• For years he sang about the Irish teen who was Ellis Island's first arrival. Then he learned she was his cousin
• Ireland's film industry booming thanks to record investments
• Ireland's loneliest wilderness, Wild Nephin National Park

• Ireland: 'For years now, I've been hearing and reading about Transcendental Meditation'
• 'As soon as I finish meditating, I get a beautiful feeling of expanded consciousness' - musician Jon Hopkins
• Research: Transcending is an effective treatment for ADHD

• Storm Brian clobbers Ireland and British coastal towns, buildings damaged
• Ophelia to bring hurricane-force wind, heavy rain to Ireland
• Ireland, UK brace for impact of Hurricane Ophelia

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

For years he sang about the Irish teen who was Ellis Island's first arrival. Then he learned she was his cousin
17 March 2023 - The story of Annie Moore captivated audiences from the moment she arrived on American shores. On January 1, 1892, reporters from New York newspapers looked on as Moore walked through the large double doors of the new federal immigration depot at Ellis Island. She'd traveled on the SS Nevada on a 12-day journey from Queenstown, Ireland, with two younger brothers by her side. ...According to the newspaper accounts, a Catholic priest blessed Moore and a top official handed her a $10 gold coin to commemorate the occasion. Then she and her brothers were escorted to a waiting room to reunite with their parents, who'd been living in New York for four years. (more)

Ireland's film industry booming thanks to record investments
26 February 2022 - Olivia Colman and Josh O'Connor were last on screen together as the Queen and Prince Charles, but since then the stars of The Crown are among an array of A-listers who spent part of pandemic in Ireland where film and TV production has hit record levels. Figures released by Screen Ireland show that industry investment surged 40 percent in 2021, beating the previous record levels of 2019 despite COVID restrictions. Ireland is now host to dozens of international feature films in production or post-production and a multitude of TV series. (more)

Ireland's loneliest wilderness, Wild Nephin National Park
26 January 2022 - Ireland's biggest wilderness is undergoing a rewilding programme to allow its bog and forest to return to their natural state, even if much of the land has always been wild. Wet and boggy, it was unsuitable for tillage, and the lack of shelter meant it was hard on livestock too. 'The park is called after the Nephin Beg mountain range, which means heaven and heavenly,' said [Michael Chambers, head guide at Wild Nephin National Park], referring to the Irish word, neifinn. (more)

Ireland's inspiring seal sanctuary
3 December 2021 - Seals have inhabited Ireland's coastline for more than 7,000 years, and the country's native grey seals and common seals play a pivotal role in balancing the ocean's ecosystem. In the early 1900s, the animals nearly vanished from Irish seas due to overhunting, but since they received federal protection in 1976, their numbers have started to recover. (more)

Wildfires: Grazing goats offer their help to stop wildfires in Ireland
20 September 2021 - After a summer of wildfires, Ireland has sent a dream team made up of 25 Old Irish goats to help prevent fires starting again. Like many places in the summer, Howth Head in Ireland saw wildfires blaze through the land, with firefighters attempting to put out the flames for six weeks. The critically endangered goats have one job to do: eat! The goats will graze the area, clearing the shrubbery that can set alight causing the fires to spread. (more)

Old Irish goats return to County Dublin to protect hills from wildfires
18 September 2021 - Melissa Jeuken beat stiff competition to land a high-profile post in Dublin leading a dream team of diligent, focused workers. The 25-strong team is made up of goats, and Jeuken is their herder. They are part of a groundbreaking conservation Irish effort to save a goat species from extinction and to protect a hillside from wildfires. Fingal county council contracted the Old Irish Goat Society, which has been working for a decade to save Ireland's only indigenous goat from extinction, to supply a herd. (more)

Irish musicians saving oral history by recording elders singing old campfire songs
12 July 2021 - A small collective of intrepid and inquisitive young Irish musicians have taken it upon themselves to rescue a tradition of song when perhaps no-one else was willing to listen. With an emphasis on the Irish, Scottish, and English traveler communities, their project aims to put the elders of a nearly-past generation in front of a microphone, to enshrine their songs and stories for musicians and folklorists to hear and study for all time. (more)

Friendship between Ireland, American Indian tribes lives on in lacrosse
15 September 2020 - The Ireland Lacrosse team recently bowed out of the sport's top international tournament to open up a spot for the Iroquois Nationals. It's the latest in a series of gestures between the country and U.S. tribes that date back to 1847, when Choctaw leaders gave $170 to the Irish as their country battled a potato famine that resulted in the death of tens of thousands. Historians estimate today's value of the amount at roughly $5,000. (more)

