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 Sinister element of Irish rural culture revealed. The illegal poisoning of wildlife is still a very sinister element of our rural culture, which I regret, shows no sign of disappearing in this country.
My remark is borne out by the deliberate killing of two Buzzard chicks discovered by BirdWatch Ireland volunteers, near Roscrea in Co. Tipperary earlier this month. The bodies of the birds were found close to three poisoned, hand reared and tethered pigeons, used as bait to attract the birds to their untimely death.
BirdWatch Ireland state that this incident was particularly abhorrent, particularly since Buzzards are a farmers friend, only eating rabbits, crows, magpies, fresh road kill, rats and mice and are no threat to farm animals. Buzzards will however, like other meat eating creatures, feast on a larger animal carcase, which it finds already dead.
The Buzzards’ nest near Roscrea was being monitored by two volunteers from BirdWatch Ireland’s Raptor Conservation Project since early spring and the live pigeon bait was found tethered to the ground heavily coated with the banned poisonous insecticide Black Carbofuran. The pigeons had their wings clipped to prevent any chance of escape. A day after the dead buzzards were found another live, poison coated pigeon was discovered tethered close the same area.
The Buzzard species is protected by law and is indigenous to Ireland. The species were absent in Ireland from the late 19th century until 1933, when a pair of birds bred in Co Antrim. The species has spread slowly down from the north and are now established in almost every county in Ireland.
An investigation has now been launched and anyone with information is asked to contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Tel: 057 91 37811 or Birr Garda station Tel: 057 91 69710.
Note: This crime is especially irresponsible, as had a local child discovered these stricken pigeons and tried to help them, they could very easily have suffered a similar fate to the unfortunate Buzzards.
 Thurles: 6.00am following a Nenagh Debutants Ball earlier this week. In a letter to the Tipperary Star newspaper this week, local Thurles resident, Mary MacMahon, confirms what this website highlighted on March 2nd and August 3rd last, condemning the lack of respect for Thurles town, it’s business people and it’s residents.
Mary’s photograph, showed toilet rolls strewn around the car park area, further highlighting this serious and recurring latest problem.
People shouting and screaming, urinating in doorways, the endless blasting of car horns, motorists racing up and down the streets or performing hand brake turns in Lidl car-park, the endless rubbish dumped from fast food outlets together with broken glasses and bottles dumped onto our streets or into private gardens, all now contributing to a new phenomenon and an observable fact, to those who love our town.
Name And Shame
(Please click on all images for larger pictures.)
Our picture above, show the state of Thurles streets following a recent visit by outside students from Nenagh celebrating their Leaving Cert results. It seems that in the course of their 11 years of publicly funded education, no one explained that Third Level Grant aid is not provided personally by County Councillors and Government Ministers, as they would have us believe, but by taxpaying business people, whom they grievously offended this week, by interfering with their personal property.
Supermac’s in Liberty Square, through their nightly trading, indirectly add much to Thurles town’s litter problems on our main street. Indeed early morning walkers inform us that the footpath outside this food retail outlet, resembles sticky ‘flypaper,’ with ignored, discarded chips, and chicken nuggets, trodden into and carpeting the sidewalk.
 Tesco's Emmett Street entrance every night. We also have reports that Tesco are following the old medieval tradition of emptying their dirty cleaning water, each evening, unto Emmett Street, at the rear of their Liberty Square premises, thus further enhancing their already graffiti ridden exterior walls and their publicaly displayed cardboard recycling station. This germ filled water then enters directly into the river Suir or is distributed around the town on the wheels of motorised vehicles, thus confirming Tesco’s stated watch words, “Everything you will find in the supermarket and much more.” (Possibly should have said nothing as they will now probably dump this germ filled liquid, directly into the river.)
Question: Where are the C.C. TV cameras, to which we all contributed through local Thurles Chamber fundraising events over the last number of years, and which have also been promised annually year after year by Thurles Town Council ?
True for my wise old grandmother, “Sure idle hands eventually become the Devil’s workshop.” If you want to judge the cleanliness of an establishment, said she, check their toilet facilities. “If their public toilet is filthy, can you just imagine what their private kitchen must look like.”
We have needed changes to our law for a long time now, so is it not time for Minister Alan Joseph Shatter to introduce Community Service, under the supervision of Probation Officers and also to introduce a law making parents responsible for young offenders actions? Remember just one prisoner in our jails currently costs Irish taxpayer, on average, €70,000 each per year. Spending cuts to be made here Minister, and like you state on your website, we also “Look Forward With Hope.”
Readers why not give us your views by commenting hereunder? We would love to hear from you.
 Graffiti Idiots Blight Thurles I am aware that the word ‘Idiot,’ is an offensive term in a now modern politically correct country like ours. It used to refer to someone with an IQ of about 25 or under and with a mental age of less than 3 years, so until today this word has rarely passes my lips.
