McDonald’s has confirmed that its new drive-thru restaurant in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, is scheduled to open on Wednesday, August 19th, 2026.
The opening will come almost one year after An Coimisiún Pleanála issued its final approval for the controversial development, bringing a lengthy planning process and months of local debate to an end.
The new restaurant is being constructed on a former industrial site at the junction of Slievenamon Road and the now once again delayed “Thurles Relief Road“, close to the Lidl supermarket and approximately 700 metres from Thurles town centre.
Plans provide for a single-storey restaurant measuring almost 479 square metres, together with a drive-thru lane, customer-ordering points, digital menu boards, car parking, accessible spaces, electric-vehicle charging bays and bicycle parking.
The development will also include outdoor seating, landscaping, lighting, signage, an electricity substation and changes to the existing vehicle entrance from the relief road.
Recruitment Begins Ahead of August Launch.
McDonald’s has begun recruiting full-time and part-time staff members for the new Thurles restaurant.
The recruitment advertisement confirms the August 19th opening date and states that successful applicants will receive paid training at other nearby McDonald’s restaurants during the weeks leading up to the launch. Advertised hourly pay for some adult employees is up to €14.25, depending on age and the terms of the new positions.
The recruitment drive is expected to create a significant number of new low paid hospitality jobs in the Thurles area, although the company has not publicly confirmed the restaurant’s total anticipated workforce.
Plans Attracted More Than 20 Objections.
McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland submitted its planning application for the Thurles development in September 2024.
The proposal proved controversial from the beginning, attracting more than 20 objections from residents and other interested parties.
Concerns raised during the initial planning process included the location of the outlet, traffic levels, road safety, litter, noise, opening hours and the proximity of the proposed restaurant to residential properties and childcare facilities.
Some objectors also raised public-health concerns relating to fast food and childhood obesity.
The development was originally intended to operate around the clock. However, permission ultimately restricted its opening hours to between 6am and 10pm, meaning the Thurles restaurant will not be permitted to trade on a 24-hour basis.
Tipperary County Council initially sought additional information from the applicant, including further details concerning traffic and the proposed operation of the development.
Documents submitted during that stage included an analysis indicating that the site would have space for a queue of approximately 32 vehicles, before waiting traffic would potentially reach the adjoining public road.
Council Permission Was Appealed
Tipperary County Council granted permission for the restaurant, subject to conditions, on April 9th, 2025.
That decision was subsequently appealed to the national planning authority by a third party, while a number of additional observations were submitted for consideration.
An Coimisiún Pleanála examined issues including traffic and pedestrian safety, flood risk, residential amenity, visual impact, town-centre development and the site’s proximity to the River Suir and the Lower River Suir Special Area of Conservation.
The Commission issued its decision on August 26th, 2025, upholding the council’s decision and granting permission with revised conditions.
In its formal order, the planning body determined that the development would not seriously damage the amenities of nearby properties or create unacceptable risks in relation to public health, flooding, traffic, pedestrian safety or visual amenity.
It also considered the mixed-use zoning of the former industrial land, Thurles’s status as a key regional town and the planning policies applying to the area.
Construction Work Underway
Site-clearance activity began in early 2026, allowing construction of the restaurant and associated infrastructure to proceed.
Information published locally indicated that the principal works were expected to take place between February and July, leaving several weeks for completion, staff training and final preparations before the planned August opening.
The development represents the latest chapter in efforts to bring a McDonald’s outlet to the former Erin Foods lands. A previous application connected to a proposed drive-thru restaurant at the wider site was submitted as far back as 2020 but was deemed incomplete shortly afterwards.
While the current project has continued to divide opinion locally, the August opening will introduce one of the world’s largest fast-food brands to Thurles and hopefully provide new employment opportunities for the town
For supporters, the development represents investment, additional consumer choice and the productive reuse of former industrial land.
For critics, concerns about traffic, litter, public health, late-evening activity and the effect of drive-thru development on the character of the area remain.
Barring any construction or operational delays, the first customers are expected to be welcomed through the doors of the new Thurles McDonald’s on August 19th.
10c over minimum wage? …wow, amazing, do they deduct from wages for food you don’t want to eat, and a uniform that is never updated (sometimes not even new to begin with) like other “super” local fast food restaurants have previously done, to offset this massive cost in wages to the company?
The following post is related to this story. Whilst I have no objection to McDonald’s restaurants, there’s a lot going on with planning applications in the town that need to be scrutinized. It has seemed to slipped past everyone Tipperary Star, Michael Lowry etc.
When it was announced that Lidl planned to move from Abbey Road to this location, there was also meant to be an innovation centre built with a “blue chip company” ready to move in.
The site has since been sold and planning permission most likely expired by now.
At the same time this story broke, Tipperary County Council bought the Lisbunny Industrial estate in Nenagh and to be seen as treating every town equally in the county, was supposedly signing a contract to acquire over 20 acres land in Clongour.
“These lands, formerly Thurles Driving Range, will be serviced with sewerage, water, telecommunications and road infrastructure. The lands will be developed by Tipperary County Council as serviced sites and available for marketing by the Council, Enterprise Ireland and I.D.A”
That land is apparently still owned by Tesco and currently up for sale on Daft.ie
So Thurles got nothing. Tipperary County Council went on to secure hundreds of jobs for the town of Nenagh including an aircraft maintenance facility.
Now on to the Apache Pizza restaurant in Liberty Square, formerly Subway.
So we entered the first lockdown in 2020 and the franchisee of Subway decides not to reopen. The Merrychef ovens and furnishings etc are advertised for sale on DoneDeal.ie. A planning application is submitted to Thurles Municipal District saying that the business is unviable unless the opening hours are extended to 12am. At the time I wondered why a sandwich shop would open until 12am when most takeaways would be shutting their doors at 11pm. A poster appeared in the window saying the Subway restaurant was reopening the 27th June 2020. It was later replaced with a poster saying the 27th of July 2020. It doesn’t reopen and later a To Let sign goes in the window, despite the letting not listed online. I looked for over two months on Daft.ie at the time to find it and never seen it listed on the site. Then an entirely different type of business opened. Apache Pizza had moved from Friar Street to Liberty Square.
Had people and traders in Thurles known subway was not reopening, I’m sure there would have been objections submitted to later opening hours. A pizzeria attracts a different type of customer in the late evenings than a sandwich shop. The kind of customers that have consumed alcohol and wee up against shop fronts. My complaint to An Bord Pleanala and Tipperary County Council at the time was never investigated.