The picture shown hereunder is one of some 20 images taken just 20 meters south of Barry’s Bridge, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, this very evening.
This foamy effluent is being retained by the growth of slime, last removed conveniently to obviously affect voter’s opinions, prior to the last Local Town Council Elections.
This floating effluent remains in full view of visitors to the board-walk of The Source Theatre; visitors to Thurles Library and to those partaking of food at a local second floor popular restaurant. It is also being overlooked by the offices of would-be Fine Gael TD, Mrs Mary Newman Julian (or Mary 4 Tipperary).
Visitors, however, are remaining silent, having learned that attempts to correct such issues with Tipp. Co. Council, fall on deaf ears.
This evening, I have again forwarded an email to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at the same time forwarding the same email to the nine members of the Templemore / Thurles Municipal District; namely seano.ryan@tipperarycoco.ie ; peter.ryan@tipperarycoco.ie; jim.ryan@tipperarycoco.ie; micheal.lowry@tipperarycoco.ie; seamus.hanafin@tipperarycoco.ie; noel.coonan@tipperarycoco.ie; michael.smith@tipperarycoco.ie; shane.lee@tipperarycoco.ie; eddie.moran@tipperarycoco.ie .
The email directed to Mr David O’ Connor (EPA), together with five (5) photographs (only one shown here above), simply reads:-
Dear Sir, Please find attached 5 pictures. Same indicate the current state of the River Suir today. Pictures were taken immediately in the vicinity of Barry’s Bridge, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
As is obvious, the return of the slime growth in the water is now holding back the unknown / unnamed effluent being allowed into the water.
Your personnel are supposedly the “Environmental Protection Agency”, please now do your job and protect this River.
I am unlikely to hear further from Tipp. Co. Council, who in the past have not taken kindly to my complaints, so I am forwarding pictures, taken today (19/9/2019), singly, because of property size, attached in 4 separate emails beginning here, as I am unsure of the capacity of your Mail Box.
This pollution scenario has gone on for the past 12 months and must now be dealt with, before the river level again rises.
You Sir will note: This email has been forwarded to the nine (9) recently elected Templemore / Thurles Municipal District councillors.
I remain Yours sincerely George Willoughby
Although it is not a Local Election year; perhaps it is time again for Thurles Chamber of Commerce to lead us on yet another S.O.S. protest march here on Liberty Square, Thurles; in order to bring about real change for the town.
The Tipperary Public Participation Network (PPN) is a collective representation of groups involved in community development, social inclusion and environment, here in Co. Tipperary.
Established in 2014, the PPN provides the community voice on Tipperary County Council committees. It also runs training courses for member groups and shares information about funding and activities.
Tipperary PPN is very excited to be part of the pilot community well-being project. We are currently running community meetings in each Municipal district.
What do we need for the well-being of the communities of Thurles, Templemore and Roscrea?
The immediate question being posed by Tipperary PPN is, “What do we need for the well-being of the communities of Thurles, Templemore and Roscrea areas?” Tipperary PPN want to hear from all the groups and organisations in this area. Developing a vision for community well-being, means thinking about what we have and what we need to assist in these areas, so that together we can strive for further magnitude and pre-eminence for all of us and for the many generations that will follow on after us. One aspect that everyone can agree on is that we would like our communities to be the very best they can be.
Tipperary PPN are delighted to be rolling out this new National Initiative on Community well being. “Our well being is affected by many things; the economy, the environment, services etc” explained Ms Avril Wilson PPN Co-ordinator, “and the well-being of the community affects everyone within it. We really want to hear from the groups and organisations on the ground and what is important to them”.
Groups will also be able to feed in online. All information gleaned will be coordinated and used to influence policy and guide the work of the PPN and its representatives in working towards in achieving the community goals.
Getting involved The community consultation meeting for this stated area will take place on Wednesday, September 25th 2019 in Borrisoleigh Parish Community Centre, Pallas Street, Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary [ E41 FF84 ] from 6:00pm.
If you would like to find out more, or your organisation operating in these community areas aforementioned would like to participate in the consultation on community well-being, please contact the PPN office on Tel: 0504 61014 or email us at coordinator@ppntipperary.ie.
To register to attend this event, please click here HEREto register.
Sister Gabriel Mary Gleeson passed away in her 90th year, at 10.00pm on June 5th last 2019, surrounded by her loving family and community members, at Temple Road in Dublin.
Possibly better known by her Christian name initials,GM, to all that she came into contact with during her life; she was born on November 8th 1929 in the picturesque, rural townsland area of Clogher, Clonoulty, Co. Tipperary.
Educated at the Presentation School, Cashel, Sister GM went on to complete her training as a nurse and later as a Midwife, in the Mater Hospital Dublin. She entered the congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary in 1951; making her First Profession in Killeshandra, Co. Cavan on August 26th 1954.
During a working life, spanning in all some 62 years, from 1946 until her retirement 11 years ago in 2008; Sister GM ministered as a Nurse; Ward sister; Matron; Hospital Administrator; Relief Worker; Regional Councillor; and as a fund-raiser for numerous projects undertaken in various missions, e.g. in the towns of Emekuku and Amaimo in Imo State, South Eastern Nigeria; the village of Adazi, Nigeria; in Thika, Kiambu County and Ortum in Kenya; in Philadelphia, U. S. A. and back here in Ireland.
During that tragic period of the Nigerian Civil War, (also known as the Biafran War and the Nigerian-Biafran War), fought back then between the government of Nigeria and the state of Biafra; Sister GM and her colleagues threw themselves into relief work at huge personal cost. Indeed, her family here in Tipperary were hardly able to recognise her on her return to Ireland, following her experiences which saw (following the blockade of the city of Port Harcourt) mass starvation. Indeed, during the two and half years of that war, there were overall about 100,000 military casualties, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation.
