Waterford Today | Waterford's free weekly newspaper

Waterford Europe Direct Information Centre (EDIC) is delighted to announce that it will host a Talk on Volunteering at Central Library, Lady Lane, Waterford at 3.00pm on Friday 6th May. The talk will be given by a member of staff from Volunteering Ireland and will last for approximately one hour. The talk will centre on different types of voluntary activity, how to get involved in your local community and why you should engage in voluntary activity.

2011 has been designated European Year of Volunteering.

The talk is being given as part of the Bealtaine Festival, celebrating creativity in older age, and will include time for a question and answer session.

Talks are free but advance booking is essential.

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'Another brick in the wall': Student Lee Beglin with 'how to build a structure with Jenga blocks'.

Check out the mostly free events during the 2011 Waterford Festival of Architecture. Pick up a festival programme from your local library or log onto http://www.wfa.ie and get involved! Events get underway on Thursday the 5th with a public talk about plans currently underway for the Viking Triangle, with Eamonn McEneaney in Christ Church at 3pm, followed by a public, opening event talk by noted architect and historian Shane O'toole at 5pm in the Large Room, City Hall and the opening of RIAI exhibition in the Theatre Royal at 6pm.

On Friday in the WIT Auditorium, hear two of the country's most esteemed and critically acclaimed architects speak about their work and the

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aIrish Water Safety is launching a new TV campaign to emphasize the importance of correctly wearing properly functioning lifejackets, of learning swimming and lifesaving skills and the need for constant vigilance to avoid drowning tragedies.

Three children from schools in the Ballybough Youth Resource Centre area in branded "Lifeguards-for-a-day" T-shirts and Lifejackets will be at the helm of the Lifeguard Training Vessel and will have as props Lifeguard torpedo rescue buoys, ringbuoys, lifejackets and other water rescue equipment.

"At the helm" wearing a Lifejacket and Lifeguard personal protective equipment and accompanying the children will be Minister of State at the Departments of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, and Environment, Community and Local Government Mr Fergus O'Dowd who will introduce the broadcast of the new TV campaign.

Editorial rights free images available from:

150 people drown in Ireland yearly

In a bid to cut the number

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Family Law

If the conditions are fulfilled an application for nullity can be made and can end a marriage. Nullity is a declaration by the Court that the marriage is null and void and no valid marriage exists between the couple. Divorce and nullity are not the same. Nullity is a declaration that a valid marriage never existed. Divorce is a court declaration which ends a valid marriage. A church annulment is also different in that this does not have a legal effect in that it does not mean that one of the parties can legally remarry.

There exists two types of marriage that can be declared null. These are void marriages and voidable marriages. A void marriage is regarded as never having taken place whereas a voidable marriage is a valid marriage until the decree of annulment is made. To obtain

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Three months to clean up toxic dump

The government is facing the prospect of legal action and hefty fines unless it moves decisively to clean up the toxic landfill site at Haulbowline within a three-month time frame set down by the European Commission.

The warning came at a hearing of the European Parliament's Petitions Committee in Brussels this week, where local action groups presented a list of demands signed by over 5,500 Cobh residents. Speaking on behalf of the petitioners, Cobh local Orlaith McCarthy called for a baseline health study into alleged links between leeching toxins from the Haulbowline site and the elevated cancer rates in Cobh that are currently 37 per cent higher than the national average.

Mary O'Leary from the Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment criticised the pattern by the previous government of commissioning multi-million euro reports into Haulbowline

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Changes for learner drivers

Question: I turn 17 in April and I want to learn how to drive a car. What do I need to do?

Answer: Before you begin to learn to drive on public roads in Ireland, you must hold a learner permit covering the category of vehicle you wish to drive. You must pass a theory test and get a theory test certificate before your first learner permit will be granted.

If you take out a first-time learner permit after 4 April 2011 you must do mandatory Essential Driver Training (EDT) with an approved driving instructor (ADI). The course is 12 hours for car licences and 16 hours for motorcycle licences. (This measure has been in place for learner motor cycle drivers since 6 December 2010). You do not need to do the lessons if your first learner permit was

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Waterford news 1927 visit by Madame Montessori

In the twenties the "News" recorded the visit to Waterford of the world famed teacher, Madame Montessori. The first scholastic institution in the city to take up her system was one in Colbeck Street, conducted by Miss Nettell. The Convent of Mercy, Philip St. and also the Ursuline Convent adopted the system. Dr. Montessori was born in Italy in 1870 and was the first woman to qualify as a doctor. She was placed in charge of a home for defective children and it was then that she first thought of training the human mind along with the body. One day she accidentally dropped a newspaper in her school. The children seized it and began joyfully tearing it to shreds. Then the idea occurred to her of the interest and pleasure in having something to

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Schools Competition Launched

Pictured launching The Tall Ships Races' Waterford 2011 schools' competitions are Rebecca McCarthy Kent; Jack Nolan student and Ceili Keighery with Conor Doyle, President of WIT's Students' Union representing the Educational partners of The Tall Ships Races Waterford 2011, Waterford Institute of Technology.

