A glance at the week that was
The numbers
850,000
The number of households covered in the 1901 Census of Ireland, which went online this week
60
The number of beds to be closed in the Mater hospital in Dublin this month in an effort to cut costs.
82
The percentage of Leaving Ceritificate students taking the Irish exam, down from 90 per cent almost a decade ago.
We now know
Early childhood stress has been linked by researchers in Cork to Irritable Bowel Syndrome. They found that patients with IBS often reported experiencing highly stressful events during childhood, such as the death of a family relative.
Coffee may not boost alertness after all, at least according to new research which shows that non-users or occasional coffee drinkers got no boost after having the caffeine from a cup and a half of coffee.
Eating a Mediterranean diet may lower the risk of a child developing asthma, new research suggests, while eating three or more burgers a week could have the opposite effect.
'Please keep following me'
Tweet to his followers from former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama after he resigned this week
Worth it?
Women are paying up to three times the price paid by men for what are essentially the same beauty products, according to a new survey by the Consumers’ Association of Ireland. Razors, deodorants, moisturisers and shower gel all featured as products for which women are expected to shell out more than their male counterparts. And, according to the association, retailers and manufacturers have yet to give a satisfactory explanation for the staggering price differences.
Princely sum
Life, it's clear, isn't cheap for women, which may go some way towards explaining why Sarah Ferguson might have been tempted to sell access to her former husband, Prince Andrew. The duchess of York appeared on Oprah Winfrey's TV show this week for a public mea culpa after a filmed sting by a journalist in which Ferguson appears to ask for and accept cash in exchange for access to the prince. Speaking on The Oprah Show, however, while admitting to financial difficulties, she did not deny her 1996 divorce settlement paid her a mere £15,000 (€18,000) pounds a year, saying: "That's why I must look at bankruptcy."
