Irish Examiner USA

Keane Scores His First Hat Trick In The Hoops

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 03:28:25 -0500

Celtic striker Robbie Keane (left) calmly prods in his second goal of the game (SNS)

Kilmarnock 0 Celtic 3

Celtic advanced to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup with a 3-0 victory over Kilmarnock, while Rangers will face a replay against Dundee United after drawing 3-3 at Ibrox.

Robbie Keane was the hero and decisive factor on Saturday though, as he scored his first hat trick in the hoops, all the goals coming in the second half.

Mowbray was forced to play Lukasz Zaluska in goal for this away fixture, Boruc being absent for "compassionate reasons," though the second-choice 'keeper was hardly tested by Kilmarnock's attackers.

Keane almost scored his first in 21st minute, when Crosas fed him the ball, and leaving him one-on-one with 'keeper Cammy Bell who managed to block Keane's shot.

With almost 60 minutes played, Mowbray decided to switch things around, bringing Samaras and Fortune on for Rasmussen and Crosas.

Within ten minutes, the character of the game changed when Keane, latching on to a long ball from Braafheid, got past Bell and rolled the ball easily into the net.

With less than ten minutes left, Keane scored his second, tapping in a cross from Fortune and, with Kilmarnock surging forward for their first, Samaras set him up for his hat trick in injury time.

The Old Firm teams avoided each other in the draw for the semi-finals that took place on Monday afternoon.

Celtic will play either Hibernian or Ross County, while Rangers or Dundee United will meet up with Raith Rovers in the other semi-final.

Despite scoring his hat trick for Celtic in the Scottish Cup, Robbie Keane has not been approached yet to see whether the player will stay at Parkhead beyond the end of the season.

Speaking to reporters, manager Tony Mowbray said, "That's not something that we get involved in.

"I'm just pleased that he's enjoying his football here and scoring a few goals. I'm delighted for him that he's got himself a hat-trick."

Meanwhile, former midfielder Lubo Moravcik insists that the Bhoys should do all the can to keep the Irishman in Glasgow: "Maybe the future for Celtic is to build the team around Keane as captain or a big player.

"He could finish at Celtic. That would be perfect for him, and the club."

He also believed that the club should spend whatever it would take to keep Keane there, telling reporters: "He has a winning mentality. This is good for Celtic."

Joe Kavanagh's Music News

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 03:30:48 -0500

Bob Geldof: Spoiling For A Fight

The difference of opinion between Bob Geldof and the BBC, which we reported on last week, has now spilled over into outright hostilities, with both sides edging closer to a legal battle. A controversial program recently aired by the esteemed broadcaster, contended that up to 95% of the $100 million raised by the Geldof-inspired Live Aid movement of the mid-80s, was siphoned off to arm militants in Ethiopia, instead of going towards feeding the millions of people suffering as a result of that country's famine. As evidence of the veracity of his story, reporter Martin Plaut interviewed several highly-placed former militants from the troubled east African nation, who implicated current Ethiopian president Meles Zinawi, as the major player in hijacking Live Aid's charitable endeavors. Plaut also maintained that Geldof had refused to talk to him while he was researching the story. That silence ended in furious fashion last week, when the feisty Irishman wrote an impassioned column for the Guardian newspaper, in which he attacked the BBC for publishing such a "sorry tale" and accused the broadcaster of indulging in shoddy journalism. Pouring scorn on the findings, an outraged Geldof wrote: "Where were all the dead people then? If no one was getting food, why was nobody dying? That would have been one of the first questions I'd have asked..." He also served notice of his intent to explore the possibility of suing the BBC, writing: "We will also take a view on what, if any, legal action we may take against... the World Service in general. Martin Plaut, Andrew Whitehead (Current Affairs Editor) and Peter Horrocks (Director of the BBC World Service) should be fired. There should be an immediate investigation into what went wrong, steps should be taken to rectify the identified faults and the World Service must work very, very hard to re-establish its trust and hard-won reputation as the world broadcaster of excellence." Both sides are adamant that they are in the right, so expect this story to have some legs...

