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.
Three men arrived on Kickham Street, Thurles on Monday January 9th last, their target to fill craters caused by one miserable shower of rain. It was the second visit by Co. Council employees to the street in just 15 days. On Monday last they came armed with a new piece of machinery, namely a pickaxe. I fool you not, the purpose of the pickaxe was to try out a new modern engineering technique, same never before used on a busy 3 year old disintegrating road surface.
Filling the potholes on Kickham Street, Thurles, for the second time in 15 days.
The technique involved on Monday last was to make the existing road craters deeper, using the new pickaxe to loosen the area lying below the non existing road surface, before filling the craters, once again, with cold tarmac.
Our forensic team here at Thurles.Info have spent two days debating the logic behind this new technique being used by the gentleman featured in the centre of the picture above.
Questions being asked include:-
Is this technique being used to allow the vast puddles of rain water, permanently lodged in these craters, to escape into the hard stony subsoil?
Was the pickaxe operator working under the instruction of Ms S. Scully (Thurles District Administrator) or Mr Tomas Duffy (District Engineer) or Mr M. O’Connor (Director of Services Roads and Transportation), or maybe Mr J. MacGrath (CE Tipperary Co. Council) or indeed all of the afore named?
Some of our forensic team are of the opinion that it may have been a gold digging operation. [Remember the lyrics of the song “Mountains of Mourne”, They don’t sow potatoes nor barley nor wheat, but there’s gangs of them diggin’ for gold in the street”.
These Velocity Patcher machines certainly haven’t been engaged in physical activity on Kickham Street, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, latter the now forgotten rural Tipperary town, boasting two resident TD’s, both supporting the present Irish government.
Early this morning two road sweepers made an appearence on Kickham Street, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
The big road sweeper machine passed up and down the street at least 3 times, same gathering up the gravel it failed to suck up on Friday last.
New street sweeper machine continues to be operated, while unable to suck up filth and dirt. The waste of taxpayer’s money, by Tipp. Co. Co. continues without any reduction in intensity or strength. Pic: G. Willoughby 29th January 2024.
The small road sweeper machine with the worn out left hand brush was taxed with sweeping the footpaths; in an attempt to remove the gravel flung at the fronts of homes of street residents and unsuspecting pedestrians, by the daily heavy traffic.
You will note that this editor didn’t use the word ‘cleaned’ in any of the above text, since this small machine only collected and left a ridge of dirt and filth behind it; same neatly piled in the centre of the footpaths. (See image shown above).
Something we have learned over the years here in Co. Tipperary is that politicians, councillors and their officials are chosen mainly by their ability to provide spin. Such silence is also displayed by our local newspapers and some local radio broadcasters; latter who are supposed to generate a certain power and remain important to our democracy, but no longer can be perceived as promoters of community responsibility.
In the interests of openness and transparency, Tipperary Co. Council senior officials have been notified.
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