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Road Safety Fines For Offences On Irish Roads Increase From Today.

  • Fines for a total of 16 road safety offences have doubled today.
  • Implementation of Action 30 of Road Safety Strategy.
  • Stronger deterrent to those who choose to break our lifesaving rules of the road.
  • World Health Organisation, estimate 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% reduction in fatal collisions.

Fines for speeding, will increase from €80 to €160, while fines for mobile phone use; the non-wearing of seat belts; and failing to ensure that a child is properly restrained within a motor vehicle, will rise from €60 to €120, and all with effect from midnight last night.

Fines for a learner permit holder driving a vehicle unaccompanied by a fully qualified licence bearing person will now increase from €80 to €160. Novice and learner drivers who fail to display ‘L’ or ‘N’ plates, or tabard vests in the case of motorcyclists, will see their fines also doubled to €120.

Three new fixed-charge notices will also come into force in early 2023, same relating to the misuse of a disabled parking permit (Fine €200), illegally parking in an electric charging bay (Fine €80) and breaching a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) ban and entering a specified public road without a valid permit (Fine €200).

These new measure comes into effect as the death toll on Irish roads this year has already risen to 122, an increase of 11 deaths, when compared to the same period last year.

However, motorists believe that this doubling of road offence fines has more to do with raising Irish revenue, rather than reducing deaths on our roads.

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Pedestrian Struck By Car In Barry’s Bridge Area Of Thurles.

Barry’s Bridge and Castle, Thurles.

Traffic was brought to a halt at about 12:00 noon today, here in Thurles, when a female pedestrian, came into contact with a moving vehicle in the area of Barry’s Bridge and Barry’s Castle.

The lady pedestrian is understood to possibly have lost her balance, leaving a nearby pavement, before colliding with a slow moving vehicle, latter exiting from Barry’s Bridge unto Emmett Street in the town.

It was raining heavily at the time of the accident, as confirmed by extensive flooding on nearby Kickham Street, for the second time in just 10 days.

Despite backed up heavy traffic, and the narrow streetscape, Gardai and an Ambulance crew managed to effectively reach the scene.

The female pedestrian managed to walk to the ambulance aided by crew and from her posture appeared to be suffering from shock and possibly slight head injuries.

We have no further update at this time.

This is the second such incident involving pedestrians in this immediate area in the past 5 months.

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Sewage Continues To Harm Quality Of Our Rivers, Lakes & Coastal Waters, Says EPA.

A must read for Thurles residents and their businesses.

QUESTION: Were Thurles Councillors & Officials duped yet again at their Monday meeting with Irish Water officials?
Poorly treated sewage continues to harm the quality of our rivers, lakes and coastal waters, says EPA.
  • Just half (51%) of Ireland’s sewage was treated to the European Union standards set to protect our environment, well below the EU average of 90%.
  • Works to eliminate raw sewage flowing into seas and rivers from 32 towns and villages have commenced or are due to start by 2024.
  • Irish Water has no clear plan to improve treatment at 27 priority areas where waste water discharges are impacting on rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

The EPA report on Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2021, [Found HERE] and released today, shows that investment in waste water infrastructure is delivering improvements to priority areas identified by the EPA, but treatment at many areas is still not as good as it needs to be.

Emmett Street running parallel with River Suir.

Irish Water does not have clear plans in place to deal with one-third of the priority areas where waste water is adversely impacting the environment and has not allocated resources in its investment plan to complete improvements at these areas” ~ says EPA

Irish Water must provide for all improvements needed at these areas in its next investment plan, which covers the period 2025-2029.

Launching the report today, Dr Tom Ryan, EPA Director said: “This report shows that targeting investment at the priority areas identified by the EPA is delivering improvements in water quality, and the elimination of raw sewage discharges from Cobh and Castletownbere in Cork are good examples of progress.
However, it will take a high level of sustained investment over the next two decades to bring all treatment systems across the country up to the required standard to protect the environment and public health”.
Dr. Ryan added:Irish Water has failed to produce action plans to improve treatment at one-third of the priority areas identified by EPA where waste water is harming our rivers, lakes and coastal waters. It is essential that Irish Water provides clear, site specific action plans and time frames to improve treatment in these areas, and it needs to allocate the necessary resources in its next investment cycle to implement and complete them and to resolve the associated environmental harms”.

