Latest news with #Lismore
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Robert Boyle summer school to explore the human brain and intersection with creativity
The Robert Boyle Summer School returns from June 5th to 8th with an invitation to science enthusiasts, curious minds and culture lovers alike to explore the brain; it's the most complex and wonderful instrument known in the universe and every human has one. Celebrated as a science festival for everyone, not just scientists, the 13th summer school blends thought-provoking talks with cultural activities in Waterford City and Lismore, including a garden party in the magnificent surroundings of Lismore Castle, the birthplace in 1627 of Boyle, one of the founders of modern science. 'Building on the success of January's winter school at the RDS, this year's programme features a stellar line-up of leading thinkers from neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry and the arts promising a weekend of inspiring dialogue, discovery and connection,' said festival director Dr Eoin Gill of Calmast in the South East Technological University (SETU). One of the world's foremost experts on neuroscience and behaviour, Prof Ray Dolan of University College London, will reflect on the late Irish neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire 's groundbreaking study of London taxi drivers. Her research famously showed that navigation experience physically reshapes the adult brain – a landmark finding in neuroscience. READ MORE Prof Colin Doherty, a consultant neurologist at St James's Hospital and head of TCD School of Medicine, will explore 'the neurobiology of drawing'; blending his expertise in neurology and his lifelong passion for art to reveal how the brain processes creativity and expression. Prof Luke Gibbons of Maynooth University will investigate how critical responses to Darwin were shaped by cultural as well as religious and scientific factors. This will include Irish responses, notably in James Joyce's Ulysses and related 'Celtic' interventions, which emphasised co-operation rather than competition as driving forces in evolution. The Science of the Superhuman will be presented by Dr David Delany of SETU, unveiling a radical new theory of intelligence and how we might train ourselves to unlock extraordinary cognitive potential. Clinical psychiatrist Prof Veronica O'Keane will explore the neuroscience of human memory and conscious experience, while Dr Nora Salaberry of Calmast will host an interactive session on perception, offering an interesting insight into how our brains interpret the world. SETU president Prof Veronica Campbell will open the academic sessions on June 6th. She has had a distinguished career in neuropharmacology. In 1998, she joined TCD, where, in addition to working in cell biology, pharmacology and tissue engineering, she was inaugural chair of its Global Brain Health Institute. Booking and further information is at
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
A Midsummer Night's Dream at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival 2025: Vocally sure singing, but has a revamp muted Britten's orchestral magic?
A Midsummer Night's Dream Blackwater Valley Opera Festival ★★★☆☆ How things change. Back in 2010 the first Lismore Music Festival, today's Blackwater Valley Opera Festival , presented sure-fire repertoire – Bizet's Carmen, with Fiona Murphy heading the cast of 10 in the title role – in a marquee in the stable yard of Lismore Castle, with an ensemble of violin, accordion, guitar, double bass and percussion standing in for the colourful orchestral score. Move on 15 years and the festival is offering Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with a cast of 19 and the Irish Chamber Orchestra conducted by David Brophy, with nearly five times as many musicians in the pit. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Piccolo Lasso, Ami Hewitt and Dominic Veilleux. Photograph: Frances Marshall The stage area is transformed this year. A raised platform now covers the entire performance area, not only allowing for greater freedom of movement but also creating a pit for the orchestra at floor level. (The tiny Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh, where Britten's opera was first performed, in June 1960, also had to be enlarged and improved to accommodate the work.) The festival has made cosmetic improvements, too, with better-looking seating – which, strangely, is less comfortable because of the way it tilts forward – and black ceiling drapes, which give a softer interior appearance; sadly, they seem to do little or nothing to damp the percussive onslaught of rain on opening night on Wednesday. READ MORE So far so good. What about the production itself, directed by Patrick Mason and designed by Paul Keogan (set and lighting) and Catherine Fay (costumes)? It's a handsome, brightly lit show, the central, white-curtained bed about as close as it gets to any suggestion of night, and with different social levels distinguished through costumes of different periods. The actor Barry McGovern's black-clad Puck, wielding a white feather/wand/baton, falls somewhere between master of ceremonies, wizard and wannabe conductor. The soprano Ami Hewitt's beautifully bewigged Tytania sweeps and soars in style and manages a suppleness of vocal line that is otherwise in short supply. