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 What benefits birds, also benefits humans, as those of our readers here in Thurles and Co Tipperary, who supplemented their garden’s birds’ diet, during the recent unprecedented harsh weather, can attest. By feeding the birds in your area, there is an automatically important knock-on effect for the flower lover and organic gardener, as birds will quickly get used to searching for food in your garden and will simultaneously search for pests such as greenfly, caterpillars and snails, all the year round.
By the way this video was captured on the new Flip Video Camera. Latter fits into the palm of your hand, easily fits in your jeans pocket while letting you record high quality HD footage with the greatest of ease. The rectangular shaped camera is the size of a standard mobile phone and can captures 2 hours of HD video at a time, so is ideal for the local football match, the confirmation or the children’s birthday party. On the Flip Video camera front is a zoom lens and microphone, while the back contains a 1.5 inch viewing screen, plus four directional arrows, a delete and a play button. A USB plug flips out from its side allowing you to connect it directly to a computer or laptop USB port, without the hassle of attaching messy cables, thus allowing you to play your captured content immediately without rendering. As you can see from this video, this tiny camera delivers a remarkably high quality picture on a device that any unskilled individual can use. I find it especially good in situations like observing nature, as with the aid of a tripod, it allows me to get up close and personal without being intrusive. (This extraordinary HD Video Camera is also very affordable, at around €170 .)
After the glut of each years Summer and Autumn fruits have passed and when insects are diminishing, winter is most certainly the correct time to feed our local bird population, but when should we stop?
With regard to this question, there are possibly two schools of thought. Some says you should stop gradually, once winter is over and more natural foods become available. Other state that stopping suddenly increases stress to birds, when they are already under pressure both defending territories and building their nests. There is possibly some truth in both schools of thinking, but it is true that allowing blue tits to feed their very their young babies on peanuts is likely to cause their deaths, as very young Blue Tits can’t digest the nuts fed by their parents. You could however, switch to other foods during the period, perhaps hanging up a meat bone, left over from your main meal, which offers to the birds a high protein food. There will be plenty of natural food available in your garden in Summer, with greenfly, caterpillars and snails, of all sizes, in much abundance.
The different species of our birds life have different feeding habits. Hanging food is ideal for sparrows and members of the Tit family, using a peanut or seed dispenser as shown in this video attached.
Continue reading What Benefits Birds Can Benefit Humans
 Bin your litter Carlow was today announced as the cleanest town in Ireland at a ceremony in Dublin today, in the 2010 survey of litter levels in 53 towns and cities, by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL).
The winning town was presented with a special plaque by Dr Tom Cavanagh, Chairman of IBAL, who criticised the Government, local and Urban District County Councils for failing to fully tackle the issue of litter, which shows slow signs of reducing.
To mark its success, Carlow will receive a number of trees for planting locally.
IBAL’s Anti-Litter League which commenced in 2002, was developed to attempt to mobilise local authorities into action on the subject of litter. Recent results show 36 out of 55 towns are ‘Clean to European Norms’ compared to only 2 when the survey began in 2002.
The success to-date of IBAL’s Anti-Litter League programme lies in its transparency. It involves An Taisce,who regularly monitor litter levels in towns and cities across Ireland according to international standards. The areas are then ranked in a league table format.
Initially comprising 27 areas, the League has grown to include over 50 towns and city areas and is now co-funded by the Department of the Environment. All towns of over 6,000 inhabitants are now covered by the Anti Litter League.
The ultimate objective of the League is to ensure all towns in Ireland are ‘litter-free’, which equates to 80 points or more out of 100.
Portlaoise was branded Ireland’s dirtiest town, closely followed by Nenagh in Co Tipperary, latter the political capital of North Tipperary. Dr Tom Cavanagh said Town Managers and Councilors should be out and about seeing what is going on throughout towns as regards littering.
IBAL now wants people to become litter “whistle-blowers” by photographing black-spots in their areas and sending the pictures to the organisation, which, in turn, will pass them on to the relevant local authority. They are inviting people to submit photos as part of a “litter twitter” campaign to alert local authorities to litter-ridden areas.
The report blames a lack of co-ordination between local councils and the National Roads Authority for litter problems. Dr Tom Cavanagh said that city authorities faced challenges such as the prevalence of dumping, discarded fast-food and litter connected with late-night activity. Chewing gum on pavements is tarnishing the overall environment Dr Cavanagh said and a clean Ireland was critical to enhancing our international reputation.
Photos can be emailed to litterspotter.2010@twitpic.com.
If you like looking at litter, you might be interested in IBAL’s Twitter account at twitter.com/litterspotter – pics on view include that of a littered bus stop in Clondalkin and the back of an abandoned bed lying in a river.
 Green Dragon Innovation Challenge 2011 The Agri Aware Green Dragon Secondary Schools Innovation Challenge is back and set again to entice all our young innovators to develop original and ground breaking ideas. Students are encouraged to develop the concept of a new product or service within three sectors with huge potential for development, namely: food, agriculture and the environment.
