Research Project Launched To Tackle Ennis Air Quality

The problem hasn't gone away, it hasn't gone away for two reasons.

The first reason is the town's topography.

And this is the low-lying town.

And oftentimes when you get those quiet,

still cold nights in winter,

particularly in the Montagenerie and into February,

we have them that the air gets trapped

and that the particles that are harmful to people,

particularly with asthma, COPD,

and other respiratory conditions,

those particles get trapped in the air.

And that's the smog that we see.

What the early stages of this research has found

is that these particles are coming

from fossil fuels that have been burnt,

whether it is smokey cold,

that is coming in here illegally,

which I know it has been sold here.

And also wood that hasn't been seasoned, that's wet,

that's immature wood that hasn't been allowed to season

for a couple of years.

And you've long pointed to the former there,

smokey cold as a chief cause of this.

Smokey cold, yeah, when I attended there evening

in a library there a couple of weeks ago,

and they were talking about what they found

and by identifying the particles,

the certainly smokey cold was one part of it,

and certainly the other part was burning wood.

If you burn wood that season,

it doesn't leave these particles,

the wood is mature and it hasn't been allowed

to season and dry, that's where the issue arises.

And a huge amount of that is education.

We all see the ads for people coming into town,

selling coal, you know, you might think it's cheaper,

you might think the heat is better off but,

but in the long term, and the implications for people's health

is not good because of the particles that come off,

the smokey cold, and that is why

the 26th County certainly are smoke free zones.

So, smokey cold area, but we know that smokey cold

is being sold, and equally,

somebody chaps down a tree after a storm,

leaves it on a couple of weeks and next thing,

they burn it, when it hasn't been allowed to season.

So these are the two big, obviously, the cars,

they burning diesel and petrol, that doesn't help,

but they're finding from this research

that they've done so far, the town air research team

that they find that it is fuel the people are burning

in their fires and their stoves,

causing the particles in the air.

So is it your view, Mary, that this is entirely down

to consumer behavior and that if people make a different

decision, if they decide not to purchase those harmful fuels,

and this won't be considered as it usually is,

the worst town in Ireland for air quality?

Yeah, I think there's a whole education piece here

to educate the general public about what,

if they still have a noble fireplace,

or if they still have a range that takes a cold or a tics wood,

or if they have a little stove,

then what they put into it is so important that they're aware

that they should be using the smokeless cold

or they should be using seasoned wood,

or even tarf is better, but it's just to be aware

that what you put into it is causing that smug

that we see in those quiet, still cold nights.

That's where that's coming from,

and that's with irritating people

that do have respiratory conditions.

So Claire County Council now teaming up

with researchers from the University of Galway

and University College Cork on this project,

the town air project.

Can you tell us a bit about what it consists of

and what it will mean for NS?

Well, they're currently doing a survey to ask all homeowners

to take part in the town air survey,

and this will kind of help shape it,

or help their future for NS,

because we are committed to improving their quality in NS,

and this town air project is usually important.

I myself have asthma,

and I'm also the chair of NS Tidy Towns,

so this is something I've taken a great interest in.

So I'm asking the general public to engage in the survey,

and there's also paper copies of the survey available

in Raskunke and Karn.

I think they'll be available too within the library service,

but there's also one that's available online

to engage it and just tell us what you're doing.

So that will form policy in the future,

regarding grants for upgrading house heating,

home heating systems for policing,

how cold is sold, and if it's getting in,

and educating people about if they are burning solid fuel,

that they're burning the right types of solid fuel,

they might be healthy,

but they could have a child or a neighbor,

or a family member with COPD or asthma,

or a respiratory condition,

that it's important that they're able to breathe clean

and healthy air.

Based on your engagement with some of the people

that are spearheading this project in NS Mary,

how confident are you that this could have

a significant impact on the town,

and that it could go a long way to reversing

that, I suppose, every negative trend

when it comes to air quality that we've seen

in the last few years.

Well, I think to affect change,

they're doing something that's incredibly important,

and that's where they're dealing and working with teenagers.

So they're engaging with students from Rice College,

Colossumorance and Florence College,

and that's how you affect change.

If they can see what's happening,

they'll go home and they'll say to the parents

or the grandparents,

they shouldn't be using that.

This is the future is these young people.

So I really believe that they're going

about it the right way,

by gathering all this data, all of this information,

dealing with our younger constituents here

from the three schools,

and I think by that,

dealing with all of those people and educating them,

and putting all that information in,

so we can make a considered decision

and have a considered opinion

at the end of this process,

at the end of this survey.

Just to conclude, Mary,

if people want to contribute to that survey,

how can they do so?

They can do so by,

it's available as a certificate electronically,

and in print,

the print copy is available

from the reception at ours, Coontaine Chlor.

You can also get information

from greenerclareclareclarecocole.ie,

and also the town air project

of for more information,

the University of Goaway.ie,

forward slash town air,

is where you can get the information

and where you can,

and there's also a QR code

that people can just click on,

with their phones and their,

with the camera on their phones,

excuse me,

onto the QR code.