Part of the beautiful Lough Derg shore line viewed from Co.Tipperary
Branches of the Shannon Protection Alliance in Nenagh, Co Tipperary and Athlone Co. Westmeath have welcomed the setting up of a further lobby group in Limerick, which oppose the plan to extract millions of litres of water from Lough Derg’s shoreline in Co.Tipperary. This new opposition comes as a result of Dublin City Council unveiling plans to extract 500 million litres of water from Lough Derg to supply the greater Dublin region.
This controversial plan would envisage water being extracted at a rate of 500 million litres per day from an extraction point, possibly to be constructed at Terryglass, a village situated in North Tipperary.
Dublin City Council plans to pipe this water to Garryhinch Bog in Co. Offaly, where it intends to design “an innovative water based eco-park with fishing, boating, cycling, water and leisure sports on 500 acres, with a major water storage reservoir.”
The council expect that the water stored at this reservoir will not only be a new water source for the greater Dublin area, but will also supply counties Westmeath, Offaly, Meath, Wicklow and Kildare.
The project is set to cost €540m and will create an estimated 1,000 construction jobs over three years as well as generating ongoing, sustainable, long-term jobs in the Midlands in the management of the eco-park activities and a water plant.
Originally the plan was to extract the water from Lough Ree, but following massive public pressure from local communities in Athlone and despite the fact that the distance between Athlone and Dublin is shorter than that between Lough Derg and our capital city the vision has now changed, with Lough Derg becoming the favoured target for this extraction point.
Opposition to Dublin City Council’s vision for North Tipperary has been relatively muted, when compared to the military precision of organised opposition mounted from the Lough Ree area, where groups marched on our Dail last year demonstrating strong resistance to taking water from their local pond.
Dublin! Dublin! Dublin! everything appears these days to be centred in and around Dublin. A plague on our Capital city say the dwellers from “Beyond the Pale.”
It now appears that this city formally known as “The Pale” is being promoted as a place for “Fun and Craic” in a new solo run using €1 million of our Tourism campaign funding.
"The Pale"
The word “pale ” (An Pháil) derives ultimately from the Latin word palus, meaning a stake, used to support a fence and from this came the figurative meaning of boundary and eventually the phrase “beyond the pale” as something outside the boundary of an area from Dundalk to Carrickmines Castle, Dublin known today as gullible “Rural Ireland.”
Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin TD said that this new radio and online campaign by Tourism Ireland would be seen by an audience of over 12 million, British tourists. She correctly states that Britain is the largest single source market for visitors to the island of Ireland and provides more than half of all visitors to the island. This campaign will involve direct marketing and social media initiatives, as well as promotions with tour operators and air and sea carriers. It will capitalises on the British market and intensively promote Dublin to the British holidaymaker.
Frank Magee of Dublin Tourism states: “The capital city attracted 1.5 million visitors from Britain last year, which resulted in five million bed nights, but losing its market share in Britain. Dublin has been the driver in Irish tourism, bolstering the Irish figures in recent years and there’s a realisation that if Dublin doesn’t do well, Ireland doesn’t do well.”
What a load of verbal diarrhea Mr Magee. Ireland’s false reputation of being an expensive holiday destination is spread by Tourists who spend too much time in Dublin drinking €3.50 cups of coffee served by staff who do not speak English .
Come on down to Tipperary folks if you want a holiday offering value for your money. Thurles is the ancestral home of your head of state, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and it is here you can experience friendly relaxation, carefree fun and craic, your children can run wild and run free, the air is clean and you can find your car still parked where you left it the night before.
It would appear rural Irish taxpayers, for far to long, have been the silent and subservient suppliers of ‘money on demand’ to support Dublin tourism, so let us keep things in perspective remembering that in 2009 the Irish Hotels Federation represented almost 1,000 hotels and guesthouses throughout the whole country, which in turn employ over 59,000 people. It seems only proper that those beyond the Pale should like their fair slice of the tourism promotion cake.
How Much Money Was Spent Promoting Our Capital City Dublin In The Past Ten Or So Years?
€5m for “The Monument of Light” or “Spire Of Light” erected in O’Connell Street, better known by the names: ‘The Spike’, ‘The Stiletto in the Ghetto’, ‘The Erection at the Intersection’, ‘The Poker next to Croker’ and ‘The Stiffy in the Liffey’. At the time of its erection on O’Connell Street in 2003, the Spire Of Light was described as “self-cleaning”, but Dublin’s city council now concede that its maintenance cost €205,000 last year and will increase to at least €218,000 this year, and thats before they pick up a discarded chip bag.
Figures released show that there are 57,516 passport applications waiting to be processed in Dublin and Cork passport offices, but a new service has been introduced to prioritise applications for people with immediate travel plans within three days. The cost of this new service to the taxpayer however has not been disclosed.
