Technology « Thurles Information

A Quick Glance At Today’s Budget.

Take A Quick Glance At Ireland’s Budget Details Announced Today.

Workers earning the national minimum wage will see an increase of 65 cent per hour, bringing the new rate to €14.15.
Motorists; Same will face higher fuel costs, with a 60-litre tank set to rise by €1.28 for petrol and €1.48 for diesel.
Smokers; The cost of a 20-pack of cigarettes will increase by 50 cent, bringing the average price to just under €19.
Social Welfare, Child benefit & Pensions; Core weekly social welfare payments, including the State pension, will rise by €10 per week. Child benefit; Same will increase by €8 per month for children under 12 and €16 for those aged 12 and over.
Fuel allowance: Eligibility for the fuel allowance will be expanded to include recipients of the Working Family Payment, and the weekly allowance itself will rise by €5.
Education & Grants; In education, college fees will be permanently reduced by €500, bringing the annual charge to €2,500—though this will represent an increase in real terms from the temporarily reduced rate of €2,000 in recent years. SUSI Grants; The income threshold for SUSI grants will rise by €5,000, to €120,000 per household. Capitation grants; Same will increase from €224 to €274 for primary and special schools, and from €386 to €406 at post-primary level. Special Needs Assistants; 1,717 new Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) will be appointed, bringing the total to almost 24,900, alongside 1,042 new teaching posts, including 860 for special education. Building Projects; A €1.6 billion capital investment will progress over 300 school building projects, delivering around 2,800 new places for special classes and schools.
Hospitality: The VAT rate on hospitality will be cut to 9% from July 2026, while the rate for completed apartments will drop from 13% to 9% until the end of 2030.
Renters; Renters will benefit from the extension of the tax credit for a further three years, remaining at €1,000 for individuals and €2,000 for couples. Mortgage interest relief will continue for two more years—€1,250 in 2025 and €625 in 2026.
Income Tax Bands; There are no major changes to income tax bands or credits, other than an increase in the USC 2% rate band to €28,700.
Public Transport; Reduced public transport fares will continue throughout 2026, and the 9% VAT rate on energy bills will be extended until the end of 2028.
Defence; The Defence budget will rise by 11%, funding 50 new civilian roles, 70 additional civil servants for areas such as cybersecurity, and new body armour and ammunition stock replenishment.
Health; The Health budget will increase to €27.3 billion, up €1.5 billion on this year, including 300 new mental health staff.
Law Enforcement; Up to 1,000 new Garda recruits will be deployed in 2026, with further investment in immigration processing, youth diversion, and domestic violence prevention programmes.
National Broadband Plan; A further €433 million will go towards the National Broadband Plan, while €357 million will be provided for broadcasting, including €65.4 million for TG4.
Renewable energy; Households generating renewable energy will benefit from an extension of the €400 income tax disregard for microgeneration earnings until 2028.
Sport; €3 million will be provided to establish League of Ireland youth academies, and the GAA will receive €1.6 million in funding for inter-county players.
Music; From Budget 2026, income tax relief for makers of uilleann pipes and Irish harps will be extended to 2028.

Thurles.Info Uses AI To Celebrate Tipperary All-Ireland Hurling.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the ability of computer systems to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, e.g. learning, problem-solving, and even decision-making.
It encircles a broad range of techniques and technologies that are amazing, unbelievable, and yes actually ‘frightening’ in its ability to clone accurately human cognitive functions that involve the mental process of knowing, learning and understanding.

Today, AI is rapidly beginning to be used in various professional fields; like healthcare; customer service; finance; automotive tasks; to quickly analyse large amounts of data, and/or even improve everyday human decision-making.
Alas, there are also a myriad of dangers associated with the use of AI; possibly the biggest risks today being consumer privacy, and biased programming, with little legal regulation governing its place in future society.

Artificial Intelligence technology can now create original text; graphic images, [see the Thurles.Info logo pictured here, created in just under 50 seconds], together with video and other content.

