In County Tipperary, 112 adults accessed emergency accommodation during July 2026, seven fewer than in June of this year. However, the published figures do not provide a separate County Tipperary breakdown for children, meaning the county’s full homelessness total cannot be established from the monthly report.
A total of 17,527 people, including 11,868 adults and a record 5,659 children, were living in emergency accommodation in Ireland during July 2026, according to the Department of Housing’s latest report. The total increased by 45 from 17,482 in June. The correct June breakdown was 11,862 adults and 5,620 children, meaning the adult population rose by six and the number of children by 39.
Adults aged between 25 and 44 remained the largest adult age group, accounting for 6,138 people, or 51.7% of all adults in emergency accommodation. Simon Communities of Ireland said the overall population had increased by 1,469 people, or 9.1%, during the previous 12 months. Executive director Ms Ber Grogan called on political leaders to show homelessness the same urgency demonstrated by the Dáil’s recall to address rising fuel prices. Ms Grogan said stronger homelessness-prevention measures, increased delivery of social and affordable homes, and clearer routes from emergency accommodation into permanent housing were urgently needed.
The Salvation Army also warned that returning to school creates immense pressure for families living in emergency accommodation. Mr Anthony Byrne, service manager at Houben House family hub, said children can experience anxiety when asked where they live and may feel excluded because they cannot invite friends home for play dates, parties or sleepovers.
The July total was only 21 below the record of 17,548 recorded in April 2026. These monthly statistics cover people using designated emergency accommodation and should not be interpreted as a complete count of everyone experiencing homelessness.
Australia’s current social media experience offers Ireland an important warning.
More than 80% of Australian children aged 10–15 were still using social media three months after its under-16 restrictions took effect. Some retained existing accounts, supplied false ages or shifted towards messaging and gaming services. Parental awareness of children’s online activity also declined.
Ireland is considering age restrictions while developing a digital age-verification mechanism. However, copying Australia’s blanket ban could reproduce the same problems: circumvention, displacement to less-regulated services, intrusive identity checks and reduced communication between teenagers and parents. Ireland should instead build upon its existing regulatory system, which combines the EU Digital Services Act, the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 and Coimisiún na Meán’s Online Safety Code.
Ireland should undertake several connected measures:
Expand digital and media literacy throughout primary and secondary education, including lessons on algorithms, misinformation, cyberbullying, privacy and reporting harmful material.
Require social-media companies to make minors’ accounts private by default and prevent unknown adults from contacting them.
Prohibit targeted advertising, location sharing and commercial profiling involving children.
Restrict addictive design features such as endless scrolling, autoplay, streaks and overnight notifications.
Give minors a chronological-feed option instead of automatically placing them under engagement-maximising recommendation systems.
Require independent audits of platforms’ algorithms, age-assurance measures and child-safety outcomes.
Introduce privacy-preserving age checks that confirm an age bracket without revealing a child’s full identity or retaining identification documents.
Provide accessible guidance for parents while involving young people directly in policy design.
Ireland already requires certain platforms serving under-16s to offer parental controls, including tools for screen time, privacy, content and contact management. The next step is to ensure that these protections are switched on automatically and independently tested, rather than leaving families to locate and configure them.
Young people should also be treated as participants in the solution. Ireland’s 2026 Youth Forum on Online Safety brought together approximately 100 people aged 10–17, offering a useful model for continuing consultation. Government of Ireland Policies developed with children are more likely to reflect how they actually use technology and how they might evade ineffective controls.
Australia currently shows that an age barrier alone cannot eliminate young people’s social-media use. Ireland’s more appropriate course is therefore regulated, progressively independent access; strong default safeguards for younger users, increasing autonomy with age, sustained education and enforceable duties placed on the companies that design and profit from these platforms.
The Stench of Neglect: River Suir in Thurles Suffocates in Waste.
A Waterway Left to Fester: Apparent Pollution, Institutional Neglect and an Inexcusable Failure to Act.
The early images in the video immediately below are visually consistent with sewage-contaminated water, inadequately treated wastewater, detergent-bearing grey-water, or another organic effluent. The foam could indicate surfactants, while the grey colour and sludge may indicate suspended solids and decomposing organic matter. It does not resemble clean surface-water run-off.
However, a photograph alone cannot conclusively identify the slowly flowing substance in a river now almost static. Proper investigation should include samples from the suspected discharge point and locations upstream and downstream. Relevant analyses include dissolved oxygen, BOD, COD, ammonia, orthophosphate, suspended solids, E. coli, conductivity and surfactants. EPA material confirms that BOD, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrate and phosphorus are central indicators of organic contamination, and that pollution-incident sampling should cover downstream, discharge-point and upstream locations.EPA sampling procedure
This slide-show above, however, presents a disgusting and deeply alarming picture; grey, foaming liquid and foul-looking sludge accumulating in what should be a living watercourse. Its exact composition must now be determined by laboratory testing, but its visible condition is wholly incompatible with the clean, healthy river environment the public is entitled to expect.
This river is neither a sewer nor a dumping ground. If analysis confirms an unlawful discharge, its source must be stopped, the damage remediated and every available enforcement power used.
Continued neglect after documented notification would be indefensible, a betrayal of the waterway, its wildlife and the community these authorities and representatives are supposed to serve.
