Donie's Irelnad daily news BLOG.

A child became homeless in Ireland every five hours in January, Dáil is told

  

‘SHAMEFUL’ STATISTIC SHOWS GOVERNMENT POLICY NOT WORKING, SAYS FF TD BARRY COWEN. 

Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen accused the Government of attempting to bamboozle people with details.

Focus Ireland said a child became homeless every five hours in January, a statistic called “shameful” by Fianna Fáil housing spokesman Barry Cowen.
“We are obliged in this House to seek to remove whatever obstacles that are preventing the implementation of any plans,” Mr Cowen told the Dáil on Thursday.
He said only 1,829 housing units were under construction as part of the Government’s plans. “The rest are going through various stages and the majority of them were approved over two years ago,” he said.
Mr Cowen accused the Government of being obsessed about announcements in the hope that people would be bamboozled by detail.
Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald, who took Opposition Leaders’ Questions, said the country was in a extraordinarily difficult economic situation just a few years ago. On Wednesday, she told the Dáil that unemployment figures were revealed to be down 6.8 per cent, a figure Fianna Fáil said would never be reached, she added.
The Government was providing more money and more detailed work with local authorities to deal with the housing situation, Ms Fitzgerald said.
Repair and leasing
The Tánaiste later said the allocation of €32 million to deal with repair and leasing of housing would be announced and local authorities would work to ensure that more properties were available for people seeking housing.
She said the four Dublin local authorities had confirmed the target would be met to ensure children and families would not be using hotels in the city.
There was a targeted social plan, but it would take some time, Ms Fitzgerald added.
Later, Minister for Housing Simon Coveney said last year 2,700 “housing solutions” were put in place for homeless individuals and families.
In the past number of months, he said, the Government had managed to stop the significant increase by taking a lot of people out of homelessness as quickly as possible.
“We need to ensure that we slow down the numbers becoming homelessness and continue to increase the pace in which we can facilitate the transition out of emergency accommodation,” Mr Coveney added.
“I am still confident we can do that by July 1st.”
Mr Coveney said it was a big job to get between 700 and 800 families out of hotel accommodation and into appropriate accommodation in that period, but the Government was determined to do it.

RSA Ireland losses widen on setting aside £50m for prior-year accidents

  
INSURER TARGETS RETURN TO IRISH OPERATING PROFITABILITY THIS YEAR AFTER £42 MILLION LOSSES.

RSA Insurance Ireland’s operating loss widened by 62% last year after the country’s once-largest provider of motor and property coverage was forced to set aside £50 million (€59.1 million) of reserves to cover the costs of accidents in 2014 and 2015.
The local subsidiary of London-listed RSA Group posted a £42 million full-year loss compared with a £26 million loss for 2015. The performance was described by the parent as “disappointing”, especially as it had returned last year to writing new business on a profitable basis, as it and the wider industry hiked rates.
Insurers in the Republic have increased motor rates by almost 60 per cent over the past three years, according to Central Statistics Office data, in an effort to return to profitability as they struggle with rising claims, attributed to more cars on our roads in a recovering economy and spiralling court awards.
RSA Insurance Ireland has suffered more than most, as it was embroiled in an accounting scandal in 2013, when it emerged the company had not been setting aside enough reserves to cover large claims.
RSA said it is targeting a return to operating profitability for the Irish unit this year “through continued underwriting improvement, portfolio remediation and cost reduction”. However, it warned that the unit may face “additional reserve volatility” this year as a result of claims inflation on the back of the Personal Injuries Assessment board recently updating its so-called “book of quantum” – the guidelines for injury awards and judicial reviews.
As a result of the additional amount of money RSA Insurance Ireland had to set aside to cover higher expected costs from accidents in 2014 and 2015, its combined ratio – a keenly followed figure that measures insurance losses and expenses against premiums earned – rose to 116.2% from 113.4% year-on-year. A combined ratio off less than 100% indicates an insurer is writing insurance on a profitable basis.
“The prior year loss is predominantly in the Republic of Ireland commercial and motor portfolios, where a combination of higher-than-expected claims and the distortion of our reserving patterns following the events of 2013 have resulted in further strengthening of reserves during 2016,” the company said.
“The issues have been amplified by a challenging Irish market, characterised by aggressive claims inflation and increasing litigation mitigated by a very hard rating environment.”
The bulk of the additional provisioning appeared to be in RSA’s commercial insurance business rather than its personal line, comparing the full-year results with its interim figures that were published in August.
RSA said premiums in Ireland were up 6% last year to £306 million from a year earlier. This was largely driven by continued rating actions. Net written personal premiums rose 2% to £185 million with commercial premiums increasing 12% to £121 million.
Insurers have been less able to rely in recent years on investment income to cushion the blow from underwriting losses, as they grapple with low global bond yields. RSA Insurance Ireland’s investment profit fell to £7 million last year from £9 million in 2015.
The latest results come a day after three former RSA Insurance Ireland staff Rory O’Connor, Martin Ryan and Gerard Bradley were fined a combined £182,000 (€206,090) under sanctions tied to an investigation by a UK accounting watchdog into financial irregularities at the firm in 2012.
The Dublin-based insurer’s London-listed parent RSA Insurance Group injected €423 million of cash between 2013 and 2015 after the country’s once-largest insurer was thrown into crisis when it emerged it had a large hole in its balance sheet. This was mainly the result of the business having been found at the time to have set aside too little money in reserve to cover large claims.
RSA Group made a further €90 million available to the Irish division, if needed, last March to bolster its balance sheet under new insurance capital rules, known as Solvency II.
The continuing woes of the Irish business contrast with a 25% surge in operating profits delivered by the broader RSA Group last year, to £655 million. The group, which has been undergoing a restructuring programme under ex-RBS boss Stephen Hester, raised its target for return on tangible equity to 13-17% from a previous range of 12-15% on Thursday, and said it hoped to “perform in the upper part of this range”.
RSA said its cost-reduction programme was ahead of original targets and it was upgrading that target for a third time to more than £400 million sterling of gross annualised savings by 2018, from a previous target of more than £350 million.
The insurer said it would pay a final dividend of 11 pence per share and total dividend of 16 pence, up 52% from a year earlier and above a forecast 15.1 pence.

