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Air Quality In Ireland Report 2024

‘We need to do more to protect clean air in towns, villages and cities across Ireland’ says EPA

Air quality in Ireland is generally good and was compliant with 2024 air quality standards, meeting all EU legal requirements.
It will be more challenging for Ireland to meet new and more stringent air quality limits that will come into force from 2030.
Clean air is essential for our health. Around 1,700 premature deaths occur in Ireland each year because of poor air quality.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published its report, Air Quality in Ireland 2024, which is based on data from Ireland’s extensive air monitoring network of 115 stations. It reveals that while Ireland currently meets EU air quality standards, we are projected to fall short of the stricter air quality standards set for 2030 under the new Ambient Air Quality Directive.

The new EU Directive, part of the Zero Pollution Action Plan, aims to reduce premature deaths from air pollution by 55 per cent by 2030. Ireland faces significant challenges in meeting these targets, with projected compliance levels of only 93 per cent for fine particulates (PM2.5) and 78 per cent for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Ireland also continues to fall well short of achieving the more stringent World Health Organization (WHO) health-based 2040 guidelines for several key pollutants.

The primary sources of air pollution in Ireland are solid fuel burning and traffic emissions. The European Environment Agency estimates that in Ireland, more than 1,700 premature deaths annually are attributable to air pollution, with links to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, dementia, type 2 diabetes and neonatal mortality. Vulnerable groups, including children and older adults, are particularly at risk.

Mr Pat Byrne, Director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring, stated:
“Many of us have grown up with the comfort of an open fire and limited alternatives to travelling by car—but these familiar habits contribute to poor air quality. Supporting people to shift towards cleaner heating and more sustainable travel isn’t about giving something up—it’s about gaining healthier air and healthier lives.”

Air pollution in Ireland is not confined to cities — towns and villages are also affected. The EPA website www.airquality.ie provides hourly-updated information on air quality and a 3-day air quality forecast. Having these online tools can help us make choices to protect our health during periods of poor air quality.
Ms Roni Hawe, EPA Programme Manager for Environmental Monitoring and Surveillance, added:
“Ireland is facing considerable challenges in its efforts to meet the more stringent air quality standards set for 2030, as well as the World Health Organization targets for 2040. Achieving these goals will require a decisive shift away from solid fuel burning, alongside the adoption of electric vehicles, efforts to reduce traffic and encouraging the use of public transport.”
To find out more about how we can improve air quality read the EPA’s “How we can improve the air we breathe“ infographic or check out the “Government of Ireland Clean Air“, which highlights some simple steps we can all make and help reduce pollution from solid fuels.
The Air Quality in Ireland 2024 report is available on the EPA website HERE.

Ireland Needs To Recycle Additional 400,000 Tonnes Of Waste Every Year.

Ireland is predicted to miss targets for recycling municipal and packaging waste for 2025.
An additional 400,000 tonnes of recycling is needed to reach our targets.
Packaging waste generation has increased almost four times faster than recycling since 2016.
Plastic packaging recycling rate is just 30 per cent, significantly below the required target for 2025 of 50 per cent.
Construction waste is Ireland’s largest waste stream, reaching nine million tonnes in 2023.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published its latest data on municipal, packaging and construction and demolition waste for the 2023 reporting year. EPA data shows that in 2023:

Ireland’s municipal recycling rate is 42 per cent, significantly below the 55 per cent target.
Ireland’s packaging waste recycling rate is 59 per cent and the 65 per cent target is at risk.
Ireland’s plastic packaging recycling rate is 30 per cent, significantly off the 50 per cent target.

While 1.3 million tonnes of municipal waste were recycled, this represents no improvement in recycling rates over the past decade. Investment in waste infrastructure is needed to reduce our reliance on overseas facilities with 1.2 million tonnes of municipal waste exported in 2023.

Opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle valuable materials and resources are also being missed. Packaging waste generation is excessive, and our rate of waste generation is increasing more than we are increasing recycling capacity.

It is now almost certain that mandatory recycling targets that apply from 2025 will be missed.

Commenting, Mr David Flynn, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Sustainability, EPA said:
“Ireland’s waste generation is too high. Our report highlights that Ireland needs to make measurable progress on stalled recycling rates and reduce overall consumption. Ireland needs to recycle 400,000 more tonnes of waste each year than we currently do. To address this we need investment in recycling infrastructure and to stop exporting a significant amount of our municipal waste to other countries.”

Construction is the most wasteful sector with nine million tonnes of construction waste generated in 2023. As the industry grows, companies need to urgently prevent waste and maximise the use of recycled and recyclable products.

Commenting, Mr Warren Phelan, Programme Manager of the EPA’s Circular Economy Programme said:
“Ireland’s economy uses significant raw materials producing valuable products and materials – but also lots of waste. If we are serious about moving to an economy which values resources and materials, we need to support innovation for low waste businesses as well as lean production, remanufacturing and circular supply chains. Materials and wastes are a cost to businesses, we need to value and retain materials, and our policies must incentivise circular businesses.”

The EPA’s national waste statistics are published on the EPA website HERE where more information on all of the waste streams is now available.

Littleton, Thurles, Co. Tipperary – “The Oldest Of Old Kriegies” Published.

A book, entitled “The Oldest Of Old Kriegies”, has now been published by Moycarkey-Borris, Littleton Men’s Shed History Group, under the guidence of Dr Pat McMahon.

The word “Kriegie” [pronounced kree-gee] is the German military slang for an Allied prisoner of war held in a German internment camp during World War II.

Local history researcher and member of Moycarkey-Borris Littleton History Group, Mr Michael Dempsey, now reports.

