Metro Herald, Tuesday, June 17, 2014

INSIDE

INSIDE

INSIDE

INSIDE

INSIDE

Your Metro Heraldpacked with news,sport and features

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Keep Dublin tidy – Please recycle this Metro Herald when you are finished with it

€93m per week in unpaid overtime

by joanne ahern

BLOOM WITH A VIEW: Joyce clan member Nicole Joyce and Lucas Kemper, two, at the James Joyce Centre on North Great George’s Street yesterday. They were among those across Dublin and the world marking the 110th anniversary of Bloomsday, the fictional June 16, 1904 day on which Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses, is set Picture: conor Mccabe

PROFESSIONALS in Ireland work an aver-age six hours’ overtime for free per week, new research has found.

Using the CSO average hourly earnings figure of €22.08, the Citrix Work Life Ba-rometer equates this unpaid overtime to nearly €93million per week.

The study also found 55 per cent of mid-level employees work longer than contracted hours without overtime and that 32 per cent are dissatisfied with their jobs.

Conversely, 87 per cent of senior staff said they were happy with their job and fewer work unrecognised overtime.

Some 47 per cent of the 489 working pro-fessionals who took part in the study said they are not able to leave the office for their lunch-break, only one in five said they eat lunch outside the office every day and 43 per cent do not use their full an-nual holiday allocation.

The average commute is 56 minutes a day, with 33 per cent of workers cutting down exercise as a result and 16 per cent saying they had put on weight because of this. A fifth of homeowners said they would consider moving to shorten their commute.

Some 55 per cent said they suffered from

work-related stress in the past year and 47 per cent said they would be ‘highly likely’ to work from home if given that option.

Citrix provides cloud and virtualisation technology that allows remote working and, perhaps unsurprisingly, its Ireland manager Grace O’Rourke Veitch put forward such technology as a means of restoring Irish workers’ work/life balance.

She said: ‘We need to move from judging people on how long they spend at their desks to evaluating them on the work they deliver.’

However, also perhaps unsurprisingly, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said Irish workers need a pay rise and should join un-

ions ‘to increase their bar-gaining power and help to re-dress the major imbalance’.

It added: ‘The crisis has led to increased pressure on pay packets, job losses and great-

er job insecurity. And all this takes place against a backdrop of high levels of debt among the workforce. It is a recipe for ex-ploitation and it is no surprise that some em-ployers take advantage and some workers feel under pressure in their jobs.’

‘Dublin not yet bike ready’ Early morning rave»p12

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

‘Dublin not yet bike ready’

‘Not about time spent at desk’

bloomsday: PaGE 3 «

brighT eyed and bushy Tailed »p6

� METRO HERALD Tuesday, June 17, 2014 D

at

castlepaloozacastlepastlepastlep looza

august 1st, 2nd, 3rd 2014charleville castle, tullamore, ireland

METRO HERALD READERS!HALF-PRICE TICKETS FOR

USE THE CODE. CPMH14 WHEN BOOKING YOUR TICKETS ONLINE

Tickets include VAT but exclude service charge.Check out our Castlepalooza coverage in Metro Herald & GoMetro.ie

OFFER AVAILABLE UNTIL MONDAY 30TH JUNE OR UNTIL OUR LIMITED AMOUNT ARE GONE

As A treAt to All our reAders, you cAn Attend the bestlittle music festivAl in IrelAnd for the unbeAtAble price of

€44.50 for A 3dAy ticket with mOAT cAmping.

Gruff Rhys . SUMMER CAMP . GILLES PETERSON . Andrew Weatherall. DAN CROLLNORMAN JAY. VANN MUSIC . WE WERE EVERGREEN .WE CUT CORNERS . TVVINS

DMX CREW . O EMPEROR . ELIJAH AND SKILLIAM . FUNERAL SUITS . SISTERS . DAITHISLEEP THIEVES . SHIPS . ADULTROCK . ENEMIES . KING KONG COMPANY . TU kI . TR ONE

Tuesday 17/06/14

Ireland’s rate of newsprint recycling is now up to 79%. Keep reading, keep

recycling – thank you.

How to contact usEmail: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]: ‘Mail’ to 53131 (30c plus usual text charge)Editorial: 01 705 5088Advertising: 01 705 5010Distribution: 01 705 5007

Today’s birthdays Ken Loach, filmmaker, 78; Barry Manilow, singer, 71; Paul McGuinness, music manager, 63; Thomas Haden Church, actor, 53; Greg Kinnear, actor, 51; Venus Williams (above), tennis star, 34; Kendrick Lamar, hip-hop artist, 27

Facebook.com/ metroherald

@metrohnews #metromailbox

Social media

Best of the web...La Vie En Rose...Watch this impressive clip of one street performer in Prague play Edith Piaf’s famous French love song. It’s a stunner. We wonder how long it took him to master the fine art of the wine glass – la vie en rosé anyone...?gometro.ie/vie-en-rose

Here piggy, piggy A cute little swine emulating his dog pal besties? Why yes please! gometro.ie/identity-crisis-pig

Too much ink for dad A father reacts to his son’s new tattoo. He takes it well, sort of...gometro.ie/nothing-permanent

WeatherTodayToday

Tomorrow EUROPE today

Athlone

Max: 24°c

Athens

Barcelona

Berlin

Brussels

London

Geneva

Madrid

Paris

Rome

332623222022272024

°c

°c

°c

°c

°c

°c

°c

°c

°c

Cavan

Tralee

Galway

Cork

Tipperary

Waterford

Dublin

Derry

BelfastDonegal

Sunrise:Sunset:

4.56am9.56pm

Dry andwarmwith goodsunny spells inmost areas.Temperatures between18° and 24°C.

Dry andwarmwith good sunnyspells inmost areas. Temperaturesbetween 17° to 24°C.

20�C

21�C23�C 23�C

24�C

19�C

20�C

Max: 24°c

19�C

Min: 10°cWill remain dry with clear spells. Mist orfog will develop around some coastal areas.Temperatures between 10° to 13°C.

TonightTonight

18�C

24�C

22�C

19�C

20�C

23�C20�C

18�C

23�C

D Tuesday, June 17, 2014 METRO HERALD �

ONE of the city’s relics of James Joyce’s literature may have to close this year, as commercial rates for Sweny’s chemist have increased be-yond the occupants’ means.

Once a pharmacy and now a mu-seum run by volunteers, Sweny’s featured in the author’s opus Ulysses.

Volunteer PJ Murphy said: ‘One of the main interests in this chemist is its link with Ulysses, because in chapter five, The Lotus Eaters, Leopold Bloom is sent in by Molly, his wife, a singer, for a special face cream... and then Leopold looks around the chemist and describes the interior, which hasn’t changed at all since 1847.’

Liz O’Carroll, another volunteer keeping the museum going, said: ‘Oh it’d be terrible to see it go. It would be absolutely catastrophic be-cause it’s a piece of old Dublin.’

Ulysses protagonist Bloom entered the druggist on June 16, 1904.

The tiny store is littered with books, medicine bottles and jugs – the sto-ry’s famous lemon soap too.

Sweny’s sells second-hand books in a bid to keep the place running,

something that hasn’t gone unno-ticed by recent valuers, who have increased the commercial rates bill from €1,800 to €4,400 this year.

The store functioned as a pharmacy until February 2009 when the elderly owners retired; now Joyce’s words are read aloud in daytime and evening readings on the premises.

Joyce’s grandnephew Jurek Deli-mata, who lent his support at Sweny’s for Bloomsday yesterday, said: ‘I think it would be an absolute bloody disgrace to close it down.’

A spokesman from Dublin City Council confirmed that the Valuation Office determined the site’s com-mercial rates and though Sweny’s has appealed the decision DCC is ‘obliged to charge commercial rates until such time as the appeal is deter-mined’.

The Valuation Office could not be contacted for comment.

Book lovers and Joycean scholars can sign Sweny’s petition on site at 1 Lincoln Place and online on the Save Sweny’s Pharmacy from Closure page on www.change.org.

by AiLEEn DOnEgAn

Appeal to save Bloom’s druggist

The hats have it: Joyce’s grandnephew Jurek Delimata enjoys a glass of the black stuff, left, and volunteer Liz O’ConnellPictures: Aileen DonegAn

Boaters and top hats: Enjoying a series of events to celebrate Bloomsday’s 110th were (top) Nora Molloy, Harry Sargent and Celine Pomproy at Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum, and (above) punters including Cllr Mary Hanafin have breakfast at Caviston’s, Sandycove

Bloomin’ fry-up: John Shevlin, in character as Joyce, eyes up breakfast at the James Joyce Centre on North Great George’s Street

To Bloom: Senator David Norris, Fiona Brunell and Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke raise their hats at the Joyce Centre

Bloomin’ fr up: John Shevlin, in characte

To Bloom: Senator David Norris, Fiona Brunell and LDublin Christy Burke raise their ha

Pict

ure

s: c

on

or

Mcc

Abe,

Ph

oto

cAll

, fen

nel

ls


TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURES

Dublin City Council is considering the temporary closure of the following roads to

facilitate the City Spectacular Street Festival:

Merrion Square East and South, Fitzwilliam Street Lower and Mount Street Upper (from Merrion Square to James’s Street East), Dublin 2 from 20.00hrs on Friday 11th July 2014 to 24.00hrs on Sunday 13th July 2014.

Route diversion details are available on dublincity.ie

Any person may lodge an objection, in writing, to Dublin City Council, Environment & Transportation Department, Block 2 Floor 6, Civic Offices, Wood Quay,Dublin 8, or by email to [email protected] The closing time and date for receipt of objections is 12:00hrs on Tuesday 24th June 2014.

Bank inquiry chairman hits back

Jay-sus: Smartphone zombies risk lives in traffic near-missesby LukE HOLOHAn

Irish firm in €40billion takeoverMEDICAL device manufacturer, Medtronic, which is based in the US, has announced that a deal is in place to buy Irish-based rival Covidien for $42.9billion (€38.8billion) in cash and stock.

The merged company would continue to operate in Minneapolis, where Medtronic employs more than 8,000.

However, the manufacturer’s executive office will move to Dublin, where it could benefit from Ireland’s lower corporate tax rates.

Medtronic makes pacemakers and insulin pumps, among other products, while Covidien, which employs 1,400 people here, specialises in surgical equipment.

As a result of savings from the deal, which is reported to reach €628million annually by 2018, Medtronic said it plans to spend an additional €7.4billion over the next decade in investments, acquisitions and research and development in the US.

Girl, 14, dies in road crashA TEENAGE girl was killed in a road accident yesterday.

The 14-year-old was a front-seat passenger in a car that crashed into a ditch three miles (4.8km) from Scartaglen, Co Kerry, at around 11.25pm on Sunday night.

Gardaí said an 18-month-old baby who was also in the car was treated in hospital for non life-threatening injuries, along with the driver, a 20-year-old woman. No-one else was injured.

The road was closed for several hours to allow for forensic collision examinations at the scene and gardaí at Castleisland have appealed for witnesses.

Call to airline and DAA over pension payAER LINGUS and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) have been told to significantly increase payments into a workers’ pension fund to plug a €780million hole.

Government advisers have warned the airline to pay in an additional €37million to take its contributions to €146.7million. The DAA has been urged to increase its payments by more than €7million, taking its offering to €57.3million.

In an effort to stop strike action, the expert panel which examined the crisis-hit Irish Aviation Super-annuation Scheme also called for lower contributions to be made by lower-paid employees.

The Department of Transport and Department of Jobs, Enter-prise and Innovation thanked the advisers for their work and urged all parties involved in the aviation pension fund to study the report carefully and engage constructive-ly to get a successful resolution.

In a brief statement to the stock exchanges, Aer Lingus said it would review the report and issue a further response at a later date.

The airline, which is 25 per cent owned by the Government and has Ryanair as a major shareholder, has also been advised to make an additional contribution to the pension pot for former employees who have not yet hit retirement age.

The report said the extra payment for the deferred members of the scheme should be on top of the €30million proposed by Aer Lingus.

GO APE: Miss Ireland Aoife Walsh gets carried

away as actor Richard Flood

looks on during the

launch of The June Ball in aid

of the Irish Motor

Neurone Disease

Association, which takes

place on June 28 at The

DoubleTree by Hilton. See

https://ti.to/the-june-ball

or email: thejuneball@

gmail.com Picture: leon farrell

SOME pedestrians are walking around in a ‘zombie trance’ thanks to their mobile phones, oblivious that they have almost been killed.

A survey also found two-thirds of 5,800 respondents agreed all road us-ers should be held to the same stand-ards as drivers and that ‘jay-walkers’ should be subject to on-the-spot fines.

‘Ireland actually has a “jay-walk-ing” law, even if hardly anyone knows it is there and enforcement is unheard of,’ said the AA’s Conor Faughnan. ‘If you are within 50m of a pedestrian crossing then you must use that cross-ing to cross the road – theoretically. In reality, anyone who has ever been a

pedestrian in an Irish town will tell you that the rules are com-pletely ignored.’

Road Safety Authority figures show there was an increase in pedestrian fatali-ties in 2013 – to 31, from 29 in 2012 – a third of them while the person was crossing the road, and more than half after dark.

In an on-the-street study, AA Insur-ance noted several incidents of unsafe behaviour by pedestrians, particularly around the use of mobile phones while jaywalking. Dubbed the ‘zom-

bie trance’, one pedestrian was so en-grossed in his phone while crossing he didn’t even notice a bus driver had to hit the brakes to avoid hitting him.

‘Looking back through our motor insurance claims records it’s not unu-sual to see notes such as “man on phone stepped out in front of me” or “had to swerve to avoid cyclist with headphones”, said Mr Faughnan (pic-tured). ‘While these kinds of incidents have become the norm, it doesn’t mean we should be accepting of them.’

