NEWS FROM IRELAND

ABORTION BILL - The Irish government has passed legislation clarifying the circumstances where an abortion is permitted by Irish law when it is deemed necessary to save a woman's life. Irish President Michael D. Higgins signed the bill into law only after convening the Council of State to help him decide whether or not to refer the bill to the Supreme Court to determine if it was constitutional. The consensus appears to have been that it was constitutional.

CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES - The Irish Government has accepted three of the four major recommendations of the constitutional convention: to lower the voting age from 18 to 16, to reduce the minimum age requirement to run for president from 35 to 21, and that the presidential term remain at seven years and not be reduced to five. The first two proposals will now be put to a nationwide referendum. The Government rejected the proposal that ordinary citizens be given a role in the nomination process in presidential elections.

SEANAD ABOLITION - The Seanad (Ireland's parliamentary upper chamber) voted 33 to 25 to allow a referendum on the abolition of itself (the Seanad) and the required vote on the Constitution amendment to permit dissolution is scheduled for October. Multiple parliamentary chambers allow for guaranteed representation of different social classes, ethnic or regional interests, and the current government believes that two legislative chambers or houses are no longer necessary in Ireland.

IRISH EXPORTS - Microsoft was Ireland's largest exporting company in 2012, followed closely by Google, Johnson & Johnson and Dell. The top Irish-owned company was Smurfit Packaging, which came in fifth while Kerry Group was eighth. Microsoft's exports from Ireland totaled more than $18 billion in 2012.

COMPETITIVE IRELAND - The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2013 ranked Ireland 17th in overall competitiveness compared to 59 other countries. The US was ranked # 1 with the UK just behind Ireland in 18th place. More than half the executives surveyed for the report identified Ireland as having a competitive tax regime, skilled workforce, business friendly environment, and high educational levels. The report compares the competitiveness of 60 nations based on 300 criteria focused on hard data statistics and a business executives' opinion survey.

IRISH INOVATION - In another example of punching above its weight, Ireland has retained its "Top Ten" ranking on the Global Innovation Index 2013 ranking of the World's Most Innovative Countries. The survey of 142 countries was compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Cornell University. Earlier this year Ireland was ranked 12th on the Bloomberg Global Innovation Index.

STABLE COUNTRY - Ireland is ranked the 9th most stable country in the world in the 2013 Failed States Index, ahead of Canada, the UK and the US. Annually published by Foreign Policy magazine, the Index is a ranking of 177 countries across 12 indicators highlighting not only the normal pressures that all states experience, but also highlighting pertinent issues in weak and failing states. The goal is to prevent violent conflict and promote sustainable security.

IRISH-BRITISH COOPERATION - The Irish and British governments have identified areas where they can collaborate more closely including working together on a program for the trading of renewable energy. Closer cooperation is also encouraged in the agri-food sector with greater emphasis on food chain security. The UK is Ireland's largest export destination with 16% of Ireland's total industrial exports going to the UK in 2011. There are an estimated 208,000 UK jobs depending on exports to Ireland and an estimated 198,000 jobs in Ireland depending on exports to the UK.

POSTAL CODES - Ireland plans to implement within 18 months a postcode system providing a "unique identifier" for every dwelling and premise in Ireland. The system will improve the efficiency of delivery of post and parcels, but will also assist in the provision of other public services including fire and police services. The system is expected to have a particular impact in rural areas, where many homes have addresses that can often only be interpreted with detailed local knowledge.

WATER METERS - Water supply and sanitation services in Ireland are currently provided free of charge, but water charges will begin in 2014 and those without meters will have to pay an assessed charge. This week the installation of water meters began for more than one million homes at a cost of $716 million, and will not be complete until the end of 2016. 83% of Irish drinking water comes from surface water and the quality of water from the public mains is usually quite high. Water rationing is rare as water resources are abundant.

EMPTY BUILDINGS - There are presently over 200 state-owned buildings lying empty across Ireland with most of them comprised of closed Garda (Police) stations, no longer needed customs posts on the border with Northern Ireland, unused coastguard stations and other properties. Now Ireland's Office of Public Works is conducting an inventory of every building owned by the Irish state with plans to make the inventory accessible online in early 2014 hoping to possibly sell many of them.

