Met Éireann’s figures from Gurteen AWS (Automatic Weather Station); latter situated on the grounds of Gurteen Agricultural College, Co. Tipperary, point to 28 very wet days and 33 frost days, in the Thurles area.
Met Éireann’s Annual Climate Statement for 2025 confirms that indeed 2025 was Ireland’s second warmest year on record (since 1900), continuing a clear warming trend, with 2022 to 2025 now the four warmest years in the national series.
Using the Island of Ireland dataset, Met Éireann reports an average annual air temperature of 11.14°C for 2025, 1.59°C above the 1961 to 1990 long-term average and 0.97°C above the 1991 to 2020 average. Provisional rainfall for 2025 is 1,338.7mm, around 104% of the 1991 to 2020 long-term average, placing 2025 as the 15th wettest year since 1941.
Met Éireann’s Gurteen AWS also notes the year included the warmest and sunniest spring on record, the warmest summer on record, and a very wet autumn (the 4th wettest on record), with major weather impacts including ‘Storm Éowyn‘ which witnessed record winds at Mace Head, Co. Galway.
Thurles area snapshot:(nearest official monthly “weather events” station being Gurteen, Co Tipperary) While Met Éireann’s Annual Climate Statement is national in scope, its Public Works Contracts “weather events” tables provide month-by-month counts at station level. The closest suitable station for a Thurles-area proxy is Gurteen, Co Tipperary, which recorded the following information in 2025:
Days with rainfall>10mm: 28 days in total. Monthly counts: Jan 2nd, Feb 2nd, Mar 1st, Apr 4th, May 2nd, Jun 1st, Jul 2nd, Aug 0, Sep 3rd, Oct 6th, Nov 3rd, Dec 2nd.
Frost days(minimum temperature <0°C): 33 days in total. Monthly counts: Jan 13th, Feb 5th, Mar 5th, Apr 1st, May 1st, Jun 0, Jul 0, Aug 0, Sep 0, Oct 0, Nov 4th, Dec 4th.
Wind threshold days(maximum 10-minute mean wind speed ≥15m/s): 4 days in total Monthly counts: Jan 1st, Feb 1st, Mar 0, Apr 0, May 0, Jun 0, Jul 0, Aug 0, Sep 0, Oct 1st, Nov 0, Dec 1th.
These month-by-month counts are published as an objective measure of whether weather thresholds are exceeded for public works contract purposes, and provide a useful, locally relevant indicator of very wet days, frost incidence and notable wind events in the wider mid-Tipperary area.
Agriculture accounts for 40% of deaths; three work-related fatalities recorded in Co. Tipperary.
Provisional figures published by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) show 58 people died in work-related incidents during 2025, a 61% increase on the 36 deaths recorded in 2024. The HSA said the work-related fatality rate rose to 2.1 per 100,000 workers in 2025, up from 1.3 in 2024, while noting the long-term trend remains downward.
61% increase in work-related incidents during 2025.
Sector breakdown. The agriculture sector recorded 23 fatalities, accounting for 40% of all work-related deaths in 2025, from a sector employing approximately 4% of the workforce. Construction recorded 10 fatalities (up from five in 2024), while manufacturing recorded 5 fatalities (up from none in 2024).
Leading causes. The leading causes of workplace fatalities in 2025, included incidents involving heavy loads/falling objects, machinery or vehicles, and falls from heights.
Older and self-employed workers disproportionately affected. Of the 58 deaths recorded, 19 victims (33%) were aged 65 or over, with the oldest aged 88. Self-employed workers accounted for 23 deaths (40%), underlining the heightened risks faced by people working alone or without wider organisational supports.
County figures – Ref: Co. Tipperary. The HSA’s provisional county breakdown shows three work-related fatalities in Co Tipperary during 2025.
Commenting on the figures, HSA Chief Executive Mr Mark Cullen said the increase is “deeply concerning” and urged employers and workers to remain vigilant and avoid complacency regarding safety.
ALDI Ireland has confirmed it is reducing retail prices across its private label butter range, with immediate effect, with the new prices now available nationwide, including at the ALDI store on Kickham Street, Thurles (Eircode E41 YP28).
This move follows a series of recent price reductions by the retailer on key household staples across its range, including milk, bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, lunchbox essentials and meat.
New Kilkeely butter prices (effective immediately): Kilkeely Pure Irish Creamery Butter 454g – €3.39 (down from €3.99). Kilkeely Pure Irish Creamery Butter 227g – €2.09 (down from €2.39). Kilkeely Unsalted Irish Butter 227g – €2.09 (down from €2.39).
ALDI have confirmed it will continue to review the market daily, to ensure it remains the best value retailer on price, noting it has cut prices on hundreds of products over recent months.
Mr Niall O’Connor, (Country Managing Director of ALDI Ireland), said the retailer was focused on helping shoppers after a costly Christmas period and reiterated ALDI’s commitment to value across its range.
This price reduction on butter is the latest in a wider programme of cuts by the discounter on everyday essentials in recent months.
Uisce Éireann is to submit a Strategic Infrastructure Development planning application, alongside a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) application, to An Coimisiún Pleanála for the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region, described as the largest-ever water project in Irish history.
What does the project propose? Uisce Éireann plans to abstract water from Parteen Basin (Lower River Shannon), treat it near Birdhill, Co Tipperary, and pipe treated water about 170km through counties Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare to a new termination reservoir at Peamount, Co Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area network.
