A glance at the week that was
Enduring Feet
As usual, there will be a great many pilgrims climbing Croagh Patrick on the last Sunday of July, but those who had planned to do it bare-footed have been asked to think again. The rescue services have said that if people must do it bare-footed, they should at least have a pair of shoes to hand in case the climb becomes too much.
“Do not assume that a rescue team or helicopter is available to carry you off just because you get tired on the mountain,” a spokesman for Mayo Mountain Rescue said.
Puck-up averted
The Border may have largely disappeared, but not for goats – even royal goats. King Puck was due to come down from Ballycastle, Co Antrim, as a gift to the Killorglin Puck Fair, but the regulations about the animal welfare certificate looked as if it was going to prevent Billy the goat from making it in time for August 10th. However, the North’s Minister for Agriculture, Michelle Gildernew, stepped in to help move things along and it looks as if the goat will after all spend the Co Kerry festival being bemused by the attention. “So, in all, there’s no acting the goat on this issue,” quipped Gildernew.
We now know
Supermarket food priceshave dropped as much as 20 per cent since January, according to the National Consumer Agency
New Zealand is now 30cm closer to Australia, following a large earthquakethere last week
A comet crashed into Jupiter, leaving an earth-sized hole in its atmosphere. It was first spotted by an Australian amateur astronomer
THE NUMBERS
6 min 39 sec
The length of the longest solar eclipse of this century, which on Wednesday was visible in Asia
11am
The time at which employees are most likely to send personal mail from work, regardless of country
€35m
The amount Sony has bid for footage of Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for his ill-fated comeback tour