ANGLING BENEFITS - Angling and angling tourism in Ireland generate more than $1 billion annually for the Irish economy. 406,000 people were involved in recreational angling in 2012, with more than 150,000 traveling from Northern Ireland and overseas. Recreational angling directly supports 10,000 Irish jobs, most of which are located in the most rural parts of the Irish countryside. Over a quarter of a million Irish adults own a fishing rod, with sea, salmon and brown trout angling the most popular among domestic anglers.

IMMIGRATION RELIEF - Ireland's Foreign Minister was recently in Washington, DC, to lobby members of Congress to support comprehensive immigration reform, and numerous Irish organizations around the US, including Seattle's Irish Immigrant Support, have welcomed the recent passage of a comprehensive immigration bill by the US Senate. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that fixing our immigration system will massively boost the US economy. It estimated that, if the immigration bill approved by the Senate is passed by the House, it will reduce the federal deficit by $175 billion. Seattle's Irish Immigrant Support asks you to call your Member of Congress at 1-866-940-2439 to urge their support for comprehensive immigration reform!

BOOKER NOMINATIONS - Three Irish authors, Colum McCann with Transatlantic, Colm Tóibín's with The Testament of Mary, and Donal Ryan with The Spinning Heart, are among the 13 names on the longlist for this year's Man Booker Prize. This is Ennishcorthy native Tóibín's third time being shortlisted for the prize. Dubliner McCann's novel was partly inspired by Alcock and Brown's pioneering transatlantic flight in 1919 which ended in Clifden, Co. Galway. Tipperary born Ryan's debut novel is set in a small Irish town in the aftermath of the recession. The 36-year-old submitted his manuscript to about 50 publishers and agents, and received numerous rejections, before it was finally accepted by Lilliput and Double-Day.

FORBES APOLOGY - The international business magazine, Forbes, has apologized to Irish President Michael D Higgins, who has been married for nearly 40 years and has four children, for publishing a story on its website stating that Higgins was an "acknowledged homosexual."Within hours of the article appearing online, the author of the piece acknowledged his "terrible" error and profusely apologized. He may have mixed up President Higgins with one of the unsuccessful candidates for Irish president, David Norris, who is gay. The claim was made in a 'Forbes' profile of Samantha Power, the Irish woman being appointed as US Ambassador to the United Nations.

ROBINSON INTERVIEW - Former Irish president Mary Robinson told the BBC that she was on the verge of a breakdown in late 1997 because of stress after taking up one of the top posts in the United Nations. In an interview on BBC Radio 4, Robinson also discussed her Catholic faith and her problems with the Catholic Church over its authoritarian stance on family planning. Robinson resigned the Irish Presidency three months early to accept the position of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

CONTINENTAL SHELF - Ireland's continental shelf marks the extension of Ireland's territorial waters beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastal baseline. Subject to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Ireland exercises over the continental shelf sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources. See the Real Map of Ireland from the ground up with the red line marking the currently designated Irish Continental Shelf. 

BELFAST MAYOR - The new Lord Mayor of Belfast is an entrepreneur with a media empire in Belfast and New York. Sinn Féin's Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, 53, is managing director of Belfast Media Group and publisher of the US-based Irish Echo. He is the city's fourth Sinn Féin Lord Mayor, following Niall Ó Donnghaile in 2012, Alex Maskey in 2002 and Tom Hartley in 2008.

IRISH POWER - Samantha Power, 43, who was born in Dublin in 1970, is the new US Ambassador to the United Nations having been approved by the US Senate today in an 87-10 vote. Power's family moved to Pittsburgh in 1979, but she has returned to Ireland many times, including for her marriage ceremony in Co. Kerry in 2008. A former journalist, Power is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former Harvard scholar.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS - The Top Free tourist attractions in Ireland in 2012 were the National Gallery of Ireland, the Botanic Gardens, and the National Museum, all in Dublin. The Top Fee-charging attractions were the Guinness Storehouse and the Dublin Zoo, both with over 1 million visitors each. Next were the Cliffs of Moher, the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin and the Book of Kells. The Titanic Quarter in Belfast is Northern Ireland's top attraction.