Bob wasn't the only Geldof in the news last week, with word that his already once-married 20-year-old daughter Peaches, is now apparently dating actor/movie director Eli Roth. I'm relatively certain that news like that couldn't have helped Bob's mood. "That's great honey, I'm glad you've found someone. So what age is he?" "Well he's 37-years-old." "Okay, okay, well never mind, age isn't all that important I suppose. So what does he do?" "He invented something called 'torture porn'." "Is that a fact? That's swell." "Why is your eye twitching dad? Are you okay" "Sure I am sweetheart. Now I've just got to go to the gun store and pick up a .357 Magnum for something." "Oh, I almost forgot dad. Some guy called Martin from the BBC called and wanted to talk to you." "On second thoughts, better make that a .44 Magnum."...

While we are on the subject of Irish musicians with a penchant for flapping their jaws, I read an interview with Sinead O'Connor in the New York Post last week where she told Cindy Adams that she threw her 21-year-old son Jake's copy of an Eminem album off a balcony because he had begun to emulate the rapper's swearing. Is this the same Sinead O'Connor, who was - until recently at least - incapable of conducting an interview without turning the air blue? The same Sinead O'Connor whose language was worse than a drunken fishwife? And indeed, the same Sinead O'Connor who, upon being challenged about her vulgar language by Prince, by her own admission retorted: "Go f*** yourself!" It's nice to see that she hasn't lost her ability to assume more positions than an octopus in a game of Twister...

Bad news continues to surround upcoming Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, as word emerged that star of the show, Evan Rachel Wood, had endured as much as she could take of the troubled production and made the decision to quit last week. Her desertion is just the latest in a long line of setbacks, which has included a series of financial woes, in addition to other problems that have repeatedly seen the much-hyped production's starting date pushed further and further back. Bono and the Edge must be wondering why they ever got involved in what is turning into something of a debacle, though it is surely telling that they would not invest their own cash when the ship appeared to be sinking a few months back. At this point, it looks increasingly likely that the actual Spider-Man, Spiderpig, the X-Men, the cast of Gilligan's Island and Gunga Din couldn't save this particular venture...

First it was Tiger Woods, then former England captain John Terry, and now it's Take That's Mark Owen, who has become the most recent member of caught by the short and curlies crew, with the singer announcing that he had indulged in some 10 affairs since getting married last year. Like the other two aforementioned men, Owen was apparently on the verge of being 'outed' in the media, and decided to preempt the inevitable outcry by offering his own spin first. Speaking to UK tabloid the Sun, the goody-two-shoes pop star confessed: "I want to do the right thing now for the kids and Emma. She is absolutely without a doubt the only person I want to be with for the rest of my life. I'm so deeply sorry for the pain my actions have caused... I have been an idiot, a d***head, a k***head. All of the above and more." That apology certainly offers proof of why Owen is not credited amongst the band's lyric writers or they might have had hits like Forgive Me, You Slapper or You Make Me So Excited I Need To Use The Loo. Owen went on to blame his transgressions on his drinking, but given that one affair endured for over five years, that sounds like a bit of a cop-out, unless he's like the perfect mix between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. I honestly couldn't give a fiddler's about what Owen, Tiger or any of these dudes get up to, but they deserve what they get when they market themselves as paragons of virtue. To be honest, they don't really so much sound like they're sorry for what they did, so much as they're sorry that they got caught, and as for Tiger's apology; Burt Ward sounded more sincere in the old Batman series...

R Kelly's European tour has been put on hold because the controversial singer is currently suffering from a "throat problem". We're all really broken up about that. On the plus side, at least he won't have to waste time on putting out a press release to announce when the tour finally does get going because the surefire way of knowing that R Kelly is in town is when all your local stores run out of candy and condoms...