However, while a majority were in favour of fines for irresponsible pe-destrians, many felt the measure would be unenforceable due to a lack of manpower.

THE chair of the Seanad Banking Inquiry Selection Committee has hit back at a suggestion by Finance Minister Michael Noonan (pictured) that Fianna Fáil ‘pulled a stroke’ in getting its senator Marc MacSharry nominated to the committee in the place of Labour candidate, Senator Susan O’Keeffe.

Fianna Fáil senator Denis O’Donovan said: ‘As chair of the committee, it is insulting to be accused of presiding over a stroke. As Fine Gael leader in the Seanad, Maurice Cummins, stated last week, the demo-

cratic process was adhered to in the selection of the nomi-nees.

‘In fact, I would have facilitated an adjournment if any representation was made to me on that matter prior to the vote being taken,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Independent TD Stephen Donnelly said he would reconsider his resigna-tion from the committee if the two senators added by the Taoiseach to ensure a Govern-ment majority stepped down.

Speaking to Newstalk, he said: ‘On the basis that the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach also

said the whip was going to be removed, if Senator D’Arcy and Senator O’Keeffe said “yeah look, we’re going to back out of this” – and it was restored to what the Oireachtas originally decided – then I guess yes.’

However, Senator Michael D’Arcy has indicated he will not step down.

Siptu to vote on new deal on rail cost cutsSIPTU members at Irish Rail are to ballot on fresh proposals for cost-saving measures.

Union organiser Willie Noone said the proposals include ‘definitive clarity’ on state subsidies for the next three years and a guarantee that there will be no further pay reductions or changes to conditions of employment during that time.

He added: ‘The time-frame for pay cuts has been reduced to 25 months and €1.2million that was previously earmarked to come from payroll cuts are now to be obtained from non-payroll areas.’ The ballot will be counted on July 7.

Siptu members had originally voted in favour of industrial action, but rejected an all-out strike, after rejecting a Labour Court recommendation which called for pay cuts of between 1.7 per cent to 6.1 per cent for a 28-month period.

The NBRU pulled out of talks at the weekend, saying the company had made ‘no serious attempt’ to address its concerns.


Visit Your Local Travel Agentwww.sunway.ie | 01 2366843

3H Cordial Green Golf Apartments S/C from ....................€639 ......€5493H+ Cordial Mogan Valle Apartments S/C from..............€769 ......€6194H Gloria Palace San Agustin Hotel B/B from ................€749 ......€6694H Gloria Palace Amadores Hotel B/B from....................€839 ......€749

WAS NOWJuly Holiday Specials

Licensed and BondedNo: TO 101

Offers are per person and are valid on selected dates in July. Terms and conditions apply.

FLIGHTS, ACCOMMODATION,TRANSFERS & 20KG BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE ALL INCLUDED!

Rio policeman fires on anti-World Cup cost protest rally

by COn DOHERTyA BRAZILIAN police officer has been captured on video apparently firing a live pistol round at anti-World Cup protesters near Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium.

During the protest, another man in plain clothes who identified him-self as a police officer also pulled a pistol and fired two shots into the air near the stadium, where Argen-tina played Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Government spokesman Pedro Dantas said there would be no of-ficial comment until the video could be viewed, and that there had been no reports of people having suffered gunshot injuries.

The incident took place around the beginning of the group match – the first World Cup finals game played in the iconic Maracana sta-dium since 1950.

Earlier, officers had fired stun grenades and tear gas to block a march by about 200 protesters heading towards the stadium.

A stand-off ensued, with demon-strators massing near a police line guarding the route and chanting: ‘Fifa, go back to Switzerland,’ re-ferring to international soccer’s governing organisation.

The protesters are angry over the lavish public spending on stadiums for the World Cup while conditions in Brazil’s schools and hospitals remain poor.

Another protest occurred in the capital, Brasilia, but drew only small numbers, while a small pro-test was held in Porto Alegre.

Protests broke out across Brazil during last year’s Confederations Cup tournament. At that time, more than one million Brazilians took to the streets in a single day in the largest demonstrations the South American nation had seen in a generation.

Caught on camera: An armed man who identifies himself as a police officer tells people not to move any closer to him in a street where anti-World Cup protesters block a route leading to the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro PICTURE: AP

Formula 1 legend Schumacher is out of coma after six monthsMICHAEL Schumacher is no longer in a coma and has left the hospital in Grenoble where he had been receiving treatment after being involved in a skiing accident last year.

The seven-time Formula One world champion had sustained severe head injuries in the incident in the French Alps in December, and was subsequently put into an artificially-induced coma a few days later.

His management company said in a statement yesterday: ‘Michael has left the CHU Grenoble to continue his long phase of rehabilitation. He is not in a coma anymore.’

It has been 170 days since Schumacher was injured following his fall off piste in the French Alpine resort of Meribel.

He initially required surgery to remove a haematoma from his brain, but despite its success, the 45-year-old was forced to remain in a coma under sedation.

The last update on his condition had been in April, saying he was showing ‘moments of consciousness’.

No other information has been provided with regards to his health.

Schumacher’s family offered their gratitude to all those who have played a part in his care.

The statement added: ‘His family would like to explicitly thank all his treating doctors, nurses and therapists in Grenoble, as well as the first aiders at the place of the accident, who

did an excellent job in those first months.‘The family also wishes to thank all the people who

have sent Michael all the many good wishes. We are sure it has helped him.

‘For the future we ask for understanding as his further rehabilitation will take place away from the public eye.’

Ireland hotter than Portugal this weekIRELAND is hotter than Portugal this week as ‘high summer’ arrives with the hottest days of the year today and tomorrow – with up to 26C forecast.

Met Éireann forecast yesterday’s 23C highs in the west to climb to 24C today and tomorrow, with 25C possible, before highs around 21C from Thursday.

Irish Weather Online forecast temperatures of up to 26C today or tomorrow.

Ireland’s hottest day of the year so far was May 28’s 22.3C at Newport and Shannon Airport.

Meanwhile temperatures at Porto, Portugal, are due to reach only 24C tomorrow.

Met Éireann’s Eoin Sherlock said: ‘Conditions are lovely summer weather and perfect for anyone heading outdoors.

‘High pressure is dominating our weather this week. We’re having four or five days with decent spells of sunshine and warm temperatures.’

PHIL Neville has admitted working as a commentator is ‘harder than I thought’ after hundreds of viewers complained about his on-air performance during the World Cup game between England and Italy.

Neville (pictured), a former player whose career included stints at Manchester United and

Everton, was criticised for his lack of emotion and ‘monotone’ style during the game.

Neville told a radio station: ‘Commentary is harder than I thought... I will get better.’

Fellow broadcaster Danny Baker was among his critics, but said the BBC should share the blame, asking why the novice was given such a high-profile game to ‘learn his craft’.

Colourless Neville in vow to up his game

Schumacher: Coma


Try putting yourself into an early rave

EVER wonder what your account-ant, doctor or local green grocer might be up to before work? Well, if they are anything like the folks in London, they may be considering a morning rave, writes Luke Holohan.

Yes, prepare for a wiggle – glow sticks, glitter and pumping sounds – all before work. That’s because next month the Morning Gloryville Experience is bringing its funky fitness capers to the Fair City.

Rather than the usual boozy nightclub affair, the company promotes sober early morning dance experiences, inviting workers from all walks to eschew the typical vices of clubbing and use it as a means to stay in shape and connect with others. Expect outlandish get-ups, free massages, and fruit smoothie-induced smiles as you prance, dance or groove the dawn away.

The idea came from events producer Samantha Moyo and Nico Thoemmes after they set out to create an experience for Londoners that would ‘shift their perceptions of mornings and clubbing, and increase their well-being’.

So far, it has attracted hundreds of revellers to each of its London

venues, where the only rules are ‘sobriety and authenticity’.

Ms Moyo said: ‘Besides being a vigorous workout, Morning Glory-ville offers city-dwellers from all backgrounds, ages and professions a fun, healthy way to relax their minds, shake off their inhibitions and plug into the energy of “oneness”.’

Building positive energy seems to be its appeal, with Ms Moyo adding: ‘Go to an interview after Morning Gloryville and you will get the job. If not, money back, guaranteed.’

The event has since popped up in New York and is due to be launched in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brighton, San Francisco, Paris and Tokyo.

Speaking about the Dublin launch, event organiser Ed Hurrell said: ‘People are looking for alternative ways to do things. It’s an opportunity to dance your ass off to great tunes, enjoy a massage or some yoga.’

The inaugural Irish event will take place at the City Centre Yoga Hub on Camden Place at 6.30am on July 2. Attendees are advised to ‘dress to sweat’ as a yet unnamed world-class DJ will be providing the pulsating soundtrack. For tickets, see morninggloryvilledublin1.bpt.me

Things to do without getting out of your ‘snack box’

Coffee grounds for biofuel optimismby CLAiRE HAyHuRsT

SCIENTISTS have made biofuel from ground coffee produced in 20 different geographic regions – in both caffeinated and decaffeinated forms.

New research from the University of Bath suggests waste coffee grounds could be a ‘sustainable fuel source’ for powering vehicles.

The study found different varie-ties of coffee, including Robusta and Arabica, have reasonably stand-ard composition and relevant physi-cal properties of fuel.

This means all coffee waste could be a ‘viable’ way of producing bi-odiesel, scientists from the Univer-sity’s Centre for Sustainable Chem-ical Technologies said.

Waste produced from the average coffee shop – around 9kg each day

– was found to produce around two litres of biofuel.

Researcher Chris Chuck said: ‘Around eight million tonnes of cof-fee are produced globally each year and ground waste coffee contains up to 20 per cent oil.

‘This oil also has similar proper-ties to feedstocks used to make bio-fuels. But, while those are cultivated

specifically to produce fuel, spent coffee grounds are waste.

‘Using these, there’s a real poten-tial to produce a truly sustainable second-generation biofuel.’

Oil can be extracted from coffee grounds by soaking them in an or-ganic solvent, before using a proc-ess called transesterification to transform them into biodiesel.

Dr Chuck added that coffee bi-odiesel would be a minor part of an energy mix but could be produced on a small scale by coffee shops to fuel vehicles used for deliveries.

The same delivery vehicles could be used to take waste coffee grounds to a biodiesel production facility.

The paper, Effect Of The Type Of Bean, Processing, And Geographi-cal Location On The Biodiesel Pro-duced From Waste Coffee Grounds is published in Energy Fuels.

Fuel source: Coffee

sitting down found to ‘raise cancer risk’A COUCH-POTATO lifestyle is linked to a significantly greater risk of certain cancers as well as heart disease and diabetes, research has shown.

Every extra two hours spent sitting was associated with a ten per cent increased chance of developing cancer of the womb lining in women, while bowel and lung cancer risk was raised by eight per cent and six per cent respectively.

The effect appeared to be unrelated to how much exercise people took when not sitting. Scientists came to the conclusion after studying data from 43 studies.

A NEW leukaemia drug trialled on Irish patients boosts survival rates by 90 per cent and could replace chemotherapy.

Research in the New England Journal of Medicine found Ibrutinib has better rates of survival for patients with the commonest form of leukaemia than conventional therapy – and is a breakthrough for those with resistance to chemotherapy.

Ibrutinib works by disabling the enzyme Bruton’s Kinase, crucial for leukaemia’s survival. Thanks to the success of the clinical trial, Ibrutinib is now available to patients with the aggressive and chemotherapy-resistant forms of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in Ireland.

Leukaemia hope for breakthrough drug

KEEP IT CLEAN: Jay Esterson and Ken Breannan show solidarity in trade union Siptu’s Fair Deal For Cleaners Campaign that saw commemorations in honour of International Justice Day For Cleaners, which honours the memory of a large group of sanitation workers beaten off the streets by police in Los Angeles in 1990 after they marched to demand the right for their union to be recognised Picture: Leon FarreLL

Can Dubs party

without booze?

Video on gometro.ie/

no-booze

The Dublin Bay Hopper: A hop-on- hop-off coastal train tour, this mellow Saturday excursion allows you to take in the beautiful sights of the east coast, all the way from Sutton to Greystones. railtoursireland.com

Surfdock: The Surfdock is just a short stroll from the city centre and provides activities from kitesurfing and paddleboarding to kayaking. Or, why not organise a dragon-boat race with a rival firm? surfdock.ie

Flea Markets: They cost nothing to browse and Dublin is heaving with markets that sell beautifully restored

furniture, organic bites and smoothies, and wonderful thrift. Check out the Ferocious Mingle Marcade every Thursday to Sunday on Camden Street (check out theferociousminglemarcade.com) or the Dublin Flea Market on the last Sunday of every month. dublinflea.ieUkulele Hooley: Now in its fifth year, this combines a Ukulele Bus Busk scenic tour around Dún Laoghaire with ukulele workshops. Aug 23-24. ukulelehooley.com


PREPARING OUR GRADUATES FOR THE REAL WORLD!ITT Dublin

Thursday June 19thfrom 5-7:30pm

Full & Part-TimeOpen Evening

Courses in Humanities, Business,Science, Computing & Engineering

www.ittdublin.ie

Pre-register atwww.ittdublin.ie/

openevening

Co Wicklow’s Danny Boy ‘amazed’ at knighthoodBy jOAnnE AHERn

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS said he was ‘entirely amazed’ to get an MBE in Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Honours.

The star is not short of honours – his 2012 Oscar win for Lincoln – his fifth nomination – made him the first man to win three Best Actor statuettes.

He said: ‘I’m entirely amazed and utterly delighted in equal measure.’

Although London-born, the private 55-year-old took Irish citizenship in 1993, and has lived in Annamoe, Co Wicklow since 1997. He has two Irish-born sons with wife Rebecca Miller – Ronan, 16, and Cashel, 12.

