METRO Wednesday, September 23, 2009 D Free jellies for Metro readers THIS morning, Metro is giving out free samples of Hartleys Fruit in Jelly pots at various city-centre locations. If you picked up a sample, we would love to hear what you think of the product. Our short survey will take about five minutes to complete and can be filled in online. If you want to have your say, e-mail brandlab@metroireland.ie and we will then forward the questions to your inbox. MENU THe Home Digest 4 World Digest 10 Guilty Pleasures Celebrity gossip 11 MetroLife Arts and entertainment 12-13 60 Second Interview Ann Marie N Dhubhchin 14 TV 14-15 Puzzles & Letters 16-17 Classifieds 18-20 Sport 21-24 Help keep Dublin clean and tidy for everyone by taking your Metro with you and recycling it TODAY: Bright spells and scattered showers. Max: 17C TOMORROW: Mainly dry with some sunny spells. Max: 16C METRO Weather and more than 86,000 construction workers lost their jobs this year. Despite these worrying trends a baby boom is in full swing with 74,500 chil- dren born in the year to May figures not seen since 1896. Brian Devine, economist with NCB Stockbrokers, said the Government could stop a brain-drain if competi- tiveness is restored, state finances are mended and investors are convinced the country is a fully functioning part of the EU. Irish Small and Medium Enterprises said many businesses across all sec- tors were just hanging on. It is now vitally important that the Government focuses its attention away from bailing out the banks and property sector, Ismes Mark Fielding said. The CSOs quarterly national house- hold survey showed 186,900 men and 77,700 women were unemployed. The report said there were more than 1.9 million people in work a fall of 8.2 per cent in the last year while the number of people employed has fallen by 81,600 since the start of the year. Reetta Suonpera, economist with business lobby group Ibec, called for more money to save jobs and training for people laid off. Live Register figures published each month showed 428,800 signed on for benefits in August, bringing Irelands unemployment rate to 12.4 per cent. Jobless hits 264,600 as more people quit IrelandBY eD CARTY MORE people are leaving Ireland than arriving for the first time since 1995 as unemployment passed the quarter of a million mark. The country is now seeing rapidly increased emigration as the numbers out of work doubled in the last year leaving 264,600 people jobless. While economists insisted the 1980s brain-drain would not be repeated, Fine Gael warned of the danger of a lost generation of Irish youth. The partys labour affairs spokesman Damien English claimed fears over spiralling emigration were becoming a reality. For the first time in a generation Ire- land is again a net exporter of people, as a combination of rising un- employment and falling job levels drives people abroad, he said. This is the direct consequence of an economy ruined by Fianna Fils debt- fuelled housing boom. According to the Central Statistics Office: Emigration jumped from 45,300 to 65,100 in the year to the end of April; some 30,100 of these mi- grants were from Eastern Europe, Malta and Cyprus either returning home or looking elsewhere for work. Immigration fell from 83,800 to 57,300; some 186,900 men and 77,700 women were unemployed this summer SMIleS all round One-year-old Abbi Lambert grins at the launch of Culture Night 2009. This year, 11 cities, towns and counties will take part, offering hundreds of family-friendly events in galleries, museums, churches and other cultural venues which are expected to draw half a million visitors EU banks under fire for confusing customersEUROPES banks were yesterday condemned for bamboozling customers with hidden charges, complex price structures and shoddy advice. The problem is so bad even experts carrying out a survey for the European Commission could not understand the real costs of the accounts in nearly 150 of the 224 banks targeted by Brussels across the EU. Europes Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva called for a culture change in banks and better enforcement by national authorities of consumer rights enforcement in the banking sector. Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, in charge of the EU single market, added the Commission was ready to set the ground rules for the conduct of banks towards their customers if the banks fail to tackle the issue themselves. The EU already has rules the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive banning any practices which mislead consumers and distort choice. That, the Commission said, includes leaving out information linked to bank accounts or giving such unintelligible information that the average consumer cannot work out the price. A voluntary code of common principles designed to ensure easier bank account switching comes into force on November 1, and the Commission warned the banks it would now carefully monitor their implementation. Kevin Doyle: Guilty Irish journalist found guilty of defamation AN IRISH journalist in Cambodia was yesterday found guilty of defamation for publishing an article in which an opposition leader allegedly criticised dozens of high-ranking military officers. Cambodian Daily Editor-in-Chief Kevin Doyle and Neou Vannarin, a Cambodian reporter at the same newspaper, were ordered to pay a total of 8million riel (1,300) in compensation. Doyle, 41, refused to comment when leaving the court after the ruling. The ruling was the latest in a series of legal judgments this year that human rights groups charge are part of a campaign of intimidation against critics of the government. In July, the US-based group Human Rights Watch called on Prime Minister Hun Sens government to end its campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action aimed at consolidating its rule by silencing the political opposition and peaceful critics. NuMbER Of HOMElEss suRgEs THE number of homeless people has almost doubled over the last two decades, it emerged yesterday. Housing charity Focus Ireland revealed up to 5,000 people are without a home at any one time, and estimates 65,000 desperate households are on local authority housing waiting lists. The charity called on the Government to protect the most vulnerable instead of making welfare cuts in the upcoming budget. Founder Sister Stanislaus Kennedy said in 1992 just under 2,700 people were homeless. This shows the current scale of the problem and the worry is that we have not yet seen the full impact of the recession, said Sr Kennedy. The Government must live up to its word to protect the most vulnerable. If it responds to Irelands economic difficulties with cuts to housing... welfare and other cuts, this will hit the most vulnerable in society the hardest, she added. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html