While Nenagh Town Council had previously given the ‘go ahead,’ for Aldi’s previous plan, the Town Council’s decision was further appealed by Nenagh Chamber of Commerce, which, while not opposed to the retail giant coming to Nenagh, argued that the company should find a town centre site for its store.  An Bord Pleanála generally accepted this view, and ruled that a peripherally located Aldi would greatly detract from Nenagh’s town centre.

Nenagh Town Council will decide whether or not to grant planning permission in the coming weeks, or may seek further information and clarification from Aldi. Shopkeepers in the town’s centre, in general, are expected to welcome this application, which is basically in line with Nenagh town’s current development plan, latter which strongly recommends that Town planners and Management first protect the town centre, where many business sites are presently available for use. Springfort Retail Park is situated however 1 kilometre to the south-west of Nenagh town centre, on the main Limerick Road

This German owned discount retailer currently operates over 8,000 stores worldwide, of which 84 are based here in Ireland, including one profitable outlet in Thurles.

Related posts:

1. Aldi Co-Founder Theo Albrecht Dies Aged 88
2. Nenagh Tidiest Town In Tipperary
3. Cannabis Factory Raided In Nenagh

MasterLink Logistics, with established warehousing in Dublin, Cork & Galway, who took over some of the work of the failed Liam Carroll Transport Depot in 2010, are understood to have informed their staff this week that the Cabra, plant in Thurles, Co Tipperary, will close with effect from January 29th next.

Former owners of the Liam Carroll Transport Group, which ceased trading over night, due to bad debts and the economic downturn, were immediately taken over by Masterlink Logistics, who stepped into the breach, confirming that it would be recruiting possibly 70 of the then 119 employees, then left jobless as a direct result of Liam Carroll Transports closure.

Reason for the closure of this Masterlink Depot, however is uncertain, but expensive diesel levies, carbon taxes and the lack of any real industry in Thurles, together with a lack of any political will regarding real job creation in the town, a policy carried over from the previous government, are identified as the most likely cause.

Following the Governments Budget announcements of the 6^th of December, the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) had expressed extreme disappointed with the failure, to acknowledge the licensed road haulage industry and the contribution the sector made to the overall economy. The Association’s pre-budget submissions were understood to be very practical and had same been implemented, would have resulted in an overall net gain for the Irish exchequer.

Our three local elected politicians to-date, have remained silent over this now expected closure.

Related posts:

1. Tipperary-Kilkenny Clash Expected Tuesday
2. Roscrea Credit Union €6m Recorded Losses
3. Kelly’s of Fantane – 100 Jobs To Go.

Christmas Lights - Thurles Town Centre

It’s Monday afternoon and God knows we need a bit of good news at the start of the working week, here in Thurles.

From a Christmas point of view, I am happy to relate that so far today the signs are looking good.

Joan Pollard Carew, spokesperson for “Thurles Traders Unite,” informs me that the high streets of Thurles will soon ring out to the sounds of seasonal Christmas music.  This initative is due in no small way to the hard work and dedication of the members of ‘Thurles Traders Unite,’ a group of high street traders who formed their association, just a few short weeks ago. Shopkeepers have been more than generous in donating money to create a fund, thus in turn enabling this new task force to organise and provide this music and also to further promote high street shopping here in Thurles.

Thurles Town Council have generously given free parking in the towns car parks on the four Saturdays prior to Christmas. (Note: 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th of December only)
Most retail outlets on the Thurles high streets are also offering parking refunds to their customers. (Another innovative idea from “Thurles Traders Unite.”)

Thurles town centre, again this year, boasts some of the best displays of Christmas lighting, anywhere in Ireland.  This fabulous display is paid for by all rate paying shops in the town centre.  Thurles Town Council took over the management of this project a number of years ago and have been doing such a wonderful job (Thanks John Ryan and Staff) to ensure that our town, in the words of a well known song, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”

Everywhere in the county, because of  the present economic situation, most consumers are spending less this year. However, from a consumers point of view, this is beneficial, with shops now on the high streets of Thurles, who incidentally, have a huge selection of retail goods on offer, offering super bargains on individual items. So do make an effort to drop into our town centre and have a good look around. By doing so you help to retain our traditional town centre, while at the same time maximising you own spending power.