Twenty five finalists will battle it out at the national final in March 2011 for the highly coveted prize of a development fund worth €8,000.
Agri Aware with the support of Bord Bia and AIB Bank are calling on second level students of all ages to look outside their classroom, identify a gap in one of these three sectors and apply what they have learned to the real world.
The challenge is open to all second level students. It doesn’t matter if you are a first or a sixth year, the submission will be judged on the merit of the idea and not your age.
Students nationwide will pitch their ideas to the Green Dragons with the hope of following in the footsteps of last year’s highly successful winner, Paul Bowden from Thurles CBS Co. Tipperary.
IFA President John Bryan commented, “The Green Dragon is an excellent way to get our young people thinking about the huge economic possibilities that lie within the agricultural, food and environmental sector.”
Interested pupils, teachers and parents should visit Here for more information.
Note: Due to the recent adverse weather conditions resulting in the closure of many schools, the closing date for registration to the Green Dragon Innovation Challenge is now Friday January 21st, 2011.
 Construction work by Bord Gáis Networks on the pipeline to bring natural gas to homes and businesses in Tipperary Town, is expected to get underway this week. Tipperary Town customers can soon join a network of some 640,000 customers countrywide, who presently enjoy clean, efficient and environmentally friendly fuel.
The project on completion was previously estimated in 2009 at costing €5,551,357.
The town will be supplied with natural gas from the existing Raheen Above Ground Installation (AGI) in Garryspillane, Co. Limerick. The project will involve laying a 17km feeder main pipeline along the R662 to the edge of Tipperary town and 9.8km of distribution pipeline throughout the town.
Construction of the feeder main pipeline is being carried out by Bord Gáis Networks’ designated contractor, GMC Groups gas division. Work on the new distribution pipeline in Tipperary town is scheduled to begin in spring 2011 and will be completed within six months.
Bord Gáis Networks is currently liaising with all the relevant authorities and organisations, as well as the businesses and residents along the route of the pipeline, to ensure that all concerned are aware of the planned construction.
As safety is a number one priority, Bord Gáis Networks has been working with the Roads and Planning departments in Tipperary Town Council and Tipperary County Council, to agree local traffic management plans and to arrange appropriate sites for the storage of pipes and fittings.
All excavation work will be back-filled and original surfaces restored, thus ensuring that disruption is kept to a bare minimum.
The town of Thurles was being considered in the same economic group with the town located close to the existing Transmission Block Valve station at Gurteen off the Cork-Dublin Transmission pipeline. The project on completion for Thurles was previously estimated at costing in 2009, approximately €11,300,882. However this proposed connection to the network, resulted in a negative net present value of -€8.66m and therefore connection was deemed uneconomic on a stand-alone basis.
Now our readers may partially understand why I compare rural Thurles to ‘An Pháil’. No secret government support deals done on this front.
Still, after next Thursday’s HSE / SIPTU scam discussions, we might get part of the €40 million odd set aside by that body called the Health Services National Partnership Forum, that is if it has not been all spent on foreign holidays for union chiefs.
Isn’t it just gas my friends.
 Lisheen Mine At Wednesday’s Joint Committee meeting, North Tipperary Deputy Noel Coonan was informed that the life of Lisheen Mine, Moyne, Thurles, Co Tipperary has been extended possibly to the end of 2014 and Anglo American Lisheen Mining Ltd see the site as having the potential to become a leading renewable energy location into the future.
The local Fine Gael TD who is a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, yesterday examined the topic of Irish mining and exploration. In attendance at the meeting was Mr John Elmes of Anglo American Ltd, owner of Lisheen Mine.
Deputy Noel Coonan stated:
“Additional mineral deposits have been uncovered at Lisheen mine and extraction will continue post 2014. We are exploring the idea that, on closure of Lisheen Mine, the site could become a forerunner in the field of renewable energy. The site, located between the villages of Moyne and Templetuothy, is ripe with opportunity having it’s own ESB sub-station and connection to the grid. It is ideally located off the M8 and is also in close proximity to the N7 so transport is not an issue. This is a viable opportunity that must be teased out. Mr Elmes and I both agreed that this industrial site already has excellent facilities in place and these should be maximised upon.
Anglo America is actively promoting the site as a centre for the production of wind and hydro energy because of its zoning as an industrial site and the facilities already there. So there’s no reason why the site could not also generate energy from sugar beet and anaerobic digestion and become a thriving industrial renewable energy site,” said Deputy Coonan.
I’m calling on the Government and all departments involved including the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to do everything in its power to promote Lisheen Mine as a centre of renewable energy, especially in the area of ethanol production.
The sugar beet industry in Thurles should never have closed according to the European Court of Auditors’ report and I believe the industry could be reignited again and I will be pushing for this to happen in my role as Fine Gael’s CAP spokesperson.”
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