News Thursday, January 7, 2010 D Fowl play ruled out after ban A hunting ban has been ordered to protect more than a dozen species of wild birds amid fears they are sitting ducks in the cold snap. Dr Ciaran OKeeffe, director of the national Parks and Wildlife Service, said game birds and waterfowl depend on the wetlands to survive but those areas have been frozen for weeks. these birds depend on lakes, ponds, reed beds and marshy ground to find food, shelter and refuge, but these are now frozen and have been since mid December, he said. 2010 may be our coldest yet BOOKMAKERS have cut odds on 2010 being the coldest year on record. Paddy Power is now offering just 7/1, down from 12/1, that this will be irelands coldest year since meteorological records began. the bookmaker has also, for the second time this week, cut the odds on this month being the coldest January on record from 2/1 to 13/8. Odds of 8/1 are on offer for the temperature to go below -19.1C, the lowest ever recorded in ireland, which was in Sligo in 1881. Spokeswoman for the bookmaker Sharon Mchugh said: Should this month be the coldest January on record, well be facing a payout close to 5,000 and we all know theres nothing worse than having your pants taken down especially when its minus five outside. Attack! This rowdy bunch make the most of the poor weather by having a snowball fight near the Papal Cross in Phoenix Park, Dublin, as heavy snowfalls continue to cause disruption throughout the country Picture: PA More than 400 on trolleys in accident and emergency By Ed CartyMORE than 400 people were yesterday waiting on trolleys in hospital emergency wards, with admis- sions of people with sprains and fractures from fall- ing on ice adding to the already stretched services. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said A&E units around the country were under severe stress with 414 patients lying waiting for a bed or further treatment. Jan OSullivan, Labours health spokeswoman, said the figures were shocking but hardly surpris- ing. We are now approaching the same level of A&E overcrowding as prompted the 2006 declara- tion by Health Minister Mary Harney of a state of national emergency, she said. A similar declaration now would at least draw at- tention to the scale of the problem, although Mary Harneys track record in actually resolving the un- derlying issues is very poor. The A&E overcrowding crisis peaked in March 2006 when 495 patients were lying on trolleys awaiting a bed or further care. The Health Service Executive said emergency wards have been particu- larly busy in the last few weeks dealing with sprains and fractures as a result of slips and falls on icy roads and footpaths. It said more than 55,000 people are treated in hos- pital for falls each year with the highest rate of ad- missions among older women. But Labour claimed cutbacks have seen hundreds of beds closed while about 1,000 more are occupied by people who should be in care or nursing homes. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html