On the employment front, some good news also.  Noel Coonan TD informs me this morning, that the average waiting time for Garda Vetting procedure, has now fallen from twelve to five weeks waiting time.  Justice Minister Alan Shatter has confirmed this reduction which was made possible by the appointment of 20 temporary staff to the Thurles Garda Vetting Unit.

People who were currently undergoing vetting were finding, up to now, this procedure to be a lengthy and delayed process for people who had applied for jobs and in some cases people had been unable to take up a working position, due to these long delays. In September of this year, Minister Shatter said in the Chamber of Leinster House, that he fully appreciated the importance of processing vetting applications within a reasonable time frame and he was determined to address this aspect of the process. The average processing time for applications has now been lessened to five weeks, which is a significant improvement on the average processing time of 12 weeks at the end of last year.

Garda Vetting is carried out by the Garda Central Vetting Unit which is based in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. The Unit processes requests from organisations that have been registered with it, to vet prospective employees including people working with children or vulnerable people.

All in all, not a bad day, let see what tomorrow brings.

Related posts:

1. Thurles Garda Vetting Unit – Five Additional Staff
2. Thurles Garda Vetting Unit Gets Ten Extra Part Time Staff
3. Delays At Thurles Garda Vetting Unit

Note: ISME is the independent organisation for the Irish small and medium business sector, with in excess of 8,500 members nationwide. ISME’s mission is to independently represent, promote and support owner/managers of small and medium enterprises and be vigilant, decisive, and direct in promoting and defending their interests, while helping members to better manage and grow their business through the provision of excellent information and services.

If you are a small business presently seeking direction, a Minister or Politician (regardless of your party affiliations) a Union organiser, then this text is a must read in full, and at least twice. For in this text Mr Mark Fielding amply expresses the most intimate thoughts and feelings of the people of Ireland today, especially in the light of our current financial state.

Read Mark Fielding’s Address:

“Where there is no vision the people perish.“

“The founders of Thurles Credit Union in 1961 had a vision. I would like to congratulate the Thurles Credit Union, Board, Supervisors, Management and Staff and the members themselves on your anniversary, and on the valuable work that you have carried out since the inception of the organisation in 1961.

Mark Fielding, Chief Executive, ISME.

Credit unions are economically important as they mobilise household savings as loans, and socially important, as that they help create community social capital. Guided by that philosophy, the fundamental business purpose is to provide high quality financial services at fair prices to anyone who wants them. By excelling at this purpose, they build the capital reserves needed for sustainability. They are a vital store of intergenerational capital and a facilitator of community social capital.

In time consolidation may see the network consolidate down to less than 100 larger, sustainable credit unions, while maintaining most of the existing branch footprint. Wisely used, state funding will restructure credit unions into a modern credit co-operative system.

Some local politicians have accused Mathew Elderfield of driving people into the arms of loan sharks.  Perhaps they should consider why so many credit unions are in financial trouble and why others like Thurles CU are in rude health; why lending has been restricted in some and continues to grow in places like Thurles.  It is important to distinguish between a credit union and the people who govern and manage them and here again Thurles is an exemplar.

With the Government and Central Bank intent on stabilising the sector, credit unions need to realise the opportunity it proposes and through prudent management, become a leader in the sector.

When I was asked to speak on this occasion I began to think about what I would have said to a gathering of Thurles people back in 1961, the year of the birth of this fine Credit Union. So Imagine, if you would, what someone like me would say about the FUTURE, back there in 1961, allowing our fancy take flight, looking forward to the next 50 years, back then.

