Capital flow and external reserves Ireland' s present economic difficulties , which have required such drastic budgetary action , including the doubling of the 5% wholesale tax with effect from yesterday, are due to domestic inflationary pressures. This domestic inflation has , of course , had a significant impact on our external payments. Nevertheless our " external reserves have so far been unaffected , and , indeed , when the end-year banking figure s become available it may well trans pire that for the first time in very many years these reserves have risen to the £300m. level. At the end of November they stood at £295.2m., disregarding our gold and foreign exchange subscription to the International Monetary Fund , which amounted to a further £8.3m. The movement of our external trade and payments, and of our external reserves , in the past couple of years is of considerable interest. Because figures for invisible exports and imports are published onl y in respect of calenda r, years , the evolution of our external payments and of the net inflow of private cap ital during the course of each year are somewhat obscure . However it is possible to construct estimate's of half yearly balance of payments figures which help to explain some of the fluctuati ons in our externa l reser ves that are due to seasonal movements in both merchandise trade and tourist receipts.
A Estimate s along these lines are set out in Table 1 below. The half-yearly breakdown of the net invisible' receipts , the external deficit or surp lus , and the private . capital flows set out in the fourth , fifth and sixth lines of the table , is conjectural, and ail the figures for the second half of 1968 are est imates , based on, data in respect of five of the six months. Nevertheles s althou gh there is an element of conjecture in these figure s, and in the external reserve figur es up to 1965, tbey are pro babl y a fair representation of the order of magnitude of the aggregates involved. Fro m the table it will be seen first of all that ther e is a stron g seasonal pattern in Irish trade and payments. Imports tend to be heavier in the first than in the second half of the year , although in some years this is offset by the gener ally upward trend in impo r ts , which sometimes raises the second-hal f totals above the level of those /or the first half. Exports on the other hand have a seasonal bias towards the second half of the year which reinforces the long-term rising trend of exports . As a resul t of these two phenomena , the external deficit is always heaviest in th e first hal f of the y ear , typically by about £15m. Principall y because of the role of tourism in Irish invisible receipts , the contribution from this source is always greater in the second half of the year than in the first — although the differences shown in this table are somewhat speculative. Here again the trend towards a more favourable picture in the second half of the vear is reinforced , with the result that th e Irish external payments £20m. to £40m. bett er in the second half of eaoh year than in the first. This , in turn , has its impact on t he level of our external reserves—su biect , however , to any fluc t uations that may occur in thenet capital flows These cap Hal flows do not appea r to have any clear-cut seasonal pattern , but they are liable to sudden and shar p fluctuations , which , can have a considerable impact on the level of our external ' reserves . It will be seen from this table that there is evidence that the pri vate capital inflow , which for some time had fluctuated between £25m. and £45m., a yea r , dried up almost
N.O.W. VOTE PLEA REJECT ED A PERGAMON press-backed bid by three News Of The Worl d pensioner s t o pr ev ent Pension Fund shares being voted in favour of the N.O.W.News Ltd . link-up, was reje cted in London by a High Court judge last night. The voting takes p lace at today 's extraordinary general meeting of News Of The World shareholders.
completely in the twelve months ended June last—indeed in the first six months of this year there may even have been a small net capital outflow. Fortunatel y for our external reserves this adverse trend began to show itself at a time when our external payments were moving —very temporarily—into surplus , with the result , that our external reserve position actu ally im.by shar ply — aided proved seasonal factors—in the second half of last year. This year the reserve s fell sharp ly in the first six months , because of a combination of a rising external deficit aggravated by adverse
Auditor s of the New s of the World Ogranisatioc i yesterday were countin g the proxy votes sent in for toda y 's shareholders ' meeting, climax of a long take-over battle , writes a City correspnodent. A spokesma n sai d that "a number " of proxies given to Mr. Roben Maxwell ' s Pereamon Press Company from shareholders accepting his bid had been lodged with News of the World on Tuesday. He said none had beep lodged yesterda v "and now it is too late to lodge any mo re." The company is consulting its leqal advisers on the olaim by Mr. Maxwell that any furth er acceptances received by bim can be used up to one hour before today 'y meeting to neutralise any previous proxv given to the board by a «hareho Wcr sending in a late acceptance. Todav 's meeting, at which shareholders will vote on the proposed rink with Mr. Rupert Murdoch 's News Ltd. is exoected to be a lone and *tormv one. Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Murdoch hav e said they writ! be there ,
confidence. ¦ ¦ What causes these sudden fluctuatio ns in the direction of capital flows? Unfortunatel y we know very little about these flows—the bulk of. which are lumped together under a residua l headin g in the capital balance of payments. This is indeed , one of the biggest , and most serious , gaps in our economic statistics— for if we don 't know the composition of these capital flows, we are not in a position to diagnose the causes of changes in the direction of these flows , much Ies9 to foreca st such chan ges.
