Presented by Teagasc and the Irish Bioenergy Association, the National Bio-Energy Conference 2010 will take place at the Tipperary Institute (TI) in Thurles on the 18th February 2010.
Teagasc and IrBEA
The theme of the 2010 Conference – ‘Developing and Financing Bio-energy‘ – is appropriate, given the challenges currently faced at the different stages of developing a bio-energy project.
The line-up of expert panel speakers, will see bio-energy business developers tell the story behind their respective projects, whether this be based on wood energy, cereal crops or bio-fuels.
This conference is of interest to a broad audience including, farmers/landowners, consumers with large energy requirements, project developers, policy makers/regulators, legal advisers/consultants, business analysts/planners, economists/financial advisers technical/engineering managers, finance directors/financial controllers and finally energy purchasers/facilities managers.
Attendance fees include lunch and refreshments served during the conference.
Conference Fee: (For IrBEA and Teagasc members) – €50 . Conference Fee: (For non-IrBEA and Teagasc members, and delegates registering on the day) – €100 .
To download the Conference brochure and to reserve a place at this Conference – Click Here
Training courses given by Teagasc for farmers in Tipperary, who are considering converting to organic farming, will take place later this month here in Thurles Co.Tipperary and across the country.
This follows a strong uptake of the Teagasc organic training courses held during the autumn of 2009.
Organic farming continuous to grow steadily here in Ireland with presently 1,532 organic operators cultivating some 48,911 hectares of land. Growth is expected to increase further due to strong demand for organic Irish produce, the suitability of many farms to organic conversion, and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Scheme incentives.
The new training courses are FETAC (Further Education and Training Awards Council) accredited to Level 5 standard and will be run for one day per week over a five-week period, commencing Monday, January 25. The courses involve both indoor sessions and visits to successful local organic farms.
Training topics over these five weeks will include the principles of organic production, organic standards and regulations, and the economics and market opportunities for produce. Admission is €200 per person or family and pre-booking is essential.
Six local authorities including North Tipperary and South Tipperary, have been testing drinking water after 210 tonnes of urea were spread on national roads in order to melt snow and ice during the recent cold spell.
This followed advice from the National Emergency Response Co-Ordination Committee (NERCC) who advised the National Roads Authority (NRA) to source 600 tonnes of Urea for use as a de-icer on an emergency basis.
Expressed Sequence Tags (EST’s) should reveal shortly if public supplies of drinking water have been contaminated.
Being solid, Urea is colourless, odorless, neither acidic nor alkaline, highly soluble in water and is widely used in fertilizers as a convenient source of nitrogen. Urea can be irritating to skin, eyes, and the respiratory tract. Repeated or prolonged contact with Urea in fertilizer form on the skin may cause dermatitis, however the substance is regarded as relatively non-toxic.
It is now feared that ice and snow, melted by the Urea, may have found its way into natural water sources, some of which may supply drinking water to households.
Alarms were first triggered at the Leixlip, Co Kildare’s water treatment plant last weekend when high levels of nitrates were detected in the water supply.
On Tuesday last, local authorities were contacted and asked to test drinking water in their areas to determine whether their supplies had become contaminated.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) invite you to a Public Information Day on the River Suir Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management Study. The purpose of the information day will be to gather feedback about public perception of flood risk and public experience of flooding. Feedback received will be used, together with further analysis, to select the preferred Flood Risk Management options for the Suir catchment area.
Details of the Public Information Day to be held in Thurles is as follows:-
The Source Library,Thurles, Tuesday 26th January 3pm-8pm.
The Source Library Thurles
Additional Public Information Days will also be held at the following locations and dates:-
Piltown GAA Complex Tuesday 19th January 3pm-8pm.
Clonmel Main Guard Building Thursday 21st January 3pm-8pm.
Waterford Central Library Weds 27th January 3pm-8pm.
So how can you, the public, get involved ?
Attend the Public Information and Consultation Day;
Aileen McSwiney, (Aileen.McSwiney@rpsgroup.com) Project Manager, RPS Consulting Engineers, in announcing the information day, stated: ‘It is in everybody’s interest to get involved from the early stages of this Study, to ensure that everyone has a say on a range of potential Flood Risk Management options for the Suir Catchment.’
Thurles Mayor Evelyn Nevin stated: ‘I hope that as many Thurles residents as possible will attend this Public Information and Consultation Day and communicate their perceptions’.