North Tipperary Fine Gael TD, Deputy Noel Coonan stated: “Passport applications with ‘absolute proof of travel’ are now guaranteed to be processed within three working days. Applicants should make contact with the passport service and provide proof where applicable. While the backlog is still hugely excessive at 57,516 as of July 6th, and the Government is still struggling to alleviate the problem, at least a new fast turnaround time has been introduced. Additional temporary staff have commenced work in the passport service in the last few weeks to clear the backlog and while this is welcome news, I’m disappointed that the Government did not appoint extra staff before an enormous backlog had formed and the problem had already snowballed. Until now, the fastest turnaround time was open only to applicants who needed to travel for urgent humanitarian reasons but this new service will prioritise applications for people with immediate travel plans.”
Information released by the Foreign Affairs Minister also revealed that it is taking eight weeks to process applications received through the ordinary post channels. Passport demand is now running at 14% higher than this time in 2009. Unfortunately, the Minister was unable to confirm how many North Tipperary people are waiting for their passports to be processed.
Of the 57,516 applications waiting to be processed, 12,400 of these were received by the Passport Office in Cork. Applications submitted via the Passport Express service (Swiftpost in the Republic and NIPX in the North), available through local post offices, are being processed within 20 working days. This 20 working day guarantee is kept under review. There appears to be no difference in waiting times for a Passport Renewal or First Time Applications.
But wait for it – Yes, you have guessed correctly, an additional fee to those seeking passports, may apply in respect of such new prioritised applications.
Clonoulty/Rossmore Macra na Feirme is once again proud to announce details of it’s 2010 International Miss Macra Festival, to be held this year from Thursday 29th July to Monday 2nd August.
Now in it’s 39th year, this popular festival has continued to go from strength to strength. This years festival will see girls coming from all across Ireland to compete for the honour of becoming Miss Macra 2010 and taking over from the 2009 winner Edel Ronan from the Carbery region in Co Cork.
The festival committee have once again chosen the luxurious Dundrum House Hotel, which boasts a top quality golf course and leisure centre, as its venue. This oasis in the Golden Vale provides the perfect escape for those of you seeking relaxation and fun during this forthcoming August bank holiday weekend.
The committee send a huge ‘Thanks You‘ to all their sponsors, host families, local businesses and especially to Dundrum House Hotel, Michael’s Jewellers Thurles, The Nu Du Lounge, Clonoulty, and to Tipp Co-Op in Tipperary Town, to name but a few.
The festival will return to the heart of the community on Thursday 29th July with the annual traditional Ceilli and welcoming session, for the contestants in Clonoulty Community Hall. Here the contestants will meet with their host families, latter who accept them into the bosom of their families for the duration of the weekend festival. Host families are a very central part of this strong community based festival and and are made up solely of families who have long standing connections with the festival, assuring each contestant a warm welcome.
As part of the 200-year anniversary of the iconic Swiss cottage situated in Cahir, Co Tipperary, a family day will be held tomorrow.
The Swiss cottage was built around 1810 at Kilcommon, Cahir, County Tipperary. The building is a very fine example of cottage ornée, or ornamental cottage. It was originally part of the estate of Lord and Lady Cahir, and used mainly as a hunting and fishing lodge and for entertaining guests. The cottage was probably designed by Anglo-Welsh architect John Nash 1752-1835, famous for his designing of much of Regency London.
John Nash came to work in Ireland as an architect after 1793 and also designed St Paul’s Church of Ireland church in Cahir, which was built in 1818 and one of only two known Nash designed churches to survive.
Cahir, may have been built by Richard Butler, 12th Baron Caher, 1st Earl of Glengall (1775-1819), who married in 1793, Emily Jeffereys, daughter of James St John Jeffereys of Blarney Castle, Co.Cork. Milady Cahir is referred to by Napoleon Bonaparte’s Josephine ( Joséphine de Beauharnais) in connection with the Château de Malmaison, latter formerly her residence and was from 1800 to 1802 the headquarters of the French government.
The Swiss Cottage, after many years of shameful neglect, was fully and painstakingly restored by the OPW starting in 1985 and was opened to the public again in 1989.
The family day will include an angling demonstration, guided woodland walks and demonstrations of traditional crafts such as thatching and stone carving. Admission for the day is free and programme of events start at 12.00 noon tomorrow until 5.00pm. If you are out and about for a leisurely drive this weekend, this event is well worth a visit.
Our local water ways, namely the river Suir, which flows through the town of Thurles and the Cabragh Wetlands on the outskirts of the town, are particularly attractive at this time of year.
The native White Water Lily (Nymphaea alba) and the invasive Yellow flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) are in full bloom in Cabragh Wetlands, while on the river Suir our year round resident Mute Swans (Dan and Doris) have finally introduced their surviving three cygnets, hatched in mid May, to the local residents.
