Ten month air project ongoing

Work is continuing to develop and trial an air quality alert system on Leeside.

Cork City Council is working with UCC’s Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry on the project which will take approximately ten months to deliver.

News of the alert system came to light after Green Party Councillor Oliver Moran asked Cork City Council to issue advice to city residents when air quality drops in the city, like the system in place for flood warnings in the city.

A report given to city councillors, and seen by the Cork Independent, said that the project will involve several aspects.

This will include how to influence behaviour, and thereby air quality, and how to circulate the information as well as development of an air quality forecast model specific to Cork city.

The report also said that the project will include “deciding on the most appropriate methodology to alert the general public of potential poor air quality”.

“It should be noted that this will be an information gathering and research project for use on a trial basis only. The information will likely be used to feed into a national air quality forecasting system should such a scheme be developed in the future," the report concluded.