New signs will be installed at hotspots around lochs, beaches and reservoirs as part of a Scottish government water safety plan. It comes after six people drowned over three days last year – in a weekend described as “the worst in memory”. The plan was launched by Community Safety Minister Ash Regan, ahead of crowds returning to beaches this year. It also includes water safety lessons in schools and the development of Scotland’s water safety code. Four children and two adults died in water incidents in Scotland in July last year. They included Connor Markward, 16, who lost his life in Loch Lomond at beauty spot near Balloch Country Park. The following day Edina Olahova, 29, her nine-year-old son, Rana Haris Ali, and family friend Muhammad Asim Riaz, 39, died in the loch at Ardlui.
The water safety action plan launched by Ms Regan was drawn up by the Scottish government and organisations including the RNLI, the emergency services and Scottish Swimming.
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New chapter
Pope Francis has overturned the Roman apple cart, with a bold reform of the Curia which has implications that could reach into every corner of the Church. As Christopher Lamb reports in this week’s Tablet, in a long-awaited document released on the Feast of St Joseph, Praedicate Evangelium, the Pope allows lay people to run most Vatican departments, formally establishes an office to fight sexual abuse, and says the role of the Roman Curia is to serve local churches. In his View from Rome, Chris writes that Francis has opened a new chapter in the story of the oldest bureaucracy in the world. As The Tablet points out in its leader column, the separation of governance from ordination is a decisive break in the way authority is exercised, and opens the way to laymen and laywomen taking leadership positions in dioceses and parishes throughout the global church.
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The Bouncing Czech
Robert Maxwell was a domestic tyrant, and also an outrageous glutton, who would take half the Christmas turkey for himself before anyone else was served. His children lived in fear of him: he was impossible to please. The only redeeming feature of the situation was that he was increasingly absent from their lives – until it came to work. One by one, his offspring were roped into his businesses. Read the review of this fascinating new book in the books section at democratonline.net
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Size matters
The question of whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sport is one that has been floating around for a few years now but, with the recent NCAA victory of Lia Thomas in the US, it has been thrown into the limelight again. Complaints have been made from numerous fellow swimmers as to why Thomas – who has been undergoing hormone replacement therapy for two and a half years – was allowed to compete. Irish athlete Sonia O’Sullivan lays out her case for why transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sport as they will always have a biological advantage. “It’s not just about setting rules around testosterone levels, it’s also the physical size and ability of the person. If you’re bigger and stronger you’re going to be better, whether you’re a big, strong woman or a big, strong man. Size definitely matters,” she writes in The Irish Times
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Coyle comes home
Former Dumbarton FC star striker Owen Coyle says it “was time for me to come home” after swapping the Indian Super League to become Queen’s Park head coach in Scottish League 1. The 55-year-old former St Johnstone, Burnley and Bolton Wanderers boss returns to his homeland four years after a short spell with Ross County. He has since managed Chennaiyin and, most recently, Jamshedpur. Although he will not officially take charge until 1 June, Coyle will help in the Spiders’ promotion challenge. He will work closely with director of football Marijn Beuker, the Dutchman having been in interim charge since Queen’s Park dismissed Laurie Ellis in December.