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Grassmarket businesses warn of possible power outages in Hogmanay #Grassmarket #businesses #warn #power #outages #Hogmanay

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Some businesses experienced power outages in Edinburgh’s Old Town on Tuesday, which SP Energy Networks said was due to an “intermittent outage”, followed by a further “power outage” in the morning at Hogmanay.

Around 30 restaurants and bars in the area have been “crippled” by a significant loss of Christmas trade due to persistent grid energy outages, according to a spokesperson for Grassmarket Hospitality Operators.

It warns that power outages risk reputational damage and “indicate systemic vulnerabilities that require an urgent and permanent solution.”

Paul Lawrence, chief executive of the City of Edinburgh Council, and Culture Secretary Angus Robertson were briefed and copied in an email from the operators group.

Louise MacLean, business development director at Signature Group, which has sites across Scotland, said: “Businesses in Grassmarket have reported repeated power losses, but the long-standing problem remains unresolved.

Grassmarket businesses said the issue is affecting their reputation (Alamy/PA)

“Some hospitality venues also experienced power outages several times a day over the festive period, plunging the Christmas trade into the dark.

“Over the course of just one weekend in December, Grassmarket businesses lost their entire Friday evening service and their entire Saturday lunchtime service, meaning thousands of pounds in lost revenue across several hospitality venues.

“Meanwhile, business costs remain. Staff still need to be paid for power back-up, food waste and lost bookings.”

In a letter to SP Energy Networks chief executive Nicola Connelly, the hotel collective warned of its “deep concern regarding repeated power outages occurring over the Christmas periods from 2021 to 2025”.

It said: “These disruptions have had a significant impact on our operations, customer experience, visitor experience and the overall reputation of the business and the city.

“We have been informed that SPEN may have to cut supplies again tomorrow (Hogmanay).

“This compromises our business and Edinburgh’s reputation as the ultimate Hogmanay destination… These repeated failures have resulted in substantial financial loss, property damage and reputational damage during peak periods.

“It also has an impact on Edinburgh’s reputation.”

The energy company has committed to making staff available during Hogmanay in the event of further outages.

A spokesperson said: “We are experiencing intermittent issues with the power supply in the Grassmarket area of ​​Edinburgh and would like to reassure all customers and businesses that we are doing all we can to resolve the issue as quickly as possible ahead of the Hogmanay celebrations which begin later.

“Yesterday’s outages were the result of a low voltage protection fuse operating due to an intermittent fault, which caused customers to be shut down for an hour in the afternoon, between approximately 3pm and 5pm, and again from 6pm to 8pm.

“We are fully aware of the impact this will have caused at such a busy time of year, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.”

“The power went out again mid-morning today and we are currently on site working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

“Our staff have been going door to door at the Grassmarket to reassure customers that we are doing everything we can to ensure there is no further disruption today.

“We will also have additional staff on standby tonight between the bells and into the early hours.

“We look forward to meeting with all relevant groups in the new year to discuss our investment plans to strengthen the network and mitigate any disruption in the future.”



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Tatiana Schlossberg: granddaughter of JFK, died at 35 after diagnosis of terminal cancer #Tatiana #Schlossberg #granddaughter #JFK #died #diagnosis #terminal #cancer

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The JFK Library Foundation announced Ms. Schlossberg’s death in a statement today.

“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the statement said. The message was signed “George, Edwin and Josephine Moran, Ed, Caroline, Jack, Rose and Rory”.

Ms. Schlossberg is survived by her husband, George Moran, their three-year-old son and their one-year-old daughter.

She is also survived by her parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, her brother Jack Schlossberg and her sister Rose Schlossberg, married to Rory McAuliffe.

The environmental journalist revealed she was diagnosed with a rare type of acute myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer, in a New Yorkers essay published on November 22, the 62nd anniversary of his grandfather’s assassination.

I had swum a kilometer in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant

In the essay, Ms. Schlossberg recounted her disbelief. “I couldn’t believe they were talking about me.

“I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick. I didn’t feel sick,” she wrote.

Ms Schlossberg was diagnosed shortly after giving birth to her daughter last year, when doctors noticed her white blood cell count was high.

Today’s news in 90 seconds – December 31

“Everyone thought it was pregnancy or childbirth related. After a few hours, my doctors thought it was leukemia,” she wrote.

In her essay, Ms. Schlossberg also criticized her cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

“I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health or government,” she wrote.

She denounced his cuts in research funding, in particular for “mRNA vaccines, a technology which could be used against certain cancers”.

Ms. Schlossberg’s work has focused on the impacts of climate change. She has published several articles in The Washington Postincluding an investigation into the impacts of climate change on cranberry growers.

In 2019, Ms. Schlossberg also published Discreet consumption: the environmental impact you don’t know exists.



