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LAST UPDATE | 21 Dec 2023
CROWDS WERE TREATED to a bit of sunlight at Newgrange this morning for the winter solstice sunrise.
The winter solstice is an astronomical phenomenon that marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on 21 or 22 December, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn.
At sunrise on the shortest day of the year, for 17 minutes, direct sunlight can enter the Newgrange monument, not through the doorway, but through the specially contrived small opening above the entrance known as the roof box, to illuminate the chamber.
Only those who have secured a ticket through the lottery system could attend.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) livestreamed the solstice at Newgrange from 8.40am.
Excitement is building🤞📷Ailbhe#Newgrange #NewgrangeSolstice #BrunaBoinne pic.twitter.com/q8qqgJRSde
— Brú na Bóinne - Newgrange and Knowth (@brunaboinneOPW) December 21, 2023
📷 Ailbhe, Clare, Catherine #Newgrange #NewgrangeSolstice #BrunaBoinne pic.twitter.com/WqtwSjqPb7
— Brú na Bóinne - Newgrange and Knowth (@brunaboinneOPW) December 21, 2023
Some sunlight managed to break through the clouds this morning and the chamber lit up briefly.
Meanwhile, a new Irish documentary crew have discovered evidence that a second chamber may exist in the prehistoric Newgrange monument.
After a nine-day survey of the site in 2022, a team of researchers believe they may have made the biggest discovery about the Co Meath cairn in over fifty years.
Rún na Bóinne (Secret of the Boyne), which aired last night on TG4, follows a geophysics team from Ireland and Slovakia carrying out non-invasive tests to find out more about the site’s architecture and history.
The results indicate that spaces in the cairn that look like collapsed cavities could have once been extra chambers, similar to the existing chamber, which the cavities are oddly in alignment with.
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Information is power and hogan has taken away the most basic human right! Access to information.
The first person commented how there was no sound (and has now removed their comment, there is sound!! ) imagine the frustration you felt when watching the video, that’s our lives every day. Frustrating. Tiring. Limiting.
Return our ‘sound’
Yet another botched decision. , the craziness continues .
The video tells the tale. This is a shameless government, dismantling the few decent services that give some degree of dignity to those in need of them.
ISL should be enshrined in the constitution with full protection of rights!
I know it’s racist but, why don’t we take a few grand out of the foreign aid budget?
Over half a billion, and much of it thrown into a black hole. it’s absolute lunacy. If anybody disagrees, can they tell me if Africa is getting better or worse?
Sometimes I really do hope there is a hell and I hope those like Hogan burn there for eternity. The man should not be allowed to be in charge of opening a door.
Unfortunately that is not the case. Nature is cruel.
Why was that comment “there is no sound” been removed, for all you know that person may be deaf, ok so we all say he made a joke, try understand what the people are saying without reading the text I can just about lipread can’t sign and I can’t hear. People who know me who comment on here will know I am deaf, and not taking the piss.
A very sensible comment Declan .
Why would you need sound? See the world the way deaf people do!
I could have used this service had I known about it,now that I have its closed,then I may not have got because the household income might be €2 over the limit.
€8m is all that’s needed here!
Was even borrowing it and putting it on the “slate” considered?
Typical of Ireland and it’s backward government,hitting the needy and taking from the people that need services most.it can sometimes be very difficult for deaf people to integrate into society and now they are being victimised by their own government by the closure if deaforward they must feel further away from the rest of society than ever.The government shouod be embarrassed and ashamed but one thing is for sure,they are not!
Why am I not surprised? Oh yes because I live in Ireland.
It is with great dismay I read about the cut in funding to this vital service for the deaf community. The video above clearly illustrates how this service is needed so as to ensure that members of the deaf community are able to interact with bodies such as hospitals, government agencies and utilities companies in a dignified manner and on the same basis as any member of the hearing community.
For the government to cut this funding is tantamount to denying members of the deaf community the ability to access such basic human rights as to health and education. It is discrimination at the most fundamental level where the effect (intended or otherwise) is to marginalise 5,000 citizens of this country. It cannot be justified by raising budgetary concerns where less vital expenditure could be cut in its place.
i want our ids back, i don’t want be isolated again, need break the barrier, where can i go ? and access to health care, education etc, i wont go to gp if there is no interpreter, they gave me wrong med or no information. i have enough suffer in my childhood so enough is enough.
Totally agree Michelle! This decision is BEYOND shocking and an insult to every deaf person in this country!
This decision by Minister Hogan confirms his level of ignorance in dealing with people who have special needs. It’s obvious he neither understands nor cares about people who are challenged everyday in their efforts to live a normal life. These special services are a real and measurable lifeline for thousands of ordinary Irish citizens. “It’s a long road that hasn’t got a bend” and this decision will come back to haunt you Mr. Hogan
have your say