Imagine

Imagine an Ireland where every household owned a colour TV set or two, and a stereo system, an iPod, iPad and a fridge, and a microwave and central heating and double glazed windows and where every person had a mobile phone or two and enough money for a family holiday.
Can you imagine an Ireland where an unhappy couple or one unhappy part of a couple was allowed a dignified exit from that marriage, through no-fault divorce.  Imagine an Ireland where no questions asked contraception was freely available to everyone.  Imagine an Ireland where the stigma of single parenthood had largely disappeared.

Imagine an Ireland with a woman President, or better still, two women Presidents.  Imagine a female Tanaiste or two.  Imagine a female chief justice and a brace of female Supreme Court judges, imagine female Ministers for Health, Education, Tourism, Social Welfare, a female Ombudsman, female Secretaries General of  Government Departments, a female Assistant Commissioner of the Garda Siochana, a female editor of the Irish Times with letters that begin with ‘Dear Madam’.  And then I compound your amazement by telling you that the female minister who will hold two of those offices is in primary school in the Presentation Convent Thurles. In the next 50 years the secretary to three presidents and the secretary to three Taoisigh and the chief of staff of the army are all in Scoil Ailbe, Thurles. They are just the guys in my class.

Imagine an Ireland where the all-pervasive power and might of the Roman Catholic Church has withered.  Imagine schools and hospitals run almost exclusively by lay people; imagine the transformation of once great convents and seminaries and mother and baby homes and industrial schools into apartment complexes and car parks.  Imagine a clutch of Sinn Fein TDs in Leinster House.  Imagine Ian Paisley in Dublin for tea and talks with an Irish President and Taoiseach.  Imagine Aer Lingus being dwarfed by an airline founded by a railwayman’s son from Thurles.
Imagine the choice of coffee.  Imagine tall skinny lattes, and short, robust, espressos, and cocoa dusted cappuccinos and Americanos with shots, all made by trained baristas.

Imagine Top Shop and Marks and Spencer’s and Miss Selfridge and Next and Tesco’s in Thurles and Sunday shopping and 24 hour, 7 day shopping all year round.  Imagine waiting lists for Hermes hand-bags.  Imagine Brown Thomas on the other side of Grafton Street.  Imagine the Kildare bypass, the Drogheda bypass,the Athlone bypass and the Motorway from the Horse and Jockey to Cork, to Galway, Belfast, Waterford, the restoration of tram lines in Dublin, the bus lanes and dirt cheap air travel and great big cars with DVDs on the ceiling and with windows that go up and down when you tell them to.  Imagine the beginning and ending of the plastic bag epidemic.  Imagine smoke free airports and bus terminals and shops and offices.  Imagine, ladies and gentlemen, smoke free pubs, in Ireland.

Imagine all of that and imagine what, you the audience, would have said in response.  It sounds too good to be true. UNBELIEVABLE, FANTASTIC.

Remember Thurles

I would also like you who can remember 1961 to recall what Thurles was like back then and compare them with what you have now. Think of the improvements made to this town, by dint of your hard work and determination. Too often we think of the negatives and allow them to overcrowd the achievements. When I spoke about ministers, chiefs of staff and government secretaries from Thurles, I do that as an example of the excellence that has been exported from Thurles. What about the excellence of the people who stayed and made their livelihoods in this fine town. You, the backbone of the community, you the workers, public servants, business people of Thurles. So often we look at the headline grabbers and tend to forget the real people, the life and soul of this great country, who are entitled to a better life and who will have a better life, because you will work to achieve it.

That is why it is so important that when you rightly give yourselves praise for your achievements over the last 50 Years, we must also take an honest look at the challenges in the coming years and face them as opportunities to better our lot.
NOBODY KNOWS what will happen next – not even our leaders. We walk as a community in darkness down a strangely unfamiliar road, into a new landscape for which there are no maps.

Fifty years ago, there were senior civil servants who tore up a postage stamp to reimburse the State whenever they made a call on the office phone to a member of their family. The public services are still run by honourable and honest people, but those days of efficient patriotism are gone. The period when the health system could be run by five senior administrators is now barely a memory.