Tesco calls on union to reconsider strikes after five more stores vote no

  
SIX BALLOTS HELD ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH ALL BUT ONE STORE VOTING AGAINST STRIKE ACTION

Tesco has called on Mandate to re-visit its strike strategy after five more stores voted against joining the picket.
There were six “supportive ballots” held on Wednesday night with all but one store voting against strike action. There are currently pickets on 16 stores, with six more set to go on strike from next Monday.
The strike centres around what the Mandate union says is an attempt by Tesco management to enforce contract changes which will see the wages of staff recruited before 1996 fall by more than 15%.
Tesco has repeatedly denied this and says it needs to make changes to contracts to reflect an altered retail environment which now includes late-night and online shopping, as well as Sunday openings.
It says only a very small number of staff will see contract changes and promised that they will not lose out financially.
In a statement, Tesco said that 23 stores, or more than of half the shops balloted, had “overwhelmingly refused to co-operate with the union’s strike”.
The company said there was “an onus now on Mandate to face up to the emphatic decisions by the majority of colleagues. It is incumbent on Mandate after tonight’s strike rejections to re-visit its strike plans.”
The spokeswoman said it was “incontrovertible that Mandate’s strike plan is not being endorsed, as is shown not just by the union’s overwhelming losses in ballots, but also by the increasing number of colleagues crossing picket lines to return to work, with a further increase today.”
The company said the union would have to “urgently reconsider its refusal to accept the Labour Court Recommendation and its undermining of the industrial relations processes at the company and of the State, including its use of a Labour Court intervention to try to strengthen its hand in ballots.”
However, Mandate has said supportive ballots in other stores will continue next week and has said intense pressure by management on staff in voting stores was having an impact on outcome of the ballots.

Eat more fruit and veg for a longer life & eat 10 portions a day

    

EATING LOADS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES – 10 PORTIONS A DAY – MAY GIVE US LONGER LIVES, SAY RESEARCHERS.

The study, by Imperial College London, calculated such eating habits could prevent 7.8 million premature deaths each year.

The team also identified specific fruit and veg that reduced the risk of cancer and heart disease.
The analysis showed even small amounts had a health boon, but more is even better.
A portion counts as 80g (3oz) of fruit or veg – the equivalent of a small banana, a pear or three heaped tablespoons of spinach or peas.
What counts as five-a-day?
The conclusions were made by pooling data on 95 separate studies, involving two million people’s eating habits.

LOWER RISKS OF CANCER WERE LINKED TO EATING:
1. GREEN VEG (EG SPINACH)
2. YELLOW VEG (EG PEPPERS)
3. CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES (EG CAULIFLOWER).

Lower risks of heart disease and strokes were linked to eating:
1. apples
2. pears
3. citrus fruits
4. salads
5. green leafy vegetables (eg lettuce)
6. cruciferous veg.et is a big fan of spinach.

Harriet Micallef, from Chippenham, says she often manages eight to 10 portions a day and has multiple portions of spinach every day.
She told the BBC: “I have a lot, I don’t ever have a meal without veg or salad so eight to 10 portions is a regular thing.”
She starts her day with a veg-packed omelette containing spinach and sometimes avocado or tomatoes.
Harriet’s salad-based lunch is also packed with a mix of veg and her evening meals tend to be stir fries or stews.
Snacks during the day include blended fruit smoothies or peppers dipped in hummus.
She added: “It’s definitely healthy, if you’ve got loads of colours on your plate then you’re pretty much okay.”
The results, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, also assessed the risk of dying before your time.
Compared with eating no fruit or veg a day, it showed:
• 200g cut the risk of cardiovascular disease by 13% while 800g cut the risk by 28%
• 200g cut the risk of cancer by 4%, while 800g cut the risk by 13%
• 200g cut the risk of a premature death by 15%, while 800g cut the risk by 31%
The researchers do not know if eating even more fruit and veg would have even greater health benefits as there is little evidence out there to review.
Dr Dagfinn Aune, one of the researchers, said: “Fruit and vegetables have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and to boost the health of our blood vessels and immune system.
“This may be due to the complex network of nutrients they hold.
“For instance, they contain many antioxidants, which may reduce DNA damage and lead to a reduction in cancer risk.”
However, many people struggle to even eat the five a day (400g) recommended by the World Health Organization.
In the UK, only about one in three people eats enough.
Heather Saunders, 24 and from Oxford, routinely manages nine or 10 portions a day since becoming vegan.
She has two pieces of fruit with breakfast, a “massive pot” of roasted vegetables at lunch and then at least four vegetables in curries or chillies in the evening.
She told the BBC: “It is about making a conscious decision, I feel fuelling myself with plant-based foods is a more healthy way to sustain myself.”
Her tips for anyone trying to eat more is to do it gently: “Maybe decide to have one or two meat-free days a week and phase more veg in, I quite like a sweet potato curry with spinach and chickpeas.”
Dr Aune said the findings did not mean the five-a-day message needed to change.
He told the BBC: “There are many different considerations if changing policy, it’s not just the health effects – is it feasible?
“But our findings are quite clear in that they do support five a day, but there are even some further benefits for higher intakes.”
• Five-a-day advice ‘unrealistic’ says new GPs’ head
• Take the test: are you getting five-a-day?
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: “The five-a-day target is the foundation of a healthy balanced diet and is an achievable way to help prevent a number of diseases.
“Whilst consuming more than five portions of fruit and vegetables a day may be desirable… adding pressure to consume more fruit and vegetables creates an unrealistic expectation.”

