Thurles Information

Amateurish and naïve newly proposed Fine Gael Candidates are unlikely to claw back seats in Co. Tipperary come next election, despite being photographed standing beside An Taoiseach Mr Leo Varadkar.

Have you read their election pamphlets?  In recent weeks, in fact three newly appointed party faithful have been suggesting to us that, come the next General Election they should be granted a substantial salary; expenses and eventually that much sought after and coveted State Pension. Names like Mary Newman Julian [Fine Gael] (#MaryForTipperary); Sandra Farrell [Fianna Fáil] and Garret Ahearn [Fine Gael], are using their worker bees to push their election pamphlets through our letterboxes.

Personally, I appear to live in the darkest of nebulae, when it comes to recognising even just one tiny achievement that has been accomplished by any one of the above named in the past.  All of the election pamphlets contain the same ‘Cacamas’ (crap), ‘Truflais’ (garbage), agus ‘Raiméis’ (rubbish), e.g. worthless promises regarding Infrastructure, Agriculture, Education, Broadband, Banks, Rural Affairs, Housing, Pensions, Equality, Crime, etc. etc. etc.

The people who are being targeted by this ‘Cacamas’ are fully aware that the only one person who ever entered parliament with ‘honest intent’ in the last 413 years was an English Catholic by the name of Guy Fawkes, latter as you know, who had planned to blow up the English House of Lords, (The Gunpowder Plot of 1605).

In all of the ‘Cacamas’ (crap) printed on these election pamphlets, the words “Tourism” and “Thurles Ring Road”, remain absent from the conversation. All competing with Christmastime election pamphlets have failed to give credence or ‘call for’ both of these issues to be addressed.

We will just discuss the Thurles Ring Road: The 12th century narrow streets of Thurles were never designed to carry 21st century, 18-wheeler, freight carrying trucks.

If you view the two pictures above you can see in picture (1), not for the first time, the destruction by large vehicles attempting to corner our junctions, while staying in their own lanes. Two people at least in recent years have both lost their lives as a direct result of our narrow streets.

At the Junction of Clongour Road and Slievenamon Road, Tipperary Co. Council Engineers, have reduced the turning space available (On both Sides) by two meters, in recent months, [See picture (2)]. Obviously constructed with health and safety in mind, of course the opposite is the truth, as large vehicles attempt to stay in one lane are forced to regularly mount the kerb in order to do so. The now green muddied area shown on right in picture No.2, was once a cycle lane, introduced by Labour Party TD Mr Alan Kelly, days prior to the last election. Since introduced, same, due to a lack of space, have and continue to remain a necessary parking area for local residents. More wasted money.

A podcast on Radio TippFM by Tipperary Co. Council’s District Director Mr Matt Shortt claimed that his Council could not afford a miserable, one off three days of free parking for Thurles, to aid retailers in the town’s centre. Yet we can afford this type of unnecessary dangerous road reconstruction. [No Mr Shortt, I won’t mention six fully detached houses, built by Tipperary Co. Council, at a cost of €300,000 each, (Total 1.8million), which currently have been left unoccupied for at least the past six months. I won’t even mention the “Mexican Border Wall” built on that 8ft expanse of mesquite and barrel cacti growing area, better known as Moyne Road, Thurles, in an effort to stop illegal migrant residents from getting to their local shop. I will also refrain from mentioning the binding contract that now sees the Thurles public toilet (Superloo in Thurles Park) costing Tipperary Co. Council €56 per each visiting person wishing to void faeces (Cacamas) from their bowels.]

Engineers responsible should now be made to drive an 18-wheeler over this road course, in an effort to fully understand the difficulties being experienced by truck drivers, each attempting to manoeuvre around on a 12th century road-scape.

Time now for all Pretenders to Dáil Éireann each wishing to be granted that substantial salary and expenses and more importantly that eventual and much coveted State Pension, to rewrite their Election Cacamas and ‘call’ for what Thurles needs, rather than continuing to indulge themselves in meaningless, mind wandering, personal reveries.