Lily Allen reportedly walked off stage in tears during a gig in London's O2 Arena last Sunday night (March 7), when two men began brawling in the crowd. The 24-year-old singer refused to return until both men had been ejected from the gig. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but it's a good job that all singers aren't so sensitive or bands like the Sex Pistols, The Who and Nirvana wouldn't have had careers at all. It was also reported last week that the Smile singer has signed up for a new reality TV show, following her efforts to open a high-end fashion shop in London. This after Allen spent the past few months telling everyone that she fully intends to walk away from the spotlight after her current tour ends. I guess she meant that in a Brett Favre kind of way... If Lily thinks that a couple of lads duking it out is bad, then she might want to avoid ever playing in Columbia. During a Metallica gig in the capital Bogota last week, 160 people were arrested for rioting, as troops and tanks were called in to quell violence. Tanks for feck's sake! ...

Holy Half-Assed Apologies Batman!

Robbie Williams has courted controversy once again, after engaging in a frank discussion about his drug habits with the BBC. The Angels hit-maker told an interviewer that he was so caught up in prescription drugs before entering rehab in 2007, that he believes he was close to popping his clogs, saying: "I was not in a good place. I was dying. I got to a point where I really, genuinely didn't care. I just got fat and depressed before. Then this one was like, you might die, now. Cool!" Williams then raised the ire of anti-drugs campaigners by declaring: "Did you see me last year? Have a look at last year. Year of the munchie, 2009. Weed, it's such a lovely drug. It is such a lovely drug. But it doesn't mix well with me - at all. It doesn't take much to trigger - I mean, I'll get psychosis from a cup of tea! Seriously. The caffeine in that is enough!" Not that I'm condoning what he said, well okay, maybe I am just a little a bit, but why aren't people so outraged when an artist admits that they like a drink? I also quite enjoy the way Robbie blames his weight problems on the drugs, irrespective of which ones he's on, instead of blaming them on food consumption. Still, I suppose it's better than saying it's a 'glandular problem' or those that say 'I just have to look at food and I put on weight', while they're washing down a cheeseburger and fries with a super size Coke...

Snow Patrol front man Gary Lightbody claims that he had been suffering from a dislocated jaw for the past eight years, without even knowing it, until US doctors recently diagnosed and fixed the problem. Writing on his blog, the Chasing Cars singer says that the injury occurred on a particularly drunken night out in Glasgow in 2002, when he fell down the stairs of a nightclub and ended up in hospital, where he became exceptionally abusive to staff. The singer admitted: "Because of my previous night's behavior to the nursing staff, the only thing they wanted was rid of me so there were no head X-rays taken. I am not annoyed with the nurses at all. I am only ashamed of myself, not annoyed with them. A few years after that incident, my jaw started to get sore and has been a source of pain for years. I have seen all kinds of people about it. My mistrust of western medicine meant, though, that never once did I get it X-rayed." I'll bet that the staff are delighted that he's accusing them of malpractice after all these years. Mind you, with Glaswegians' well-earned reputation for being double-hard, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the nurses gave him a broken jaw for his guff. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. In my defense I think I earned the right to say that, given that I was struck in the head with a pint glass during my one and only visit to the city... Still loved the place though...

From the tough streets of Glasgae to the hoi polloi strata of London's West End, critics have savaged the preview showings of Andrew Lloyd Weber's sequel to the Phantom of the Opera: Love Never Dies. Perhaps the most scathing, and lyrical, of the barbs came from New York Times critic Ben Bratley, who professed that "this poor sap of a show feels as eager to be walloped as a clown in a carnival dunking booth." Unfazed by the cascade of critical attacks, a defiant Lloyd Weber was quick to rebut their gibes, declaring: "I've been in this business for over 40 years - 43 to be precise - I've never had a show which has been successful that hasn't had quite negative reviews." Is that right? In that case, it's about time he did us all a favor and tried writing something that isn't quite so shite.

Prices Fall By 3.2% In The Year To February

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 03:47:09 -0500

Consumer Prices in February, as measured by the CPI, increased by 0.4% in the month. This compares to a decrease of 0.4% recorded in February of last year. As a result, prices on average, as measured by the CPI, were 3.2% lower in February compared with February 2009.

The EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) increased by 0.2% in the month. An increase of 0.2% was also recorded in February of last year. Prices on average, as measured by the HICP, were 2.4% lower in February compared with February 2009.

Services prices fell by 2.9% in the year to February, while Goods fell by 3.6%.

Clothing and Footwear and Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance prices increased due to a recovery in prices following the traditional January sales.

Health fell due to a reduction in prices for prescribed drugs.

Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels rose due to an increase in average mortgage interest repayments.

Miscellaneous Goods and Services rose due to increases in premiums for private health insurance.

The CPI excluding tobacco index for February increased by 0.5% in the month and was down 3.4% in the year.

The CPI excluding energy products rose by 0.5% in the month and fell by 4.1% in the year.

The CPI excluding mortgage interest increased by 0.3% in the month and was down by 2.1% in the year.

The Top Four Keep Marching On...

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 04:16:07 -0500

Portsmouth 1 Birmingham City 2

On Tuesday afternoon, Birmingham City gained revenge for their weekend FA Cup exit against Portsmouth after sending the Premier League's bottom club closer to relegation with a 2-1 triumph at Fratton Park.
Despite going down 2-0 on the south coast last Saturday, two goals from Cameron Jerome gave them the three points.
Substitute Nwankwo Kanu pulled one back in the dying minutes but with Pompey already five points from safety, this proved of little consolation in their uphill battle for survival.

Sunderland 4 Bolton Wanderers 0

Darren Bent chose the perfect moment to score his first hat-trick for Sunderland, with owner Ellis Short on Wearside to check on his investment.
The £10 million striker lifted the pressure on the Black Cats and manager Steve Bruce with a well-taken treble which helped lift the club six points clear of the relegation zone and into 13th place in the Premier League.
Bolton Wanderers were the fall guys on a night when the home side ended their wait for a league win at the 15th attempt, a run which dated back to November 21st last year.
Fraizer Campbell set the ball rolling after just 41 seconds with his first league goal for the club, but Bent took over after the break as he extended his personal tally for the season to 19.
He struck after 64 minutes, from the penalty spot 10 minutes later following defender Sam Ricketts' dismissal for a second bookable offence, and then again two minutes from time, and that for a team which had previously scored just two goals in six matches.

Burnley 1 Stoke City 1

In the only Premier League game on Wednesday, David Nugent salvaged a point for struggling Burnley against Stoke City at Turf Moor with his sixth goal for the club.
He headed home in the 52nd minute after Martin Paterson turned Danny Collins inside out before delivering a superb cross from deep.
However, although Burnley moved above Hull City they remain in the Premier League relegation zone after Tuncay Sanli's first-half goal for Stoke.

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Blackburn Rovers 1

In the early game on Saturday morning, Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko was on target again to help defeat Blackburn Rovers at White Hart Lane and strengthen his side's hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Before the weekend, Redknapp set his side the target of 19 points to finish in fourth position this season, with Blackburn designated as a must-win fixture given a run-in that includes Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea.
The odds were with them too because Allardyce's side have only recorded one league victory away from Ewood Park during the campaign, with only their home form getting them within sight of safety.
Jermain Defoe opened the scoring against Sam Allardyce's men, then Pavlyuchenko doubled the lead before Christopher Samba pulled one back.
Hopes of a Blackburn comeback were dashed when Pavlyuchenko scored his eighth in his last six matches.

Birmingham City 2 Everton 2

Lifelong fan Craig Gardner scored his first Birmingham City goal as Alex McLeish's side recovered to earn a point against Everton and preserve their six-month unbeaten home record.
Everton, knocked out of the FA Cup by Blues at Goodison Park this season, had taken control with two goals in three minutes mid-way through the first half from Victor Anichebe and Ayegbeni Yakubu.
But Birmingham's fighting spirit has shone through on countless occasions and it again surfaced. Cameron Jerome's third goal in the last two matches gave them a life-line before Gardner's moment of glory following his £3 million January move from local rivals Aston Villa.
Mikel Arteta, who played under McLeish at Rangers, produced an impressive display in front of his former manager. But another ex-Ibrox player in Barry Ferguson was an influential figure in the centre of the park for City.