ECONOMIC COMMENT by Garret FitzGerald seasonal influenc es, and the tempor ary disap pearance of the net capital inflow. But in the second half of the year , despite the underlying problem of the external deficit , which rose to an annual rate of about £20m. by the end of the year , the reserves recovered again to a record level, aided by the favourable seasonal tren ds of the second half and the re-appearance of the net capital inflow , apparen tly on a very substantial scale. It must be clear fr om this table first of all that in evaluatin g movements in our reserves account must be take n of seasonal factors. Even quite a sharp decline in the reserves in the first half of a year may .have no real significance , whereas in the second half if the reserves fail to rise, there Is cause for concern . Secondly the importance of the private capit al flows is manifest. As a countr y still in course of development we need , and we attract, an inflow of capital , some of it direct investment by foreign industrialists , some of it portfolio investment , some of it involvin g an inflow of funds from external banks or hire purchase companies with branches or subsidiaries _ here , and some of it money lent in one form or another to the Government or/to State enter prises. Unfortunat ely a propo rtion of thes e private capital flows are unstable . Experience has shown that under certain cond itions— as in the twelve months ended June last , and previou sl y in 1960 and before that agai n in 1955—the norma l net capital inflow can dry up altogether or can even turn into a net capital outflow. Indeed in 1955 it was the reversal of the normal net capital inflow that aggravated the situation cau sed by the emer gence of an external deficit to the point where drastic action was
Half- yearly
estimates i
Import , Export s
"
Im por t Excess Net Invisibl es
of
It seems likely, however , that the instab ility of these capital movements aerives mainly from short-term flows; mediu m and longer -term investment is likely to be more sta ble, al thou gh, of course , when majo r investin g countries such as Britain and the United States impose restrictions on forei gn investment , the inflow of capital to this countr y is liabable to be affected . . B ut at least such measures are unlikel y to cause a reversal of the "n ormal inflow—they will tend only to reduce it. But in the case of short term funds , ' there can be a twoway movement , and the direction of the movement will normall y be governed by relative interest rates in the Republic and in the U.K. When interest rates in Ireland are relatively favourable , money will tend to move into this country, but if this favourable relationship is disturbed , then the flow can all too easily be outwards. Paradoxically this is liable to happen when interest rates are generall y high—for the policy of the Irish Government and banks fias traditionall y been to hold Irish interest rates down as far as possible in periods of high interest rates in Britain and in the world in general. This is done by limiting the increase in deposit rates at such periods, and restrictin g even more severel y the rise in lendin g rates. This means that at such periods Trish depositors may get a better return by movin g spare funds to Britain or even, to a lesser degree , to Northern Ireland. Moreover foreign lenders who ¦have to pay external interest rates for their funds—including externall y owned, banks and hirepurchase companies—find it more difficult to lend money in Ireland at such periods , because the Irish banks ' lending rate s are held down to a level that is highly competitive with lendi ng rates in Britain. Thus such externall yowned institutions may for a
% evidence of such a There is trend in the period endin g June last in the bala nce of sheets of merchant and . industrial banks, and hire purchase companies, published by the Central Bank • in its quarterly bulletin. The third quarter figures for these suggest, however , . institutions that this trend may have begun to be reversed , durin g the summer —and the fall in U.K. bank rate ; at the end of September should have reinforced th is trend. It seems likely that part at least of the explanation for the occasional shar p fluctuations in capital flows betwee n the Republic and the rest of the world may be found in this inter est ra le phenomenon. If so. we may need to consider whether with the increasin g sophistication of Irish depositor s and investors , it may not be necessar y to reconsider our " cheap money " policy, by means of which Irish borrowers have traditio nally been sheltered from the full force of increases in international interest rates. If the "retention of this policy 5s in fact introducin g a considerable degree of instabilit y into capital movements between this countr y and Britain , with damagin g effects on our reserves at such peri ods, then we might be wiser to modify this policy— as was indeed done , but a pparently to an inadequate degree , in 1967. We have been fortunate in (hat Che dr ying up of the net capit al inflow in the twelve months ended Juhe last (almost certainly reflectin g an outflow of short-term funds balancin g a continuing , thou gh perhaps reduced , inflow of medium -term . and longer-term capital) occurred at a time when our external payments were moving favourabl y. If a £4Om. fall in the capita l inflow, such as occurred dur ing that twelve-month period , had taken place at a time when our external payments were running into deficit , as has since happened to the tune of at least £2Om. . then our external reserves could be reduced in a relat ively short period by £60m. or more. While , if its causes were pro perly understood , such a decline in our reserves would not necessaril y be a serious matter , there is an evident da n ger that it would in fact be misunderstood , and that confi dence in our economy could in these conditions be shaken quite unnecessarily. •
In conclusion it is worth remarkin g that this issue, although , no doubt present in the minds of econom ists and bankers , has been little discussed. It Reserves an airin g — even if it appears a dull subject .
