Employment « Thurles Information

Update On Return Of Tipperary Related Artefacts

This excellent short film, hereunder, entitled “Just Saying,” produced by Kennedy Films Ltd & written/directed by Dave Tynan, could easily be Thurles town on any given night, on any given day, in any given week, in 2012.

Sydney, London & Canada have also swallowed up our youth & our mates, latter in their need to find some kind of honest employment. Some recent emigrants raised the fare to return home to the Cathedral Town this Christmas, many did not, but all who did have chosen, for financial reasons only, to return to a foreign land. Like the comment stated in this film, here in our beloved County Tipperary, for our emigrants there were ten reasons to go & one thousand tiny reasons to stay.

Last week we received a prompt reply from Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Mr Leo Varadkar regarding our request (Open Letter) for the return of “Tipperary Related Artefacts,” currently used to the benefit of Dublin’s economy, & much to the detriment of home spun Tourism, The Gathering, Adult Unemployment and Youth Emigration in North Tipperary, much of the latter real talent presently boosting foreign economies having been already subsidised by an over burdened Irish Taxpayer.

We also wish to acknowledge communications from Noel Coonan TD, confirming that he has also forwarded correspondence to the Minister on this matter. Similar correspondence sent to Alan Kelly TD has, as yet, not received a reply.

Minister Varadkar has informed us that this matter has now been forwarded to Minister for Arts, Heritage & The Gaeltacht, for his attention & his direct reply.

We welcome An Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s statement yesterday that individual Government Ministers will now be invited, at a special Cabinet meeting, to explain how each government department will begin to create much needed jobs. We agree with An Taoiseach who stated that the drive for employment should not be left solely to just one government department, namely “Jobs Minister,” Mr Richard Bruton.

A report on the success by Mr Kenny’s previous initiatives, in attempting to create 100,000 jobs by 2016, will now be published in February and will show the success, if any, achieved over the past 12 months. This jobs meeting is expected to take place in the latter half of this month & will now focus on small and medium enterprises and local domestic economies.

Possibly the most welcome news however came via The Tipperary Star newspaper, dated December 27th last (Page 6), which reports that some local County Councillors e.g. Seamus Hanafin, Pauline Coonan & James Ryan have come out to fully support this idea.

The ideal plan, if agreed, would be to place these Tipperary related artefacts in the North Tipperary towns of Nenagh, Roscrea & Thurles, encouraging tourists to interlink with these three towns and away from the coastal gateways to Ireland, as an initial pilot project. These artefacts would be placed under the care of Tipperary County Council & would be positioned as stated in Nenagh (Nenagh Castle), Roscrea (Damer House or the now defunct Roscrea Court House) and in Thurles (The Source Exhibition Hall or St Mary’s Famine Museum).

In the words of one Tipperary man, US President Barak Obama, “Is féidir linn” / Yes we can, but only if our community leaders, like Government Politicians, County Councillors, Urban District Councillors, Chambers of Commerce etc. show a willingness to support such a venture.

Tourism is Co Tipperary’s only hope to gain real employment opportunities during 2013 and boost our dwindling local domestic economies.

Let’s, at least, publicly debate this issue & begin to change the way we do business, let’s build “The Wheel” we spoke about in our original open letter.

We only seek what rightly belongs to us.

Thurles Footpath Repairs Hindered By Minister Phil Hogan

Temporary employed council workers in Thurles are back in the ‘Dole Queue,’ prior to their completion of a long overdue major footpath refurbishment programme here in the town.

While necessary funding is understood to be now in place to complete this work in Thurles, a decision has been made to suspend the present workforce and to have this necessary work completed instead by sub contractors.

From September last this badly required footpath refurbishment remained stagnant, mainly thanks to the Fianna Gael Minister for Environment and Local Government Mr Phil Hogan. Mr Hogan had refused to release necessary funding to Local Government, because of a protest by taxpayers who refused to pay his unfair & inequitable “Household Charge Charge Tax,” latter which refused to identify the basic ability of individuals to pay. Recently Mr Hogan has reinstated some of this funding, but it came too late to avoid this year’s severe winter frost, which conditions now presently deems it inappropriate to pour concrete.

Matthew Avenue, situated on the west side of Thurles and the scene of several serious accidents by late evening walkers, currently remains looking like war torn Beirut, with some sections of footpaths incomplete while other sections remain covered in protective timber sheeting, to prevent frost damage. Necessary modelling for some footpath edge sections have been fully constructed, but the cement element of this refurbishment remain incomplete.

