OSLO (AFP) - A Norwegian hospital said Monday it was planning to equip all newborn babies with anti-theft alarms to protect them from kidnappings and help avoid identity mix-ups.
"The main reason is that we want to emphasise security," Erik Normann, head of the Akershus University Hospital near Oslo told AFP.
"There was a period in which Norway experienced several infant kidnappings and that is something we want to avoid," he said.
The alarm system consists of two small chips, one attached to a bracelet clasped around the baby's ankle as soon as it is born and the other stuck on the mother's bracelet.
When the two chips are separated by a certain distance the alarm is set off. If a woman tries to leave with a baby who is not her own, or if someone tries to rip the bracelet off an infant, the hospital doors automatically lock shut and the hospital elevators grind to a halt.
The Akershus hospital, which has one of Norway's largest maternity wards with some 4,200 babies delivered there each year, has never experienced an infant kidnapping, Normann said.
The hospital, which will be the first in the Scandinavian country to implement the "inexpensive" system, has decided to begin using the alarms when it moves to a new location on October 1.
Before then, the new system must receive the approval of the hospital board.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Abba drummer found dead in his garden
By CIARAN GILES, Associated Press Writer
MADRID, Spain - A former drummer for the Swedish pop band ABBA was found dead with cuts to his neck in the garden of his house on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Police said Monday an autopsy showed it was an accident.
A neighbor found the body of 62-year-old Ola Brunkert on Sunday evening at his house in a coastal area outside the eastern town of Arta, a Civil Guard spokesman told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
He said an autopsy was carried out and confirmed initial investigations. "It was an accident," he said.
The spokesman said Brunkert hit his head against a glass door in his dining room, shattering the glass and cutting himself in the neck. He managed to wrap a towel around his neck and left the house to seek help, but collapsed in the garden.
Brunkert lived in the coastal apartment complex of Betlem in the municipality of Arta, in the eastern part of Mallorca.
Brunkert had lived in Arta for around 20 years. His wife, Inger. died less than a year ago, an Arta municipal official told the AP. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the case.
ABBA band member Benny Anderson told Swedish daily Expressen he was sad to hear of the drummer's death. "It is tragic," he said.
Band member Bjorn Ulvaeus added that Brunkert had been "one of the best."
"I remember him as a good friend when we worked together in the mid-1970s. He was a very creative musician who contributed a lot when we toured together and worked in the studio," Ulvaeus told Expressen.
According to ABBA's official Web site, Brunkert and bass player Rutger Gunnarsson were the only musicians to appear on all ABBA albums.
Brunkert first played with ABBA on the group's first single, "People Need Love," and toured with the band in 1977, 1979 and 1980.
He had been a jazz drummer and a member of the blues band Slim's Blues Gang, before joining pop group Science Poption in the mid-1960s.
ABBA, with the four regular members Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Ulvaeus and Andersson, was one of the world's most successful bands, with album sales of more than 370 million. The group has not performed together since 1982, but continues to sell nearly 3 million records a year.
MADRID, Spain - A former drummer for the Swedish pop band ABBA was found dead with cuts to his neck in the garden of his house on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Police said Monday an autopsy showed it was an accident.
A neighbor found the body of 62-year-old Ola Brunkert on Sunday evening at his house in a coastal area outside the eastern town of Arta, a Civil Guard spokesman told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
He said an autopsy was carried out and confirmed initial investigations. "It was an accident," he said.
The spokesman said Brunkert hit his head against a glass door in his dining room, shattering the glass and cutting himself in the neck. He managed to wrap a towel around his neck and left the house to seek help, but collapsed in the garden.
Brunkert lived in the coastal apartment complex of Betlem in the municipality of Arta, in the eastern part of Mallorca.
Brunkert had lived in Arta for around 20 years. His wife, Inger. died less than a year ago, an Arta municipal official told the AP. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the case.
ABBA band member Benny Anderson told Swedish daily Expressen he was sad to hear of the drummer's death. "It is tragic," he said.
Band member Bjorn Ulvaeus added that Brunkert had been "one of the best."