Day-Lewis (pictured), the son of Anglo-Irish poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis, has a reputation for taking his method acting very seriously.

He is said to have lived in a tent on a deserted Texan oil field during the making of There Will Be Blood.

To play Guildford Four member

Gerry Conlon in the film In The Name Of The Father, he spent two days in a prison cell without food and water.

And he chose to stay in char-acter as fear-some Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cut-ting even when

the cameras stopped rolling on the Martin Scorsese crime epic Gangs Of New York. ‘He’d be sharpening his knives at lunchtime just like you’d ex-pect Bill the Butcher to do. He’s just really intense,’ recalled co-star Leon-ardo DiCaprio.

He is often spoken of as a recluse but has said in interviews that he needs peace and quiet in order to pre-pare for acting jobs.

newlyweds forced to pay €5k for ‘broken’ TVFINDING out you have run up a bill of a few hundred euro on the minibar usually comes as a surprise to guests when they check out of a hotel.

But being told to pay €5,000 to replace a broken TV set left newlyweds Wesley and Heather Dyson gobsmacked.

Groom Mr Dyson was told he would have to pay ten times the cost of the TV or have his passport confiscated.

But the former soldier says the telly was in perfect working order when he left the hotel – and was not allowed to inspect the damage by staff.

He had to wave his bride off in a taxi so she could make the journey home and stay an extra night in Cuba to sort out the mess.

‘The hotel was run by the military and we were advised paying would be in our best interests,’ the lorry driver said.

Mr Dyson, 36, of Farnworth, Lancashire, was given three days to pay the cash or face being thrown into a jail cell, he claims.

His father wired the cash to Cuba so he could leave, and Mr Dyson hopes to reclaim the cost on his travel insurance, but fears it will look like he has accepted liability. He said the treatment by staff at the Paradisus del Rio D’Oro hotel in Holguin was ‘horrendous.’

E-cigarette market ‘has soared to 7,700 flavours’

On the prowl: Bob

the robot checks that doors have

been closed and desks are tidy. A

similar robot called

Werner is currently

being tested in a care home

in Austria as part of the

same project. He is also able

to play simple

games with residents at the facility in Vienna

Pictures: sWNs

Coming to a workplace near you: RoboOfficeCopWITH menacing names such as Daleks and Decepticons, it is no wonder robots have caused terror among humans.

But this one has a less threatening presence, perhaps helped by the fact he is called Bob.

The droid has been tested in an office, patrolling the floor to check that doors are shut and desks are uncluttered.

It uses cameras and scanners to see whether anything out of the ordinary has occurred, stores the incident to its hard drive and reports it to its human bosses.

The 1.8m (6ft) machine can also speak if it gets stuck and plug itself into the mains when its power is low.

‘Bob is not about replacing our security officers,’ said Stewart Angell of security firm G4S Technology, which has been testing Bob in its headquarters in Tewkes-bury, in the UK. ‘It can make incisive, very quick decision about changes in the environment.’

Bob is being tested as part of a £7.2mil-lion (€9m) project by Birmingham university to see how robots work in offices. Lecturer Dr Nick Hawes said droids could become ‘truly useful assist-ants’ in work places in the future.

AN ONLINE market for e-cigarettes is booming with thousands of flavours competing for smokers’ attention.

At least 7,700 flavours of the vapour and nicotine-emitting devices are now available online, according to a US study.

The variety of e-cigarettes available online has soared to ‘staggering’ levels over the past two years, the State and Community Tobacco Control Research initiative found.

Tobacco and methanol are the most popular flavours, followed by fruit, sweets, alcohol and food.

Older brands claimed they were healthier and cheaper than cigarettes, while newer brands were more likely to

focus on choice. One in ten brands claimed to be able to help smokers quit.

Meanwhile, a study by Harvard School Of Public Health found most of the 30million Europeans have tried the tobacco substitutes are young, current smokers or those trying to quit real cigarettes. Senior research scientist Constantine Vardavas said e-cigarettes ‘represent an emerging market in which the tobacco industry has extensively invested’.

She added: ‘These new findings show that millions – including many young people and smokers trying to quit – are trying e-cigarettes, which underscores the importance of assessing their potential harm or benefits.’

New £5 coin to mark prince’s 1st birthdayPrince George of cambridge’s first birthday is to be marked with a commemorative £5 coin. William and Kate, along with Queen elizabeth ii and UK chancellor George Osborne approved the design of the sterling silver piece, which bears the heraldic royal arms and the year 2014 and will retail for £80. Third in line to the throne, George, who was photographed walking with his mother’s help at the weekend, turns one on July 22.

Jennifer Lopez may be ready to take back toyboy lover Casper Smart following allegations he cheated on her with transsexuals.

The 44-year-old Ain’t It Funny star dropped Smart, 27, after two transsexuals came forward with the eyebrow-raising claims.

But a source has now suggested J-Lo and Smart are still ‘in love’.

The loose-lipped friend told HollywoodLife: ‘It is over now, but not exactly forever.

‘Jennifer is very embarrassed and upset with the whole ordeal but Casper is still important to her life. He is so close with her kids. Casper

really has to work hard to get her back, but there is a chance as she wants to see how much he cares,’ the friend added.

Meanwhile Smart has stepped up his fight to clear his name from being linked to transsexuals Xristina Marie and Sofia Vissa.

Lawyers for the former backing dancer have instructed Nik Richie – the owner of TheDirty.com,

which exposed the love cheat claims – to take down the stories or be sued, according to TMZ.

Smart has also demanded one of the transsexuals sign a declaration stating she never met him.


Struggling to pay the bills?Need travelling money?Looking to change your life style?Stay at home parent?At Healthy Dynamics we are looking for5 independent distributors to join ourgrowing team.

NEEDMOREMONEY?• Work from home or your mobile phone • Choose your own hours• No experience required • No sales required • Full training provided• Great commissions and bonuses

This Call could just change your lifeGive us a call or drop us an email to find out [email protected]

01 410 0906 or 0877162307

★★★★★★

Drake ducks out as Lorde and Arianawow crowds

Biebs is a winner... but is he a sinner?Justin Bieber’s win at the Much Music Video Awards came as welcome news for the troubled singer.

But his joy won’t last long as he is set to be charged with criminal vandalism.

The 20-year-old is in trouble after allegedly causing more than €13,000 of damage by

throwing eggs at a neighbour’s home in January.

A prosecutor investigating the case said: ‘If this isn’t a felony, nothing is,’ according to TMZ.

The latest legal drama comes just days after Bieber’s attempted robbery charge was thrown out of court.

DRAke and Lorde were big winners at the Much Music Video Awards – but it was Ariana Grande who stole the

show with a sizzling performance.The 20-year-old took to the stage to

close the ceremony wearing a dazzling silver mini-skirt – catching the eye of many of her fans.

‘Ariana grande is so freaking pretty!’ wrote one fan online, while another gushed over her performance in Toronto, Canada, writing: ‘killed it my lil beautiful princess.’

Grande responded: ‘thank u Toronto! love u. thanks for having me #mmvas.’

No-show rapper Drake, 27, picked up the award for international video of the year by a Canadian with his track Hold On, We’re Going Home and also took the hip-hop video of the year for Worst Behaviour.

Lorde – who won Brit and Grammy awards earlier this year – continued her winning run as she landed the interna-tional video of the year for an individual

artist gong with her No.1 track Royals. Accepting her award on stage, the 17-year-old kiwi apologised to show host-ess kendall Jenner, 18, as she knocked her head with an oversized hat.

Jenner herself caused a stir on the fashion front by wearing a daring double thigh split dress, seemingly

without any underwear.Canadian bad boy

Justin Bieber, 20, was awarded the people’s vote for ‘your fave’ artist although he was not present to accept it.

Meanwhile, the Boy-friend singer’s on-off girlfriend Selena Gomez was voted ‘your fave’ international artist.

‘That’s amazing and crazy and the best thing that could ever happen to

me while I am taking some time off. I love all of my Canadians so, so much. Thank you so much for voting for me,’ the Hold On, We’re Going Home sing-er said in a video message.tional video of the year for an individual er said in a video message.

Grand entrance: Ariana Grande steals the show with her sexy routine picture: ap

by sEAMus Duff

Blake goes West for album No.3James Blake is hard at work on his third album – and has called upon Kanye West and Bon Iver to help out.

The 25-year-old is bringing in the big guns to follow up the success of Overgrown, which won the Mercury Music Award last year.

‘Every song is about 50 per cent done. I’m getting there,’ he told Billboard magazine.

‘There’s people I’ve been talking to for a while who so far we haven’t linked up with because of scheduling but recently we have.

‘Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, I have done some writing with, and I think we will continue to do that.

‘And sporadically, Kanye, when he is around. It’s hard to say what will end up on the record.’

J-Lo ‘is ready to give Smart a second go’

Rebel Wilson was ‘scared sheetless’ – after she was attacked by her bed. The sleeping actress, 28, had a rude awakening when a sheet sprang back and slapped her. ‘The scariest thing at 4am in the morning is the fitted sheet on your bed coming off one corner and hitting you smack in the face!’ she tweeted. ‘I thought I was being attacked by an invisible night monster.’

Awards run: Lorde sings

Night fright left Rebel as white as her sheets


BERTOLT BRECHT ■ KURT WEILL

TICKETS €20 - €75 ☎ 0818 719 330 www.ticketmaster.ie Booking fees applyBooking fees apply

Fri 13 - Sun 22 Fri 13 - Sun 22 JUNE 6 PERFORMANCES ONLY

Daring: Kendall

Jenner, 18, seems to go commando

in her thigh-high dress. She poses on the red

carpet in Toronto with

16-year-old sister Kylie.

Meanwhile, half-sister

Kim Kardashian

and her hubbie

Kanye West take baby

North out in New York on

her first birthday Picture: reX

ing:ndall

Daring: ndall

, 18,o go

mmandoin her thigh-

ess.She poseson the red

et ino with

r-oldylie.

while,isterKim

ashianand herhubbiee Weste baby

th out inrk on

her firstthday

Picture: reX

Britney Spears might want to have a word with her manager after he confirmed she mimes through her Las Vegas shows. The 32-year-old is paid more than €200,000 for each Planet Hollywood appearance – but Adam Leber said fans were paying to hear a recording. ‘To put on the show that she puts on, it’s virtually impossible to sing the entire time,’ he told Medium.com, adding that she would struggle to be heard during her energetic routines.

Cher: I can’t wait to have children

Family life: Cher

Lloyd is looking forward

to having children

Picture: sony

Cher Lloyd can’t wait to have kids – so she can finally go on a honeymoon.

She tied the knot with 23-year-old Craig Monk in November but the happy couple have not had

time to go on holiday to celebrate.‘It has been non-stop for the last two years. The only

thing I was able to do for myself in that time was to get married – and I was only given two days to do that,’ she told Guilty Pleasures in an exclusive chat.

‘When my mum and dad got married they never had a honeymoon. And then there was us four kids and then we went on holiday together and that was kind of classed as their honeymoon. I wouldn’t mind doing that.’

And the 20-year-old former X Factor wannabe is de-termined to start a family. ‘I cannot wait. It’s something I’m really looking forward to and it’s a very rewarding thing. It’s important for me to have a really good family,’ the Swagger Jagger singer said.

having spent two years in the US, Lloyd is back in the UK and looking forward to the release of second album Sorry I’m Late – to be released on her 21st birthday.

‘The past two birthdays I’ve spent in America I have worked on my birthday. And I will probably be doing that this year as well because my album is out,’ the workaholic claimed.

‘I can’t believe it’s been nearly four years since I re-leased an album. Whenever I have a day off I write any-way because I can’t physically stop.’

Sorry I’m Late is out on July 28, with new single Si-rens being released on July 20.

Britney’s Las Vegas show just lip service

★★★★★★

10 METRO HERALD Tuesday, June 17, 2014 D

digestWorld

NORTH KOREA: Leader Kim Jong-un aboard ‘submarine No.748’ during an inspection of one of his nation’s naval units Picture: reuters

SPAiN: A brown bear is facing castration amid fears his sexual dominance is a threat to the species. Pyros, 26, is related to nearly all 30 cubs born in the Pyrenees over the past 20 years. He is responsible for dangerous levels of inbreeding, say wildlife experts, who may neuter or move him.

Randy bear faces the snip

gERMANy: Police have been forced to apologise after an offer to let football fans fire a water cannon backfired. The online contest in Leipzig was met with criticism from the public. ‘What next, pepper spray parties perhaps?’ one Facebook user said. Police said they hadn’t intended to offend.

Water cannon stunt fails

buRMA: Aung San Suu Kyi is fighting to rewrite part of the constitution which bans her from the presidency. The pro-democracy campaigner cannot run for office as her late husband was British. A provision that bars anyone married to a foreigner being leader was upheld by the junta yesterday.

Suu Kyi: My fight goes on

AMERicA: Likely presidential contender Hillary Clinton says her country needs to follow Germany and elect a female leader. ‘I want the USA to have a woman leader soon as well and I will do all I can for that to happen, though I do not know yet if it will be me,’ she told a German magazine.

Hillary’s girl power fight

and finally...RuSSiA: A prima ballerina pressed her panic button when she thought she had a burglar in the house – only to find it was her cat. Ex-Bolshoi star Anastasia Volochkova found the noises in her Moscow home were made by overweight pet Zhorzhik.

President ‘rigged’ poll winJUST after Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos (pictured) celebrated election victory on Sunday night, a former leader accused him of ‘the biggest corruption in history.’ Alvaro Uribe appeared on TV to allege that Santos supporters had bought votes to achieve his 53 per cent-to-47 per cent win, the narrowest in decades.