More than 50 Irish firms have backed pledge to halve carbon footprint by 2030
23 June 2020 - Irish companies who have pledged to halve their carbon footprint are following through on their promise, new figures suggest. More than 50 Irish companies, including ABP Foods, AIB, Cairn Homes, DePuy Synthes, Diageo, Dublin Bus, ESB, Gas Networks Ireland, Irish Water, SSE, Sodexo and Tesco signed the Business in the Community Ireland/PwC pledge in 2015 to cut direct greenhouse gases by 2030. (more)

173 years, $170: Why Irish people are donating to help Native Americans hit by coronavirus
7 May 2020 - In 1847, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma sent $170 to Ireland during the Great Famine -- a time of mass starvation on the island. More than 170 years later, Ireland has returned the favor, helping to raise more than $2 million for the Navajo and Hopi nations, which have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Ireland: 'For years now, I've been hearing and reading about Transcendental Meditation'
3 July 2019 - Writing about Transcendental Meditation in the Irish Examiner, award-winning author Louise O'Neill says, 'What has surprised me so far is how unbelievably easy I've found the practice to be. TM is supposed to be natural and effortless, ''trying'' to get it ''right'' is anathema to its very nature. But unlike every other form of meditation that I've attempted to master, I don't dread the twice-daily 20 minutes that I've committed to dedicate to TM.... With TM, I go to that quiet place deeply, quickly .... I can only describe it as being akin to the space between waking and sleep, a blissful stillness. I feel more rested. I'm much more energetic than I usually am, particularly in the evenings, and I managed to get through an intensive period of work in half the time it would ordinarily take me.' (more)

'As soon as I finish meditating, I get a beautiful feeling of expanded consciousness' - musician Jon Hopkins
3 June 2018 - English electronica [music] wizard Jon Hopkins explains that his 'hypnotic' fifth album, Singularity, was inspired by reconnecting with nature through meditation. Hopkins practises Transcendental Meditation twice daily. 'As soon as I finish meditating, I get a beautiful feeling of expanded consciousness,' he says. 'When I'm in this headspace I can make so much progress in my writing,' the Irish Times reports. 'It is funny how we talk about nature as this separate entity when we are nature, and nature is us. . . . we've completely forgotten this somewhere along the way. . . . In the last few years, I was forced into reconnecting my body and mind with nature. It was an extremely healthy process. . . . I realised nothing separates us from anything else in the entire natural system.' (more)

Research: Transcending is an effective treatment for ADHD
29 December 2015 - The overview of the Transcendental Meditation technique featured on the official website for the TM programme in Ireland includes a review of beneficial effects of TM on ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). The section includes scientific research, discussion by experts, and reports by students with ADHD of positive changes they have experienced after learning Transcendental Meditation. (more)

The answer lies within, finds Irish journalist Barry Egan
22 December 2014 - Transcendental Meditation -- and the Ayurvedic approach to living -- helps you see more positivity in life, says Ireland's Barry Egan, who talks to two exponents -- TM teacher Noel O'Neill and Dr Donn Brennan. 'Many people, doctors included, suffer stress,' Dr Brennan told Egan, saying that he feels 'Transcendental Meditation is the best natural approach to reduce stress and has many health benefits.' Noel O'Neill added, 'Stress is the Black Plague of the 21st Century and Transcendental Meditation is one of the most powerful ways to combat stress.' (more)

Ireland: Maharishi Peace Palace inaugurated
21 July 2014 - A great step for world peace has been achieved in Ireland with the inauguration of the country's first Maharishi Peace Palace, located on the Island of World Peace, off the west coast of the country. Ireland also has the distinction of being home to the second Maharishi Peace Palace to be built in Europe. Designed according to Maharishi Vastu architecture, it will serve as a home for Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's knowledge and programmes for full human development, creating an influence of coherence and peace not only for Ireland, but for Europe and the world. (more)

David Lynch to film students: 'Everyone is an artist'
6 November 2012 - 'Everyone has creativity,' said film director David Lynch, responding to a film student's question about how many people are truly artists. He added that through the process of transcending during Transcendental Meditation, creativity naturally increases. 'You can just get more and more and more of it. Everyone knows about catching ideas; you can just catch more. And everyone knows about stress; everyone can see that stress lifting. Everyone knows of some kind of suffering; they can see that suffering start to go or become less and less.' (more)