"I remember him as a good friend when we worked together in the mid-1970s. He was a very creative musician who contributed a lot when we toured together and worked in the studio," Ulvaeus told Expressen.
According to ABBA's official Web site, Brunkert and bass player Rutger Gunnarsson were the only musicians to appear on all ABBA albums.
Brunkert first played with ABBA on the group's first single, "People Need Love," and toured with the band in 1977, 1979 and 1980.
He had been a jazz drummer and a member of the blues band Slim's Blues Gang, before joining pop group Science Poption in the mid-1960s.
ABBA, with the four regular members Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Ulvaeus and Andersson, was one of the world's most successful bands, with album sales of more than 370 million. The group has not performed together since 1982, but continues to sell nearly 3 million records a year.
Fed takes bold steps to ease crisis
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve, acting urgently over the weekend to stabilize financial markets, approved a cut in its emergency lending rate to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent — a new lending facility immediately available Monday to Wall Street firms.
The central bank took the extremely rare step Sunday evening to calm panicked markets by offering to provide cash to financially squeezed Wall Street investment houses — basically becoming a lender of last resort for them. The move will allow big investment firms to quickly secure short-term loans.
"These steps will provide financial institutions with greater assurance of access to funds," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told reporters in a brief conference call Sunday evening.
The Fed acted just after JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy rival Bear Stearns Cos. for $236.2 million in a deal that represents a stunning collapse for one of the world's largest and most venerable investment houses. Just on Friday the Fed had raced to provide emergency financing to cash-strapped Bear Stearns through JPMorgan. Days earlier the Fed announced a set of other unconventional steps to thaw out a credit market in danger of freezing shut.
The Fed's actions come as fears have spread that other financial houses could also be on shaky ground.
"It seems as if Bernanke & Co. are pulling out all the stops to avoid a serious financial market meltdown," Richard Yamarone, an economist at Argus Research, said Sunday evening.
However on world financial markets, Asian stocks plunged Monday after the JPMorgan and Fed announcements. Markets in Australia and New Zealand were also off and European stocks fell in early trading.
Oil prices hit a record in Asian trading as the value of the dollar continued its free fall and U.S. stock index futures were down sharply, suggesting Wall Street would open lower after sinking Friday.
"There is persistent credit uncertainty. Market players have been repeatedly let down which shows the subprime mortgage problems are so deep-rooted," said Atsuji Ohara, global strategist of Shinko Securities in Tokyo.
President Bush has scheduled a White House meeting Monday afternoon with his Working Group on Financial Markets, which includes Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox.
Paulson said Sunday, "I appreciate the additional actions taken this evening by the Federal Reserve to enhance the stability, liquidity and orderliness of our markets."
The new lending facility — described as a cousin to the Fed's emergency lending "discount window" for banks — is geared to give major investment houses a source of short-term cash on a regular basis — if they need it.
That's important because those big investment houses have key roles in the financial system and if one fails or is having difficulty it could put the whole financial system in jeopardy, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. These big investment houses have complex relationships with many players in the system, including hedge funds, commercial banks and others.
The lending facility will be in place for at least six months and "may be extended as conditions warrant," the Fed said. The interest rate will be 3.25 percent and a range of collateral — including investment-grade mortgage backed securities — will be accepted to back the overnight loans.
The "discount" rate cut announced Sunday applies only to the short-term loans that financial institutions get directly from the Federal Reserve. It doesn't apply to individual borrowers.
The Fed's actions are the latest in a recent string of innovative steps to deal with a worsening credit crisis that has unhinged Wall Street.
The action comes just two days before the central bank's scheduled meeting on Tuesday, where another big cut to a key interest rate that affects millions of people and businesses is expected to be ordered. That key rate is now at 3 percent and is expected to be cut by at least three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday.
The Fed said in a statement that the steps are "designed to bolster market liquidity and promote orderly market functioning ... essential for the promotion of economic growth."
Even with the Fed's aggressive moves, economic and financial conditions keep deteriorating. An increasing number of economists believe the country already has slipped into its first recession since 2001. Many economists think that the economy is shrinking now in the January-to-March quarter. The first government figures on first-quarter economic activity will be released in late April.