Bumble bees found to have ‘impressive’ brain power as they are trained to score ‘goals’

  

BUMBLEBEES CAN TEACH EACH OTHER HOW TO SCORE “GOALS” WITH A TINY BALL, A NEW STUDY FINDS

Bumblebees can teach each other how to score “goals” with a tiny ball, displaying a learning ability never before seen in insects, a study has shown.
The bees surprised scientists by working out how to use a novel tool to obtain a food reward simply by watching their neighbours.
In the experiment, the bees were placed on a platform and had to roll a yellow ball to a specific location – or “goal” – in order to obtain a sugar solution.
They were given two types of training, either watching a previously trained bee “score”, or being shown the ball that appeared to move on its own with help of an unseen magnet.
Insects that observed the success of other bees were better at learning the task than those given the “ghost” demonstration.
Project leader Professor Lars Chittka, from Queen Mary, University of London’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, said: “Our study puts the final nail in the coffin of the idea that small brains constrain insects to have limited behavioural flexibility and only simple learning abilities.”
The bees did not simply copy exactly what they saw, but figured out their own way to get the ball to the right destination.
“This shows an impressive amount of cognitive flexibility, especially for an insect,” said Dr Olli Loukola, another member of the Queen Mary team.
During the tests, the bees had to roll a ball from the edge of the platform to the centre.
Initially, “demonstrator” bees were trained by watching a plastic bee pushing the ball to the goal.
They then moved the ball in front of other bees undergoing training, who quickly learned the same trick.
But in later trials “observer” bees faced with a choice of three balls made a beeline for the one closest to the goal, rather than the one at the platform edge.
In yet another test they had to move a differently coloured ball to earn the reward.
Dr Loukola said: “It may be that bumblebees, along with many other animals, have the cognitive capabilities to solve such complex tasks, but will only do so if environmental pressures are applied to necessitate such behaviours.”    

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Varadkar and Coveney in dogfight for power as gap closes on successor to Enda

  OR 

The likely lads to succeed Enda Kenny above?

Simon Coveney has dramatically narrowed rival Leo Varadkar’s lead as the public’s favourite to succeed Enda Kenny yes but there is also clear evidence that a third candidate could emerge to win a Fine Gael leadership contest, according to a Sunday Independent/Kantar Millward Brown opinion poll.

Social Protection Minister Mr Varadkar (27%) has a slight lead over Housing Minister Mr Coveney (23%), but almost a quarter of all voters favour somebody else (16%) or neither (8%) of the two front-runners to lead Fine Gael, according to the nationwide poll.

This is the first time that those polled were offered a choice of just two candidates to succeed Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Mr Kenny.

Mr Varadkar (37%) extends his lead over Mr Coveney (28%) among Fine Gael supporters, according to the opinion poll, but again almost one-quarter of party supporters favour somebody else (15%), or neither front-runner (7%), should Mr Kenny decide to step down.

Yesterday, Mr Varadkar increased the pressure on Mr Kenny to make his continued leadership intentions known, but the Taoiseach told the Sunday Independent he intended to “focus on the job in hand” which, his spokesman said, he would carry out with “continued dedication and dignity”.

But today’s opinion poll contains further findings which will add to the mounting pressure on Mr Kenny to resign. The state of the parties shows Fianna Fail (33%) — up six points since a comparable poll in October — has opened up an eight-point lead over Fine Gael (25%), down four points.

Fianna Fail is extending its lead — it is now at its highest point since 2008 — at a time when there has been a marked increase in consumer confidence.

The poll finds 23% believe they are better off than they were last year,  a seven-point increase, and 21pc feel worse off, a nine-point decrease, while 27% feel they will be better off next year, a seven point increase, and 14% feel they will be worse off, a nine- point decrease.

The poll also shows Sinn Fein (20%) unchanged, Labour (6%) down two points, the Greens (2pc) unchanged and Independents/others (14%) down one point.

Mr Varadkar told the Sunday Independent: “Everyone is waiting to hear from the Taoiseach. The current situation is distracting and destabilising for the Government, the party and the country. I have full confidence in the Taoiseach to settle it.”

Simon Coveney and his wife Ruth at the wedding Photo: Gerry Mooney

However, Mr Coveney said the Taoiseach should not be forced to “set a date” for his departure.

“Enda is still the leader of our party – he has been for 15 years. I think he deserves the respect to be given time and space to make any decisions he thinks he needs to make.”

Today’s poll also finds Mr Kenny’s satisfaction rating (27%) down just two points and dissatisfaction rating (62%) up three points since October. Furthermore, satisfaction with the Government (27%), down four points, and dissatisfaction (64%), up two points, have not significantly changed despite recent political turmoil.

The poll, among a representative sample of 960, was carried out between February 6 and 16 and has a margin of error of 3.2%.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin (44%), up one point, remains comfortably the most popular party leader with an unchanged dissatisfaction rating of 40%.

However, only a slim majority (53%), down one point, want Mr Kenny to resign as Fine Gael leader while 25%, up one point, want him to remain. Fascinatingly, a majority (57%) of Fine Gael supporters say Mr Kenny should remain leader, a finding which may encourage him to resist pressure to resign and choose the time of his own departure. Furthermore, 73% of Fine Gael supporters are satisfied with his leadership.

Also interestingly, of those who believe Mr Kenny should remain, more opt for Mr Coveney (29%) than Mr Varadkar (27%c) as his successor, a finding which indicates that the Housing Minister is in a position to win the backing of more of Mr Kenny’s supporters in a leadership contest.

Of those who believe Mr Kenny should resign, 31% would support Mr Varadkar and 28% would support Mr Coveney.

These findings show that while Mr Varadkar must be the favourite to succeed Mr Kenny, a Fine Gael leadership contest would be far from a foregone conclusion.

Yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said Fine Gael needed to “keep calm and measured over the next few months” or the party would “catapult ourselves into a messy general election that will play into the hands of Sinn Fein and the loony left”.

Today’s opinion poll, however, finds that support for Independents and smaller parties has almost halved since the General Election.

Furthermore, when asked which party or political grouping they would not consider voting for in the next election, the poll finds that the Socialist Party (22%), up seven points; AAA-PBP (22%), up four points; Greens (20%), up three points; and Social Democrats (14%), up four points, appear to be falling out of favour with voters, while 36%, down two points, say they would not consider voting for Sinn Fein.

Tribalism is still a problem in Northern Ireland politics after 20 years of peace

  

It is no great surprise to see that Northern Ireland politics are still as polarised as ever nearly two decades after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in a wave of optimism that society here could be changed forever.

It is no great surprise to see that Northern Ireland politics are still as polarised as ever nearly two decades after the Good Friday Agreement was signed in a wave of optimism that society here could be changed forever.

The survey from the Electoral Reform Society shows that only a tiny proportion of unionists or nationalists would ever contemplate voting first for a party outside their own bloc.

And even though the STV system allows voters to give their preferences right through the list for their constituency, few Catholics or Protestants would put their mark in the box of an opposing party.

