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New Zealands Economic and Development Minister, David Carter, has estimated that it will take ten years to rebuild Christchurch, following the recent Earthquake.

Since no survivors have been found since last Wednesday, officials have said that they do not think more survivors will be found.

The earthquake reached a 6.3 on the Richter Scale when it occurred over a week ago. On Tuesday, New Zealand commemorated the victims with a two minute silence. In Christchurch, politicians, officials, rescue services and church leaders gathered in silence around a memorial made from bricks of the wreckage covered in flowers.

In the capital city of Wellington, 4,000 people gathered on the streets to pay their respects. Parliament flags flew at half mast.

Christchurch Mayor, Bob Parker says that the city will still host the Rugby World Cup matches later this year, as planned. Christchurch is to host five pool games and two quarter-finals in the Cup, which begins on 9 September 2011.

‘Utterly, absolutely, totally committed to that,’ he said, although the city’s rugby venue AMI Stadium will remain closed until at least 15 March while operators check the extent of damage there.

Doctors can now find out if children have food allergies in a matter of seconds thanks to new research carried out by University College Cork.

An online calculator for doctors has been developed, which can predict the presence of the three most common food allergies.

The new device is reported to be 96% accurate, according to research published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

“The calculator should replace uncertainty for many doctors treating children with food allergies,” said Kevin Dalton of UCC’s Office of Technology Transfer.

Cork researchers, Dr Audrey Dunn Galvin and Professor Jonathan Hourihane of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, devised highly accurate allergen-specific algorithims for each of the most important food types — cow’s milk, egg and peanut.

Observing the outcomes of data on different factors, including a skin prick test, blood tests, allergic reaction history, gender and age, researchers were able to develop an accurate prediction model.

Ireland is now the fifth most popular tourism destination in the world on Facebook – according to Tourism Ireland.

Tourism Ireland’s fanbase has grown from zero at the beginning of 2010 to 250,000 this week.

The organisation is seeing the page get about 2,500 new fans per day.

Tourism Ireland now has fans in 14 countries around the globe – including Great Britain, America, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, India, Japan, New Zealand and the Gulf Countries.

“Social media now allows word of mouth about a holiday destination to reach a truly global audience,” said Mark Henry, Tourism Ireland’s Central Marketing Director.

“Having a fanbase of this size allows Tourism Ireland to communicate over 3.5 million messages about the island of Ireland each month to prospective visitors,” Mr Henry added.

Talks  between Fine Gael and Labour to form a Government together started yesterday.

They began at midday and were attended by the negotiating teams on both sides. Fine Gael’s representatives were TDs Phil Hogan, Michael Noonan and Alan Shatter and Labour’s were TDs Joan Burton, Pat Rabbitte and Brendan Howlin and economic adviser Colm O’Riordan.

It is understood the talks are taking place in Government Buildings but nothing is being leaked about the discussions. Labour are holding a special conference at the weekend, so it is expected that the talks will have completed by then.

Labour veterans are voicing approval of a coalition government but not at any cost – key Labour principles must not be compromised.

A coalition means a Government that is made up of more that one party, and usually happens because  no party got enough seats in the election to form a Government by themselves.

A senior union official from Unite, which represents 60,000 workers, said that Labour should not go into coalition with Fine Gael and instead establish a strong  opposition in the Dáil.

“Their [Fine Gael’s] policies did not attract enough support, and should not now be made by the tired old fallback of coalition with Labour,” said Jimmy Kelly, Regional secretary of Unite.

These talks are the second time party leaders Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore have met since the election.

Meanwhile, newly elected Independent TDs met last night to explore the possibility of some form of co-operation so that Independents could still have a strong voice in the Dáil. Independent TD for Dublin North Central Finian McGrath said he expected to meet fellow Independents Maureen O’Sullivan, Catherine Murphy, Mick Wallace, Thomas Pringle, John Halligan and Shane Ross and that other Independents were likely to attend too.

Eight endangered giraffes were brought across water to their new home in Kenya yesterday.

The giraffes, four male and four female were the first giraffes to ever be transported across water in Kenya. The animals are Rothchild giraffes first known as Baringo Giraffe’s were moved to a wildlife reserve on Lake Baringo this species of giraffe’s native habitat.

There are only a few hundred of these kinds of Giraffes left in the wild. Dublin zoo was lucky enough to have its very own Rothchild Giraffes Maeve and Robin give birth to a baby girl named Arria last November.  Arria was named in a national competition held by Dublin zoo.

The eight giraffes now living in Lake Baringo will hopefully make some babies of their own in the next few years, as there are only a few hundred of these giraffes  left in the wild they are in danger of becoming extinct.

Foto Island Wildlife reserve in Cork has eight Rothchild giraffes, one of which named Nollaig turned 21 this year. Rothchild giraffes are the tallest animal in the world. If you had the chance to  name a baby giraffe what would you call it?

The north of the country is experiencing the worst of the snow at the moment. Elsewhere it is very cold and there is severe frost forecast for tonight.