Ireland is at present immobilised by “process morons with Blackberries and iPhones“. They assumed critical mass in “the years of the Tiger,” frustrating many people, both inside and outside the public services. It is arguable that even in those times of relative affluence we could not afford them. It is certain that we cannot afford them now.

Everywhere, one hears stories of how the new mandarins and their trade union side-kicks invoke bizarre laws which make the cost of doing business simply prohibitive. Administrators are accused of blocking necessary medical operations in the public health system, which doctors want to perform. Managers are telling educators with decades of experience exactly how to teach their classes. Unions stop the use of new tech with old thinking. Yet these managerial elites, while talking constantly of “innovation“, have a truly impoverished notion of how knowledge is shared: they tend to prefer e-mails and memos rather than complex first-hand face to face encounters.

Ireland Full Of Talent

The country is full of talented, creative persons; but many with a wisdom based on years of experience feel frustrated. Those with good ideas cannot get their hands on the money to give shape to them, while those who continue to reward themselves with big money operate systems designed to block off unconventional, fast-track ideas. It is true to say: “the people with money have no balls and the people with balls have no money.” An over-statement, perhaps, but only just, and I of course exclude our hosts tonight, the Credit Union Movement.

Every time a restaurant with a complex menu or a grocer with a beautiful range of produce falls victim to closure, this isn’t just a bad, single moment in the lives of the proprietors and customers. With each closure is lost a marvellous, possibly irreplaceable store of knowledge.
Every time a surgeon is told that an operation cannot be performed, the wisdom of a team of experts, arduously assembled over years of considered effort, is set at naught. Architectural practices have gone from 100 to seven practitioners in less than three years – the loss of such lore is heart-rending.

Ireland is filled with naysayers – often on fat mileage allowances – telling people why they can’t do this or that. The banks – which a few years ago, were throwing money indiscriminately at all comers – now refuse to support well-costed and sensible projects. The busted banks may well be rescued, but if so, why are they still allowed to treat our Government with disdain; sabotage the economy and why are they allowed to withhold the reduction in interest rates?

Despite all the special advisers and spinners, the political system is remarkably unresponsive to actual human needs. The salary-proofed group of senior public servants must include many who facilitated or propounded some of the weirder policies of the ‘Tiger years,’ and are now still finding €3.6 billion down the back of a sofa. The looting of the public purse by Fás executives has been well exposed, but has anyone explained why, in a time of full employment, Fás was deemed necessary at all?

These were the years in which gobbledegook about a “stakeholder economy” and a “stakeholder society” was cut and pasted into every second press release. The new mantras were all about “centres of excellence”, “innovation” and “smart economy.” PR smoothies, who wouldn’t be found near a church on Sundays, ransacked the language of religion for “mission statements” and “ethical testing.”

A vulgar, heedless populism led to an assertion that big business and unrestrained market forces were somehow compatible with excellence and ethics, and to a widespread distrust of those with real professional expertise. As gesture took the place of structure, the very IBEC people who now call for regulation were just a few years ago the ones baying loudest for deregulation of everything from transport to health services and allowed public sector benchmarking create a cadre of overpaid senior civil servants.

The feel-good gobbledegook was the sort at which Irish people of all backgrounds would have hooted in derisive laughter just one generation earlier, but now it was taken up by managers who called for “sound business models”.
Waiters in cafes and tea shops were trained to punch into a retrieval system the number of customers sitting at a certain table before they could dare to say “good morning”.
People were seized by the crazy idea that information is knowledge and that everything worth knowing could be measured. They became so busy using the new technology of CRM systems to document life, that many of them lost the art of living it or of thinking straight. Too many of us rolled over and let these things happen.

Before the Tiger years, Irish people understood that the real quality of life lies in those things which cannot be quantified. The notion that market forces are vital is plain common sense, but the idea that money should determine everything is a rather recent and barbarous development.