Bolton Wanderers 4 Wigan Athletic 0

Owen Coyle saw his Bolton Wanderers side gain their third win in four Premier League matches and edge closer to safety with victory over relegation rivals Wigan Athletic.
The Glasgow-born manager was recruited from Burnley in January to try to secure the club's status and his methods appear to be working.
Johan Elmander made the breakthrough and second-half goals from Kevin Davies (pen), Fabrice Muamba and substitute Matt Taylor secured an emphatic victory. Given they had beaten Liverpool only last Monday, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez would have expected much more from his side.
Instead they were off the pace and it was a day to forget for former Celtic defender Gary Caldwell.

Burnley 1 Wolves 2

Clarke Carlisle's unfortunate own goal proved the difference as Mick McCarthy's Wolverhampton Wanderers clung on for three potentially priceless points at Turf Moor.
Carlisle deflected a shot by Adlene Guedioura past helpless home keeper Brian Jensen in the 47th minute to add to an opener from Matt Jarvis.
Jarvis had snatched his opportunity to fire the visitors in front in the 26th minute when a back-header from Tyrone Mears fell short and left Jensen stranded.
Brian Laws' men hit back through substitute Steven Thompson in the 73rd minute but the home side failed to grab a point and blew their bid to clamber out of the drop zone at Wolves' expense.
The last chance fell to substitute Robbie Blake in injury time but the striker's rising shot from eight yards was parried by Marcus Hahnemann and the home side's hopes were over.

Chelsea 4 West Ham United 1

Chelsea went back to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable win over West Ham United at Stamford Bridge.
Brazilian defender Alex headed Chelsea in front in the 15th minute but Scott Parker levelled with a stunning volley on the half-hour mark.
Didier Drogba rose unmarked to restore Chelsea's lead in the 55th minute before Florent Malouda's 20-yard effort in the 76th minute and Drogba's second put Carlo Ancelotti's side one point clear of Manchester United at the summit.
Chelsea goalkeeper Ross Turnbull made his league debut for the club and looked confident enough ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League last-16 return leg against Inter Milan.
The keeper, third choice all season, will be asked to play against Inter, who lead 2-1 from the first leg, due to injuries to Petr Cech and Hilario.

Stoke City 0 Aston Villa 0

Aston Villa missed the chance to reduce their deficit in the race for the final Champions League place after being held to a goalless draw at Stoke City.
The Britannia Stadium has become a tough venue for most visiting sides but for a team with aspirations of mixing it with Europe's elite next season Villa did not test goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen nearly enough.
The closest they came to making a breakthrough was three minutes after half-time when Stewart Downing's shot inadvertently deflected off team-mate John Carew but hit the side-netting with Sorensen wrong-footed.
With fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur winning earlier in the day the gap between them and Villa, in seventh, is now six points - although Martin O'Neill's team have two matches in hand.
If they are to make a bid for the top four, however, they are going to have to find a way of grinding out results in matches such as these.

Hull City 1 Arsenal 2

Nicklas Bendtner struck in stoppage time as Arsenal kept pace with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League with victory at 10-man Hull City.
The title-chasing Gunners went in front when Andrey Arshavin prodded in after 14 minutes but Jimmy Bullard levelled with a penalty after 28 minutes following a clumsy Sol Campbell challenge on Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Arsenal struggled to break down Hull following the 45th-minute dismissal of George Boateng but Bendtner earned a fifth straight win by netting after Denilson's swerving shot was not dealt with by Boaz Myhill.
Arsenal were far from their fluid best - illustrated in the 5-0 Champions League win over Porto in midweek - but Hull must be given credit for disrupting the visitors' rhythm and were ultimately unlucky to suffer a fourth straight loss.
The Tigers remain in the relegation zone with nine matches remaining.