External paymen ts, private capital flows and changes in
1964
ii
179.6 169.7 109.0 113.0 . 70.6 44.1
spare money to Lond on, a return to a normal relationshi p • between Irish and British lend; ing rates.
external reserves, 1964-1968 (£s Mn .).
56J 51.2
^ ' suVpk if011 ,... -26.5 -5.5 or Private Capital Flow +20.1 +16.1
i
'1965
ii
192.5 179.3 97.0 123.8 95.5 49.2
55.7 60.2
1967
1966 n
i
176.1 196.5 108.5 135. 9
198.7 131.6
191.9 152.7
67.1 55.1
39.1 66.2
i
67.6 52.1
60.6 60.9
ir
i
1968
ir (Est.) 239.3 247.7 154.9 179.1 84.4 58.9
68.6 72.2
-46.3 +4.5 + 12.3 +11.5
-15.5 ' +.3+19.1 +18.5
-12.0 +27.1 +25.1 +6.1
-25.5 +3.6 -1.0 +23.0
Ch ance in External Reserves
-6.4 +11.6
-34.0 +16.0
-' " .6 +18.8
+13.1 +33.2
-26.5 +26.6
Level of External Reserves at End of Period
237.1 248.7
, 214.7 230.7
234.3 253.1
266.2 299.4
272.9 299.5
I.N.C. to ra ise p rice of electrolytic nickel From Bruce Dunfield LONDON, Wednesd ay
THE BIG NEWS this week is the announcement from Interna t ion al Nick el Company of Canada that it is raising its price for electrolytic nickel by 9 cents to SI.03 (U.S.) a pound equivalent to £986 a long ton. Most of the other producers followed suit but Falconbridge are still study ing the situation and a decision is expected this week. Mr. Ju stice M egarry had been An increase had been on the way
tol d that the 578,596 Pen sion Fund shares could be "vital" in decidin g the battle for control. Dismissing the claim , the judge said the pensioner s were being used as "pawns ' in the fiaht for control of the company between Mr . Robert Max well's Pergamo n Press an d his allies on one hand and Sir William Carr , of the News of the World , and Mr. Ru pert Murdoch , of News Ltd. , the Australian publ ishing group, and their allies on the other. The pensioners had sued Sir William Carr an d two other N.O.W. directors , trustees of the Pension Fund , claiming orders stopping th em voting Pension Fun d shares in favour of th e News Ltd. link-u p and directin g them to vote against the proposal . The judge said that the trustees had ac 'ed on a stockbroker 's advice in decidin g how to vote at today 's meeting. In view of that , and th e unexplained delay in making the application no order could be granted. The pensioners were ordered to pav the costs of the hearing. The judge had been told that they were financed by Pergam on. - Leave to appeal was refused. PROXY VOTES
their required in order to restore period be forced to send pendi ng
for some time , I.N.C. said, not only to meet higher costs but also to finance its major expansion schemes designed to ensure adequate supplies for its customers. ' The rise does little to close the gap between the official and the free price which is firm between £1,400£1 ,500 a ton. It does mean that the Westralian nickel companies , pr eviousl y hiding their potent ial under the old nickel bushel at £902 a ton , can now go ahead and declare the extent of their reserves with impunity Perha ps now we will hear of what , in fact , is a more nearly true estimate of Metals Exploration reserves at Nepcan; Great Boulder /N. Kalgurli V tonnages at Scotia and , perhaps more important , what the scale and size of the operation might be on the Western Mining / Sherritt Gordon leases in the Scotia area. The increased price also carries a good message for marginal operations on a grand scale such as Explorations ' Greenvale Metals Laterite project which is concerned with developing some 45m. tons of relatively low grade ore. The price increase , more than anything else, put a fir. ""* close 'o the end-year stock market in nickel shares. However , one must not ne only concerned with the benefit accruing to marginal mines, but also to the actual producer out there , Western Mining, and the shares have responded in a most satisfa ctory manner as have Great Boulder , due to produce in August , and Metals Explorations due to raise ore to the surface by next June . It will be interesting, when it comes, the announcement fro m Anaconda /C.R.A./Ncw Broken Hill about their deposit at Widgiemooltha , which has already been advertised in America as being high grade . Woodside OH was selected by a member of the Sunday Telegrap h staff as being the best oil gamble in 1969 and I would not disagree with him. Reports along the vine say the company has more oil than 1,000odd barrels a day from its Legendre well and , of course , the market is waitfng eagerly for news of what it may find in the Dampier No. 1 welJ,