The Fed on Sunday also approved the financing arrangement through which JPMorgan will acquire Bear Stearns. JPMorgan said the Fed will provide special financing for the deal. The central bank has agreed to fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns' less liquid assets, according to JPMorgan.
___
AP Business writers Joe Bel Bruno and Madlen Read contributed to this report from New York.
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve, acting urgently over the weekend to stabilize financial markets, approved a cut in its emergency lending rate to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent — a new lending facility immediately available Monday to Wall Street firms.
The central bank took the extremely rare step Sunday evening to calm panicked markets by offering to provide cash to financially squeezed Wall Street investment houses — basically becoming a lender of last resort for them. The move will allow big investment firms to quickly secure short-term loans.
"These steps will provide financial institutions with greater assurance of access to funds," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told reporters in a brief conference call Sunday evening.
The Fed acted just after JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy rival Bear Stearns Cos. for $236.2 million in a deal that represents a stunning collapse for one of the world's largest and most venerable investment houses. Just on Friday the Fed had raced to provide emergency financing to cash-strapped Bear Stearns through JPMorgan. Days earlier the Fed announced a set of other unconventional steps to thaw out a credit market in danger of freezing shut.
The Fed's actions come as fears have spread that other financial houses could also be on shaky ground.
"It seems as if Bernanke & Co. are pulling out all the stops to avoid a serious financial market meltdown," Richard Yamarone, an economist at Argus Research, said Sunday evening.
However on world financial markets, Asian stocks plunged Monday after the JPMorgan and Fed announcements. Markets in Australia and New Zealand were also off and European stocks fell in early trading.
Oil prices hit a record in Asian trading as the value of the dollar continued its free fall and U.S. stock index futures were down sharply, suggesting Wall Street would open lower after sinking Friday.
"There is persistent credit uncertainty. Market players have been repeatedly let down which shows the subprime mortgage problems are so deep-rooted," said Atsuji Ohara, global strategist of Shinko Securities in Tokyo.
President Bush has scheduled a White House meeting Monday afternoon with his Working Group on Financial Markets, which includes Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox.
Paulson said Sunday, "I appreciate the additional actions taken this evening by the Federal Reserve to enhance the stability, liquidity and orderliness of our markets."
The new lending facility — described as a cousin to the Fed's emergency lending "discount window" for banks — is geared to give major investment houses a source of short-term cash on a regular basis — if they need it.
That's important because those big investment houses have key roles in the financial system and if one fails or is having difficulty it could put the whole financial system in jeopardy, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. These big investment houses have complex relationships with many players in the system, including hedge funds, commercial banks and others.
The lending facility will be in place for at least six months and "may be extended as conditions warrant," the Fed said. The interest rate will be 3.25 percent and a range of collateral — including investment-grade mortgage backed securities — will be accepted to back the overnight loans.
The "discount" rate cut announced Sunday applies only to the short-term loans that financial institutions get directly from the Federal Reserve. It doesn't apply to individual borrowers.
The Fed's actions are the latest in a recent string of innovative steps to deal with a worsening credit crisis that has unhinged Wall Street.
The action comes just two days before the central bank's scheduled meeting on Tuesday, where another big cut to a key interest rate that affects millions of people and businesses is expected to be ordered. That key rate is now at 3 percent and is expected to be cut by at least three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday.
The Fed said in a statement that the steps are "designed to bolster market liquidity and promote orderly market functioning ... essential for the promotion of economic growth."
Even with the Fed's aggressive moves, economic and financial conditions keep deteriorating. An increasing number of economists believe the country already has slipped into its first recession since 2001. Many economists think that the economy is shrinking now in the January-to-March quarter. The first government figures on first-quarter economic activity will be released in late April.
The Fed on Sunday also approved the financing arrangement through which JPMorgan will acquire Bear Stearns. JPMorgan said the Fed will provide special financing for the deal. The central bank has agreed to fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns' less liquid assets, according to JPMorgan.
___
AP Business writers Joe Bel Bruno and Madlen Read contributed to this report from New York.
McCain, Cheney: US in Iraq long-term
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD - Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John McCain vowed in meetings with Iraq's prime minister Monday that the U.S. would maintain a long-term military presence in Iraq until al-Qaida is defeated there.