Manchester United 3 Fulham 0

In the early game on Sunday Wayne Rooney took his goal glut to 32 with another fine double to take Manchester United back to the Premier League summit.
Although they wasted a huge number of chances United did enough to re-establish their dominant position with eight matches of the campaign remaining.
Rooney provided a suitably quick-fire response after a goalless first half and after he converted Dimitar Berbatov's cross seven minutes from time to leave him just 10 adrift of Cristiano Ronaldo's massive total of two years ago, Berbatov ended a frustrating afternoon by finally getting his name on the scoresheet.

Sunderland 1 Manchester City 1

Local boy Adam Johnson returned to haunt Sunderland as Manchester City snatched a dramatic equalizer on Wearside to maintain their Champions League hopes.
The substitute, who turned down a January move to the Stadium of Light to head for City instead, came off the bench to level in stoppage-time and finally end the home side's stubborn resistance.
It was hard luck on Black Cats' goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who pulled off five fine second-half saves, three of them from Newcastle United old boy Craig Bellamy, to protect the lead given to his side by Kenwyne Jones' ninth-minute header.
Sunderland were within seconds of clinching back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since December 2008, a run of 48 matches.
However, they were warmly applauded from the pitch by a crowd of 41,398 after very nearly adding City's scalp to those of Liverpool and Arsenal five days after ending their 14-match winless league run against Bolton Wanderers.
The visitors, who have a match in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, are now just two points adrift, but they came desperately close to leaving the north east empty-handed despite rallying well after a dismal first-half display.

Ronnie McGinn's Poetry Page

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 04:34:22 -0500

If you have a poem you'd like to see published in The Irish Examiner then send it to:

The Poetry Corner
The Irish Examiner USA
1040 Jackson Avenue, Third Floor
Long Island City
NY 11101

or, preferably, you can email it direct to
ronniemcginn@eircom.net.

If possible keep your poem to 20 lines. You may choose any subject you like, in any form you like as long as it's original. We look forward to hearing from you.

Our poem this week comes from Rose Kelleher who grew up in Massachusetts and lives in Maryland.

Her poems have been published in many journals and anthologies, most recently Snakeskin, Soundzine and The Raintown Review.

Her first book, Bundle o' Tinder, won the 2007 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize and was published in 2008 by Waywiser Press.

Overheard in Kelly's Pub

"Fresh off the boat you'd think the lad, with his
me Ayrish mither this and his Kilkenny
relations that. How fond of saying 'tis
the fellow is! But should you ask him when 'e
arrived at Logan Airport, you'll discover
that he was born in Woburn; 'twas his great-
great Grandma, Kate O'Whatshername, God love 'er,
who stowed away in 1828."
"These Boston Irish are a funny bunch,
pretending that they're Ireland born and bred.
An Irishman showed up here once for lunch;
no one could understand a word he said!"
O'Malley waves. Of course he'll have a Guinness,
which, with a wince, he'll sip, but never finish.
© Rose Kelleher

Annual Production Increased By 2.3% In January

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 04:48:41 -0500

On an annual basis production for Manufacturing Industries for January 2010 was 2.3% higher than in January 2009.

The most significant changes were in the following sectors: computer, electronic and optical products (down 37.2%) and basic pharmaceutical products and preparations (up 11.8%).

The seasonally adjusted volume of industrial production for manufacturing industries for the three month period November 2009 to January 2010 was 2.7% lower than in the preceding three month period.

The "Modern" Sector, comprising a number of high-technology and chemical sectors, showed an annual increase in production for January 2010 of 4.8% while a decrease of 3.6% was recorded in the "Traditional" Sector.

The seasonally adjusted industrial turnover index for manufacturing industries was 1.5% lower in the three month period November 2009 to January 2010 when compared with the preceding three month period. On an annual basis turnover was 8.8% lower when compared with January 2009.

