EVERY WEEK, TheJournal.ie offers a selection of statistics and numerical nuggets to help you digest the week that has just passed.
This week, with the weekend that’s in it, we thought we’d go a little more long-term…
95 – The number of Oireachtas members who could see their allowances go up next year. The Budget cut allowances by 10 per cent across the board, but also abandoned the less lucrative unvouched option – meaning 51 TDs and 44 Senators now actually have to take the higher rate.
16 per cent – The proportion of Ireland’s ‘young population’ (18 to 34 years) who told a European study they had tried ‘legal highs’ in their lifetime. That’s the highest of any EU member state.
106.84 – The number of iPads sold, per minute, by Apple in the three months ending September 29.
27 per cent – The amount by which Apple shares have risen this year, even though the company is seen by some as possibly having peaked. The two new iPads and a new iPhone probably helped it.
€1,770 – The fine that Irishman Darren Heraty was been ordered to pay after kicking an Australian politician in the bum during a televised press conference. Heraty told an court that he only kicked John Elferink for “a stupid, drunken prank”.
2.57631579 – The number of times you could buy Manchester City’s striker Sergio Aguero, with the money lost by his club last season. The Argentine cost the club a reputed £38 million, significantly less than the £97.9 million that the Citizens lost in their title-winning season last year.
4th – The place achieved by the Irish team in the Paralympics medals table at London 2012 (if you adjust it for population). Only Iceland, Australia and New Zealand took more golds per head of population than Ireland did – and that’s even if you include the population of all 32 counties represented by the all-island team.
10 per cent – The proportion of eyesight that Im Dong-hyun has in his left eye; he has about 20 per cent in his right. That, of course, hasn’t stopped him from becoming an Olympic champion in archery – breaking a world record in doing so. Way to feel inadequate.
86 per cent - The number of Irish pub-goers who said they may consider going to the pub more often if there was free WiFi available.
5.08 kilograms – The total weight of Michael Phelps’ 22 Olympic medals (including 18 golds) won before he retired after the London Games. That’s three-quarters of a stone – heavier than most newborn babies.
€1.118 billion – The amount by which various government departments exceeded the spending caps put in place for them for Budget 2012 (yes, 2012). Social Protection overspent by €685 million – because it had to pay the Dole to more people than expected – while Health needed €360 million and other money went to Garda pay and on Army and public service pensions.
1,003,000,000 (ish) – The number of pub measures of Jameson Irish Whiskey which were sold worldwide in the 12 months to June 2012.
Three in seven – The proportion of Irish adults who are missing a tooth.
227 – The number of confirmed cases of chlamydia recorded at the Dublin Well Woman centre by the end of October. That was 21 per cent more than had been diagnosed in all of 2011.
Every 303 seconds – The rate at which one person emigrated from Ireland in the twelve months up to April 2012.
€33,100 – The severance pay that former junior health minister Róisín Shortall was entitled to receive after quitting her ministerial role. Shortall waived the payments.
€605,000 – The approximate value of your virginity, if you’re a 20-year-old Brazilian student. Catarina Migliorini was the subject of an online auction for a documentary. A man who participated in the same auction only matched to get €2,320 in exchange for cherry-popping privileges.
22 – The number of YouTube videos that the Russian authorities had tried to block access to in November. Let’s just say… it didn’t quite work out.
0.178 cent – The amount you would have received if the EU’s Nobel Prize-winning fund had been shared among each citizen. As it happens, the money was given to children’s charities.
38 - The number of TDs who didn’t vote on abortion legislation proposed by the ULA’s Clare Daly earlier this year. Hugh O’Connell rang each one of them to ask them where they were - read the responses here. (The legislation was voted down by 101 votes to 27.)
640 – The total number of homes which the government believes will be subject to the so-called ‘mansion tax’ – the higher level of property tax for homes worth over €1 million. The Thornhill Report on property taxes reckons only 0.04 per cent of the 1.6 million eligible homes cost that much.
30 per cent – The pay cut taken by Francois Hollande and his 34 ministers shortly after his election. That means Hollande now earns €14,910 a month… which means…
€21,080 – The amount by which Enda Kenny’s annual salary exceeds that of Francois Hollande.
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