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Barry McGovern. Photograph: Frances Marshall A Midsummer Night's Dream: David Brophy and Irish Chamber Orchestra. Photograph: Frances Marshall The voice of the countertenor Iestyn Morris is too ethereal for his Oberon to make a real impression, sounding mostly insubstantial rather than atmospheric. The various couples – Christopher Cull and Gemma Ní Bhriain as Theseus and Hippolyta, Peter O'Reilly and Sarah Richmond as Lysander and Hermia, and Gregory Feldmann and Amy Ní Fhearraigh as Demetrius and Helena – are more engaging, vocally sure and with real tension in the conflicts they experience as a result of the love-inducing magic juice that mismatches them. A Midsummer Night's Dream: Amy Ní Fhearraigh, Gregory Feldmann, Peter O'Reilly, Sarah Richmond and Dominic Veilleux. Photograph: Frances Marshall A Midsummer Night's Dream: Ami Hewitt and Dominic Veilleux. Photograph: Frances Marshall The mechanicals are a damp squib when going through the preparations for their play within a play but altogether livelier in their performance of that comedy. The Bottom of the bass-baritone Dominic Veilleux revels in the comic opportunities afforded him as the ass Tytania is made to fall in love with. But, musically, there is something pallid about the performance. I'm not sure that this is entirely the fault of either singers or conductor. The voices don't carry well, and the orchestra is often so soft and muted that much of Britten's orchestral magic fails to register. My seat near the back may have played a part, but my primary suspicion is that the drapes just absorb too much sound in a space that's already severely acoustically challenged. A Midsummer Night's Dream is at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival , Lismore, Co Waterford, on Friday, May 30th, Saturday, May 31st, and Sunday, June 1st; the festival runs until Monday, June 2nd
ABC News
6 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Forensic pathologist shortage delays justice in NSW
A shortage of forensic pathologists in New South Wales is delaying some court cases by up to 18 months, with concerns the situation has the potential to impact witness evidence and further stress the families of victims. It is difficult to confirm the extent of the issue, but the ABC is aware of at least three murder trials delayed by the slow delivery of forensic pathology reports. Law Society of NSW president Jennifer Ball said any delay in criminal proceedings was stressful for all involved, particularly when the alleged offence involved homicide. "Delays in these cases bring additional stress to victims' families and friends, and can potentially affect the quality of witnesses' evidence," she said. Lismore solicitor Jim Fuggle said the "blowout" increased the cost of justice. He said it also hindered the process of certifying charges in the legislated six-month timeframe and potentially extended the time an accused person remained in custody on remand. "You can imagine, from all sides of proceedings, it affects people," Mr Fuggle said. "Sometimes there is conflict within a community over incidents and [delays] don't help resolve that in any way, shape or form. In Lismore Local Court, Magistrate Michael Dakin recently noted the "significant delays" in the matter of Dwayne John Creighton, accused of killing Sarah Miles at Casino in June 2024. Mr Creighton's case has been mentioned at least eight times since he was first arrested in the days after her death, and he remains in custody with a murder charge only certified this week. The court recently heard the pathologist had completed the toxicology report, but further testing related to the cause of death was required. The case against Alexander Repin, accused of murdering an elderly home owner at Lismore in 2023, also came to a standstill last year. In October, the prosecutor said the matter was ready to proceed but could go no further as a forensic pathology report remained outstanding, despite two formal requests from police and the prosecution. Mr Repin is yet to enter a plea to murder and being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence. The same issue plagued the preliminary stages of the case against Robert Karl Huber, who is set to stand trial in June before the Supreme Court in Coffs Harbour. Mr Huber is accused of killing Lindy Lucena in a laneway in Ballina in January 2023. Without a forensic pathology report, the charges against Mr Huber were unable to be certified and Ballina Local Court Magistrate Karen Stafford was forced to adjourn the matter on at least two separate occasions. After the second adjournment, Ms Lucena's sister Julie Viney, who has since died, said delays in the court process had left the family in limbo. "I don't know what information they want