The seeds and grain firm Germinal Holdings, founded in 1825; latter which supplies high-grade grass seeds, fertilisers and wild flowers for use in agriculture and sports arenas, has made the decision to move its operational base from Banbridge, Co. Down, to relocate at its existing premises at Thurles Road, Ballytarsna, Horse & Jockey, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
Their decision comes as part of a wider strategy to further improve their operational efficiency.
While their decision will see a transfer of its head office function to Belfast, Co. Antrim, its operational base will be in Thurles, where Germinal has already invested heavily in a new production and distribution facility.
Employing 81 staff; the company had sales of £27.6 million and grew profits of £5.2 million during its last trading year.
The company are accelerating their investment in digital and e-commerce technologies, which is seen as major growth opportunity for their business.
Germinal Holdings presently remain the largest family-owned seed firm in the UK and Ireland.
Investigating the long-term impacts of everyday decisions is at heart of EPA second-level schools’ competition.
The EPA today launched The Story of Your Stuff, a competition which challenges students to investigate the life cycle of their everyday ‘stuff’ through a creative medium, considering the entirety of the item’s life cycle.
Students are encouraged to use the EPA’s Ireland’s Environment website, www.epa.ie/irelandsenvironment/ as a main resource to assist their research.
The Story of Your Stuff asks students to address climate issues with creativity, and also awards a special prize for Irish language entries.
Students are encouraged to consider answers to questions of environmental sustainability raised during pandemic.
Closing date for entries is Monday, 8th March 2021.
The EPA today launched The Story of Your Stuff, a competition aimed at secondary school students, which seeks to empower young people to make environmentally conscious decisions about their everyday ‘stuff’ and activities. Entrants are tasked with researching the life cycle of an everyday item or environmental impact of an activity, and creatively telling its story through a visual medium.
Last year’s winners were Caoimhe Higgins and Katherine from St. Andrews College, Booterstown, Dublin who made a video on the story of soap, shown in video above.
Now in its fifth year, the competition brings together curiosity, creativity and science, and aims to get young people thinking about sustainability, climate action and environmental protection, spread the word among their friends and family and make lasting and impactful changes.
Entrants will be in with a chance to win €500 for themselves and €500 for their school. An additional ‘climate topic prize’ will be awarded to the entry that best addresses and incorporates specific climate considerations, including carbon footprint or greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, to recognising a yearly increase in the number of Irish language entries received to the competition, a special prize for the best project delivered in Irish has been introduced.
Speaking at the launch of the competition, EPA Programme Manager, Dr Jonathan Derham said: “The EPA’s recently published State of the Environment Report highlights that the overall quality of Ireland’s environment is not what it should be, and the outlook is not optimistic unless we accelerate the implementation of solutions across all sectors and society. How and what we consume can directly negatively impact our environment. We need to understand these pressures and work to embrace more sustainable consumption behaviours.
The Story of Your Stuff offers young people almost limitless opportunities to explore how everyday decisions have far-reaching impacts on our environment. Moreover, against the backdrop of school closures due to COVID-19, The Story of Your Stuff is an ideal project to undertake from home, and for students to work on remotely with their classmates. I would encourage all second-level students and teachers to enter this year’s competition.”
Last year’s inaugural Climate Topic Prize winner was Lana Mitchel from Coolmine Community School, Clonsilla, Dublin 15 who created a video on the story of paper, shown above.
Astronaut ambassador
This year, the EPA has enlisted the support of aeronautical engineer, citizen scientist-astronaut candidate and award-winning STEM advocate, Dr Norah Patten as the competition ambassador for The Story of Your Stuff.
Dr Patten said: “As an advocate of participation in STEM, I’m encouraged by The Story of Your Stuff and am delighted to take up the role of ambassador for this year’s competition. Here, young people have the opportunity to bring their commitment to climate action and apply it to help influence environmentally-conscious decisions. I look forward to seeing how students immerse themselves in their chosen topic and go about presenting their findings in a creative and digestible way, with the aim of influencing behavioural change. I wish all entrants and their teachers the best of luck.”