BEATLE'S ISLAND - Want to buy an Irish island that was once owned by John Lennon? Located in Clew Bay near Westport, Co Mayo, Dorinish consists of two small islands joined by a natural stone causeway and the 19 acre island is for sale for just under $400,000. Lennon purchased the island in 1967 for about $40,000 in today's money, intending to build a hideaway retreat there. After getting planning permission, he postponed his building plans after he left his first wife, Cynthia. Shortly before his death, Lennon again visited the island with his new wife Yoko Ono and was again discussing plans to build there. In 1984, four years after Lennon's death, Ono sold the island to a local farmer.

U2 HONORS - U2's Bono was recently made a 'Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters' in a ceremony in Paris, presented for his humanitarian and musical work. Among previous honors received by the band's leader are an honorary knighthood from Britain, and France's Legion d'Honneur. The entire band was awarded the 'Freedom of Dublin' in 2000, which the members used the following day by bringing 'their' sheep to Stephen's Green to "graze freely on the common pasture of the city"!

DESIGNER FUNERAL - Singer Madonna traveled to Dublin recently to attend the funeral of her close friend, the late interior architect David Collins who died just three weeks after being diagnosed with skin cancer. Collins was an A-list interior designer, famed for designing some of the world's most famous restaurants and buildings, including Claridge's in London, The Connaught's bar, Harrods and Nobu.

DANCING RECORD - Riverdance star Jean Butler was one the dancers taking part when 1,693 dancers from 44 countries gathered on the banks of the Liffey in Dublin to break the Guinness world record for the number of people dancing in one line. The previous world record of 652 people was set in Nashville, Tennessee.

SILVER BULLION - Treasure hunters have salvaged more than $35 million worth of silver bars from a ship that was sunk by the Nazis about 300 miles west of Ireland in February 1941. 1574 silver bars have so far been recovered from the SS Gairsoppa, a 412 foot British steam merchant ship that saw service during the Second World War. Running low on fuel, she was headed for Galway when a German U-boat torpedoed and sank her. Its cargo of silver bullion has an estimated value of $230 million.

BASKING SHARKS - A kayaker has captured some rare close-up footage of a large basking shark off the Donegal coast. Ireland's northernmost tip, Malin Head in Co. Donegal, has been identified by marine scientists as one of the top European "hotspots" for the Basking Shark (An Liamhán Gréine in Irish or "Sun Fish" for its habit of swimming just below the surface). The largest fish in the Northern Atlantic, the Basking Shark is the second largest fish in the world. 

TONE ANNIVERSARY - June 20 was the 250th anniversary of the birth in 1763 of Wolfe Tone, considered to be the "Father of Irish Republicanism", the ideology that believes that all of Ireland should be an independent republic. The son of a Church of Ireland (Anglican) coach-maker, Tone was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founders of the United Irishmen, initially a predominantly Protestant organization that worked for universal suffrage and Roman Catholic emancipation. Arrested in September 1798, Tone was sentenced to be hanged for his involvement in the 1798 Rebellion, but died in prison before he could be executed.

REEK SUNDAY - The last Sunday in July, called 'Reek Sunday', is traditionally associated with the annual pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick which has taken place for over 1,500 years since St. Patrick in 441 AD fasted on the 2533 ft high summit. The pilgrimage involves climbing the mountain in Co. Mayo, sometimes barefoot, with several prayer stations on the way up, and then attending Mass on the summit. Croagh Patrick now has over 100,000 visitors every year with over 20,000 climbing it last Sunday.

MUSICAL BRIDGE - Built in the 1820s in a remote, virtually uninhabited area in northwest Co. Mayo, the bridge crossing the Abhann Mhór river at Bellacorick is called the Musical Bridge. By running a stone along the top or side of the parapet (the wall on either side), you can create different notes which makes for some interesting 'music' as you cross.

ONLINE RECORDS - Burial records from Limerick's 168-year-old Mount St Lawrence Cemetery are now searchable online. The cemetery was used between 1855 and 2008, and the records include the name, age, address and in many cases, the cause of death. Mount St Lawrence graveyard has been the primary place of burial in Limerick City since 1849 and is one of Ireland's largest cemeteries. According to the Burial Register, over 70,000 individuals were interred in Mount St Lawrence but the actual number is believed to be higher.