from this but I can't believe there isn't a pathologist that can do this specific test," Ms Vine told the ABC at the time. Mr Huber eventually pleaded not guilty to murder, more than 21 months after Ms Lucena's death. In another case, mother of two Jamikka Binge-Olive died in 2023, five weeks after she was assaulted in the bathrooms of a licensed venue at Casino in northern NSW. In the months after her death, her family told the ABC they had been advised to expect a 12-month wait for an autopsy report. A coronial inquest into her death is now set to be held in November. New South Wales Courts and Tribunals said it did not gather data on how many cases were adjourned awaiting a pathology report, and it was not aware of any other agency gathering the information. New South Wales Health Pathology said there was a national and international shortage of specialist forensic pathologists, and it was short-staffed as a result. "NSW Health Pathology continues to make every effort to recruit forensic pathologists to fill vacancies, as well as train new forensic pathologists," a spokesperson said. The spokesperson said NSW Health Pathology worked at the direction of the NSW Coroner, with around 8,000 unexplained or unexpected deaths referred to the coroner a year. They said time frames for reports were affected by factors including staffing, case complexity and ancillary testing requirements.
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
'26 hours to get home': Floods close a 20-kilometre stretch of NSW Pacific Highway
By Toby Hemmings and Claire Simmonds , ABC Floodwaters inundating the northern NSW city of Lismore. Photo: AFP PHOTO / NEW SOUTH WALES STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE Record-breaking flooding created unprecedented traffic chaos on New South Wales roads last week, costing tens of millions of dollars and casting a cloud of uncertainty over the road's flood resilience . Most notably, flooding closed a 20-kilometre stretch of the Pacific Highway dual carriageway between Coopernook and South Taree for almost five days. Michael Atkinson was one of the motorists frustrated on Wednesday when he was returning home from Maclean in the Clarence Valley. The trip, which normally takes about five hours, took five times that long. "I found out there was a road closure when I got within 10 kilometres of Taree," he said. "I live in Nelson Bay. It took me 26 hours to get home, driving north, camping in Glen Innes, and then driving all the way inland and up through the Hunter Valley." According to estimates from MidCoast Council, the financial cost of the Pacific Highway closure was about $29 million, due to diverted traffic and supply routes. But drivers have told the ABC the impact of the road closures was exacerbated by incorrect and unclear information about what roads were closed and what alternative routes were available. Stretch of Pacific Highway flooded for five days. Photo: Supplied/ABC News After nearly 30 years of dual carriageway upgrades, the Pacific Highway between Hexham and the Queensland border acts as a major supply route for the entire north coast of NSW. More than 26,000 vehicles use the Pacific Highway near Taree every day, according to Transport for NSW data, with 80 percent cars and 20 percent trucks. A 2020 floodplain risk management study, commissioned by MidCoast Council, estimated the cost of closing the Pacific Highway near Taree for just a day would be up to $5.79 million. The study also looked at raising the section of Pacific Highway that crossed the Manning River as an option to improve flood resilience. It estimated the upgrade would cost about $134 million, and was not financially viable. Executive director of operations management with Transport for NSW Craig Mason said flood resiliency was something the organisation would look at across the network. "Stopping the impacts in the future will require a lot of work and expense," Mason said. "But we're always looking at how we can make the network more resilient and diversions more efficient. "With the water levels, particularly through Taree being the highest ever, it's quite difficult to try and build networks that can avoid floods in any circumstance." Multiple drivers told the ABC issues with the Pacific Highway closure were exacerbated by inconsistent information from navigation apps and LiveTraffic, Transport for NSW's real-time information provider. LiveTraffic is fed real-time information by road crews dispatched from the Transport Management Centre and emergency services. A forward command centre was set up in Newcastle during the flood emergency. But navigation apps were often unclear about which routes were open or closed, leading to people becoming stranded in flood-affected areas. Over two days, about 20 people arrived in the remote valley community of Killabakh, north-west of Taree, after misdirection by navigational aids. Killabakh Rural Fire Service senior deputy captain Greg Hale and his team, on stand-by for flood rescues, met the new refugees to the valley. "Most of them consulted LiveTraffic, which is what you're