Tipperary Central Community Policing Unit will be out and about at venues across Tipperary from today, Friday May 24th, until May 31st, 2024. They will be offering a ‘Property Marking Services’ in each community visited, giving people the chance to have any valuable property marked with their Eircode. Gardaí would especially like to see owners of high value itemse.g. Trailers / Lawnmowers / Power tools etc. attend at the venues tabled hereunder. (For more details visit https://propertymarking.ie )
Date:
Time:
Venue:
May 24th.
12:00pm – 4:00pm.
Knockanrawley Community Resource Centre, Tipperary Town.
Gardaí will also use this opportunity to speak to those in attendance on all aspects of safety (including personal security, online security and in particular, road safety).
So please do come along to the named venues during the times stated above.
The proposed Shannon to Dublin water pipeline will result in Tipperary farmers being hit on the double if it proceeds as planned, according to Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara.
The candidate for Ireland South in the European Elections, who has previously been vocal in the Dáil in his opposition to the Water Supply Project, says farm holdings along the proposed route of the pipeline in County Tipperary may be made unviable for the duration of its construction, or even permanently, at a time when the viability of many farmers’ livelihoods is already being jeopardised by changes to Ireland’s nitrates derogation.
Deputy McNamara said, “Ireland has one of the highest leakage rates of drinking water in Europe and the Dublin City Council area has one of the highest leakage rates in Ireland. As a result of that, it is proposed to build a pipeline across Ireland to ship water from Lough Derg and the River Shannon. That, obviously, would cause huge disruption to landowners, a huge cost to the economy and unforeseeable consequences for the environment.“
“Shannon stocks are already plummeting without further reducing the flow of water along the natural course of the Shannon”, he pointed out, adding “there would be a larger draw on this pipeline during summer months when water levels are already very low along the Lower Shannon.”
“Farmers are being largely blamed for the ongoing deterioration in water quality across the country, while there is rarely any mention of the volume of raw sewage discharged daily into Irish waterways”, he explained.
Deputy McNamara continued, “Instead of spending millions on piping water to Dublin, where it will simply leak into the ground, this government should be investing in delivering the necessary wastewater infrastructure to unsewered communities and upgrading the many facilities that are no longer fit-for- purpose. Not only does the construction of the needed new wastewater treatment plants alleviate the pressure on the future development of vitally important infrastructure in local communities, but it also tackles one of the primary causes of declining water quality in Ireland’s waterways”.
“I cannot support any proposal to divert water from the Shannon until local authorities in Dublin and Uisce Éireann / Irish Water get their act together and put their system in order,” he added. “Otherwise, this project will just further punish farmers by making their holdings unviable while they continue to be squarely and unfairly blamed for water quality issues which could be redressed by diverting proposed expenditure on this pipeline into funding infrastructure that will significantly decrease the amount of wastewater entering our waterways.”
Ammonia emissions down 1% in 2022, however further reductions needed to protect health and the environment.
Ireland’s ammonia emissions decreased by 1% in 2022. Despite this, Ireland remains non-compliant in 2022 with our EU Emissions Reduction commitment for ammonia.
The decrease in ammonia emissions reflects lower pig and poultry numbers, an increase in low emission slurry spreading and use of inhibited urea fertiliser on farms.
Compliance with the EU Emissions Reduction commitment for ammonia is only possible with full implementation of all Government policies and measures.
In contrast, Ireland is compliant in 2022 with the EU Emissions Reduction commitment for the following four air pollutants: non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter. Reductions in 2022 were driven by less fossil fuel use in power generation and heating in homes and businesses.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), yesterday, published its 2022 assessment of five key air pollutants which impact air quality, health and the environment. The pollutants are:
ammonia.
non-methane volatile organic compounds.
sulphur dioxide.
nitrogen oxides.
fine particulate matter.
Agriculture accounts for over 99% of ammonia emissions in Ireland. A decrease of I% in ammonia emissions was driven by:
lower pig and poultry populations (down 5.9% and 2% respectively)
increased use of low emission slurry spreading (59% of all cattle slurry) and
a 52% increase in inhibited urea fertiliser.
Commenting on the findings Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment said: “High ammonia emissions impacts local air quality and human health and causes significant environmental damage to valuable ecosystems . Ireland’s ammonia emissions have exceeded the EU Emission Reduction commitments in ten of the past 11 years.”
She added. “Encouragingly, good farm practices are beginning to have a positive impact on emissions. For example, the use of low emissions slurry spreading for cattle slurry in 2022 avoided the release of 6,000 tonnes of ammonia to the atmosphere. However, we have much further to go. Faster and sustained implementation of all ammonia reduction measures set out in Government plans and policies are needed if we are to achieve compliance and protect our air quality.”
Ireland is in compliance with EU Emission Reduction commitments for the other air pollutants with decreases recorded for these pollutants in 2022. Sulphur dioxide decreased by 27%; fine particulate matter by 12%; nitrogen oxide by 4% and non-methane volatile organic compounds by 1%.
Commenting on these findings Mr Tomás Murray, Senior Manager said: “This assessment shows positive results in terms of a reduction in emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter in 2022. These reductions are driven by less coal and fuel oil used in power generation and also less fossil fuels used in homes and businesses. Our data are clear: reducing fossil fuel use benefits both our climate and air quality and increasing the pace of this reduction will be better for our health and environment.”
To mark ‘Biodiversity Week 2024‘, Tipperary Green Business Network invite you to join them on a guided walk of ‘The Apple Farm’ at Cahir, Co. Tipperary, which will be led jointly by your host Mr Con Trass and Mr Alan Moore, latter of ‘Hedgerows Ireland’.
The Apple Farm, Moorstown, Cahir, Co. Tipperary.
Date and time:Saturday, May 18th, 2024, commencing at 2:30pm until 5:00am. (2 hours 30 minutes).
Location: The Apple Farm, Moorstown, Cahir, Co. Tipperary. [Eircode: E21 YX33]
Please do wear suitable weather gear and footwear. Children are welcome, but must be accompanied by an adult.
Light refreshments will be available. This is a FREE event, but booking is essential. Contact info@tgbn.ie
The Apple Farm Shop will be open for those of you may wish to stock up on juices, apple cider vinegar, jams etc.
Note: National Biodiversity Week 2024 will run over a 10 day period, from Friday 17th to Sunday 26th of May.
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