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Fine Gael TD Simon Harris Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

Dáil's youngest TD could run in next year's European elections

Simon Harris is now among those who is considering running in the redrawn Ireland South in next year’s elections.

WICKLOW TD SIMON Harris is in the running to be sitting Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly’s running mate in the redrawn Ireland South constituency at next year’s European elections.

Harris is among a number of Fine Gael members who are currently considering seeking the party’s nomination in the 10-county South constituency, where sitting MEP Kelly will be hoping to retain his seat and the party hopes to add another.

Fine Gael is hoping to win two seats in the constituency as part of a five-seat strategy in next year’s elections.

Wicklow TD Harris’s potential candidacy would be based on his youth and potential to attract urban support. This would theoretically act as a perfect complement to Kelly, an experienced former GAA president, whose support base is further west in the constituency and in largely rural areas.

Harris, who turns 27 next month, is the youngest TD in the Dáil and was one of three Fine Gael candidates elected in Wicklow at the 2011 general election.

He is now among a number of party figures who are said to be considering running in the new enlarged constituency. Though he, like others, has not yet made a firm decision on whether to run.

Another Wicklow deputy, Agriculture Committee chairman Andrew Doyle, is also being mentioned as possible candidate in next year’s elections.

Other names that have been mentioned include Senator Deirdre Clune, a former TD for Cork South-Central, and outgoing Irish Farmers’ Association chairman John Bryan.

Another sitting TD, Wexford deputy and government chief whip Paul Kehoe, has also been mentioned but is not believed to be seriously interested in running for Europe.

Fine Gael wants to secure five of the 11 available seats in the European Parliament, two in four-seat South, two in four-seat Midlands North West (MNW) and one in three-seat Dublin.

While Jim Higgins and Mairead McGuinness expect to run in MNW, the party faces a decision over who to field in Dublin, where Gay Mitchell’s departure creates a vacancy that could be filled by current junior minister Brian Hayes.

He has indicated his interest in the nomination but has made no firm declaration yet.

Selection conventions are expected to take place in January, but no dates have been confirmed as yet.

MORE: ‘I’m not confident, but I am hopeful’: New boundaries create new challenges for FG’s MEPs

Read: Will Brian Hayes run for Europe? ‘I haven’t made my mind up yet,’ he says

‘He’s very highly regarded’: MEPs back Taoiseach for EU job – but they don’t think he’ll take it

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47 Comments
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    Mute Jenni Sheridan
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:23 AM

    The one with the least amount of preservatives in it….

    114
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    Mute Hilary McDuffy
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:33 AM

    I found a mc Donald’s hamburger under the car seat the other day one Of my kids must of dropped it, it has to be at least 2 months old but by god it did look tasty when I say it look good there was nothing wrong with it once you unwrapped the packaging, S0 I said nothing and gave it to the Hubbie Ha Ha silly old fool ate it too, :)

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    Mute Foxys van
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:40 AM

    Jaysus you could of killed him…… Oh I get it you have him well backed

    41
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    Mute Tim Higgins
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:43 AM

    Hilary – I hope he don’t read the journal or your screwed lol

    22
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    Mute John Quill
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:50 AM

    Brennan’s whole grain bread has a shelf life of nanoseconds.

    72
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    Mute Paul Cadmin
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    Jan 11th 2014, 11:01 AM

    Aldi Brown and pitta breads will go mouldy within two days of opening, I’ve tried everything to slow the process, (including, stupidly, the fridge), nothing seems to slow the process. Their Brown bread is gorgeous. I now open a pack and immediately freeze half of it. This works, but it’s not ideal. Any suggestions?

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    Mute Vlad Macca
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    Jan 11th 2014, 11:18 AM

    Slight warming in oven couple days in

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    Mute Aunty Simmonite
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    Jan 11th 2014, 11:51 AM

    @Paul, try a sprinkle of their Solesta Olive oil on your Aldi bread and you will just have to have some more thus eliminating any problems of surplus :-)

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    Mute seamus mcdermott
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:23 AM

    In California, where I hail from, bread doesn’t mold for weeks. It goes concrete-hard before it molds. When I got to Ireland, I was shocked (—shocked, I tell you!) to see it mold in mere minutes. Is the climate? It rains from September through April in California, but it still doesn’t yield moldy bread.

    I will ponder this puzzle for many years, I’m afraid.

    52
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    Mute Foxys van
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:31 AM

    American bread is full of preservatives
    Just look at wonder bread the one thing you notice between the two is the freshness of Irish bread

    124
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    Mute conventional
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:32 AM

    I think it might be that the bread in America contains far more preservatives? P.s I’ve never seen bread mould in minutes, not in Ireland or anywhere else.

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    Mute OU812
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:37 AM

    More sugar in American bread, gives it a more cake like consistency.

    Cakes go hard when they go off, then go mouldy.

    79
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    Mute John Quill
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:49 AM

    American bread, like their chocolate and cheese is over processed sh1te.

    112
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    Mute Vlad Macca
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    Jan 11th 2014, 11:48 AM

    Cakes go hard , biscuits go soft make the Jaffa cake a tiny actual cake

    31
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    Mute Malachi Shanks
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:12 PM

    American bread is full of crap to stop mould

    20
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    Mute John Buckley
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    Jan 11th 2014, 1:47 PM

    Processed and preserved! Not just your bread but so many other foodstuffs in the USA!