Explosions went off near the heavily fortified Green Zone shortly after Cheney arrived. Helicopter gunships circled central Baghdad, but no details were immediately available on the cause of the explosions.
The presumptive Republican candidate for president, who has linked his political future to military success in Iraq, met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shortly before the Iraqi leader began separate talks with Cheney.
Al-Maliki said he and the vice president discussed ongoing negotiations over a long-term security agreement between the two countries that would replace the U.N. mandate for foreign troops set to expire at the end of the year.
"This visit is very important. It is about the nature of the relations between the two countries, the future of those relations and the agreement in this respect," the prime minister told reporters. "We also discussed the security in Iraq, the development of the economy and reconstruction and terrorism."
McCain stressed that it was important to maintain the U.S. commitment in Iraq, where a U.S.-Iraq military operation is under way to clear al-Qaida from its last urban stronghold of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
"We recognize that al-Qaida is on the run, but they are not defeated," McCain said after meeting al-Maliki. "Al-Qaida continues to pose a great threat to the security and very existence of Iraq as a democracy. So we know there's still a lot more of work to be done."
McCain, who arrived in Iraq on Sunday, told reporters that he also discussed with the Shiite leader the need for progress on political reforms, including laws on holding provincial elections and the equitable distribution of Iraq's oil riches.
Cheney arrived at Baghdad International Airport, then flew by helicopter for talks with U.S. and Iraqi officials. It is Cheney's third vice-presidential trip to Iraq, where 160,000 American troops are deployed and the U.S. death toll is nearing 4,000.
Violence has dropped throughout the capital with an influx of some 30,000 additional U.S. soldiers as well as a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida and a cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
The U.S. military has said attacks have fallen by about 60 percent since last February.
McCain, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was accompanied by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Republican Lindsey Graham, two top supporters of his presidential ambitions. The weeklong trip will take McCain to Israel, Britain and France.
Police said they found the bodies of three members of a U.S.-allied group fighting al-Qaida in Udaim, 70 miles north of Baghdad. Members of the mostly Sunni groups have been increasingly targeted by suspected al-Qaida members seeking to derail the recent security gains.
A bomb in a parked car in Baghdad's central Karradah neighborhood killed three civilian bystanders and wounded nine, police said, while a separate roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad killed one and wounded three others.
___
Associated Press writers Bushra Juhi and Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report.
BAGHDAD - Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John McCain vowed in meetings with Iraq's prime minister Monday that the U.S. would maintain a long-term military presence in Iraq until al-Qaida is defeated there.
Explosions went off near the heavily fortified Green Zone shortly after Cheney arrived. Helicopter gunships circled central Baghdad, but no details were immediately available on the cause of the explosions.
The presumptive Republican candidate for president, who has linked his political future to military success in Iraq, met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shortly before the Iraqi leader began separate talks with Cheney.
Al-Maliki said he and the vice president discussed ongoing negotiations over a long-term security agreement between the two countries that would replace the U.N. mandate for foreign troops set to expire at the end of the year.
"This visit is very important. It is about the nature of the relations between the two countries, the future of those relations and the agreement in this respect," the prime minister told reporters. "We also discussed the security in Iraq, the development of the economy and reconstruction and terrorism."
McCain stressed that it was important to maintain the U.S. commitment in Iraq, where a U.S.-Iraq military operation is under way to clear al-Qaida from its last urban stronghold of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
"We recognize that al-Qaida is on the run, but they are not defeated," McCain said after meeting al-Maliki. "Al-Qaida continues to pose a great threat to the security and very existence of Iraq as a democracy. So we know there's still a lot more of work to be done."
McCain, who arrived in Iraq on Sunday, told reporters that he also discussed with the Shiite leader the need for progress on political reforms, including laws on holding provincial elections and the equitable distribution of Iraq's oil riches.
Cheney arrived at Baghdad International Airport, then flew by helicopter for talks with U.S. and Iraqi officials. It is Cheney's third vice-presidential trip to Iraq, where 160,000 American troops are deployed and the U.S. death toll is nearing 4,000.
