Farming - Thurles Information

Holycross Village Market, Begins A New Trading Year.

Dust off that Easter Bonnet, it’s market time again at Holycross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Holycross market Thurles, Co. Tipperary look forward to meeting all their many old customers and hopefully indeed some new consumers, once again next Saturday April 16th, in the village from 1:00pm to 3:00pm for the beginning of yet another trading year.

The market will run, bi weekly, from April 16th until December 10th, with lots of interesting events along the way.
The market welcomes new traders throughout the year, while anchoring it’s personality and stability with a core group of valued old friends.

Come visit a very special Easter market this week, with an Easter raffle and Egg Hunt; come and join us, grab a coffee and a tasty bake, listen to the music, take a seat and chat with friends.

Note: As part of our new initiative to network with local businesses, Holycross Village Market are delighted to have Park 63 @Parkers Restaurant on board this week. Parker’s have put forward a voucher, which will be raffled at the market on next Saturday, April 16th, between 1:00 & 3:00pm.

Officials Raise Concerns Re. Cryptosporidium Outbreak In Mid-West Region.

Concerns have been raised by public health officials, following a Cryptosporidium outbreak, within the Mid-West Region, latter which consists of counties Tipperary, Clare and Limerick.

Public health chiefs are urging the public to be vigilant around the washing their hands with soap and water, in their attempts to try to offset the risk of contracting this parasitic disease, following an increased recent outbreak here in the mid-west region.

Crypto lives in the gut of infected humans or animals. An infected person or animal sheds Crypto parasites in their poop, resulting in an infected person shedding 10,000,000 to 100,000,000 Crypto germs in one single bowel movement. Shedding of Crypto in poop begins when symptoms like diarrhoea begin and can last for weeks, after symptoms come to a halt. Swallowing as few as 10 Crypto germs can cause this infection.

The present announcement, confirmed by the Department of Public Health Mid-West, comes after it had managed a recent outbreak on a farm within the region.

In this case, alcohol hand sanitiser is NOT effective against Cryptosporidium, and washing hands with hot water and soap is the most effective form of hand hygiene.

With newly born Spring farm animals being petted, same incurs an increased risk of exposure to Cryptosporidium, especially among young children. Officials confirm that there were some 121 cases of Cryptosporidium recorded in the Mid-West region in the year 2021, which amounted to almost three times more, the number recorded the previous year (2020) and the highest infection rate yet recorded over the past 10 years.

Those employed working in agriculture are being asked to maintain regular hand-washing with hot water and soap, and also to test and treat their well water, in order to reduce the risk of any infection.

Local authority grant schemes for private wells in the Mid-West are readily available to well owners.

EPA Enforcement Efforts Targeted Unauthorised Peat Extraction, Waste Management & Water Quality.

The EPA carried out 1,295 inspections at EPA licensed sites during the year, a 19% increase, compared with 2020.
The EPA carried out a number of targeted enforcement campaigns in 2021.
48 inspections at unauthorised peat extraction sites.
41 inspections at waste licensed sites, with a focus on improving fire risk management.
The removal of 14 sites from the EPA’s Water Framework Directive Significant Pressure list.
Eleven sites were identified as National Priority Sites in 2021, a decrease from the twelve sites in 2020. Eight of these 11 National Priority Sites were from the Food & Drink and Intensive Agriculture sectors.

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its annual summary report on the enforcement activities carried out in 2021, along with the list of sites which were designated a National Priority Site during the year.

**The full list of National Priority Sites for 2021**.

This report shows that, despite the ongoing significant challenges and impact of Covid-19, the EPA increased their enforcement activities at industrial and waste licences at the 840 licenced installations throughout Ireland.

The report published today highlights the main issues at licensed activities during 2021 and outlines what actions the EPA took to enforce environmental conditions at these activities.

Individuals or companies who operate either without an EPA licence or breach that licence, were targeted by the EPA for enforcement.
The role of the public in reporting non-compliant or illegal operations to the EPA is a vital tool in helping us to address the environmental issues that may result and we encourage the public to report any concerns to the EPA.

Commenting on the publication of the annual summary report, Dr. Tom Ryan, Director, EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said:
“The EPA focused its enforcement efforts in 2021 on tackling unauthorised extraction of peat, improving water quality downstream of licenced sites and the safe and appropriate management of waste.
Our enforcement activities are risk based and are targeted at sites that are not complying with their EPA licence requirements. We carried out almost 1,300 inspections of industrial and waste licensed activities and a further 55 inspections of unauthorised activities which require a licence or must cease operation.”

The EPA has also published the latest National Priority Sites List for 2021. The number of National Priority Sites in 2021 (11) was down slightly when compared with 2020 (12).
The EPA will continue to focus its resources where they are most needed and to ensure compliance at all sites.

Commenting on the publication, Mr. Darragh Page, Programme Manager, EPA Office of Environmental Enforcement said:
“The eleven sites on the National Priority Sites List in 2021 were the subject of targeted enforcement action. This represents around one per cent of the total sites licensed by the EPA. Sites from the food and drink and intensive agriculture sector made up almost three quarters of the sites on the National Priority Sites List during 2021.
These sectors must improve if Ireland is to support its green image of sustainable food and drink production.
Our enforcement objective is to ensure these sites resolve the environmental issues and for the sites to return to compliance.”

The report ‘Industrial and Waste Licence Enforcement Summary 2021’ is now available on the EPA HERE.

Tomorrow Saturday 11th December Holycross Village Christmas Market.

It’s almost here!! A community celebration, we are excited.

Our bigger, longer, outdoor Christmas Market is on tomorrow, Saturday December 11th, starting sharp at 1:00pm and continuing unto 4:00pm.

Families are welcome to the safety of the market for festivities. We are delighted that Santa Claus will visit us to meet both the small and the big children in our community.
Watch out for hampers, prizes and many surprises throughout the afternoon.
Local musicians are joining for a sing song and promising a great atmosphere.
Two favoured food vendors will have tasty hot lunches and 30 local fresh food & craft vendors will have both unique and festive handmade gifts and fresh produce to choose from.
So please shop local with us if you can.
Christmas Wish Ribbons will be available to hang on our Christmas tree with proceeds to a local charity.

See you there!
Find updates on our social media.

Tipperary Associated Venture Group To Deliver 5,000 Homes In Co. Dublin.

Business magnates Mr JP McManus and Mr John Magnier (Coolmore Stud, Co. Tipperary), together with Cork property developer Mr Michael O’Flynn, are partnering, to develop an 860-acre site in west Co. Dublin.

The Irish Times newspaper reports that this joint venture group, involving the aforementioned, are currently preparing a masterplan for this site, understood to be situated between Lucan and Castleknock.
The venture is expected to deliver more than 5,000 new homes, together with a large public park and other amenities.

Planning consultants for the trio have already engaged in early-stage discussions with South Dublin County Council and Fingal County Council on their plan to develop this extensive landbank, which is currently being used, for the most part, for agricultural purposes.

We understand that this venture group plan to develop about 400 acres of this site for housing, with more than 5,000 units envisaged, subject to planning permission, with 20% of this accommodation to be offered for social and affordable housing.

About 265 acres of the site would be set aside for a Liffey Valley public park at Edmundsbury, which would be handed over for community use.