    It partly explains why your are no. 1 in the world… in obesity and overweight!

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    Mute Seamus O'Conner
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    Jan 11th 2014, 3:04 PM

    Mexico is world no1 America is no 2

    9
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    Mute Lamb
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    Jan 11th 2014, 6:45 PM

    Thats because in America they put corn syrup or fructose syrup in bread which inhibits mould growth. The shelf life of bread is far extended but American bread can contirbute to obesity and diabetes.

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    Mute Vlad Macca
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:18 AM

    And don’t store it in fridge

    52
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    Mute OU812
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:35 AM

    Why?

    10
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    Mute Vlad Macca
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:37 AM

    Water molecules detach themselves from the starch molecules and the starch molecules begin to take their original shape and harden again. The cool temperatures of the refrigerator make the dehydration process happen more quickly, specifically, about six times as fast via the process listed above.

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    Mute Huboy De Kiiid
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    Jan 11th 2014, 11:34 AM

    vlad,
    put down the books, go to the pub nearest to u and get sloshed……………………

    20
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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Jan 11th 2014, 11:35 AM

    So you probably don’t eat bread in your part of the world, Vlad?

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    Mute Huboy De Kiiid
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    Jan 11th 2014, 11:38 AM

    he eats breaded fish…………….lol, sorry.

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    Mute Padraig McHale
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:14 PM

    The hotter the bread when packed, the quicker it goes off because it ‘sweats’ more in the packaging and this facilitates the growth of mould. Of course, like any other food, the more preservatives in the product the slower it goes off….so food spoiling quickly is probably a sign it has fewer preservatives.

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    Mute molly coddled
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:16 PM

    That’s very interesting Vlad.

    My mum always keeps her sliced bread in the fridge, she swears it lasts longer.

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    Mute Lamb
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    Jan 11th 2014, 6:42 PM

    Correct, the amylose and amylopectin in the starch in bread hydrogen bond with each other and the starch crystalises when cold and makes the bread hard. This is the process of staling and putting bread in the fridge causes this process to speed up.

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    Mute Bernard Cantillon
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:54 PM

    Well done to Henrietta. Taking everyday questions and finding a scientific answer is the basis of science. Before we explore the solar system, we need to know the answer to certain things in our own kitchens.

    29
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    Mute Tim Higgins
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:40 AM

    Wow ! Could this be the scientific breakthrough of the century?

    16
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    Mute Bernard Cantillon
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:49 PM

    And what questions were you asking at her age and trying to find an answer for?

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    Mute Dave Dson
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    Jan 11th 2014, 5:20 PM

    Working out how many times he could do it in one day, like everybody else.

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    Mute Tim Higgins
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    Jan 12th 2014, 6:42 PM

    Bernard – I’ve been up there every year for the past 10 years and it elates me to see really innovative projects, but FFS who really gives a sh*t about which gets moldier first? I’m pretty sure its in Louis Pasteur notes if we really wanted to know.

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    Mute COOM
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    Jan 11th 2014, 10:39 AM

    Who really gives a ****.

    15
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    Mute Bernard Cantillon
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:48 PM

    Well I think the fact that this young girl is concerning herself with why bread moulds or doesn’t is a very good thing for her and hopefully, she will ask herself more questions and try and solve those. That is the basis of the Young Scientist, encouraging young people to ask questions about science and answer them.

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    Mute cjdknlSnj
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:56 PM

    Fair play to her
    Very creative yet simple
    I hope she won something

    14
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    Mute Jamie Condren
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:38 PM

    I’d imagine wine would get ya mowldier than bread?

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    Mute margaret
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:28 PM

    What kind of “science experiment” is this?

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    Mute Aunty Simmonite
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:49 PM

    Give the kids some encouragement Margaret, it’s a better type of experiment than the scrotes get up to.

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    Mute Bernard Cantillon
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    Jan 11th 2014, 12:51 PM

    Food science and the discovery and invention of new ingredients is actually one of our most important industries, but don’t let that distract you from criticising the effort and work of a teenager in the area

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    Mute margaret
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    Jan 11th 2014, 1:30 PM

    I’m well aware of the importance of food science but hanging around to see which bread goes mouldy quicker isn’t the sort of stuff you would expect to see at a young scientist competition.
    Another exhibition involved doing a survey about people’s feelings regarding climate change. Conclusion? That most people don’t really care. Groundbreaking!

    I think we should aim a little higher
    than this

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    Mute Mark O'Hagan
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    Jan 11th 2014, 1:34 PM

    It is easier to spot on white bread.

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    Mute Bernard Cantillon
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    Jan 11th 2014, 5:26 PM

    Considering mould is usually white before it is green, I think that might be a tad wrong.

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    Mute Seamus O'Conner
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    Jan 11th 2014, 3:06 PM

    Slow us more female scientists. If you show a male one that is sexiest.

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    Mute Lamb
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    Jan 11th 2014, 6:39 PM

    Brown bread does not have more nutrients that white bread apart from fibre..unless you include seeds in the production, which you could just as easily do to white bread.

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