Around one-third of all preferences were for parties outside the big four – DUP, Sinn Fein, SDLP and UUP – but that does not give a corresponding return of Assembly Members. The centre ground still remains a minority.

Little wonder that UUP leader Mike Nesbitt received such a cold shoulder from even his own party when he said he would vote for a SDLP candidate as a second preference in the forthcoming election. His gesture may be the ideal way to conduct politics, but obviously tribal considerations trump real cross-party co-operation.

So where did it all go wrong after the Good Friday Agreement? The hope for a brighter future was fuelled first by the ending of conflict, but the guerrilla war conducted by the DUP and Sinn Fein against the original power-sharing partners, the UUP and SDLP, ensured that devolution never gained the momentum it should have.

The decision eventually by the DUP and Sinn Fein to share power offered new hope, but this has dwindled over the last decade as the parties both retreated towards the trenches in a welter of bad feeling and even more virulent language.

We are now a fortnight away from a new election, but the prospect of an early return to devolved government seems remote.

The inevitable conclusion – unless there is an unprecedented sea-change in voting habits – is that the majority of those who go to the polls are content to keep to their tribal silos no matter what the implications.

The one glimmer of hope is that a significant number of the 45% of voters who didn’t bother going to the polls last May – either through apathy or weariness -turn out this time and change voting patterns to register their displeasure with the status quo. History is not encouraging.

An Irish mum shares a heart-breaking video of her 21-year-old scoliosis daughter in agonising pain?

   The Video.  http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/heartbreaking-scoliosis-video-shows-sufferer-9845391

A KILDARE MUM TINA O’KELLY HAS SHARED A VIDEO OF HER 21-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER COLLEEN IN AGONY AND PLEADED WITH HEALTH MINISTER SIMON HARRIS FOR A SURGERY DATE.

Colleen O’Kelly has Joubert Syndrome and has now been waiting for an appointment for two years just to get on the list for scoliosis surgery.

Her mum Tina says that Colleen’s condition will worsen, unless she is granted surgery. The rate of curvature of her daughter’s spine is at 97%, and apart from causing Colleen to live with agonising chronic pain, it significantly increases her risk of lung collapse, pneumonia, and respiratory infections.

Tina spoke to Her Family about the heart-breaking situation,

“I wish that the HSE management and the government would stop blaming each other and just get together to get the root of this mess.

The HSE says it’s caused by a lack of money and the government say that it’s not a lack of money that’s the problem, but rather mismanagement of it.

While they are busy squabbling with each other nothing is getting done.”

The Naas mum explained that her 21-year-old daughter has already undergone a kidney transplant but unfortunately Colleen still has no date for surgery to correct the painful curvature of her spine,

“When Colleen turned 18 she had to be transferred from the care of Crumlin to Tallaght hospital as an adult patient. Her doctor in Crumlin essentially had to write a letter referring her to himself – from one of his patient lists to another.

She has waited two years just to get on another waiting list, she has been on the surgery waiting list since last August. The secretary said she’d ask the doctor for a 7th of March listing but I have heard nothing.”

Tina told us that Colleen is a fighter who has been through so much but has managed to keep a smile on her face,

“She is normally such a happy, happy person. She has flown through her transplant…through everything…with a smile on her face. That’s why it’s so heart-breaking to see her suffering like this now. She doesn’t have to suffer like this. This is avoidable.”

Tina says that she agonised over sharing a video of her daughter crying in pain, but she wants people to see the completely avoidable reality that they live with on a daily basis,

“Everyone that knows Colleen knows how amazingly happy she is. Lately her scoliosis has really been causing awful problems for her and it’s heart-breaking. She has no date for surgery. We have no idea when it will be.

This is the reality of living with this condition. It’s getting worse and compromising her health that we have fought so hard for all her life. It’s compromising her kidney transplant.

We wait every day for word from Tallaght.

We want her pain to end – she’s been through enough – and call on Simon Harris to fix this. ”

Take a minute to boost your fitness the easy way & it works

ROSE COSTELLO LOOKS AT THE QUICKEST AND SIMPLEST WAY TO GET FITTER?

    

If you think that running for the bus is a waste of time, think again. Even if you don’t catch that bus, you will be doing a lot more for your fitness than you might realise. The latest research shows that taking exercise in short bursts could be just what the doctor ordered.

It’s known as high-intensity interval training (Hiit) and it is now part of any fitness instructor’s offering. Even those who can’t be bothered to go to a gym or who don’t have the time can benefit.

High-intensity training means really pushing yourself for a short amount of time, resting, then pushing yourself again. What’s shocking is how little time it can take to make a difference to your fitness.

A report published in the PLOS One journal last year followed two groups over 12 weeks: one spent just 10 minutes on training that included intense intervals that added up to one minute; the second group worked out at a moderate, even pace for 45 minutes. The surprise is that the two groups saw similar improvements in health. There are a number of other studies showing equally encouraging results.

Claire Mc Glynn, a competitive weightlifter and personal trainer at cmgfit.com in Dublin, loves to use Hiit and says it is the best and quickest way to achieve positive results in your physical and mental health. “It’s very simple really – everyone knows that when you put 100 per cent of effort into something, you get the best results and there is no exception when it comes to exercise.”

Level of intensity?

Mc Glynn points out that she can do the same Hiit routine as a beginner, but if they both do it at their top level of intensity, they both benefit dramatically. There is no need for modification of a routine for beginners. They key is to feel that you are pushing past your own comfort.

They might curse me for asking them to do it,” she says, “but once they’re doing it, the adrenaline kicks in and it’s just a matter of working through the process. Afterwards, endorphins – happy hormones – have been released and they’re tired, yet contented and have an air of accomplishment, and sometimes surprise at what they have been able to achieve.”

The 29-year-old runs hardcore classes in CrossFit353, which involves using heavy weights or pushing around massive tyres for fun. But she also teaches members of the Retired Teachers’ Association of Ireland, who are between 50 and 70.

“Their progress has been unbelievable. Many started with me two years ago and now they are blitzing sessions of many, many squats, lunges, push-ups, plank holds for up to three minutes and so on. Their mobility, strength, fitness, self-belief and confidence has increased tenfold.”

Hiit also boosts your metabolism, ie the rate at which you burn calories, for hours afterwards.