FROGS & WELLS - Beneath modern-day Nassau Street near Trinity College in Dublin is a hidden and ancient site of pilgrimage, a Holy Well blessed by St Patrick in the 5th century. Nassau Street was called Patrick's Well Lane until it was renamed in the 18th century after the accession to the British throne of William III, ruler of the house of Orange-Nassau. Legend has it that frogs were introduced to Ireland by a person who, "to show his zeal against popery", brought frog spawn from Liverpool and deposited it in St Patrick's well. However, genetic analysis shows that the Irish frog population includes native frogs that survived the last glacial period.

FAMINE VILLAGE - US archaeologists on the Galway island of Inishbofin have excavated part of a "lost" village which may have been wiped out by an early 19th century famine in the 1820s. Well known to islanders, the site is new to archaeology. The team of 10 archaeologists has been focusing on the remains of 14 houses and believes the settlement could have survived only 20 to 30 years before its demise. The team theorizes that its population was struck by a famine in 1822.

O'KELLY WELCOME - The greatest feast ever in Irish history was the Christmas party given by Uilliam Buí Ó Ceallaigh (William Boy O'Kelly) in 1351 in his Co. Roscommon castle on the shores of Lough Ree. He invited all the poets, storytellers, musicians and entertainers from all over Ireland, and his party lasted for a month. Poems and songs of praise were composed about William Boy, and to this day in Ireland one who gives a great welcome is said to have given the Welcome of O'Kelly or, in Irish, Fáilte Uí Cheallaigh.

HEANEY POEM - In 1984 when Seamus Heaney received an invitation to be included in a 'British' collection of poetry, the poet from Derry wrote back:

'Don't be surprised if I demur, for, 

be advised, my passport's green.

No glass of ours was ever raised

to toast the Queen.'

The Nobel Laureate did actually raise his glass to toast Queen Elizabeth at a reception in Dublin Castle in 2011.

• There were two US presidents on Irish soil at the same time on June 18. President Obama was in Belfast ahead of the G8 Summit, while President Clinton was spending some stopover time in Shannon on his way to the Middle East.
• Hilary Clinton wrote in her 2003 book Living History: "Of all the places we visited during the eight years of Bill's presidency, none was more invigorating and inspiring than Ireland."
• Canada is Guinness's fastest-growing export market.
• The World Police & Fire Games are being held in Belfast from August 1-10
• The new Mayor of Seattle's Sister City of Galway is Pádraig Conneely, a native of Clifden in west Connemara who has been a Fine Gael member of Galway City Council since 2004.
• Ireland has the fifth lowest road deaths of any European state.
• Going to Ireland and want to book a Tee Time in advance at your favorite Golf Course? Here are some Irish Golf Course suggestions.
• And how about Golf courses within an hour or so of Dublin
• The New York Times writes about The Psychology of an Irish Meltdown
• Is the 'Cultural Icon' that is the Irish Pub becoming extinct?
• The fleet of 171 aircraft owned by Dublin-based international aircraft leasing group, Avolon, now includes a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
• The latest figures show that almost 4,000 women from the Irish Republic traveled to England or Wales for an abortion last year.
• The New York Times writes that, despite its almost total ban on abortion, "Ireland's maternal health outcomes have long looked much better than those of its neighbors".
• The first ever TV broadcast of Riverdance, a seven minute spot during the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, has been voted Ireland's most memorable TV moment
• What makes Ireland great is what makes Ireland great for business
• More than 100 Irish troops are in war-torn Syria as part of a United Nations observer force.
• A group of Canadian republicans, some of them Irish, are refusing Canadian citizenship and suing the Canadian government because the ceremony involves swearing an oath to Queen Elizabeth.
• On one farm in Co. Offaly, Ireland's recent prolonged heat wave with temperatures well up in the 80s generated a homemade water slide made from a motocross ramp, a loader and some other "stuff just lying around".
• A kite surfer is in the record books after sailing from Brittany in France to Cork, Ireland, in 16 hours, 37 mins.
• In 1970, before the days of color television in Ireland, Irish TV station RTE set out to determine the exact Dead Center of Ireland (It's actually the hill of Knockastia in Rosemount, Co. Westmeath!)
• A good explanation of the European Union 
• A Taxi driver shows off his dancing skills on Dame Street in Dublin.
• Some serious Rock climbing in Western Donegal 
• If they reside abroad, persons who were granted Irish citizenship through naturalization (after living in Ireland) must register annually to retain their Irish citizenship.