After what appeared towards the end of 2009 to be a stabilisation in the unemployment statistics, January turned out to be a disappointing month. The numbers signing on the Live Register grew by 13,341 to 436,936, an increase of 110,664 on January 2009. This brought the standardised unemployment rate up to 12.7%, compared with 12.5% in December.

Seasonally adjusted the picture wasn't quite so bleak as under this measure the increase in the number unemployed was 5,800.
 http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/labour_market/current/lreg.pdf

Hillsborough talks drag on

The Hillsborough talks again continued long into the night without reporting any further progress.  The only development came from senior DUP politicians, Nigel Dodds, Gregory Campbell and Jeffrey Donaldson, who tried to put across the message that there was no split in the party over what had been negotiated at Hillsborough.

Dublin incinerator justified

The Government's proposed waste policy has been criticised in a report prepared by the Economic and Social Research Institute. The report, commissioned by Dublin City Council, predicts that if the policy is implemented Ireland will breach EU rules on the amount of waste going to landfill, and the country will incur substantial fines as a result. The main flaws in the policy are unachievable targets for reducing household waste and the unrealistic goals for Mechanical Biological Treatment or MBT as a means of disposing of waste.

The report justifies the construction of Dublin City Council's waste incinerator at Poolbeg, a plan which is opposed by Minister for the Environment John Gormley. He is threatening to cap the amount of waste going to the incinerator at half its capacity.

Fire on ferry

Fire broke out in the engine room of the Irish Ferries' vessel Oscar Wilde last but the automatic fire control system extinguished  the blaze. The ship had just left dry dock after a refit in the south of England and was on its way to Rosslare when the fire broke out. There were no passengers aboard at the time and no one was injured in the incident.

Wednesday's Papers

Various aspects of the economy take the lead in all the Southern papers this morning. The Irish Times reports on a plan by Anglo Irish Bank to minimise losses on its own property portfolio; the headline reads "Anglo offers 0% loan to offset €1bn property portfolio". The Irish Examiner reports on an upsurge in savings, with "Savings boom as 40% of adults debt free", while the Irish Independent focuses on those less likely to be able to save for a rainy day under the headline "Blow for Lenihan as jobless total soars".

The Irish News headline is "Planner's extraordinary note on Robinson-backed scheme". This refers to the decision to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of Knock Golf Course in east Belfast after the intervention of Peter Robinson. Planner Paul Montoomery, the third of three signatories on the planning permission, added beside his name, "(I remain of the opinion that this application should be refused - in line with previous report of 29/10/08)".

The Weather in Galway

It was a very wet morning until about 10:00am after which it started to clear and we have even had a glimpse of the sun. Temperature 9C.

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