The following reply was received from Tipperary Co. Council, following a formal complaint having been made by this website, last Thursday. The complaint referred to the pollution of the River Suir over the past 12 years.
The Reply Reads:- Dear George, Thank you for your e-mail regarding Pollution of River Suir in Thurles. I have forwarded your e-mail to Environment Section for their attention and direct reply to you. Should you wish to follow up on this case, please contact Customer Service Desk quoting reference number ENV-11308-F6L3.
The formal complaint was sent to Tipperary Co. Council, when this website received confirmation that Tipperary Co. Council and Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), and the Office of Public Works would object to local volunteers attempting to improve the general appearance of the area. Work would have involved the removal of discarded clothing; bottles; cans; weeds; plastic bollards, wooden pallets, rushes, bags of sand and a mountain of sediment, currently clogging the area from Barry’s Bridge to the area south of the Swinging Gates, same a poorly lit spot where persons gather regularly to partake in alcohol consumption.
WE have also formally complained to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)info@epa.ie, asking the question; “Does the EPA have any real teeth or are they like LAWPRO, latter simply passing information, same to land on other departmental desks, where seated are people who refuse to be motivated? The EPA were also asked if they held the power to prosecute local authorities?
We now await a reply from the EPA, which we will publish here, in full, on receipt of same.
Pass It On Down.
Randy Owen, Lead singer with ‘Alabama’
Vocals: American Country Music band Alabama. Lyrics: ‘Alabama’ Band members Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry, American country music singer and songwriter Ronnie Rogers and songwriter Will Robinson.
Pass It On Down.
We live in the land of plenty, But many things aren’t plenty any-more, Like the water from our sink, They say it’s not safe to drink, You gotta go and buy it at the store. Now we’re told there’s a hole in the Ozone, Look what’s washing on the beach, And Lord, I believe, from the heavens to the seas, We’re bringing Mother Nature to her knees.
Chorus. So let’s leave some blue up above us, Let’s leave some green on the ground, It’s only ours to borrow, then save some for tomorrow, Leave it and pass it on down.
Well, there’s a change taking place way on the mountains, Acid rain is falling on the leaves, And down in Brazil, the fires are burning still, How we gonna breathe without them trees?
RepeatChorus.
Well, there’s a place where I live called the Canyon (Canyon), Where Daddy taught me to swim, And that water, it’s so pure, And I’m a gonna make sure, Daddy’s grandkids can swim there like him. Now we all outta feel just a little bit guilty, When we look into the eyes of our kids, ‘Cause, brothers, it’s a fact, if we take and don’t put back, They’ll have to pay for all we did.
Too often, we as menfolk, fail to recognize the depth of love and sacrifice shown by our wives/partners. Her work is quiet, remains often unseen and indeed unmeasured, yet she holds together the home and gives us a place of rest, comfort, and belonging. We often overlook the countless acts of care, patience and devotion she gifts so freely, and we sometimes forget that her love is not expressed in grand gestures, but in the steady rhythm of daily life. In our blindness, we men often take for granted the very heart of our family home, failing to give back the gratitude and appreciation a mothers love truly deserves.
Remember the words of Psalms 90:10: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten (70 years); and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years (80 years), yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away”
To Daddy.
Ms Emmylou Harris.
Lyrics: American singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist and businesswoman Ms Dolly Rebecca Parton. Vocals: American singer, songwriter, country rock genre musician, bandleader and activist Ms Emmylou Harris.
To Daddy.
Mama never seemed to miss the finer things of life. If she did, she never did say so to Daddy. She never wanted to be more than mother and a wife. If she did, she never did say so to Daddy. The only thing that seemed to be important in her life, Was to make a house a home and make us happy. Mama never wanted any more than what she had, If she did, she never did say so to Daddy. He often left her all alone, but she didn’t mind the stayin’ home. If she did, she never did say so to Daddy. And she never missed the flowers and the cards he never sent her. If she did, she never did say so to Daddy. Being took for granted was a thing that she accepted, And she didn’t need those things to make her happy, And she didn’t seem to notice that he didn’t kiss and hold her. If she did, she never did say so to Daddy. One morning we awoke just to find a note, That Mama carefully left to Daddy, And as he began to read it our ears could not believe it, The words she had written there to Daddy. She said, “The kids are old enough, they don’t need me very much, And I’ve gone in search for love I need so badly. I have needed you so long, but I just can’t keep holding on.” She never meant to come back home. If she did, she never did say so to Daddy. Goodbye to Daddy.
Poem by Michael Bannon, Littleton, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
In less than half a mile of the river bank, some 28 assorted drainage pipes now dump their contents into the River Suir in Thurles town centre.
“Ode To River Suir, in Thurles”
From clear mountain fountains your waters begin, Through Tipperary’s fields, where the sunlight shines in. From Clonmel to Waterford, proud is your lore, Your song will be carried forever and more.
From high on the hillside you wander in grace, Through towns and through counties you leave your embrace, From Thurles to Waterford, strong is your lore, Your story will echo forever and more.
The fisherman casts out his line, The heron waits, the sunlight shines, The bridges span wide where the townspeople go, You’ve carried their stories, through sunshine and woe.
But today in your waters the dark stains are seen, The plastics and waste, where that bright flow had been, Yet still you keep moving, though wounded and sore, We’ll fight for your freedom, to forever restore.
Your waters, once sparkling, now carry the pain, Of plastics and shadows that darken your name, Yet hope in the future will see you run clear, We’ll cherish and heal you, my own River Suir.