MINES AND METALS some 50 miles to the south. The market for both the old and the new shar es is behavin g remarkably well but in the case of Woodside , I expect any announce ment to come from London , as Burmah are the prime partici pants. Therefore it could be basic to find out where the buying of the shares is coming from . CHEAP SHARES Anyway, Woodside are also going to have a shot at dri lling this year on their leases near the Gippsland basin where B.H.P./E sso have been dramaticall y successful in establishing several separate oil fields. I think the shares are still cheap either the old at around 14s. or the new at approximately 9s. per shar ?. One end-year surprise came from Zandpan , which has said that the maiden dividend forecast for October , 1969, cannot now be expected. The R.I. shares (11s. 8d.) have come back from a peak of 28s. to around 14s. 6d., and although the news is disappointing , the shares merit consideration for mid- to long-term investors . The trouble has been th at development values and the mill gra de recovery fell off last year and this , allied with a restricted production , meant abnormally high costs and an immediate impact on the financing of the company 's expansion programme. Even so, the company thinks the original long term objectives are still possible of attainment. More than that , the uranium element and the selling of gold at
FOOD AND PROD UCE DUBLIN
premiu m price s puts a floor under the share price . There is no rush to buy here but it should be a good hedge for those who like a gold share able to benefit materially from any direct boost in the price and also fro m the much talked about uranium reviva l due to make itself felt in 1970. Zandpan produc ed 404,700 lbs. ni the first nine months of the past year. The F inan cial T imes carried a story th is morning about Westficld Minerals and its property in north-west ern A u s t r a l i a under option to Texa s Gulf , Sulphur saying that current investigations show an oval-shaped , flat ly dipping ore bod y extending over a possible length of 800 feet so far assaying aroun d 1% copper , 3% comb ined lead-zin c and 1 ounce of silver per Th is prosp ect is adjacen t to Whim Creek , wh ich Westfield is probing on its own account. The shares have been moving narrowly in Toronto between SI.00 and SI. 10 a share. The share 's have been presen ted as a very good specula tion for 1969. I note that Timor Oil are a good marke t and are fair ly active ar ound 9s. This company will soon begin drilling in Port uguese Timor and prospects consider ed to be much better than average. A.O.D. ACTIVE A.O.D. is also an acti ve marke t which doubtless stems , in par t at an y rate , from the 1.2m. cubic feet gas flow per day through a halfinch botto m hole choke at the No. 6 well at Mount Plea sant hills operated by the associated group. The above test was carried out at 3,485-3,537 feet whereas earlier at 3,429 feet -3 ,485 feet the same hole gave a final flow rate of 4m. cubic feet per day. The well is now being cased for gas prod uction from both levels.
PORT OF DUBLIN ¦
~ ARRIV ALS Tuesday—KUkenn y OBirkenhead), light; Prauke (Antwerp) , general; Cky of Cork fB remen), general ; Reginald Kearon (Floucester), car parts; Dido (Bristol), general; Muns ter (Liverpool), pass/cars; Orapcsa (Pe ru), fish meal r. Meath (Lrvapool). »«~./. general. Yesterday—rKkt« Tholstru p (WhiteKate). gas; Darlingto n (Holybead), general; Hanna Knu ppel (¦Liverpool). ' general: Sbe ve Bearnag h (Holyhead) . general; Goodwill . Traw Uer (Preston ), general : Vivea (Malaga), .oran ges; Heljo (Havre) , general; Harro uate OHolyhead). general.
