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.
An estimated 2,500 viewers attended at the Thurles St Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday afternoon last, March 17th; encouraged out by the bright spring sunshine and the slight increase in the local temperature.
Possibly the largest crowd ever in the history of such parades; people from the Republic of the Philippines, Ukraine, England, São Paulo in Brazil, China, Poland, Italy and Stockholm in Sweden, joined the large number of local residents, who turned out for this most enjoyable of events.
The huge crowds (See also Video Part 1 HERE) that packed Thurles streets, from Friar Street west, through the town centre and unto Barry’s Bridge, were extremely impressed by the colours of floats; the marching groups representing numerous clubs and societies; the bands and other individuals; all taking part.
A huge “Thank You” to the work undertaken by Mr John Kenehan and his committee, and to the many people ‘in yellow jackets’, who successfully ensured the health and safety of the public in attendance.
Despite the statements and so called interventions by Fianna Fáil TD Mr Jackie Cahill and Fianna Fáil Councillor Mr Seamus Hanafin, yesterday’s statement printed in the Thurles Cathedral Mass Booklet correctly states, quote:-
“As you are possibly aware, the Munster Hotel Car-park has now closed for public use. This is a regrettable decision for all who visit and attend ceremonies at our Cathedral. Please be aware of this and plan your parking accordingly when visiting the Cathedral. Please note that the MIC (St. Patrick’s College)is available for weekend parking. However, due to the increased number of students the MIC carpark is not available on weekdays during College term”.
This accounts for the fact that the coin slot on the parking metre in this car park was taped-over on Saturday last, although the tape was removed this afternoon (Monday March 4th).
Thurles Cathedral forecourt with partially completed marked car parking spaces. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Thurles.Info warned of this problem some weeks ago [January 8th, 2024], regarding parking for those attending Mass, Funerals etc at the Thurles Cathedral, and indeed the impending challenges and dangers caused by no parking for retailers/consumers, latter attempting to transact service in numerous small, nearby business premises.
Look skyward as you pass the former Munster Hotel building, latter Thurles town’s number 1 eyesore, believed to be owned by Mr Martin Healy (Member of Thurles Chamber of Commerce), as metal material is ready to displace itself from the Hotel’s roof. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Right at this moment, while public car parking still occurs at the carpark in question; vehicle owners should be aware that our ‘eye in the sky’ has identified a large section of what appears to be metal material, that has broken loose from the roof of this Thurles town eyesore (Munster Hotel) and is due to descend into the car-park, therefore likely to strike a school bus, or other parked vehicle, or indeed likely to land in Cathedral Street, same propelled by a sharp south westerly wind blowing outside today.
Meanwhile, Thurles Cathedral (see pic. above) has partially undertaken, this morning, to mark out limited car-park spaces and pedestrian lanes on its tiny forecourt, in the interest of public health and safety.
‘TheSource’ Car Park, paid for by Rate Payers, (which cannot accept buses) continues to remain closed today following an arson attack last year. Pic: G. Willoughby.
The Source Car Park, paid for by Rate Payers, still remains closed, although the streamers, ripped from roof insulation which was left uncovered, appears to have been removed, indicating a possible opening in the near future and will, no doubt, be welcomed by Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Jackie Cahill or Independent TD Mr Michael Lowry.
Bicycle bays remained empty this morning as Thurles Town continues to becomes a “no go area” for motor vehicle parking. This situation should be etched on the electorates mind, when local elections take place shortly, in our once thriving town. Local newspapers and local radio stations should now be highlighting and publishing this wanton destruction of a town centre, instead of reposting/publishing, ‘willy-nilly’, the press releases of Local Councillors and resident TD’s.
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.
Have you ever heard of the Brat Bríde or Bratóg Bríde (roughly translating from Irish as Brigid’s Rag)?
It’s an old Irish tradition in honour of St Brigid. Long ago it was the custom to tie a small piece of cloth to a bush on January 31st, the eve of St Brigid’s Day, February 1st.
Bratóg Bríde(Brigid’s Rag)
Overnight it was believed that the cloth would be blessed by St Brigid and conferred with healing properties. It was then worn under clothing to protect against sickness, relieve headaches and cure toothaches.
It was particularly important for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, because it was said to help women to produce enough nourishing milk to feed their babies.
This fascinating ancient tradition is currently being highlighted by the “Monasterevin Women’s Collective in Honour of St Brigid” and is among a host of initiatives and activities taking place across Ireland as part of Brigid 1500 celebrations this year, 2024.
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