METRO Tuesday, October 20, 2009 D SPANISH TOURISM OFFICE 1, Westmoreland Street DUBLIN 2 Information number: 081 846 2960 Office inquiries: 01 635 0200 Fax: 01 635 0205 dublin@tourspain.es ParadorofSantoEstevoParadorofSantoEstevoParadorofPlasencia www.spain.infowww.spain.infowww.spain.infowww.spain.infowww.spain.info The Spanish Paradores - where history and legend await your arrival. The historic setting and excellent service at each Parador make this a truly magical experience. Paradores: 00 34 91 516 66 66 Keytel International: 095 23511 www.parador.es TODAY: A wet and windy start, clearing later. Max: 15C TOMORROW: Heavy showers and strong winds. Max: 14C METRO Weather Swine flu claims fifth life in Ireland A FIFTH person has died from swine flu. The latest victim of the H1N1 virus was a man from the east of the country who died on Sunday. The Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive said the patient had an underlying medical condition. Health Minister Mary Harney said she offered her sympathy to the patients family and friends. MENU the Home Digest 4 Guilty Pleasures Celebrity gossip 6 World Digest 10 MetroLife Arts and entertainment 12-13 60 Second Interview Comedian Jack Dee 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 Google staff heading to Killarney yesterday for the web giants European Employee Conference. Two thousand employees from Europe and the US are gathering for the two-day event. Pictured were some of the companys Portuguese staff before boarding the Killarney train at Heuston Station Picture: John T Ohle the worldwIde web BY JEANANNE CRAIG Airlines cash in on Fifa play-offsANGRY soccer fans claim Aer Lin- gus and Ryanair fares to Paris soared as soon as the national team drew France for the Fifa World Cup play-offs. But the countrys leading airlines yesterday denied increasing prices ahead of the Republic of Irelands crucial November game, insisting they were not cashing in on the sud- den surge for tickets to France. Its supply and demand seats are priced at various levels and as the cheaper seats get booked up there is less availability on those seats, an Aer Lingus spokeswoman said. Weve just put out an additional 700 seats theres just an incredible demand for the seats and theyre be- ing snapped up, she added. Ryanair said all of its flights to Paris had been blocked off at fares of 150 one-way prior to the Fifa South Africa 2010 World Cup draw. Three extra flights had been laid on to cope with the surge in demand since the November 14 match was announced, a spokesman for the no- frills airline added. But Fine Gael sports spokesman John OMahony said flight prices had soared as much as fivefold after the draw was made. We all expect there to be some increase in airline prices for a game like this but cashing in to this extent is ridiculous, he said. But Alan Hunter of the Irish Foot- ball Supporters Association called for a boycott of the airlines. Its shameful to take advantage of people like this and its happening every time, he said angrily. Its an injustice and theres a lot of anger among the fans, he added. Mr Hunter claimed he was now considering chartering a flight to Paris for the match. Ive done it before to Moscow in 2003 to bring fans to the World Cup qualifiers against Russia. They jacked up the prices then too, he said. Nobody can afford to go at those prices and we will be making offi- cial complaints, he concluded. The Irish side learned of its fate at a draw at the Fifa headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. The first leg will be played on Sat- urday November 14 in Croke Park before the Stade de France game the following Wednesday. Atlantic project could see wave-power use by 2015AN OFFSHORE wave project could supply enough energy to power the city of Cork by 2020. Situated along the Atlantic coast, the project could generate 250MWs of electricity, which would represent half of the Governments published targets for 2020. It would also employ about 250 people. The technology will consist of a giant buoy-like structure, 65m high and 20m in diameter, known as a Wavebob and will cost about 2million each. The project is a joint venture between Tonn Energy, Swedish utility company Vattenfall and Irish technology firm Wavebob. A scale model of the structure has already been trialled successfully in Spiddal and Tonn Energy hopes to start pre- commercial trials of the full-size structures by 2013 with electricity becoming available by 2015. If successful, the Tonn Energy project could account for half of the Governments target of 500MWs of electricity from wave power by 2020. Tonn Energy project director Harvey Appelbe said wave power could quite easily fulfil all of Irelands heat and electricity needs when sea conditions are right, but the electricity grid would have to be developed to support it. Energy Minister Eamon Ryan said Ireland could succeed in wave power in the same way that Denmark has done with wind power, generating a quarter of all its energy needs. The first commercial wave farm was opened in Portugal last year. Ireland is regarded as one of the best countries in the world for wave power development. tVs the Simpsons are 20 years old TELEVISIONS favourite family The Simpsons celebrated their 20-year-run with a birthday bash attended by celebrities who have appeared on the show. Star Trek actor George Takei and Robert Englund of Freddy Kreuger fame were some of the stars at the party in Santa Monica, California. The series, featuring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie is Americas longest-running sitcom and to mark the occasion viewers will be given the chance to create their own iconic opening sequence. Aye Carumba: Bart Simpson index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html