No class needed?

Good form is key on whatever exercise you are doing, she says. “There is no point in repping out 100 squats if your back is rounded and knees are caving in, you’ll just do more harm than good.”

You don’t have to join a class to experience the benefit, however. These are principles you can put into practice every day. This doesn’t mean you should give up on beach walks, rather that you should run after that bus with abandon, for a minute anyway. And regardless of whether you catch it or not, you will have done yourself some good.

The World Health Organisation advises adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a week or at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity. Incorporating Hiit doesn’t mean slacking off, simply realising that a few sharp bursts can be valuable too.

If you cannot exercise most days, but try to get out at the weekend, take heart. A report last month in the JAMA Internal Medicinejournal shows that “weekend warriors”, who did all their exercise on one or two days of the week, were found to lower their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 41 per cent and cancer by 18 per cent, compared with the inactive. Even those who didn’t manage to get the 150 minutes of activity advised by the WHO reduced their risk of early death by one-third.

Push yourself

For those not exercising now, walking quickly can count as “high-intensity” if you push yourself. Even a brisk 20-minute daily walk could reduce your risk of early death, according to research published in the American Journal of Clinical Exercise in 2015. The study of more than 334,000 Europeans found that twice as many deaths may be attributable to a lack of physical activity compared with the number attributable to obesity, but that a modest increase in physical activity could have significant health benefits.

An earlier study in the Lancet in 2012 said that inactivity was killing about as many people as smoking.

If you have been following this series, you should be eating a pretty balanced diet that gives you more energy. Put that energy to good use by adding in some extra exercise – or even just some exercise.

An effective way?

The maxim still holds that you cannot outrun a bad diet, but to be healthy you need to do some exercise too. Using the principles of high-intensity interval training is an easy and effective way to achieve results without putting in too much effort.

Ashley Borden of the Body Foundation in California, who has trained actor Ryan Gosling, says she uses Hiit training because it is efficient, burns fat and builds muscle. There is no need to have any fancy equipment either, just the focus to really go for it for half a minute at a time.

This all comes with a proviso, of course: as with any form of exercise, you need to be in fairly decent shape to get started. If not, or if you are on medication or have any concerns or conditions, check with your doctor first. And wear the appropriate footwear. Then go for it.

GM ‘surrogate hens’ could lay eggs of rare chicken breeds,

SO SCIENTISTS SAY

A radical plan to maintain diversity of gene pool proposes the use of genetically modified chickens as surrogate mothers?

    

SOME OF THE GENETICALLY MODIFIED CHICKENS BRED BY SCIENTISTS AT THE ROSLIN INSTITUTE.

The Rumpless Game is squawky and, as its name suggests, lacks a tail, while the Burmese Bantam, has fantastically flared leg feathers and a head like a feather duster. But the true value of rare chicken breeds, according to a team of scientists working to save them from obsolescence, is not their decorative crests and plumage, but the diversity they bring to the chicken gene pool.

In a radical plan to preserve rare varieties such as the Nankin, Scots Dumpy and Sicilian Buttercup, scientists at the the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute have bred genetically modified chickens designed to act as surrogates that would be capable of laying eggs from any rare breed.

Speaking to journalists at the AAAS conference in Boston, Mike McGrew, who is leading the project, said: “These chickens are a first step in saving and protecting rare poultry breeds from loss.”

The surrogacy technique, which places a new, mind-bending twist on the classic chicken or egg question, involves first genetically engineering hens to be sterile. This is done by deleting a gene, called DDX4, that is required for the development of primordial follicles (the precursors to eggs) meaning that the surrogate hens will never lay eggs that are biologically their own.

A baby bantam. The scientists’ ultimate goal is to create a gene bank of chicken breeds preserved for posterity.

A batch of sterile GM chicks hatched at the Roslin Institute in 2016, becoming the first genetically modified birds created in Europe. “We produced a hen that doesn’t have any eggs,” said McGrew, who is first author on a paper on the work published this week in the journal Development.

The next step will be to transplant follicles from rare birds into the surrogate (this is done before the surrogate chick is hatched from its own egg), meaning it would go on to lay eggs belonging to entirely different breeds of chicken.

Given that the hens would also need to be artificially inseminated with sperm from the same rare variety, the approach may appear unnecessarily convoluted. Why not just breed the rare birds the normal way?

The scientists’ ultimate goal is to create a gene bank of chicken breeds preserved for posterity, and since primordial follicles can be frozen efficiently, while eggs cannot, the surrogacy technique serves an essential work-around.

The Roslin team has set up the Frozen Aviary, a £14m project aimed at preserving a wide variety of poultry breeds.

“We’re interested in chicken because that is the animal which is the most consumed animal on the planet and we want to protect all the different breeds of chickens that we have,” said McGrew. “So we can freeze down all the breeds of chicken.”

McGrew predicts that the surrogates will be able to lay eggs from any breed, including chicken’s wild predecessor, the red junglefowl, but he is doubtful about whether it will work efficiently across species – it is not likely that the surrogate hens will be giving birth to eagle chicks, for instance.

Richard Broad, a field officer for the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, said the idea was appealing: “You can save all kinds of breeds, put them in a freezer and there would be a genetic ark for us.”

A Salmon Faverolle chicken. Scientists say rare breeds can bring diversity to the chicken gene pool.

“If you had one in every country it would be a wonderful thing. In terms of usefulness, we couldn’t wish for anything better – it would be unbelievably useful.”

Broad agreed that rare chickens could be a source of valuable genetic variation, potentially carrying variants that would provide resistance against new forms of avian flu. “It’s not what we’re protecting in the breeds that’s important, it’s what those breeds represent in their genes,” he said.

The Frozen Aviary, which would allow scientists to rapidly expand populations that contained a protective gene for a new disease, bring breeds back to life after they had been declared extinct and provide an insurance against commercial breeds, which have been honed for their fast-growing, being wiped out by a disease.

The avian biobank currently has genetic material from 25 different breeds and more than 500 samples from individual birds, all stored in liquid nitrogen cryostats. “They should be good – as long as the power doesn’t go out – for decades,” said McGrew.