Violence has dropped throughout the capital with an influx of some 30,000 additional U.S. soldiers as well as a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida and a cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
The U.S. military has said attacks have fallen by about 60 percent since last February.
McCain, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was accompanied by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Republican Lindsey Graham, two top supporters of his presidential ambitions. The weeklong trip will take McCain to Israel, Britain and France.
Police said they found the bodies of three members of a U.S.-allied group fighting al-Qaida in Udaim, 70 miles north of Baghdad. Members of the mostly Sunni groups have been increasingly targeted by suspected al-Qaida members seeking to derail the recent security gains.
A bomb in a parked car in Baghdad's central Karradah neighborhood killed three civilian bystanders and wounded nine, police said, while a separate roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad killed one and wounded three others.
___
Associated Press writers Bushra Juhi and Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report.
Mills awarded $48.6M from McCartney
By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer
LONDON - Paul McCartney was ordered Monday to pay Heather Mills $48.6 million to settle their divorce.
A document released by the Family Court said the judge awarded Mills a lump sum of $33 million plus the assets she currently holds worth $15.6 million.
"I'm so, so happy with this," Mills told reporters following the closed hearing.
The court also ruled that the couple's 4-year-old daughter Beatrice should receive a "periodical payments order" of $70,000 per annum. On top of that, McCartney will pay for the child's nanny and school fees.
"I'm so glad it's over," Mills said at her impromptu news conference.
"It was an incredible result in the end to secure mine and my daughter's future and that of all the charities that I obviously plan on helping and making a difference with — because you know it has been my life for 20 years," she said.
McCartney left the court without making any statement.
While pleased with the financial settlement, Mills intends to appeal to prevent publication of the details of the settlement for the couple's daughter.
McCartney, 65, and Mills, 40, went to court last month to decide on Mills' share of his fortune, which had been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.
Judge Hugh Bennett, however, found that the total value of all of McCartney's assets, including his business assets, was about $800 million.
Mills said the settlement vindicated her decision to fire her lawyers. The legal fees, she said, instead "could easily go to charity."
"Obviously the court do not want a litigant in person to do well, it's against everything that they ever wish, so when they write the judgment up they're never going to make it look in favor," she said.
"But all of you that have researched know that it was always going to be a figure between 20 and 30 million (pounds), Paul was offering a lot less than that, which you'll see in the judgment, and very much last minute to put me and Beatrice sadly through this ... incredibly sad."
Mills had sought almost $250 million, while McCartney had said she should receive $31.6 million, including her own assets, which the court assessed at $15.6 million.
She had harsh words for McCartney's lawyer, Fiona Shackleton, who was well known for representing Prince Charles in his divorce from Princess Diana.
"She has called me many, many names before even meeting me when I was in a wheelchair," said Mills.
The settlement has been a long time coming for the couple, who separated two years ago, after four years of marriage. At the time they said the parting was "amicable" and insisted "both of us still care about each other very much."
But the split has grown fractious since McCartney filed for divorce alleging his wife's "unreasonable behavior."
Mills — a former model whose left leg was amputated below the knee after a motorcycle accident in 1993 — claimed McCartney had failed to protect her and their daughter from slander, death threats and other abuse, and accused the media of persecuting her. In November, Mills said she had been "treated worse than a murderer or a pedophile," despite years of work for land mine victims and animal welfare charities.
McCartney met Mills in 1999, the year after the death from breast cancer of his first wife, Linda. That marriage was one of rock's most enduring unions, and produced three children, including fashion designer Stella McCartney.
Mills and McCartney married at an Irish castle in June 2002, amid rumors the former Beatle's children disapproved of their new stepmother. The couple's daughter was born the following year.
LONDON - Paul McCartney was ordered Monday to pay Heather Mills $48.6 million to settle their divorce.
A document released by the Family Court said the judge awarded Mills a lump sum of $33 million plus the assets she currently holds worth $15.6 million.
"I'm so, so happy with this," Mills told reporters following the closed hearing.
The court also ruled that the couple's 4-year-old daughter Beatrice should receive a "periodical payments order" of $70,000 per annum. On top of that, McCartney will pay for the child's nanny and school fees.
