Latest news with #UniversityofLimerick
Extra.ie
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Tommy Bowe as competitive as ever in game of dodgeball against Muireann O'Connell
While he may have hung up his rugby boots, Tommy Bowe is as competitive as ever as he went up against his Ireland AM co-host Muireann O'Connell in a game of dodgeball on Ireland AM earlier in the week. Members of the Republic of Ireland national dodgeball team appeared on the morning show on Monday ahead of the European Dodgeball Championships next week. The championships take place from Thursday, June 26 to Sunday, June 29, with members of the Irish squad recruiting presenters Tommy and Muireann for a quick game on Monday. While he may have hung up his rugby boots, Tommy Bowe is as competitive as ever as he went up against his Ireland AM co-host Muireann O'Connell in a game of dodgeball on Ireland AM earlier in the week. Pic: Ireland AM/ Instagram The presenting duo, who were on opposing teams, learned the art of dodgeball, with the Irish squad confirming they can hit a person anywhere in the body with the ball. Tommy is seen running into the car park to retrieve a ball, with Muireann wondering if the Monaghan man was doing a bit of cheating as she asked, 'Did we not hit him already?' The Limerick woman instantly pays for her smart comment with Tommy throwing two balls at her — with Muireann dodging the first, and getting caught the second time round as she tries to get the first ball back. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ireland AM (@irelandamvmtv) 'He's really going for you, isn't he?' one of Muireann's teammates asked as the presenter bent over in two, laughing at Tommy's head shot. 'It's not that sore, I swear!' Tommy exclaimed to the camera. The clip was shared on social media with users taking to the comments praising the presenting gang, with one writing: 'So funny! Love watching the three of them (Tommy, Muireann and Alan). Another added: 'You're not on the rugby pitch anymore.' A third commented: 'So funny can't stop laughing.' The European Dodgeball Championships 2025 take place next weekend at the UL Sport Arena, University of Limerick with teams from England, Czechia, Spain and Portugal all descending to the Treaty City for the four-day event.
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- RTÉ News
'Decline' in holidaymakers to hotter European destinations during summer
Travel agents say there has been a noticeable trend of holidaymakers looking to avoid rising temperatures and extreme weather in continental Europe during the summer months. Figures suggest more people are shying away from traditional sunspots in Greece and Spain and are instead opting for cooler destinations in northern Europe. It follows a recent report from the World Meteorological Organisation showing Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent. Products and operations director with the Dublin-based Travel Department, Claire Doherty, said what she has noticed is that there is "definitely a decline in people going to what would be considered the hotter European destinations during the summer months". She said: "There are two things happening. One is that they are still going to those areas. "Those areas are not declining, but they are choosing to go in April and May or September, October, whereas previously May and September would have been quite busy. "April and October are becoming just as busy as those now - it's what we call the shoulder periods. "Then in the actual summer months for people travelling, there's more northern Europe ... places like Norway, which is up 50% year on year. Definitely people are going to cooler climates during those months." This shift is also on the radar of travel writer Sarah Slattery, who says summer sun holidays have become cheaper, while previously unfamiliar destinations have come to the fore. "Definitely, in the last year or two, there's been a big change," according to the founder of The Travel Expert website. "I noticed only literally this week when I was doing my travel-deals posts that it was cheaper to go away in July than it was to go at the end of June, which really never happens. "Another one I thought was really interesting was Bergen in Norway - there were never direct flights (from Dublin) to Bergen, and two years ago, they started twice weekly. "Then last year they went three times weekly, and now they're four times weekly in the summer. That's telling in itself, you can see the demand is there to try new places and try the cooler climates." Warming climate bringing more summer tourism to Ireland However, it is not just the Nordics seeing a bump in tourism. Findings from research funded by Clare County Council and University of Limerick at the Cliffs of Moher suggest the warming climate is bringing more people to Ireland. Ernesto Batista, a PhD student at the University of Limerick, was heavily involved in the research. "Last year, during the summer, we were asking customers at the cliffs their perceptions about Ireland and what was the main motivation of coming to Ireland," he explained. "Surprisingly, we found out that most of them were saying they were coming because of the temperatures and mild weather conditions. So especially customers were coming from Spain, from France, from countries in Europe that saw heatwaves in 2023. "They were looking for a nicer experience in terms of weather conditions," he said. Though Mr Batista notes that "this is a very new phenomenon that we're actually seeing and there has been a long academic debate about it". "It's just starting to happen now so more research needs to be conducted. Accordingly, more customers need to be surveyed to understand motivations, and how big an impact this will have," he added.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Health
