Employment « Thurles Information

Tipperary Mushroom Producer Ordered To pay Arrears To Former Romanian Employee.

The Workplace Relations Commission heard that a Co. Tipperary mushroom producer, Stablefield Ltd, with a registered office at Killeaton, Clogheen, Co Tipperary, allegedly paid a female Romanian mushroom picker just €4.06 per hour, despite the national minimum wage being between €8.65 and €9.15 per hour.

A State workplace watchdog has now ordered Stablefield Ltd to pay the former employee and harvest manager Ana Lacramioara Manciu, €15,058 in arrears, following the company’s failure to pay her the national minimum wage over a 12 month period, between September 2015 and September 2016. (During this period, the national minimum wage in July 2011 was set at €8.65 and had increased to €9.15 by January 1st, 2016.)

In her findings, Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator, Úna Glazier Farmer, a qualified Barrister-at-Law, stated that she accepted Ana Lacramioara Manciu’s undisputed evidence in its entirety and that her complaint was well founded.

Ana Lacramioara Manciu provided evidence of working 14 and 15 hour days but only getting paid for 6.58 hours and 6.77 hours on particular days by the firm Stablefield Ltd.

Ana Lacramioara Manciu alleged that Stablefield Ltd falsified her working hours and the Workplace Relations adjudicator agreed that Stablefield Ltd sought to take advantage of Lacramioara Manciu, who was not fully familiar with her employment rights, following her arrival here in Ireland with her husband.

Úna Glazier Farmer (WRC) adjudicator stated that Ana Lacramioara Manciu gave her evidence with exceptional detail and clarity, despite the passage of time in the case and was clear as to dates, times and events in her reference to all supporting evidence.

In her findings, Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator, Úna Glazier Farmer stated that she accepted Lacramioara Manciu’s undisputed evidence in its entirety and that her complaint is well founded.

The Commission adjudicator agreed that it appeared it was the clear intention of the company to deceive the complainant by underpaying her significantly less than the national minimum wage, which she regarded as a most heinous breach of employment rights.

Úna Glazier Farmer has also awarded Ana Lacramioara Manciu €2,000 in expenses in connection with the dispute, latter brought under Section 24 of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000.

TUS Engineering Open Day Opens Variety Of Careers For Leaving Cert Students.

TUS Engineering Open Day opens up a variety of careers and courses in engineering to Leaving Cert Students.

The Engineering Special Topic for this year’s Leaving Cert exams will take centre stage at the 2022 TUS Engineering Open Day on Saturday March 12th, 2022.

The established open day on the Moylish Campus of the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) introduces leaving cert student to a variety of engineering courses, lecturers and students, and leading engineering employers from across the Mid West.

As the open day returns to an in-person event, so too does the renowned seminar on the Leaving Cert Engineering Special Topic. Students can attend the 30-minute seminar on “Principles of Operation and Applications of Artificial Intelligence in smart Manufacturing Techniques” during the Engineering Open Day.

TUS Engineering Open Day Co-ordinator Mr Peadar Heneghan said,
“The TUS Engineering Open Day is unique as it allows leaving certificate students with an interest in engineering, and their parents, see first-hand the variety of careers available in engineering by meeting students, lecturers and employers across all disciplines. The visiting student can go on a journey from choosing a course to choosing a career in just a few short steps, as they learn from those who have travelled the road before them.

We encourage leaving cert students to question our lecturers and students about specific courses, and then meet potential employers and indeed employees who undertook the course to discuss career options.

The opportunities for a career in engineering are varied, with something to suit almost everyone interested. TUS on March 12, 2022, from 10am to 1pm is the place to be to discover the college and career path that best suits each individual,” he added.

TUS Engineering Open Day is free and those interested in attending are asked to register: HERE

Ministers Announce Waiver Of Fees Associated With Special Exemption Orders Until End Of April 2022.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, and the Minister for Finance, Mr Paschal Donohoe TD, are both pleased to announce that the court fees and their associated excise duty, relating to Special Exemptions Orders, or so called SEOs, will be waived until the end of April, 2022.

This follows a previous waiver that was in place from October 19th, 2021 to December 31st, 2021.

Prior to the lockdowns, Nightclubs and Late Bars needed to obtain a Special Exemption Order from the District Court for every occasion they want to trade past normal trading hours. SEO permit extended opening hours until 2.30am subject to the Gardaí and Courts agreement.

The Court fee for each Special Exemption Order was €300 and an excise duty of €110 per application was payable to the Revenue Commissioners.