The male (called a Cob), and the female (called a Pen) birds, usually attempt to mate for life, although it is not true to say that if one of the birds were to die, that the other would necessarily pine away. It is very possible for an adult bird to find an alternative mate.
Their nest is a huge mound of mixed material, normally assorted vegetation, consisting of sticks dried grasses and rushes, are constructed at the water’s edge. The nest is built by the female, while the male supplies the materials.
The female lays up to seven eggs between late April and early May. Both sexes incubate the eggs, which hatch within 35-41 days. The young birds (called cygnets) sometimes ride playfully on their parents’ backs as seen in this video clip.
The youngsters remain with the adult birds for four or five months before being driven from the breeding ground in mid Autumn.
Swans normally find enough food in the wild without supplementary feeding. It is only in freezing weather that extra food can be helpful. Many people like feeding bread to swans and while this is unlikely to do them any real harm in the long term, it is no substitute for the proper diet that the birds themselves will seek out. Grain, such as wheat, and vegetable matter, especially lettuce and potatoes, can be fed to swans.
Food should be thrown into the water to avoid encouraging the young birds onto the bank, thus putting their lives in danger.
A visit to Cabragh Wetlands is such a peaceful experience and for those who enjoy a closeness with nature, it is well worth a visit, particularly in the evening time.
Music used in the video clip is by Johannes Brahms, entitled “The Cradle Song”.
This Park is owned and managed by Shannon Development and is promoted in co-operation with IDA Ireland, Thurles Chamber, Thurles Town Council, Tipperary North County Council, Thurles Marketing Group and the private sector.
The new building, ‘Innovation Works 3′, is now the third building in this Technology Park and brings the total investment by Shannon Development in this parkland venture to €7.4 million.
This new building comprises a 21,500 sq/ft two-storey office building and associated site works including an increase to the existing car parking area, bringing a total industrial space in the Park to now over 45,000sq/ft.
Shannon Development has now 57 Business Technology Parks and Industrial Estates right across the Shannon Region which includes counties Clare, North Kerry, Limerick, South Offaly and North Tipperary. These parks feature turn key state of the art Office Accommodation, Distribution Warehousing and Incubation Spaces, to meet the demands of small or large scale businesses with either local or international interests.
Tipperary Technology Park is home to a number of investment projects and it has a core facility for incubating and growing new Irish technology companies. Present clients range from those operating in the cutting edge sphere of nano-biomaterials, to clients in digital cinema, to the international services sector and highlight Thurles as a superb location for entrepreneurship, in both tourism and business.
Businesses requiring further information on Tipperary Technology Park should contact Mr Brian Keating, Development Manager, at Shannon Development Tipperary Technology Park, Thurles, Tel: 086-2843803 or 0504-29300, or email: keatingb@shannondevelopment.ie
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Mr Batt O’Keeffe TD, officially opened the building, against a backdrop of over 7,125 people currently unemployed in North Tipperary and with 196 further persons having just joined the dole queue in May of this year.
The Irish national overall unemployment figures now stand at over 13.7%, registering the highest number of unemployed people ever, in the history of the Irish State, with 439,100 now in receipt of support.
Twelve people were rescued from the River Shannon on the Tipperary Clare border, near Killaloe Bridge late night. Two of these were plucked from the freezing waters having jumped from an overladen vessel on which they were partying and which had begun to take on water.
It is understood that 12 adults, all men in their 20′s, who had been attending a house party near the shoreline, decided to go boating in a 22 foot long speedboat.
Killaloe Bridge
A tragedy was only narrowly averted by the quick response of the emergency services, who managed to reach the scene within minutes of the alarm being raised.
The vessel was almost 3 kms south of the bridge and about 500 metres from the shore, in the darkness, when it began to take on water. Two of the occupants are understood to have jumped into the freezing water to attempt to swim ashore.
Rescuers found an amount of alcohol cans and bottles, in the area around the boat and most of those on board are understood to have been wearing inadequately fitting life jackets, for the intended voyage.
Killaloe Coast Guard spokesman Mr. Michael Quigley said: “So much could have gone wrong on Friday night and there is no doubt twelve lives could so easily have been lost.”
He also warned that when people gets into trouble, they should only ring 999 or 112 and not a member of the public or individual Coast Guard members. This only wastes time and can put lives further at risk.
Killaloe and Ballina is an area much sought out by tourists visiting the Clare and Tipperary region.
Weather conditions for the annual St.Patrick’s Day Parade 2010 in Thurles were excellent this year and this led to a great atmosphere here in Liberty Square.
This was the biggest and best parade, in living memory, to be held in Thurles, with a record 60 entries, each filled with great imagination, colour and a wide variety of topic. Over €3,000 in cash, prizes and medals were handed out on the day.