Photograph Mary Browne

Waterford Institute of Technology and The Tall Ships Races Waterford 2011 have joined forces to offer young budding artists and creative writers the chance to become a lasting part of The Tall Ships Festival 2011, through three very special competitions.

For secondary school students, the competitions are divided into Art and Written categories. The Junior Level category is open to students between the ages of 12 -15 years, with the Senior Level open to students aged 16 - 18 years.

Primary

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Next Meeting of GIY Carrick-on-Suir is Wednesday, 27th April 2011 - Field Trip to Highbank Farm, Cuffesgrange. Meet to carpool @ The Library carpark, Greenside Carrick-on-Suir at 6.15pm

For our April meeting we are taking advantage of the brighter evenings and taking a field trip to Highbank Farm, Cuffesgrange, Co. Kilkenny - organic growers and specialists in polytunnels. See http://www.highbank.ie/

This should be a very interesting and informative evening for those planning to take part in the polytunnel meitheal and for anyone interested in growing under cover.

Date: Wed April 27th

Time: Meet at the library car park to car pool at 6.15pm. All welcome.

Enquiries to Margaret at 087-6390224 or giy.carrickonsuir@gmail.com

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Good health is crucial to Quality of Life, Personal and Professional Success

An illness once established may be treatable, but a preventative approach is preferable. Health Screening at Whitfield Clinic is designed to identify any existing health problems by assessing your disease factors and providing you with the tools and recommendations to achieve a healthy and balanced lifestyle. It can also help you identify serious illnesses and diseases before they produce symptoms.

An experienced Health Care Physician will conduct your Health Screen, which includes a medical history, physical examination and a series of comprehensive investigations and blood tests. Your consultation with the doctor is private and confidential.

All results are reported on by Consultants, Pathologists, Cardiologists, Radiologists etc with the knowledge and expertise in the relevant areas. A complete medical report is issued to you following your attendance and can

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Woodlice - Isopods

Pillbugs

Woodlice can be found in every part of Ireland and the common species are instantly recognisable to most people as they can be just at home in our houses as on the side of a mountain or in maritime grass along the coast. Their role in ecology is a simple one - they scavenge nature's litter and debris, which include fallen leaves, withered grass and wildflowers, old twigs and trees, algae and seaweed. Unfortunately, some cannot differentiate between moist wooden floorboards in an old damp house or under the kitchen sink and moist wooden twigs on a roadside or rotten wood in a forest and so are sometimes labelled as pests. But the fact is that they do far more good than destruction and a reasonable degree of domestic hygiene will confine them to their natural habitat. Some

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South Eastern Mountain Rescue Assocation presents author Adrian Hendroff the author of the highly-acclaimed book From High Places: A Journey Through Ireland's Great Mountains.

He will share with you his favourite places in the Irish mountains and give a visual display of some stunning images from their heights which will inspire you to explore them.

Venue Sherry fitzgerald John Rohan. Manor House, Cork Road, Waterford (beside Land registry). Wed 20th April at 8pm. Admission Free.

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Biblical perspectives for living

WOUNDED FOR ME

I have just been discharged from hospital after major lung surgery. After a long night I wake up, and feel the pain again. My thoughts turn to Jesus as he died. He knew pain much worse than mine - the pain of the thorns on his head, the nails in his wrists and ankles, the thirst, and the slow suffocation that crucifixion brought.

Why was he there? Judas had betrayed him; the religious leaders had twisted the evidence; the Roman governor lacked the courage of his convictions.

But behind the human actors was a Divine plan: this had to happen "to fulfil the Scriptures". Jesus was God's Chosen Deliverer, come not to save the Jews from the Romans, but to deliver all mankind from the tyranny of sin. God's Messiah must die in the place of the

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with John D Owens M.V.B. veterinary surgeon.

Riverstown Business Park, Tramore Ph 051 393630

Is your dog protected against Parvovirus?

Canine Parvovirus infection (parvo) is an aggressive, acute and severely debilitating disease of dogs which often proves fatal. It is also highly contagious, and can be transmitted directly between dogs and indirectly by contact with faeces. Symptoms of Parvo are severe and acute vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and dehydration, with mucus and blood usually obvious in the faeces. It is a disease commonly seen in pups, but it can affect previously healthy adult dogs of any age.

Parvo is so aggressive that death can occur within 24 hours of the first symptoms. Treatment of infected dogs invariably involves veterinary hospitalisation, as intravenous fluid therapy is needed to replace water and electrolytes lost through vomiting and diarrhoea. Vets will also use medications

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Aries: March 21 - April 20

Expect a late birthday surprise if you have had a recent celebration but you might need to stop running and racing to appreciate it. Don't listen to uncorroborated gossip, and maybe be prepared to cut a bit of slack to the victim of the gossip mongers. Nobody really knows what is going on anyway. Financial delays could upset plans, but stick to your goals.

Taurus: April 21 - May 21

Finances look as if they could do with a bit of a boost, and you know what? It might just happen. Stress, as has often been said, is the most futile of all human behaviour patterns. It is all huffing and puffing with no tangible end result. So keep your energies and your efforts focussed on the main issues in your life, rather than

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