A round up of today's other stories in brief...
People urged to put phone number on ice
The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM) has urged people to keep the name and telephone number of their next-of-kin on their mobile phone under the heading ICE (In Case of Emergency). The system, conceived in the UK in 2005, is now in use in a number of countries.
As the representative body for doctors working in hospital emergency departments, the IAEM said its members have all had the experience of seeing valuable time lost at a critical time as multiple attempts are made to contact the next-of-kin of a patient.
The inclusion of emergency contact numbers under the name ICE in their mobile phone address book could prevent this, it said. The option exists to list more than one emergency contact in a mobile phone as ICE1, ICE2 etc. Adults should put these numbers in their mobile phone address books and ensure their children's mobile phones are also so equipped, the IAEM added.
Jumping for charity
Headway, which provides support services for people affected by acquired brain injury, has teamed up with specialist company SkyDive4Charity, to offer people a chance to try skydiving while at the same time raising funds for Headway centres in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
The chief executive of Headway, Kieran Loughran, will take part and is looking for others to join him.
Anyone interested in sponsoring him or who would like to make their own jump for Headway should contact Gráinne on 01-810 2082 or at denningg@headway.ie.
Details on Headway and fundraising can be found at www.headway.ie and by clicking on 'Fundraising'.
Ban on display of tobacco products in shops
The advertising and display of tobacco products in retail outlets will be banned in 12 months' time.
Mary Wallace, Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Health Promotion and Food Safety, has announced that this and other further provisions of the Public Health (Tobacco) Acts 2002 and 2004 are to commence on July 1st, 2009.
These include a ban on all in-store/point-of-sale advertising of tobacco products and a ban on the display of tobacco products in retail premises.
The move has been welcomed by ASH Ireland, the Office of Tobacco Control and the Irish Cancer Society.