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Thurles Local Councillors Shift Responsibility For Thurles Flooding To Someone Else.

Councillors at a Thurles Municipal District Council Meeting on Monday last were calling for ‘a plan’, latter to be drawn up 40 years too late, in an effort to tackle unprecedented flooding in Thurles on Sunday night.

Fianna Fáil Councillors Mr Seamus Hanafin and Mr Sean Ryan; the former confirming that the issue was a 40 year old inheritance problem and blaming Tipperary County Council; while the latter councillor acknowledged that this was the 3rd such incident over the last 18 month period.

As non-red faced Councillors verbally “passed the political buck” yesterday, local dissatisfied residents were seriously asking the question; “What were both above named, paid and elected public representatives doing for the past number of years, while both were members of this same Tipperary County Council, led by Chief Executive Mr Joe MacGrath?”

The answer of course they already know, same being; “Mostly talking party politics and further destroying Thurles town’s valuable, rich, history, to the detriment of our local tourism industry”.

Meanwhile, according to a recent ‘Press Release’, Irish Water yesterday outlined its investment in water and wastewater infrastructure projects across the Premier County, since 2014.

Surprise, surprise, Thurles is not targeted for future upgrading except under the “Leakage Reduction Programme”, but we learn that between 2014-2019, the utility invested €69m into various projects in Tipperary, with an estimated €65m, once again being ‘pumped’ (pardon the pun) into other un-named projects, up until 2024.

[None of which I might add, includes even a sandbag or a sewage blocker, being offered to Thurles town businesses or residents, and OMG, do you think, with local elections occurring in 2024, will the local electorate remember?]

Pending the ‘Commission for Regulation of Utilities’ approval; a further €136m will be also invested beyond 2024.

Speaking after a meeting with Tipperary County Council’s elected representatives yesterday, ‘Operations Lead‘ speaking for Irish Water, Ms Catherine McDonough said; “Irish Water is committed to providing quality water and wastewater services for the people of Tipperary. There is a strategic and targeted approach to infrastructure developments and proper investment is allocated for improving water and wastewater treatment plants, strengthening networks, supporting housing and economic growth, and protecting the environment. All of which are providing a more quality service for now and years to come.

As part of the Leakage Reduction Programme, almost 30km of old and problematic watermains across the county have been replaced in Newport, Kilcommon, Garrykennedy, Ballyglass, Tullakeady, Clonmore, Thurles, Clonmel and Templetouhy; and next year we plan to replace approximately 17km throughout the county.

This year has been challenging so far for certain parts of Tipperary with the warm weather and drought we experienced. This put some water supplies under immense pressure and resulted in some water restrictions, outages, loss of water pressure, and in some cases, Boil Water Notices.

I want to thank the people of Tipperary for playing their part in conserving water throughout the Summer and for having patience while we tried to restore their water supply. We have invested a lot in the local infrastructure to limit the impact this can have. We have accomplished a significant amount with our colleagues in Tipperary County Council over the last number of years, and we have more work to do as we continue providing a quality service for the people of Tipperary “.

Irish Water are also investing €65 million to upgrade and standardise disinfection systems across Ireland. In Tipperary, 21 Water Treatment Plants have had upgrades of their disinfection systems to date and upgrades at the remaining eight plants will be completed by the end of 2023.

The National Water Resources Plan is Irish Water’s plan to identify how we will provide a safe, sustainable, secure and reliable water supply to our customers for now and into the future whilst safeguarding the environment.
It will set out how we will balance the supply and demand for drinking water over the short, medium, and long term and ensure we have a safe, sustainable, secure and reliable drinking water supply for everyone.

North Tipperary is included in the Regional Water Resources Plan for the Eastern and Midlands region – and was recently adopted by IW. The remaining parts of Tipperary will be included in the Regional Water Resources Plan for the south-east which will be published for public consultation in 2023.

More limited details on the plan are available HERE.

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Community Safety Grants Of €2 Million To Be Reinvested From Proceeds Of Crime.

  • 22 community projects to receive grants between €5,000 – €150,000
  • Community Safety Innovation Fund reinvests proceeds of crime, as seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau, back into communities
  • Funding will support delivery of innovative projects to build stronger, safer communities
  • Fund increased to €3million next year under Budget 2023 – a 50 per cent increase

Minister for Justice Mrs Helen McEntee has today announced the allocation of grants totalling €2 million, to successful applicants to the Community Safety Innovation Fund.

It is the first round of grants given out since Minister McEntee and Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath established the Community Safety Innovation Fund which reinvests the proceeds of crime seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau, in local projects to build stronger, safer communities.

22 community projects across the country are set to benefit from grants ranging from €5,000 to €150,000, which will support the delivery of innovative projects to improve community safety in their local areas.

The Community Safety Innovation Fund was established in April 2021 and €2 million was allocated to it under Budget 2022 – and this will increase to €3 million next year under Budget 2023.

Minister McEntee stated: “This fund reflects the successes of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in identifying and seizing the ill-gotten gains of criminals. Equally, people across Ireland are working tirelessly in their communities to prevent crime from taking hold and make their local areas safer.

Working together, we will build stronger, safer communities. By putting this money back into the community, we can show that there is a direct link between the activities of law enforcement and improving community safety.

Based on the high quality of proposals received, I believe the successful projects have the potential to have a real impact on their respective communities.