Ireland’s largest treatment plant at Ringsend in Dublin is overloaded and fails to consistently treat sewage to the required standards. A major upgrade of the plant began in 2018 and is due to be completed in 2025.
Construction work to provide treatment for the 32 areas discharging raw sewage listed in the report is either ongoing or due to start in the next two years. It is essential that Irish Water delivers these projects as soon as possible.

Mr Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager said: “Sixteen years after the final deadline to comply, half of Ireland’s sewage is still not treated to the standards set to protect the environment. It is particularly concerning to see some towns such as Ballymote in Sligo failing in 2021, despite having the necessary treatment infrastructure and meeting the standards in 2020. This highlights the need for improved vigilance and oversight by Irish Water to make sure treatment infrastructure is always operated at its optimum”.

The report also highlights that Irish Water needs to improve its information on the condition and performance of sewers to inform and plan upgrade works necessary to mitigate environmental risks from sewer overflows.

The report is now available on the EPA website HERE.

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Consumer Prices Rose By 8.2% Over Past 12 Months To September 2022.

The CSO’s latest data (October 13th 2022), showing the national average price of groceries, consisting of essentials including bread, milk, cheese, rashers, sausages, chicken, fruit, vegetables, are now €11.00 more costly.

The average price of a large 800g white sliced pan is up 26 cents. So, if a family buys four sliced pan loaves a week, same represents an increase of over €54 per year, on purchasing just bread alone.

“Man shall not live by bread alone…….” (Matthew Ch. 4:V. 4)

Next, add bread prices to the increased price rise on full fat milk, per 2 litres, which has increased by 41 cents in the past year, while the average price of Irish cheddar, per kg, rose by €1.23; butter, per lb, up 67 cents; one dozen eggs up 12 cents; a medium size chicken up 85 cents; spaghetti up 31cents per 500g; then suddenly your grocery bill noticeably shoots further skyward.

For those of us who enjoy alcoholic beverage, the national average price of a take-home 50cl can of lager is €2.16, up 21 cents on average from September 2021, while a take-home 50cl can of cider at €2.46 is up 25 cents in the same period.
In September 2022, the national average price of a pint of stout in licensed premises was €5.14, up 19 cents a pint over the past year, while a pint of lager is costing €5.55, up 25 cents compared to that paid in September 2021.

Increased energy costs are reflected in the yearly increase of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels with electricity up 36.2%, gas up 53.1%, liquid fuels (home heating oil) up 83.8% and solid fuels up 32.5% in the year.
The annual change in Transport costs reflects a rise in the cost of diesel (+32.5%), petrol (+15.1%), purchase of motor cars (+11.2%) and airfares (+18.8%); compared with September 2021.

Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels rose mainly due to an increase in the cost of electricity, liquid fuels (home heating oil), gas, solid fuels, higher rents and mortgage interest repayments.
Transport increased primarily due to a rise in prices for motor cars, diesel, petrol and services in respect of personal transport equipment. However, this increase was partially offset by lower prices for passenger transport by bus & coach and by railway.

Restaurants & Hotels prices rose, mainly due to higher prices for alcoholic drinks and food consumed in licensed premises, restaurants, cafes etc. and an increase in the cost of hotel accommodation, possibly in many cases brought about by sheer greed.

Miscellaneous Goods & Services did decrease, primarily due to a reduction in prices for motor insurance premiums, health insurance premiums, jewellery, clocks & watches.

Do not forget to budget these price rises to include the 10% increase in Local Property Tax here in Tipperary and the €1.60 per hour charges in Thurles town centre for parking your motor vehicle before you even buy one iota.

