Europe’s environment is at a tipping point and Ireland is among those countries that needs to raise its efforts to address biodiversity loss and limit the impact of climate change, according to a major new report.

Air pollution in cities has reached such toxic levels that the world is confronting one of the “biggest public health issues” it has faced, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.

Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe and causes more than 430,000 premature deaths a year, according to a report by the EU’s environmental agency.

The quality of water at most of the bathing sites around the country is of very high quality, but nowhere as good as those found in tourist hotspots Greece, Malta, Cyprus, and Croatia.

SLOWLY but, hopefully, surely the message is hitting home that there are better ways of getting around cities than by car, bus or train.