POLICY ASPECTS OF LAND-USE PLANNING IN IRELAND. BROADSHEET No. 22, December 1983

The passage of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act in 1963 heralded a substantially increased degree of intervention by government into decisions concerning how land is used. We describe the form which this intervention took over the subsequent 20 years and analyse its implications. We do so in three phases. First we present the legislative, administrative and analytic framework, then we discuss some elements of the planning process and finish with some conclusions

Insights for climate policy in Europe

In this paper, the following key issues are addressed: the so-called “South” – the Group of 77 and China – and how to engage their interest and commitment; the purported savings if the flexible mechanisms are availed of, and the macro-economic impacts of meeting the Kyoto objectives; the associated issues of narrowing the extent and scope for such trading by setting a limit on how much can be traded, and “hot air” – the surplus quota above their own projected needs which Russia and most of the old Soviet Union have to offer; operational issues, including units to be traded, monitoring and enforcement, allocation of permits, competitiveness and risk management; in the case of emissions trading, the initial allocation of permits

LAND DRAINAGE POLICY IN IRELAND. DUBLIN, 1982

Ireland suffers from an extensive drainage problem. The source of the difficulty is not exception rainfall. It is the saucer shape of the countryside with its high maritime rim and flat interior. As a result, the rivers flow slowly through poor channels. Much of the land suffers from periodic or prolonged flood damage. Even at low-flow, the rivers provide poor outfalls that prevent adjoining lands being properly drained. If left unattended, these slow-flowing rivers tend to silt up and the drainage conditions degenerate. So, the need for remedial drainage work is recurrent. State involvement in arterial drainage has a long history, dating back to famine times. At that time, the work was all done manually, and it employed about forty thousand people at peak. The process has now become highly mechanised with the use of dragline excavators and floating dredgers for excavation, and specialised equipment for drilling and blasting rock. It is all carried out under the central direction of the Office of Public Works (OPW). Fewer than one thousand people are now employed on the programme. Almost all of the arterial work has consisted of deepening and widening river channels to accommodate existing river flows. The alternative - moderating river flows by diverting rivers or storing in reservoirs - is uncommon. Schemes are designed after the study of long records of water flows and a detailed survey of the catchment. Typically, the channel enlargement aims to give immunity from the three-year flood and to reduce the low-flow water table sufficiently so that satisfactory drainage is achieved of the land areas to be improved. This level of flood immunity means that flooding in the Spring-Autumn growing season will be very rare. The low water table provides sufficient outfall to enable farmers to fully rehabilitate their land by field drainage. State involvement in field drainage is of quite recent origin. It takes the form of grant aid. The one experiment in direct work by tile state proved unwieldy and was short-lived. The grant is administered by the Department of Agriculture

ENERGY CROPS, FORESTRY AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN IRELAND. ESRI General Research Series Paper No. 114, October 1983

The more than four-fold increases in real oil prices which occurred in the 1973-83 decade has combined with a perception that such supplies were susceptible to sudden interruption to result in greatly increased interest in the opportunities for providing indigenous energy supplies. Ireland’s climate and soils are ideal for tree growth. These two considerations -- energy price rises and suitability for tree growth -- led logically to a consideration of the question as to whether it could be to national advantage to grow wood energy crops in Ireland to meet some of our energy needs. Such crops typically comprise hardwood species such as willow, alder and poplar which are cut periodically, e.g., every 5 years, after which they resprout. Research on the biological potentials in this regard was initiated in Northern Ireland in 1973, and has been concentrated there on the wet mineral soils. In the Republic an extensive research programme started in 1976. Most attention has been devoted to the potential of the land remaining after Bord na M6na has extracted the peat -- the cutaway - but other site types have been examined and some harvesting and utilisation studies have also been initiated

Measurement of Direct Photon Emission in K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 gamma Decay

We have performed a measurement of the K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 gamma decay and have observed 2 X 10^4 events. The best fit to the decay spectrum gives a branching ratio for direct photon emission of (4.7\pm0.8\pm0.3) X 10^{-6} in the pi^+ kinetic energy region of 55 to 90 MeV and requires no component due to interference with inner bremsstrahlung.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. To be submitted to PR

