Sinead O'Brien

This time last year, 80 electricity poles collapsed into the bog under the *slightest* dusting of snow in my area. If the ESB can't maintain basic infrastructure like power lines, I have absolutely zero faith we have any kind of capacity in Ireland to manage nuclear power 🫠.

The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived A new report finds that local opposition to data centers skyrocketed in the second quarter of this year.

🇺🇸 “The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived”

“concern around them just sucking up the water, the electricity, the land & not really paying any taxes”

“electricity load from data centers are helping to drive up utility bills”
www.wired.com/story/the-da...

It's very concerning that Irish government policy on renewable energy seems to be tied to the expansion of data centres, especially given the current AI boom - it is a twin 'digitisation and decarbonisation' strategy. Households/small businesses won't benefit from low-cost renewable energy.

A ‘national embarrassment’: Ireland in breach of multiple water quality rules, court finds European Court of Justice ruling raises questions about Government’s system of water charges

A ‘national embarrassment’: Ireland in breach of multiple water quality rules, court finds

www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Half of Cork farms inspected by Council failed water quality protection regulations Half of the farms inspected by Cork County Council under the National Agriculture Inspection Programme (NAIP) this year have failed to comply with the government’s Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) reg...

We're constantly being told that pollution prevention measures are working and more time is needed to show results. But the rivers don't lie.

www.independent.ie/regionals/co...

Pale text on blue background: Did you know? Routine hair-based styling can release billions of nanoparticle into the air within a 10 to 20 minute routine. The particle are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs. Lets Clean Our Air www.cleanairadvocacyireland.org

Pale text on blue background: Applying heat to gels, creams, hair sprays, oils (any type of leave in hair product) - releases 10,000 to 200,000 nanoparticles per cubic centimetre.

Pale text on blue background: The closed proximity and confinement from a single hair treatment session gives airborne nanoparticles a more direct pathway into the lungs, rivalling exposure from sitting in heavy traffic.

Pale text on blue background: Particles released during heat styling come from chemical ingredients, particularly siloxanes. These have been found to lead to adverse effects on the respiratory tract, liver, and nervous system of laboratory animals.

A fascinating study recently published in the journal 'Environmental Science & Technology' has found that routine hair styling causes air pollution and exposure to ultra fine particles in concentrations that rivals sitting in heavy traffic.

#CleanTheAir

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ind...

Airspot CO2 monitor on wrist outdoors. Wintry, grey looking day.

The CO2 ppm is high for being in a playground beside a river. The playground is beside a road that enters a village. Between HGVs and homes burning solid fuels to stay warm, the CO2 is higher than the ~420ppm you would expect as a baseline level. This would be a great indoor reading. #FridayAirday

CO2 reading on airspot app showing yellow and green levels of CO2 (below 900ppm) and rising to red levels (rising to 1400 ppm) at 8 am.

This is a screenshot for #FridayAirday from my @airspothealth.bsky.social reading so far. The window has been open through the night & all morning. Co2 levels started rising once neighbours started burning solid fuel. The air quality in the West of Ireland massively deteriorates in cold temps.

Pale text on blue background: Share your air with us using #FridayAirday Let's Clean Our Air

picture of an airspot CO2 monitor watch on a wrist with trees in the background. The monitor shows a CO2 reading of 554ppm.

This is a reminder that tomorrow is #FridayAirday! Help us create awareness of the importance of indoor/outdoor air quality by capturing an image of your CO2 monitor in whatever contexts you want to share. #CleanTheAir

Don’t blindly trust everything AI tools say, warns Alphabet boss Sundar Pichai says artificial intelligence models are ‘prone to some errors’ and warns of impact if AI bubble bursts

The casual way this techbro talks about the "error-prone" products they are throwing out into the world, the necessity for the consumer to accept, train for, and correct for these, and the impending economic chaos wrought by the frenzy they are creating as though it's normal and natural: holy hell.

Fossil fuel lobbyists outnumber all Cop30 delegations except Brazil, report says One in every 25 participants at 2025 UN climate summit is a fossil fuel lobbyist, according to Kick Big Polluters Out

1 out of every 25 Cop30 participants is someone who absolutely doesn't want to mitigate climate change.

Ireland, take note #SpéirGorm

Nothing makes me stop paying attention quicker than hearing or reading 'I asked ChatGPT...'

It would be amazing if more public spaces placed CO2 monitors for the public to see as an accessibility tool (for people to judge how safe a space is in terms of picking up an airborne infection) but also as an interesting metric to have, like the temperature or humidity levels in an environment.

