Environment « Thurles Information

Update On Allied Irish Bank’s Sponsorship Of One Hundred Million Trees Project.

Readers will be aware of previous discussions regarding the “One Hundred Million Trees Project”, sponsored by Allied Irish Bank (AIB), situated on Liberty Square, in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Hereunder, please view a video, taken on the day of the planting, featuring so many of our local secondary school pupils.

This ambitious initiative, which deployed a novel planting technique perfected in Japan, known as The Miyawaki Method, is well on course to plant 550,000 trees across Ireland at hundreds of sites, by May of this year.
The project’s ambitious aim is to densely plant between 1,000 and 2,500 native Irish trees at a time across small areas of land using this ‘the Miyawaki method’, named after Japanese Botanist, Professor Akira Miyawaki.
This method of overplanting trees has been successful in creating over 1,700 forests worldwide, including three established forests here in Ireland.
By planting excess trees together, they grow considerably faster, denser, are more biodiverse, and most importantly create a very rapid carbon sink. This inexpensive approach requires significantly smaller planting areas and can be conducted on unused or fallow land across Ireland.
Dense areas of afforestation can also actually play a role in reducing the impact of forest fires, while at the same time provide excellent areas of biodiversity.
Thurles.Info will be returning to this area within the next few weeks to observe at first hand the progress made, following the planting of these trees.

Safety Fund 2025 Opens For Applications.

Proceeds of crime invested back into local communities.
Fund increases in size to €4 million.

The nationwide funding call for the Community Safety Fund 2025 is now open.

This annual fund allows for the proceeds of crime, seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and An Garda Síochána, to be directed into local projects to support and enhance community safety.

This year, €4 million is available, which is double the original allocation of €2 million when the fund first opened for applications in 2022, and grants range from €20,000 to €150,000.

The call for the Community Safety Fund is open for six weeks from today Monday April 7th, before closing on Friday May 16th next.

The Community Safety Fund will be managed by the newly established National Office for Community Safety within the Department of Justice.

The Fund:

Allows proceeds of crime to be directed into projects to support and enhance community safety
Ensures that the most appropriate proposals to improve community safety will access the funding they need
Allows best practice on community safety and youth justice to be shared with other partnerships and communities nationally as new proposals are developed
Benefits from the success of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in seizing the proceeds from criminal activity.

Projects that have previously benefited from the funding supported initiatives that:

Reduce the fear of crime; improve community safety and feelings of safety.
Support the creation of safe and resilient communities.
Reduce reoffending.
Divert vulnerable individuals away from engagement in criminal behaviour.

In 2024, over €3 million was allocated to projects nationwide. Themes from 2024 successful applicants included projects aimed at addressing anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, drug-related intimidation, social exclusion, youth programmes, prison post-release support.
Many of the projects focused on education, sport, recreation, and social interaction to proactively address safety concerns in communities.

Completed application forms must be returned by 5:00pm on Friday 16th May to CommunitySafetyFund@justice.ie
Supporting documentation, including the Application Form and Guidance Document are available HERE.

All documents must be downloadable.

EPA Announces Funding Of €6.6million For Targeted New Research Projects.

EPA announces funding of €6.6million for targeted new research projects to address environmental, climate and sustainability challenges.

The EPA today announces funding of €6.6million for new research that will address environmental, climate and sustainability challenges in Ireland.
Funding will support targeted research projects that address specific needs from across the policy community, with a focus on shorter projects to provide timely outputs.
Proposals are invited under 29 individual topics, including how we can enhance the reuse of water in Ireland, assessing methane emissions and exploring the impact of global megatrends on achieving environmental objectives.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced research funding of up to €6.6 million for new environmental research. The EPA is inviting proposals from the research community for innovative projects under 29 topics that will contribute to the development and implementation of environmental policies in Ireland.

Announcing the EPA funding call, Dr Eimear Cotter, (Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment) said: “The EPA’s continued investment in research underscores its critical role in addressing knowledge gaps and supporting effective policy responses to the challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation. In 2024, we were delighted to see an 80 per cent increase in applications to the EPA research call, highlighting the significant opportunity that researchers see for their work to contribute to environmental and climate policy development, and we hope to see a similarly strong response to our 2025 call.”

Research topics to be funded include:
assessing the performance of policies on achieving our climate targets;
examining how Ireland’s infrastructure can be resilient to population growth and climate change in the future;
exploring the impact of global megatrends such as artificial intelligence on environmental objectives;
how we can enhance the reuse of water in Ireland, and
analysing methane emissions from natural sources and human activities in Ireland.

Dr Darragh O’Neill, (EPA Research Manager”), stated, “The EPA is inviting proposals across 29 topics to address specific knowledge gaps. To strengthen the connection between research and policy, the EPA will support the successful research teams in working closely with the policy community to deliver impactful research outcomes. We particularly encourage early career researchers to apply and to consider the relevance of their research to the environment, climate and sustainability.”

The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative, funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Applications are accepted from across the island of Ireland, including from higher education institutions, research performing organisations, private companies and non-governmental organisations. Under this year’s call, the EPA is delighted to be partnering with Met Éireann, the Office of Public Works and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to co-fund projects in areas of mutual interest.

Further details about the 2025 EPA Research Call and how to apply for funding is available on the EPA Website.

Thurles Municipal District Enhancement Grant.

Thurles Municipal District Enhancement and Painting Grant 2025.

Thurles Municipal District Council, is seeking to improve the streetscape and public realm of Thurles Town, Templemore Town and Roscrea Town, through supporting owners of buildings in improving and enhancing their properties and public areas generally, by such means as, but not limited to:-

Removal of inappropriate contemporary signage, fittings, and general clutter and replacement with shop fascia signage (with an emphasis on hand-painted signage).
Painting and general improvements to the frontages of commercial and residential buildings.
Erection of planters, floral hanging baskets, or other environmental improvements.

Application Forms: Same can be obtained by email to una.osullivan@tipperarycoco.ie.

Further Information: Telephone: +353 (0)818 06 5000, during hours 9:30am to 4:30pm.

Moon To Pass Between Earth & Sun Tomorrow Morning.

A partial eclipse of the sun will see skies darken over Ireland tomorrow morning, Saturday March 28th, allowing us to experience the deepest eclipse experienced in the past ten years.

This phenomenon occurs when the Moon partially passes between the Sun and the Earth. Since the three planets will not be completely aligned, only part of the Sun will be obscured from our world.

The Aztecs, a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period believed eclipses happened when the jaguar god Tepeyollotl swallowed the Sun, while the Cherokee, latter an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, made as much noise as possible during an eclipse, to scare away the giant frog, they believed, was trying to consume it.

This happening, however, will see sunlight less powerful around mid-morning on Saturday, as the begins to cut a slice from the sun from 9:30am onwards until it reaches its peak at around 11:00am to noon.

The impact of this partial eclipse will be noticeable, particularly by people working outdoors. With bright, sunny spells expected in the east of the country tomorrow morning, the sky will otherwise remain cloudy with outbreaks of light rain and drizzle expected.