Also is the proposition that people can express individuality through designer labels. For most of their history, Irish people have felt connected to traditions of compassion for the young and old, for the poor and infirm, and money has been subordinate. Our parents and our grandparents understood Einstein’s maxim that “What counts can’t always be counted and what can be counted doesn’t always count”.

There is no point therefore in seeking to return to the spirit of Tiger Ireland. The country needs to make not just a single step forward, but a series of quantum leaps. These will be based on new ideas, combined with old-fashioned values, propounded mainly by those who work outside our sclerotic political system. And that system is sclerotic. It is forever fixated on small details rather than big pictures. It seems unlikely that a political class, which allowed so many problems to germinate in the days of plenty could offer many real answers in a time of austerity. Only a completely new political movement, in tandem with youth sections of the current parties, could tackle the challenges.

It may be that you, the medics, scientists, business people, architects, engineers and educators will, through sheer frustration, provide the nucleus of such a movement. In a coalition also composed of stymied business people and the shamefully treated young, who are being driven away by our failed policies; you could constitute a formidable force. Your calibre would in all probability be superior to that of our current politicians, many of whom cannot think for themselves without the assistance of polls, special advisers and spin doctors.

Importance Of  Youth

The young will have to be brought into politics, but many people now over 50, who have memories of past setbacks and how they survived them, would like to share their knowledge with the community before passing on. There must be thousands of people in businesses, schoolrooms and social services who want something better, not just for their children but for themselves – and right away. One can live with austerity for a few years but only in the certainty that the leadership has a real and viable plan – like the democracies of Western Europe after the Second World War.

There are good people all across the public services who are frustrated by current blockages and who have creative ideas. But we need political leaders who can locate and unleash such people. We need An Smaoineamh Mór and we need to create good ideas. But the necessary reform of the political system, which may be a condition for the implementation of some of those ideas, is not likely to happen solely from within. Most of its beneficiaries are too well embedded to challenge the codes that have produced them.

Our abilities as individuals as businesses as a community as a country are being tested. The key to our success lies in our response to the challenge of change, responses that must be imaginative, resourceful, skillful and bold.

In the end, it’s our ideals, our values that built Ireland — values that allowed us to forge a nation despite 700 years of tyranny; values that drive our citizens still. Every day, we Irish meet our responsibilities to our families and our employees. We take pride in our labour, and are generous in spirit. These aren’t Fine Gael values or Fianna Fail values, nor Labour of Sinn Fein values that we are living by; they are not just business values or labor values. They’re Irish values.

Unfortunately, too many of our citizens have lost faith that our biggest institutions – our churches, our big corporations, our media, and, yes, our government — still reflect these same values. Each time a churchman or woman remains silent, each time a CEO rewards himself for failure, each time a banker puts the rest of us at risk for his own selfish gain, people’s doubts grow. Each time politicians tear each other down, instead of lifting this country up, we lose faith. The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates to silly arguments, big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away.

We Need Change

Ladies and Gentlemen, we need change — change we can believe in. But remember this – no one ever suggested that change would be easy. Democracy can be noisy and messy and complicated. And when you try to do big things and make big changes, it stirs passions and controversy. That’s just how it is.

Our politicians in public office can respond to this reality by playing it safe and avoid telling hard truths and pointing fingers. They can do what’s necessary to keep their poll numbers high, and get through the next election instead of doing what’s best for the next generation.
But I also know this: If people had made that decision 50 years ago, or 100 years ago, or 200 years ago, we wouldn’t be here tonight. The only reason we are here is because generations of Irish were unafraid to do what was hard; to do what was needed even when success was uncertain; to do what it took to keep the dream of this nation alive for their children and their grandchildren.

Our country has had some massive setbacks this past 4 years, and some of them were deserved. But I wake up every day knowing that those are nothing compared to the setbacks that families all across this country are facing every day. And what keeps me going — what keeps me fighting — is that despite all these setbacks, that spirit of determination and optimism, that fundamental decency that has always been at the core of the Irish people, that lives on.

