Education « Thurles Information

Toddler Story-Time At Cashel Library.

Ms Maura Barrett, (Cashel Library) extends Toddler Story-time invitation.

“As the excitement around Christmas builds, do join us in Cashel library for Toddler Story-time, 10-10.30am, on Thursday morning December 12th next.
We look forward to sharing some Christmas magic with your little ones”

You may contact Cashel Library directly for further information; Tel: 062-63825.

You can locate the Cashel Library building, situated on Friar Street, Lady’s Well, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, HERE. (G487+RX).

Disparities Persist In Survival Cancer Rates In North Tipperary.

New data identifies disparities persisting in survival cancer rates around Ireland, following a new report, from National Cancer Registry Ireland, (NCRI) covering years 2020 to 2022. This report examines the four most common forms of cancers in Ireland; namely lung, bowel, breast and prostate cancers.

During the aforementioned period an average of 44,000 tumours were diagnosed each year, with over half potentially life-changing and requiring extensive treatments.

Some 9,800 deaths were recorded annually, with one in five of these fatalities relating to lung cancer.
An estimated 220,000 people, (or 4% of the population), were identified as living with, or in long-term remission from the disease.

The survival rate, five years after diagnosis, for those with colorectal, lung or breast cancer was found to be lowest in the mid-west region, latter which covers North Tipperary, Clare and Limerick; with survival rates remaining between four and five percentage points lower, when compared with similar cases in the rest of Ireland.

This report demonstrates the very necessary and urgent need for improvements within the mid-west region, when it comes to prevention, screening and early diagnosis; right through to fast access to services and successful treatment outcomes.

New Art Exhibition Goes On Display At Cashel Library, Co. Tipperary.

New art works by artist Robert Gosnell, went on display yesterday, (Saturday December 7th,2024) at 2:30pm, in Cashel Library, Co. Tipperary.
The exhibition entitled “The New Life” is all about taking something old and giving it a new perspective. The majority of the frames used in the exhibition were sourced from charity shops, while the images, the artist explains, “is a voyage through history, acknowledging the past, but in a new light”.

**New Art Exhibition entitled** **“The New Life”** **– Cashel Library**.

This exhibition will run throughout the month of December, in Cashel Library, Co. Tipperary and all are welcome to visit and view.

You can locate the Cashel Library building, situated on Friar Street, Lady’s Well, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, HERE. (G487+RX).

Special Christmas Toddler Event In Cashel Library.

Ms Maura Barrett, (Cashel Library) issues Ready, Steady, Play invitation.

Ready, Steady, Play is back in Cashel Library for a special Christmas Toddler Event!

Book your place for this event; same taking place on Saturday 7th December at 11.30am.

Note: Spaces are limited, so do make sure you don’t miss out on this music and movement adventure!

Toddlers 0-4years with Booking essential on Tel: 062-63825.

You can locate the Cashel Library building, situated on Friar Street, Lady’s Well, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, HERE. (G487+RX).

Local Authorities Must Prioritise Resources To Protect Environment.

Local Authorities must effectively prioritise enforcement resources to protect and improve the environment

The prioritisation of enforcement resources on waste activities delivered improvements and positive environmental outcomes, such as the detection and cessation of illegal waste activities.
Local authorities did not adequately prioritise their enforcement resources to water, air and noise in 2023, with poor inspection rates and follow up actions.
Farm inspection rates are far below the level required to drive compliance and improve water quality.
Local authorities need to ensure that only approved solid fuels are available for sale, to protect public health from harmful air pollutants.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published its report on the environmental enforcement performance of local authorities in 2023. The report shows that the scale of environmental enforcement work carried out by local authorities in 2023 was significant. Across the 31 local authorities, 547 staff handled over 70,000 environmental complaints, carried out over 212,000 environmental inspections, undertook 17,000 enforcement actions and initiated 470 prosecutions.

**Environmental Enforcement Activity & Performance**.
**Tipperary sadly well down the list**.

The EPA’s Local Authority Performance Framework measures and reports on performance against National Enforcement Priorities, focused on improving environmental compliance and achieving positive outcomes for water quality, air quality and waste management.

The EPA’s assessment of local authority environmental enforcement performance in 2023 found that eight local authorities achieved a Strong or Excellent score in 17 or more of the 20 National Enforcement Priorities (NEPs). These were Kildare, Meath, Dublin City, Monaghan, Carlow, Cork County, Donegal and Wicklow County Councils.
For the second consecutive year, Kildare County Council were the only local authority that achieved a Strong or Excellent score across all 20 NEPs. Meath County Council achieved an Excellent score in 15 NEPs and a Strong score in 4 more NEPs, which was the highest level of Excellent scores of all local authorities. Dublin City Council achieved a Strong or Excellent score in 16 of the 17 NEPs that apply to their functional area.

Six local authorities failed to achieve a Strong or Excellent score in 10 or more of the 20 NEPs. These were Westmeath, Galway City, Waterford, Wexford, Sligo and Kilkenny County Councils. This level of performance is not good enough and needs to improve.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said: “The effective enforcement of environmental law is essential to identify polluters and non-compliant operators, and to hold them to account. Local authority leadership is critical in delivering better environmental outcomes through the prioritisation of environmental enforcement and the appropriate allocation of resources.”

Water Enforcement:
Agriculture continues to have a significant impact on water quality, resulting in excess levels of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) to enter our waterways. Mr Patrick Byrne, Programme Manager of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said: “While the number of local authority farm inspections increased by 9% to 1,137 in 2023, the number is still too low. More farm inspections and follow-up enforcement is needed to reach the National Agricultural Inspection Programme target of 4,500 farms inspected in 2025, to improve water quality. We’re calling on local authorities to use their full suite of enforcement powers to drive compliance with the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Regulations and improve water quality.”

Air & Noise Enforcement:

In 2023, local authorities assigned a much lower level of resources to air and noise enforcement (8%) than waste enforcement (63%) and water enforcement (29%). Whilst Ireland’s air quality met EU standards in 2023, it did not meet the health-based WHO guidelines and there were concerning localised issues which led to poor air quality. A strong inspection campaign of solid fuel producers and retailers is needed by local authorities, to make sure only approved solid fuels are available for sale and to protect public health from harmful air pollutants.

In 2023, many local authorities made little progress on implementing their Noise Action Plans (NAPs), aimed at reducing people’s exposure to transport noise. Greater action is needed to reduce the impact of noise pollution on people’s health and wellbeing. Local authorities, in collaboration with transport infrastructure bodies, need to focus implementation of NAPs on the priority areas identified using strategic noise mapping.

Waste Enforcement:
Waste generation continues to grow and recycling rates for municipal and plastic packaging waste streams need to increase urgently to achieve 2025 targets. For household & commercial waste, waste collectors are required to provide a 3-bin waste segregation service. Local authorities must target areas with low use of the 3-bin service where provided, to maximise waste recovery.

Local authorities need to target waste enforcement actions to drive compliance with the new national by-product criteria for greenfield soil and stone and waste recovery levy regulations, to reduce construction and demolition (C&D) waste.

The Local Authority Environmental Enforcement Performance Report 2023 is available HERE on the EPA website.