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Water Quality Of Rivers, Lakes, Estuaries, Coastal Areas Continues To Decline.

The water quality of our rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal areas continues to decline, says Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

  • Water quality in Ireland has further declined. While improvements are being made in some areas, these are being offset by declines in water quality elsewhere.
  • At the current level of progress, Ireland will fail to meet the EU and national goal of restoring all waters to good or better status by 2027.
  • Only just over half of surface waters (rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters) are in satisfactory condition (that is they are achieving good or high ecological status and are able to sustain healthy ecosystems for fish, insects and plants).
  • The deterioration in estuaries and coastal waters is mostly along the southeast and southern seaboards and is due to agricultural run-off. Urgent and targeted action is required to reduce nitrogen emissions from agriculture in these areas.
River Suir, Barry’s Bridge, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Suir estuary has lost its good water quality.
Thurles.Info first raised this issue with Tipperary politicians, Tipperary County Councillors and the EPA, nine years ago, starting on November 7th, 2013. Our claims were denied. See also Here (April 2019). See Here (July 2018) etc. etc.
Instead Tipperary County Councillors, lead by Fianna Fáil Councillor Mr Seamus Hanafin, ignored the river Suir, choosing instead to spread a 3 metre wide strip of tarmacadam on the river bank destroying existing biodiversity and local history.

Domestic Sewage water allowed to flow continuously into River Suir, at Thurles , Co. Tipperary.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published the Water Quality in Ireland Report 2016-2021 which provides the latest assessment of the quality of Ireland’s rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal and groundwaters.
The report shows that water quality in Ireland is not as good as it should be. Only just over half of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters are in satisfactory condition. The overall ecological health of these surface waters has declined across all water body types since the last assessment (2013-2018). This means these water bodies are less able to support healthy ecosystems for fish, insects and plants.

While the decline in water quality of our rivers and lakes is relatively small (1% and 3% of waterbodies respectively), the number of estuaries and coastal water bodies in satisfactory condition has decreased by almost 16% and 10% respectively.

These declines are mostly along the southeast and southern coasts where nitrogen emissions from agricultural activities are having a significant negative impact on water quality. Excess nitrogen causes algal blooms in our estuaries which can damage the ecosystem, and excess nitrogen in drinking water can pose a risk to human health.

Commenting on the report, Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment, said: “The scale of the declines in our estuaries and coastal waters is alarming. In recent years the EPA highlighted that nutrient levels in our rivers and groundwaters are too high and that trends were going in the wrong direction. We are now seeing the impact of these emissions on our estuaries and coastal waters. Areas such as Cork Harbour, Wexford Harbour and the Slaney, Suir and Nore estuaries have lost their good water quality status. This directly impacts the marine biodiversity and ecological value in these areas”.

The report highlights that since the last assessment published in 2019, the number of monitored water bodies in satisfactory condition has declined by:

  • 1% in rivers,
  • 3% in lakes,
  • 16% in estuaries,
  • 10% in coastal waters.
River Suir, Thurles Foot Bridge area near ‘Swinging Gates’, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

The main pressures on water quality are agriculture, physical changes such as land drainage and dredging, forestry activities and discharges from urban wastewater. These activities can lead to run-off of nutrients, sediment and pesticides and damage to the physical habitat of waterbodies. The number of waterbodies impacted by urban wastewater remains high, but it is reducing, and the trend is going in the right direction. The number of waterbodies impacted by agriculture has, however, increased in recent years.

Ms Mary Gurrie, Programme Manager, added: “Improvements in water quality are being made, particularly in the priority areas for action where there has been focussed action to restore water quality in the past three years. This shows that improvements to water quality can be made when actions are targeted. However, the gains made are being wiped out by declines in water quality elsewhere”.

The EPA is calling for urgent and targeted action to protect and restore water quality in the next River Basin Management Plan (2022-2027), and full implementation of, and compliance with, the Good Agricultural Practice Regulations.

The full report and a summary report are available on the EPA website.
Further information on water quality data and catchment assessments is available HERE
.

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