Search for the decay K+→π+ννˉK^+\to \pi^+ \nu \bar\nu in the momentum region Pπ<195 MeV/cP_\pi < 195 {\rm ~MeV/c}

We have searched for the decay $K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar\nu$ in the kinematic region with pion momentum below the $K^+ \to \pi^+ \pi^0$ peak. One event was observed, consistent with the background estimate of $0.73\pm 0.18$. This implies an upper limit on $B(K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \bar\nu)< 4.2\times 10^{-9}$ (90% C.L.), consistent with the recently measured branching ratio of $(1.57^{+1.75}_{-0.82}) \times 10^{-10}$, obtained using the standard model spectrum and the kinematic region above the $K^+ \to \pi^+ \pi^0$ peak. The same data were used to search for $K^+ \to \pi^+ X^0$, where $X^0$ is a weakly interacting neutral particle or system of particles with $150 < M_{X^0} < 250 {\rm ~MeV/c^2}$.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

A Study of Time-Dependent CP-Violating Asymmetries and Flavor Oscillations in Neutral B Decays at the Upsilon(4S)

We present a measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in neutral B meson decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B Factory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The data sample consists of 29.7 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ recorded at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ resonance and 3.9 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ off-resonance. One of the neutral B mesons, which are produced in pairs at the $\Upsilon(4S)$, is fully reconstructed in the CP decay modes $J/\psi K^0_S$, $\psi(2S) K^0_S$, $\chi_{c1} K^0_S$, $J/\psi K^{*0}$ ($K^{*0}\to K^0_S\pi^0$) and $J/\psi K^0_L$, or in flavor-eigenstate modes involving $D^{(*)}\pi/\rho/a_1$ and $J/\psi K^{*0}$ ($K^{*0}\to K^+\pi^-$). The flavor of the other neutral B meson is tagged at the time of its decay, mainly with the charge of identified leptons and kaons. The proper time elapsed between the decays is determined by measuring the distance between the decay vertices. A maximum-likelihood fit to this flavor eigenstate sample finds $\Delta m_d = 0.516\pm 0.016 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.010 {\rm (syst)} {\rm ps}^{-1}$. The value of the asymmetry amplitude $\sin2\beta$ is determined from a simultaneous maximum-likelihood fit to the time-difference distribution of the flavor-eigenstate sample and about 642 tagged $B^0$ decays in the CP-eigenstate modes. We find $\sin2\beta=0.59\pm 0.14 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.05 {\rm (syst)}$, demonstrating that CP violation exists in the neutral B meson system. (abridged)Comment: 58 pages, 35 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Precision Top-Quark Mass Measurements at CDF

We present a precision measurement of the top-quark mass using the full sample of Tevatron $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV proton-antiproton collisions collected by the CDF II detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.7 $fb^{-1}$. Using a sample of $t\bar{t}$ candidate events decaying into the lepton+jets channel, we obtain distributions of the top-quark masses and the invariant mass of two jets from the $W$ boson decays from data. We then compare these distributions to templates derived from signal and background samples to extract the top-quark mass and the energy scale of the calorimeter jets with {\it in situ} calibration. The likelihood fit of the templates from signal and background events to the data yields the single most-precise measurement of the top-quark mass, \mtop = 172.85 \pm$0.71 (stat)$\pm$0.85 (syst) GeV/c^{2}.$Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

A search for resonant production of ttˉt\bar{t} pairs in $4.8\ \rm{fb}^{-1}ofintegratedluminosityof of integrated luminosity of p\bar{p}collisionsat collisions at \sqrt{s}=1.96\ \rm{TeV}$

We search for resonant production of tt pairs in 4.8 fb^{-1} integrated luminosity of ppbar collision data at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV in the lepton+jets decay channel, where one top quark decays leptonically and the other hadronically. A matrix element reconstruction technique is used; for each event a probability density function (pdf) of the ttbar candidate invariant mass is sampled. These pdfs are used to construct a likelihood function, whereby the cross section for resonant ttbar production is estimated, given a hypothetical resonance mass and width. The data indicate no evidence of resonant production of ttbar pairs. A benchmark model of leptophobic Z \rightarrow ttbar is excluded with m_{Z'} < 900 GeV at 95% confidence level.Comment: accepted for publication in Physical Review D Sep 21, 201