At present, the team is focused on chicken breeds, but expects the technique to work to preserve rare varieties of ducks, geese and quail. Previously, scientists in Dubai used a similar technique in male birds to create a houbara (a large bustard) fathered by a cockerel.

In the future, it may also be possible to use the technique to conserve endangered species such as golden eagles – although this would depend on a suitable surrogate being identified.

“The question remains open on how evolutionarily related they have to be for them to transplant them,” said McGrew. “You need a bird that can be bred in captivity and produce a lot of eggs.”    

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Another Garda whistle-blower demands inclusion of their case in public inquiry

KEITH HARRISON CLAIMS HE AND HIS GIRLFRIEND ENDURED SURVEILLANCE AND REFERRALS TO TUSLA?

    

A SECOND GARDA WHISTLE-BLOWER HAS DEMANDED THAT HIS CASE IS INCLUDED IN A PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO AN ALLEGED SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST SGT MAURICE MCCABE.

Another Garda whistle-blower has demanded that his case is included in a public inquiry into an alleged smear campaign against Sgt Maurice McCabe.

Keith Harrison claims he and his girlfriend endured covert and overt surveillance, referrals to Tusla – the Child and Family Agency, and that they were the victim of rumour, innuendo and malicious falsehoods.

Garda Harrison issued a lengthy statement through his solicitor after Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed a tribunal was being set up into the scandal of unfounded and false sex abuse claims being peddled against Sgt McCabe.

Mr Harrison claimed there is an “orchestrated system and culture” among senior management of the force that dictates the treatment of whistleblowers.

Mr Harrison said: “The efforts of this Government to restrict the inquiry/commission of investigation to the very traumatic story of Sgt McCabe absolutely ensures we will not get to the bottom of the culture of management failures and ill-treatment of whistleblowers within An Garda Síochána. ”

Effectively forced

The Government was effectively forced into ordering the tribunal with hearings to be public.

The decision was taken after Mr McCabe and his wife Lorraine said they would not accept any investigation into the controversy being held behind closed doors.

“There’s nothing worse in this country than to be called a sex abuser, nothing worse,” the Taoiseach told the Dáil.

The terms of reference of the tribunal are expected to be finalised in the next 48 hours, with the Government now under deepening pressure to extend it to include other whistle-blowers.

Who is Sgt Maurice McCabe?

In 2008, Sgt Maurice McCabe raised concerns about quashing of penalty points. In 2012, he was banned from using Pulse, the Garda system through which he identified questionable quashing. Controversy over his treatment led to resignations of Garda commissioner Martin Callinan and minister for justice Alan Shatter. In due course, Sgt McCabe was vindicated over his main complaint.

The Garda whistle-blowers: We found this helpful a Yes No

Garda Harrison, who was previously nominated for a Scott Medal for bravery but has been on extended sick leave, was stationed in Athlone when he stopped a colleague on suspicion of drink-driving in 2009.

He also raised concerns about drug-dealing investigations.

In the statement issued on behalf of Mr Harrison and his partner Marisa Simms, their solicitor claimed that since then both he and his family suffered victimisation, bullying, and intimidation.

Disciplinary action?

He has also faced disciplinary action and threatened criminal prosecution.

The officer was prosecuted for having no insurance on his car and he was reported to Tusla.

Garda Harrison has spoken out before and some of his claims have been put on the record in the Dáil.

“It is our belief that senior management within An Garda Síochána set out to attack and destroy our family because I sought to speak out about malpractice within the force,” Mr Harrison said.

“In doing so they tried to discredit me, and also reported ‘concerns’ regarding the wellbeing of my partner’s children, leading to a Tusla investigation, which revealed no risk whatsoever.”

Garda Harrison said his treatment bears similarities to the experience of Sgt McCabe and his family.

“It is clear to us the incidents contained in the disclosures of Supt (David) Taylor and Sgt McCabe are not isolated but rather, along with our experience, identifies a common approach within the senior management of An Garda Síochána to whistleblowers,” Mr Harrison said.

Under pressure

Amid the second whistle-blower going public, the Government is under pressure for Ministers, including the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald and Minister for Children Katherine Zappone, to formally explain what they knew and when they knew it, regarding the McCabe affair.

The sergeant was at the centre of an unfounded and false report on a Tusla file of an allegation of sex abuse against a colleague’s daughter.

A counsellor working on behalf of the agency has claimed the error was made when details from a different case were cut and pasted on to a file.

Sgt McCabe has rejected an apology issued by the Health Service Executive at the weekend.

A horrific ordeal?

And in a four-page statement issued on Monday, Sgt McCabe accused Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan of privately discrediting him while publicly declaring her support over his horrific ordeal.

The officer claimed the Garda chief’s lawyers set out to discredit him at the O’Higgins Commission which investigated and vindicated a series of allegations by Sgt McCabe of negligence in policing in the Cavan-Monaghan district.

Irish Cabinet approves new Irish drink-driving laws

    

THE CABINET HAS APPROVED NEW LAWS THAT WILL AUTOMATICALLY BAN ALL THOSE CAUGHT DRINK DRIVING FROM THE ROADS.

Currently, first-time offenders are not necessarily disqualified and can pay a fine and get three penalty points.

TRANSPORT MINISTER SHANE ROSS SAID THAT THIS SENDS OUT THE WRONG ROAD SAFETY MESSAGE.

Welcoming the decision to approve the General Scheme of a Road Traffic (Fixed Penalty – Drink Driving) Bill 2017, Minister Ross said: “The evidence shows that despite a perception to the contrary, drink driving continues to be a very serious issue in this country.

“We can no longer be ambivalent in our attitude toward this destructive practice.”

“What I am now proposing is that the existing provision allowing people to get penalty points rather than a disqualification for drink driving sends the wrong message and should go.

“Instead of three penalty points, such drivers will get a three-month disqualification. This is quite proportionate.

“Drink driving is serious, and potentially fatal. Even a small amount of alcohol can impair people’s reactions, and that cannot be tolerated when people are behind the wheel of a car.”

The Minister expressed his hope that this Bill can be passed quickly and without amendment.

Minister Ross added: “It is important to get it out there and working, and with it the message that drink driving will no longer be without serious consequences.

“This is an important step on the road to enacting what will be a focused, timely and urgently needed piece of legislation which will ultimately save lives.”

