Community News - Thurles Information

Death Of Maura Ryan, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death, yesterday Thursday 20th April 2023, of Mrs Maura B. Ryan (Simon) (née Hickey), Ballydaff, Borrisoleigh, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Pre-deceased by her husband Simon; Mrs Ryan passed away while in the care of staff at Fenor Hill Nursing Home, Urlingford, Co. Kilkenny.

Her passing is most deeply regretted by her family; John, Billy, Beth (Maher), Bridget and Simon, daughters-in-law Trish, Anna and Kate, sons-in-law Sean and Stephen, grandchildren Ailish, Eimear, Simon, William, Padddy, Ellen, Simon, Sean, Hannah, Jacob and Simon, great grandchild Gabriel, brother James, nephews, nieces, extended relatives, neighbours and friends.

Requiescat in Pace.

Funeral Arrangements.

The earthly remains of Mrs Ryan will repose at O’Dwyer’s Funeral Home, Upperchurch, Thurles on Saturday afternoon April 22nd, from 4:30pm, with removal at 7:00pm same evening, to be received into Ileigh Church, Knocknaharney, Ileigh, Borrisoleigh, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. .
Mrs Ryan will further repose for Requiem Mass on Sunday morning, April 23rd, at 11:00am, followed by interment in the adjoining graveyard.

The extended Ryan family wish to express their appreciation for your understanding at this difficult time and have made arrangements for those persons wishing to send messages of condolence, to use the link shown HERE.

Suaimhneas síoraí dá h-anam dílis.

EPA Announces Increased Funding Of €16m For Research To Address Climate & Environmental Challenges.

EPA announces increased funding of €16m for new environmental and climate research.

Research proposals are invited for research across the following areas:

Nature-based solutions that can benefit the environment and society.
Advancing climate science in an Irish context.
Identifying effective options to adapt to climate changeThe use data of and digitalisation for environmental protection.
How society can be enabled in its transition to a sustainable future.

Successful researchers will work closely with policy makers and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that the research is impactful and effectively informs environmental policy in Ireland.

Environmental and climate research in Ireland today received a boost with the announcement by the EPA of up to €16 million in funding for new research projects, representing a significant increase over previous years. The EPA is inviting proposals from the research community for innovative research projects to support the development and implementation of environmental policies in Ireland.

Announcing the EPA funding call, Dr Eimear Cotter, Director of the Office of Evidence and Assessment said: “Scientific research and innovation are playing an increasingly important role in informing how governments and society can respond to the challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation. Today’s EPA research call will address knowledge gaps, both current and future, and ultimately will provide robust evidence to support the implementation of effective environmental policies in Ireland.”

Areas of research include exploring how nature-based solutions can benefit the environment and society, advancing climate science in an Irish context, and identifying effective options to adapt to climate change. Cross-cutting areas are also highlighted, such as how data and digitalisation can be utilised for environmental protection and how society can be enabled in its transition to a sustainable future.

Dr Darragh O’Neill, EPA Research Manager, said, “In this year’s call, we are pleased to include both targeted and open topics to support the research community to address specific evidence needs as well as to explore emerging research areas relevant to environmental policy. With up to €16m available under this call, we look forward to receiving proposals for innovative and impactful projects.”

The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Under this year’s call, the EPA is delighted to be partnering with the Geological Survey Ireland, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Met Éireann to co-fund projects in areas of mutual interest.

Further details about the 2023 EPA Research Call are available HERE

Chief Executive Of Tipperary Co. Co. Breaks Silence To Respond To Thurles.Info.

In a reply, received from Mr Joe MacGrath (Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council), through his Secretary Ms Evelyn Harty, Mr MacGrath breaks a 3 year silence to discuss road craters on Thurles Roads.

Mr MacGrath has specifically requested that we publish his reply, now shown hereunder in full.
To refresh the memory of our readers, please read HERE, the blog which we published seven day ago, highlighting the current state of just about every road in Thurles town, and to which Mr MacGrath now replies.