Fish—Good demand for one salmon ¦nd fair amount other fish. All per |b.— •almon , 110/-; lobster: . IS/-, black sole, 51- to 5/3; dips , 21- to 2/3; brill and turtmt , 2/- to 3/3; prawn tails, 2/6 to 3/- . All per doz.—escallo ps, 7/-. . All per St.—plaice . 20/- to 42/-; cod, 10/to 14/-; oodlinc, 8/- to 10/-; hake . 35/-: DEPARTURE S small . 7/- ; haddock , 7/- to 14/-; gutted whiting, 6/- to 12/6: ray winss, 22/6 ; ,,T«»*W — Niedennehnen (sea), light : pollock, black , 6/- ; white . 10/-: dabs , Marlzell (Liverpool), general : Freseru (Bris10./- to 22/6: lemon *»>«. 29/- to 30/-. tol ), part cargo: Alpha (Swansea), light; All per box—trn all codlin g, 33/-; ray, Santa Mari a (Belfast) , part cargo; Brkt 60/- to 146/-; whiting, 40/- to 68/-: (An twerp), light; Harrog sto (Holyhead), haddock. 40/- to 58/.; herrings . 15/. to general; Korcula (Liverpool), pant cargo; Tyro (Le Havre), stook/«enera l; Sliove 20/-. Bawn (Holyhead), stock/general; CharRoots and Vegetables—Steady trade for ' e J? Mtian (Aa lvJ k). coke breeze; Valsmall ntpply. Cauliflowers . 8/- to 16/- l° keM,i (Haul bowline), scra p; Coria fPreston) , doz.; lettuce , 3/- to 12/- doz .; onions , general ; Oswestry Grange (Falmo uth ). light; 3/5 to SI- St.; parsley, 3/- chip; sprouts , St. Ron an (Garston) . liglv: Spinel (Par' 10/- to 18/- chip ; carrots , 51- to 91- tuvgton), light; Cily of Dub'in (Wa terford) . bag; swedes . 4'- to 8/- bag; parsnips , general; Mun ater fLlverpool) . pass/cars . . 6/- to II- ba«; celery. 5/- to 20/- bunch: Yesterday—Querrt in fHeysham ), light: cfcoice, 25/- bunch; mushr oQDU, 3/- to Ninoop dLiverpoo]) . general; Th« Lady 9/- ohip ; choice, 10/6 Chip, Grama (Liverpool), itout.
Mr. Lenihan , Mini ster f or Ed ucat ion , speaking at the Young Scientist of the Year Exhibition in the Royal Dublin Society yesterday, when he presented.a £250 Aer Lingus prize to Luke O'Connor Drury, of Wesley College , Dublin , who is shown in the photograph sitting in the fron t row between Mr. Pat rick Lynch (left) , Aer Lingus chairman , and Captain Kelly Rogers.
DUBLIN BOY BEST YOUNG SCIENTIST 15-year-old winner
,. ;;
WESTERN GIRLS SET I SIGHTS TOO HIGH ; Marria ge bureau 's p roblem
By Lionel Fleming THE HIERARCHY'S one-year-old Marriage Introductions ' . " «THE YOUNGSCIENTISTOF THE YEAR", who wi ns a Bureau at Knock village, Co. Mayo, has already encountered the
£250 pri ze in the annual Aer Lingus Young Scientists ' Exhibi- west of Ireland's old social problem—the fact that most of the ,. . , tion, was announced yest erday when the Ministe r f or Education , young girls with a farming background and a national school .*. . Mr. Lenih an , opened the exhibition at the Royal Dubli n Society education are working in London, Birming ham and Coventry. ;:_ before a big gathering of youthf ul competitors , teachers , pare nts , Ihe bureau , which was set u p - - ,, by the 80-year-old Archbishop of .... and those who had just come along to see what youthful Ire land Tua m, the Most Rev. Dr . Wa lsh , ,, . is going to contribute to science. and the five other bishops in The winner is a 15-year-old Wesley College schoolboy, Luke Connacht early in 1968 , plans to . ^ try and redress this unequal balance .. . O'Connor Drury, who , in t he j unior sectio n , contribu ted a study of the sexes in the New Year with ; , of " the construction and use of a spectro-photometer to investia more extensive campaign to metal". formation in a transition gate complex ion attract female applications from _ Master Drury's device, which I inspected afterwa rds and of which I am afraid I was able to make neither head nor tail, seems to be an arran gement of prisms and a thing that looks like a cine-camera projector , and one of the judges told me that his study showed a very high degree of original thought. This is the second time that he has entered the competition —last year he was highly commended for his entr y in the junior ph ysics section. This is the first time , in the five year record of these exhibit ions , that the major award has been won 'by a junior. Two of the three runne fs-u p (Anne O'Connor , of F.CJ., Bunclod y, Jonathan Cohen , of the High School , Dublin , and Brendan McCuIlagh , of De La Salle College, Churchtown , Co. They Dublin , were also juniors. eaoh get prizes of £100. and other prizes amounting to almost £1,000 were distributed among the rest of the winnin g competitors. One strikin g thing about the exhibition is the wide range of interest among the young competi- ' tors. Some have produced studies on such intimidatin g themes as "the construction of an inexpensive diffraction-grating spectograph" or "the properties of a negative drag lift-off mach ine," or "the algebra of logic ," but there arc others who have devoted patient stud y to "the alcoholic levels of various homemade wines ," or " a geographical history of the parish of Rathwire ," or how P.R. compares with the "straigh t vote," or "how showbands and pop groups produce sound effects," or how a beam of light ca^n be used as a burglar alarm .