Mr Uribe also claimed leftist rebels had used armed intimidation against voters. He offered no evidence for his claims and no serious irregularities were reported by independent election monitors.

isis militias capture city near Syrian border road

by qASSiM AbDuL-zAHRASunni militants captured a strategic northern iraq city near the Syrian border yesterday, sending thousands of resi-dents from an ethnic minority fleeing for safety and moving closer to their goal of linking areas under their control.

uS Secretary of State John Kerry said drone strikes are an option to halt the in-surgents. He also said the uS is willing to talk with iran and does not rule out potential military cooperation between the two rivals to stop the rampage.

The commander of iran’s elite Quds Force, General Ghasem Soleimani, is in iraq, consulting with officials on how to roll back the al-Qaeda-breakaway group leading the charge (known as the islamic State of iraq and the Levant, or isis).

The officials also said uS aircraft have in recent days flown reconnaissance missions over iraq to gather intelligence on the militants’ positions.

Gen Soleimani has been inspecting defences and reviewing plans with top commanders and iranian-backed iraqi Shiite militias. He also visited the holy

cities of najaf and Karbala south of Baghdad, home to the most revered Shi-ite shrines, and areas west of Baghdad where government forces have faced off with islamic militants for months. The islamic State has threatened to march to Baghdad, Karbala and najaf.

The militants’ capture of Tal Afar yes-terday was a key prize, as it sits on a main highway between the Syrian bor-der and Mosul, iraq’s second largest city, which was captured last week.

At the same time, further south, is-lamic State fighters were battling with government troops at Romanah, a vil-lage near another main border crossing into Syria in Sunni-majority Anbar province.

Tal Afar, a city of 200,000 located northwest of Baghdad, is dominated by ethnic Turkomen, who are both Sunni and Shiite. That raises fears of new atrocities by islamic State fighters, who brand Shiites as heretics.

CHinA executed 13 people yesterday over terrorism and violent crimes in the region of Xinjiang, state media said.

The news emerged of the government crackdown after a series of deadly attacks blamed on Muslim separatists.

The executions took place as three others were sentenced to death for planning a car ramming

at Beijing’s Tiananmen Gate last year that left five people dead.

The government says it faces terrorist threats from people seeking independence for Xinjiang, home to the Muslim uighur ethnic minority.

Among those executed were three men who organised an assault in which 24 people died last June in the town of Lukqun, state news said.

PiPE DREAMS: Geoff Stone pretends to smoke from a pipe following his audition for Rob Ford The Musical: The Birth Of A Ford Nation. Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who shot to prominence last year after admitting to smoking crack, said last month he was taking time off to deal with his issues, after insisting for months he didn’t have a problem Picture: reuters

Greenpeace lost €3.8m on a currency betGreeNpeace International has acknowledged losing €3.8million on a bet that the euro would not strengthen against other currencies in 2013 – but it did.

The environmental group, which is based in amsterdam, said the money was lost by an employee who acted beyond the limits of his authority, but had hoped to benefit the organisation with a win on the currency.

Greenpeace did not identify the staff member, who has been fired, and added there was no evidence of fraud.

In a statement released yesterday, Greenpeace apologised for the blunder to supporters and donors, and said it was looking into what went wrong.

The organisation said it would absorb the loss over a period of several years by trimming ‘infrastructure investments’.

The group pledged not to reduce spending on campaigns to protect the environment to compensate for the loss.

13 people executed over terrorist crimes in china

EIGHT people have been arrested in Spain and one in Germany on suspicion of recruiting militants for a jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.

The Spanish interior ministry said the cell was led by a person who lived in Spain, but had been jailed in Guantanamo Bay, after being arrested in Afghanistan in 2001.

Officials in Berlin said a 30-year-old Frenchman was arrested on Saturday suspected of ‘supporting terrorism’ while fighting in Syria.

RUSSIA has cut off gas supplies to Ukraine as a payment deadline passed and negotiators failed to reach a deal on gas prices and unpaid bills amid continued fighting in eastern Ukraine.

The decision does not immedi-ately affect the gas flow to Europe but could disrupt the long-term energy supply to the region if the issue is not resolved, analysts said.

Ukraine’s Naftogaz company head Andriy Kobolev said Ukraine can manage without Russian gas until December.

Nine held over jihadist links in Iraq and Syria

Russia cuts off its gas supplies to Ukraine

D Tuesday, June 17, 2014 METRO HERALD 11

McCanns’ fury as libel trial postponed for a fourth timeby niCOLE LE MARiE

THE parents of Madeleine McCann told of their ‘pain and distress’ yester-day as the ex-police officer who led the hunt for their daughter delayed their libel action against him.

The McCanns, who are suing Gonçalo Amaral over claims made in his book, The Truth Of The Lie, were in Portugal to tell a court how they believe his accusations against them hindered the search for Maddie.

But the case was postponed for a fourth time after Mr Amaral sacked his legal team at the last minute. Gerry Mc-Cann called the move a ‘blatant and cynical attempt’ to wear them down.

His wife, Kate, added: ‘We need to make it clear to people: we took on this case because of the pain and distress that Mr Amaral has brought to us and our children. And every time he post-pones the case it brings us more pain and distress.’

Maddie was three when she vanished from the family’s Praia da Luz holiday apartment in May 2007 while her par-ents dined in a restaurant with friends.

The McCanns were originally told

they could not make statements at the long-running libel trial but that decision was overturned following an appeal.

They are taking action over claims made in Mr Amaral’s 2008 book, including the suggestion they hid their daughter’s body and faked an abduction after she died in an accident.

Mrs McCann, 45, said the former of-ficer was trying to deny Maddie the ‘hu-man right’ to be looked for and found.

‘We just want justice,’ she said out-side the Lisbon court. ‘This is not fair.’

The couple now have to wait for the next hearing, set for July 8. If successful, they stand to win £1million damages.

‘Pain and distress’: Kate McCann

Carnage: A man looks at the charred remains of destroyed vehicles and buildings in Mpeketoni. Some 48 people died in the al-Shabab terror attack Picture: AP

Terrorists kill 48 who ‘failed’ life-or-death religious tests AT LEAST 48 people were shot dead when al Qaeda-linked militants attacked a coastal town in Kenya.

The gunmen reportedly gave victims a life-or-death religious test – killing anyone who was not a Muslim.

‘They asked us if we were Muslims. My husband told them we were Christians and they shot him in the head and chest,’ said Anne Gathigi.

Among the dead are men who were

watching World Cup football games on TV at a hotel.

Gunmen pulled them aside and ordered women to watch as they were executed, say police.

Islamist terrorist group al-Shabab said it carried out the attack in the town of Mpeketoni to avenge the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia.

The terrorists also set fire to cars and buildings before leaving.

AT LEAST 24 people have died after Syrian military helicopters dropped barrel bombs on a rebel-held neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo yesterday, activists said, adding that 2,000 have been killed in such attacks in Aleppo so far this year.

Yesterday’s air raids targeted the Sukkari neighbourhood on the city’s southside, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and

the Aleppo Media Centre said.Observatory officials said at least 24

people were killed, while the Aleppo Media Centre put the death toll at 30.

An amateur video posted online shows people running through a rubble-filled street as sirens wail. Four men carry a limp body out of a building in a red blanket. Another video showed apartment buildings with their facades blown off.

24 dead in Syria barrel attack


Platform

Finally, a politician in this country who stands for something greater than vote-grubbing, pension-drawing sycophancy.

independent TD Stephen Don-nelly is exactly the kind of political mind we need more of – informed, analytical, honest and principled.

We have two political species at large in the Dáil that need to be done away with if the right kind of progress is ever to be made here.

We either have the god-fearing culchie ex-teacher, willing to agree to anything as long as their local parish is looked after.

On the other hand, we then have the socialist leftie demagogues who want nothing more than to ap-peal to prejudices and fears in a time of austerity. They offer noth-

ing constructive to the issues of the day, only inflammatory rhetoric.

Donnelly stands apart from both of these blueprints, as his recent action over the banking inquiry shows. if we could find another few dozen TDs like him, with brains as well as backbone, we could really knock our political system – and the country as a whole – into shape.

Dod

Poor lana Del Rey. How sad to hear that she wishes she was ‘dead already’. i can totally see how hard her life must be – young, beautiful, talented, rich, famous.

idiots like her should do six months of aid work in the develop-ing world to see what real prob-lems look like instead of spouting dangerous piffle like this to impres-

■

sionable fans. Clancy Clearview

Eh, sorry Boru but irish Rail staff do test out their facilities. in fact, an inspector on the Rosslare train on Friday sat in a seat all the way from Connolly to Bray while dozens of passengers had to stand until Dún laoghaire.

Marc, Wicklow

More inquiries, more delays, more cost overruns, more farces. The ‘ah sure, it’ll be grand’ ap-proach doesn’t work.

The sooner this is understood, the better. Jboy

With the amount of runny noses and sniffing on the train yesterday morning, i wish i had a conductor’s baton to get them into some rhythm.

Donabate J

■

■

■

PURRRFECT HIDING PLACE: Laura Murphy sent us this snap from a hide and seek game she was having with her cat Gus. Try huddling behind the curtain next time, Gus.

Quick pic

Send your photos to [email protected] with ‘Quick pic’ as the subject and we will print the best each day in the paper

Fair play to the barista in Caffe Italiano who always cheers me up on a Monday morning. It’s amazing how a good laugh can change one’s outlook on the day. Joe

A huge thank you to Gerry for being a great master. He lets me off the lead every morning so I can run in the park. When I have an itch, he scratches it. When he comes home, he lets me lick his face. And when I’m confronted by ruff types, he never bow-wows down. Fifi

●

●

gOOD On yATo the blonde Cure fan in Bruxelles last

Friday night. You were Just Like Heaven. I hope you kept my number – please get in touch. English Lad (blue jumper)

Nora! You’re blooming lovely! JJ

●

●

yEH big RiDE

RAnDOM AcTs OF kinDnEss

yOuR RusH-HOuR cRusH

Donnelly a model for all future TDs?

Email:[email protected]

@metrohnews #metromailbox

Text: ‘Mail’ to 53131*

Facebook.com/ metroheraldMailbox

*Please include a name and location. Emails with attachments cannot be received. Texts cost €0.30 per message + standard network charges. SP. Oxygen8 Communications, 4th Floor, Malt House North, Grand Canal Quay, D2. Customer service number 0818286606

in the know, on the go

On Bike Week, reluctant city cyclist LukE HOLOHAntakes a look at the safety of Dublin streets for regular riders

form

safety of Dublin streets

gOOD news – it’s Bike Week and cycling is on the up in Dublin by ap-proximately 11 per cent, according to the figures

from the last census.Bad news. it’s Bike Week, and

traffic accidents involving cyclists are being under-reported, meaning that if you thought Dublin was an inhospitable biking environment, then it is at least three times as treacherous as you first thought.

now throw your bicycle in the bin and join the daily public transport grind.

i like cycling. But rarely do i take to the bike in the capital.

not just because my face might turn into an overly-smoked ham as i navigate uphill stretches in front of shocked american tourists. ‘Hey Marge, check out this guy!’

not even because the slow drift into the passive lethargic state of adulthood means that cycling ranks lowly on my list of priorities – some-where between going to the dentist and getting a ‘real’ job.

amsterdam, Paris, Stock-holm and Berlin have all witnessed my Tour de Farce; my fetlocks blowing gracefully in the wind.

But it’s quite difficult to throw caution to the wind at home, when all the evi-dence and horror stories appear to sug-gest that you will in fact be killed, injured, or at least put through a perturbing ordeal.

On the Continent i’m blissfully unaware that there is a U-Bahn just around the corner ready to do me in. i’m ignorant to the fact a baked ‘cof-fee shop fiend’ may pull me from my trike and into a canal. Until now, i’ve never even considered that Pa-risian pigeons might be more likely to swoop on a foreign national.

i just know what i know. and that’s that Dublin at worst is a dangerous place for the cyclist, and at best, is a very disconcerting city to navigate – whether seasoned professional or amateur pedaller. all those vehicles squeezing through tight thorough-fares like tubed Marmite, the lack of

identified cycle-ways – the oft-cited figurative joust between man and machine. no thanks.

The prospect of pedalling from the snapping jaws of a hurried morning commuter seems infinitely more dangerous than being pinned in against the window of a Dublin Bus. Recently, on one of my rare cycling expeditions around Dublin’s cycling blackspots, i even had the displeas-ure of becoming a participant in a game of real-life Frogger with heavy-goods vehicles on the north Quays.

But as much as one might want to point the finger, you can’t blame motorists. The conditions in which they try to co-exist with cyclists aren’t conducive to a working rela-tionship, and the figures, well, they speak for themselves.

a comparative analysis between Road Safety authority figures and hospital admissions between 2005 to 2011 shows that while it docu-mented 2,133 cycling injuries, hos-pitals logged 6,565 incidents of care for cyclists.

lead author Jack Short said: ‘Cycling is grow-

ing and it is being supported by public

policy. ‘The evidence

here shows that cycling is less safe than official figures show and

that cycling is not becoming safer as

other modes are. if cy-cling policy is to be suc-

cessful, safety needs to be more at its centre.’

This does nothing for my desire to use Dublin Bikes, cod my work for some cut-price wheels or, indeed, invest in my own. in fact, i’d hazard that while more people are cycling, hard stats such as these will likely depress any further increase in an activity which could make the city a much more vibrant and environmen-tally-friendly hub.