But First It’s Competition Time:

**Guess on what road surface this 15.24 centimeter *(6 inch)* deep crater exists in Thurles. Answers can be posted** **HERE**.
**A prize of a €20 Eason book token awaits the first person to identify the spot.** **Competition** **is open to all** **Tipperary Residents**.

The reply sent by Mr MacGrath via his secretary Ms Evelyn Harty was composed on Tuesday April 18th at 10:02am, but did not arrive in my mailbox until yesterday morning April 19th.

Note: A copy of my initial email correspondence to Mr MacGrath HERE was carbon copied to Mr Eamon Lonergan, Ms Sharon Scully (Thurles M.D) and engineer Mr Thomas Duffy, by Mr MacGrath or an instructed staff member.

In accordance with Mr MacGrath’s wishes, please find his reply printed in full hereunder:

“Dear Mr. Willoughby,
Thanks for your email in relation to damage to roads at various locations in Thurles.
I have arranged to have these locations examined and can advise that:
The first photo is an Uisce Eireann excavation which is not the responsibility of Tipperary County Council.
The second photo is on the N75 bridge crossing in Thurles. TII has programmed works for this section of road which we expect will be undertaken by the end of May.
The third photo is Clongour which is on the 2023 works programme to get a full road reinstatement within the next month.

I note that you have published this matter on social media in advance of giving the Council an opportunity to respond, which is disappointing.
Please confirm that you will publish the full text of this response on the same social media outlets to ensure that a full, fair and balanced picture is conveyed to readers.

Best regards,

Joe.

In a reply sent today, we seek to thank Mr MacGrath for his reply and indeed we express our surprise at receiving such, since over the past 3 years; and despite forwarding a complaint to the Standards In Public Office Commission (SIPO), Mr MacGrath had failed to reply to information requests sent directly to him.
Complaints were also sent to SIPO regarding elected local councillors and their officials, but to no avail. Please see full details in relation to SIPO published on September 8th 2020, HERE and HERE.

Instructions sent by Corporate Services, at Tipperary Co. Council, in September 2020, regarding the then Code of Conduct by local Municipal District Councillors, their local officials, you Mr MacGrath and Mr Marcos O’Connor, in relation to the destruction of Thurles Heritage, namely “Great Famine Double Ditch”, were totally ignored; hence the need to publish “this matter on social media in advance of giving the Council an opportunity to respond” and which you describe as “disappointing”.

Your intending ‘chastising statement’, quote “I note that you have published this matter on social media in advance of giving the Council an opportunity to respond, which is disappointing”, is viewed by me personally as being gravely duplicitous, since you and your officials have refused to respond to any previous queries sent by me in the past.

In relation to all pictures in our report; Thurles.Info identified where the craters were to be found, in order to allow your engineers to quickly grab a shovel.
I should confirm that Picture No. I was not caused by operations undertaken by Irish Water, and was repaired on same day as was reported by us, (on April 13th, I am reliably informed on Facebook).
Irish Water or not; please look at the picture again while noting that Tipperary Council retains responsibility for Irish Water and queries continue to be accepted by the Water Services Section of the Council.
This initial pothole repair was undertaken by ‘Highway Maintenance’, before it ravelled yet again and was left for some 5 weeks, before local residents got fed-up driving around it.

The crater on Photo No. 2, at the Barry’s Bridge crossing, latter the main escape route out of Thurles when seeking employment, and which you expect to be fixed by the end of May next, was fixed two days ago, having existed since before Xmas.

The crater on Photo No. 3; one of a multitude of such on Clongour Road, caused by machinery which operated on the now sinking, newly built, Slievenamon Road area, (between Thurles Shopping Centre and Lidl); local residents are happy to note that same “will get a full road reinstatement within the next month”. However, based on my experience, we warn residents of that area about holding their breath.