Making the announcement after Cabinet today, Minister McEntee said, “I know that the lifting of restrictions will be warmly welcomed, perhaps no more so than by those working in nightclubs and late bars.
All licence holders, but particularly those serving in the late night trade, have found themselves in such a difficult situation as a result of COVID-19. The Government is committed to supporting these businesses and the night time economy, to get back on their feet in 2022.
We initially introduced the waiver in relation to SEOs for late night trade licence holders, who traditionally trade past normal opening hours in October of last year, and I am delighted to be able to extend this exemption until the end of April, 2022. It will be still necessary for the SEO court application to be made and the order to be obtained by the licensed premises.
I look forward to further changes in this area as part of my reforms to the licensing laws in the forthcoming Sale of Alcohol Bill.”

Minister Donohoe said, “The waiver of court fees and excise duty for special exemption orders recognises the particular difficulties experienced by the sector, where many businesses have been closed for a significant period of time or had to operate at a reduced capacity on reopening last October.”

Kilcoran Lodge Hotel Leisure Centre, Tipperary, To Enter Examiner Ship.

Munster Strategic Investments, Mocklers Hill, Cashel, Co Tipperary, owners of the Kilcoran Lodge Hotel Leisure Centre, Bohemarnane, County Tipperary, were granted leave to apply for the appointment of an examiner on Tuesday 7th December last, in the Circuit Civil Court, in a bid to save the business and the jobs of some 37 employees.

Barrister Mr Ross Gorman told Judge Mr Cormac Quinn that while the company was currently unable to pay its debts, an independent expert was of the view that it could be saved through the appointment of an examiner.

The company had been incorporated back in November 2015, by directors Mr Paul Bowes and his daughter Ms Triona Bowes, both with an address at Mocklers Hill, Cashel, but the business had suffered financial trading difficulties, due mainly to the effect of the Covid Pandemic; forcing it to close from March to July of 2020. This closure had placed a significant impact on the company’s then turnover in 2020 which was approximately €495,000.

In 2018 the company had acquired Kilcoran Lodge Hotel for just under €1.68million funded through several Chinese investors under the immigration investment programme whereby non-EU nationals invest a minimum of €1million in an Irish business and in return obtain a residency visa in Ireland.

Judge Cormac Quinn stated that he would allow an application for the appointment of an examiner to be made today, December 17th 2021.

Thurles Christmas Parking An Insult To Town Retailers.

Residents can read contents of this laughable, published and attached image themselves, composed first on November 24th, 2021.

Text of image left reads:

“Notice is hereby given that free parking is being made available to the public in the following town as follows: –

Thurles Town.

Free Parking for the first 30 minutes of every day for the month of December 2021.

[Then comes the real humour].
This initiative is designed to promote local trade and to encourage support for our local Traders, during the festive season.

Please shop local this Christmas.

We wish all our customers the compliments of the season.

Signed: Sharon Scully, (District Administrator Thurles).

This decision we must correctly assume was agreed NOT by Tipperary Co. Council, but by Thurles Municipal District Councillors controlled by Thurles Municipal District officialdom. We base this assumption on the information supplied on the Tipperary Co. Council’s own website, regarding other Tipperary Towns; Thurles as yet not included.

In Cashel: Free parking in all Public Car Parks each Saturday in December.
In Cahir: Free parking in all Public Car Parks each Saturday in December.
In Clonmel: Free Parking in Council owned car parks only.
In Carrick-on-Suir: Free Parking in Council owned car parks at William Street, New Street, Strand Lane and Greenside, on the following Saturdays, December 4th, 11th and 18th.
In Nenagh: From Saturday 11th to Sunday 26th December 2021, three hours free parking in carparks. Free parking continues to apply in the Railway Station Carpark, on a full-time basis.
In Mullingar, Co. Westmeath: Shoppers will be able to park for free in council car parks for six days in December. The days when free parking will apply are December 11th, 17th, 18th, 22nd, 23rd and 24th.
In Kilkenny City, Co. Kilkenny: From this morning Kilkenny County Council state that it is free to park at the Market Yard in the city from 9:00am to 12:00 noon, Mondays to Thursdays, for the next three weeks. There will also be no charge for vehicles that enter there after 6:00pm or at any time between December 25th and 28th. The carpark at County Hall will also be free every weekend in December: 5th/6th, 12th/13th, 19th/20th and 26th/27th as well as Monday 28th.

Of the above named Towns and City, where would you our readers shop, based on the info supplied?