Ireland: Eminent psychiatrist, bestselling author Dr Norman Rosenthal speaking in Dublin today
11 October 2012 - Today, 11 October, internationally renowned psychiatrist, medical researcher and best-selling author Dr Norman Rosenthal is in Dublin. A global leader in the applications of Transcendental Meditation to overcome stress and promote health, Dr Rosenthal is speaking at the Clyde Court Hotel, Ballsbridge, about his New York Times bestselling book--recently updated and released in the UK--Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation. Before coming to Dublin, Dr Rosenthal gave a series of well-attended seminars and presentations in London for business and health professionals and the public. (more)

Ireland: Bestselling author Dr Norman Rosenthal to lecture in Dublin on Transcendence
9 July 2012 - Dr Norman Rosenthal comes to Dublin this fall. An eminent psychiatrist and author of the bestselling book Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation, Dr Rosenthal will speak on this topic 11 October at the Clyde Court Hotel. (more)

Does Transcendental Meditation differ from other techniques? TM-Ireland.org reports
4 January 2012 - Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation technique has been offered in Ireland for over 40 years. In that time, teachers say, all kinds of people have been successfully instructed: 'sceptical/enthusiastic, agitated/relaxed, old/young, male/female'. Among the most common questions people ask about the technique is whether Transcendental Meditation differs from other techniques. (more)

TM helping people in Ireland cope with the global financial crisis?
16 December 2011 - A Sunday feature story in The Independent, one of Ireland's leading newspapers, ran with the title, 'The answer to happiness lies within us.' Columnist Barry Egan writes that as times gets tougher, 'many people are searching for a more meaningful existence, and Transcendental Meditation (TM) is providing the answer for some; myself included.' (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Storm Brian clobbers Ireland and British coastal towns, buildings damaged
21 October 2017 - Storm Brian battered towns in Ireland and along the western coast of England and Wales on Saturday, with gusts and high seas causing heavy damage to buildings. Less than a week after Tropical Storm Ophelia killed three people, Ireland's weather office issued an warning that winds were likely to average 55 to 65 km per hour in western regions, with gusts topping 100 kph. Britain's Met Office also warned of strong winds, although not quite as intense as those blowing through Ireland. (more)

Ophelia to bring hurricane-force wind, heavy rain to Ireland
15 October 2017 - Irish authorities ordered all schools in the country to close Monday (16 October) and warned cyclists and motorists to stay off roads as a storm with hurricane-force winds bore down on Ireland and the United Kingdom. Once a hurricane, Ophelia was classified as a post-tropical cyclone late Sunday (15 October) but was moving north with sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph). The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm could bring two to three inches (50 to 75 millimeters) of rain in western Ireland and Scotland, with coastal flooding and 'large and destructive waves' where it makes landfall. The classification of post-tropical refers to a cyclone's meteorological characteristics but such a storm can still have damaging winds and rains. (more)

Ireland, UK brace for impact of Hurricane Ophelia
14 October 2017 - Wind gusts of up to 80 mph (130 kph) may lash the United Kingdom and Ireland as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia hit the British Isles, the two countries' weather services warned Saturday (14 October). Ireland's Met Eireann weather service issued a 'status red' warning for the western Irish counties .... It said Ophelia could bring winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and gusts of more than 80 mph (130 kph) Monday, with the potential for structural damage, high seas, and flooding. Britain's Meteorological Office also warned of very windy weather Monday in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and northern England. By coincidence, Monday is the 30th anniversary of the Great Storm of 1987, which killed almost 20 people in Britain and felled 15 million trees. (more)

Ireland: Asbestos deaths set to hit record levels
5 January 2017 - Asbestos-related deaths are expected to hit a record high in the next few years as the legacy of decades of ignorance about the cancer- causing building material hits home. And safety experts have warned the danger will remain high for another 10 to 15 years, with asbestos finds rising 80 percent in recent years as the recovering economy sees an increase in building renovations and refurbishments. Ireland has no waste disposal facility for asbestos and the material must be shipped abroad, mainly to Germany. (more)