We now invite Mr Joe MacGrath, when driving next to Nenagh District Office, “To Halt Awhile” here in Thurles and view the state of our current road structure.
We haven’t identified the area of the crater posed in the Competition Picture shown above, other than to state that same is on a roadway in Thurles. By failing to identify the positioning of same, it is hoped that those responsible for road maintenance in Thurles, may be stirred into action, thus winning our Eason book token.

Competition Clue: The crater in the picture above has existed since at least November of last Year (2022).
Same further confirms that Thurles residents get nothing in return for paying vehicle road tax and nothing for paying local property Tax (LPT), as successive governments continue to permit the ‘skinning’ of motorists through the purchasing of diesel, petrol, electricity and parking charges.

Visiting Restrictions Introduced At Nenagh Hospital, Due To Resurgence Of Covid-19.

Visiting restrictions have once more been introduced at Nenagh Hospital, Nenagh, North Co. Tipperary, following a new outbreak of Covid-19.

The UL Hospitals Group latter made up of 6 hospital sites in the Midwest; have stated that they regret the inconvenience which this restriction will cause to inpatients and visiting loved ones, but same restrictions are indeed necessary to protect the health and safety of both patients and staff while keeping essential healthcare services open for patients.

Exceptions to the restrictions will be made on certain compassionate grounds i.e. patients critically ill or at end-of-life, and patients with dementia.

All appropriate infection control precautions, we are informed, are being followed to control the further spreading COVID-19 infection amongst the immediate and wider Nenagh community.

News of an increase of Covid cases in Thurles has also been confirmed, per local Knowledge.

Back in China, some three months past, same country experienced an unprecedented surge in cases that fuelling global concern over a newer Covid variant.

Leaked details from an internal NHC medical network meeting suggested that as many as 250 million people in China had been infected in early December, including 37 million persons in just a single day.
Same news saw the response of countries, latter who clamped down restricting entry from Chinese travellers.
Professor Daniel Lucey at the US Dartmouth Geisel Medical School of Medicine, has warned that the medical community should be on the lookout for what could become Pi, Rho or Sigma — a variant that’s potentially more immune-evasive and more virulent than current Covid strains.

Note: All Supermarket outlets, and Thurles Shopping centre, with the exception of Lidl Thurles, daily maintain the presence of hand sanitiser, despite some complaints made to Lidl’s head office’s Customer Care Service at Tel. No. 01 9203010; latter which failed to fully rectify the situation.

Best to hold on to those face masks, well for the time being at least.

Death Of Nancy O’Connor, Formerly Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death, on Wednesday 20th July 2022, of Mrs Anne Ruth (Nancy) O’Connor (née Barlow), Clarecastle, Co. Clare; Concord Travel, Ennis, Co. Clare; Maryland, USA, and formerly of Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Pre-deceased by her parents, brother-in-law Hugh, ex-husband Bill, brothers Sean and Con, sisters Dympna and Carrie (Acheson, former Senator & Fianna Fáil TD, Tipperary South); Mrs O’Connor passed away peacefully, while in her 85th year.

Her passing is most deeply regretted by her loving daughter Caroline (McDermott), son-in-law Kieran, grand-children Caragh and Derry, grandson-in-law Tyler, sisters Trass (Honan-former Irish Fianna Fáil politician) and Clare (Fogarty), brother Aidan, nephews, nieces, extended relatives neighbours and friends both here in Ireland and the USA.

Requiescat in Pace.

Funeral Arrangements.

The earthly ashes of Mrs O’Connor, will be received into the Church of St. Patrick, Kilfeacle, Co. Tipperary at 11.00am, to repose for Requiem Mass on Saturday morning next, April 22nd, followed immediately afterwards by the interment of her ashes in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Cashel Road, Brodeen, Tipperary Town.

The extended O’Connor family wish to express their appreciation for your understanding at this difficult time and have made arrangements for those persons wishing to send messages of condolence, to use the link shown HERE.

Suaimhneas síoraí dá h-anam dílis.