Latest news with #Ballina
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Vape shops selling Dubai chocolate and Prime energy drinks branded ‘a new low'
An emerging trend in which vape stores have begun to sell highly sought-after sweets, drinks and snacks, including the viral Dubai chocolate bar , has been described as a 'new low' for the industry. The shops have started to stock food items rarely seen in mainstream grocery stores, usually labelled as 'American candy' or 'American snacks'. This is alongside the sale of trending food items and drinks often boosted in popularity on social media platforms such as TikTok , including the now-famous Dubai chocolate bars and Prime energy drinks . Chris Macey, director of advocacy with the Irish Heart Foundation , which has long called for restrictions on vapes, believes the development could 'normalise vaping in the eyes of children'. READ MORE 'Pairing sweets and vapes as though they are similar tasty treats represents a new low for an industry whose business model depends to a large extent on addicting as many young people as possible to nicotine,' he said. Mr Macey said the issue suggests a need to examine regulation of the promotion and sale of vapes in conjunction with sweets and 'other products aimed at children' alongside the 'brightly coloured' facades of vape stores. Fine Gael senator Mark Duffy, who described the move as 'predatory', said it has 'proliferated across the country'. Mr Duffy, who previously raised the issue in the Seanad after one such store opened in Ballina, Co Mayo, hopes to introduce a Bill this year to amend existing legislation and 'break up the association between vapes and things that generally attract children and young people'. 'If you just took out vapes and replaced it with cigarettes, you have cigarettes and candy. It's not a good look,' he said. 'I've had so many concerned citizens highlighting this. People take great offence to it in the community because of concerns for their children.' Mr Duffy said a landlord in Westport had terminated the lease of one such newly opened store late last year after public backlash. 'We need to have legislation that does not rely on the goodwill of a landlord but tackles it at source,' he said. Many stores also sell vaping products and jellies containing hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), a semi-synthetic cannabinoid that health officials have warned can induce psychosis . While several owners of vape stores selling popular food items did not wish to speak to The Irish Times, one said he has 'definitely' seen an increase in customer numbers since he recently began to do so. Asked if the move might be enticing younger people into the stores, he said: 'No, not really. We don't sell them to younger people. We check their IDs.' He added: 'Other shops, like Spar and Centra, have vapes as well, and they're selling ice cream to kids.'
Daily Telegraph
28-05-2025
- General
- Daily Telegraph
Ballina Local Court list
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hyperlocal. Followed categories will be added to My News. These matters will be heard in Ballina Local Court today: Today's court listings are published as part of News Corporation's commitment to public interest journalism and are compiled from information made publicly available by the courts in each State and territory. The list is a public record of entities appearing before the relevant court and there is no suggestion whatsoever of any wrongdoing by anyone named in these lists. R v Tamarla Lee Hickling R v Matthew James Kerr R v Jacob Phillip Reynolds R v Michael James Marris R v Luke Aaron Lewis Ashcroft R v Amber Christie R v Wilson Bromilow R v Thomas Albert King R v Zach Symons R v Dash Richards R v Lance Daniel Blazely R v James Francis Rejek R v Codey Kapeen R v Terri Louise Leahy R v Christopher Joseph Kanyaro R v Neil Jason Hardy R v Adolfo Alburo Avilla R v Jaimie Kuhn R v Angela Rose Manton R v Carl Dennis Bolt R v Anthony Cook R v Spencer Jackson R v Benjamin Martin Quinn R v Ashleigh Tanya Kindred R v Ryley Francis Conlan R v Sean Lee R v Ann Kristin Lindrup R v Daniel James Purnell Charlie Parker v Transport For Nsw R v Kenneth William Smith R v Ryan Edward Moriarty R v Lillian Barbara Hooper R v Mark Quigley R v Peter John Uechtritz R v Catriona Louise Bain R v Errin Davidson R v Camelia Gaye Buchanan Georgina Ryan v Transport For Nsw R v Colby Craig Cross R v Ronald Lee Junior Webb Shonnoah Anthony v Transport For Nsw (Licence Appeal) R v Dean Andrew Wilson Edwin James Payne v Nsw Police Samuel Bagatan v Transport For Nsw R v Clayton Perkins R v John Michael Mason R v Bradley Jay Ellis R v Mark Peter Abbott R v Amber May Christie R v Byron Stanley Nolan R v Elrik Michael Buhlert R v Ricky George Hill R v Martha Georgina Hall R v Mia Rose Saric R v Scott Charles Irvine R v Brett Andrew Bagnall R v Tanika Ambrieal Mison R v Rianna Brand R v Clayton Robert Perkins R v Andrew James Weeks R v Wayne Condon R v James Edwards R v Carl Dennis Horace Bolt R v Joshua Paul Jones R v Owen Simpson R v Jacinta Paden R v Roan William Beucker R v Andrew Robert Higgins R v Marcus Langworthy R v Jesse David Toohey R v Caiden Robert Weston R v Gordon Dixon R v Trevor John Gill R v Corey Ian Leonard The previous court list article for Ballina Local Court can be viewed here.