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Problems with NI’s health service would become more acute, official warned in 2005 #Problems #NIs #health #service #acute #official #warned

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Northern Ireland’s health service faced “difficult problems” in 2005, with a senior civil servant warning that pressures “will become even more acute in the years to come”.

However, the author of a health study also heard that there was “a strong political and public attachment to the NHS model” in the region and that it had provided an “impartial community resource” throughout the Troubles.

Professor John Appleby launched an independent review of health and social care services in Northern Ireland in 2005.

There is strong political and public attachment to the NHS model in NI

Clive Gowdy

Declassified documents from the Public Record Office in Belfast show that Clive Gowdy, then permanent secretary at the Department of Health, prepared a paper for the academic in which he said the HPSS (Personal Health and Social Care) was “struggling under the combined effect of growing public demands and expectations, rising standards of clinical and social care governance and spiraling costs”.

He said: “There is strong political and public attachment to the NHS model in NI.

“HPSS is virtually the only provider of health and social services here.

“The private sector is small – with, for example, only two small private hospitals – and relatively few people can afford private health insurance.

“Figures for the use of private health insurance show that in 2002, 19% of the English population was covered by such insurance, compared to 10% of households in NI.”

A senior civil servant said there was a strong attachment to the NHS model in NI (Anthony Devlin/PA)A senior civil servant said there was a strong attachment to the NHS model in NI (Anthony Devlin/PA)
A senior civil servant said there was a strong attachment to the NHS model in NI (Anthony Devlin/PA)

He added: “The value of HPSS is also demonstrated by the fact that throughout 30 years of civil unrest, HPSS has been viewed as an impartial community resource, providing essential services fairly and equitably across community and political divides.

“The HPSS has dealt with, and continues to deal with, both injuries and illnesses directly associated with the conflict, as well as illnesses resulting from the economic stagnation, long-term unemployment and poverty to which the unrest contributed. »

It is clear that these pressures will increase further in the years to come.

Mr Gowdy said services were “facing the challenges of coping with ever-increasing pressures on our health and social care services”.

He added: “It is clear that these pressures will become even more acute in the years to come.

“This will pose real resource challenges and this issue, which concerns health systems around the world, cannot be ignored in Northern Ireland.

“We need open and honest political reflection on how these demands should be met. »

The Permanent Secretary concluded: “The reality is still that although the HPSS provides essential services to the community at all levels, it is unable to guarantee the quality of service it can offer to the public.

“It has not been possible to meet all public demands and the worst manifestations of this deficit have been the long waiting lists for inpatient and outpatient services, queues in emergency departments, the failure to provide new drug therapies to all patients who need or could benefit from them, and the deficit in community social services for vulnerable people and children. »



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The meeting discussed the use of anti-terrorism laws to combat paramilitary flags and murals #meeting #discussed #antiterrorism #laws #combat #paramilitary #flags #murals

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A file held at the Public Record Office in Belfast includes the minutes of a meeting which took place at Stormont House.

A meeting at Stormont discussed the use of anti-terrorism laws to combat displays of paramilitary flags and murals in 2004, according to declassified files.

The papers reveal that a senior PSNI official said “comprehensive case law” could be developed within the courts to establish a “clear line between what is acceptable and what is not”.

A file held at the Public Record Office in Belfast includes the minutes of a meeting which took place at Stormont House on March 2, 2004, attended by PSNI representatives, civil servants and representatives from the Community Relations Unit (CRU) and the Community Relations Council (CRC).

The minutes indicate that a previous meeting concluded that a “community approach to the flag issue was preferable to a police-only response.”

Senior officer Gary White told the meeting he had had a discussion with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the use of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The minute read: “Again, the question of what is and is not acceptable behavior has become an issue, but GW (Gary White) believes that the DPP is in favor of using this provision generally and this is easiest where a flag or mural illustrates an explicit level of support for a paramilitary organization.

“Obviously there will be areas where there will be doubts about what a flag is.

“GW suggested that this issue should be left to the courts and that comprehensive case law could be developed to establish a clear line between what is acceptable and what is not.

“He also reminded the group that there is great sympathy for the idea that what was acceptable during the worst phases of the Troubles may not be acceptable now.”

The minutes indicate that the meeting recalls a test case relating to the display of paramilitary flags in Hollywood, which resulted in the conviction of four people under section 13 of the Terrorism Act.

It was subsequently learned that the CRU had commissioned research from the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s University into the issue of flags and emblems.

The CRU’s Billy Gamble said “his preference was for the community to resolve these issues on their own”, but he felt there “had to be a threat of final sanction”.

The minutes state: “The group was clearly impressed by the approaches of the CRU/CRC and expects the outcome of the policy document in June.

“It is clear, however, that there will be times when the community simply cannot stop the paramilitaries from engaging in this activity.

“In such circumstances, the PSNI is content to have the necessary powers under the Terrorism Act to deal with the situation. In short, there is no universal policy that can solve the flag problem.”

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