- Irish Times
GPs who take part in chronic disease management programme will not be surprised by latest findings
While a brilliant group of researchers in Limerick might not have broken the law , they have certainly upended one, and their important findings may be as compelling as those that led to the smoking ban. The law in question is 'The Inverse Care Law' which states roughly that those who need medical care the most are the least likely to get it, and when they do it is of poorer quality. It is also known as the Tudor Hart Law, after the brilliant and caring British GP (Dr Julian Tudor Hart, 1927-2018) who first proposed it. This law has been around for decades. The exception, it seems, is the Irish GP-led chronic disease management programme, known as CDM. READ MORE Prof Ray O'Connor and teams from the University of Limerick medical school and The Irish College of GPs mid-western training scheme have just published a paper in Family Practice, comparing the care received by patients who had GMS (General Medical Services) medical cards or Doctor Visit cards, and private patients with the same chronic condition who were ineligible to join the CDM programme. I don't think any GP who partakes in CDM, and we nearly all do, will be surprised at the findings. Some of my patients are on the sixth or seventh round, and the CDM review is now one of my favourite parts of general practice. We identify those with a chronic condition – cardiac, respiratory, stroke or two type 2 diabetes – and invite them in for review every six months. We measure their health through a number of tests and then go through medication and findings. The discussion could take in lipids, lifestyle, exercise, inhaler technique, weight or blood-pressure management. We look at immunisations and education programmes, and a lot more. There is room to ask about what else bothers people, such as loneliness and anxiety. I have lost count of the number of times something came up that I could help to sort out. The consultations take time, but it is time well spent. It is not only better for patient care and more human, but also saves money. You don't want your patient to end up on dialysis or have a myocardial infarction which could have been avoided by regular check-ups and tweaks of their medication. [ From 20 cigarettes a day for 55 years to finally quitting: 'I took it up thinking I was the big man' ] The analogy would be that it is better to get the car serviced than wait for it to break down. We now know that CDM has been a resounding success, and another HSE report found that the programme has had a high impact on 400,0000 patients, reducing hospital visits and emergencies, and 91 per cent of these now receive routine chronic disease care within the community. The chronic care programme also has an application in identifying those at risk of developing a chronic illness or those who already have one and did not know about it. Since 2020, 51 per cent of new chronic disease diagnosis had been made through GPs in the programme. This prevents the need for more intensive hospital-based treatments, which transforms people's health journeys and promotes sustainable healthcare practice. There are a frightening number of people who don't know that they have chronic illnesses which need proper management. The aim of Prof O'Connor's Limerick area study was to compare the CDM programme on the management of matched GMS patients with those without GMS cards. The first important and novel finding was that it found healthcare process inequities between the GMS patients who are eligible for the programme and private patients who are not. The standard disease monitoring is superior among participating GMS patients. Statistically significant differences emerged in vaccination rates and the monitoring of health parameters including blood pressure, smoking status, renal function, HbA1c, and lipids, with GMS patients consistently receiving more comprehensive care than fee-paying patients. Also, supplementary data collected from fee-payers' records showed little evidence of chronic disease care being provided outside of the GP setting. So what are the implications? It seems that if the CDM programme was extended to patients without medical cards it would make medical and financial sense. It would also be in the spirit of Sláintecare , which aims to create a universal healthcare system based on need, not ability to pay. The iniquity in the present system is that against the private patient. At the very least, there should be a feasibility study to see if we can extend the scheme to all. Dr Tudor Hart would be delighted.
Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Kerry's Kennedy Cup manager Diggins proud of eighth-place finish at schoolboys soccer tournament
While their 1-0 loss to Galway in Friday's 7th/8th place play-off – going down to a stoppage-time winner from Galway – was a cruel way to finish the five-day competition in the University of Limerick, it was still a positive experience overall for a talented and determined Kerry squad, who played with pride, discipline, and attacking flair throughout the tournament. 'It was a super week for us. When we came up here, I suppose we were looking at maybe the Bowl. We might be able to get into that and win it, but to top our group against all the top teams that we played and won every game and nine points. It was a super week for the boys,' manager Danny Diggins said. 'The Donegal defeat I think really sucked the energy out of the lads. These things happen in sport. You don't get the rub of the green every time. And I just thought that those results really knocked the lads back, for all the effort that they had put into the previous three games. 'After that game they didn't really have much in the tank for the last two games. But we had got what we really came for. And the top eight finish in Ireland after finishing twenty-fourth in the last competition when we won our All Ireland competition up here earlier in the year. We got silverware for that, and we jumped sixteen places to eighth. You have to be proud of that. 'In the last game there, Galway and ourselves were making substitutions for the penalty shoot-out. We were preparing for the penalty shoot-out. And maybe that cost us there with the ball in over the top. And fellas weren't in the right position, look that happens. 'We're still very proud of the lads, the effort they put in for the last six months for this. But it is not until they come up to see how fit they have to be. The draining of the games, the two on Tuesday, and then you're going back on Wednesday and trying to win that game to get into the semi-final. It just really does take it out of them.'
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- RTÉ News
Warming climate increases summer tourism to Ireland
Travel agents say there's been a noticeable trend with a rising number of holidaymakers looking to avoid rising temperatures and extreme weather during the summer months in continental Europe. Figures suggest more people are shying away from traditional sunspots in Greece and Spain and are instead opting for cooler destinations in northern Europe. It follows a recent report from the World Meteorological Organization showing Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent. Claire Doherty, Products and Operations Director with the Dublin based Travel Department, said what she has noticed is that there's "definitely a decline in people going to what would be considered the hotter European destinations during the summer months. "There are two things happening. One is that they are still going to those areas. Those areas are not declining, but they are choosing to go in April and May or September, October, whereas previously May and September would have been quite busy. "April and October are becoming just as busy as those now - it's what we call the shoulder periods. "Then in the actual summer months for people travelling, there's more northern Europe ... places like Norway, which is up 50% year on year. Definitely people are going to cooler climates during those months," she adds. This shift is also on the radar of travel writer Sarah Slattery, who says summer sun holidays have become cheaper, while previously unfamiliar destinations have come to the fore. "Definitely, in the last year or two, there's been a big change," according to the founder of The Travel Expert website. "I noticed only literally this week when I was doing my travel-deals posts that it was cheaper to go away in July than it was to go at the end of June, which really never happens. "Another one I thought was really interesting was Bergen in Norway - there were never direct flights (from Dublin) to Bergen, and two years ago, they started twice weekly. "Then last year they went three times weekly, and now they're four times weekly in the summer. That's telling in itself, you can see the demand is there to try new places and try the cooler climates." Warming climate bringing more summer tourism to Ireland However, it's not just the Nordics seeing a bump in tourism. Findings from research funded by Clare County Council and University of Limerick at the Cliffs of Moher suggest the warming climate is bringing more people to Ireland. Ernesto Batista, a PhD student at the University of Limerick, was heavily involved in the research. "Last year, during the summer, we were asking customers at the cliffs their perceptions about Ireland and what was the main motivation of coming to Ireland," he explains. "Surprisingly, we found out that most of them were saying they were coming because of the temperatures and mild weather conditions. So especially customers were coming from Spain, from France, from countries in Europe that saw heatwaves in 2023. "They were looking for a nicer experience in terms of weather conditions." Though Mr Batista notes that "this is a very new phenomenon that we're actually seeing and there has been a long academic debate about it. "It's just starting to happen now so more research needs to be conducted. Accordingly, more customers need to be surveyed to understand motivations, and how big an impact this will have."