So let us build cycle tracks, widen roads, and fill potholes. let’s protect cyclists and, by proxy, motorists.

i’m no biker, but one day i hope to be, once they figure out how to put cyclists ahead of traffic, instead of in front of it. @lukeholohan

Dublin Bikes: Luke has no desire yet to use the bicycle hire service until the city becomes safer for cyclists

I participated in a game of real-life

Frogger with heavy-goods vehicles

on the quays

“


Wil

liam

Rei

d/T

empe

sT T

ou

Rs

On the twister trail

Travel ➔ Page18


food&drink

FOOD NEWS

Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, authors of Honey & Co: Food From The Middle East, share recipes for an exotic, prepare-ahead summer dinner party

Lamb Shawarma

DeSSerT: feTa & honey cheeSecake

Patr

icia

Niv

eN

A big feast from the Middle East

99 APPWe simply love this. The good people at homegrown application-development team Showoff have come up with an app that will change the way Irish sun worshippers view summer. How many times have you found yourself craving a creamy, Flake-sporting 99 but, unable to track one down, settled for a second-rate lolly? Thanks to the 99 app you’ll never find yourself in that position again.

Think of it as Plenty Of Fish or Grindr for people seeking a sweet ice-cream hit.

Simply pop in your location to find the nearest 99 stockist and check out ratings from those with first-hand, cone-licking experience to ensure

ultimate satisfaction. Available from iTunes App finder

BODY & SOUL FEASTIf your foodie festival highlights have, thus far, consisted of a

coleslaw-covered falafel in a limp wrap,

then broaden your horizons at this weekend’s Body & Soul festival with its long-table Banquet Feast.

Visitors to the annual music showcase at Ballinlough Castle can enjoy a decadent five-course dinner courtesy of chef Niamh Fox, presented by Irish preserve expert Folláin in the bohemian environs of a chandelier-clad Indian tent replete with wild flowers and live string band. Dinner €52, brunch €27. www.bodyandsoul.ie

SANDYMOUNT HOTEL BBQForget singed eyebrows and a smoke-filled patio full of wheezing guests. If you really want to enjoy a barbecue, have someone else do

the hard graft. The Sandymount Hotel, next to the Aviva Stadium, has not only come up with a cracking new barbecue menu – twice-cooked pork ribs glazed with honey, anyone? – but has a verdant, secluded garden in which to truly enjoy it. Prices start at €10.95 per person. www.sandymounthotel.ie

to advertise, call 01 7055010

[email protected]

This dish (main picture) serves six.

Ingredients 4 onions, peeled (about 500g) ♦ 3tbsp ras el hanout spice mix ♦ 2tsp salt ♦ ½ tsp white pepper ♦ 1 shoulder of lamb, on the bone (about 1.8kg-2kg)

For the cabbage salad ½tsp salt ♦ ½ white cabbage, shredded (about 350g) ♦ juice of 1 lemon ♦ 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped (about 15g-20g) ♦ 2tbsp vegetable oil ♦ seeds from 1 small pomegranate

Method Step 1 Preheat the oven to 250c/230c fan.

Step 2 Purée the first two onions to a pulp in a food processor with the ras el hanout, salt and pepper. Slice the other two onions and lay on the base of a deep roasting dish big enough to contain the lamb. Pat the puréed onion mixture all over the lamb, top and bottom, and lay it on the bed of onions.

Step 3 Place the roasting dish

uncovered in the upper-middle part of the very hot oven for 30min. It should start to colour and brown (it may take another 10min if your oven doesn’t run very hot).

Step 4 Pour in enough water to reach halfway up the lamb joint and cover the dish. Lower the oven to 200c/180c fan and cook for 1hr. Uncover, baste with the liquid at the bottom of the dish, re-cover and return to the oven. reduce the heat to 180c/160c fan and cook for 1hr. baste again, re-cover and cook for a further hour. basting helps soften the lamb. after 3.5hr, the meat should be soft and come away from the bone easily.

Step 5 Sprinkle the salt on the shredded cabbage in a bowl, mix and allow to sit for 10-15min until it softens. add the lemon juice, parsley and vegetable oil, and mix. add more salt if needed – it should be sharp and lemony. Sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds if using.

Step 6 Set the table with flatbread to soak up the juices, yoghurt, a bowl of mint leaves to cool, pickled chillies if you want some heat, and the cabbage salad for crunch. bring the whole shoulder to the table and dish it out with a large spoon.

Honey & Co’s signature dessert (pictured right) is quite complex but everything can be done in advance and assembled just before eating.

You can use a generic supermarket feta but one of tinned smooth fetas sold in Middle Eastern delis gives a better finish. Kadaif pastry is made out of thin noodles. If you can’t find it, shred filo pastry as finely as you can. This makes four generous portions.Ingredients For the kadaif base 25g melted butter ♦ 5og kadaif pastry (or filo) ♦ 1tbsp caster sugar For the cheesecake cream 160g full-fat cream cheese ♦ 160ml extra thick double cream ♦ 40g icing sugar ♦ 40g honey ♦5og feta ♦ seeds from ½ vanilla pod (or 1tsp essence)

For the honey syrup 50ml honey ♦ 50ml water

For the garnish a few fresh oregano

or marjoram leaves ♦ handful of whole roasted almonds, roughly chopped ♦ mellow-flavoured seasonal fruit – white peaches or blueberries are best

Step 1 Preheat oven to 180c/160c fan. mix the melted butter with the pastry and sugar in a bowl. fluff the

pastry by pulling the shreds until it gets an even coating. Divide into four, pulling each clump of pastry out of the mass like a ball of yarn. Place these on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. They should resemble four flat birds’ nests, each about the size of a drinks coaster. bake for 12-15min. cool and keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Step 2 Place all the cheesecake cream ingredients in a large bowl and

combine with a spatula, using circular folding motions until the mixture starts to hold the swirls. Don’t use a whisk – it’s vital not to add air to he mixture as the secret is in the texture. It will keep covered in the fridge for 48hr.

Step 3 Put the honey and water for the syrup in a small pan and boil for 1min, skimming off any foam or impurities that come to the top. remove from the hob and cool, then store covered in the fridge.

Step 4 Place a pastry nest on each plate and top with a scoop of cheesecake cream. Sprinkle over the herbs and chopped nuts, add blueberries or slices of peach, and drizzle 1tbsp of the honey syrup over everything.

Honey & Co: Food From The Middle East by Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich (Saltyard books).


A supremely tasteful libraryFresh from joining host Darina Allen for the Ballymaloe Literary Festival in Cork last month – where he treated guests to a pop-up dinner – Israeli-born chef, cookery writer and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London, shares his favourite cookbooks with Metro Life. By Emma Sturgess

Sizzling: When it comes to cookbooks, Yotam Ottolenghi knows his onions

McGee On Food & Cooking: An Encyclopedia Of Kitchen Science, History And Culture by Harold McGee (Hodder & Stoughton, €50.15)The story: Widely regarded as a masterwork and a must for geeky midnight reading, On Food & Cooking is the book that made Heston Blumenthal ‘look at cooking in a completely different way’. And we all know how that turned out.

Yotam says: The first port of call for all food writers and the go-to guide for all those who want to know the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ in food. It’s an indispensable guide.

Try this first: Digest the meat chapter, buy yourself a steak and try out McGee’s frequent-flip tips for a juicy result.

Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison (Ten Speed, €38)The story: One of America’s best known writers of veggie recipes, Madison is also a home gardener who explains the botanic mechanics of 12 vegetable families and how they work together on the plate. There are more than 300 recipes and the photographs are gorgeous.

Yotam says: Vegetable literacy, vegetable dictionary, vegetable encyclopaedia, vegetable bible. Deborah Madison’s position at the top of the vegetable food chain is second to none.

Try this first: Braised fennel wedges with saffron and tomato.

The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit (Bloomsbury, €24)The story: A former food marketeer, Segnit’s brilliant idea is a book of flavour matches for every ingredient. It’s not prescriptive but there are recipe ideas if you want them and the lack of pictures makes it feel like it’ll outlast foodie fashion.

Yotam says: This is full of ideas for those who don’t want a prescriptive approach to recipes. The depth of research is worn very lightly by Niki, whose style of writing delights as much as it informs. A gem of a book.

Try this first: Look in the fridge, then look in the book; you’ll find a flavour match to play with. Apparently, walnut and parsnip is ‘like gnawing on Pinocchio’s leg’.

Morito by Samuel and Samantha Clark (Ebury, €32.60)The story: Sam and Sam Clark’s mini tapas and mezze bar is next to its older sibling, Moro, in London’s Exmouth Market. The book of the restaurant is full of the colour and warmth of their food.

Yotam says: Simple, fun, straightforward, delicious, happy food from a team who know what they are doing and doing it very well. This is full of things I want to make and eat and delight in.

Try this first: Beetroot borani with feta, dill and walnuts.

The Book Of Jewish Food: An Odyssey From Samarkand And Vilna To The Present Day by Claudia Roden (Penguin, €31.40)The story: Still working, Claudia Roden is an unsurpassed food scholar who remembers that ‘at the time, Jewish food was like a secret food’. Some Jewish cuisine had been unrecorded until the book was published in 1997.

Yotam says: This was the book that got me out of the library and into the kitchen. It was the first

to really hook me in to writing and thinking about food and recipes and history and geography.

Try this first: Vermicelli salad with olives and hard-boiled eggs.

Food Of Life: Ancient Persian & Modern Iranian Cooking & Ceremoniesby Najmieh Batmanglij

(Mage, €58)The story: Written in exile from Iran, Najmieh Batmanglij’s thorough and evocative book is best known to cooks in the US, where she lives and teaches.

There are many books about Iran’s rich food culture – with its poetry, history and reminiscences,

this is the daddy.

Yotam says: Pretty much all of my favourite dishes and ingredients come together in this book. It’s food with which to celebrate life.

Try this first: Pistachio and pomegranate meatballs.

How To Eat: The Pleasures And Principles Of Good Food by Nigella Lawson (Vintage, €24)The story: Before the breathy TV series, silk-clad midnight fridge raids and court case, Nigella’s first book was a masterclass in food writing – one glance shows how

good she really is. It’s since been republished in a smart hardback cover but the paperback stays open in the kitchen.

Yotam says: How to eat, how to cook, how to write: I almost want two copies of this book, one to reference in the kitchen and one to read in bed.

Try this first: Crostini with gorgonzola, mascarpone and marsala with chicken liver.

The Food Of Moroccoby Paula Wolfert (Bloomsbury, €44)The story: Wolfert specialises in Mediterranean cooking and has several classics to her name. This is based on a previous Morocco book from 1973, so it feels fresh as well as incredibly thorough. The regional detail makes it essential pre-travel reading for culinary tourists.

Yotam says: This is the definitive book on Moroccan cuisine: it’s a book that makes me hungry to flick through

and a book that makes me want to cook.

Try this first: Tangier street bread.

The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey by Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt (Just World Books, €37)The story: The result of research trips to the Gaza Strip and the recollections of El-Haddad’s family and friends, this is an examination of a distinctive food culture and the realities of cooking and living under siege.

Yotam says: A lovely collection of recipes, stories and histories

that don’t get told every day.

Try this first: Sour lentil and eggplant stew.

Super Natural Every Day: Well Loved Recipes From My Natural Foods Kitchen by Heidi Swanson (Hardie Grant, €19)The story: It sounds worthy but Swanson’s easy recipes make wholefoods sound like the obvious and appealling

option for day-to-day cooking. The evocative notes about her kitchen life in San Francisco don’t hurt either.

Yotam says: Everything Heidi makes and photographs seems tinged in San Franciscan sepia: this is the most delightful celebration of vegetables and natural foods.

Try this first: Popcorn with mustard, thyme, chives and butter.


★Must seetelevision

amber BBC4, 10pm

This Dublin-set missing teenager drama had Ryan Tubridy swearing at his TV set when it aired earlier this year on RTÉ. Tonight’s third part is just as frustrating as it takes a look at the case from the perspective of the cops on the case. Slowly the investigation collects pieces of the jigsaw, including a lead involving Amber’s mobile phone. But as for fitting together the pieces of that puzzle… the guards, as well as we viewers, are still some way from the full picture.

mamma mia

ITV3, 8pm

★

Who would have suspected that this high-cheese celebration of the songs of Abba would have become one of the box-office sensations of 2008? Meryl Streep (above) heads up the cast of big names making berks of themselves as Donna, owner of a hotel on a picturesque Greek island. Her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is about to get married and decides to track down her biological father by inviting three suspects to the nuptials – but who will it be, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth or Stellan Skarsgård?

penny dreadful

Sky Atlantic, 9pm

★

CSi: Crime SCeneinveStigation

Channel 5, 9pmThere’s a Cheers reunion going on tonight as John Ratzenberger (the barfly formerly known as Cliff) guest stars alongside CSI series regular Ted Danson. But there’s no time for chummy nostalgia in a dark tale of death by inferno at a club hosting a gig by an inflammatory white supremacist rock band.

the mentaliSt RTÉ1, 10.30pm

A grand jury is put together to decide whether Jane should stand trial for the murder of his nemesis Red John, while Lisbon seeks to find out how the consultant feels about the possibility of her making a new life with Agent Pike in Washington. Cho and Abbott follow new leads in the human-trafficking operation. Guest starring Tony Amendola (Stargate SG-1).

tigerS about the houSe

BBC2, 8pmTonight’s update on Sumatran tiger cubs Spot and Stripe sees them turn into rowdy teenagers when zookeeper Giles Clark feeds them raw meat. But it’s Clark’s visit to Indonesia, where Sumatran tigers are brutally and illegally poached as part of the booming trade in traditional medicines, that hits home.

the ConSumer Show

RTÉ1, 8.30pmThe final episode of the consumer rights advice series sees reporter Tadhg Enright taking a look at dental tourism and asking if it is the antidote to expensive bills back home. Speaking of tooth decay, Kathriona Devereux looks at the hidden sugars in the average diet and with water charges coming in next year, Keelin Shanley and the team give us some useful tips to help cut down on those bills.