CO2 monitors are a really fun tool, but most importantly, they are really enlightening. Without a smell, there's no immediately obvious way to tell how good or bad the ventilation/air quality is. Of course, if everyone starts nodding off, it's pretty clear that CO2 levels are too high.

I'm still obsessed by how good the air quality was on that boat. Very impressive ventilation going on, making it very accessible for people with immunocompromised health problems and underdeveloped immune systems like infants/toddlers.

Because I have FOMO being unable to add live readings of the CO2 concentrations in my environment today for @cleanairie.bsky.social #FridayAirday ; here's one of the best readings I've ever recorded with an @airspothealth.bsky.social CO2 monitor I borrowed from a friend for my travels in October.

👀 Irish data centres are now using 22% of all electricity generated in Ireland, more than all urban homes combined & drawing an unquantified amount (lots) of Ireland’s water capacity

Could AI demands be related to recent push to fast-track infrastructure, side-step safeguards & reduce court access?

Photograph of an air spot wearable air quality monitors showing CO2 PPM1031

Similar air spot wearable air quality monitoring device with CO2 readings of 728ppm

Various indoor readings -from the readings in the first example it looks like more windows need to be opened.

Ventilation can reduce CO2 levels and insure healthier air.

#FridayAirDay
#CleanTheAir
@cleanairie.bsky.social

Soon I will focus on a crucial topic for our industry: How Global Open Air Quality Standards Help Accelerate Decarbonization.

IAQ & energy efficiency are often seen as competing goals, but I'll be sharing insights on how synergistic strategies improve building health & drive down carbon emissions.

When the government decided to let COVID-19 loose, they decided at that exact same time to do two things.

Make life difficult and lonely for elderly and disabled people.

Kill elderly and disabled people by playing dress up and pretend it’s 2019, because we want to be “kind”.

It should be a national scandal that the official government excuse for not recognising COVID-19/ Long Covid as an occupational illness is because community transmission is now so prevalent. This is an admission of failure and abandonment of public health. The repercussions will be felt for decades.

Government’s failure to recognise Covid-19 as occupational disease shows lessons from pandemic not being learned The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has today (11 November) expressed its deep disappointment at the Government’s refusal to formally recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease.

Failure to formally recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease places the continued delivery of long-term sick payments needed by so many workers on a precarious footing.

We support ICTU in their calls to formally classify Covid-19 as an occupational disease.
www.ictu.ie/news/governm...

Ireland remains among a small number of EU Member States that have not formally recognised Covid-19 as an occupational disease or injury, contrary to recommendations from the European Commission and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). 

#CleanTheAir

They’ve laid off so many people that the government is now getting its economic data from DoorDash.

‘I cannot express how seriously the housing crisis has impacted me (35 years old and female) and my friends’ On a recent visit to a friend in Copenhagen, I was struck by how many couples in their young 20s had multiple babies

“Who knows how many children I & my friends would have with [secure high quality affordable housing] certainly enough to maintain pension-paying workforce. Govt’s strategy of pinning pension hopes on migrant workers is short-sighted & a tragedy for Irish women” 💯 www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...

Inquiry to review rising levels of youth inactivity Former Labour Health Secretary Alan Milburn will lead the investigation, with conclusions set to be published next summer.

What a mystery it is that so many can’t work. Might it be long COVID 🤦‍♀️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Fix IPC!

Covid is spread through the air. It lingers in the air like smoke, often for hours in poorly ventilated buildings. To prevent long covid numbers from increasing, we must reduce the spread of covid infections. We must improve ventilation in our shared buildings and clean the air.

#CleanTheAir

Long-Covid is still here. I can’t walk, cook, work, socialise or live independently – and I am not alone The country, and the rest of the world, was in the grip of a global pandemic, so when Lydia Fischer Dooley, developed a dry cough, fatigue, weakness and lack of appetite at the start of 2022, she…

We are immensely proud of CAAI member Lydia Fischer Dooley, Long Covid Advocate and Campaigner, for speaking openly and publicly about how a repeat Covid infection changed her life.

#CleanTheAir

Long-Covid is still here. I can’t walk, cook, work, socialise or live independently – and I am not alone The country, and the rest of the world, was in the grip of a global pandemic, so when Lydia Fischer Dooley, developed a dry cough, fatigue, weakness and lack of appetite at the start of 2022, she righ...

1. Non-paywalled link in next post.

www.independent.ie/life/health-...