The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

Hearing experts have confirmed what many people already suspect that if you are standing anywhere near Highland bagpipes the noise is louder than a jet aircraft.

The readings came in at 122 decibels for pipers of the Wick Pipe Band (Wick as in the Scottish town and not wick in the sense of dreadful), two decibels louder than a jet taking off.

This has to be bad news for the Irish Government.

The Irish Army still use bagpipes, usually called war-pipes in Ireland to distinguish them from uilleann pipes.

Like me, I’m sure you can see the spectre of deafness compensation arising once again.

You may remember that in 2003/2004 the Irish Army had to deal with some hundreds of deafness cases, with the final cost of claims to the State exceeding £200million and that was just from gunfire and sergeant majors shouting too loudly.

Goodness knows what compo will be required for a noise louder than a jet aircraft taking off.

But that’s not to make light of the situation.

Playing the bagpipes in an enclosed place can seriously damage your health.

Premature deafness seems to be the main risk although in some case sudden death of the piper through homicide is an added risk.