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Back here in Co. Tipperary, environmentalists have begun their own form of recycling, by “Fly Tipping”, (latter illegally dumping their waste) on a mere 300 metre stretch of the R502 close to Templetuohy village, and on a lesser south facing roadway, known locally as Orchard Cres. (See short Video hereunder).
While photographing the pictures hereunder, I was quickly approached by persons attending a nearby Coursing Meeting. In case you don’t know, ‘Coursing’ is a dubious game played by grown men, who spend their time pursuing already ensnared, vicious animals, like hares; using greyhounds, the latter who chase these now incarcerated and malicious animals, using great speed, running by sight, and not by scent. While my camera was spotted operating almost one mile away and I was soon quickly interrogated, followed (Silver VW) and questioned as to what was my photographic purpose; not one of “my confronters”, peculiarly, were able to inform me, as to who was destroying their local, rural environment with regular ‘Fly Tipping’.
Tipperary Co. Council have erected plastic sign’s in the area, same nailed directly unto 10-year-old Silver Birch tree saplings; obviously indicating to the viewer that here is a Co. Council who understand, advocate and truly “give a damn” for the protection and preservation of our Tipperary environment. These sign’s promise that ‘COVERT CCTV’ may be in operation for the purposes of detecting environmental offences; same being about as useful as a red-hot poker, when stuck up a skunk’s behind, in an effort to manufacture creamery butter.
Last January, the European Commission adopted its first ever Europe-wide policy on plastics. Under their plan, it is intended that all plastic packaging used within the EU market place, will become recyclable by 2030. The European Parliament voted for a European Union-wide ban on single-use plastics last October.
Here in Ireland the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment Mr Richard Bruton, has this week, had his picture taken, clutching at a bunch of plastic drinking straws, before stating that all Government departments can no longer purchase single-use plastic cups, straws or cutlery (Knives, Forks, Spoons, and Chopsticks etc); with all public bodies and schools having until March 31st, to implement this EU policy.
Announcing these new EU procedures, Minister Bruton stated that his Irish minority Government almost, two months later, now wants to “lead the way” in showing that it is taking sustainability policies seriously, (Wow, impressive spin and thank God for new EU policy directives. What would our Fine Gael government do all day long were it not for new EU rules and regulations being introduced on their behalf?).
Even the major Supermarket outlets, some 12 months previously here in Ireland, stopped using plastic in their “cotton buds”, but possibly government TD’s and ministers don’t use cotton buds. (This actuality, might account for the fact that they don’t take note or even listen to what their electorate are saying).
Come Monday next, January 7th, it will be time once again to pack away those Christmas decorations for another year. Those with artificial trees will return same, wrapped for another year, to the attic or some other place for safe keeping. Those with traditional Christmas trees, on the other hand, will be looking for some place to recycle.
Tipperary Co. Council are encouraging all householders to dispose of their Christmas trees in an environmentally friendly way. Left at one of their recycling centres; same will be ground into mulch, before being incorporated naturally into soil, by the activity of worms and other organisms. Used in local community landscaping projects, this mulch helps to conserves soil moisture; improves the fertility and health of the soil; while reducing weed growth and enhancing the visual appeal of the area.
Christmas Tree Recycling Centres Tipperary
Christmas Trees can be dropped off Free of Charge for recycling, during normal hours of business, from Monday January 7th to Saturday January 19th, at the following stated locations.
Thurles: Parnell Street Car Park.
Clonmel: Clonmel Recycling Centre Carrigeen.
Cashel: Waller’s-Lot Recycling Centre.
Carrick- on- Suir: Fair Green Car Park.
Nenagh: Nenagh Recycling Centre.
Roscrea: Roscrea Recycling Centre.
Templemore: Templemore Town Park.
Cahir: Cahir Depot, Cahir Business Park.
It will come as no surprise to Tipperary environmentalists that the EPA has found that water quality of Irish waters has deteriorated between 2015 and 2017.
