100 signatures reached
To: Minister for Health, Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Dun Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council, Environmental Protection Agency, HSE.
Protect Cherrywood Families from Ticknick Fire Smoke
In August 2025, residents of Cherrywood and surrounding areas were exposed to two weeks of daily smoke from smouldering gorse fires at Ticknick.
Families — including children and older residents — have been forced to breathe unsafe levels with PM2.5 and VOC levels far above WHO safe limits, while current monitoring stations located kilometers away do not reflect the true conditions we are forced to live in.
Even with windows sealed, smoke particles seeped indoors, leaving children and families exposed to dangerous air for over two weeks.
Families — including children and older residents — have been forced to breathe unsafe levels with PM2.5 and VOC levels far above WHO safe limits, while current monitoring stations located kilometers away do not reflect the true conditions we are forced to live in.
Even with windows sealed, smoke particles seeped indoors, leaving children and families exposed to dangerous air for over two weeks.
Public authorities failed to acknowledge the public health risk or take accountability for developing a long-term solution. Instead, responsibility was pushed back and forth, while residents endured continuous exposure.
We now call for urgent lessons to be learned — and concrete actions to ensure families in Cherrywood and across Ireland are never left unprotected again.
Why is this important?
Health risks backed by science
- Multiple Studies have found that even short-term exposure to PM2.5 smoke particles increases hospital admissions for heart, lung, and neurological conditions. (Links to studies: [1][2])
- Studies show wildfire smoke can raise mortality rates in vulnerable groups (children, the elderly, people with asthma, and heart disease). [Links to studies: [3], [4]]
- These pollutants travel long distances — you don’t need to live in Cherrywood to be at risk.
Smoke is more toxic than normal air pollution
- Gorse/wildfire smoke isn’t just particles — it contains toxic gases like benzene, formaldehyde, and acrolein.
- These VOCs are linked to respiratory disease, cancer risk, and neurological problems — and they’re invisible, often undetectable by smell.
- For VOCs such as formaldehyde and benzene, WHO recognises that there is no safe threshold indoors, further underlining the health risk of the current smoke exposure.
Children are the most vulnerable
- Kids breathe faster and inhale more pollutants per body weight.
- In Cherrywood, a primary school sits right below Ticknick Park, directly in the path of the smoke.
- Protecting them here sets a precedent for protecting children everywhere.
It’s not just Cherrywood — it’s Ireland’s future
- With warmer, drier summers, gorse fires will keep recurring across Ireland.
- If we don’t act now, other towns will face the same repeated exposure, with no monitoring or guidance.
- The current response is limited to carrying out controlled burning or "hoping for the rain" — but neither of these protect Cherrywood families from repeated exposure to toxic smoke.
A precedent for national action
- By supporting Cherrywood, you’re pushing Ireland to adopt stronger protections — including, but not limited by efficient fire response, local monitoring, proactive land management, timely community guidance and access to HEPA + carbon filters.
- Wildfire smoke has been recognised internationally (e.g. by the US CDC and European Environment Agency) as a significant public health hazard due to fine particles and VOCs.
- This campaign can set the standard for how Irish authorities respond to all future smoke events.
*In this context, ‘Ticknick’ refers to the adjoining lands located beside Ticknick Park and the community playfields.
** Have you been affected? Please take 2 minutes to fill out this short survey: https://forms.gle/cUtUWMZA2Zamr39UA