How much water would be taken? Uisce Éireann says the scheme would abstract a maximum of 2% of the average/long-term average flow at Parteen Basin.
Why is it being pursued? Uisce Éireann says the Eastern & Midlands region is over-reliant on a single source (the River Liffey system) and that population/economic growth and climate pressures will increase demand; it says a new source is needed for resilience.
What is the cost and timeline? Subject to planning, Uisce Éireann proposes construction starting in 2028, completing within five years, with an estimated budget of €4.58bn–€5.96bn and more than 1,000 direct jobs at peak construction.
How many landowners are affected? Reporting on the scheme states the underground pipeline would cross lands belonging to about 500 owners.
What are objectors saying? 1) Environmental impact on the Shannon / Natura 2000 protections. A key objection is potential ecological impact on the Shannon system. Parteen Basin is within the Lower River Shannon SAC (site code 002165), and critics argue abstraction/infrastructure must be proven not to adversely affect protected habitats/species.
2)“Fix the leaks first”. Opponents argue Dublin’s deficit should be tackled primarily through leakage reduction and network upgrades. Uisce Éireann’s own figures state about 37% of treated water is lost through leaks nationally. (Analysis has cited 37% nationally and 33% in the Greater Dublin Area lost to leaks.)
3)Demand and climate assumptions. Some stakeholders have challenged the robustness and horizon of demand forecasts,raising issues such as planning beyond 2050, climate impacts and high-demand users (including data centres and large energy users), particularly during drought.
4) Cost escalation and value-for-money. Objectors highlight the multibillion price tag (often described as “about €6bn”) and warn of further escalation; reporting has referenced a worst-case risk scenario exceeding €10bn in official correspondence.
5) Land access, CPO concerns, disruption and compensation/tax. Landowner objections include disruption during construction, long-term land constraints, and concerns about compensation treatment (including tax/VAT implications).
What is Uisce Éireann’s response ?
It says the abstraction would be capped at 2% of Parteen Basin flows and that the application includes an EIAR and Natura Impact Statement. It says leakage reduction is part of the solution, but that a new source is still required for resilience. It points to landowner liaison and a negotiated voluntary wayleave/land package agreed with farming bodies.
What happens next ? Uisce Éireann says planning notices run from 12 December 2025 and planning documents will be available from 19 December 2025 once lodged. The project page states submissions/observations to An Coimisiún Pleanála may be made from January 6th 2026 until February 25th 2026 at 5.30pm.
Landmark US case seen as “a warning shot” for Ireland and EU food policy.
Earlier this month, the European Commission has recalled consignments of frozen Brazilian beef products imported into the EU, after it was found they contained hormones banned by the bloc. The banned hormones were detected in shipments that arrived into Europe earlier this month.
Co. Tipperary and Irish public health advocates are calling on the Government and EU institutions to accelerate action on ultra-processed foods (UPFs), following a landmark lawsuit filed this week, by the City of San Francisco against some of the world’s biggest food manufacturers.
And now, a case, taken by San Francisco; the first of its kind brought by a public authority, alleges that companies including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé and others engineered and aggressively marketed ultra-processed products while knowing they were driving a crisis in obesity and chronic disease, in breach of unfair competition and public nuisance laws.
Ultra-Processed Meat.
Various groups promoting healthy diets in Ireland claim that the lawsuit should be “a wake-up call” for Ireland, where research shows ultra-processed foods account for around 45.9% of the average household shopping basket, placing the Irish State in line with the highest consumers in Europe.
What San Francisco is saying, very clearly, is that this is not just about individual willpower, it’s about products and marketing strategies that put profit before people’s health.
Ireland has one of the highest levels of overweight and obesity in Europe. We cannot ignore the role of an increasingly ultra-processed food environment in that picture.
According to the HSE and recent national surveys, around 60% of Irish adults and over one in five children are now living with overweight or obesity.
The San Francisco lawsuit draws heavily on emerging international evidence, including a major Lancet series published last month, which found consistent associations between high UPF intake and increased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, depression and premature death.
The message is that ultra-processed foods are not just empty calories, they are strongly linked with chronic disease across multiple organ systems. Ireland cannot afford to be a bystander while other jurisdictions start to hold industry to account.
While Ireland has introduced measures such as the sugar-sweetened drinks tax and restrictions on marketing high-fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods to children, the various groups promoting healthy diets, note that current rules focus mainly on nutrients, not on the degree of processing or the cumulative impact of additives, texture engineering and aggressive branding.
At EU level, the Farm to Fork Strategy includes a commitment to a harmonised, mandatory front-of-pack nutrition label and stronger nutrient profiles to restrict health and nutrition claims on unhealthy products. However, progress has been slow and does not yet directly address ultra-processing as such.
Various groups promoting healthy diets are urging the Irish Government to:
Back strong EU-wide front-of-pack labelling that is easy to understand and compatible with emerging evidence on UPFs;
Tighten marketing rules, particularly digital advertising and brand promotions aimed at children, to cover ultra-processed categories rather than just narrow nutrient thresholds;
Set clear procurement standards so that publicly funded schemes – including school meals, hospitals and other State services – progressively move away from serving ultra-processed products as default options;
Monitor and report the proportion of the Irish food supply and advertising spend accounted for by ultra-processed products.
Ireland now needs to recognise the same underlying problem: a food system where the cheapest, most available and most heavily promoted options are the very products most closely linked with long-term illness.
People in Ireland now has a choice, to wait and react, or to lead in protecting people’s health.
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