or why teenagers emigrate from the Cavan area. REACHING FOR MOON
This fertilit y of thought was certainly welcomed by Mr. Lenihan. Congratulating Acr Lingus for its enter prise in arranging the competit ion, he said: "We ha ve only to look around us here today to see how soience can appeal , to that sense of wonder and imagination which is latent in every young mind , and how it can make youn g people observant and enquiring, and give to their educat ion a feeling of challenge and adventure ." We in Ireland should be reachin g for the moon , said Mr. Lenihan enthusiastically, even if we could not do so in quite the same literal sense as the American spacemen. We should go en expanding our mental frontiers , and the current exihfbition showed that we were capa ble of doing so. Mr. Patrick Lynch , chairman of the board of Aer Lingus , had opened the proceedings. He said that in the five exhibitions held so far more than 1,300 projects had been shown , and more than 150 prizes had been won. His company felt th at these competitions must benefit the country, whose future depended to a great extent on highly educated and well-trained scientists. The judges , he said , were meticulous in making sure that the entries were the result of original thought on the part of the compet i to r s , and he though t one proof of their good judgment was the fact that the major award winners of past years had all done brilliantly in their later studies. The exhibition will continue until tomorrow evening.
TRAINING OF ASSISTANCE OFFICERS Irish Times Reporter
LECTURES at the s econd day of t he s eminar on " The Place
of Social Assistance in the Social Services," held in University College, Dublin , yesterday, were mainly concerned with the techniques and the training necessary for assistance officers. The seminar, organised by the Department of Social Science, U.C.D., and the Irish Assistance Officers' and Superintendent Assistance Officers' Association, continues until tomorrow.
The seminar is being attended by 44 members of the Association from all over the country and yesterday 's lectures were delivere d by members of th e Department of Social Science in the College. At the open ing session on Tuesday afternoon the chairman of the association , Mr. Colm Smith , condemned certain county Managers for not allowing the assistance officers in the ir area to attend the seminar. A few months ago 29 count y to were requested mana gers authorise the attendance at the seminar of re presentatives of the assistance officers in their area. Amon g the actual attendance at the seminar only 15 county coun cil and hea lth authorit y districts are represented. From the remaini ng 14 auth orities only two answers were received by the Assistance Officers ' Association to the invitations sent out. One of these suggested that the officers would "learn little " from the proceedings and the other suggested that the seminar should 'be organised by the Institute of Public Administration. MANAGER 'S ATTITUDE The latter was also the attitude taken by the County and .City Mana gers ' Association in a reply to the Assistance Officers' Association; they felt that the proper body to or ganise seminars on behalf of the Associat ion was the Institute The of Pub lic Administration. reason for this is, aparently, an unders tanding arrived at between the managers and the institute committee whereb y a training selected from among the managers meet and discuss their training needs and problems with the institute once a year. A survey .on the training needs in local authorities was carried out by the Institute and following from th is a draft programme was drawn up. This programme was acepted by the managers and the Institute is working towards its implementat ion. The programme envisages training for all categories in the public service and some courses in this respect are already provided for in the present academic year. This would explai n the mana gers' insistence in their correspondence with the Assistance
Officers ' Association that the proper body to organise such a seminar as the one being held at present was the Institute of Public Administration . Howeve r , the assistance officers seem to be totall y unaware of this development or , at l east as to whether . it includes them and thei r training, or not. This lack of communication with a body who are as concerned about their own occupation and the # service they render as the Assistance Officers ' Association sem to be, judging by their response to this seminar , must be regretted.