Reminder
We can confirm that the above public meeting will take place, as stated above.
Thirteen years of warnings As stated in a recent post on Thurles.Info, the deterioration of the River Suir cannot credibly be described as “sudden” or “unforeseeable”. For more than a decade, residents, anglers and environmental campaigners have raised concerns about pollution, excessive vegetation, restricted flow, sediment, litter and neglect. These concerns were documented in “River Suir Crisis—Thirteen Years of Warnings, But Still No Coordinated Action”.
Now, 13 yearslater; the Minister of State Mr Kevin “Boxer” Moran recently visited sections of the Suir in Thurles and Holycross following representations from Independent TD Michael Lowry. It was stated that the Office of Public Works would support an application by Tipperary County Council under the enhanced Minor Flood Mitigation Works Scheme. However, I can confirm from recent discussions with varying responsible bodies, that they are not aware of any recent communication. Support for an application is welcome, but it is not a restoration programme. The public has not been shown the precise work proposed, the scientific evidence supporting it, the environmental assessments required, the anticipated cost and timetable or the body responsible for delivery and monitoring.
Political videos, visits and announcements by politicians and councillors cannot substitute for accountable work. Councillor Micheál Lowry, Deputy Michael Lowry and every other representative addressing the issue must be judged by measurable results. The same standard must apply to Tipperary County Council officials. [ Which begs the question; “Where were all the other local elected councillors when a recent promotional video, capturedby Mr Lowry TD, was uploaded unto social media.” ]
The missing ingredient for the River Suir is not more talk, it is delivery.We need clear answers:
► What works will be carried out? ► When will they begin? ► Who is responsible for delivery? ► Has the funding application now been submitted? ► What section of the river will be prioritised first? ► How will pollution and damaging discharges be reduced? ► How will progress be measured and reported publicly?
A housing initiative intended to help older homeowners move into smaller and more manageable accommodation has been put on hold while its effectiveness is examined.
Local authorities have reportedly been directed to stop operating the Older Persons Housing Financial Contribution Scheme pending a review by the Housing Agency. Although the decision has been described as the scheme being “shelved,” current information indicates that it has been paused rather than formally abolished.
Leinster House.
The initiative offered a potential route for older people whose homes had become too large, expensive or difficult to maintain. Participants could sell their property to a local authority—or sell it privately—and provide the council with an agreed financial contribution from the proceeds. In return, they could receive a tenancy in smaller social housing designed to suit their changing needs.
However, the financial arrangement appears to have discouraged many potential applicants. Age Action explains that participating homeowners could be required to give a substantial proportion of their property equity to the council. After surrendering that equity, they would become social housing tenants and continue paying rent.
According to Age Action, those conditions made the scheme relatively unattractive. An older person could move from owning a valuable asset outright to holding a rental tenancy, while retaining considerably less of the money generated by the sale. For homeowners hoping to preserve savings for future care, living costs or their families, that trade-off may have been difficult to justify.
The scheme’s limited appeal also highlights a wider obstacle facing older people who want to “rightsize”. Ireland does not have enough smaller, accessible and age-friendly homes in suitable locations. Even a more financially attractive programme would struggle if councils could not offer appropriate properties close to participants’ families, healthcare services and established communities.
“Rightsizing” can nevertheless deliver important benefits when it is voluntary and properly supported. A suitable home may be easier to heat and maintain, safer for someone with reduced mobility and better equipped for independent living. Larger properties released through such moves could also become available to families needing additional space.
The Housing Agency’s review now presents an opportunity to reconsider contribution levels, rental conditions, housing availability and the protection of homeowners’ remaining equity. Any replacement or revised programme will need to offer older people genuine choice, financial fairness and a secure home, not simply a smaller property.
Government leaders are considering whether to recall the Dáil ahead of schedule as renewed instability in the Middle East raises concerns about fuel prices.
Temporary excise reductions introduced in April are due to be withdrawn gradually from September. The relief amounts to 32 cent per litre of diesel and 27 cent per litre of petrol and formed part of a €750 million package of business supports and cost-of-living measures.
Enterprise Minister Mr Peter Burke indicated that the timetable is being actively reassessed. The international outlook has worsened since the withdrawal schedule was agreed, with developments around the Strait of Hormuz contributing to uncertainty in global energy markets.
The Dáil is currently scheduled to return on September 16th next,. however, an earlier sitting may be required if the Government decides that legislation is needed to postpone the planned excise increases. Rising costs are already placing additional pressure on agriculture and the wider economy. The net price of marked gas oil, commonly known as green diesel, has increased from about 94 cent to €1.24 per litre, a rise of approximately 30%. Any extension of the fuel-tax relief would also have budgetary implications. The Government is preparing an overall Budget 2027 package worth more than €8 billion, including €1.5 billion for income-tax measures and an anticipated spending increase of around 6%.
Ministers are also examining ways to lower grocery prices by reducing transport, production and distribution costs. Because fuel expenses affect farming, manufacturing and the movement of goods, further increases could feed through to prices paid by consumers.
No final decision has been made on either the excise timetable or an early Dáil recall. Both options remain under consideration as the Government monitors international developments and prices at Irish fuel pumps.
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