The EPA, on November 30th 2018 last, released details of the Water Quality for 2017: “An Indicators Report for Ireland”. The 16 indicators in the report provide information on the quality of Ireland’s rivers, lakes, canals, estuaries, coastal waters, beaches and ground-waters. The report showed a net overall decline of 3% (72 water bodies) in the water quality in Irish rivers between 2015 and 2017. Some 197 river water bodies have improved in quality, but 269 water bodies have deteriorated; compared with the last full assessment in 2013-2015.
The long-term loss of high-quality river sites is continuing with a further 0.6% decline since 2015.
Most pollution is caused by too much nitrogen and phosphorus entering our waters. Despite a long-term reduction, recent data clearly indicates that levels of nitrogen and phosphorus are beginning to rise again and unless addressed, this is likely to lead to a further decline in water quality into the future.
Significant pressures:
Activities, such as waste-water discharges, industrial discharges or agriculture, that are identified as being significant contributors to surface water or groundwater bodies failing to meet their Water Framework Directive (WFD) objectives. Nutrient losses from agriculture and waste-water discharges from towns and businesses together with physical habitat issues are the primary reasons why the water quality objectives of the Water Framework Directive are not being met. In relation to agriculture, the pressures relate to diffuse nutrient run-off, sediment from land and point sources associated with farmyards. For waste-water, the main pressure is from urban waste-water discharges and diffuse urban discharges, (which include faulty connections leading to sewage effluent being discharged to surface water drainage systems).
Local Authorities Waters Programme: The Local Authorities Waters Programme is a local authority shared service managed by Kilkenny and Tipperary County Councils, on behalf of all local authorities.
It has recently commenced local assessments of the causes of water quality issues within the 190 areas set out in the River Basin Management Programme via the work of its catchment assessment team. Same coordinate with the water quality work of Local Authorities through agreed regional structures, thereby providing a collaborative approach to river catchment management. It also seeks to engage local communities and promote public participation in the management of our water environment via the work of a team of water community officers.
Positive Changes:
Serious pollution continues to decrease. Only two river water bodies were seriously polluted in the latest reporting period compared to five in 2013-2015. Historically there were 91 seriously polluted water bodies in the late 1980s.
Fish kills were at an all-time low with only 14 reported in 2017 compared to 31 in 2016.
Commenting on the report, Dr Matt Crowe, Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment stated: “Clean, healthy water is essential to our health and wellbeing. The signals in this report are not good and tell us that water quality is still getting worse in some areas despite improvements in others. This is simply unacceptable. We must do more to halt deterioration in water quality so that we protect this most precious public resource.
“Substantial additional resources have recently been put in place by the State with the creation of the Local Authority Waters Programme and the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advice Programme. These programmes will support action at local level to address the issues causing water pollution. We now need to start seeing visible improvements in water quality through the work of these new programmes. The EPA will continue to play its part in this by providing the science and evidence to support action on the ground and will also continue to report regularly on progress.”
Addressing the main findings of the assessment, Andy Fanning, Programme Manager, EPA Office of Evidence and Assessment stated: “The report highlights that the loss of our best quality waters is continuing. It is also clear that there is a general decline in river water quality. Worryingly, this report also shows a rise in nutrient inputs to our seas from our rivers.
“Most pollution is caused by too much nitrogen and phosphorus entering waters. These excess nutrients come from human activities, predominantly our farms and urban areas. The increases are an early warning that we need to address the sources and the pathways by which these nutrients make their way into our rivers and lakes. The success in addressing serious pollution and the reduction in fish kills shows that we can make positive changes when we put our minds to it.”
It is now intended to publish annual indicators reports that will complement and support the EPA’s Water Quality in Ireland reports, produced every three years.
Irish air quality facing pollution challenges from solid fuel burning and transport emissions.
 The number of monitoring stations providing real-time air quality information to the public via the EPA website will have more than doubled in 2018 (from 19 in 2017 to 45).
Air quality monitoring results in 2017 showed that the burning of solid fuel and emissions from transport, both remain the main threats to good air quality in Ireland.
An estimated 1,150 premature deaths in Ireland are identified as being directly attributable to poor air quality, according to the European Environment Agency. This is mainly due to fine particulate matter levels from solid fuel burning.