It lives on in the struggling small business owner who told me of his company, “None of us,” he said, “…are willing to consider, even slightly, that we might fail.” It lives on in the woman who said that even though she and her neighbors have felt the pain of recession, “We are strong. We are resilient. We will keep going.”

The spirit that has sustained this nation for more than a millennium lives on in you, the people.  We have come through a disastrous 4 years. But we will rise out of this recession, we will be in a better place. A new period stretches before us. We don’t quit.  Let’s seize this moment — CARPE DIEM — to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our great little country once more.

I started out by quoting “Where there is no vision the people perish.”
The fight-back starts here with you, with your efforts, with your resilience, with your vision of a better future. It is up to us.”    [End]

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2. Almost 200 People In North Tipp Join Dole In December
3. €100 Million Grants For Homes Of Older People

Department of Social Protection

I suppose it was the day every employer fears, the unexpected arrival mid month, of the officious brown envelope, bearing the insignia of a black harp.

Patrick Ryan, an elderly Tipperary farmer, received such a letter from the Department of Social Protection recently. The letter stated that they suspected he was not paying his employees the Statutory Minimum Wage. The letter further stated that they, the Department, now felt it necessary to send an Inspector to audit Paddy’s affairs and to interview him, personally.

Sure enough, on the appointed day and true to the Department’s promise, a rather stern looking Inspector, complete with heavy black rimmed glasses and matching black leather briefcase, turned up to Paddy’s farm house door, apparently oblivious of “Shep,” Paddy’s rather cross and aging sheepdog.

Parking himself on a chair at the kitchen table, he began to interview Paddy. “Tell me Mr Ryan about your present employees, how many staff do have working here on your farm at present? ” he began.

“Well now let me think,” said Paddy, “First I suppose there’s the farm hand, I pays him about €240 a week, and he has the free use of a cottage, its the gate lodge near the entrance, as you drove in.”

“Then of course there’s the housekeeper,” said Paddy, obviously thinking carefully. “Now I believe she gets €190 a week, along with free board and lodgings, here in the main house.”

“Then of course we mustn’t forget the village idiot, he is a bit of a half-wit. He works about 16 hours a day, seven days a week, and does 90% of the manual labour. He earns around €25 a week, or whatever is spare at the time, along with the occasional bottle of whisky thrown in. Oh, and as a special treat, occasionally he is allowed to sleep with my wife.”

“That’s really disgraceful,” said the Inspector, “I would like to interview this half-wit immediately.”

“No problem,” replied Paddy “Sure it will be me you need to talk to then.“

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1. North Tipperary – Extra Social Welfare Staff To Deal With Jobseeker Payments
2. Enhance Corporate Social Responsibility Say Thurles Fairtrade
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Rib World Clonmel

Jobs continues to be under threat here in Co Tipperary. This statement is borne out with the news that the Clonmel, Co Tipperary company, STGN Ltd, trading as Rib World, which specialises in the processing of vacuum-packed cooked pork ribs, has now gone into receivership.

The Bank of Scotland have now appointed Mr Liam Dowdall of Smith & Williamson Freany as receiver and manager to the company, which will continue to operate at full capacity, retaining its 65 employees, until same is sold as a going concern. Mr Dowdall met with employees at the company, following his appointment, stating he was confident that a buyer would be found quickly.

Rib World, established in 2004 and situated at Fethard Road, Carrigeen Industrial Estate, Clonmel, is one of Europe’s largest producers of pre-cooked pork ribs. It currently operates an ultra modern processing operation and has a strong core market in both Ireland and abroad.

Founder and Managing Director of Rib World, Scandinavian born Mr Bo Nielsen, had worked in the food industry for over 20 years, prior to starting this enterprise with partners, together with financial and other assistance from the Irish Government agency Enterprise Ireland.

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Mr Binman

Fears mount over the future of 500 jobs after Kieran Wallace and Padraic Monaghan were appointed as joint receivers, to the waste collection service “Mr Binman,” earlier this week.