ColombianaFilm4, 9pm

Zoë Saldana seems to be a ubiquitous screen presence right now – but here’s her overlooked 2011 effort, cowritten by Luc Besson, in which she plays feisty assassin Cataleya. She wants revenge on the crime syndicate that killed her family – but can she wipe them out before a plucky FBI agent played by Lennie James tracks her down?

lebanonRTÉ2, 1.15am

One for night owls or the record button, this film begins as a lone tank is sent to search a hostile town that has already been bombarded by the Israeli Air Force during the first Lebanese war in June 1982. This powerful and claustrophobic film shot from the perspective of four rookie soldiers inside the tank, is based on writer/director Samuel Maoz’s own experiences during that war.

ghghghghgh

EMAnD▲D▲

NEW ON

devil’S dueCombining two old horror chestnuts (the ‘found footage’ and ‘demon baby’ genres), Devil’s Due depicts the plight of Samantha (Allison Miller, right), who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. Her husband Zach (Zach Gilford) is unimpressed by his wife’s subsequent behaviour and the sinister goings-on that start occurring around the house.

the inviSible womanRalph Fiennes directs and stars as Charles Dickens in this adaptation of Claire Tomalin’s book, which tells the story of the novelist’s affair with young actress Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones). Fiennes turns in a typically accomplished performance while Joanna Scanlan – more often seen in comedy roles in shows such as The Thick Of It – plays his wife, Catherine.

Available to rent/buy now

Film

There are numerous characters to track in this intriguing conflation of literary classics, but it’s Eva Green (above) as Vanessa Ives, all piercing black eyes and shadowed smiles, who draws the attention like a moth to a flame. Tonight we dig into the mysterious history of the elusive Miss Ives, with the compelling Green pulling out all the stops as she is gripped by the agonising horrors of a disturbing malady. It’s a performance that burns.

horizon:where iS flight

mh370?BBC2, 9pm

★

It’s three months since Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared and, despite a massive search operation and the use of state-of-theart aviation tracking devices, there’s still no clue as to what happened to the plane and everyone on board. Theories abound, from conspiracies to aliens to technical malfunction and this report wraps them up while looking at the new technology, including black-box streaming, which is aimed at preventing it ever happening again.

Drama

Comedy

the auCtion houSe

Channel 4, 9pmChannel 4 has a fascination with eccentric rich toffs, for here comes a poke around Lots Road auction house in Chelsea. This is the manor of Spencer, Binky and co and you’ll ponder where the saying ‘more money than sense’ came from as you see how much the area’s denizens will shell out at the drop of a gavel.

the parole offiCer

ITV4, 10.05pmSteve Coogan makes his big screen debut playing hapless parole officer Simon Garden. Framed by a bent cop (Stephen Dillane) for a crime he didn’t commit, Garden enlists the help of the only parolees he has ever successfully helped rehabilitate to steal a surveillance camera tape that will clear his name.

alan davieS: aSyet untitled

Dave, 10pmThe second night of this winning mix of sit-down comedy and laid-back chat show finds Richard Herring, Jason Byrne, Jessica Hynes and Phill Jupitus joining Alan Davies for an hour of banter. Hynes recalls a past life as an unlikely pioneer, while Jupitus gets a royal gripe off his chest. But it’s Dubliner Byrne who steals a show that’s like a night down the pub with your funniest mates.

new girl E4, 9pm

How could a bunch of teachers be mean to Jess (Zooey Deschanel)? How could they take exception to her quirky charm and kooky ways? And, more to the point, aren’t teachers meant to be stamping out bullying, not actively taking part in it? No worries, they’ll get their come-uppance. Also stars Jake Johson, Max Greenfield and Brenda Song.

2014 fifa world Cup

RTÉ2, 3.30pm, 4.30pm, 7.30pm, 10.45pm

★

Factual

Sport

Bill O’Herlihy is joined by Dietmar Hamann, Eamon Dunphy and Kenny Cunningham for live coverage of Belgium v Algeria as Group H gets under way at 5pm. Will Brazilian stars Oscar, Dani Alves (above) and Neymar need the help of a sympathetic referee to see off Group A rivals Mexico in Fortaleza? Later, Darragh Maloney presents coverage of Russia v South Korea. It’s not expected to be glamour-packed, but there’s the fun of spotting Fabio Capello on the Russian bench.

how to be happy RTÉ1, 9.35PMPsychologist Maureen Gaffney believes we all have the potential to be happier if we’re willing to put in the work. Basing this two-parter on her bestseller Flourishing, Maureen says 40 per cent of our happiness levels are within our control. She puts her theory to the test by inviting people from across the country to join her for a series of workshops where the participants are introduced to happiness strategies which they then try to incorporate into their own lives. During the programme Maureen also talks to experts from the growing social science field of happiness. But will it all have the desired effect?


tech&gaming to advertise, call 01 7055010

[email protected]

Five highlights from E3 2014David Jenkins reports from the world’s biggest video games event, held in Los Angeles

Xbox exclusive Sunset Overdrive

PS4 exclusive Bloodborne

Nintendo Wii U exclusive Splatoon

Best graphics The Order: 1886

Best multiplayer Destiny

Due out this year and, unlike most Xbox shooters, there are absolutely no special forces soldiers to be seen anywhere. Instead, it’s a game that just wants you to have fun, with some wonderfully imaginative (and destructive) weapons and a sense of humour that will have you laughing instead of grimacing, for once.

The next game from the creator of Dark Souls is not exactly what you would call family-friendly, but the gloopy graphics and thick horror atmosphere impressed all that have dared to watch it. Unfortunately it’s not out until next year, but the faster-paced combat and relatively modern weapons should make it a hit – even with those who found Dark Souls too difficult.

The new Legend Of Zelda looks amazing, but we’ve only been treated to a very sneak peek. Instead, Splatoon is a brand new game that’s basically Nintendo’s take on online shooters such as Gears Of War. Except here you play as a transforming human/squid hybrid shooting paintballs at each other – pretty standard stuff.

Unfortunately delayed until next year, but graphics this good clearly can’t be knocked up in a day, especially when they’re being used to render the most magnificent moustaches in gaming history. The Gears Of War-style gameplay still hasn’t entirely proven itself, but the steampunk Victorian-era London – with added werewolves – isn’t aiming for the obvious.

Being the new game from the creators of Halo is probably reason enough to put Destiny on your radar, but this isn’t just main protagonist Master Chief with a new hat. The game lets you team up and play with people whenever you meet them in the giant online game world. It’s one of the biggest games ever made and likely to become one of the most influential of this generation.

DinnerTime (iOS/Android, free)Designed to help parentsenforce mobile-phone

bans at the dinner table and reclaim tea-time with their kids, this app remotely locks devices until they’ve eaten their greens. Parents can set a time for the lock to be enforced on up to two phones or tablets, plus there’s a countdown clock so Jack and Jill will know when their gadgets will be available again. The ‘Plus’ version tells you how often they’re using their handsets and lets you disable certain apps.

Hodor Keyboard (Android, €0.79)One for Game Of Thrones fans – gentle,

and sometimes not so gentle, giant Hodor has been given his own frankly ridiculous app. The lovable character is famous for barely saying a word and now you can do the same with this one-button keyboard that only types the word ‘Hodor’. Enter it a different number of times or with added intensity, for example: ‘Hodor, Hodor, HODOR, Hodor, Hodor’. Great fun, especially if you’ve had a few drinks… by which point texting ‘Hodor’ could save you from sending something even more embarrassing.

Phono Paper (iOS/Android, free)Clever app that uses the camera on your phone

to turn markings made on paper or in print into sounds. Anything from doodles to barcodes can be turned into voices, music or pretty much whatever you want. If you’re a budding Alan Turing and manage to get to grips with the code, you could even create your own markings that are then translated into music. James Day

APP HAPPy

’Phones to a cine-screenA personal cinema headset with a

twist, the Avegant Glyph beams pictures directly on to your eyes for a sharper image.

SNAPSHOTWhat looks like another chunky competitor to Dr Dre’s Beats phenomenon could have you seeing headphones in a completely different way. The Avegant Glyph is a set of cans that converts into a personal cinema using tech worn by Apache helicopter pilots.

Once you’ve rotated the band on to your face, leaving you looking like Star Trek’s Geordi La Forge, your eyes meet a ‘virtual retinal display’, where a low-powered LED is reflected on to micro mirrors that shape the light into an image that’s beamed into the eye.

Sounds scary, but its creators say the result is a more realistic, pixel-free and sharp image that reduces eye fatigue and mimics the way humans naturally see light. The lenses can be adjusted to fit all eyes and replicate different prescriptions, so you don’t

need to wear glasses. Professor John Marshall, from eye

research charity Fight For Sight, says: ‘Displays on the retina have been around in the military for a long time and Apache helicopter pilots have a helmet called the Vixen that scan images directly on to the eye.

‘This device is more fully immer-sive and uses mirrors like a film projector to relay the information on to the retina. This gets around the problem of focusing if you’re trying to put a screen that close to your head.’ Using a HDMI input, the device allows anything from your

content library to be seen as an image that appears as if it was on an 80in screen placed 8ft away from you. It comes with thumping stereo audio output through the noise-cancelling headphones and covers anything from Netflix to video games.

Whereas other headset screens envelop you, the Glyph allows the user to look away and see the real world. Avegant also has integrated technology similar to virtual reality headsets, such as the Oculus Rift, to open up interactive gaming.

In less than a year, Avegant has gone from concept to prototype and more than $1.5million (€1.1m) has been raised on Kickstarter, despite a goal of just $250,000 (€184,000). A slimmed-down, beta test version of the device can be had for $499 (€367), with deliveries expected in December. Oliver Stallwood

Sound and vision: The Avegant Glyph headset has both covered

Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2http://dublin.cervantes.esTel: (01) 631 15 00


to advertise, call 01 7055010

[email protected]

Extreme weather safaris are all the rage in America’s Tornado Alley. Nick Boulos goes storm chasing

Embrace the thrill of the chase

The one thing more annoy-ing than bad weather ruin-ing your holiday, is good weather ruining your holi-day. Staring out of the

window, I curse the flawless blue skies and wish away the glorious sunshine. ‘It’s not looking good,’ says Bill Reid, our guide, checking the forecast. ‘Clear skies and no rain for hundreds of miles.’

For one week only, I am a storm chaser, travelling across Tornado Alley, a strip of the US that has the Dakotas to the north and Texas to the south. It experiences more tornadoes than anywhere else on earth – more than 1,200 from spring and early summer, although many companies, such as tempesttours.com, operate tours in July and August too. It may seem an odd way to spend your holi-day, but many are drawn by the pros-pect of seeing Mother Nature at her angriest. ‘We tell everyone it’s a weather safari,’ says Chris from Washington, DC, whose honeymoon with wife Whitney was spent chasing storms. Climatologist Reid has been at it for 25 years. ‘It still thrills me,’ he says.

Our starting point is Denver, but with – unusually, according to Reid – not even the slightest rumble on the horizon, we head north towards Nebraska and Wyoming, a 450km drive passing sand-coloured moun-tains and a patchwork of prairie plains.

Along the way, Reid studies end-less satellite images, graphs and meteorological data. he speaks of wind shear, dew points, cap and cape levels. I barely understand a word.

Of course there’s more to storm

chasing than merely finding them. The question of safety is among the first to crop up. ‘We never chase in urban areas and always leave a gap of several miles,’ reassures Reid.

It remains a risky business, how-ever, and one that claimed its first victims earlier this year when three

ing tornado killed 24.Many who live along Tor-

nado Alley feel it’s inappro-priate for people to seek out forces that cause such heart-ache. ‘It has to be done sen-

sitively,’ says Reid. ‘We’re not here to whoop at death and destruction but to admire the might of nature.’

Staying in different motels each night, we witness the odd thunder-ous display and several impressive lightning strikes but nothing as severe as a supercell storm – the kind helen hunt fled in the movie Twister.

During a supercell, cold air and warm air combine. The cold air drops as the warm air rises, eventu-ally spiralling into a funnel cloud.

By day we drive 725km through an overlooked slice of America that reveals eccentric little towns (Sun-dance, Wyoming, where Butch Cas-sidy’s bank-robbing sidekick was jailed in the 1880s), natural wonders

(a 1.5km-tall monolith named the Devil’s Tower) and Mount Rush-more. endless hours are spent scan-ning the skies. Little do we know, but it’s the calm before the storm.

Reid identifies favourable condi-tions over the Black hills in South Dakota. There are high hopes over breakfast at a roadside diner. ‘So, y’all storm chasers, huh?’ asks the pony-tailed waitress. ‘Is there a big one coming?’ ‘We hope so,’ replies Reid. ‘Well, I sure don’t,’ she snaps.

A tornado warning had been issued by the time we reach the abandoned farming town of Ardmore. I am roaming the derelict barns when the wind picks up, high-stacked clouds roll in and birdsong stops abruptly.

We’re off, speeding along bumpy roads towards the swelling tempest. At the centre is an almighty cloud with the texture of mashed potato. The setting sun illuminates it in amber – an angelic, yet monstrous

sight. It begins to spiral and a funnel starts to dip from the centre. We wait to see if a tornado will form. The vortex lowers, twisting and turning, until it almost makes contact with the ground before retreating upwards suddenly. No tornado today.

The sky darkens rapidly and lightning sparks in all di-rections. We pull over, bun-dle out and sprint away from telegraph poles. A

lone farmhouse sits right under the loud, rumbling swell. ‘The core is bearing down on us. Time to go,’ shouts Reid.

Back inside the van, hailstones the size of ping-pong balls hammer the roof. At a safe distance, we stop and stand in near darkness, the only light coming from the lightning. We may have been mere moments away from seeing a tornado take shape but for us, standing there huddled in the rain, it is the perfect storm.

chasing than merely finding them.

ing tornado killed 24.

nado priate forces ache.

sitively,’ s

Sparks will fly: Nick spent a week hunting tornadoes across hundreds of miles of the southern US

professionals were killed by the 4.2km el Reno tornado – the widest on record. They weren’t leading tours but collecting data.