Ritchie Welcomes Healthy New Approach To Sick Leave Changes

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 04:58:55 -0500

"Evidence demonstrates that work has a positive effect on health. With the appropriate support of doctors and employers, people will be able to return to work sooner."

A change to the current 'sick note' will soon make it easier for people to return to work in the North. From April 6 this year, those who are off work due to illness will be given a new 'fit note' which replaces the traditional 'sick note'.

The 'fit note', which is completed by GPs, will have the option of suggesting that an employee is able to work, subject to temporary changes in their employment, such as reduced working hours or amended duties.

Welcoming the change, Minister for Social Development, Margaret Ritchie said: "Evidence demonstrates that work has a positive effect on health. With the appropriate support of doctors and employers, people will be able to return to work sooner.

"The revised 'fit note' will help to achieve this by providing helpful information for people to discuss with their employer. This is also a good thing for the economy as it can help people to get back to work, rather than to continue on long-term sick absence."

According to Richie, making simple, practical adjustments to help people back to work at an earlier stage will benefit both the employer and the employee, and help prevent long-term sickness absences, ensuring that employers do not lose the expertise of their staff.

Easy Su Doku Solution

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 11:50:36 -0500

The Irish Examiner Easy Su Doku Solution

Easy Su Doku

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 12:02:51 -0500

The Irish Examiner Easy Su Doku

The instructions are simple, even if the puzzle isn't. You must put a number, from 1 to 9, in every box in the grid. However, each number can only appear once in a particular row or column and only once in each 3x3 sub-grid.

We hope you enjoy your weekly puzzles in The Irish Examiner.

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Medium Su Doku Solution

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 12:03:43 -0500

The Irish Examiner Medium Su Doku Solution

Medium Su Doku

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 12:04:31 -0500

The Irish Examiner Medium Su Doku

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Feeney

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 12:05:23 -0500

Feeney

Puzzles

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 12:06:11 -0500

The Irish Examiner Puzzles

CROSSWORD

SU DOKU

Click here or on the crossword image to see this week's puzzle and make sure you don't miss your weekly Irish Examiner Crossword fix!

Su Doku is the latest puzzle craze sweeping across Ireland and the USA and The Irish Examiner is proud to be the first Irish American newspaper to bring you your weekly fix.

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EASY | MEDIUM

Crossword

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 12:07:23 -0500

The Irish Examiner Crossword

ACROSS

1. Federal Trade Commission (abbr.)
4. Fuel
7. Chief executive officer (abbr.)
10. King of Israel
11. Border
12. Spindle
14. Fence of stakes
16. Spin
17. Turk. title
18. Almost
20. Sheep's cry
21. Delay
22. Coarse file
24. Sacred city of India
28. Friend of Mowgli
31. Winglike
32. Mythical bird
34. Lofty
35. Daughter of Helios
37. Male falcon
39. Alaska Hawaii Std. Time (abbr.)
41. Fellow
42. Anglo-Saxon letter
44. Prophetess
46. Fish with bait on the surface
49. Loess
51. Font
53. In the matter of (2 words)
54. Art (Lat.)
55. Academy (abbr.)
56. Trouble
57. Modernist
58. Ancient stringed instrument

DOWN

1. Droop
2. Broad structural basin
3. Greek letter
4. Farmer
5. Helper
6. Chic
7. Lobster box
8. Model
9. Olive genus
10. Environmental Protection Agency (abbr.)
13. Guido's Note (2 words)
15. Fr.-Ger. region
19. Mortar beater
21. Tamarack
23. Filled completely
24. Cistern
25. Teacher of Samuel
26. 4th incarnation of Vishnu
27. Distress signal
29. Cheer
30. Danube tributary
33. Cousteau's ship
36. Curved letter
38. Money
40. Giant
42. Yale student
43. Port. lady
45. Cow shelter
46. Carplike fish
47. Adjective-forming (suf.)
48. Garden plot
50. Honey
52. Trend

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Crossword Solution

Sun, 16 Mar 2010 12:10:17 -0500

The Irish Examiner Crossword Solution