Latest news with #BarryHayes
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Climate
- Irish Independent
June Bank Holiday in Cork: Warnings, wet weather, and the promise of some sunshine
The HSE is asking people to be especially careful around the water this long weekend Today at 07:54 Despite the mixed weather forecast for this June Bank Holiday weekend, the HSE are still urging people across Cork City and County to look after their skin in the sun. Met Éireann has predicted heavy showers and thundery spells up and down the country across the Bank Holiday Weekend, with Monday showing an extremely heavy band of rain sweeping across the island, bringing wash-out weather to finish off one of the summer's major bank holiday weekends. However, down here in Cork we can apparently expect some sunshine on Sunday, with bright and dry spells expected, albeit breezy and cool. It's why the HSE have been reminding the public, even despite the cool temperatures, to protect their skin from the sun, as well as staying safe around the water. The health authority is also encouraging people to think about all their healthcare options before going to the Emergency Department. It says many health services will be open over the weekend, including pharmacies, Injury Units and GP Out-of-Hours service SouthDoc, despite leading politicians saying the public is being misled over the availability of the Blackpool centre. The HSE says Ireland's UV rays are strong enough to damage skin, even when it's cloudy. Ireland's UV index is currently in the 'high' bracket (6-7) under clear skies, while still moderate (3-5) when there is cloud cover, enough to cause skin damage. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, with over 11,000 new cases diagnosed every year, and therefore the HSE is urging people to wear clothing, put on suncream, wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses, and seek shade between 11 am and 3 pm. 'Spending time outdoors is such an important part of summer, but it is important that children and adults are protected and safe in the sun,' said Shirley O'Shea, the Senior Health Promotion and Improvement Officer - Cancer Prevention for the South West. The executive is also asking people to be extra careful when near water. According to statistics from Water Safety Ireland, 56 people died accidentally in water last year across Ireland, with lifeguards rescuing 202 more from the water. Minor injury units in Gurranabraher, Mallow, and Bantry are also available for those who do have a knock or tumble throughout the weekend and can be a great alternative to avoid the lengthy waiting times at A&E departments across the county. However, for those who do need urgent treatment, the National Ambulance Service is also asking members of the public visiting and using amenities - including access gates to sporting grounds and pitches - to park carefully and to allow space for access by the emergency services if needed. ADVERTISEMENT 'We ask the public to remember that in the event of an emergency, ambulances may need to access beaches and other amenity sites. Please make sure that you don't block that access,' said Barry Hayes, Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer, NAS South West.
Irish Times
28-04-2025
- Climate
- Irish Times
Electricity grids designed so generators switch off when system loses synchronicity, expert explains
Data on the cause or causes of the complete blackout of the electricity grids in both Portugal and Spain on Tuesday will be examined by experts and provide valuable 'learnings' for grid operators around the world, according to one Irish expert. Barry Hayes, Associate Professor in Electrical Power Systems at University College Cork, said credence has to be given to the explanation offered by the operator of the Portuguese grid as to why the outage happened, but it is best to avoid speculation until a definitive view is provided. The operator of the Portuguese power grid, REN, said power supply interruptions in Portugal were due to a fault in the Spanish electricity grid. Extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain caused anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines, it said, causing a phenomenon known as 'induced atmospheric vibration'. READ MORE The oscillations caused synchronisation failures between the electrical systems, REN said, leading to successive disturbances across the European network. However, later in the day the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said they did not yet have conclusive information as to the reasons for the power cut. Electricity grids, Hayes said, have been described as the largest machine ever built by mankind, with millions of components that all need to work together. The major power generators linked to the grid have to run within a certain tight frequency band and are all synchronised with each other. 'As soon as you go outside that frequency range all of the generators are programmed to disconnect instantly because you can cause a lot of damage to the generators and surrounding grid,' he said. 'That's what happened at 11.30 today: all of the large generators in Portugal and Spain just disconnected.' As far as he could make out, there had not been any particularly high temperatures in Spain or Portugal on Monday, he noted. Getting the grids back up and running requires a 'black start' where one generator is started up, and then another, all synchronising with the local grid, and progressing across the country until the whole grid is operating again, he said. What happened in Spain and Portugal was one of the largest, if not the largest, electricity blackouts ever in Europe, Hayes said. The blackout will have left a huge amount of data in its wake, along with other evidence, that can be poured over in the coming period for why Iberia lost its power on Monday. The evidence is likely to provide 'huge learnings' that will be of interest to experts around the globe and help the effort to minimise the risk of such outages in the future, the academic said.
