“He thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river before—this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver – glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble.”
Excerpt From “The Wind in the Willows”, by Kenneth Grahame
The local tourist office does its best to attract both national and foreign visitors into Thurles; with very few local attractions left standing.
But one fantastic Thurles amenity that remains somewhat overlooked on tourism promotional material, and which has indisputable tourism potential, can be located within ‘The Source’ Thurles County library facility on Cathedral Street. I refer of course to the vast knowledge so generously dispensed to the vacationer, courtesy of Ms Mary Darmody and her colleagues working within this busy Thurles history research department.
This said; imagine, if you would, a visiting tourist climbing up the front steps of this same ‘The Source’ building in Thurles Town centre. Their first impression is aided by the south-westerly breeze, same delivering the smell of raw sewage, which emanates from the lower end of Liberty Square, mixed with the not to dissimilar aroma of the river itself.
The visitor then halts momentarily to look westward unto the River Suir. Here now they spot the few remaining ducks still residing in the area, as shown in the video hereunder; resting standing on one foot as if trying to avoid coming into contact with the deplorable condition of the shallow river bed.
Ground water from Cathedral Street and elsewhere, as shown in the video above, continues to carry paper and God knows what else, directly into this river in the town’s centre; with the full knowledge of Municipal District Council officials, who have left a drain cover deliberately unlocked.
The river wasn’t always in this deplorable and totally unacceptable state. Even way back in this river’s ancient history; when horse and donkey carts were driven in at Barry’s bridge, in an effort to retard the release of moisture from wooden spokes in wheels, thus expanding same, or later to wash creamery churns; was this natural stream of what should be turquoise-blue flowing water, allowed to become almost an open sewer to the eyes of our residents and visitors.
This summer season it has rained frequently. One wonders what weather our Autumn, Winter and Spring seasons will bring to an area that is known to regularly floods.
A group of local people, led by engineer, the late Mr Wilbert Houben, fought off officials from Inland Fisheries and local Fianna Fáil councillors, to spent two Summer seasons covering the river banks with limestone, planting the existing trees, and in 1990 installing 3 fountains.
The expensive pump used for the fountains (a Grundfus submersible pump) was gifted to Thurles Tidy Towns, free of charge and courtesy of Cantwell Electrical Engineering Ltd.
It was officially switched on by then Progressive Democrats, Minister of State with responsibility for Environmental Protection, Ms Mary Harney, that same year.
A forgotten memorial plaque now hidden in the weeds and dirt, on the river bank still records this much welcomed event.
So where is this pump now I hear you ask? I was informed recently (rightly or wrongly) that it is now enjoyed by the residents of Templemore, providing a fountain in their local town-park.
Back almost two years ago (September 2022) local press and radio raised this issue regarding the river’s over growth, algae, the missing fountains and the overall neglect of same, by our local authority.
In a press release, back then, the local authority confirmed that plans were currently being developed in conjunction with Inland Fisheries, LAWPRO and the OPW River Drainage, to carry out maintenance works on the local River channel to mitigate potential flooding.
In tandem with this work the above named organisations claimed, according to the local authority, that same would look to enhance the area down-stream of the bridge crossing in Thurles, including the installation of deflectors which would move on the algae bloom.
They also confirmed proposed works for selective pruning of overhanging vegetation and the removal of bank vegetation encroaching on the channel and acknowledged that illegal dumping on the river banks was an ongoing issue, which was investigated and removed by the Council regularly. (“Regularly” being the operative word. See the wooden pallet lodged near the now demolished second weir, which has remained there since May 2024)
Responding to concerns over a smell and dumping in the area the council says they are not aware of a smell or of there being large amounts of rubbish in the river itself.Presently, to return this river to its oxygenated state, which existed in 1993, same will now cost a small fortune, after 20 years of continuous neglect. Furthermore, distressingly, we no longer appear to have the professionalism, the funding or indeed the will, to turn things around.
The waste and neglect at local authority level continues.
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