We all have a role in play in improving the quality of the air we breathe. Our home heating and transport choices directly influence the level of pollution in the air around us. This pollution affects people’s health and their life expectancy.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s annual Air Quality report, released just yesterday, shows that while Ireland’s air quality did not exceed legal limit values in 2017, air quality in Ireland is impacting negatively on people’s health. Levels of particulate matter (dust) in our air is of a growing concern. Levels are particularly high during the winter months when the use of solid fuels such as coal, peat and wood, impact on air quality and on health, especially in small towns and villages.
In urban areas, transport related emissions of nitrogen dioxide are close to set down EU limit. The report also shows that Ireland is above the health-related and tighter World Health Organization and European Environment Agency guideline values.
In launching the report, “Air Quality in Ireland 2017 – Key Indicators of Ambient Air Quality”, Director General of the EPA Laura Burke stated: “We all expect that the air we breathe is clean but we cannot take this for granted. It is now time to tackle the two key issues impacting negatively on air quality in Ireland – transport emissions in large urban areas and emissions from solid fuel burning across the country.
While Ireland met all legal standards for air quality in 2017 at EPA monitoring stations, the levels of air pollution caused by burning solid fuel – including “back yard burning” – and by transport at some locations were above the World Health Organization air quality guidelines. The choices we all make as individuals affect the levels of pollution in the air we breathe which have an impact on people’s health and life expectancy”
Speaking at a National Air Event in Kilkenny last week, organised by the EPA, Francois Wakenhut from the European Commission’s Clean Air Unit clearly outlined the health impacts of air pollution in Ireland. He cited the European Environment Agency estimate of premature deaths occurring in Ireland each year due to fine particulate matter.
Mr Wakenhut stated: “There is an increasing awareness of the urgencies of air quality; people demand from government that we do more to deliver clean air. The European Environment Agency have estimated 1,150 premature deaths in Ireland are directly attributable to poor air quality, that is too many for Ireland and demands action”.
According to Patrick Kenny, (EPA Air Quality Manager): “The choices that each of us makes about how we heat our homes, dispose of our waste and travel to work and school can directly impact on our local air quality. Providing more localised, real-time air quality information will help people to be better informed when making these choices and will provide a better picture of what is impacting on our air quality. The National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme, managed by the EPA, is on track to deliver 16 new monitoring stations and upgrade 10 existing monitoring stations to real-time monitoring by the end of 2018.”
The Air Quality in Ireland 2017 – Key Indicators of Ambient Air Quality report is available on the EPA website. An infographic is also available: Heating your home and its impact on air quality and health – Infographic of of home heating choices and impact on air quality and health.
The EPA continually monitors air quality across Ireland and provides the air quality index for health and real-time results on their website HERE. Results are updated hourly on the website, and you can log on at any time to check whether the current air quality in your locality is good, fair or poor.
Tipperary Independent TD, Deputy Michael Lowry is pleased to confirm the following allocation of funding for Co. Tipperary under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.
Following his continued representation on behalf of Tipperary’s ‘Category A Projects’, to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Mr Eoin Murphy; €2.89 million has now been awarded for the development of the Kickham Barrack Sports Hub in Clonmel and a further €1.35 million has been allocated for the Thurles, Liberty Square Regeneration Project.
This funding is allocated through Project Ireland 2040.
As readers will be aware, earlier this year ‘Project Ireland 2040’ established four new funds, all with a combined allocation of €4 billion, up to 2027.
The Urban Regeneration and Development fund (URDF) has an overall allocation of €2 billion up to 2027, with the Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government having the responsibility for the implementation of this same URDF funding.
This fund is the largest urban regeneration initiative taken in Ireland for decades and was established to support more compact and sustainable development, through the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s cities and large towns, in line with the objectives of Project Ireland 2040.
This will enable a greater proportion of residential and mixed-use development to be delivered within the existing built-up footprints of our cities and towns and it will ensure that more parts of our urban areas can once again become attractive and vibrant places in which people can choose to live and work, as well as to invest.
There are two categories of submission, Category A – for projects that are ready to go and Category B to support the initial development of projects (Master-planning / Feasibility) to ensure a pipeline of possible projects into the future.
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