Picture Top:Looking West, unto Slievenamon Road, Thurles. Picture Centre:Looking East, unto Emmett Street, Thurles. Picture Bottom:Looking North from rear of Bank of Ireland, facing unto Liberty Square, Thurles.
So, where are those promised extra Thurles car parking spaces that were promised behind Bank Of Ireland, latter facing unto Liberty Square in Thurles?
One is reminded of a remark once used by American showman, businessman (Barnum & Bailey Circus), Mayor (Bridgeport Connecticut), author and anti-slavery Republican politician, Mr Phineas Taylor Barnum. the remark, demonstrates the deep understanding of scepticism, human nature, and the limitations of deceit, including that expended by our local Thurles councillors and politicians. The remark attributed to Mr Barnum states, quote; “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” The adage “There’s a sucker born every minute”, is also frequently attributed to the aforementioned Mr Barnum; latter remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes.
Truth was that customers drove into the Bank of Ireland (BOI) car park, parked their vehicles, dealt with their banking business, and then walked out to Liberty Square or back unto Emmett Street, entering into the rear of the multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer Tesco, leaving their car free of street parking charges.
Now, with a new wall backing unto BOI, latter moved further northwards, and a second gap opened from what was known as the Slievenamon Road car park (or Checkpoint Charlie) we have actually, once again, lost at least 6 car parking spaces, hitherto available to the town centre. [I base this assumption, noting that the new gaps created, (one leading east unto Emmett Street and the other leading north unto the rear of Bank of Ireland), will no longer offer parking spaces.]
Quote: “Ireland’s towns and villages are an important resource to protect and nurture. We want to ensure that they remain resilient locations with vibrant inclusive communities and a strong cultural and social fabric that deliver a good quality of life for future generations. We (the government) will support them through a strong commitment to ‘place-making’ so that any town centre environment is one in which people want to live, do business, visit and is ultimately successful”.
Why does ‘The Source’ Car Park remain closed.
A 2024 General Election date is to be announced on Thursday November 7th next. The previous disastrous decisions forced on our town centre businesses, (first begun on August 17th, 2020), now leaves our medieval streetscapes fully choked with HGV’s and other traffic; and will not easily be corrected even when, (if ever), a bypass is eventually constructed.
To those canvassing for votes on our doorsteps, the question which should be on the lips of every Thurles resident and remaining, business owner in our town is; “When will ‘The Source’ car park be open again, in an effort to support town centre businesses?
With just 7 weeks until Christmas, why was this presently closed parking benefit, situated under ‘The Source’ library building, not taken in hand, as a greater parking priority, rather than the opening of a new gap in a partially land locked car park, latter which will now lead to even greater frustration, with motorists forced to emerge onto Barry’s Bridge, from this new Emmett Street gap, to take their chances manoeuvering around a totally ‘castle blind’ corner, unto Cathedral Street.
Two veterinary practises, located at Ikerrin Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary and at Canal Road, Johnstown, Co, Kilkenny, are both set to be acquired by the United Kingdom’s veterinary chain, VetPartners. Both these successful practises trade as Spa View Veterinary Clinic.
VetPartners is an indirect subsidiary of VetPartners Limited, a UK-based veterinary services provider, employing over 11,000 employees, on 650 sites across Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. They have diversified, since first being established in 2015; to include an animal veterinary nursing school, an equine nursing school, laboratories, a research dairy, a locum agency and pet crematoriums.
The first stage of the proposed acquisition of the two Spa View Veterinary Clinics, by VetPartners, was notified to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) on Wednesday October 16th last. Back in August 2024, VetPartners also notified the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, of their intention to acquire Midleton Veterinary Hospital, Knockgriffin Industrial Park, Co. Cork.
Here in Thurles, Co Tipperary, Spa View Veterinary Clinic, (situated on Ikerrin Road, close to the junction with Kickham Street), first constructed their offices almost 30 years ago, (1995), having already opened their Co. Kilkenny practise five years earlier.
First of 18 domestic, sexual & gender based violence refuges will open today.
The €6.5m facility consists of 12 family units with provision for wraparound services.
It is the first newly-built Domestic, Sexual & Gender Based Violence (DSGBV) refuge to be delivered under the Zero-Tolerance strategy.
Security and privacy for service users are core design principles.
The first new, €6.5 million domestic violence refuge will be opened today in Co. Wexford.
The Capital Assistance Fund and Cuan, funded by the taxpayer, will continue to support this new refuge, which consists of 12 family units. Wexford is the first of 18 such priority locations to complete construction on this new domestic violence refuge.
The facility was developed by Wexford Women’s Refuge in co-operation with Wexford County Council. It is located close to Wexford Rape Crisis Centre, which will ensure the provision of wraparound services for the women and children who are forced to use the refuge.
The building contains a total of 12 family units, including a fully accessible disability unit. It replaces the existing four-unit facility in the town, which is no longer considered fit for purpose. Each unit in the new facility contains a bedroom, kitchen/living area, and bathroom, and can accommodate a family of one mother and her children.
The building was designed and built in line with the Department of Housing’s ‘Project Brief Design Guidelines for Domestic Violence Accommodation’. This document incorporates Safe Ireland’s guidance on DSGBV accommodation design as outlined in its ‘Safe Spaces’ project. Security and privacy for service users are core design principles.
The primary purpose of this new facility is to provide refuge and respite accommodation to domestic, sexual and gender based violence victims and their families. In addition, the facility has been designed as a modern space that can facilitate a range of wraparound and ancillary services, including a therapeutic space, family room, and a common room.