It presently remains unclear whether these, now unemployed, temporary workers will be re-employed to complete their work or whether they will be replaced by subcontractors. One thing is certain, if frost is the reason, surely subcontractors undertaking this work will encounter a similar dilemma.

Thurles Planned Supermarket Gets Green Light

It has been confirmed this week that the green light has now been given to proceed with submitted building plans for yet another supermarket, to be erected by Baycross Developments Ltd on the site of the old Erin Foods Factory.

Thurles Town Council had attached nineteen extra conditions to the original plans submitted, which related mainly to the size of the property and the required modifications to road and access routes.

It is understood that some 30 individuals, mainly representing local business have made submissions opposing the development and these may be now further appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

The supermarket complex, (6,709 sqm) if erected would include a fast food drive-through restaurant, two ESB substations, vehicular and pedestrian access, a cycle track, the provision of two roundabouts and other associated works along the N62 route.

The decision to close the Erin Foods Factory came about after a group-wide review by the then parent company, Premier Foods, in November 2007, to consolidate the manufacturing of a number of its key brands. The plant closed the following June with the loss of 95 jobs.

Over a period spanning some 15 years to date, Thurles has lost some 1,500 jobs due to factory closures, and none of those jobs have been replaced.

With regard to business in the Thurles town centre, many fear that this new complex will now destroy the character and commercial activity once so vibrant in the town.

Tipperary Retail Excellence Ireland Review – Tipperary 2012

Towns in Tipperary failed to make the top 25 of the 2012 review, carried out by Retail Excellence Ireland (REI).

All towns reviewed nationally were rated on factors relating:- Car Parking & Costs, Restaurants and Public Houses, the choice of availability of Retail Stores, Safety, and Retailer Friendliness. REI stopped short of naming & shaming the ‘bottom 25′ of the 100 towns surveyed, instead breaking the bottom 75 towns and cities into second, third and fourth quartiles.

See how Co Tipperary fared, highlighted in RED:-

The top 25 towns and cities (See lists above) all had a balanced mix of trading retailers driving customer footfall, thus giving the towns and cities their individual character and personality. While this retail mix was deemed of importance, it was also clear that access to available car parking, at the right price, was also a major attraction for consumers, latter who are prepared to travel even long distances to towns which offer such values.

Two other statistics were also noteworthy:- (A) Better performing towns in this review had all competed successfully in Tidy Towns competitions, perhaps indicating that strong community spirit was vital to town centre growth. Westport for example, which came first, has won the Tidy Towns awards three times in the last ten years. (B) None of the towns which fared best have been exposed to significant out-of-town planning, thus confirming the need for commercial activity to be confined to Tipperary town centres.

Mr Keith Rogers, chairman of Retail Excellence Ireland, stated: “We need to demand our towns have the right ingredients with a suitable mix of convenience, grocery, fashion, health, eateries, public houses and entertainment to ensure citizens are engaged with their civic space and in turn they then support their local town.”

Mr Cormac Kennedy, chairperson of the REI Town and City Revival Committee, believes that the survey can act as a road map for all towns and cities to improve. Mr Kennedy stated “Ultimately, the report gives the feedback from each town’s shoppers and business community so their views should be taken on board. The availability of parking offering good value for money is an important factor for shoppers. In fact, shoppers will determine where they will go shopping purely on the basis of car parking facilities.”

This survey is the largest survey of its kind ever undertaken in Ireland and comprised discussion with 16,000 members of the public and business owners in the 100 towns listed.

Protest At Tipperary Water Distribution Plant

Ten former workers at Tipperary Natural Mineral Water have decided to protest outside the latter Companies Dublin distribution plant, beginning this morning. The workers claim they were forcibly made redundant because they attempted to join a trade-union.

Mr David Whelan, SIPTU former shop-steward at the plant, has stated that he had worked at the Tipperary Natural Mineral Water for four years and over the last few years the management had continuously made deductions and cuts to wages, claiming the company was losing money. Mr Whelan claims that while three of the redundancies were voluntary, ten members of the workforce had been dismissed on the grounds that they were not sufficiently skilled. Mr Whelan also claims that he had no skills yet was working at the plant for four years and ten new temporary staff had been taken on just days after the redundancies were confirmed.

Latest public accounts for M & J Gleeson (Investments) Ltd, indicate that it had a turnover in the last fiscal year of €261 million, with profits of €4.7 million, an increase of €0.2 million on their 2010 declared profits.

The company is involved in bottling and distribution as well as manufacturing products such as freeze pops, soft drinks, cider, cream liqueurs and mineral water.