For a third year, The Story of Your Stuff has partnered with UCD, which will host a finale event in April.
Director of the Earth Institute at UCD, Professor Tasman Crowe said: “UCD is delighted to once again support the EPA in delivering this initiative. The Story of Your Stuff has the potential to inspire the scientists of the future and is an important tool through which students develop the skills used by scientists and other researchers. Research has a huge role to play in protecting our planet and I hope students are inspired by the initiative to consider future studies in science and sustainability.”
Remember Competition guidelines and tips are available HERE and the deadline for entries is Monday, 8th March 2021.
Firstly: note there will be hazardous icy conditions in places overnight with a widespread severe frost and pockets of freezing fog. Please, only make essential journeys, but if you have to drive, reduce your speed and drive with the full knowledge of the prevailing conditions in your area.
Secondly: Gardaí would like to advise motorists not to leave their vehicles unattended when defrosting windscreens in the morning, during this exceptionally cold weather.
When defrosting your vehicle, defrost externally by using de-icer or warm water, or if you start the engine, please remain inside your car and take the time to defrost your windscreen thoroughly. Never leave your car unattended, while it is unlocked or while the engine is running.
Two cars were stolen while they were being defrosted this morning, January 8th, 2021, in separate incidents in Co. Longford and Co. Kildare. Both incidents occurred outside people’s homes. No arrests have been made and these vehicles have yet to be located.
If you need to use your car for essential travel during the current cold spell ensure your car has been fully de-iced and warmed before driving, and ensure tyres and wipers are adequate for these cold driving conditions.
Christmas Trees here in Co. Tipperary can be dropped off Free of Charge for recycling from Monday January 4th, 2021 until Saturday January 16th 2021 at the following locations.
Parnell Street Car Park, Thurles. Clonmel Recycling Centre Carrigeen, Clonmel. Waller’s-Lot Recycling Centre Cashel. Donohill Recycling Centre, Tipperary. Fair Green Car Park Carrick- on- Suir. Nenagh Recycling Centre, Nenagh. Roscrea Recycling Centre, Roscrea. Templemore Town Park, Templemore. Co. Council Depot Cahir Business Park, Cahir.
Your recycled Christmas trees will be most possibly mulched for use in gardening and landscaping.
Mulch, as every good gardener knows, serves several purposes.
Weed Barrier: Mulch blocks the light and helps suffocates weeds.
Moisture Retention: By blocking the light, mulch helps your soil retain more moisture so you have less watering to do.
A Perceived Well Maintained Finish: Mulch adds a clean, decorative edge to your yard, boosting pathway curb appeal, which, in turn, adds to your home’s perceived value from the outside.
Over the course of Saturday night/Sunday morning last, some uncouth barbarian had the marvellous idea of dumping his waste, having cleaned out the contents of his shed for Xmas.
However, what wasn’t such a good idea was that under the cover of darkness, he fly-tipped his unwanted waste product on the side of the Urlingford road, in the area of Leigh, Two-Mile-Borris, Co. Tipperary.
We understand the matter will be notified to Tipperary Co. Council on Monday morning, so expectd Council employees, each armed with a magnifying glass, who will arrive post haste to forensically examine the dumped content.
Leaving or throwing litter in a public place is an offence that can result in a maximum fine of €3,000 if you are convicted in the District Court. If you are convicted of a litter offence, you may also have to pay the local authority’s legal costs.
Christmas 2020 could be an expensive time for some parent, whose kid once drove a plastic red Mini Cooper toy car.
Just you wait until Ms Cora Morrissey (Administrative Officer at Tipperary Co. Council’s Environment & Climate Action Section) gets to hear about this; she will be livid. Obviously her two arrogant bin detectives, employed by Tipperary Co. Council, whom I had the pleasure of meeting last March; [They were checking if I owned bins], failed to call to this fly-tipper’s home regarding his method of recycling.
Oh, I would say it was someone from Dublin, sure no person in Tipperary would behave in that fashion. Didn’t I say it then and I say it now, allowing people to travel outside their county boundaries during a Covid-19 pandemic was a bad idea. 😃😇😃😇
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