I also want to encourage those who applied this year but did not receive funding to apply next year – we are increasing the size of the fund by 50 per cent under Budget 2023. My Department will provide guidance on how to achieve a successful application”.

The funding call for the Community Safety Innovation Fund invited applications from community safety initiatives as well as groups co-funded with local authorities, NGOs and community organisations working on issues relevant to community safety and youth justice.

The fund opened for applications in April 2022 and a total of 124 were received by the deadline of 8 June.

Minister McEntee added: “Community Safety is about people being safe and, just as importantly, feeling safe within their communities. It’s vital that we empower our communities to proactively address concerns and build stronger and safer communities.

One of the objectives of this fund was to encourage the development of innovative ways to improve community safety from those people who best understand local community safety needs. Each project has detailed how best the community wants to prevent crime and their proposals reflect community priorities and local safety issues“.

Minister McEntee will today visit the Dublin North Inner City Local Community Safety Partnership based in Dublin’s North Inner-City and the Meath Travellers Workshop, two organisations that will receive funding for projects to improve community safety under the initiative.

The Dublin Local Community Safety Partnership have received funding for a Community Safety Warden Scheme, which will help people safely enjoy the recreational space in Wolfe Tone Park and its environs through the employment of local community safety wardens.

The Meath Travellers Workshop engages with young members of the Travelling community who may be vulnerable to falling into crime across Meath.

The development of the Community Safety Innovation Fund was a key commitment under Justice Plan 2022, as part of the broader objective to drive community participation in a new approach to make communities safer, and work across government and with State agencies to support this goal.

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Social Protection & Public Expenditure Announce Dates For Budget Payments.

Minister for Social Protection Mrs Heather Humphreys and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Mr Michael McGrath have confirmed the dates of when eight different lump sum payments will be doled out between now and Christmas.

The promised Autumn double payment will take effect from next Monday October 17th, benefitting some 1.4 million Irish residents.

The promised double child benefit payment will be paid on the week beginning November 1st., while the fuel allowance lump sum, of €400, will come into effect during the week commencing November 14th next.

On the same date, (November 14th), the promised €200 living alone allowance lump sum payment will be made to some 234,000 people.

There will be a €500 cost of living payment made to those in receipt of the working family payment, and a €500 disability support grant will also be paid over that same time period.

From November 21st next, a €500 carers support grant payment will be made to over 130,000 carers.

The welcome annual double payment Christmas bonus will be paid on the week commencing December 5th, 2022

With effect from January 2023; welfare increases of €12 per week will come into being, including a major expansion of the fuel allowance scheme.

No specific dates have been agreed yet in relation to the first of 3 promised electricity credits, due to be paid in November/December.
Given the level of uncertainty and volatility in ever increasing cost of living, the question of further payments will be kept under continuous review by the Government.

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Aspects Of Thurles Centenary Co-op IT System Compromised.

In a message to their milk suppliers; on Monday last, we understand that Centenary Thurles Co-operative Society have advised farmers to monitor their bank accounts, their email service, and any other forms of stored data, in order to become aware of possible suspicious activity, over the coming days.

We understand that the Thurles Co-operative Society is working to resolve a suspected breach in their current IT system.

The Co-operative Society, run by the local farming community for the mutual benefit of its members and the Society, acknowledge that they have identified certain IT regularities within their system, but for security reasons have declined to further comment on what aspect of their system has been compromised.

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Public Efforts To Remove Checkpoint Charlie Are Underway In Thurles.

It was Fianna Fáil Cllr. Mr Seamus Hanafin who first confirmed that “Checkpoint Charlie”, latter, also known by the handle “Slievenamon Road Car Park” has reverted once more to a “pay and display system”.
Not to be out done Fianna Fáil Cllr. Sean Ryan, was quickly out of school again, offering this now historic information, before promising to inform the public on exactly how much of local tax payer funds had been totally and utterly squandered without their permission.

With regards to the matter of wasted tax payer funding, both men have since remained tight lipped, in the knowledge that taxpayers don’t really need to know, and sure same can be recouped by simply raising local property tax by 10%, as was the case some weeks previously.
Currently, the rumour is that the overall installation of “Checkpoint Charlie” was a whopping €95,000 plus. (Add another few thousand Euro for removing it.)

This brings me to another question, which does need answering.
With Tipperary Co. Council having totally succeeded in ensuring that Thurles town centre businesses are for the most part no longer economic, how much profit has car parking charges rendered to the coffers of Thurles Municipal District?
Maybe those intent on running for the 5 year post, as elected representative on Thurles Municipal District council; latter to be set by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in May or June of 2024, might try to find out.

Since “Checkpoint Charlie’s” conception, there have been ongoing issues with this barrier system. Constantly out of order and regularly interfered with by ‘uncouth barbarians’ residing locally, thus greatly angering and frustrating car park users.
Tipp Co. Co., led by Chief Executive Mr Joe MacGrath, have now decided to revert back to the “pay and display” system, which was working perfectly, previously with their Parking App.

The barriers, themselves have now been removed, but meanwhile, the practice of tightening roadways and junctions, by Tipp. Co. Co’s. Traffic Consultants and Road Engineers, has already taken the first steps in its physical removal, with a motorised vehicle of some variety, already used to re construct its physical structure (See image above herewith).

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