Ireland: Children exposed to smoking at risk of ear infections
30 June 2014 - Many people still underestimate the effects of second-hand smoke on the health of children -- despite Ireland being the first country in Europe to ban smoking in public places a decade ago -- according to new research. Researchers asked if second-hand smoke leads to an increased risk of asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, bronchitis, diabetes, and ear infections in children. They found there has been a significant increase in the general population's risk perception of second-hand smoke for asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, and bronchitis since the late 1990s. However, when it comes putting children in danger of ear infection due to exposure, not even half the general population knew of the risk. Cigarette smoke affects a child's risk of getting ear infections by suppressing their immune system, making if more difficult to fight infection. While serious complications of middle ear infections are much rarer now than they were in the past, very young children are still at risk of developing complications because their immune systems are still developing. (more)

Ireland: Young kids recognize unhealthy food brands more than healthy ones
6 June 2014 - For very young children, awareness of food brands increases greatly between ages three and four and is highest for unhealthy foods, according to a new study from Ireland. Food-brand knowledge predicts what kids will ask for later, said lead author Mimi Tatlow-Golden of the School of Psychology at University College Dublin. The study included 172 children in Ireland, ages three to five years old, a quarter of whom were from Northern Ireland, where marketing regulations differ from the rest of the country. At all ages, kids were better at recognizing the less healthy foods. Their knowledge of unhealthy foods was most strongly predicted by how much unhealthy food their parents ate, and was not predicted by TV time or their mother's education level, the researchers found. Fat and sugar are inherently appealing to the human palate, so even with an equal amount of exposure to both healthy and unhealthy foods, that might explain the difference in recall. 'In the states even where we've got some regulation happening, 80 per cent of foods advertised are unhealthy,' Tatlow-Golden said. 'Here it's 50 per cent, and we would say that's still way too much.' Advertising makes unhealthy foods seem like something kids should want and something that will make them happy, and parents often end up limiting those foods and positioning them as a 'treat,' which can play into kids' heightened awareness of things like McDonalds. (more)

Petrol bombs, bricks thrown in third night of Northern Irish violence
15 July 2013 - Rioters threw petrol bombs, bricks, bottles, and fireworks at police in a third night of violence in Northern Ireland around traditional Protestant marches, wounding one officer early on Monday. Protesters built a burning barricade across one road and burned out one car during the clashes that first flared on Friday following a dispute over a marching route. Thousands of pro-British Protestants march every summer, a regular flashpoint for sectarian violence as Catholics, many of whom favour unification with Ireland, see the parades as a provocation. Police said they had brought hundreds of reinforcements from Britain to cope with any more violence. Forty-four police officers have been wounded over the weekend and 49 people arrested, including one aged 10. (more)

Ireland: Irish potatoes to be genetically modified
27 July 2012 - Ireland's environmental protection agency has approved the first trial of a genetically modified potato crop. John Spink is head of crop research at Teagasc, the Irish food development authority that has applied for the licence. Campaigners believe that the trial is risking Ireland's reputation as a green, clean food-producing island. The Organic Trust in Dublin says that this approval has 'grave ramifications for Irish food and farming'. The Trust's Gavin Lynch says that this will be the first GM trial since 1996 when a previous attempt at growing GM sugar beets was discontinued. 'Ireland's status as a GM-free country is being risked here,' Mr Lynch told BBC News. 'It's only a two-hectare trial, but that's like saying you're only a little bit pregnant, there are no grey areas with GM.' (more)

Greens quit Irish government, seek faster election
23 January 2011 - Ireland's Green Party withdrew Sunday from the Irish government, raising pressure for Prime Minister Brian Cowen to resign from office and for Ireland to hold a national election sooner than 11 March as planned. Green leader John Gormley said his small party -- critical for the survival of Cowen's coalition government -- would immediately join the opposition side of the parliament. Ireland's coalition government has been heading for collapse since November, when Cowen was forced to negotiate a euro67.5 billion ($91 billion) loan agreement with the European Union and International Monetary Fund to prevent national bankruptcy. (more)

Ireland's crisis flares as investors dump bonds
10 November 2010 - Ireland's financial troubles loomed large Wednesday as investors -- betting that the country soon could join Greece in seeking a bailout from the European Union -- dumped Irish bonds and drove the interest rate on the country's borrowing to a new high. The yield, or interest rate, on 10-year bonds surged above 8 per cent for the first time since the launch of the euro, the European Union's common currency, 11 years ago. The cost of funding Irish debt has risen steadily since September, when the government admitted its bailout of five banks would cost at least euro45 billion, equivalent to euro10,000 for every man, woman and child in Ireland. That gargantuan bill, in turn, has made the projected 2010 deficit rise to 32 per cent of GDP, the highest in post-war Europe. (more)