It’s also a controver-sial pursuit. The town of Moore, Oklahoma, hit the headlines last May when a devastat-

TRAvEL DEALs Of THE wEEkn Destination: Canary Islands and Morocco cruisePrice: From €888 pps. Includes return flights from Dublin, one piece of luggage per personDetails: Ten-night cruise from Barcelona, calling at Casablanca, Funchal, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Arrecife, Málaga Contact: Sunway on 01 2311800n Destination: Malaysia & Bali two centrePrice: €1299 per person. Includes flights, taxes and accommodation. Based on

travel in February/March 2015 Details: 3* Capitol Hotel Kuala Lumpur for three nights room only. 4* Nusa Dua Beach Hotel Bali for seven nights B&B Contact: www.sunway.ie or 01 2311800n Destination: Kusadasi, TurkeyPrice: From €569pps. Includes flights, transfers, taxes, 20kg luggage allowance and Rep serviceDetails: 4* Palmin Sunset Plaza Hotel B&B basis for 14 nights. Flights from Dublin depart Friday June 20

Contact: Sunway on 01 2311800n Destination: Toronto Family City BreakPrice: From €659ppDetails: Price includes return flights from Dublin, six nights accommodation in the 3* Comfort Inn Downtown, taxes and charges. Price based on two adults and two children sharing. Upgrade to the 4* Westin Prince from only €39pp. Travel September 2014 Contact: American Holidays on 01 673 3804 or visit americanholidays.com

www.aviationreg.ie

flightrights.ieDo you know what your aircarrier should do for you if yourflight is delayed or cancelled?

Do you know if your touroperator or travel agent islicensed and bonded?

24 hours in Brazil’s biggest city

MorningOnce you’ve got your bearings, get stuck into the city. Wealthy Paulistanos – neurotic about crime and keen on the comforts of valets and porters – tend to stick to the slightly suburban Jardins neighbourhood. That’s a shame because the gritty, bustling city centre is intoxicating. ‘I feel like it’s more of a human city, a more normal city’, says São Paulo-based artist Fernanda Brenner about the area surrounding Pivô(above), her free, not-for-profit art space in Oscar Niemeyer’s super-sci-fi Copan building. Pivô is one of the cool, creative enterprises recolonising the centre, its two floors showing local and international work from the super-experimental to the politically charged – and all for free.Loja 54, Edifício Copan, pivo.org.br

LunchtimeTo appreciate the Copan building (right), you need to see it from above, something not wasted on the city’s elite, who fly around in their choppers. Left yours at home? Pop across the road to the Terraço Itália for lunch. The vibe in this 42nd-floor restaurant is Brazilian old money – think octogenarians with purple rinses, pearls and property portfolios. A tasting menu costs €55 but the viewing platform is free 3pm to 4pm.344 Avenida Ipiranga, terracoitalia.com.br

e in Oscar

t),

e,

azilian old

the viewing platform is free 3pm to 4pm.344 Avenida Ipiranga, terracoitalia.com.br

Early eveningSwitching crowds again, back in Vila Madalena, you’ll find a much more traditional scene at Zé Menino, with samba and pagode being blasted out at punters standing on the kerb drinking choppe (draft beer; pronounced ‘shoppy’). If you’re looking to talk rather than flirt, head to the balcony upstairs where the people-watching is just as good but the volume considerably lower.596 Rua Aspicuelta, 596, josemenino.com.br

AfternoonOnce sated, head to artsy Vila Madalena, where you’ll find the Choque Cultural, or ‘culture shock’ gallery (right). São Paulo’s street artists made a name for themselves in the noughties, showing at the world’s biggest museums, but here you can pick up original local works for €10. Those with serious cash, however, should talk to cool owner Baixo Ribeiro, who can hook you up with a local to create a bespoke mural. You’d be in good company – London’s Tate Modern commissioned twin brother graffiti artists Os Gêmeos to cover one of

its walls in 2008. For some arte urbana, head a couple of blocks away to colourful, can-sprayed Batman Alley.250 Rua Medeiros de Albuquerque, choquecultural.com.brs

If the violent World Cup protests have shown anything, it’s that there’s discontent bubbling under the sunny stereotypes of Brazil. São Paulo is noisy, grey and intimidating but still rewards the intrepid, writes Patrick Welch

After darkAfter midnight, people start moving on to clubs and you’re in for a treat: contrary to how much press Rio gets on the party front, any Brazilian who knows their onions will tell you São Paulo has the country’s best nightlife. The city gave the world DJ Marky and CSS, so it shouldn’t be surprising that there’s something for everyone here. But if you only have one night, hit one of the big clubs. Sure, you’ll have to endure varying

degrees of velvet-rope awfulness and absurd bar prices but you’ll be rewarded with top-tier DJing and an opportunity to rub shoulders with the gente bonita (the beautiful people). Lions Nightclubin Centro is always buzzy, though you will need your name on the list or persuasive charm for the doorman.277 Avenida Brigadeiro Luis Antônio, lionsnightclub.com.br


travel

Dinner timeBy now, the endless sea of asphalt might be feeling a little oppressive. The solution? Dinner at Figueira Rubaiyat in Jardins, one of the city’s most famous steakhouses. Tables sit under the gigantic 150-year-old fig tree that gives the restaurant its name, while guests – suited, minted, occasionally famous – devour great slabs of beef from the restaurant’s own farm. Vegetarians are advised to order five plates of the delicious mushroom carpaccio in truffle oil.1738 Rua Haddock Lobo, rubaiyat.com.br

Early hoursBrazilians snack constantly, so whatever time you emerge, eating is encouraged. Post-club stalwart Bella Paulista is a 24-hour bakery just off Avenida Paulista, skyscraper central, which serves strawberry, melon and mint smoothies, spaghetti Bolognese and chocolate cake (recommended). Once revitalised, it’s back in a cab and off to an after-party – SuperAfter at D-Edge in Barra Funda keeps pumping until Sunday lunchtime.354 Rua Haddock Lobo, bellapaulista.com; 141 Avenida Auro Soares de Moura Andrade, d-edge.com.br


puzzlesNEMI by Lise

METROKU Easy, Moderate and Challenging. For solutions, visit Metro.co.uk/metroku

Crossword No. 992 See next edition for solutions

QU

ICK

CRO

ssw

ORd

SCR

IBBL

E BO

X

Qu

Iz

Yesterday’s Solutions Across: 1 Duly; 3 Advanced; 8 Send; 9 Studious; 11 Introductory; 13 Escape;

14 Fought; 17 Regeneration; 20 Inedible; 21 Gala; 22 Detonate; 23 Lead. Down: 1 Despised; 2 Lunatic; 4 Detour; 5 Additional; 6 Choir; 7 Dusk; 10

Completion; 12 Standard; 15 Grimace; 16 Pellet; 18 Eject; 19 Wild.

ACROSS 3 Slept (9) 8 Noose (4) 9 Manufacture (9) 10 Source (6) 11 Abyss (5) 14 Wrong (5) 15 Rescue (4) 16 Shin-bone (5) 18 Quote (4) 20 Scope (5) 21 Give off (5) 24 Guide (6) 25 Clever (9) 26 Prepare for press (4) 27 Fruitfulness (9)

DOWN 1 Concession (9) 2 Probationer (9) 4 Thin (4) 5 Military tune (5) 6 Surplus (6) 7 Consumes (4) 9 Prime (5) 11 Wire (5) 12 Size (9) 13 Profane (9) 17 The Ram (5) 19 Look for (6) 22 Training (5) 23 Formerly (4) 24 Has to (4)

PEARLs BEFORE swINE

QUIZ ANSWERS: ENIGMA: Abraham Lincoln. WHO AM I? Dara Ó Briain. WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN? Marie Louise; Bung; Caltra; 1902.

ENIGMASeven score, three years ago This man received his mortal blow At Ford’s Theatre, Washington From John Wilkes Booth’s unflinching gun.

WHO AM I?A comedian, I was born in Bray in 1972. I studied mathematics and theoretical physics at UCD. I was voted 16th on Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2010. I have presented RTÉ’s The Panel and co-hosted Star

Gazing Live with Brian Cox.

WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN?WHO… was the mother of Napoleon II?WHAT... word can mean a bribe or a stopper?WHERE... in Co Galway was Tánaiste and outgoing Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore born? WHEN... was Joseph Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness first published?

Astrology calls cost 1.27 euros per min from a BT landline. Live Services cost 2.40 euros per minute. Calls from mobiles/other networks may cost more. Callers must be 18 or over to use this service and have the bill payers permission. For entertainment purposes only. All calls are recorded. PhonePayPlus regulated(ComReg in ROI) UK SP: StreamLive Ltd, NR7 0HR, 08700 234 567. ROI SP:Moveda, 1 Courtyard Business Park, Orchard Lane, Blackrock, Co Dublin, 0818 241 398

For a live one-to-one consultation with one of my gifted psychics, call 15809 113 68 or 1800 719 688 to book using credit card

METROSCOPE by Patrick Arundell

Aries Mar 21 – Apr 20 Today’s Moon Venus link could put you in a positive frame of mind, enhancing your imagination. Yet, as Mercury flips back into Gemini today, it gets easier to put a logical framework on an imaginative idea. For your forecast, call 15609 114 70

Taurus Apr 21 – May 21 The day offers a chance to mull over your finances. Are you making the best use of your cash? A desire for small luxuries, along with a need to save, pushes you to look for unique yet practical solutions. For your forecast, call 15609 114 71

Gemini May 22 – Jun 21 Mercury dances back into your sign today, reminding you of any bright ideas that may have fallen by the wayside. Reconsidering just one of these and adding a hearty dose of enthusiasm could set you up for a successful outcome. For your forecast, call 15609 114 72

Cancer Jun 22 – Jul 23 Memories may collide with new ideas, friendly tips, or even a touch of gossip – bringing lively options into your orbit. Social opportunities could become regular occurrences if you’re excited by those you meet. For your forecast, call 15609 114 73

Leo Jul 24 – Aug 23 Tune into your intuition. If you’re getting a message to try something different, consider if this is the prompt to take action. Today’s Moon-Venus link suggests someone’s company can prove so good it may be hard to say cheerio. For your forecast, call 15609 114 74

Virgo Aug 24 – Sep 23 An old idea may come back into play. Because you tried it in the past and it didn’t work, doesn’t mean it won’t now. A cosy Venus-Jupiter connection can be perfect for a date or for connecting with friends. For your forecast, call 15609 114 75

Libra Sep 24 – Oct 23 If you’re in a dilemma, don’t try to force a solution. You may find that

biding your time is the best way to gain traction, as answers tend to show up when we least expect them. However, a meeting may have a disruptive element about it. For your forecast, call 15609 114 76

scorpio Oct 24 – Nov 22 Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re trying your best and results seem slow. Cutting back your to-do list may take the pressure off. Later, passions contained within cosy confines burn brightly. For your forecast, call 15609 114 77

sagittarius Nov 23 – Dec 21 The power of conversation to reawaken the past and bring alive memories can be revealing, and discussions can help you reflect on experiences, bringing new impetus to an important relationship. For your forecast, call 15609 114 78

Capricorn Dec 22 – Jan 20 There are contrasting energies at play. One is sweet and can help ease relationships but another is potentially more stormy. If you feel your authority is being challenged, it may be harder to keep your cool. A battle of wills could spark. For your forecast, call 15609 114 79

Aquarius Jan 21 – Feb 19 Bright conversations filled with cutting-edge ideas and fresh options may do much to infuse you with a desire for action. Today’s Sun-Moon alignment can bring a fresh edge to a creative project as mind and emotions harmonise. For your forecast, call 15609 114 80

Pisces Feb 20 – Mar 20 The Moon-Mercury connection can help you connect with your feelings to a greater extent. Heightened by Neptune’s presence in your sign, you probably won’t mind listening sympathetically to others – within reason. For your forecast, call 15609 114 81


Tag Summer Leagues are all at the midway mark and beyond so the pressure is on to reach or main-tain pole position.

Irishtown was hot this week, on and off the field. On Tuesday night, Boney M had a table-top clash

against Taginators in group 1, but finally emerged as vic-tors, 14-12.

In group 4, The ampletinis from greenman Investments barely lost to Random Reds, 18-16.

Thursday’s top match proved to be a close one also as Tagina-tors took out the Sex Pan-thers, 16-12, while in group 2, the Pink Prancers (a group of solicitors who will be sporting their new team kit next week) beat Yippee Try Yey, 27-9.

The Hashtags (from Twitter Ireland) are top of group 3 after beating the Moobies 16-12, and in another well fought battle, aO Cheetahs drew 10-10 with Taggate.

UCD Social on Thursday saw allracks have a com-plete ding-dong battle with EY Tagliatelle (Ernst & Young). Neither team would give in and at the final whis-tle the sides could not be sepa-rated at 16-16.

National Regional ChampionshipsThis Saturday is going to be a real clash of the titans in UCD with Regional Championships staged at the top-class facilities all day long.

Seven regions will compete – Dublin 1, Dublin 2, Kildare, galway, Limerick, Cork and London Irish, each fielding men’s, ladies’, mixed and mixed seniors (over 30s) sides. In addition to regional glory, the day will play a big part in the selection process for the Tri-Nations Tour and Cup representation.

