Environment « Thurles Information

Thunderstorm Activity Forecast For Tipperary Area.

Met Éireann has warned of thunderstorms affecting 10 counties in the Irish Republic, as Ireland’s heatwave comes to an end.

Met Éireann, the national forecaster has stated that southern and eastern areas of the country will experience thunderstorm activity today, together with possibly localised heavy rain showers.

The status-yellow warning came into force at 9.30am and will remain in effect until 9pm tonight for counties Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Waterford, Cavan, Donegal and Leitrim.

Meanwhile, last Friday, July 15th, was St. Swithin’s Day and according to the old saying, if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day it will rain for the next 40 days. If on the other hand St. Swithin’s Day is dry, the next 40 days will also be dry.

The saying goes: –
“St. Swithin’s Day, if it does rain, full forty days, it will remain.
St. Swithin’s Day, if it be fair, for forty days, t’will rain no more”

However, our weather experts maintain that since records began in the latter half of the 1800s, there has never been a record of 40 dry or 40 wet days in a row, following the St. Swithin’s Day belief, and it looks like this year will be no exception.

Bee Swarming Season In Co. Tipperary.

The “Swarming” of our honey bee (Apis mellifera) population, here in Co. Tipperary, is a natural annual process. Most swarming activity takes place between 11:00am – 4:00pm during spells of very warm weather and never during periods of rain.

Their reasons for swarming are identified as either the hive having become too crowded, so they decide to split into smaller groups; with one group agreeing to remain in the existing hive. Sometimes, however, the complete hive population may decide to totally abscond, due to persistent heat; parasite or disease infestation; frequent disturbances from humans or animals, poor ventilation, or problems with the queen bee.

Worker bees are able to detect when it’s time to swarm due to the overcrowding of their hive or the lack of pheromone production from their queen.

In preparation for their swarming, the workers will deprive the queen of food in order to slim her down, so she can fly with them. They will also agitate her in order to prevent her from laying further eggs. They can also decide to allow the queen to lay eggs, so that a new queen can emerge and take over the hive.

On swarming, the colony leave their hive to find an area where they can hang in a cluster from a branch or even alight on the ground, until such time as the scout bees can decide on new accommodation, such as in a tree cavity, or abandoned building. They can, however, become a nuisance when they take up residence in the walls of a residential house, or garden shed. But usually bee keepers are more than happy to come and take offending swarms, consigning them to more acceptable hive homes.

A honey bee swarm can be somewhat frightening when thousands of bees appear in a large, rather noisy buzzing cloud, before settling into a cluster in your garden or other space.
Most honey bee swarms are not aggressive, but best advice is to keep away and leave them alone. Swarming bees usually don’t sting but it is always best to stay clear and keep children & pets indoors.

Do remember that besides making honey, our honey bees are essential for pollinating some 90% percent of our crops worldwide, and our earth would be much the worst without these hard-working little creatures.

Humans have been collecting honey from bees since ancient times, with cave paintings in Cuevas de la Araña, Valencia, Spain depicting humans foraging for honey back at least 8,000 years ago.

Note: Most microorganisms do not grow in honey, so sealed honey does not spoil, even after thousands of years.

Microbes That Can Eat Plastic.

Plastic here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary; as with every other town in the world, is ubiquitous. It fills our bins, shopping trolleys and households.

It’s hard to imagine life without plastic and yet it’s a relatively recent invention. It wasn’t until the 1960s that plastic began to be mass produced and many of our readers may well remember how life in Ireland functioned before plastic.

Despite its usefulness and convenience, plastic is one of our world’s greatest environmental problems. It now dominates our landfills, rivers and oceans.

Why?

It does not decompose like other materials. Indeed, it is estimated that it can take 450 years for one plastic bottle to decompose in landfill.

In the fascinating “TedEd” talk in the video shown immediately above, [which hopefully you have all watched], scientific research on microbes may help humanity find an effective and more natural way to decompose plastic in our environment.

Whilst this is indeed welcome news, it represents only a small step in the fight against plastic. Ultimately, we need to drastically rethink our relationship with the substance and aim to remove as much plastic as we can from our lives and communities.

As the wise old adage states, “prevention is better than cure”.

Thurles Council Use Consultant To Decide Paint Colour For Liberty Square Businesses.

* Changes To Disabled or Invalid Parking In Liberty Square, Thurles.

* Thurles Municipal District Council Use Consultant To Decide Paint Colour For Liberty Square Businesses.

