Thurles.Info are proud to inform its readers that Thurles Town has been nominated for no less than five Irish National Awards, for the first time in the Town’s history.
We attempted to contact Ms Sharon Scully (Thurles District Administrator) to announce the news, on Thursday March 14th last, however Ms Scully failed to answer her telephone.
We then attempted to contact Tipperary Co. Council’s Chief Executive Mr Joe MacGrath, however all we got was the usual automated email reply which read; [(Thu, 14th Mar, 11:25)“I am away from my office until Wednesday 20th March, 2024. Please re-send your email to evelyn.harty@tipperarycoco.ie, if this matter requires urgent attention. Since it wasn’t, we didn’t.
Full details of these “Five Irish National Awards”, (much coveted by other competing counties I might add), were contained in a communication delivered by registered post, to the offices of Thurles.Info. today.
The communication received reads as follows:-
Dear Mr. Willoughby, It is with great pleasure that I, as President of the Pothole Preservation Society of Ireland (PPSI), can inform you that Thurles has swept the boards in our annual “National Pothole Awards Competition”. As you will be possibly aware the foundation of our Society came about because of the need to maintain the high standard and quality of all road potholes in Ireland, and to recognise and reward those local authorities who contribute to the making of new potholes and who also support the improvement of those already in existence, by not filling them in, thus destroying their original structure and cultural Irish diversity.
You have highlighted the pothole situation on many occasions with fine photographs from your local area and a number of these are now on permanent display in our Library.
As you know, potholes have been an intrinsic part of our heritage for centuries, in fact ever since the invention of the wheel. It is a matter of record that many blacksmiths all over our green and pleasant land, have made a good living, for many years, from the refurbishing of wheels on donkey carts, horse-drawn carriages and caravans, as a result of the careless driving through, rather than around, our nation’s numerous potholes.
Similarly, in modern times, tyre companies have contributed greatly in reducing unemployment figures as they attend to the needs of motorists who fail to recognise the need to avoid potholes at all times, especially at night. Speaking of which, our Society is extremely conscious of the difficulty of this latter point raised, and is presently engaged in active discussion with the Road Safety Authority on the possibility of providing Pothole Warning Lights (PWL), for night-time driving.
Adjudication:
Judging of all the major towns in Ireland has just been completed and, while the final official ratings from our headquarters will not be available for some weeks. Delay is due to the practice by some County Councils, who insist on filling potholes that have already been nominated for an award.
However, I am in a position to inform you that, to-date, Thurles has been awarded first place in all of our major categories.
These categories include:
Highest Overall Number of Potholes.
Lowest Number of Streets with no Potholes.
Highest Number of Potholes impossible to avoid while driving.
Potholes that simply will not vanish.
First-time Potholes Filled In, but still causing serious bumps while driving.
Your town of Thurles is expected to finish top of the list outstripping, by a huge majority, all other leading contendersin their race for National Award recognition.
It is a matter of great pride for our Society to highlight the fact that the municipal authority, within the Thurles Town Municipal District area, has set new standards of preservation with regards non maintenance of potholes in the town and its environs. and have set new standards for others that will be most difficult to emulate into the future.
Yours sincerely, T. R. McAdam,Honorary Secretary, (Pothole Preservation Society of Ireland).
Readers please keep your fingers crossed, the race is on.
I took a walk along the area beside the River Suir, commonly known as the Thurles River Walk this afternoon. Sad to see a Swan forced to swim amongst the floating, filthy, dirty litter of a once pristine clear waterway. [See photograph immediately hereunder.]
Swan forced to swim amongst floating, filthy dirty litter, in river Suir, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Further up as I moved northwards along Emmett Street; here underneath Barry’s Bridge, (latter the main thoroughfare in and out of Thurles town), two views meet my eye.
It didn’t rain today, February 18th, 2024, so it looks like two leaks now coming from water pipe(s) under Barry’s Bridge Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Speaking of Barry’s Bridge, Thurles and our previous criticism of those taxed with attracting tourism to Thurles; do take a look at this view from Emmett Street, travelling northwards. [See photograph immediately hereunder.]
Scenic view for visiting tourists, daring to walk northwards from the Thurles River walk, travelling along Emmett Street, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Note, Do take care while walking along sections of the tarmac laid last year on the River Walk. Same has already begun to ravel at the edges. One major dangerous hole exists close to the “Swinging Gates”, near to, and south of, the large cherry tree; latter’s beauty which may distract you, while out rambling.
