Waterford Today | Waterford's free weekly newspaper

Pictured at the launch is James Holohan (22) from Kilkenny. Photo Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland

Following ‘Primetime Investigates' revelations about the effects of State cuts on the lives of family carers, The Carers Association has unveiled its "One Voice" Campaign. The organisation is urging Waterford's 4,131 family carers to join them in the fight for a better life for family carers.

Last month's ‘Primetime Investigates' programme on ‘The Human Price of Cut Backs' conducted extensive research into the effects of cuts on family carers and found;

- 68 per cent have been affected by reductions in the Carers Allowance/ benefit- 17 per cent provide an additional 20 hours of care per week with cuts to Home Care services- 30 per cent had to wait three months for

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THE Internet is rapidly approaching overload: it was never designed to handle the weight of people and processes it labours under and, despite the economic challenges we face, it is critical that Ireland invests in our Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector and that we are not left behind, an internet expert warned.

To handle the constant increase in data and bandwidth heavy services, investment must be made by governments world-wide in critical ICT infrastructure and the Internet must evolve, according to Miguel Ponce de Leon, Chief Technologist with the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG) at Waterford Institute of Technology.

He made his comments as key experts from industry and academic institutions, the private and public sectors gathered for the third annual meeting of the Irish Future Internet Forum in the Kilkenny Parade Tower, Kilkenny on June 1. The event was

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Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD, has announced the introduction of a new, legally binding, low sulphur standard for coal used in the residential market.

Minister Hogan said; ‘All bituminous coal placed on the market for residential use must now have a sulphur content of no more than 0.7%. Approximately half a million tonnes of bituminous coal was imported last year for use by Irish households resulting in the release of over 4 thousand tonnes of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. Limiting the sulphur content of bituminous coal will help to protect human health and the environment by reducing air pollution, particularly in the winter months.'

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Commemoration will be held in Inistioge on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th June

Unveiling of George Brown Memorial 2008 - Pádraig Ó Murchú (Chairperson George Brown Memorial Committee), Jack Jones, Bob Doyle.

George Brown, son of Francis Brown and Mary Lackey of Inistioge and Tullogher, was reared in Manchester where he became a prominent member of the British Communist Party. Shortly after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War he travelled to Spain and joined the International Brigade which sought to defend the democratically elected government against the forces of General Franco supported militarily by the Fascist armies of Germany and Italy.

George Brown was killed, in the defence of Madrid, at the Battle of Brunete in July 1937.

The inaugural George Brown Commemoration was held in June 2008. This had been preceded the

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Pictured are Ciara Conway and daughter Aeva May enjoying the beach at Clonea during the good weather over Easter.

The news that Tramore can proudly fly its blue flag once again is being welcomed by Labour T.D. Ciara Conway, who says she'll be getting her bucket and spade ready to enjoy the clean sands- if we ever get the weather.

The Environment Minister Phil Hogan has revealed that three of County Waterford's beaches qualify for Blue Flag status- these are Tramore , Clonea and Bunmahon.

The internationally recognised status is awarded based on a beach's compliance with dozens of international standard criteria like water quality, environmental education and beach management.

" I'm delighted to see that the amazing beach in my home town of Tramore has won back it's blue flag status," said

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Leading Australian journalists – representing important titles and media outlets like Get Up & Go (travel magazine), AAP (Australian Associated Press) and Yahoo!7 TV (regularly watched by up to one million viewers) – visited Waterford over the weekend to sample some of the delights of the ‘Sunny South East'.

Invited here by Tourism Ireland in Sydney in conjunction with VisitBritain and British Airways, the group's action-packed programme included lunch in the Granary Restaurant at the Waterford Museum of Treasure, followed by a Viking Triangle walking tour with local tour guide Jack Burtchaell and a visit to the iconic Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre. They also enjoyed a drive along the scenic Copper Coast, en route to Cork.

The visit of these journalists is part of Tourism Ireland's annual press visit programme, which aims to increase awareness of the island of Ireland among influential

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Waterford City's bid for success in the National Tidy Towns competition is underway and this year even social networking is being employed in the campaign to win. A Facebook page has been set up at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tidy-Towns-Waterford and all comments and ideas are welcome.