For the benefit of our readers we requested AI to write a poem about Tipperary defeat of old sporting rivals Cork in the recent 2025 All-Ireland Hurling final.

Truth is you couldn’t write this poem better yourself, so here is a celebratory poem capturing the spirit of Tipperary’s victory over Cork in the 2025 All-Ireland Hurling Final.
Note, when instructed AI gave us the following poem in approximately 20 seconds.

The poem is just a bit of harmless fun, while demonstrating the magic of AI to celebrate that fantastic win for the Premier County.
Hope you our readers enjoy it!

The Premier Roar – Tipperary 2025.
(A Ballad of Glory in Croke Park.)

In July sun ‘neath Dublin skies, where hopes and hearts together rise,
The Rebels came with Red held high, but Blue and Gold would rule the sky.
From Croke Park’s field, a thunder grew, as Tipp men charged with proud sinew,
Their ash in hand, their eyes like flame, they came to win this glourious game.
Cork struck first with fierce intent, but every blow was quickly spent,
But Maher and Forde held the line, with John Mcgrath, in form divine.
The sliotar soared, the crowd did cry, as Tipp lit stars across the sky.
A goal! Another! Cheers like flame, each score a stitch in Tipp’s great name.
The Red did rally, proud and bold, but Tipp’s resolve was forged in Gold.
With clever pass and fearless swings, they danced as warriors, crowned as kings.
And when the final whistle blew, the stands erupted, drenched in Blue.
From Thurles town to Lough Derg’s shore, the Premier roared like ne’er before.
They held the ‘Liam’ aloft with pride, for every fan who cheered or cried.
A county’s dream, a chapter penned, for in 2025, that wait did end.

END

Irish Consumers Warned To Stop Using Certain Tower Air Fryer Models

Irish consumers are being asked, inthe interest of safety to refrain from using certain models of Tower air fryers, following a recall by the company.

Almost 60,000 affected models have been sold in retail outlets across Ireland according to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

These recalled air fryers are understood to have a manufacturing defect that can cause the defective appliance to overheat, potentially leading to a fire being ignited and thus the risk of serious injury or indeed death.

While as yet no incidents have been reported in Ireland to date, there have been reports in the UK of these same products igniting.

To this end, the CCPC is now urging consumers to check if they presently own one of the five affected models shown hereunder:-

T17023 Tower 2.2Ltr Manual Air Fryer.
T17061BLK Tower 4Ltr Manual Air Fryer.
T17067 Tower 4Ltr Digital Air Fryer.
T17087 Tower 2Ltr Compact Manual Air Fryer.
T17129L Vortx 8L Dual Basket Air Fryer.

To locate the model number, consumers should unplug their air fryer and check the appliance rating label located on the rear end of their air fryer. The model number will begin with the letter T.

Consumers, who may have purchased one of the above affected models, are advised to stop using the product immediately, unplug it and contact Tower Housewares via the website towerhousewares.co.uk or email towerproduct@customersvc.co.uk.

These products Director of Communications at the CCPC Grainne Griffin said the recall “covers five Tower air fryer models with a dangerous manufacturing defect that could cause the models to overheat.were manufactured between the years 2020 and 2024 and were sold in various retailers including Tesco Ireland, Lidl, Argos, DID, Dealz, Tower Housewares website, through Amazon with other retailers possibly also be included.

Food Conference Explores AI’s Transformative Role In Food Safety.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s (FSAI) Food Safety Consultative Council today held an open meeting to explore the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in food safety.
‘AI in Food Safety: Innovation, Risks, and Opportunities’ brought together leading experts to explore the potential of AI and its real-world applications in reshaping the future of food safety systems.

Over 220 people registered for the event, which took place at the Gibson Hotel in Dublin, with a lineup of Irish and international speakers from the FSAI and representatives from UCD, Kerry Foods, Teagasc, TOMRA, Creme Global, and The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.