Following recuperation, Sister GM returned again to Africa to a new mission, this time in Kenya as an administrator in Thika Maternity Hospital. Over the next 30 years she continued to build and strength the hospital’s services, with emphases on establishing and improving a Midwifery Training school.
During this period also, Sister GM worked through and experienced the worst drought and famine in some 50 years in Africa in 1985; to be repeated again 1997. An unpublished poet, it is perhaps through one of Sister GM’s many expressed elegies that we can begin to understand her great sacrifice on behalf of those she had fully committed to giving support and guidance.
Days of Drought and Famine I saw drought On the face of the earth, Or red raw dust. No cloud in the blue sky, Unrelenting sun, scorching sun, Scorching sun.
I saw famine on the famished herd; Weary herd, licking the ground, Glad to find a twig, a leaf, a weed Dumb beasts, ‘neath the sun, Unrelenting sun, scorching sun, Scorching sun.
I saw hunger In the silent stare of the thin man. No words between us. Words are not food, ‘neath the sun, Unrelenting sun, scorching sun, Scorching sun.
I saw my heart dried too; helpless. “God” I cry, “Do not forget This earth You made, Now in pain, ‘neath the sun, Unrelenting sun, scorching sun, Scorching sun.
I saw hope in the rainbow span; God’s promise for everyman. Joy of clouds, tears of rain watered earth To yield again, ‘neath the sun, Gentle sun, sobered sun, Sobered sun.
The first image in the observers minds eye, gotten of Sister GM was that of an “open door”. Regardless of her location, or indeed any persons own personal rank or status in society; you, the visitor, would have been embraced and then fed with whatever food was found to be available in the kitchen fridge.
This hospitality was especially evident in Ortum, Kenya. Because of the remoteness of the area and the dire state of the existing road surfaces, those visiting Turkana or Sudan would, most often, break their journey in Ortum, in the secure knowledge that Sister GM could and would provide a warm Clonoulty, Co. Tipperary style community welcome to all or any traveller.
Initially sleeping accommodation was provided on five large couches in the convent garage. Same hospitality offerings would later lead to 2 hospitality bungalows being built, thus ensuring comfort and space for all.
Through her entire lifetime Sister GM displayed a lust for life and later displayed true faithfulness to her missionary commitments. Amongst her many talents; she exhibited an abundance of empathy; artistic creativity, latter through the very strokes of her artists brush and through the verses she penned in her many poems.
She at all times displayed a love, not just of nature; through her love of flowers and animals, but also through her care of hospital patients; her outreach public health patients; her Mother & Baby Clinics and especially amongst her Student Nurses and staff; many of whom travelled from abroad, to say a last farewell.
A Funeral Mass was held for Sister GM at 12.00 noon on June 10th 2019 last, in the Church of the Holy Name, Beechwood, followed by interment in Shanganagh Cemetry, Dublin Rd, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Co. Dublin.
Inadequate treatment & infrastructure at drinking water plants put public health at risk from Cryptosporidium
The EPA Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies Report 2018, released today, shows that the quality of drinking water in public supplies remains high with 99.9% compliance with microbiological parameters and 99.6% compliance with chemical parameters. However, the report highlights that the incidence of Cryptosporidium detections has increased in the past three years, posing a serious risk to human health.
List of drinking water supplies currently on a ‘Boil Water Notice‘.
The EPA has seen detections of Cryptosporidium in 25 public water supplies in 2018, up from 17 in 2017 and 12 in 2016. Of particular concern are supplies which have inadequate processes in place to treat or remove Cryptosporidium and those where there is no treatment in place at all.
Commenting on the report, Dr Tom Ryan(Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement) stated: “We are seeing an upward trend in Cryptosporidium contamination in drinking water supplies. We know that Cryptosporidium can cause serious gastrointestinal illness, particularly in young children and the elderly, and the EPA has ensured that Irish Water has investigated each of these Cryptosporidium detections. Irish Water must make certain that water treatment plants are properly and effectively operated to protect public health. Those plants without appropriate treatment for Cryptosporidium need to be prioritised for investment by Irish Water.”
The EPA has added supplies to the EPA Remedial Action List, following its audits of drinking water plants. Irish Water has to prioritise sites on the EPA Remedial Action List and develop action plans for improvements to be completed, by set dates.
Mr Andy Fanning, Programme Manager (EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement), commented: “At the end of 2018, the number of supplies on the EPA’s Remedial Action List had decreased. Unfortunately, that downward trend has been reversed in the first six months of 2019, when we added eight supplies to the Remedial Action List. These additions highlight that there are still significant problems at many of Ireland’s water treatment plants, with the potential to harm people’s health. The EPA is particularly concerned about supplies where we have seen poor operational practices at water treatment plants. Consumers must have confidence that their water supply is not just safe to drink today but will also be safe in the long term.”
The EPA has also identified priorities for Irish Water to address on a national level to protect and improve public water supplies.
South Tipperary General hospital, Clonmel Co. Tipperary remained closed to non essential visitors yesterday, following a confirmed outbreak of Norovirus throughout the wards.
Management at the facility are advising anyone who has been affected by vomiting and / or diarrhoea, not to visit hospital until they have been free of all symptoms for at least 48 hours.
Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea, affecting people of all ages. The most common symptoms are:- Diarrhea, Vomiting, Nausea and Stomach pain.
People can protect themselves and others from the virus by :- Hand washing often; rinsing fruit and vegetables; cooking shellfish thoroughly; remaining at home when diagnosed and for a minimum of two days after their symptoms cease. Do avoid preparing food for other people if affected.
All infection control measures are in place at the Clonmel medical facility and we understand every effort is being made to contain the spread of this virus.
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