Within the contest Waterford City falls within Population Category H: Large Urban centre with a population of 25,001 and over and while the competition is quite stiff in this area every effort is being put in to make sure we improve on last year's good mark. Thanks to the efforts of Waterford City Council and the numerous voluntary bodies and unsung heroes that hold clean up days, litter pick and create attractive gardens and spaces in their own communities Waterford received a mark of 261 last year out of a potential 400 points. If it were

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Grasshoppers and Allies

Grasshopper

All Irish maps produced by the Ordnance Survey office now show the national grid divided into 10km squares. The OS Discovery series further divides this into 1km squares. The 10km square was first adopted to map the distribution of Irish wildlife in the early 1970's and a succession of atlases have now been published showing the distribution of species as dots on maps. However, before a dot appears on a map for a particular area in Waterford or elsewhere, the species must first be found, properly recorded and the information transmitted to whatever authority is mapping the biological diversity of the area. The essential information needed to do this is the date, place, four or six figure grid reference of the national grid, habitat, species and some indication of the reference work used to determine it. All being

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Some of God's people had turned back to Him in response to the dramatic miracle in which fire had fallen on the sacrifice prepared by Elijah. Refreshing rains now poured on the parched land in response to his prayer. Elijah was probably hopeful that these extraordinary events would result in a full scale national revival of faith which would sweep away all opposition to the true God. God had demonstrated his great power, glorified Himself and vindicated his servant.

What happened next caught Elijah completely off guard. King Ahab's wife, Jezebel, who had been systematically killing God's servants, issued a death threat against Elijah. Although he had courageously run the gauntlet of her murderous plans prior to this, her threat to his life had a devastating impact on Elijah. "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life" (1Kings 19:3). This was

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Question: I recently lost my job and have spare time available so am thinking of volunteering. Will my Jobseeker's Benefit payment be affected? How could I find something to do that matches my skills?

Answer: Voluntary work is a good way to keep active, learn new skills and get involved in your local community. You may do some unpaid work as a volunteer and keep your social welfare payment. However, you must continue to meet all the conditions attached to your payment (which include the requirement that you are available and looking for work).

The Deciding Officer at your Social Welfare Local Office or the section paying your social welfare payment will usually decide whether you can keep your social welfare payment and work as a volunteer. A number of factors are taken into account by a Deciding Officer in determining whether

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By Bill Sones and Rich Sones, PhD

Q. When might an outright lie feel like something less than fibbing or prevarication?

A. When you're able to get away with calling it "terminological inexactitude," as did Winston Churchill when he coined the phrase and warned fellow Parliamentarians about its risk, says Ralph Keyes in "Euphemania." In time, his phrase became a popular euphemism for "a lie." Some years later, Britain's Cabinet Secretary Sir Robert Armstrong created an uproar by admitting he'd been "economical with the truth" when testifying in a court case. Men in particular try to avoid giving other men the opportunity to say, "You callin' me a liar?," which can get fists flying - or worse. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term "liar" is "normally a violent expression of moral reprobation, which in polite conversation tends to be avoided."

Little

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

Why do cats start "spraying" indoors?

"Spraying" refers to a common behavioural problem of cats whereby they will deliberately "spray" urine on surfaces and inanimate objects in order to mark their territory. It is different to normal urination in that a small amount of urine is produced, which is directed towards various locations and towards furniture, doorways and walls.

Cats communicate with each other by means of scent chemicals called pheromones. Another example of this is when cats rub their faces, which have scent glands, against your hands when you are stroking them. "Spraying" is also part of this communication by scent. Obviously, this type of behaviour, which can start quite suddenly, proves very unpopular with cat owners, being both malodorous and unhygienic. It leads to many queries to ourselves, as vets, as to how to

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Aries: March 21 – April 20

Success is there for you, but you might require the assistance of a friend or colleague to actually make it come to pass. There is also the feeling that a person with an expertise in matters legal will emerge into your world just at the moment when those skills are most needed. Someone who has been struggling to make inroads into a musical career will discover that all the hard work is about to pay off.

Taurus: April 21 – May 21

Over the years that I have been writing this column this particular star reading crops up from time to time – it is your turn this week. Be with people who do not complain, and do not complain yourself. Do those things that give you joy and hope, and in so doing give joy and

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Waterford news - 1946

city bus service

If I may be permitted to refer again to the restoration of the City Bus Service, it will be to congratulate all concerned on the excellence of the said service. I did a spot of joy-riding on Monday during the rush period, which in the evening is between seven and eight o'clock. At one period, four buses left the Slievekeale terminus and all four carried full complements of passengers, who appeared however, to take no heed at all of recognised stopping place - if such exist - with the result that we had stops to take passengers every few hundred yards. Notwithstanding this, the drivers and conductors displayed the utmost patience and tact, and the conductors especially extended uniform courtesy to barefoot urchin and affluent citizen in equal proportions. It is obvious however, that a

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It is estimated that up to three quarters of women suffer from some form of PMT during the run-up to their period. This can be in the form of mood swings, irritability, tearfulness, back pain, abdominal pain and cramps, bloatedness, breast tenderness… the list goes on. The good news is that there's plenty you can do – aside from curling up on the sofa with a large bar of chocolate – to help keep PMT in check.

While there is no one definitive cause, hormonal changes are thought to be a major contributing factor. Keep hormonal imbalance to a minimum by making sure you're getting enough of the essential fats. The main contenders are omega 3, found in Flax Seed Oil, omega 6, found in Hemp Seed Oil and omega 9, which is naturally present in Pumpkin Seed Oil; what's important,

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