Although not news, this post is to draw attention to the car pooling thread in the forum. Headtunes writes:
With the price of petrol what it is today, and with Limerick being a small city, car pooling could ease the traffic situation. In this thread, people could ask for a lift or offer their services when they are driving an empty car.
This definitely sounds like a good idea. If it takes off, we’ll add a sidebar link to the thread.
Over at the forum, there’s an unconfirmed report that development at the Parkway Valley (the new development between PC World and Singland motors in Castletroy) is halting.
Heard today that bank have pulled the plug on the Developer. He could not confirm anchor tenant so bank decided to cut losses early. Heard this from supplier to site.
Although unconfirmed, this seems plausible given the current property downturn. Can anyone shed more light on things?
We’ve decided to launch a forum over at limerickblogger.ie/forum. It’s somewhat experimental (whether we keep it going long term will depend on how things go for the next few weeks). Basically, we feel that the comments on posts on this site are a big part of what makes The Limerick Blogger as interesting as it is, and people should have somewhere to talk that doesn’t require a story to exist on the topic. So if you’ve anything at all Limerick-related to say, the forums are the place to head to.
Also, we’ve created a thread called “Suggested stories”—this is pretty much what it says on the tin. If you have some news that you think we should write about, please submit it there. (We’ll be more likely to post it on the main blog if the text you post is a complete story.)
Cheers,
The Editors
Update: we’ve added an RSS feed of forum topics.
The retrieval of the remains of 11 climbers now believed to have died over the weekend on K2 would be impossible, Pakistani Tourism secretary Shehzad Qaiser has told the country’s Daily Times newspaper.
The secretary was speaking after authorities confirmed the number of people who lost their lives, Amongst them was Limerickman Gerard McDonnell.
“Eleven climbers, including three Koreans, two Pakistanis, two Nepalese, a Frenchman, a Norwegian, a Serb, and an Irishman have died,” he said.
Two Dutch climbers, Wilco van Rooijen and Cas van de Gevel, were rescued by Pakistani Military helicopter earlier today and received treatment for frostbite.
Meanwhile, the President, Mary McAlease, was amongst those who paid tribute to Mr McDonnell following the news of his death.
“Following so closely on their righteous pride, and that of the country, at Gerard becoming the first Irish person to scale K2, it is truly heartbreaking that they must now contemplate the loss of a beloved son and brother,” she said.
Latest reports from various base camps at K2 on the Pakistan/Chinese border state that upwards of eleven climbers may have lost their lives on the mountain.
Limerickman Gerard McDonnell as well as several fellow climbers disappeared after an ice avalanche at 8,000 Metres this morning (Saturday). The previous day, McDonnell became the first Irish man to reach the summit of K2.
Reports on the sequence of events are still conflicting, with some sources reporting 11 dead and six missing, while others, such as the New York Times reporting nine dead.
Two climbers were reported by one website, EverestNews.com to have died on the way up the mountain.
Those believed to have perished are reported to be from South Korea, Nepal, Serbia, Norway, and the Netherlands.
The disaster is reported to be the highest ever death toll taken on K2.
The Dutch Norit Expedition website, which McDonnell was a member, still lists him as missing along with three other colleagues.
For further updates, you can refer to the Norit Expedition website by Clicking here.
UPDATE From CNN: Friends and fellow climbers who have since decended from K2 are now sure that all eleven of the climbers reported missing are now dead.
Emergency measures are being put in place after the River Deel burst it’s banks earlier this morning, causing flooding to the Askeaton area of County Limerick.
There are now concerns that things could get a whole lot worse when the river reaches high tide later this evening, and sandbags are being deployed.
Meanwhile, the Minister for state with responsibility for the office of public works, Martin Mansergh is to visit the flooded areas of Newcastlewest this weekend after the area was deluged by rain on Friday morning.
Boil water notices are in effect in flooded areas, From Limerick County Council:
PUBLIC ALERT: DRINKING WATER – BOIL NOTICE
Limerick County Council
Date: 1st August, 2008
Affected Supply: Newcastle West Public Water Supply
Affected Areas: Newcastle West
CoolcappaghRathcahill
Ballyine Group Water Supply Scheme
Dually Group Water Supply Scheme
Killoughteen Group Water Supply Scheme
Killeline Group Water Supply Scheme
Old Mill Road Group Water Supply Scheme
Reens Kilscannell Group Water Supply Scheme
Due to the recent extra-ordinary flooding, the production of water at the Newcastle West Water Treatment Plant is severely restricted. Limerick County Council is currently taking all steps to re-commence full production at the plant.