Substantial rise in exports of pigmeat
Preliminar y figures for the year just ended indicate an appreciable inc rease both in slaughterings of pigs and in export s of pigmeat compared to the previous year. Total slaughterings by licensed curers increase d by approximately 14% to a level of 1.64 million. In addition, 32,000 pigs w ere slaughtered by pork exporters , compared to 9 ,000 in 1967. The increase d availability of pigs is reflected in the rise in exports of bacon , por k and other pigmeat products . More than 40% of total production was exporte d. Bacon and ham export s amounted to approximatel y 28.000 tons , which was a considerable increase On the previous year.
AER LINGUS PAY CLAIM TALKS
Conciliation talks will start next Monday in Dublin on the pay claim of 2,300 Aer Lin gus clerical workers. The workers recently rejected a draft pay agreement which pro posed an 8% increase on t'..e first £1, 200 a year of present salaries with effect from next April and fro m the same date a 6% increase on the portion of salaries above The clerical £1 ,200 a year. workers are employed at Dublin , Shannon and Cork *
Leinster schoolboys' chess contest
PLAY in the Leinster Secondary Schoolboys' Chess Championships was continued in St. J osep h' s School for the Blind , Drumcondra , Dublin , yesterday. In the senior champ ionshi p D. Cox (Oatlands), the holder , shares the lead at the conclusion of the fifth round with A. Moou .y (St. Declan 's C.B.S.), with 4J points each. S. Meyler (Oatlands) and his schoolmate , B. Kernan , lead in the junior contest with 4 points each . Results (Senior Championship): D. Cox beat F. Ballance ; B. Curran bti £>. Hackett; A. Moone y bt. J. Dudley; J. Brennan bt. F. O'Donohoe; P. Breen bt. D. Ken nedy; C. Hooper bt. E. Hayes ; D. Smith bt. S. Canavan; M. Lohan bt. J. Keegan; J. Savage bt. D. Mac Mathuna; P. Eva ns bt. P. Fa rrell; P. Sullivan bt K. McGarry; P. Jackson bt. T. Malone ; J. Boyle won by default. Junior Cham pionsh i p: B . Kernan bt. M. O Briain ; J. Hack ett bt. L. Farreil; K. Barry bt. O. Dawson ; T. Gallagher won by default. Drawn games: S. Mey ler v . L. O'Riordan; P. Mac An Bhair d v. C. O'Donovan; B. Flynn v. J. Breen. In the second round on Tuesday, in the senior contest , D- Hackett (Belvedere Coll.) and E. Hayes (C.U.S.) led with 2 points each. The leaders in the Junior event were P. Mac An Bhaird (Colaiste Mfouire ) and B. Kernan (Oatlands ), with maximum points. Results (Senior champ ionshi p): D. Hackett beat I. Boyle; E. Hayes beat B . Curran ; P. Breen beat P. Sullivan; J. Keegan beat P. Evans ; J. Brennan beat P. Jackson ; C Hooper beat D. Mac Mathuna. Drawn: F. O'Donohoe v. M. Lohan. Adjourned : B. O'Reilly v. D. Kennedy; J. Canavan v. D.- Cox; F. Ballance v. J. Savage; D. Smith v. A. Mooney; T. Malone v. K. MoGarry; J. Dudley v. P. Farrell. Junior championshi p: P. Mac An Bhaird beat J. Breen; G . Sedgewick beat K. Barry; J. Hackett beat M. Lynch; B. Kernan beat G. Smith. Adjourned: B. Fl ynn v. L. O'Riordan; M. O'Brien v. S. Meyler; O. Dawson v. T. Gallagher; C. O'Donovan v. L. Farrell.
City's homeless 'denied basic human ri ght ' The Citizens ' Advice Bureau of Sinn Fein issued the following statement last night:— " We are pleased to see that our nationa l newspapers and our television are deeply concerned with starvation in Uiafra , the war in Vietnam , racialism in the U.S.A. and South Africa , civil r ights in the Six Count i es , and the Pill. All these issues are , indeed , worthy of publication and we hope that our newspapers continue to bring our attention to the evils which exist in the world. " Among all this concern for the welfare of mankind the misery of Dublin 's homeless families seems to have been forgotten. Dubli n 's 10,000 homeless families are being denied the basic human right of adeq uate living accommodation. These forgotten families whose plight has been ignored by the authorities have seen a solution to their problem . This solution is squatting in the many vacant houses throughout the city, and who can blame them? "The Citizens ' Advice Bureau wish to state tha t we deplore the attitude of Dublin Corporation and private landlords towards families who throug h desperation and need .for shelte r squ at in vacant houses. There are many families in Dublin who have moved into empty houses particul arly in. the Mountjoy square a r ea , because Dublin Cor poratio n and the Government have failed to Drovide adequate living accommodation. However, when a family squats in either private or Cor poration property they are immediatel y disowned bv the Corporatio n and struck off the waiting list."
