maritime museum that tells the story of the River Lagan and Northern Ireland's industrial and maritime heritage. The barge houses an exhibition, a multi-use heritage and arts space, and a café in the pipeline, boasting panoramic views of the river.

BARRY MEMORIAL - The United States Naval Academy's Memorials Oversight Committee has approved the Commodore John Barry Memorial at the Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Visitors and midshipmen will enter the Academy through the Commodore John Barry Gate, and go past the Commodore Barry memorial being erected on Barry Plaza. Co. Wexford native John Barry, a Revolutionary War naval hero, was the first commissioned US naval officer, founded the US Navy, and served as its first flag officer.

BRITISH PROVOCATEUR - Britain's Guardian Newspaper reports that, at an EU summit in Dublin in 2004, an undercover British policeman encouraged protesters to attack Irish police officers. Under an assumed name, the agent made several visits to Dublin to help train protesters and encouraged other activists to attack the police during violent clashes in Dublin's Phoenix Park on May Day 2004. Two years later, he also joined the mass demonstration in Ireland against the visit of US President George Bush.

MY GOODNESS! - Researchers at the University of Wisconsin report that Guinness may work as well as a low dose of aspirin to prevent heart attacks. Guinness was given to dogs with narrowed arteries and the Guinness worked as well as aspirin in preventing clots forming. The researchers told a convention of the American Heart Association that a pint of Guinness taken at meal time had the best impact, with its antioxidant compounds helping to decrease harmful cholesterol.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS - Ireland's National University in Galway (formerly UCG) has initiated a new college program for people with intellectual disabilities which will allow successful applicants to study, gain work experience and avail of college sporting and social activities. Individual college plans will include goals which students require to obtain a certificate in arts and civic studies.

BAD BUSKERS - Rules are being introduced to regulate bad busking in Killarney, following complaints of poor playing and monotonous tunes being played over and over on screeching instruments. Office workers in one building complain of being driven to the edge of sanity by a man with a tin whistle playing the same tune at the same corner every day.

YOUNG SCIENTIST - Ireland's 2010 Young Scientist award went to a 15 year-old Dubliner who developed a way to analyze physical movement using a computer. His complex suite of computer programs analyze movement through sensors attached to arm, chest and leg, enough to allow the computer build a model of a person's style and to suggest variations to improve technique. While the research was based on a study of swings playing tennis, the system could more readily be used to help patients rehabilitate from injury.

JFK'S IRISH ARCHIVES - The JFK Library archives are online and historians and the general public alike have access to 200,000 document pages, 1,200 individual telephone conversations, speeches and meetings and 1,500 photos. Among them is the audio recording of President John F. Kennedy's Address to Oireachtas Éireann, Ireland's parliament, at Leinster House, Dublin on June 28, 1963.

DeLOREAN CELEBRATION - Fans of the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car are this year celebrating the 30th anniversary of the car that was made famous in the 1985 movie 'Back to the Future'. There will be a reunion at 'Eurofest 2011' in Belfast on May 26-29 with some 100 DMC-12 cars present. The DeLorean was first manufactured in Belfast in 1981 for the American market. Only 9,200 DeLoreans were built and the DeLorean Motor Company went bankrupt. Today, however, the cars are gaining popularity on the classic car market because of their unusual design and short history.

IRISH OUTDOORS - If you are into the great outdoors, here are some useful websites for Ireland: discoverireland.ie/adventure, dublinmountains.ie, triathy.ie, gaelforceevents.com, connemarathon.com, roar.ie, killaryadventure.com, delphimountainresort.com, donegaladventurecentre.net, irishadventuresnet, atlanticseakayaking.com, and surfworld.ie.

ARMY HURLING - A US Army National Guard Unit from Concord, New Hampshire, took up the Irish sport of hurling after discovering the game in 2005 while traveling through Shannon Airport on their way home after a year's deployment in Iraq. Now the Barley House Wolves Hurling Club play in the Junior C grade in the New Hampshire region and have competed at the North American championships. 

BLACK MADONNA - The statue of "Our Lady of Dublin" in Dublin's Carmelite church is a life size Black Madonna and Child sculpture in dark oak and dating from the 12th century. It is said that in 1539, following the Reformation, the statue was taken from the church and it's hollowed-out back was used as a trough for pigs in an adjacent inn yard. The statue was discovered in a Dublin pawn shop in 1824 and given a new home in the Carmelite church where it is venerated today.

POSTAL CODES - Nationwide postcodes are likely to be introduced throughout Ireland by the end of 2011. Dublin is the only location in Ireland with codes today, and Ireland is the only country in the OECD that does not have a nationwide postcode system. Since location names will be abbreviated in the postcodes, it still hasn't been decided whether the location's name will be its Irish language name or its anglicized name, e.g., Gailleamh or Galway.

NORTHERN KILLINGS - The number of murders reported in Northern Ireland in 2010 was at the levels recorded in the 1960s, before the start of the Troubles. 15 people died violently in 2010. No member of the security forces was killed and just two of the deaths are known to have been paramilitary related, both fatal shootings as a result of internal feuds.

BIRD PROBLEMS - Ireland's cold snap caused problems for many bird species. Some kingfishers starved to death because streams froze over, wiping out their only food source. Birds like the wren, which feed on insects, also found the winter tough, as did seed-eaters like finches which were unable to spot food under the heavy blanket of snow. At the same time, ornithologists are celebrating the return of the bittern to Ireland after it became extinct there more than 150 years ago. A rare member of the heron family, the bittern is famous for its booming call.

CERTIFICATES ANYONE? - Ireland's Official Irish Certificate Service allows you to purchase online certificate's for Irish Births, Adoptions, Deaths & Marriages that have taken place in Ireland since 1864. Marriage records are available for Church of Ireland marriages from 1845. Certificates are mailed worldwide within 1 - 2 working days from the online order.

TODDLERS' RIVERDANCE - A group whose members all wear spectacles call themselves The Speks. They claim to hail from "Glasses Island" somewhere "off the Clare coastline", and have recorded a CD of nursery rhymes and sing-along songs set to traditional Irish jigs and reels. Described as "Riverdance for toddlers", the CD recently received a parents' choice music award.

OLD PHOTOS - Certain public photographic collections in Northern Ireland, including wedding and family portraits shot from 1900 to 1952, are now available online at www.proni.gov.uk. The pictures were transferred from fragile glass plate negatives commonly used by photographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries prior to the advent of photographic film. Viewers can now browse them online alphabetically by surname.