You can view this map HERE
Yesterday, after almost 8 weeks, the Thurles Municipal District Council has eventually replied to my 3 questions. We remain unsure who actually replied since the email, hereunder, suggests two authors. Not that authors matter since the reply is fallacious, imprecise and dare I say possibly felonious.
Questions asked; as if anyone needed reminding, were:-
(1). Will the planned Thurles inner relief road impinge, in a negative way, on the 1846 Thurles “Double Ditch”, which has been a Right of Way and a Mass Path for almost 175 years and which is the property of the people of Thurles and a national monument?
(2). What are the future plans for the 1798 memorial statue [The Stone Man], first erected in Liberty Square, Thurles in 1900, and still standing there, awaiting possible removal prior to the new upgrade?
Note: [We recently published replies on this matter HERE.]
(3). Which Municipal District Councillor is responsible for delaying the Thurles Recycling Civic Amenity, which this town so badly needs?
From Gardiner, Janice janice.gardiner@tipperarycoco.ie to me 16th September 2020, Time 14:56.
Dear Sir,
I refer to your email communication sent to Mr. Joe MacGrath, Chief Executive and the Thurles Municipal District Councillors in relation to a number of queries concerning the Thurles Municipal District and advise that the matters were forwarded to myself as District Manager, consideration and direct reply.
Response to queries as follows:
Q.1. Response received from the Roads Capital Section.
Tipperary County Council has reviewed all documentation relating to the planning aspects of the Thurles Inner Relief Road Project and can find no reference to the existence of the feature/path/monument you describe. The relevant reference documents/databases in this instance are:
- TCC Planning GIS
- Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht – Historic Environment Map Viewer
- National Monuments Service – Record of Monuments and Places (RMP)
- National Monuments Service Archive Unit – Sites & Monuments Record Archive (SMR)
- An Bord Pleanala Report PL79.JP0024
- 2013 EIA Screening Report
- 2013 Archaeological Impact Statement
These documents/databases contain no reference to a “Double Ditch”.
Q.2. 1798 Memorial Statue – there are no plans for this monument and it will stay in place during upcoming construction works.
Q.3. Thurles Recycling Civic Amenity – No Municipal District Councillor is responsible for delaying the provision of a Civic Amenity site in Thurles. The provision of a Civic Amenity site in any town is subject to availability of funding from the Department.
Yours faithfully,
Mr. Eamon Lonergan,
Acting District Manager,
Thurles Municipal District.
Email Message Ends
My same-day-reply to Ms Janice Gardiner, bore the following message:-
George Willoughby george.willo@gmail.com 00:06 to Janice
To: Ms Janice Gardiner,
Madam,
Thank you for your communication via Mr Eamon Lonergan.
For the moment please view this link http://www.thurles.info/2020/09/16/more-news-on-efforts-to-destroy-thurles-heritage/
Keep in mind that in November of last year (2019) I asked Ms Róisin O Grady (Heritage Officer and Creative Ireland Coordinator) walking on the ‘Double Ditch’ to have the area declared a National monument.
I now believe it is perfectly fair for me to believe that she has been prevented from achieving this goal by Tipp. Co. Council officialdom. So we must continue to ask questions and seek the truth.
Yours sincerely
George Willoughby
Email Message Ends
We have constantly discussed the waste of Tax and Rate payers money by Tipperary Co. Council and we now ask Ms Gardiner, as Thurles Municipal District Manager, to request that any fees paid to or generated by:
(1) An Bord Pleanala Report PL79.JP00242013.
(2) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Screening Report2013.
(3) Archaeological Impact Statement; be immediately refunded to Thurles Municipal District, since all three reports forwarded by them were complete works of fiction or deliberately influenced by officialdom to deceive the people of Thurles town.
I now request copies of all 3 reports to be sent directly to me, in the knowledge that there is a charge for such copies, which I will pay for immediately on receipt.
Please inform the Roads Capital Section; Mr Eamon Lonergan; Mr Marcus O’Connor and Mr Joe MacGrath, that if so much as one blade of grass is touched on the Thurles Double Ditch; costs incurred courtesy of the National Monuments Service will be greater than the compensation cases being defended currently by Tipp. Co. Council; which I understand are estimated at €22 million Euros, if same cases are upheld by the courts.
What to say – where to begin…….. Roads Capital Section “can find no reference to the existence of the feature path/monument you describe” …….. well, they only have to access the same records and sources as you and then they’ll see for themselves….. and of course they can also read this site and check back your numerous submissions on the subject of the Thurles Double Ditch
As already indicated by yourself, Ms Róisin O’Grady is key to the success of your enquiries…… Just as an aside, I wonder what the criteria are for a site to be declared and listed as a National monument?
Out of curiosity I went online and found that Tipperary has apparently 48 such sites – let’s hope your efforts are rewarded and that the Thurles Double Ditch becomes Tipp’s 49th site! I wish you well
Final thought – if only the dead could speak!