The facility will also serve as a hub to facilitate community and outreach initiatives to support vulnerable families in the community. Wexford Women’s Refuge is a long-time recipient of funding via Tusla and the Department of Justice.
Cuan, the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency, which was established in January of this year, has taken over the administration of all funding for the refuge.
In March of this year (2024) some 43 organisations were deemed successful for additional funding for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services, following an evaluation process conducted by Tusla, with Tipperary Rape Crisis Centre receiving €32,000.00 of an extra €6.3 million of provided funding.
Thurles, Co. Tipperary continue in a cycle of spending large amounts of funding on projects that tick lots of boxes, but ultimately the town fails to maintain what it has already got and fails to fix longstanding important issues.
After spending, in or around some €10 million Euro on updating half of Liberty Square, ask yourself are traffic conditions any better? Motorists would confirm that conditions have become significantly much worse, with heavy goods vehicles (HGV’s) forced to traverse our medieval streets, with no progress being made with regards our long sought after “Thurles Ring Road”. Ask yourself why have all the business premises either moved or closed within the Liberty Square area of Thurles, and where is the promised increase in ‘footfall’, same now reduced by 60%, according to the few angry, remaining business owners.
Officialdom appears to “fix what isn’t broken”; the latest being a €3.4 million car park revamp near ‘The Source’ building, same only revamped some 8 years ago. Latter is just one example; as they simultaneously ignore what badly needs fixing, e.g. the river Suir in the centre of Thurles Town, same being just one example, which Thurles.Info has already highlighted, on numerous occasions, most recently on August 17th 2024 last, HERE.
But there are other amenities showing obvious decay, same directly highlighting officialdom’s utter neglect of town maintenance.
We have mentioned already the 8 year old re-vamped Town Park carpark, same now to be re-vamped, yet again, to become a Market area and Restaurant, as yet devoid of tenants, which will considerably reduce existing car parking spaces, while competing with existing local small businesses, same already struggling to operate just a few metres away in the Liberty Square town centre.
In recent weeks we have watched mature trees ripped out from this aforementioned Town Park carpark and re-sown close by, their bark extensively damaged by heavy machinery which was used to rip apart the tree heel mesh grills at their base. Two of these mature trees are unlikely to survive the coming winter.
New “Nature Signs” provided along the river walk, close to the junction of Emmet Street and Thomond Road, and only recently erected, have now been smashed by a very small group of “uncouth barbarians”, permitted to roam freely in the area. Of course no local residents nearby heard anything, as a large rock was used to pound the thick Plexiglas Perspex acrylic sheet, protecting its contents from weathering.
No Closed-Circuit Television Installed!
Signs are positioned nearby threatening CCTV (Closed-Circuit Television) being in operation. Yet again, no CCTV has ever existed, covering this area, and proof of same is the amount of damage caused by the afore mentioned small number of “uncouth barbarians”, with no arrests ever being made.
The area in the park known as the “Fitness Zone”, again, has been totally neglected, with the individual sectioned area’s poles either pulled up or broken off. Same poles are now rotten, having been only preserved using one basic coat of fence preservative some 8 years ago, before being then left uncapped due to its semicircle (circular half arc) construction.
Video, shown above, is undeniable proof of this very small section of our town, now depicting that which normally indicates an inner-city slum.
Politics: From the words Poli (Meaning ‘Many’) and Tics (Meaning ‘Blood Sucking Parasites’).
The Thurles Roofless Bicycle Shed.
A newly erected bicycle shed to house eighteen bikes at Leinster House, latter the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Ireland has cost more than €335,000. The above expenditure could have purchased a 4 bed, 3 bath, 138 m² detached house, or 3 semi-detached council houses each with 3 Bedrooms, and 1 Bath, here in urban Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
Initially hailed by Transport Minister Mr Eamon Ryan TD, as an excellent example of public sector climate action, this shelter, required archaeological advice, to make sure it fitted into the parliamentary complex, at a cost to the taxpayer of €2,952.
We are advised that over 600 civil service staff support the functioning of the Oireachtas in Leinster House. Add this number to the 160 TDs attending for 3 days each working week, [Note: 124 men and 36 women (latter only 22.5%)]; one hopes that this “18 Space Bicycle Shed” can be easily expanded.
Then again many may be working from home or using “The Dart” (“The Dort”, for the benefit of those commuting from Sandymount and Foxrock)“, or (God forbid) these rainy days, using other public transport. One thing we do know, the vast majority of these 760 workers and their bosses are not arriving on bicycles, but then again we never get to see what is parked around the back of that formidable structure and are the great unwashed permitted to mix with nobility?
We further learn, courtesy of the Office of Public Works, that a high-quality structure was needed because of the building’s sensitive location.
Note: Off the record, and keep tight lipped on this, Thurles does not have even one Bus Shelter, and when Tipperary Co. Council learn of the above costs of an 18 Space Bicycle Shed, local commuters had better continue to carry their parasols and hope for non-windy conditions.
According to numerous press outlets, other breakdown costs; provided by the Office of Public Works, shows that €322,282 was spent on the main construction and finished installation; while €10,816 was paid for quantity surveying services and contract administration services.
However, asked for a copy of the business case for this project, the OPW confirmed that none had been required. On a more positive note: unlike roofless Thurles Bicycle stalls on Liberty Square, Thurles, shown above, at least the 18 cyclists in Leinster House won’t have to ride home on wet saddles or come out to find someone has reversed into their “High Nelly” .
Looks like Tipperary Co. Council are not the only wasters of taxpayer funding.
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