Councillor Gerard O’Brien (Solicitor) stated: ‘Feedback from the public is essential when finally selecting the preferred flood risk management options’
It’s snowing on the river Suir and at this time of year our bird life take a back seat because they don’t get a handout when they so need it.
Our feathered friends try to scratch an existence under every bush for a meal and with the current prevailing weather conditions there is a shortage of food, due to the freezing snow covered ground, so they do need some help from you.
When it gets cold, birds need energy in the form of seeds and fat to keep them warm. Giving them food and ensuring they eat enough of it will build them up and help them maintain necessary adequate fat supplies. For birds the food and water provided in gardens can be the difference between life and death.
When temperatures fall below freezing, birds struggle to find the food they need to survive the winter in healthy conditions, vital for breeding in spring.
View this high definition video shot by Brian Corbett yesterday, entitled “Snowing At River”, which highlights the extreme conditions experienced by bird life along the River Suir, here in snow bound Thurles.
During cold snaps birds are more likely to seek sanctuary in gardens and providing food like meal worms, fatballs, crushed peanuts, dried fruit, seeds and grain can help them survive.
Freezing weather is a potential death sentence for many birds but by feeding the birds in your garden you can help them survive the worst of this winter weather. Just a little water, food and shelter can turn a garden into a vital haven for birds in the freezing winter months.
Remember, feeding birds is an easy way to start teaching children about wildlife. Providing food and water brings them closer for us to marvel at their exciting behaviour and wonderful colours.
Please feed the birds, and they will reward you by reducing your garden insect pests come Springtime.
By now the Christmas decorations have been packed back into their boxes and the Christmas have been carefully carefully stored also. Problem now is what to do with your old Christmas Tree.
Not a problem folks as North and South Tipperary County Councils are both offering you the chance to recycle free of charge and your tree can be composted when you are finished with it.
Details are as follows:-
South Tipperary County Council Christmas Tree Recycling
Trees can be dropped off for recycling from the 6th January to the 15th January at the following locations.
The three main towns in Co Tipperary experienced contrasting fortunes in the IBAL Anti Litter League Final Results for 2009, when the annual survey of 60 towns and cities in Ireland was published yesterday. Thurles town is ranked 34th of the 60 towns and cities in the IBAL League, with Clonmel ranking 4th and Nenagh still deemed ‘littered’ and in 53rd position.
Clonmel has moved up the ranks this year from “Moderately Littered” to “Clean to European Norms”, while Thurles dropped four places in the rankings, but still remains “Clean to European Norms” nationally.
The number of “Clean to European Norms” areas nationwide hit a record high of 41 last year, however this list was reduced to 39 in the 2009 survey just published.
Speaking to local authority representatives at a ceremony in Dublin this morning, Dr Tomas Cavanagh of Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) stated:
“Cutbacks in budgets should not mean a reversal of the progress made on litter. New cleaning technologies and effective enforcement could yield tremendous benefit at minimum cost. In particular we need to rid ourselves of the idea that ‘enforcement’ is about fining an individual for dropping a sweet wrapper. It’s more about taking local businesses and other organisations to task for not keeping the areas outside their premises free of litter – areas such as car parks and pavements. If local authorities aren’t comfortable with this, maybe privatisation should be considered.”
Liberty Square Thurles
He congratulated the local authorities for helping transform our environment in the space of just seven short years.
Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) was set up in 1996 as an alliance of companies who believe that litter has a significant impact on our economic well-being. The main sources of our prosperity – tourism, Foreign Direct Investment and our food industries – all depend on an image of Ireland as a clean and green island. We are now a high-cost destination for visitors, who deserve first-class standards of cleanliness.
Sites are graded by An Taisce according to international standards.
Thurles Councillor, Solicitor Gerard O’Brien said he was very pleased with the ‘ Litter Free Status” afforded Thurles in this survey, blaming the very necessary upgrading of roads and footpaths throughout the town, during the past year, for the slight drop in the Thurles rankings. He further stated that Thurles Council were fully committed to keeping Thurles a ‘Litter Free Zone’ and congratulated all the staff responsible, for their tremendous support, working as they did, under extremely difficult conditions, during this period of upheaval within the town.
His remarks were echoed by Thurles Mayor Mrs Evelyn Nevin who again congratulated all those concerned, stating “Our tourist and food sectors in particular owe a debt of gratitude to those involved in making our town ‘litter-free”.
Do you want to have a free and independent home energy survey carried out on your home?