Nuclear risks not insured Starting yesterday. British insurers , boift companies and Lloyds, are to add to their policies covering risks in the United Kingdom a clause making it clear that such policies do not cover loss or liability caused by or arisinc from nuclear explosives, tne British Insurance Association announced yesterday^
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Britain. It has already handled 1,120 inquiries and from these emerged 760 applications. The number of women appl ying was 432 and 328 men—mainly farmers . The number of introductions was 250. No information is avai lable as to whethe r any marriages have ta ken place yet. :; The fact that there wer e more appli cations from women is decep; tive because a high percentage of these came from ban k clerks , secretar i es , nurses , who do not want to settle on the land. This is why the bureau intends seeking more applic ations from Irish cirls with a farming background , pa r- : ticularly in Britain . The bureau , wh ich has an office with a fuLl-timc secretary at Knock , ' states in a pr og r ess ro po rt just publis hed that it would also like to hear fro m more professional men and white-colla r workers. This ' is to maint ain a balanc e with the high percent age of applica tions from profe ssional girls who do not wish to marry far mers.AIMING TO HIGH , The Rev . Michael Keane , the bure a u 's P.R.O., explaine d that they had failed to find partners for about 50 farmers , age d between 30 and 45, becaus e most of the girl s of the same back ground had emigrate d to Britain. They planned in the New Year to try and attr act ' large r numbers of suitable app li- " cants by more widesp read publ icity ' '' and by sending out brochures and pa mphlet s to chur ch and emigrant ¦ centres in Britai n. He pointed out : "We have ' large numbe r of applica tions fro ma profe ssio nal girls , but they, in most ' cases, do not wa nt to settle on the ' land. I think myself the girl, are "' setting their sights a little too high/ " and they should be contented with a lot J ess." _ Fathe r Kean e, who is the curate " in Kilkerrin village , near Balli na- " sloe, Co. Galway . said they hoped ' by maki ng the work of the bureau bette r known in Britain to cet more appl icat ions from non-professi onal girls , such as girl s wor king as waitresses or in factories . He added : " We do not know if any of the 45 couples we intro duce d successfully hav e marred vet , but , o f course , we don 't expect to hear if everythi ng is going we!!. We hope to keep in tou ch with them every three months from now • on."
STRICT SECRECY One of the main reaso ns far tho founding of the burea u «u tnc .¦ " remarkably high percentage of « bachelors in western cou ni:«rs. !n Sligo, Galway, Mayo and l.e;trim . '; 90 /d in th e 25-30 age group *re bachelors . In Kos ^onim cn Lie *^• figure is 91Vo . 'I he ow neu of ". farms in th e 40-plus age group „ completely outnu mber those m the " 20-40 age groups. The burea u sends all enqu ir ies a questionnaire and two lmi i| forms , with a covering letter, 'l rie quest ionnaire is for official use ' only, and the two smal l foims aie ¦ completed by the applicant ana ¦ returned to the bureau uiLh a * photograph taken within 12 months. • ¦ If someone withdraws from ihe ' bureau the qu estionna i re , form s .; and photog raphs are returne d or * destroyed. * The 'bureau in making a selec- •'tion takes into consideration -" gener al background , education , in- . *, te rest s. etc. When a selection is Z being made the man is sent & "* photograph of the girl with one of ¦» the forms , giving particulars of her Z circumstances. If he wishej to "* meet the girl , his photograph and ~ one of the forms with his particu- '••* "-? lars are sent to her. When the couple agree to an £ introduction , the man can writ e the "Z, first letter to the girl , but via the :.^ bureau , which then forwards it to £ her . This stresses the care taken * never to reveal the woman 's address -4 to anyone. If the girl wants to "I meet the man , she writes to him ' '1 direct , giving her own address. The ¦?£ burea u then lets the couple arrang * ;* their own meetings. Vlj If the couple find that they wo | not compatible, they are expected CT to inform each other and aiso the J.^ bureau as soon as possible. When -^ this has been done, both are free to receive other introductions.
Forsyte Saga actor dies — The actor, Ian Fleming (80). who played Lord Fontenoy in the B.B.C. TV serial, "The Forsyte Saga," died at St. James'* Hospital ia London, yesterday.
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