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
‘Come to Ireland, get well paid and a holiday': The GPs lured from the UK to Ireland
Kelly-Anne Speight hangs up her stethoscope in the Mayo GP practice she works at when she finishes her shift and walks the few minutes down to the River Moy. 'As soon as I finished work, I landed down at the quay, I was paddling on the water really quickly,' she said. From Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh, Ms Speight moved to Ireland from Scotland in March this year to work as a general practitioner. She now works across two practices: one in Ballina, Mayo and the other in Enniscrone, Co Sligo – working two days in each per week. READ MORE Having studied and worked in Glasgow and Stirling for a number of years, the move was prompted by her partner being from Ballina, as well as hearing about the beauty of the west of Ireland. [ A Portuguese nurse in Ireland: 'Nurses are a lot more valued here' Opens in new window ] A keen endurance athlete, she thought she'd miss Scotland's landscape, but Ireland also has its natural beauty, she said. 'I'm certainly learning that there's plenty of hills in Ireland and beautiful coastal routes. We were down by the sea cliffs, we did Slieve League. And than in Ballina, you're right at the River Moy,' she added. Kelly-Anne Speight, working at Moy View Practice, Ballina, Co Mayo. A keen endurance athlete, the one thing she thought she'd miss about living in Scotland was its landscape, but Ireland also has its natural beauty, she said. Photograph: Robin Hill Photography But it is not just the landscape between the two states that is similar. The work is, too, making the transition quite simple. The main difference she has noticed is between the rural and urban practices, though she notices this between Mayo and Sligo, as much as between Ireland and Scotland. 'Stereotypically, in rural areas, you tend to get stoic farmers who tend to be a little bit later when presenting, so when they do they tend to be unwell. I quite like that as a challenge,' she said. Dr Speight isn't the only UK-based doctor who has made this move in recent times. According to Dr Diarmuid Quinlan, medical director of the Irish College of GPs , there has been a recent increase in the number of UK doctors, mainly from England, who are seeking to work in Ireland. Dr Quinlan said this is a result of GP employment difficulties in the NHS, combined with the close geographical proximity. A recent survey by the British Medical Association of more than 1,400 family doctors found one in five GPs in England said they plan to change their career because they cannot find any or enough work as a doctor. 'We have a major shortage of GPs in Ireland. We currently have 4,600, and we probably need north of 6,500. We have mutual recognition for the Royal College of GPs qualification here in the Republic, so doctors from the UK would integrate into the Irish system seamlessly and be very welcome,' he said. Earlier this month, the Department of Health announced a new scheme in a bid to improve access to locum cover for up to 239 GPs in rural and remote areas from this summer. [ Almost 40% of doctors working in Ireland last year had qualified overseas, says medical council Opens in new window ] Under the scheme, the Health Service Executive (HSE) will bear the cost of securing the locum, ensuring GPs have the necessary support to maintain continuity of care to their patients in their communities. Dr Quinlan said this scheme is 'hugely welcomed', adding that often doctors in these rural practices cannot take time off work due to an inability to find cover. 'What I would like to see is locums from the UK thinking: 'Maybe I'll come over to Ireland for the summer, get well-paid work, and a holiday at the same time',' he said. 'We have an acute need for GP locums, particularly down the western seaboard and the midlands, which are fabulous places. So any GP who would like to come and work in Ireland, that would be very welcome.' Caroline Puckering is one such individual. She has been working as a locum for just over two years in the UK, after completing her training there. Originally from west Cork, she wants her three young children to know their Irish roots, and so she brings them back to Ireland every summer. This summer, she has registered with the Medical Council and has begun interviewing for locum positions in Ireland. A permanent move to the Republic is also being considered, she added. 'The reasons I want to come is because I'm originally Irish, and I want my children to experience Ireland. So I'm going to locum a little bit and still continue to locum in the UK,' she said. 'There are lots of jobs for GPs in Ireland and they're very familiar with UK GPs wanting to work in Ireland. In the UK, there's a little bit of a GP job crisis so a lot of them are looking at coming to Ireland.' Ms Speight experiences a lot of joy in her work since she moved to Ireland. The GP practices she works in 'are really part of the community'. 'You really get to know your patients. There's a lot of job satisfaction in that.'