The “Mr Binman,” waste collection service is based in Kilmallock, Co Limerick, but operates subsidiary offices in Tipperary and also counties Clare and Galway, employing 331 staff. A further 200 jobs are indirectly linked to the Company through contracting and other support operations.

The companies’ biggest creditor, Bank of Scotland, owed €53m, stated that the receivers appointed would operate the business as a going concern in the “short to medium term”.

The bank confirmed that wages would be paid and waste collection services, at more than 50,000 households, would be maintained during that time.

“Mr. Binman,” is a privately owned company providing a waste collection and recycling service to household customers since 1994. Mr. Binman is one of the most progressive and environmentally conscious waste disposal companies in Ireland. The company was the first recycling plant in the mid-west region to obtain an EPA Waste Licence.

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Liberty Square

The first Task Force meeting of the Thurles Traders Unite committee took place in “The Commercial Room,” in Hayes Hotel, Liberty Square, last evening. (26th October at 6pm.)

Reports, immediately following, state that the meeting was both positive and informative, with a delegation elected  to meet with Thurles Town Council Executive and local Councillors on Monday 7th November at 6.30pm, at their Slievenamon offices. The Traders Unite Task Force will again meet in Hayes Hotel on Monday 7th November at 7.15pm, following on from this meeting with Thurles Town Council Officials, to further discuss the progress made by this deputation.

Issues discussed at Wednesday evenings meeting, raised many questions and suggestion in relation to:- Parking, Traffic Management, Tourism and charges regarding present Commercial Rates to local traders.

A review of a planned “Group Advertising Package,” for the town were discussed and planned at length, and a leaflet, containing up to date costs and information on this subject, will now be delivered to all traders on Thurles high streets, in the coming week.

Discount Parking Stickers, sponsored by Thurles Photo Station in Friar Street, Thurles, have now been printed and beginning on Monday next, participating traders / shops will offer 30 minutes free parking, to all customers of premises displaying this 5in x 7in sticker, which can be viewed by customers on shop windows. Please Note: Customers are asked to pay for parking as usual and they will be refunded later, by all shops supporting this new venture.

A motion was passed at the meeting, offering every assistance and support to the upcoming Thurles Christmas Market on 11th December next. All shops will be open in Thurles on that day, and all offering customers some very attractive deals.

In the meanwhile, an Email address has now been set up for this New Task force, and traders and others interested groups are invited to use same to contact the organisation, with constructive submissions which they feel are worthy of further planning, discussion and promotion.  Please note this contact Email address is :-  thurlestradersunite@gmail.com

A Facebook account, using the name Thurles Traders Unite has now also been set up and local Traders and other interested bodies are invited to join, thus keeping up to date with all relevant Thurles Town information.

For more updates watch this space and do remember if at all possible, please shop local, as future local employment depends on your loyalty to local businesses.

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2. Thurles Forms Traders Unite Association
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The agenda and aspirations addressed at this Association meeting, chaired by Joan Pollard Carew, (Michael’s Jewellers) came under the following headings:-
(1)Parking issues; (2) Traffic management; (3) Promoting individuality of shopping experience on our high streets; (4) Group advertising campaign, and (5) Music on our streets for Christmas 2011.

Thurles Traders Unite Association Meeting

Endeavouring to address parking issues for Thurles customers, a decision was made to offer free parking to all customers. Indeed at the time of going to press tonight, notices are being designed for shop windows and are expected to be be displayed in participating stores within the next seven days.
All customer who spend a minimum of €10 in Thurles shops, bearing this notice, will be refunded 30 minutes of their parking charges. Smart shoppers will be aware that they can actually, by visiting 4 shops, receive a €2 refund, despite having only paid €1.20 for parking.

It was also mooted that if the Town Council and traders could carve out a deal, where the old style parking discs could be made available, then traders could actually give a disc to their customers and everyone would gain considerably. To this end it was agreed that a delegation from this new Association would meet with the Councillors and Executives of the Town Council and these ideas would be amongst other issues for future discussion.

