Health « Thurles Information

FSAI Provides Advice On Consumption Of Calabash Chalk.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is advising consumers, particularly pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding, not to consume calabash chalk due to the presence of high levels of lead.

Calabash chalk (also known as calabar chalk, calabar stone, la craie, argile, nzu, ndom, eko and mabele) is sometimes consumed as a traditional remedy for morning sickness. However, eating it can significantly increase exposure to lead, which is harmful, particularly to unborn babies and infants.

Lead is a toxic metal that can accumulate in the body over time and can be transferred to unborn babies during pregnancy and to infants during breastfeeding. Exposure to lead is associated with a range of adverse health effects, particularly its impact on the developing brain of unborn babies and young infants.

Calabash chalk may be naturally occurring, composed of fossilised seashells, or artificially produced from a mixture of clay, sand, wood ash and other materials. The product is imported into Ireland and can be found in some ethnic shops, typically sold in blocks, pellets or powders, often with limited labelling or consumer information.

Mr Greg Dempsey, Chief Executive, FSAI urged pregnant and breastfeeding women not to eat this product.
“High levels of lead in calabash chalk is a serious public health concern. Lead can have harmful effects, particularly for unborn babies and infants, where it can severely affect how a child’s body grows and their brain develops. At very high levels, lead poisoning can be fatal. We advise pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding not to eat this product,” said Mr Dempsey.

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and have consumed calabash chalk should stop using the product.

Those who feel unwell should seek medical advice.

A Health System Measured In Corridors: UHL And North Tipperary Paying The Price.

Ireland’s trolley crisis has become more than a seasonal emergency or a political talking point. It is now a defining feature of the country’s healthcare system. The latest figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation reveal a staggering reality; more than 1.7 million people have been treated without a proper hospital bed since 2006. Behind that number are exhausted patients, distressed families and healthcare workers trying to deliver care in conditions that should never have become normal.

The fact that over one million people have been placed on trolleys in just the last decade shows how dramatically the problem has escalated. Despite years of economic growth, repeated promises of reform and countless government strategies, overcrowding remains deeply embedded in hospital life across Ireland. For many patients, entering an emergency department now means preparing for the possibility of spending hours, or even days, waiting in corridors for a bed to become available.

The figures from University Hospital Limerick are particularly alarming. Nearly 195,000 people have been left on trolleys there since 2006, making it the most overcrowded hospital in the country. Crucially, UHL serves not only Limerick but large parts of the Mid-West, including North Tipperary, meaning communities across the region are directly impacted by the ongoing crisis. Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Galway have also faced enormous pressures, highlighting how widespread the overcrowding problem has become.

What makes these numbers especially troubling is the human impact behind them. Patients on trolleys often experience a complete loss of dignity, treated in open corridors with little privacy, while waiting for care. Elderly and vulnerable patients are particularly affected, while frontline nurses and midwives continue to work under immense strain trying to provide safe treatment in overcrowded conditions.

The INMO survey reveals the growing toll on healthcare staff. More than two-thirds of respondents said staffing levels were inadequate to meet patient needs, while many reported burnout, stress and declining psychological wellbeing. Alarmingly, large numbers have considered leaving their work areas because of unsafe staffing conditions, creating fears that the crisis could worsen further if experienced staff continue to leave the system.

There is increasing concern that Ireland is beginning to normalise overcrowding in hospitals. Yet no modern healthcare system should accept corridors and trolleys as routine treatment spaces. Despite economic growth over the past two decades, many patients still face unacceptable waiting conditions when they are most vulnerable.

The warning from the INMO is not simply about statistics. It is a stark reminder that the healthcare system remains under severe pressure and that patients and staff across regions such as North Tipperary continue to pay the price for a crisis that has gone unresolved for far too long.

Long Grass, Ticks and “No Mow May” – So Can Biodiversity & Public Health Coexist?

Every spring, Ireland is encouraged to embrace “No Mow May”, the growing environmental campaign that asks homeowners, schools and local authorities to leave grass uncut in support of bees, pollinators and biodiversity. Wildflowers bloom, insects return and urban spaces become noticeably greener.

At the very same time, however, the HSE is issuing renewed warnings about Lyme disease and the dangers posed by ticks hiding in long grass. This has created an increasingly important conversation; how do we balance environmental goals with public health concerns?