Now rubbish and poison are clouding your flow, The bright silver waters are struggling to glow, But still you keep moving, so steady, so sure, Time to stand up and guard you, to forever endure.
The message in the lyrics of the song “Runaway Train”, composed by Soul Asylum’s lead singer Dave Pirner and released in May 1993 (featured hereunder), highlights the feelings of severe depression. It also reminds both young and old individuals that our real world is not all a bed of roses. It also, importantly, highlights that we are not fully alone. Few realise that the video and lyrics would later become more than just music industry entertainment: it would literally save lives.
Grammy Award winning American rock band “Soul Asylum”.
Tony Kaye has on many occasions recalled what inspired his video of this song “Runaway Train”. He states that he was on his way home in Los Angeles, when an idea first struck him, having observed a poster by the road side. The poster was of a milk carton with a missing kid’s face etched on the side. He decided to use the faces of missing children in his “Runaway Train” video.
The National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children sent him the photos, and Music Television (MTV) the American cable television channel aired it with a message urging people to call, if they had seen any of the faces of those featured, then declared missing.
At first, the record company worried as no children had returned, but soon one child did and then came another, followed by another and another. The first located was Elizabeth Wiles, a runaway teenager who recognized herself in the video and reached out once again to her family.
Sadly not every story ended happily as some children had died, but each time one was found, the video was again updated with a new missing child’s face added. In total, 21 of the 36 kids featured were actually located.
“Runaway Train”
Vocals:Grammy Award winning American rock band “Soul Asylum”. Lyrics:Soul Asylum‘s lead singer, Dave Pirner.
“Runaway Train”
Call you up in the middle of the night, Like a firefly without a light. You were there like a blowtorch burning, I was a key that could use a little turning, So tired that I couldn’t even sleep, So many secrets I couldn’t keep, Promised myself I wouldn’t weep, One more promise I couldn’t keep. It seems no one can help me now. I’m in too deep, There’s no way out. This time I have really lead myself astray, Runaway train never going back. Wrong way on a one-way track. Seems like I should be getting somewhere, Somehow I’m neither here nor there.
Can you help me remember how to smile? Make it somehow all seem worthwhile. How on earth did I get so jaded? Life’s mysteries seem so faded, I can go where no one else can go, I know what no one else knows. Here I am, just drowning in the rain, With a ticket for a runaway train, And everything seems cut and dry. Day and night, Earth and sky, Somehow I just don’t believe it. Runaway train never going back, Wrong way on a one-way track. Seems like I should be getting somewhere, Somehow I’m neither here nor there.
Bought a ticket for a runaway train, Like a madman laughing at the rain. A little out of touch, a little insane, It’s just easier than dealing with the pain. Runaway train never going back, Wrong way on a one-way track. Seems like I should be getting somewhere, Somehow I’m neither here nor there. Runaway train never coming back, Runaway train tearing up the track, Runaway train burning in my veins, I run away but it always seems the same.
Penguin Random House has confirmed that one of the UK’s and indeed the world’s, most acclaimed and successful authors of children’s books, Allan Ahlberg, has sadly passed away, aged 87 years.
His more than 150 much loved children’s books, published over a period spanning more than five decades, are known for their gentle humour and are enjoyed by both children and grown-ups.
Born an illegitimate child, in Croydon, South London in 1938, he was brought up by adoptive parents in the market town of Oldbury, West Midlands, England. He worked as a postman, a plumber and a gravedigger, before training to become a teacher at Sunderland Teacher Training College. It was here that he met his first wife Janet, who later died from breast cancer.
In 1975, Mr Ahlberg and his first wife Janet published their first book together, “The Brick Street Boys”. Later they collaborated to produce titles such as “Each Peach Pear Plum” and “The Jolly Postman”(Latter published in 1991 and winner of the Kurt Maschler Award, selling over six million copies), for which Janet was also awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustrators in 1978.
Other titles included “The Old Joke Book”, “Burglar Bill”, “Peepo”, “The Vanishment of Thomas Tull”, “The Runaway Dinner”, “The Pencil” and “Woof”, latter which was about a little boy who turns into a dog, and inspired a TV series which ran on former ITV channel, between the years 1989 and 1997.
Mr Ahlberg also wrote prize-winning poetry and fiction from his home in Bath. Their joint publications went on to sell millions of copies around the world.
Back to School. by Allan Ahlberg
In the last week of the holidays, I was feeling glum. I could hardly wait for school to start; Neither could mum.
Now we’ve been back a week, I could do with a breather. I can hardly wait for the holidays; Teacher can’t either. END.
Please Mrs Butler. Poem by Allan Ahlberg
Please Mrs Butler, this boy Derek Drew Keeps copying my work, Miss, what shall I do? Go and sit in the hall, dear, go and sit in the sink. Take your books on the roof, my lamb, do whatever you think.
Please Mrs Butler, this boy Derek Drew Keeps taking my rubber, Miss, what shall I do? Keep it in your hand, dear, hide it up your vest. Swallow it if you like, my love, do what you think is best.
Please Mrs Butler, this boy Derek Drew Keeps calling me rude names, Miss, what shall I do? Lock yourself in the cupboard, dear, run away to sea. Do whatever you can, my flower, but don’t ask me. END
Mr Ahlberg made news headlines in 2014 when he turned down a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, after discovering that this same award was sponsored by Amazon, which was facing criticism over its then tax arrangements.
Mr Ahlberg is survived by his second wife Vanessa, daughter Jessica and stepdaughters Saskia and Johanna.
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