So who will take responsibility for the ‘Bowes Corner Cock Up’ or will Thurles taxpayers continue to fund constant failures by engineers and consultants.
Completed €650,000 Bowes Corner project floods.
It rained again here in Thurles Co. Tipperary today. Drains as usual remained blocked on Cathedral Street, Friar Street and Stradavoher, leading to extensive flooding for a time.
Bowes Corner Cock Up.
But perhaps the most unexpected flooding was on the newly revamped Bowes Corner, situated west on Friar Street in the town. Funding of some €500,000 of taxpayers money was initially provided to complete this work. However, later we were informed that the above stated figure of €500,000 was granted a further top up of some €150,000, as the fully completed work had to be partially uprooted and further realigned.
Today, after one shower of rain, it would appear that the newly constructed pavement drainage system is totally blocked, forcing the nearby restaurant to place sandbags at both of its street entrances.
Time for Thurles people to examine the staff we employ within the Thurles Municipal District Council.
“The Town Centre First policy aims to create town centres that function as viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work and visit, while also functioning as the service, social, cultural and recreational hub for the local community.” – Quote taken fromTipperary Co. Council’s commitment.
Without warning, they struck early this morning. Up came the long ago deceased ‘Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’. Having tossed a coin, left behind was the still barely surviving small group of rather delicate frail and confused, low-maintenance ‘Potentilla Dasiphora fruticosa ‘White Lady‘; the latter well-known for being resistant to attacks by rabbits in rural areas. (Very important to a rural town like Thurles with a large rabbit population).
Yes, I am talking about that large piece of wasteland, (some in their innocence may have called it a flowerbed), located centre on Liberty Square, Thurles, which for well over a year, has replaced some 20 car-parking spaces, thus driving consumers out of the town centre, to surrender their purchasing power to well-known German supermarket chains.
In the interests of fair play they decided to invite the local Thurles community, asking them to submit what they would like to see planted on this waste ground and in keeping with Tipperary Co. Council tradition, those who forwarded submissions were ignored on the basis that elected Co. Councillors and their Council Officials know best.
Then again I suppose we could always cement this piece of waste ground over completely and paint a bird on it.
Readers might wonder about the reference to the 18th century weighing scales in our video; same located today in Co. Galway. This same weighing scales type, which also was used on Liberty Square, sitting on a quadropod, during this same historical period, has now been located and can be made available to Thurles Municipal District Council. Same could be erected in the centre of this flower bed, to remind us and any lost foreign tourist, of our humble beginnings when, prior to our Liberty Square down-grading, we had a once busy flourishing town centre.
Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Mr James Browne TD, established the Firearms Expert Committee(FEC) on a non-statutory basis, in June of 2022.
The FEC included representation from stakeholders, the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána. The purpose of the FEC was to serve in an advisory capacity to Minister Browne, providing guidance on a wide range of matters related to firearms licensing within the Irish State.
Pump Action Shotgun
The FEC held nine in-person Committee meetings over a period of nine months.
The final reports of the FEC were published on the 31st March 2023. The reports, along with the summaries and minutes of the FEC’s meetings are available HERE.
These FEC reports contain recommendations to the Minister on a wide range of firearms matters, in line with its comprehensive terms of reference. Minister Browne has stated throughout the FEC process that no changes to policy or legislation arising from any of the recommendations of the FEC will be implemented without prior consultation with stakeholders.
With this aim, Minister Browne has now launched an online consultation platform. This will allow stakeholders to indicate their level of support for all of the substantive recommendations of the FEC. This consultation platform is available HERE.
In addition to the online consultation platform Minister Browne will invite national representative organisations to make open submissions to him on behalf of their membership.
Minister Browne would encourage as many people and organisations as possible to participate in the online consultation, so that everyone with an interest in these important matters can have their voices heard. The online consultation will close on Friday June 2nd 2023.
Some weeks ago St. Patrick’s cemetery situated at Loughtagalla, Moyne Road, Thurles, received a badly needed tarmac upgrade, which we had highlighted HERE, back in mid-January of this year, 2023.
St. Patrick’s cemetery as viewed January 14th, 2023 last
While walkers now welcome the upgrade to the section of the grave yard which we highlighted, sadly once again those responsible for the command to ‘fix’, continued to waste taxpayer’s money, by laying Tarmac without laying the customary kerbing necessary to halt eventual ravelling.
The video above shows the failure to install concrete kerbing, before the Tarmac was laid. The result is that the sub base hardcore and Tarmac topping sits 4 inches above ground level, resulting in the edges already beginning to crack and ravel, as vehicles drive over the edges to park in the vacant spaces within the cemetery.
There was no excuse for this wanton waste, since most of the concrete kerbing was purchased many years ago and today lies unused, covered in grass and rubbish on site; slowly being stolen one or two at a time by individuals to use for other purposes in other places.
Sadly, also the Tarmac waste has been dumped on the grounds of the cemetery itself. Local farmers would have been happy to take this lose Tarmac away, to use as foundation for gaps or field gateways, latter being churned up by regular heavy tractor traffic.
EPA announces increased funding of €16m for new environmental and climate research.
Research proposals are invited for research across the following areas:
Nature-based solutions that can benefit the environment and society.
Advancing climate science in an Irish context.
Identifying effective options to adapt to climate changeThe use data of and digitalisation for environmental protection.
How society can be enabled in its transition to a sustainable future.
Environmental Protection Agency
Successful researchers will work closely with policy makers and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that the research is impactful and effectively informs environmental policy in Ireland.
Environmental and climate research in Ireland today received a boost with the announcement by the EPA of up to €16 million in funding for new research projects, representing a significant increase over previous years. The EPA is inviting proposals from the research community for innovative research projects to support the development and implementation of environmental policies in Ireland.
Announcing the EPA funding call, Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of the Office of Evidence and Assessment said: “Scientific research and innovation are playing an increasingly important role in informing how governments and society can respond to the challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation. Today’s EPA research call will address knowledge gaps, both current and future, and ultimately will provide robust evidence to support the implementation of effective environmental policies in Ireland.”
Areas of research include exploring how nature-based solutions can benefit the environment and society, advancing climate science in an Irish context, and identifying effective options to adapt to climate change. Cross-cutting areas are also highlighted, such as how data and digitalisation can be utilised for environmental protection and how society can be enabled in its transition to a sustainable future.
Dr Darragh O’Neill, EPA Research Manager, said, “In this year’s call, we are pleased to include both targeted and open topics to support the research community to address specific evidence needs as well as to explore emerging research areas relevant to environmental policy. With up to €16m available under this call, we look forward to receiving proposals for innovative and impactful projects.”
The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Under this year’s call, the EPA is delighted to be partnering with the Geological Survey Ireland, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Met Éireann to co-fund projects in areas of mutual interest.
Further details about the 2023 EPA Research Call are available HERE
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