Politics - Thurles Information

Reminder – The Climate is Changing – How Can We?

Ms Margaret Ryan (Asst. Librarian), Tipperary Co. Council Library Services, Nenagh is anxious to remind all residents of Co. Tipperary and in particular persons charged with responsibility, [i.e. Elected Municipal District Councillors, politicians and those who take on the task of accountability for our environment, e.g. members of the farming community & Tidy Towns groups etc.], of an event taking place on Thursday evening next, September 26th, 2019 in Nenagh Library.

As many of you are already aware, Nenagh Library is the Europe Direct Information Centre (EDIC) for the counties of Tipperary, Limerick, Cork and Kerry.

On Thursday next, September 26th, 2019, at 7:00pm, Nenagh Library will hold a Citizens Dialogue on ‘Climate Change & Sustainability’, as part of their 2019 ‘Programme of Events’.

The title of this talk will be ‘The Climate is Changing; How Can We?’, with keynote speakers on the night, Ms Cara Augustenborg, (Environmental scientist), and Mr Gerard Kiely, (Head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland).

There will also be a panel discussion afterwards, with panellists Mr Paul Kenny (CEO Tipperary Energy Agency) and Mr Gregg Allen (Project Manager, Community Power, Templederry), which will be chaired by Mr Fran Curry of Tipp FM Radio.

As many people as possible are expected to support this event.

Science is quite clear in stating that, currently, the very future of today’s children and their future offspring’s remain at stake. Homes are being swallowed up by the ocean, with rising sea levels threatening entire island states and coastal regions. We are experiencing dangerous floods, droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather events. We therefore cannot allow climate change to spiral totally out of control.

This talk is a major opportunity for people to find out what they can do to make a significant difference; to gain answers to questions; to learn educated facts on climate change, and more importantly to make their voices heard on what is undoubtedly the single greatest challenge of our generation.

Remember please: Thursday evening next, September 26th, 2019, at 7:00pm, Nenagh Library. We hope to see you there.

110 Medical Patients Await A Hospital Bed In Co. Tipperary Today

According to the INMO trolly watch figures, a total of 598 people are waiting for available beds in hospitals across the Republic of Ireland this morning, Sept 24th 2019.

Same represents the highest level of patients waiting since early April last.

The worst affected medical facility is once again University Hospital Limerick (UHL), serving North Tipperary, where the number of patients waiting on trolleys remains close to already record figures of 80 patients.

Yesterday, September 23rd 2019, 81 people were waiting on trolleys at UHL, the joint-highest number ever recorded in any Irish hospital. More than 1,000 patients have had to wait on trolleys for a bed in UHL this month, making it the worst ever September on public record.

A further 30 patients are presently waiting on trolleys in South Tipperary General Hospital, bringing the total number of individuals (80 + 30) waiting for hospital beds in just County Tipperary alone, to 110 medical patients.

The silence from politicians and residents of Co. Tipperary continues.

Revamping Of Liberty Square, Thurles, Maybe In Sight

It had been widely broadcast by local Town Councillors, that work on the revamping of Liberty Square in Thurles would commence in August 2019. Now however, according to Co. Council officials, the first week of September last, only saw tenders being sought for the first time.

**Liberty Square, Thurles.** *(Top of picture facing in an easterly direction)*. **Picture G. Willoughby**

Plans had been finalised and initially announced in February 2017, now nearly 3 years later, the successful contractor is expected to be appointed in mid-October 2019, possibly start work on the new car park at the end of October or early November of this year, on the new carpark, demolished some 16 months ago and then neglected. The appointed contractor is expected to finish this carpark area by March or April of 2020, thus hopefully continuing to grant consumer access to the centre of Thurles.

In February / March of 2020, the Co. County officials promise that we should see the beginning of the temporary, yet necessary removal of some currently existing street furniture on Liberty Square itself, followed by new road re-alignments and the later re-introduction of both old and new street furniture, together with the new revised traffic management plan.

When it comes to announcements from reticent, cagy and guarded officials in Tipperary Co. Council, we have all learned to refrain from holding our breath.

Calls For A Ban On Vaping

**L-R**: President of Limerick University, Professor Dr. Desmond Fitzgerald & leading heart Consultant Professor Dr. Sherif Sultan.

Dr. Desmond Fitzgerald (President of the University of Limerick; professor of molecular medicine and former chief academic officer for the Ireland East Hospital Group), is urging the Department of Education to ban Vaping across all Irish educational institutions.

Dr. Fitzgerald has warned that Vaping; latter the practice of inhaling and exhaling the vapour produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device, is a real health risk and is being directly implicated in health crises and even deaths among those using the product.

Limerick University banned vaping and smoking on campus in 2018 and is currently the only University campus in Ireland to have initiated such a regulation.

Dr. Fitzgerald has critized ‘big business’ whom he correctly states are using aggressively marketing to push flavoured vaping products on young people, in particular. In calling for a ban, the professor strongly believes that we should waste no further time in mounting a robust challenge to these forces.

President of the International Society for Vascular Surgery, Professor Sherif Sultan, latter a leading heart consultant based in the Galway Clinic, has described e-cigarettes as “the disaster of the century” and the products are he claims “more dangerous than smoking and booze combined.”

Professor Sultan is now calling on the Health Minister Simon Harris to step in, before it’s too late, to ban the use of e-cigs with immediate effect.

Professor Sultan claims that “When Micheál Martin (Fianna Fáil leader) brought in the smoking ban some 15 years ago, it was the best thing that ever happened to this country, and now the present Health Minister needs to act similarly. This is an epidemic that must stop immediately. E-cigarettes are like a fashion accessory to young people, who fail to realise the amount of toxins in e-cigarettes. We have to warn people because many are under the impression this habit is safe”.

Professor Sultan joins Dr. Desmond Fitzgerald in his stance, calling on the Minister for Education and Skills to immediately institute a ban on vaping and smoking in any institution which is in receipt of Exchequer funds.

Already, internationally, (A) New York and Michigan have introduced a ban on flavoured vaping products. The US Senator Mr Mitt Romney has published legislation to prohibit flavoured vaping products and to apply cigarette taxes to vaping devices.
(B) India has announced a ban on the production, importation and sale of electronic cigarettes.

“We are facing into unchartered territories and the Irish health system cannot cope”, Professor Sultan continued.

Help-to-Buy Housing Scheme Possibly Extended In Budget

A tax refund of up to €20,000, which currently helps first-time buyers with a deposit for the purchase of a new-build home, up to the value of €500,000, is due to expire at the end of 2019.

The Help-to-Buy scheme, which cost the Irish exchequer €73.2m last year and €35.4m in the first five months of this year, is now expected to be extended in next month’s Budget. On average the grant for each home is just under €15,000.

Costing the Exchequer around €200m, the Construction Industry Federation in its pre-Budget submission, have also called for the further extension of this scheme, availed of by some 30,000 first-time buyers, since it was rolled out in 2016; stating the scheme has had a massive impact in driving growth.

The present Fine Gael minority Government now believe that allowing this existing scheme to end could cause upset and disruption within the housing market. Current Ministers of Finance and Housing are both agreed on the need for same to be retained, with some possible modification to lowering the €500,000 cap.

Fianna Fail has also demanded that the scheme be retained at its current level in the Budget and where possible be further extended, but Government sources have suggested the €500,000 cap could be changed.

Discussions around the cap being lowered to include properties worth €250,000; a level that would exclude the majority of properties held in Dublin, have been summarily dismissed.