On Thurles traffic management the mood of the meeting confirmed that the present pedestrian lights system was causing unnecessary traffic jams and numerous safety issues were raised. Again these will be debated when the Association meets with Town Council officials.

To further promote high street shopping in Thurles the Traders Unite Association are considering numerous advertising packages, involving local and national media, in an effort to sustain present levels of employment and information for customers.

Thurles high streets have numerous outlets, selling a diverse range of goods and offering services, thus offering consumers a much better choice. As most shops are family owned and run these businesses can also offer a much more personal service.

The meeting was informed of a Christmas Market to take place in Liberty Square on 11th December. Stall holders will be decked out in period costumes with a proposed Faction Fight , together with Christmas music in the background, under the usual wonderful display of Christmas lighting. This event promises to be an exciting day for all the family. It will also showcase Thurles town centre, and children please note, Santa Claus has accepted an invitation to be present at this event. (More about this Christmas Market and it’s organisers in the coming days, so do stay tuned.)

Greater use of our towns successful Thurles.Info website was also encouraged, this service is free and should now be utilised by local traders for promotions and offers in their stores. The new Hidden Tipperary website is also a wonderful medium of both information and education for the county. Tourism or at least the lack of same was another issue raised, as this industry is not tapped into, in Thurles. Industry means business and as a group this association intends to now promote our town as a real tourist destination.

It was decided, by this meeting, not to form a traditional committee, rather it was felt that hierarchy was of no advantage and would be actually more of a hindrance to the future success of this new Association. The decision then to form a task force of ten traders to handle the day to day running of the Association and thus form smaller groups, to focus on current issues relating to traders, was adopted.

This newly elected task force is a diverse group of traders from across the retail industry in Thurles and are named as follows:-
John Butler, Paul Scully, Gabriella McLoughney, Catriona Griffin, Frances Boyle, William Kinane, Diarmud Moran, Paul McEvitt, George Willoughby and Joan Pollard Carew.

The next meeting of the Association’s task force will be October 25th next at 8.00pm in Hayes Hotel and progress reports will issue on a regular basis.

Joan Pollard Carew, who chaired the meeting, expressed gratitude on behalf of the Association, to the Management of Hayes Hotel, who provided accommodation for this event, free of charge.

Picture courtesy G.Willoughby, Thurles.

Related posts:

1. Announcing Thurles Traders Unite Meeting
2. Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) – 1884 – Meeting In The Haye’s Hotel Thurles
3. Thurles ICA Guild – Irish Country Womens Association

Liberty Square, Thurles.

To quote a well known Chinese Proverb “Better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness.”

With this in mind, Thurles.Info have learned today that a meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday 19th October next, in Hayes Hotel, Liberty Square, Thurles, Co Tipperary. The intended purpose of this meeting is to form a Traders Unite Association, encompassing the town of Thurles.

This new association, if formed, will be inclusive of all traders in Liberty Square, Friar Street, West Gate, Croke Street, Parnell Street, The Mall, Kickham Street and Mitchell Street.

Many existing traders believe that the old historical market town of Thurles must now be strengthened, if is to be retained for future generations, while permitting both retailers and customers to enjoy discerning shopping and thus continue to retain and create continued local employment and future sustainability.

The aims of any new association if formed, will be to address and find solutions with regard to:-

1. Parking Issues.
2. Traffic management.
3. Promote the individuality of the shopping experience on our high streets.
4. Group Advertising packages.  (Details on the night)
5. Music on our Streets for Christmas. (Details on the night)
6. Election of officers for any proposed new association.

Please note your Diary:-  Time: 8.00pm. Date: Wednesday 19th October. Venue: Hayes Hotel.

Related posts:

1. New Thurles Traffic Management Plan Began Today
2. Thurles Cancer Support Group Meeting
3. Thurles St. Patrick’s Day Parade Sunday 21st March