So tell me again; “What Benefits do Thurles residents receive having paid Local Property Tax?”
A pedestrian has been seriously injured following an accident here in Thurles last night.
The named male pedestrian, a former member of An Garda Síochána, aged in his 60s and from the Thurles hinterland, was accidentally struck by a motor vehicle in the Archerstown/Mill Road area, south/east of Thurles, at approximately 7:35pm last evening, Friday February 17th 2024.
Thurles Gardaí, Thurles Ambulance Service and Thurles Fire Services, all attended at the scene, before the man was quickly removed to Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel for urgent treatment. We understand the unfortunate victim has since been removed to Waterford University Hospital, but his injuries, while serious, are not described as life-threatening. We wish him a quick recovery.
Thurles.Info had previously highlighted the dangers to persons using the Mill Road route, as recent as February 8th, 2024, (VIEW HERE) warning of the possible consequence, if this area continued to be neglected by Tipperary Co. Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). This has been the fourth accident in this immediate area, to occur within a 40 kilometre (¼ ml) in as many months.
Meanwhile, last Friday on Kickham Street, (February 17th 2024), latter which joins this same Mill Road, at the Dublin Road roundabout, the large privately owned street sweeper was busy once again. Same was required to remove last week’s gravel, as the surface of this, the busiest road in Thurles, continues to unravel. It successfully removed the gravel, but failed to remove the craters.
On 19th May 2022, the then Cathaoirleach of the Municipal District Mr Seamus Hanafin stated on local radio, quote:- “We’ve a significant amount of work going on in Thurles over the next 12 to 18 months to follow up on the work that’s already been done. We have Phase 2 of Slievenamon Road which will have to be done and there’s also work on Kickham Street and the approach road coming into Thurles that way. All of that work and any work being done on Liberty Square, will all need to be done on a phased basis to make sure we minimise the level of disruption in our town”.
It is now mid-February 2024, and almost two years later, and none of these 3 projects have even commenced.
On Friday February 2nd, 2024, Thurles.Info invited Thurles Administrator, Ms Sharon Scully to visit Kickham Street, Thurles. In the invitation forwarded by email [sharon.scully@tipperarycoco.ie] Ms Scully was asked as follows:-
Ms Scully, I would like for you to visit Kickham Street this morning. I suggest you park at Ely’s Supermarket. Walk across the road and take a look at the pavement and see at first hand the work of your two man mini road sweeper.
Kickham Street after 2 man mini sweeper swept the pavement, piling up dirt to leave same in the centre. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Note: Ms Scully’s office, even during periods of heavy traffic is less than a 4 minute drive to Kickham Street.
As is usual with Ms Scully, we received no reply or other communication following my invitation. Obviously, Ms Scully as Town Administrator considers herself superior to those who pay her wages. (That reminds me, time to chat to the Standards In Public Office Commission again (SIPO), latter responsible for promoting transparency and accountability in Irish public life.)
On February 10th 2022 last, (two years ago), following a complaint by me regarding a pothole outside my home; I received the following email from Ms Scully:-
Mr Willoughby. Further to your email below dated the 9th February, I can confirm that we are continuing to follow up with Irish Water to ensure that work is carried out to rectify reinstatement works carried out recently outside your property on Kickham Street. As previously stated, Tomas Duffy, District Engineer inspected the location on Kickham Street, outside your property on the 8th February. [Note Mr Duffy must be a psychic having examined this, my problem, one day before I reported the issue to Ms Scully.] Mr Duffy reported that the water ponding is directly due to reinstatement works associated with water main works, carried out by Irish Water recently. The complaint was referred to Irish Water in order to rectify the matter. Mr Duffy then followed up the report directly with the Water Services in Tipperary County Council and impressed on them the urgency to have this work rectified. Regards Sharon.
Lower picture above shows: Track cut by Irish Water, under the guidance of Mr Thomas Duffy, to remove water from a large depression, latter the full responsibility of Tipperary Co. Council. Top picture above shows: The exterior of this house, was freshly painted in August of 2023. It further shows the failure by Tipperary Co. Council, latter led by Chief Executive Mr Joe MacGrath and his staff, which leaves my home and front window pelted by stones and filthy water on almost a daily basis, over the past 2 years. Pics: G. Willoughby.