The water in the service reservoirs, which was produced before the flooding, is almost exhausted.
As Water Services Authority, we wish to advise you that, water being supplied from now until further notice should not be used for human consumption except under the following conditions and for the following purposes:
Water for drinking purposes, brushing teeth and food preparation should be boiled.
Boil the water to ensure a rolling vigorous boil and then allow it to cool. Cover it and store it in a fridge or cold place.
Water from the hot tap is not safe to drink. Domestic filters will not guarantee that water is safe to drink. Discard ice cubes in fridges and freezers.
Use water that has been prepared for drinking (i.e. that is boiled) for preparing foods that will not be cooked, e.g. for washing salads.
It is safe to drink commercial bottled mineral water.
Prepare baby feeds with water that has been brought to the boil once and cooled. Do not use water that has been reboiled several times. If tap water is unavailable, use bottled water that has been brought to the boil and cooled. Avoid using water that is fizzy, unless boiling has removed all the fizziness. Check the label: water in bottles labelled “natural mineral water” is not required to meet all the standards of tap waters.
Don’t use natural mineral water with concentrations greater than the following for infant feeding: sodium –200mg/l; Nitrate –50mg/l; Nitrite –0.5mg/l; Sulphate –250mg/l.
Water maybe used for flushing of toilets and for personal hygiene and bathing.
Water maybe used for flushing of internal house plumbing.
Further information and advice is available from the following phone numbers:
(061) 496326 (9.30am – 4.30pm Monday – Friday) or (061) 419226 (after hours)
The following is an excerpt from the Town and Country Magazine which was brought to our attention this week. It seems rather sinister in that the correspondent had never even bothered to visit the city yet still decided to attack it.
We continued our several hours’ drive, which was every bit as easy on the eyes as the one between Dublin and Capella Castlemartyr, and decided to bypass Limerick — not enough time, not enough interest, and it has the reputation of not being particularly safe or all that fascinating. What we should have done was take the Allens’ advice and stay at the highly praised Glin Castle (double rooms from $489; 011-353-683-4173; glincastle.com), on the banks of the Shannon River. Owned by Desmond FitzGerald, Glin Castle has been occupied by the FitzGerald family since the 14th century, and while the current FitzGeralds still call it home, fifteen of its rooms are open to paying guests. Instead, we arrived at Dromoland Castle (double rooms from $377; 011-353-61-368-144; dromoland.ie) just in time for dinner and for the one disappointment of our trip. Our room, in what seemed to be the bowels of the building, was large but incredibly dreary and sadly in need of overhauling. In fact, I would say this about the entire place. Money, and a fair amount of it, needs to be put into what should be (and isn’t) the essence of an authentic Irish castle.
h/t Gerald for the info.
Ger McDonnell a native of Kilcornan and now living in Alaska has become the first Irishman to reach the top of the worlds second highest mountain K2 in the Himalayas. The mountain which some say is a more dangerous ascent than Everest is at a height of some 8,600 metres. Ger was part of a group of climbers that included Dutch and Australian team members.
UPDATE
RTE News are reporting that Mr McDonnell is now reported as missing as the group of climbers he was with were hit by falling ice. Six climbers are reported as missing, one of whom, a Norwegian is understood to have died
UPDATE SUNDAY 3RD AUGUST 14.00
The news is not promising. according to BreakingNews.ie a Pakastini travel operator has stated that nine mountaineers are feared dead and another three are missing of the group of 22 that scaled the summit.
After last nights heavy rain, it was perhaps inevitable that some places suffered from flooding and as parts of Cork have been heavily damaged, news also that Newcastlewest has been badly hit. No reports of injuries or fatalaties fortunately but a number of houses have been heavily damaged and severe power losses have occured in the area. The river Arra burst its banks overnight and the main N21 Killarney road was closed for a while but has now reopened. Up to three feet of water has lodged in the area around the banks of the river which broke its banks. Some 3,000 people are without electricity as the ESB attempts to restore service to the area
You are currently browsing the The Limerick Blogger weblog archives for August, 2008.