told to do in emergency situations," Hale said. "And they were then advised they could come over Comboyne Mountain into Killabakh to get further south in their travels, but Killabakh itself was flooded in. "The information that was available to them about the way they could get to their destination sent them over the mountain and was certainly inappropriate." The Rural Fire Service crew enacted the local emergency management plan and opened the community hall as a shelter for those stranded for the night, which quickly turned into two nights. Jenny Aitchison speaking in Kempsey about the road network. Photo: Supplied/ABC News Speaking in Kempsey on Monday, Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said people needed to be mindful when driving in such challenging conditions. "LiveTraffic doesn't tell anyone to go anywhere," Aitchison said. "Everyone's doing their best but it's a difficult situation because no matter what somebody saw 10 minutes before they went in to update LiveTraffic, it can change in an instant. "It's a challenging situation and I'll be looking at what we can do better next time." - ABC
ABC News
26-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
ADF sent in to NSW flood zone
Andy Park: The commitment of ADF personnel to the Mid North Coast flood zone doesn't come without risk. Take the 32 soldiers hospitalised after truck rollovers in their deployment to flood affected Lismore in March. The uncomfortable truth is that Australia's renowned voluntary emergency workforce is shrinking, forcing a growing and controversial burden on the Defence Force to respond to ever increasing natural disasters. But is there a third option? Milad Hagani is an associate professor and principal fellow in urban risk and resilience at the University of Melbourne. He joined me earlier. Milad, the SES is stretched and has increasingly come under criticism. How rapidly is Australia's volunteer base to respond to natural disasters and emergencies dwindling? Milad Hagani: The volunteer workforce across the country is dwindling, basically. And interestingly and coincidentally, last week was the National Volunteer Week in Australia. There are many reasons that have been speculated and documented in relation to this. One is the fact that the current volunteer workforce is ageing and going out of the workforce and they are not being replaced by younger generations. And it is apparent that, for example, the role of volunteering, the issue of volunteering has not been necessarily communicated with the younger generation as a core Australian value. They may not even be aware that their role in emergency services is needed. So that's something that could be done to bridge the gap and send a message across to the younger generations that they can come and replace and have an experience with emergency services, basically. Andy Park: What are the problems with calling in the army? I mean, some might say we are taxpayers, we pay for them to be ready and that perhaps domestic deployments can act as a sort of training exercise. Milad Hagani: There are both sides of arguments and they are both valid. And we have seen even some defence personnel sometimes after some of my publications, they contacted me and they said they are willing, they are willing to help in these kind of situations. And if you talk to the local residents, they have mixed views on this. Sometimes they really feel supported by the presence of ADF personnel helping them. However, we need to note that ADF personnel are not necessarily trained for this. It's a resourceful organisation. It's got the required equipment and the personnel. However, it's not necessarily trained for these kind of situations. So it's a mixed view. Some people do see that they are necessary for these kind of large scale emergencies. And some people think that distracts from their core mission, that is defence and getting prepared for military missions. Andy Park: Supposed to be fair, Disaster Relief Australia will be committing more volunteers than the ADF personnel in this current floods clean up. I mean, the PM paid tribute to the organisation, which is largely staffed by veterans, DRA. He also stopped short of committing to longer term funding today. So is that the new model that will help quieten critics of ADF deployments to tackle domestic natural disasters? Milad Hagani: I believe it could be. I believe it could be. As you mentioned, the organisation is run by veterans and is growing in terms of numbers. However, at the moment, with the number of volunteers that they have, they cannot necessarily compare in the scale with the workforce of other emergency, more established emergency services such as SES. But however much help they can provide in these kind of emergencies, that is a seal of use and a kind of a guarantee. I think that there are good reasons to invest more in DRA and I think that could be a model for the future. Andy Park: Milad Hagani, Associate Professor and Principal Fellow in Urban Risk and Resilience at the University of Melbourne. Thank you for your time. My pleasure.