The new publication “The Oldest Of Old Kriegies”, is a well sourced publication which has researched, for the very first time and in greatest detail, the life of former Littleton, Thurles, Co. Tipperary resident Mr Lawerence (Larry) Slattery.
Before coming to Littleton, Mr Slattery was born on February 28th 1913, some 35km away in Rossacrow, Donohill, Co. Tipperary, of parents Mary Ann (nee Moran) and Michael Slattery, both primary school teachers.

On September 4th 1939, Mr Slattery’s aircraft was shot down over the sea at Wilhemshaven, west of Hamburg, latter a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany, while attempting to bomb 4 warships.

Picked up from the sea Mr Slattery would go on to become the longest detained British P.O.W of the entire War; not being finally freed until Allied troops reached his prisoner-of-war camp (stalag) in April of 1945.

Thurles.Info website, back in December 5th, 2017 previously briefly wrote about Larry Slattery, however the research details entered into in this new publication greatly exceeds anything previously printed heretofore.

The video above © remembers Mr Larry Slattery and his beloved locality one more time from the sky’s above, with music courtesy of the late, great English composer and conductor Mr Ron Goodwin (1925 – 2003).

Moycarkey-Borris History Group Littleton (MBL) would like to thank the National Archives of Ireland, Military Archives of Ireland, University College Dublin (UCD) Archives, Rockwell College Archives, Lincoln University Digital Archives, British National Archives, Tipperary Studies (at Thurles Library), and family descendants, from whence this extensive research now featured in this publication was gleaned.

This new publication can be purchased from Book Worm Bookshop & Cafe,Thurles, The Horse & Jokey Hotel, from all retail shops in Littleton and directly from members of the Moycarkey-Borris, Littleton Men’s Shed, History Group. Mobile Phone: 086-3648664.

Where Can A Devils Mark To Be Viewed In Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

One such ‘Devils Mark’ or Ordnance Survey Benchmark can be found in Thurles on a pillar close to the road surface, at the entrance to St Bridget’s graveyard at an area formerly known as Garryvicleheen Street, better known today as Abbey Road, west of Thurles town.

Carved into buildings, Churches, bridges and old stone walls across Ireland are these small but remarkable relics of scientific history, known as Ordnance Survey Benchmarks.

**One Ordnance Survey Benchmark** *(Devil’s Mark)* **in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.**
*Pic: G. Willoughby*.

Though created for science and statecraft, they soon became part of Irish folklore. Particularly in the west of Ireland, where oral tradition recalls that some communities called them the “Devil’s marks,” believing the mysterious cuts were left by dark forces. Same were sometimes smashed in the belief that with these marks, once removed, would ensure that the Devil could not return.

These chiselled symbols, usually a simple crow’s foot cut beneath a horizontal line (view image above), once formed part of a vast system for measuring height above sea level. Known colloquially as “sappers’ marks,” the upward-pointing arrow same contain, was borrowed from the British Government’s ‘broad arrow’ emblem of ownership, repurposed by surveyors as a practical, durable and instantly recognisable tool. At one point the British government issued prison clothing which were stamped with this ‘broad arrow’ emblem, so that people in the towns and villages would know that these individuals were convicts.

The story of benchmarks begins with the Ordnance Survey of Ireland (OSI), established in 1824 under Lt.-Col. Thomas F. Colby. His team carried out the world’s first large-scale mapping of an entire country, culminating in the survey of 1834 and the levelling of Ireland between 1839 and 1843. By 1846, Colby’s monumental effort was complete, leaving behind not only the celebrated six-inch-to-the-mile maps but also a physical legacy inscribed into the landscape.

Each benchmark recorded a precise elevation point, forming a network that allowed engineers, builders, and cartographers to work from a common reference.

Today, a lot of benchmarks still survive as tangible links to Ireland’s first great scientific survey and the progress it represented. Yet they lack any protection status. Modern demolition, redevelopment, road surface levels rising and weathering have already erased from sight, and permanently eradicated many.

Sadly, without awareness and preservation, these modest but historic cuts in stone may in time vanish altogether, along with the stories and the knowledge that they carry.

Sophie’s Swaps – Shop smarter, Cook Better, Unprocess Your Plate.

Sophie’s Swaps: Simple supermarket swaps and ultra-processed food free recipes to transform your shopping and unprocess your plate by authoress Sophie Morris.

Ms Sophie Morris – health food advocate, food entrepreneur and bestselling cookbook author – has become one of Ireland’s most trusted voices in nutrition. Her straight-talking advice and practical tips have earned the loyalty of hundreds of thousands of followers, as well as the attention of leading retailers. But Sophie has chosen to remain independent, determined to drive real change in the food industry on her own terms.

Something happened to our food in the mid-70s to make it irresistible to people. Why are ultra-processed foods so irresistible, and how they have come to dominate food culture?

We all want to make better food choices. We’ve heard about ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and the risks they pose to our health – but how much do we really know about what’s in our shopping trolley? Between limited time and misleading marketing, it’s easy to fill our kitchens with UPFs without even realising it.

That’s where Sophie comes in. Through her hugely popular supermarket swap posts, she has helped shoppers across Ireland make simple changes that cut down on UPFs without compromising on taste, convenience, or cost.

From ketchup to burgers, granola to curry sauce, Sophie shows you which brands offer healthier, less processed – and often cheaper – options. You’ll be surprised by what you discover.

And for those days when you want to cook from scratch, Sophie shares 50 quick, family-friendly recipes that prove healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated.

With ‘Sophie’s Swaps‘, you’ll learn how to shop smarter, cook better, and unprocess your plate – one simple swap at a time.