The picture above, shows the corrective measures undertaken. Corrective measures, took 5 minutes to complete; involved 2 men; a lorry, and what appeared to be a Stihl TS420 14in Cut-Off Consaw. The workers cut a small track, the width of a 50 pence piece, to enable water to flow from the pot hole, latter the responsibility of Tipperary Co. Council, past the reinstatement works, associated with Uisce Éireann (formerly Irish Water). This small track filled with grit and dust 3 days after being cut, resulting in a total failure to solve the problem. The report by Mr Thomas Duffy, sent to Ms Scully, was totally incorrect and both these officials failed to follow up on how the repairs were dealt with.
The problems being experienced on Kickham Street, a route driven by Mr Jackie Cahill TD, at least twice each week, as he travels to Dail Eireann; gets no mention.
The waste by Tipperary Co. Council and Thurles Municipal District Council officials continues.
A 15-year-old girl has lost her life; pronounced dead at the scene, and four other people have been hospitalised, following a two vehicle collision in North Co. Tipperary yesterday evening.
Nenagh Gardaí are today appealing for witnesses to this fatal collision, which occurred at approximately 6:45pm, on the R503 route near the village of Rearcross, Co Tipperary.
Three friends, occupants of the car; latter a man aged in his 20s, a woman in aged in her 20s, and a girl in her mid-teens, together with the female driver of the second car, were transported by ambulance to Limerick University Hospital (UHL) for further assessment. Their injuries thankfully are understood to be not life-threatening.
The deceased, sadly, is now the 25th person to lose their life in traffic accidents on Irish roads in just the first seven weeks of this year.
The body of the deceased 15-year-old girl was transferred to the mortuary at Limerick University Hospital, where a post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out later today.
This section of the roadway currently remains closed, to facilitate examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators, with local traffic diversions in place at present.
Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to come forward particularly those with dashcam or phone camera footage who may have been in the vicinity at the time.
Persons with information are asked to contact Nenagh Garda Station Tel. No. 067 50450, the Garda Confidential Line Tel. No. 1800 666 111, or indeed any Garda Station.
The pictures hereunder show the state of neglect of Thurles by Tipperary Co. Council, as was observed on Tuesday last, along less than a 40 kilometre (¼ ml) stretch of the Mill Road, here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
The first picture, hereunder, demonstrates what is left of repairs undertaken by Tipperary Co. Council only a few weeks ago. Here over the past 4 years it has become obvious that this Mill Road surface is slowly sinking into the River Drish.
Mill Road sinking into the River Drish. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Since the half upgrading of Liberty Square, (For the benefit of non residents, latter is situated in the town centre), a considerable volume of traffic including heavy duty vehicles, now veer off to use this route to avoid inevitable delays, now an everyday occurrence, when attempting to enter into the town centre.
Most traffic travelling on the Mill Road route do so in breach of existing speed limits, resulting in some 3 single vehicle collisions in as many months. Evidence of this can be viewed, hereunder, in picture number two, where a motor vehicle has, in recent days, been removed, having collided with a signpost, leaving crash debris scattered nearby.
Evidence of one of 3 single vehicle collisions, which occurred in recent months on the Mill Road, Thurles. Pic: G. Willoughby.
On Tuesday morning last many areas of the town were flooded, (see picture threehereunder), mainly due to the failure by Thurles Municipal Council to provide staff to clean out drains; not only in our streets, but also on this same Mill Road area.
Cathedral Street Floods again due to water flowing past clogged drains from top of Kickham Street to Barry’s Bridge area, before crossing into the area east of ‘The Source‘building. Pic: G. Willoughby.
On the Mill Road, picture four shows the road flooded at the narrow bridge which crosses the River Breagagh. This flooded area sits just 4 meters (15 ft) from the river ‘s edge which is not, itself in anyway flooded, and for the past 3 years Tipperary Co. Council has failed to dig a small trench, to allow the flood water escape into the river. This stretch of roadway now prevents all use to school going students and other pedestrians, unless those who are wearing wellingtons.
Mill Road junction flooded just just 4 meters (15 ft) from the River Breagagh.
Soon this road surface will disintegrate, resulting in yet another resurfacing project and the continued wasting of public money, by Tipperary Co. Council.
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