The General Scheme will now be submitted to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for formal drafting, with a view to its publication as soon as possible.

In line with Government policy, the Minister will also refer the General Scheme to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport for its consideration.

New Irish tenancy laws confuse both the tenants and landlords

     

The Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016, announced before Christmas, aimed to bring a greater level of predictability to the rental market. However, confusion remains for both tenants and landlords.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney last month announced an extension of the existing list of rent pressure zones (RPZs). The list now includes most of Galway City as well as 23 smaller commuter towns, including Cork City suburbs such as Douglas and Ballincollig.

While tenants will welcome the new measures in a climate of rapidly rising rents, many landlords see them as curtailing their potential rental income and their ability to manage their properties.

What does it mean if I live in a RPZ?

For those properties now located within a RPZ, rent rises are capped at 4% per year for three years. There is also a set formula which landlords must use when calculating the reviewed rent. This cap doesn’t apply if the property was vacant (before the current new letting), and was not let at any time in the 24 months before the area became an RPZ. The cap also won’t apply where there has been a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation since the rent was last set. For example, if major refurbishment works have been undertaken which would change the market rent applicable for that property.

How often will landlords be able to review rents?

The Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2015 had restricted a landlord’s ability to review rents to once every two years, so many tenants may now be confused as to when their rent can next be reviewed. The new legislation means that, in the case of existing tenancies within RPZs, the cap on rent rises will apply when the next rent review falls. So, if you are currently within a rent review freeze, the RPZ designation will become relevant once those two years are up. When that next review occurs, rent reviews will then be allowed annually, rather than every two years.

What happens when I have rented a property for six months or more?

Once you have lived in a property for more than six months, a part 4 tenancy occurs, entitling you to remain for a further three-and-a-half years. This right is separate to any lease agreement with the landlord, so even if you have a one-year lease, after six months, you also have part 4 tenancy rights. After four years, if you remain in the property, a further part 4 tenancy begins.

The landlord can only terminate a part 4 tenancy on certain specific grounds, for example, if they require the property for their own use, for that of a family member, or if they plan to substantially refurbish the property.

TWO MAIN CHANGES HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO GIVE TENANTS GREATER SECURITY OF TENURE.

The first is the extension of the cycle from four to six years, for tenancies that began after December 24, 2016. For any part 4 tenancy beginning before that date, a four-year cycle remains but, as soon as that ends, the further part 4 tenancy will be a six-year cycle.

The second change relates to how a part 4 tenancy can be terminated. Previously, once the first cycle was up, a landlord was entitled to terminate the tenancy at any time in the first six months of the further part 4 tenancy, without needing to fall within one of the above termination grounds.

That six-month window has now been removed. For all tenancies, which began after December 24, 2016, once the further part 4 tenancy commences, the stated reason for termination must also be one as set out in the legislation. This is expected to be extended shortly, to tenancies which commenced on or before that date.

Landlords who wish to avoid having to give specific grounds will need to time the termination correctly so that it falls before a further part 4 tenancy begins.

To achieve this, they will have to serve notice before the current part 4 tenancy ends, with the notice period expiring on, or after, the tenancy’s end-date. This ensures that a further part 4 tenancy does not occur.

Anything else that we should know?

A further provision, which has not yet commenced, is a restriction on landlords seeking to terminate tenancies on the grounds of “intention to sell”. This is where they propose to sell ten or more units within the same development, either at the same time or within a six-month period. This will be of interest given recent media attention around “vulture funds” buying up loans from banks. As they now wish to sell off properties they hold as security, these vulture funds are serving notices on multiple tenants within the same development of “intention to sell”.

Landlords will soon only be able to rely on these grounds if they can prove that selling the property with the tenant still remaining will reduce the market value by 20% below what it would be, if sold with vacant possession. They also need to prove it would cause undue hardship on the landlord.

Irish Water reveals households wasting less than it was previously thought

MANAGING DIRECTOR JERRY GRANT: 765M LITRES A DAY STILL BEING LOST IN PUBLIC PIPE NETWORK

    

METERING IS SAID TO HAVE IDENTIFIED THAT “BY FAR THE MOST BENEFICIAL GAIN” IN IRISH WATER’S ACTIVITIES WAS IN FIXING LEAKS “ON THE PUBLIC SIDE” OF THE PIPE NETWORK.

Information gathered from the State’s water-metering programme has led Irish Water to conclude households waste less water than previously thought.

Jerry Grant, managing director of Irish Water, told the Oireachtas Committee on the future of water charges the utility was “forced to rethink” its calculations on water usage, after the metering programme revealed individual water use was about 110 litres per day, at the lower end of international comparisons.

It had previously been estimated that individuals used in excess of 140 litres per day, but metering had identified that “by far the most beneficial gain” in Irish Water’s activities was in fixing leaks “on the public side” of the pipe network.

Mr Grant told the committee on Tuesday that domestic meters measured “flow” to households “for a variety of uses”, but he said “it was a government decision to charge” for that water.

Drinking water supply?

He said Irish Water provided about 1.7 billion litres of drinking water to homes and businesses a day. Of this, 600 million litres were consumed by households and 300 million litres went to “non-domestic” premises.

He said these figures were dwarfed by the 765 million litres a day which were still being lost in the public pipe network – about 45% of overall water production.

The use of domestic meters had already identified leaks of 77 million litres per day on the householder’s property, which had been fixed under the utility’s free “first fix scheme”.

Already conserving water?

The data the company had got from 800,000 water meters had shown most households were already conserving water – but one per cent of households used over 20% of all domestic water. Five% of households accounted for use of one third of domestic water supplies.

Mr Grant said metering had helped the utility establish that some households had “continuous night flows”, which indicated leaks.

Some 28,000 homes had availed of the utility’s free “first fix” scheme, resulting in savings of 70 million litres of water per day.

He said about a half a billion euro had been spent on domestic water meters when the scheme was suspended, and the remaining fund of about €150 million had been redirected to invest in the network, largely in new connections.

One domestic leak under a driveway could typically see consumption rise to that of 20 households, he said.

“The information is telling us the fundamental gain is about fixing leaks,” Mr Grant said.

He added the greatest gains in water conservation over the next 15 to 20 years will not be from individual household conservation measures, but in fixing leaks and installing district meters.