Free Energy Survey
HALO, has been developed by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) to support Ireland’s 20% energy reduction target by 2020 as identified in the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan. This is a no-obligation service which will help you to make your home more energy efficient, reduce your carbon emissions and, more importantly, reduce your home monthly energy bills.
Why should you apply?
In the current economic and environmental climate, there really has never been a better time to make your home more energy-efficient, while increasing its value- and you’ll save money on energy bills month after month, year after year. If you are a homeowner and your house was built before 1980, you would benefit from taking part in the HALO programme.
So what happens?
The initial energy efficiency survey is free and simply makes recommendations on the areas in your home where you could improve your energy efficiency. The survey will assess the energy efficiency of all of your current insulation, heating and lighting systems inside and outside of your home. The average wait time is around 20 days, in some areas it may vary slightly, but in general a surveyor should arrange an appointment for your Survey within 21 days. Yes, believe you me, it is totally free
Note: Unfortunately apartments are not eligible for a HALO Survey.
Afterward, the surveyor will supply you with a comprehensive report with specific recommendations on making your home more energy-efficient along with relevant cost estimates.
If you would like to advantage of this free service and apply on line, click here or phone their Customer Care team at 1850 372 333.
Note: ESB Energy Services are not selling any products or services; they’re simply providing free independent advice that will assist you in taking the necessary steps towards making your home more energy efficient.
New proposed plans for the erection of a Waste Recycling Station and a Waste Transfer Station for Mill Road, Thurles were announced recently.
Boomerang Recycling Limited have applied to Thurles Town Council for permission to construct a recycling and material recovery and transfer facility at Moonakeeba, Mill Road, Thurles, Co.Tipperary.
A Waste Facility Permit application is also expected to be submitted to the Environment Section of North Tipperary County Council.
The collection of waste on a commercial basis requires a waste collection permit from a relevant local authority in accordance with section 34(1) of the Waste Management Act 1996 (as amended).
Part IV V of the 1996 Act (as amended) provides for a stringent system of integrated waste licensing by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in respect of all significant waste recovery and disposal activities. This system is intended to ensure that high environmental standards apply in relation to the establishment, management, operation, closure and aftercare of licensable waste facilities.
Michael Ryan Thurles and Sinead Maher Kiltillane Templemore, joined forces in 2005 to create the existing Company Boomerang Skips and Recycling.
This new planned development, which is expected to be opposed by local housing estates nearby, would entail the demolition of an existing building on the site to facilitate plans.
An Taoiseach, Mr Brian Cowen, was in Clonmel, Co.Tipperary yesterday surveying the severe damage caused by flooding over recent days, where at least 30 homes have been damaged by flooding with a large number of families being displaced.
An Taoiseach Mr Brian Cowen
Mr Cowen, when asked what funding would be available to those who cannot get insurance, stated that the issue would be discussed within Government today.
South Tipperary’s Junior Minister for the Office of Public Works, Martin Mansergh is confident that funding for flood relief schemes will not be cut in the Budget. He said he had met with the Finance Minister last week and he is very confident that major works underway presently in Clonmel, will still continue, despite substantial cuts to OPW funding.
Meanwhile as homeowners and businesses in North Tipperary wade through the damage caused by a week of torrential rain, Fine Gael will this week use its Private Members’ Time to put forward a Motion to ensure a new national flood alert system is established.
Deputy Noel Coonan extended his deep sympathy to families, property and business owners throughout the constituency who have been devastated by floods. The Deputy commended the work done and dedication shown by the Defence Forces, Garda Síochána, Civil Defence, Local Authorities and communities and the Red Cross in battling the worst flooding in living memory.
As the clean-up begins, Fine Gael believes we must tackle the issue of flooding in the future to maintain public safety and avoid the severe social and economic hardship caused by serious flooding this time round.
Yesterday, the N65 Portumna/Borrisokane Road was impassable at Carrigahorig. Property owners and landowners from south of Killaloe/Ballina to Limerick City are on high alert as low lying areas of the River Shannon were at serious risk of flooding and the Borrisokane to Athlone Road was closed at Rathcabbin.
The Blackcastle Road out of Templemore is badly flooded yet again. This road has been prone to flooding for years but there seems to be no urgency in addressing these flooding black spots. Meanwhile, residents continue to suffer. Blackcastle Road has been under consideration for a long time for remedial flooding works and Deputy Noel Coonan will be seeking assurances from the Government that funding is provided to implement OPW projects that have been planned locally. Continue reading Taoiseach Visits Flood Ravaged Tipperary
Loading ...
Popular Posts