Why the HSE Is Raising Concern.
According to the HSE and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, ticks are active from spring through autumn and are commonly found in grassy, damp and shaded environments. They are present in both rural and urban Ireland and become more active during the warmer months.
The concern is not simply the tick bite itself, but the possibility of Lyme disease, an infection transmitted through infected ticks. The HSE says “several hundred” cases of milder Lyme disease likely occur annually in Ireland, while more serious neurological forms are reported in smaller numbers each year.
Health officials are particularly advising people to take care in areas of long vegetation. HSE guidance specifically recommends that walkers “keep to footpaths and avoid long grass” where possible.

The Environmental Argument for No Mow May.
Supporters of No Mow May argue that Ireland’s obsession with closely trimmed lawns has come at a cost to biodiversity. Allowing grass to grow naturally for even a few weeks provides habitat and food sources for bees, butterflies and pollinating insects, whose populations have been under pressure for years.
Longer grass also improves soil quality, supports carbon capture and creates more resilient urban ecosystems. In many areas, wildflower meadows have become symbols of climate awareness and environmental responsibility.
For environmental groups, reducing mowing is not about neglect. It is about rethinking how public and private green spaces are managed.

Where the Two Issues Collide.
The difficulty is that ticks thrive in many of the same environments promoted by rewilding initiatives. Long grass, woodland edges, scrub areas and damp vegetation provide ideal habitats for ticks waiting to attach themselves to animals or humans passing by.
That does not mean every unmown lawn becomes dangerous, nor does it mean biodiversity projects should end. But public health experts increasingly believe unmanaged growth in heavily used public areas can unintentionally increase exposure risks.
This debate is becoming more relevant as warmer temperatures and milder winters appear to be extending tick activity in Ireland. Climate-related research and reporting suggest tick populations may continue expanding in the years ahead.

A More Balanced Approach.
What is emerging now is a more balanced idea of “managed rewilding”.
Rather than leaving all spaces untouched, many experts favour maintaining cut pathways through parks and meadow areas, trimming grass around playgrounds and seating areas, and placing public information signs in higher-risk locations.
The message from public health officials is not to avoid nature, but to become more “tick aware”, while enjoying it.
Simple precautions remain highly effective. Wearing long trousers, using insect repellent containing DEET, checking skin and clothing after walks, especially young children, and removing ticks quickly from skin surfaces, all which significantly reduce risk.

The Bigger Conversation.
The debate around ‘No Mow May’ reflects a wider challenge modern societies now face. Environmental policies and public health policies can sometimes overlap in unexpected ways. Creating greener spaces is important. So is protecting people using those spaces.
The answer is unlikely to be found in extremes, neither cutting every patch of grass short nor abandoning management altogether. Instead, the future probably lies in smarter landscape design that supports biodiversity while still recognising genuine health risks.

Ireland’s growing awareness of Lyme disease may ultimately push councils, communities and homeowners toward a more thoughtful approach to rewilding, one where nature is encouraged, but not left entirely unmanaged.

Rising Concerns Over Medication Safety In Public Health Services.

Newly released figures show that hundreds of patients experienced harm due to medication related incidents within public health services over the past year.

Out of the reported cases, 738 patients were affected. The vast majority; 732 incidents, resulted in minor to moderate harm, while six cases were classified as causing severe harm.

In total, approximately 10,400 medication related incidents and near misses were recorded. Of these, more than 7,150 incidents reached patients, but caused no harm or only negligible effects. Meanwhile, over 2,540 incidents were classified as near misses, meaning they were identified before affecting any patient.

Medication incidents are defined as preventable events that may lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm, while under the supervision of healthcare professionals.

Data from state claims records indicates that the most frequent type of incident involved missed or delayed doses of medication.
Public health services handle a significant volume of care annually, including around two million inpatient and day-case treatments, along with a similar number of emergency department visits.

Efforts are ongoing to improve patient safety, with medication-related harm identified as a key focus area. Safety improvements are being implemented at local, regional, and national levels to reduce risks associated with medication use.
A new performance measure introduced this year focuses on polypharmacy. This tracks the percentage of individuals aged 65 and older who are prescribed ten or more regular medications, as this group is considered at higher risk of receiving potentially inappropriate treatments.

Additionally, hospital inspections are carried out to monitor and enhance medication safety practices across healthcare settings.