Picture shown above, indicate recent changes to Disabled or Invalid Parking in Liberty Square, Thurles. Initially sign posts identifying these parking areas [See Pic. I] were erected facing away from traffic [See Pic. 2] the wrong way. Now the same erected signs have been removed altogether [See pic. 3] and their postholes filled in with tarmac, [See Pic. 4].

Disabled or Invalided drivers, not familiar with the area, can now no longer find the spaces, shielded by parked cars.

But not to worry; once again it’s only taxpayers money.

On another matter; local press reports that Fianna Fáil Councillor Mr Seamus Hanafin has been informed by District Administrator Ms Sharon Scully (Templemore Thurles Municipal District Council) of a proposed Liberty Square painting scheme.

From the report we understand that Ms Scully informed council members that a consultant had drawn up a “pallet of colours”, which would be used and she was asking for expressions of interest by property owners on the half upgraded Liberty Square area of the town.

It is all about Liberty Square.

Meanwhile, local press makes no public mention of the stench of sewage being experienced by shop owners on the money side of Liberty Square (distinct from the ‘Sunny side’).
We understand, however, that a representative of Thurles Municipal District Council has called to the shops in question, [latter stretching from Emmet Street to Slievenamon Road], following complaints having been received by said council. According to two shop owners, they were informed to forward any further complaints to “Irish Water”.

We further understand, that at least one premises has contacted their landlord, regarding the issue.

One shop owner informed us that an Irish Water representative has since called, but couldn’t get any smell.
Perhaps his olfactory sensory neurons, which are found normally in a small patch of tissue high inside the nose and connected directly to his brain, were out of action at the time. Or perhaps the prevailing wind, blowing from a westerly direction, had failed to materialise on that given day.

Meanwhile, regardless of this stench; same akin to sewage, (according to my chemosensory system), Fianna Fail Councillor Mr Hanafin, [again according to Local Press] has stated that dereliction is a major problem in town centres across Co. Tipperary and the only way he could see out of it, was by the council issuing ‘Compulsory Purchase Orders’ on these properties, or else charging a ‘dereliction levy’ on property owners.

Cllr Hanafin, did not elaborate on what all the properties would be then used for, once ‘compulsory purchase’ had been undertaken by the council, using of course good old taxpayers money.

A listen, sure you have to be saying something when elected to a position of power within your community.

Delays In Fixing Failed Septic Tanks Unacceptable.

Over half (53%) of septic tank systems failed inspection in 2021.
Three quarters of systems failing inspection have been fixed, but delays in resolving older failures is a concern.
Faulty septic tank systems are a risk to people’s health and the environment.
The National Inspection Plan 2022-2026 requires increased inspections and enforcement to ensure failed systems are fixed.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released the report on Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems Inspections in 2021. This is a report of the 1,147 inspections of septic tanks and other domestic waste water treatment systems completed by local authorities in 2021.

Fifty-three per cent (604) of the systems failed inspection because they were not built or maintained properly.
Twenty-nine per cent (337) of systems inspected were considered a risk to human health or the environment, because faulty systems can contaminate household drinking water wells and pollute rivers.

Commenting on the report, Dr. Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said,
“If you do not maintain your septic tank, it can contaminate your own or your neighbour’s drinking water well, or your local stream, putting your health at risk and that of your family and neighbours. Some of these problems may go unnoticed unless householders check their septic tank and drinking water well. Householders should visually check their septic tank and get their well tested at least annually to satisfy themselves that their septic tank is not posing a risk to the health of their families, their neighbours and the environment. Where problems are detected, householders need to take the necessary steps to fix their septic tanks”.

Local authorities issue advisory notices to householders setting out what is required to fix septic tanks that fail inspection. The report found there were 533 cases where issues notified to householders over two years previously had still not been addressed. The septic tank grant scheme, which was expanded in 2020, offers grants of €5,000 to assist in addressing malfunctioning systems.

Mr Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager said,
“The need to fix failing septic tanks has been repeatedly highlighted by the EPA as a concern. It is unacceptable that over 500 failed septic tanks are not fixed more than two years after inspection. Over half of these involve sewage ponding in gardens and discharging to ditches and streams, which cannot be allowed to continue. Local authorities must increase their enforcement effort to ensure failed systems are fixed”.

The National Inspection Plan for Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems 2022 – 2026 was published in 2021. The plan increases inspections from 1,000 to 1,200 from 2023 onwards.

Inspections will now be focused near rivers where there is greater risk to water quality, and areas with shallow soils where there is greater risk to household wells.

The report, Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems Inspections in 2021, is available on the EPA’s website HERE.