The parade was viewed from the reviewing stand by local representatives from the Army, Police, all Religious and Political sectors and the Mayor of Thurles Mrs Evelyn Nevin.
The Parade was officially started by His Grace Dr. Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel and the commentary for this event was provided by Thomas Gleeson, Committee Chairman.
Over 100 business people, clubs, schools, organisations and individuals were involved in the overall celebrations and the organising committee extended a big thank you to all who assisted in any way.
Entertainment commenced in Liberty Square at 2.30pm with excellent music supplied by “The Moynihan Brothers“. Colourful street stilt-walkers from Cork Circus, who appeared representing the four elements, “Air, Fire, Earth and Water”, entertaining both young and old assembled. Other entertainers included Jack Flash (Juggler), Aussie the Emu, Hoppy and Presto, and Face Painters and a Balloon Modellers were also very much evidence, adding greatly to the parade’s overall huge success and enjoyment for the huge crowd assembled.
Here is a small piece of live video footage to give our readers just a small taste of the day’s enjoyment.
The Rosegreen Players won the prize for the best float with their entry “Balls at the Dail” with Trevor Sergeant and Willie O’Dea as the ugly sisters while Mary Harney played the part of Cinderella, and all having a ball. (Who said Mary was in New Zealand?)
The parade included a total of 9 bands, a record for a St. Paddy’s Parade in Thurles.
St Patrick’s Day 2010 Parade Winners in Thurles
Overall Winner: Darmody’s Bar Littleton (Potholes in Ireland) Best School Entry: Upperchurch National School Best Traditional Irish Entry: Clonoulty and Rossmore Vintage Club Best Float: Rosegreen Players (Balls in the Dail) Best Float Runner Up: Tipperary Institute (Pacman & The Mario Bros) Best Old Time and Vintage: Thurles & District Vintage Club Best Local Club: Stakelums Hardware Social Club (Snow White) Best Marching Band: Blarney Brass and Reed Band Best Float Display Cabra Wetlands Best Walking Group: The Special Olympics Best Dressed windows1st: Sammons Chemist Shop, 2nd: Virgo Liberty Square, 3rd: The Pike Take-away Other Prize Winners were:-
Paddy Oz Style: Catch your own Leprechaun: World Taekwondo: Two to Avoid Potholes:The Order of Malta:Holycross Beavers: Thurles Gaels: Durlas Og: Thurles Brownies: Save the Animals:1932 Road Roller.
The youngest prize winner was Jordon Cullen, aged eight, with his creative theme “Save and Protect Wild Life.”
The committee would like to thank the following businesses for their sponsorship:- Bookworm, Dew Valley Foods, Thurles Sarsfields, Dunnes Stores, Top Oil, Cleary’s Toys and Nursery, Pat Hayes (The Arch Bar and HQ Nightclub), and Thurles and Tipperary Institute.
Thurles born Fianna Fail Minister Mary Hanafin has been given a new role in government, following Tuesday’s Government Cabinet reshuffle.
Mary Hanafin takes over the post of Tourism, Culture, and Sport which was previously known as Arts, Sport and Tourism from Minister Martin Cullen, who resigned from government due to health problems.
Mary has represented the middle class constituency of Dun Laoghaire for some 13 years and has been a successful minister in the high-spending departments of education and, until this reshuffle, headed up the Department of Social and Family Affairs , latter which will be now known as the Department of Social Protection and will also now take over responsibility for the recently disgraced department known as FÁS.
Minister Hanafin is the daughter of former Senator Des Hanafin and his wife Mona, sister of Senator John Hanafin, and first cousin of North Tipperary County Councillor Seamus Hanafin.
Mary Hanafin, a 51-year-old former teacher and experienced politician, has rejected media and Fianna Fail backbenchers claims that suggest this new post is a demotion in her political career, but sees this move as an opportunity to develop and market Ireland properly, both at home and abroad.
In accepting the post she stressed the economic potential of culture, stating, “The day you lose sight of creativity, arts and culture, what this country is famous for, will be a very sad one, I intend to get out there and promote it.” she said.
Here in Thurles her acceptance of the Tourism post is greatly welcomed, in anticipation that funding in relation to Tourism will now not be more fairly distributed within the Shannon Region. It is the opinion of the vast majority of interested tourism supporters in North Tipperary, that funding given to the Shannon Region ends up advertising the West of Ireland e.g. Clare, Limerick and the Shannon basin, at the expense of its poorer neighbouring towns like Thurles, Templemore and Roscrea.
Generally, Mary is regarded as a decent media performer and most certainly gives the impression of being considerably more competent at her job than some of her cabinet colleagues. This is borne out by the fact that when given the task of being the minister who oversaw cuts in Social Welfare payments, she arrived at the other end relatively unscathed.
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