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Irish Times
State not opposed to overturning public order conviction of Jemima Burke
The State will not oppose an order overturning a public order conviction imposed last year on Jemima Burke in connection with videoing a coroner and hospital staff, the High Court has heard. However, the State argued the matter should still be sent back to the original court for a new hearing. In November, the High Court permitted Ms Burke to seek a review of her case after she alleged her constitutional rights were breached when she was arrested, charged and convicted of a public order offence within a matter of hours. Ms Burke, a sister of the teacher Enoch Burke, was convicted of a public order offence on June 20th last year by Judge Vincent Deane in Ballina District Court, Co Mayo. READ MORE On Thursday she compared the conviction to 'something you would see in the Middle Ages'. Ms Burke (30), a management consultant in professional services and a University of Galway graduate in journalism, said she attended an inquest in Swinford, Co Mayo, on June 20th, concerning the death of a sepsis patient at Mayo University Hospital (MUH). She said the man spent 42 hours on a trolley, then went missing while in hospital care and was later found dead in a river in Castlebar. She said she used her phone to film the coroner and several MUH staff on the public street during the inquest's break for lunch. A garda arrested Ms Burke, confiscated her phone and brought her to Ballina Garda station where she was detained in a cell for more than two hours. She was then charged with two public order offences relating to a breach of the peace. She said she refused to sign a bail bond when she appeared before Judge Deane. Judge Deane, she said, told her it would be unjust to adjourn the matter if she was not going to sign the bond, that there was little chance of her going to prison and that he had 'to protect your interests at some level, too'. Ms Burke said a garda had made a number of allegations in the trial, including that she had obstructed paths of individuals and shoved her phone into their faces. She said the phone footage would clearly have had probative value, but it was in the possession of the gardaí at that stage. Judge Deane convicted her of one of the public order offences, under section six of the Public Order Act, with the other taken into consideration. He fined her €350. At the High Court on Thursday, Ms Burke argued she had been the victim of a 'serious' miscarriage of justice as there was 'excessive haste' in hearing the original case and no disclosure was made to her at her trial. She also had no legal representation, had been detained in a cell for two hours and was 'railroaded' into trial just 55 minutes after leaving the cells. Kieran Kelly, for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told Ms Justice Sara Phelan she can exercise her power of discretion to remit the matter to the District Court for a different judge to hear. A remittal would remedy matters for Ms Burke and give her the time required to prepare a case, he said. Mr Kelly said the DPP was not opposing the quashing of the original conviction. Ms Justice Phelan reserved judgment.
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Climate
- Irish Times
Angling suspended at two of Ireland's top fisheries due to high water temperatures
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has suspended angling at two of Ireland's premier angling locations, Moy Fishery in Ballina and Erriff Fishery , due to high water temperatures. The Co Mayo fisheries were closed at the weekend after 'multiple high temperatures were recorded' and they will remain shut until further notice, the IFI said. The locations are important river stretches for salmon, trout and sea trout, attracting large numbers of anglers, including many from abroad, particularly at this time of the year. Recent dry and hot weather has caused water temperatures to exceed the 20 degrees threshold in both locations, the IFI added. It said it was guided by scientific advice that indicates 'a dramatic increase in angling-related mortalities at temperatures above 20 degrees'. READ MORE The fisheries would reopen once water temperatures return to levels where fish will not be thermally stressed. Temperatures offshore of Ireland and in inland rivers and lakes have been at elevated levels in recent years, probably due to climate change. In warmer temperatures, 'anglers should take extra precautions, such as limiting fish exposure to air or avoiding it completely where possible', it said. Both fisheries are owned by the State and operated by IFI. Other State-owned fisheries including Galway fishery on the river Corrib are also being monitored and may also be subject to closure. The IFI urged the public to report any instances of distressed fish, fish kills, illegal fishing, or pollution to the confidential number on 0818-347424. Anglers with bookings affected by the closures will be contacted by the IFI.