"I'm so glad it's over," Mills said at her impromptu news conference.
"It was an incredible result in the end to secure mine and my daughter's future and that of all the charities that I obviously plan on helping and making a difference with — because you know it has been my life for 20 years," she said.
McCartney left the court without making any statement.
While pleased with the financial settlement, Mills intends to appeal to prevent publication of the details of the settlement for the couple's daughter.
McCartney, 65, and Mills, 40, went to court last month to decide on Mills' share of his fortune, which had been estimated at as much as $1.6 billion.
Judge Hugh Bennett, however, found that the total value of all of McCartney's assets, including his business assets, was about $800 million.
Mills said the settlement vindicated her decision to fire her lawyers. The legal fees, she said, instead "could easily go to charity."
"Obviously the court do not want a litigant in person to do well, it's against everything that they ever wish, so when they write the judgment up they're never going to make it look in favor," she said.
"But all of you that have researched know that it was always going to be a figure between 20 and 30 million (pounds), Paul was offering a lot less than that, which you'll see in the judgment, and very much last minute to put me and Beatrice sadly through this ... incredibly sad."
Mills had sought almost $250 million, while McCartney had said she should receive $31.6 million, including her own assets, which the court assessed at $15.6 million.
She had harsh words for McCartney's lawyer, Fiona Shackleton, who was well known for representing Prince Charles in his divorce from Princess Diana.
"She has called me many, many names before even meeting me when I was in a wheelchair," said Mills.
The settlement has been a long time coming for the couple, who separated two years ago, after four years of marriage. At the time they said the parting was "amicable" and insisted "both of us still care about each other very much."
But the split has grown fractious since McCartney filed for divorce alleging his wife's "unreasonable behavior."
Mills — a former model whose left leg was amputated below the knee after a motorcycle accident in 1993 — claimed McCartney had failed to protect her and their daughter from slander, death threats and other abuse, and accused the media of persecuting her. In November, Mills said she had been "treated worse than a murderer or a pedophile," despite years of work for land mine victims and animal welfare charities.
McCartney met Mills in 1999, the year after the death from breast cancer of his first wife, Linda. That marriage was one of rock's most enduring unions, and produced three children, including fashion designer Stella McCartney.
Mills and McCartney married at an Irish castle in June 2002, amid rumors the former Beatle's children disapproved of their new stepmother. The couple's daughter was born the following year.
Happy St Patrick’s Day
Or as we say in Ireland Lá le Phádraig Shona Duit!
Some Irish words of wisdom:
Is maith an t-anlann an t-ocras.Hunger is a good sauce.
Moladh luath agus cáineadh mall.Be quick to praise and slow to criticise.
Tús maith leath na hoibre.A good start is half the work.
Má bhíonn tú ar lorg cara gan locht, beidh tú gan chara go deo.If you seek a friend without fault, you will be without one forever.
Cuir síoda ar ghabhar ach is gabhar i gcónaí é.Dress a goat in silk and it’s still a goat.
Is fearr an sláinte ná an táinte.Health is better than wealth.
And from this day on may you always have these blessings…A soft breeze when summer comes, a warm fireside in winter, and the comfort of a true friend.
Some Irish words of wisdom:
Is maith an t-anlann an t-ocras.Hunger is a good sauce.
Moladh luath agus cáineadh mall.Be quick to praise and slow to criticise.
Tús maith leath na hoibre.A good start is half the work.
Má bhíonn tú ar lorg cara gan locht, beidh tú gan chara go deo.If you seek a friend without fault, you will be without one forever.
Cuir síoda ar ghabhar ach is gabhar i gcónaí é.Dress a goat in silk and it’s still a goat.
Is fearr an sláinte ná an táinte.Health is better than wealth.
And from this day on may you always have these blessings…A soft breeze when summer comes, a warm fireside in winter, and the comfort of a true friend.
St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations St. Louis
St. Louis: Originally founded as a French Catholic settlement, St. Louis soon became home to thousands of Irish in America. The Irish of St. Louis — the Gateway to the West — are a rich and important part of this city’s tapestry. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig (Happy St. Patrick’s Day)!
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