Chernobyl Shadows & Political Amnesia -Ireland’s Nuclear Debate Set To Return.

A new law to legalise nuclear energy is set to come before the Dáil in the coming months.

On the surface, it is framed as a pragmatic response to high energy prices and climate pressure. But scratch beneath that surface, and what emerges is something far less reassuring; a political system once again flirting with an idea it has repeatedly rejected, often for reasons that remain unresolved.

The Ghost of Chernobyl Still Matters
Any serious discussion of nuclear power in Ireland that does not grapple with Chernobyl disaster is either incomplete or deliberately selective.
Ireland’s anti-nuclear stance did not appear out of thin air. It was shaped by a combination of domestic protest and global catastrophe. The planned nuclear plant at Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford collapsed not just because of local activism, but because nuclear accidents abroad fundamentally changed public perception.

Chernobyl, **forty years on from the events of April 26th, 1986** **in Russia**.

Chernobyl turned nuclear energy from a technical question into a moral one. It cemented a widespread belief that the risks, however statistically small, were politically unacceptable. That legacy still lingers, even if proponents now prefer to speak as though it belongs to a “different era.”

A Pattern of Crisis-Driven Thinking.
What is striking about the current proposal is not its novelty, but its timing. Ireland tends to rediscover nuclear energy whenever its energy model comes under stress.

In the 1970s: oil shocks → nuclear proposed.
In the 1980s: public backlash + global disasters → nuclear notion abandoned.
In the 2020s: energy prices + climate targets → nuclear once again revived.

This is not strategic thinking—it is reactive policymaking.
Even today, nuclear power remains explicitly banned under the Electricity Regulation Act 1999.
So before any plant is even discussed, the State must first undo decades of settled law; a process that signals just how far removed this proposal is from practical delivery.

The Uncomfortable Contradiction.
Supporters often point out that Ireland already imports electricity generated by nuclear power. That is true, and it exposes a possible contradiction in policy. Ireland bans domestic nuclear generation while quietly relying on it through interconnectors.
But this argument cuts both ways. If nuclear energy is acceptable when produced elsewhere, why has there been no sustained effort to build domestic capability in the past 25 years?
The answer is simple, because when the issue moves from abstraction to implementation, political support tends to evaporate.

The Cost Illusion.
There is also a persistent tendency to present nuclear power as an Irish solution to high energy prices. This is, at best, misleading.
Modern nuclear projects in Europe have been plagued by delays and spiralling costs. The UK’s Hinkley Point C, for example, has seen its projected cost balloon dramatically over time.
For Ireland, a small grid, limited capital capacity, and no nuclear infrastructure; the barriers would be even higher. Even optimistic timelines suggest nuclear would not deliver power for well over a decade. That makes it irrelevant to the current cost-of-living crisis it is being used to attempt justification.

History Has Already Tested This Idea.
Ireland did not “miss out” on nuclear power by accident. No it tested the idea thoroughly before rejecting it.
The Nuclear Energy Board, established in the 1970s, pursued nuclear development seriously. Plans were advanced, sites selected, and policy aligned.
Yet the project ultimately failed due to:-

Public opposition.
Safety concerns amplified by global events.
Overestimation of future energy demand.

These are not trivial footnotes, they are structural barriers. And many of them still exist.

A Debate Without Honesty.
What is missing from the current discussion is intellectual honesty.
Proponents frame nuclear as:- (1) A solution to high prices. (2) A route to energy independence. (3) A necessary complement to renewables.
But they often underplay:- (A) The decade-plus delivery timeline. (B) The multi-billion euro upfront costs.
(C) The lack of domestic expertise or infrastructure and (D) Continued public scepticism.
Even recent polling shows a divided public, not a mandate for change.

Conclusion: Reopening or Repeating?
The upcoming Dáil debate may feel like a turning point, but it risks becoming something more familiar: another cycle of political curiosity followed by practical retreat.
Ireland is not debating nuclear energy for the first time, it is revisiting a question it has already answered, under pressure, multiple times.
The shadow of Chernobyl still looms, not because the technology hasn’t evolved, but because the political, economic, and societal challenges it exposed were never fully resolved.
Until those are addressed directly, rather than sidestepped, the latest push to legalise nuclear energy may prove less a bold new direction, and more a repetition of history.