Mr Grant was asked by Anti Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy why water meters were used to gather information on households, while district networks used other tools, from “listening sticks” to technology, to establish water flow.

Mr Grant said Irish Water could gather data from 80,000 meters in two months, collecting by the use of technology-equipped vans, whereas to send out individuals to seek access to individual properties and stopcocks would take a multiple of that time.

A lust for life and why sex is better in your 80’s

Sexually active older people are considered a curiosity, but a new survey suggests that lovemaking is often more fulfilling for ‘sexual survivors’ than those in middle age

     

DR DAVID LEE SAYS ‘SEXUAL SURVIVORS’ ARE PROBABLY ‘THE HEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN OLDER AGE’.

Dr David Lee, a research fellow at Manchester University’s School of Social Sciences, calls them “sexual survivors” – people over the age of 80 who still enjoy an active sex life. In a report written with Professor Josie Tetley, using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, he notes that while physical challenges (erectile difficulties, for instance) occured more frequently with age, the emotional side of sex appeared more fulfilling for people over 80. Men and women in this age bracket reported more shared sexual compatibility and emotional closeness than those in their 50s, 60s and 70s – which sounds like good news for anyone going through a drought in middle age.

Sex isn’t defined by penetration, says Lee – some older people find more imaginative ways to keep their sex lives active. “We saw quite a lot of adaptation in the older people, saying they no longer had penetrative sexual intercourse and were more content with kissing and cuddling and general intimacy. We kept a very broad definition of sex. We saw what appeared to be adaptive behaviour in the older members of our sample.”

Don’t bank on hitting your sexual peak so late, though. The problem is, having a sex life at all in your 80s is far from guaranteed. Only about one in 10 women aged 85 or older, and nearly one-quarter of men of that age, enjoy one. “They’re a minority, clearly, but they’re an interesting minority,” says Lee. “Among those who were [sexually active], it was quite interesting that they seemed happy with their sexual lives.”

Lee is studying what it takes to become a sexual survivor. There is likely to be a range of factors, he says. Having a partner is important, of course, and many people in their 80s have been widowed. “I would envisage that these [sexual survivors] are the healthiest people in older age,” he adds. Medication, for instance, can interfere with sex drive and ability.

Sexually active octogenarians are still considered such a curiosity that documentaries are made about them (such as Channel 5’s Party Pensioners, which featured an octogenarian burlesque dancer, and Sex and the Silver Gays, a film about older gay men who go to sex parties). Sites aimed at millennials run interviews with them, too – in 2015, Vice published an interview with an 82-year-old called Chris Wilson about his exploits on Grindr (he said he found the hook-up app “especially helpful when travelling. When I was in London, England, I got hit on by about 40 guys. I had sex eight times in seven days!”).

Lee says we need to get used to the idea that some older people may want a fulfilling sex life – and take seriously the means to allow them to achieve this. “We’re simply trying to broaden the discussion around sex and saying, irrespective of age, there is a need for joined-up healthcare services that people can access if they wish. We’re seeing from the comments in our survey [that] when older people try to access healthcare [for] sexual problems they have come across dismissal: ‘You should expect it at your age.’” But Lee has also seen how it becomes internalised in older people: “They think: ‘It’s not relevant to me anymore.’” Better, instead, to know you could enjoy a later-life sexual peak.

First live birth evidence in a group of dinosaur relatives found

  

IT WAS ADAPTED FOR A FULLY AQUATIC LIFESTYLE

SCIENTISTS HAVE UNCOVERED THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF LIVE BIRTHS IN THE GROUP OF ANIMALS THAT INCLUDES DINOSAURS, CROCODILES AND BIRDS.

ALL EXAMPLES OF THIS GROUP, KNOWN AS THE ARCHOSAUROMORPHA, LAY EGGS.

This led some scientists to wonder whether there was something in their biology that prevented live births.

But examination of the fossil remains of a very long-necked, 245 million-year-old marine reptile from China revealed it was carrying an embryo.

Jun Liu, first author of the new study in Nature Communications, said that the animal would have measured between three and four metres long, with a neck that was about 1.7m long.

The embryo may have been around half a metre long and is positioned inside the rib cage of the adult Dinocephalosaurus fossil, which was discovered in 2008 in Luoping County, Yunnan Province in southern China.

Researchers had to consider whether the smaller animal might have been part of the adult’s last meal. But it’s facing forward, whereas swallowed prey generally face backwards because predators consume the animal head first to help it go down the throat.fossil embryo appears to be facing forwards; ingested prey often end up facing backwards

Another line of evidence in favour of the live birth idea is that the small reptile inside the mother is clearly an example of the same species.

Co-author Prof Mike Benton, from the University of Bristol, told BBC News that the fossil was important because the Archosauromorpha form one of three large groupings of land-based vertebrates (backboned animals), each including about 10,000 species.

Since we now know that no fundamental biological barrier to live births exists in this group, palaeontologists would be “looking very closely” at other fossils. He suggested one target would be a group of aquatic crocodile relatives – whose mode of reproduction was not well known.

Prof Liu, from Hefei University of Technology in China, said the discovery pushes back evidence of reproductive biology in the archosauromorphs by 50 million years.

The mode of reproduction in Dinocephalosaurus also points to how the sex of its offspring was determined.

Co-author Prof Chris Organ, from Montana State University, added: “Some reptiles today, such as crocodiles, determine the sex of their offspring by the temperature inside the nest.

“We identified that Dinocephalosaurus, a distant ancestor of crocodiles, determined the sex of its babies genetically, like mammals and birds.”

Prof Benton explained: “This combination of live birth and genotypic sex determination seems to have been necessary for animals such as Dinocephalosaurus to become aquatic.

“It’s great to see such an important step forward in our understanding of the evolution of a major group coming from a chance fossil find in a Chinese field.”

The possibility that an eggshell once surrounded the embryo but was not preserved in fossilisation could not be ruled out, said Prof Benton. But living Archosauromorphs all lay eggs very early in embryonic development, whereas this embryo is very advanced, with well developed bones.

Furthermore, the team says Dinocephalosaurus’s long neck and other features of its anatomy suggest it could not have manoeuvred easily out of the water, meaning a reproductive strategy like that of turtles – which lay eggs on land before returning to the water – was probably not an option.