Chaired by Ms Suzanne Campbell, Author and Journalist, the event also offered insights into the practical applications of AI technologies, including machine learning, predictive modelling, and machine vision, highlighting their potential to revolutionise food safety systems.
Discussions also addressed the challenges and risks associated with AI implementation, underscoring the necessity for robust regulatory frameworks and ongoing research.

Dr Pamela Byrne, (Chief Executive, FSAI), highlighted that while AI offers incredible opportunities for enhancing food safety, it also comes with potential risks.
“Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool that can enhance our food safety systems in ways we have never seen before. From ensuring traceability in the food supply chain to creating predictive models for disease outbreaks and implementing machine vision systems for quality control, AI is already becoming embedded in the day-to-day operations of the agri-food sector.”

“As we stand at the intersection of innovation and responsibility, we must be mindful of both the tremendous opportunities and the inherent risks associated with these technological advances. We must ask critical questions: How can we leverage AI to enhance food safety while safeguarding public trust? What steps must we take to ensure that AI technologies are applied responsibly, in line with legislation and best practice, and that the reliance on emerging technologies does not compromise food safety standards? The FSAI remains committed to embracing technology while upholding the highest standards of food safety and consumer protection,” said Dr Byrne.

Contributions on the day included Dr Brian McNamee (Associate Professor, School of Computer Science, University College Dublin); Dr Marc Wagner (Data Analytics and AI Lead, Kerry Foods); Dr Geraldine Duffy (Research Officer, Teagasc); Dr Brendan Byrne (Technology Manager, Artificial Intelligence, TOMRA); William O’Sullivan (Head of Data Science, Creme Global); Elske van der Vaart (Data Scientist, Nederlandse Voedsel-en-Warenautoriteit [The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority]); Gail Carroll (Director of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance Building, Food Safety Authority of Ireland); and Cormac McElhinney (Acting Manager Data Centric Project, Food Safety Authority of Ireland).

Note: The Food Safety Consultative Council (FSCC) acts as a forum for debate
on food safety issues and provides advice to the FSAI Board on areas of
relevance. Food Safety Consultative Council

Thurles Residents Strongly Object To Killough Solar Farm.

Just last month, Marmoris Limited, trading as Killough Solar, lodged a planning application with Tipperary Co. Council following the purchase of Killough Castle, Killough, Thurles, Co. Tipperary and its accompanying 527 acres of land of by Mr John Magnier’s Coolmore Stud Farm, last year.

Marmoris in their planning application, are seeking a ten-year planning permission for 745,168 square metres of solar panels in the town lands of Killough, Clohoge and Graigue in Co. Tipperary.

Some 30 submissions have since been lodged with the council, condemning the planning application on the grounds of:-

Scale of the development would result in a major visual intrusion.
Present road infrastructure totally unsuitable.
Loss of value to existing homes.
Proposed development could potentially prevent others from getting planning permission for future domestic dwellings.
Golden Vale area traditionally used for food output and brownfield sites with good roads and waste infrastructures should be considered as an alternative.

The planning consultants for the scheme, Fehily Timoney, confirm that the project is led by Coolmore Stud and is designed to complement Coolmore’s environmental and sustainability initiatives, while benefiting the local community and contributing to Ireland’s renewable energy targets.

Locals are asking questions as to why was this recently purchased Killough Castle farm selected over and above the other almost 11,000 acres of land in the ownership of Coolmore Stud?

The Killough solar farm set 6.5km south of Thurles would according to the planning application, create 80 to 100 jobs, during its anticipated 18-month construction period.

A decision is expected on this planning application by the end of this month.

Meanwhile, as we reported on January 30th, 2025, Major opposition, grave concerns and extreme anger has irrupted, due to a planning application for a wind-farm & battery farm on the northern outskirts of Thurles town, in the townlands of Brittas, Rossestown, Ballygammane and Clobanna.
The planning application seeks permission for 10 to 12 X 185m (1542ft) high turbines, together with an accompanying battery farm, latter to store generated electricity, same to be occasioned by this proposed project. View Here.