Let’s Take A Look Now At Rules Imposed On Thurles Town Shoppers Christmas 2021.

But first, as part of sponsored content, the Tipperary Star Newspaper has announced via their publication, “The new installation of Christmas lights will be illuminated on the refurbished Liberty Square this Friday evening December 3rd at 5:00pm.”

“Sponsored Content”:
Same is material in any online publication which resembles the publication’s editorial content, but is in fact paid for by a hidden advertiser and intended to promote that advertiser’s product. In this case the paid-for PR material is totally untrue and totally inaccurate.

Work began on the refurbishment of Liberty Square with the opening of the proposed new car park to the rear of Jackie Griffin’s shop, back in May, 2018. The developers then moved unto Liberty Square itself in August 2020.

To date, December 2nd 2021, 16 months later, the first part of the refurbishment of Liberty Square is unlikely to be fully completed before Christmas, with part two of the project possibly not yet gone to tender and unlikely to be completed before next April 2022, or indeed later, resulting in this project likely to take some 4 years since it commenced; should it continue past May of 2022. Only the upper western end of Liberty Square and the eastern end have lighting. Lights in the centre, however, to use the lyrics sung by Danny Kay are “all together as naked as the day that it (he) was born”

So whoever wrote the paid-for sponsored content, for the Tipperary Star Newspaper, same unnamed individual is plainly a fabricator of visual truth.

With the introduction of car parking charges in the town, most of the smart businesses with household names, like Elvery’s, An Post, Heatons, Quigley’s etc, etc, etc, either left the town altogether, or moved to Thurles Shopping Centre, where parking is provided free of charge. Others just shut up shop. As we prophesied, Thurles town centre has now moved with some of its shops, reducing footfall in Liberty Square by 75%.

Since the developers moved unto Liberty Square in August 2020, people have further avoided Liberty Square, as employees of all the developers understandable took over early morning, available customer parking spaces, both on the street and in Ulster Bank car park and the new car park, latter affectionately known as “Checkpoint Charlie”.

Having grasped all of these development issues, together with Covid-19 shutdowns, readers would have thought that struggling retailers should have been given a real break this Christmas to entice back footfall.

Currently parking on lower Liberty Square, Thurles has been reduced by approximately 8 car parking spaces, same designated to 5 Taxi spaces and 3 spaces for any 1 delivery truck . A further 2 spaces have been correctly given over for disabled parking. Currently about 14 other legal parking spaces only, remain available tonight, due to refurbishment staff vehicles and their site office.

We are informed by our Traffic Warden and some Councillors that stationary vehicles are permitted 15 minutes of free parking every day of the year. Surely the extra 15 minutes now added on for Christmas shopping, shows a middle finger to both retailers and their customers, by our local administration.

Where now is the farmer’s friend Mr Jackie Cahill TD and the millionaire’s friend Mr Michael Lowry TD and his Lowry Team councillors?
Where also is Thurles Chamber of Commerce in all of this?

Answer to both these questions is nowhere.

Since Mr Michael Ryan’s retirement as Thurles administrator, back in April 2016, quality and dedicated administration in Thurles, has been sadly lacking.

We now invite Ms Sharon Scully, to don her overcoat, scarf, gloves, plus wellies and armed with a note pad and pencil to make notes; take a walk around Thurles town and introduce herself to the retailers. Note please, the empty shop buildings and the damaged sign posts.
Please come on a Friday morning, if possible, when stinking offal is being driven through the town centre, usually between 11:00am and 12:00 noon, forcing shops to close their doors because of the stink.
Note what pedestrian crossing lights are not working; where the grass is growing in our drains and on our pavements; visit Kickham Street and survey the river of water flowing down the roadway and the water filled potholes damaging people’s homes. The glass bottles and clothing falling from ‘Recycling Pods’ in various parking areas; the continuous destruction of our new town park; the graffiti; the raw sewage flowing into the river Suir, the litter bins unfit for purpose, etc, etc, etc.

Finally, in Tralee, Co Kerry: Parking will be free all day in Council-owned car parks in the town from November 29th 2021 to January 2nd next 2022.
Parking is subject to a maximum stay period of four hours in all Council car parks, except in Garvey’s car park (2 hours); St John’s/Abbey (2 hours); Tesco town centre (2 hours) and Parklands (2 hours), to ensure traffic flow.
Traffic wardens will continue to monitor and enforce illegal parking during this period.
Tralee traders on social media are protesting, stating # Tralee for next five weeks, “Don’t feed the Meters”.