River Suir In Thurles Has To Wait For Funding Until At Least Next Year.

The year was 1878; the month was October, when a headline in “The Western Daily Press” newspaper (published in Bristol, England), stated, quote; “A Committee Should Consist of Three People, One of Whom Is Always Sick and the Other of Whom is Always Absent”.

The year was 2013, the month was November; when we at Thurles.Info first highlighted the state of the River Suir, particularly within the centre of Thurles. [VIEW HERE].
North Tipperary Co. Council officials, same recently retired, denied any such issue with the river, despite the photographic evidence provided.
Over the last, almost 11 years, all efforts put in place to correct these issues of decline within this area, were slowly dismantled by council officials. Where is the fountain, Councillors and their red faced officials refuse to answer?

Again, over the same almost 11 years, local press and local radio namely “The Tipperary Star”, and “Tipp Fm” radio refused to publish or to highlight issues regarding the River Suir. Both same media outlets choosing instead to publish other dubious and suspect press releases, same prepared by power seeking local councillors, their officials and our two local residing goverment politicians, intent on personal vote catching exercises and self glorification.

At least 4 times every year, over the past 11 years, Thurles.Info has written about the declining state of the River Suir, often forwarding same to highly paid officials in Tipperary Co. Council; e.g. Mr Joe Macgrath (Chief Executive) and Ms Sharon Scully (Thurles Administrator), but to no avail. Also almost every month we have published press releases from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), warning on the decline in our rivers and streams.

The current town administrator, Ms Sharon Scully, in an email dated January 18th 2022 stated, quote, (In relation to road signs facing in the wrong direction) “Resources can only be dedicated to this task when more urgent works such as housing repairs, burials, and roadworks allow”.
In the same email, Miss Scully also stated, quote, “I would like to see Thurles town promoted in a positive light – the good work that has been carried out, such as works on Liberty Square* and the River Suir Walkway, as well as funding that has been secured to redevelopment Thurles Market Quarter, and also deserve mention. When we highlight only the negatives, in a public forum, it misleads people as to all the town has to offer and paints the town of Thurles in a light that I’m sure neither you nor me want”.

* Liberty Square — With its double signposting only feet apart; its street lighting that burns night & day; signs pointing in the wrong direction; a confined traffic space that forbids a mother to open a car door to place a child into a rear car seat, and the aroma of raw sewage emerging every time temperatures reach 18° Celsius.

* River Suir Walkway — Tarmacadamed, destroying existing biodiversity and which has already started to ravel.
* Thurles Market Quarter, — 3.4 million being to spent to build a second restaurant and a market quarter, both of which the public never asked for and which reduces car park spaces for existing struggling businesses.

On the following day Ms Scully stated also in a further email, quote,“I think it is very important that any town has strong community engagement, where issues that are of importance can be highlighted and discussed. However, when this is done in a public forum it can paint the town in a negative light, particularly when the positives are not also highlighted”.

Ms Scully ‘community engagement‘ in Thurles is only in token, and businesses and residents are not heard, in favour of poor planning and and what appears to be unqualified planning architects. So we should hide our towns deficiencies in the hope that consumers and non existant tourists won’t discuss their inability to find a parking space in a small rural town.

Note the dates November 2013 and January 2022. Now in September 2024, nothing has been done to solve the river Suir issues or the town drainage issues, as Mr Jackie Cahill TD, Mr Michael Lowry TD, Local Councillors and Thurles Municipal District Council officials drive their motor vehicles through a deserted Liberty Square, with windows tightly closed, to avoid the smell of raw sewage.

We are now informed, 11 years later, following a video posted on Thurles.Info, on August 17th last, VIEW HERE, that biologist Mr Fran Igoe, a spokesperson representing the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) agrees that what is happening in Thurles and the river Suir is ‘shocking‘. Of course Mr Jackie Cahill TD was quick into the fray, ‘calling for action’, in an effort to protect the farming community, latter partially responsible for its demise..
Mr Igoe (lAWPRO) has stated that test results, now show that while one should expect to find a broad range of aquatic insects and bugs, he could only find two species in our river.

Just two days after the Council meeting on Monday last; this morning, Wednesday 18th September, 2024, a group of men are to be found in the river strimming the reeds and removing last winters tree branches, same washed down from upstream. [You would swear RTE were coming to video the area, for Thursday’s “RTE Investigates” programme].

This latter happening came as a massive surprise, since we were informed by one local Councillor, that LAWPRO would be leading the process. They alone would be drawing up a plan of action which would involve input from all the relevant bodies within a 6 month time span to produce an agreed action plan. At that stage they would apply for funding to carry out all recommendations in this future completed report.

Funny thing, two days later, it appears that no consultation was required from the relevant bodies [e.g. Inland Fisheries, Biodiversity Ireland, Refresh Thurles, Birdwatch Ireland, Irish Environmental Network, Fauna & Flora International, National Parks & Wildlife and Uncle Tom Cobley and all.].

Could today’s action see Thurles now end up being prosecuted by some European environmental organisation? After all, in recent years, there has been a growing trend in people and organisations using Europe’s unparalleled system for protecting human rights in helping to tackle environmental problems.

Seriously, it should be noted that LAWPRO was set up in 2016 (Eight years ago) as a shared service on behalf of the 31 Local Authorities in Ireland. The Programme operates nationally out of 13 different Local Authority centres. LAWPRO is supposed to be driving public engagement, participation and consultation with communities and stakeholders at local level via its Communities Team; while delivering a programme of catchment assessment in priority areas for action via its Catchment Science Team and coordinating these activities across the relevant public sector via five Regional Operational Committees.
With this service set up in 2016, one must ask the question why does the river Suir in Thurles have to wait six months for an action plan, before seeking funding?

Just to correct our councillor, who claimed that no Swans remain in the river Suir and the ducks have left; this is totally untrue in both counts.
The two swans remaining in this, their home territory, have produced Cygnets each year. Once these Cygnets are old enough to look after themselves the parents cut their parental ties and chase them away, sometimes quite aggressively. The Cygnets normally join the first flock of teenage swans they encounter, where they usually hangout until they mature, at around 4 years of age and in turn locate a wife and then nature performs a full circle once again when they find their personal territory and raise a family.
In the wild, with all of the hazards they have to live with (vandals, pollution, mink, overhead cables, lead poisoning, fishing-tackle injuries, wind turbine generators etc), the average lifespan of a Swan is 12 years, while in a protected environment they can survive up to 30 years of age.

The waste and neglect at local authority level continues.