The action heats up

tag talk

Eat my dust: Super Freaks’ Sharon Carey leaves the lads in her wake

Hands off ladies: Blaise Kelly of the Baggot Inn Vikings attempts to find a gap

Stars and stripes: Chris Lee of Cloak and Tagger prepares to pass


golf us open

King Kaymer knew he’d lose one-hit wonder tag

by jAcK fOx

Eau behave: Kaymer is sprayed with water by LPGA golfer, and fellow German, Sandra Gal after his victory at Pinehurst picture: reuters

Trophy hunter: Kaymer

New US Open champion Martin Kaymer claimed he always knew he would win another major, even if some of his friends joked he was just a one-hit wonder.

The German’s first major title in the 2010 US PGA Championship came as a shock to the then 25-year-old, who was equally unprepared to cope with becom-ing world No.1 six months later.

His form dipped and Kaymer did not win a full-field event in 2012 or 2013, although he sank the winning putt for europe in the Ryder Cup at Medinah.

And only five weeks before his stun-ning US Open triumph at Pinehurst, Kaymer entered the Players Champion-

ship ranked 61st in the world, only to card a course record-equalling 63 in the first round on his way to victory.

‘It shouldn’t sound cocky or arrogant,

but I knew it would come,’ Kaymer said. ‘I knew I would play good golf again. There was enough belief there. I just

didn’t think it would take me that much time to get back where I was, or actually not where I was – I think I play better now. I’m more of a complete player.’

The German joins Tiger woods, Rory McIlroy, ernie els and Seve Ballesteros as the only men to win two majors and reach world No.1 before the age of 30.

‘It’s very tough to compare yourself to those legends,’ Kaymer, now 29, added.

‘when other people call me that, it’s fine. To win one major is very nice but to win two means a lot more.

‘Some friends called me a one-hit wonder with the majors, obviously in a funny way. Now I can go back and show them this trophy.’

63 Years since The Open was held at Portrush, the Northern Ireland course which is now back on the rota of host venues

spORT DigEsTSpurs’ team ethic chills Heat

Haas Wimble-doneTEnnis Tommy Haas will miss Wimbledon to have shoulder surgery. But the 36-year-old German ruled out retiring, saying: ‘I’m totally convinced I’ve good matches ahead of me.’

€1.4m Price paid by MV Magnier, son of Coolmore kingpin John, for the first foal of champion flat racer Frankel and his mother Crystal Gaze

All Black Smith outRugby New Zealand centre Conrad Smith has been ruled out of Saturday’s final Test against England with a broken thumb. Smith sustained the damage to a bone in his right hand during the 28-27 series-clinching victory at Forsyth Barr Stadium and will be sidelined for five to six weeks.

bAsKETbALL The San Antonio Spurs delivered a decisive end to LeBron James’ two-year reign atop the NBA by routing the Miami Heat 104-87 on Sunday night to win the NBA Finals four games to one. The Spurs trailed by 16 early on but outscored the Heat 55-29 over the second and third quarters and were never threatened. James, the four-time MVP, scored 31 points but was largely ineffective after dropping 17 points in the first quarter. ‘That’s how team basketball should be played,’

James said of the Spurs, led by Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard’s 22 points. ‘It’s all for the team and it’s never about the individual. That’s the brand of basketball. They were the much better team.’

Glory: Leonard

Sri Lanka fend off English bidcRicKET Number 11 Nuwan Pradeep survived five dramatic balls from Stuart Broad to help Sri Lanka avoid defeat after James Anderson ripped through the visitors to almost force an England win in the first test at Lord’s. Pradeep negotiated the final five deliveries, including successfully reviewing an lbw decision on the penultimate ball and edging the last just short of slip, to seal the draw as Sri Lanka finished on 201 for nine.

football

Marching in: Koeman at St Mary’s

saints pull off a Koe by landing DutchmanSouthampton have named Dutchman Ronald Koeman as their new manager on a three-year contract.

the former holland defender replaces mauricio pochettino, who left for tottenham last month after one-and-a-half seasons at St mary’s.

Southampton executive director Les Reed said: ‘From the moment we met with Ronald, it was clear he had the vision and ambition to take our club forward, that he shared our football philosophy and could see the opportunity to move our club to the next level.

‘the club, players and fans will be excited to have a man of Ronald’s experience at the very highest level joining our club.’

Koeman said: ‘the opportunity to continue the development of this famous club was simply too good to turn down.’

pochettino led Saints to eighth place in the premier League last term and has been followed out of the exit door by Rickie Lambert, with adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Dejan Lovren also linked with moves away.

Saints will now hope Koeman, 51, will be able to persuade their top stars to stay.


Impressive: Brazilian Oscar is ready for the challenge of Mexico PICTURE: aP

brazil 2014

world cup round-up

TODAy’s fixTuREs

SamUEl ETo’o is likely to miss tomorrow’s Group a game with Croatia after failing to shake off a knee injury. The Cameroon striker revealed the news on Twitter. ‘The doctors confirm I would probably not be able to play the match due to an injury on my knee causing me pain,’ he wrote. His absence would be a blow after Cameroon lost their opener 1-0 to mexico. ‘They are in the same situation as us, they lost their opener,’ said coach Volker Finke. ‘If you have zero points after the first game, you do not talk too much, you have to win at all costs.’

Eto’o out of Croatia clash

0 Texts between Liverpool team-mates Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez ahead of England-Uruguay. ‘We are not on texting terms at the moment,’ Sturridge said.

THEy sAiD iT

Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso admits the world champions are feeling the heat ahead of a game with Chile tomorrow they cannot afford to lose

‘After the terrible result against Holland we know this is a final for us. We expect a match filled with intensity.’

Concerned Bleus urge Pogba not to see red

Calming words: Pogba

World Cup Group ABrazil v mexico ......................... (8pm)World Cup Group HBelgium v algeria .................... (5pm)Russia v South Korea .............. (11pm)

FRanCE team-mates have ‘forbidden’ midfielder Paul Pogba from seeing red at the World Cup.les Bleus comfortably won their Group E opener against Honduras 3-0 but it could have been a very different story had Pogba been sent off when it was 0-0. In echoes of David Beckham’s infamous dismissal in 1998, Pogba reacted to a foul from Wilson Palacios by kicking out from the floor, and referee Sandro Ricci was considering sending him off.Pogba escaped with a caution and Palacios later saw red for fouling the same player. France boss Didier Deschamps said: ‘He suffered a foul and there was a gesture of reaction. I did not warn him but [Yohan]

Cabaye and [Patrice] Evra did, to tell him it was forbidden for us to finish with ten men.’ France skipper Hugo lloris confirmed: ‘We all had a word for Paul at half-time. The referee has shown intelligence. Games are decided on the details and they turned in our favour this time.’

Oscar prepared for Mexican stand-off

by DAvE fiLMERBrazil playmaker Oscar hopes to use his experiences of Mexico to plot their downfall in their Group a meeting in Fortaleza today.

The 22-year-old Chelsea star knows all about Mexico having lined up against them twice in the last two years, suffering heart-break in an Olympic final defeat and retribution as a Neymar-in-spired Brazil won 2-0 in a Confed-erations Cup group game 12 months ago.

The sides go into their sec-ond group game having won their opening matches as hosts Bra-zil – once again led by Neymar – beat Croatia in the curtain-raiser and Mexico overcame Cameroon.

Now Oscar, who drew many plaudits on Thursday night, will use the recent memories as he looks to help guide Brazil closer to a place in the knockout stages.

‘Of course i was very sad (after the Olympic defeat),’ he said.

‘it is a medal that Brazil have

never won and we lost the final. Mexico are a very good team. it will certainly be as difficult as last year. in the World Cup there is an extra desire to win and i hope we can do so again this time.

‘Mexico are a very different side to Croatia. They play the ball out from the back well and are very good on the counter-attack.’

One player who struggled to make an im-pact in the opening game

was zenit forward Hulk, who re-vealed on Sunday he has been fighting a niggling injury.

‘i have felt a pain in my left ham-string,’ he said. ‘it has been there for a few days but it did not stop me from playing in the first game and, god-willing, it will not stop me from playing in the next match.’

Mexico dominated Cameroon in their meeting, despite only man-aging to record a narrow 1-0 win.

BELGIUM coach Marc Wilmots has urged his side to write a new chapter in their nation’s football history against Algeria. The Group H clash is Belgium’s first finals game since 2002 and their

exciting crop of players has led to suggestions they could repeat their heroics of 1986 when

they reached the semi-finals. Wilmots (pictured) said: ‘The results of 1986 were very nice, but now it is up to us to put aside the history books and write our own. We see it as a challenge and my players are hungry.’

Belgians seek fresh triumphs

Not-so Super Eagles are held to the Cup’s first stalemate

NIGERIA were held by Iran in the first draw of the World Cup so far.

The Super Eagles came close to breaking the deadlock early on when Ahmed Musa’s effort was disallowed because John Obi Mikel, left, was judged to have fouled goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi at a corner. Iran then went close when Charlton striker Reza Ghoochanne-jhad’s powerful header from Ashkan Dejagah’s corner forced a point-

blank save from Nigeria keeper Vincent Enyeama.

A poor game failed to improve after the break and the African champions were again frustrated when Newcastle’s Shola Ameobi, on as a substitute, wasted their best chance, heading wide late on.

gROuP f

iran ............0nigeria ......0

ODDBALLsNude conduct water under the bridge, fume CroatiansCROATIA forward Ivica Olic has defended the team’s right to swim naked after revealing pictures appeared in the papers back home. Defenders Vedran Corluka and Dejan Lovren were shown jumping into the pool at their team camp without their trunks on,

leading to the red-faced players boycotting media duties. Olic broke the silence yesterday but feelings are clearly still running high. ‘Is it normal? Do people really need to watch us without our underpants, do our families have to blush?’ Olic asked.

‘Mexico are a different side to Croatia’


by jack fox

gROup ggermany ........4portugal .......0

Hot shot: Muller, left, puts his third, and Germany’s fourth, past Rui Patricio PICTURE: aP

portugal suffer a proper Mullering

Thomas muller continued his remarkable World Cup goalscoring record with a hat-trick against ten-man Portugal in salvador.

The Bayern munich forward, who won the Golden Boot in 2010 and now has eight goals in seven finals games, put Germany on their way to a 4-0 vic-tory with a penalty as Joachim low’s side demolished their Group G rivals.

‘I’ve been involved in the last three major tournaments so I’m used to the pressure,’ said muller regarding his spot-kick. ‘But to score three goals in one game – that’s pretty amazing and the goals just got better and better.

‘It’s fantastic but the merit also goes to the rest of the team.’

mats hummels was the other German goalscorer, making it 2-0 with a thunderous header on 32 minutes.

muller was also involved in a tangle with Pepe that led to the Portugal defender receiving a red card for a headbutt shortly after the second goal.

‘I just felt a blow from his fist but I can’t really remember much of what happened after,’ added the 24-year-old.

The result was a huge disappointment for world player of the year Cristiano ronaldo, who had declared himself fully recovered from a knee injury.

Jerome Boateng, tasked with dealing with the Ballon d’or winner, was de-lighted to come out on top in that battle although he, like muller, was keen to emphasise the German collective.

‘We gave them hardly any room and we put them under a lot of pressure,’ said the former manchester City man.

‘It was a great team performance. ronaldo never had a chance really.’

Germans leave Ronaldo frustrated

Ireland’s hunger the key that Opened door for portrushThe decision to bring the open championship back to Northern Ireland was influenced by overwhelming evidence of the region’s huge appetite for golf, organisers the r&a have revealed.

Confirming that royal Portrush has been added to the open rota, with 2019 a potential date for its long awaited return to major golf, r&a chief executive Peter Dawson cited the record breaking attendance at the 2012 Irish open at the venue as both an ‘eye opener’

and ‘tipping point’ when it came to deliberations about taking the tournament across the Irish sea for only the second time in its history. Dawson said the vision became a reality when architects confirmed that a partial course redesign, required to accommodate the open’s infrastructure demands, was workable. referring to numerous recent reports predicting the move, mr Dawson joked that the announcement was ‘just about the world’s worst kept secret’.

‘We couldn’t be more excited about bringing the open back here to one of the world’s truly great links courses,’ he said. ‘It’s been more than 60 years since the open was played here and it’s been too long and we are very, very excited about it coming back.’

The major could now return to Portrush as early as 2019. Dawson said the date would only be confirmed once the necessary approvals to undertake the course changes were obtained.

local major champions rory mcIlroy,

Graeme mcDowell and Darren Clarke have been calling for Portrush to get the nod, but Dawson insisted they had little effect on the decision. ‘I don’t think their badgering had any great influence, although we had the craic, as they say, about it several times,’ he said.

‘I think their performances, however, on the golf course and the staging of the Irish open here was something of an eye opener in terms of the strength of the fan base for golf in Northern Ireland and Ireland altogether.’

Suarez out to expose deficiencies of EnglandLUIS SUAREZ has promised to expose England’s defensive frailties and end the Three Lions’ World Cup hopes this week in Sao Paulo.

England’s attacking intent against Italy on Saturday was undermined by a soft underbelly which condemned Roy Hodgson’s men to a 2-1 reverse in their opening group match.

Defeat by Uruguay could spell the end of England’s campaign and Suarez, set to start a month after knee surgery, is ready to exploit their weaknesses.

‘I know all the players in the England squad because they are team-mates or rivals,’ said Suarez. ‘They have defensive deficiencies and we can take advantage of them.’

The injury was suffered on the final day of the Premier Leguae season and flared up in Uruguay’s pre-World Cup training camp.

The 27-year-old trained with his team-mates yesterday and insisted there was never any doubt about his participation in the tournament.

‘At no moment did I think I would lose the chance of playing in the World Cup,’ said Suarez.

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez refused to say if Suarez would start against England, though.

‘It is a possibility, I can say no more,’ Tabarez said.

Dangerman: Luis Suarez

SPORT action heats up as tag season reaches midway point

SEE PagE 21«

Metro Herald, Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Documents

Transcript of Metro Herald, Tuesday, June 17, 2014