However a quick stroll around the town of Thurles today has been truly a series of eye-openers.
That blight called ‘Graffiti Vandalism,’ which Thurles people previously would associate with large inner city housing estates, has suddenly struck our beautiful Thurles and it shows no signs of abating or indeed the vandals responsible being detected and the eyesore removed.
This destruction of our local environment, using spray paint, can in no way be interpreted as Art, this is raw vandalism at its worst.
Several ugly bits of graffiti have sprung up, most noticeably down by the usually picturesque River Suir walk, as can be seen in the picture on the left. These vandals have also been busy along Mitchel Street, Rossa Street, Friar Street, to name but a few areas of the town.
What shop sold this spray paint and to whom? It surely is unlikely that adults purchased it for their children or is it?
Perhaps when local Town Councillors return following their ‘Summer Recess,’ they might ask our local police station to investigate. Maybe our sleeping Tidy Towns Committee, if latter still exists, or our local Chamber of Commerce might also take an interest, thus preventing Thurles from looking like a Ghetto. Thurles Town is not yet at least a poverty-stricken urban area with severe social, economic, and legal pressures.
It has to be said, though, that this graffiti idiot or idiots are not very mentally bright, as some of them seem to have incorporated their names or nicknames into parts of their wanton vandalism displayed on numerous walls. Thankfully, this should make the job of police, tracking down these idiots, a bit easier, well that is if anyone locally really cares anymore. When apprehended, a hefty fine should be imposed on these people or their parents, and those administering justice should also insist that all traces of their stupidity be erased solely by the offender, and under close supervision. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to fork out any more money than is necessary, to remove this blight on our lovely landscape.
As I continued strolling around, it also stuck me that litter really is once again becoming a major problem in Thurles. I saw empty cans and other trash, literally a few feet from Town Council dustbins. It beggars believe that people would choose to litter, when a suitable bin is provided close by. Perhaps these litter bins should be re-painted a brighter colour, as seemingly some people are oblivious to their very existence.
As I walked on, I saw several shopping trolleys dumped in the river, as well as Garda traffic cones and other various other bits of rubbish.
Of course I understand that the majority of Thurles people are litter-conscious and do use the litter bins properly, but it is always the mindless few idiots that ruin the environment for the rest of us.
What do you think? Should the litter bins be re-painted to stand out more? Is the litter problem in Thurles getting worse? Please do comment.
Volunteers taking part in the North Tipperary Volunteer Fair, held in Thurles Shopping Centre this evening, report the event as being an excellent public relations exercise for their various organisations.
This event, which was funded by the European Commission, was successfully organised by North Tipperary Volunteer Fair Steering Committee, led by the Europe Direct Information Centre here in Thurles Library.
Hundreds of shoppers stopped off to the various stands, who proudly explained their goals and the magnificent work being carried out by each of the organisation represented.
A wide variety of stands displayed their wares, including GIY, ICA, Thurles Fairtrade, Tipperary Regional Youth Service, Irish Girl Guides, Upperchurch-Drombane Development Association, Cabragh Wetlands, Irish Pilgrimage Trust, Rainbows, Thurles Toast Masters, Cava, An Taisce, Hidden Tipperary, St.Mary’s Famine Museum, Thurles Special Needs and many more.
Other similar Fairs will take place this month in Damer Court Hotel in Roscrea on Saturday 23rd from 12.00-3.00 p.m. and Nenagh Arts Centre on Sunday 24th from 12.00-3.00 p.m.
Congratulations to Ann Marie Brophy, Executive Librarian, here at Thurles Library for her excellent organisation of this event and to the many who pledged assistance goes the thanks of the organisations involved.
When food scraps were left out for some of our local feathered friends recently, some unexpected guests arrived.
Let’s meet Mrs Rowena Rat and her eldest daughter Rita, courtesy of regular subscriber to Thurles.Info, Mr Michael Bannon, (Thanks Michael.) who forwarded this rare close-up video clip to us for editing and sharing.
The Brown Rat or Common Rat, (Rattus Norvegicus) is one of the best known of rats found in Ireland. This brown rodent lives wherever humans live, in both rural and urban areas and in the absence of humans, prefer damp environments such as river banks. The animal came to Europe possibly from central Asia and most likely China.
One of the largest of the super family of rodents, which includes hamsters and gerbils, the common rat displays a brown or grey fur coat, while the underparts are lighter grey or brown. The rodent has a body length of up to 25 cm (10 ins) long, with a similar tail length. The species is a true omnivore and will consume almost anything, but cereals form a substantial part of its diet.
The brown rat can breed right through the year, with females producing up to five litters each year. The gestation period for a female rat is just 21 days and litters can number between six and fourteen in total. Rats do groom each other and usually sleep together in burrows. It’s life span can be up to three years, but most of them rarely survive past one year of age, due to human, other animal predators and inter-species conflict. Their yearly mortality rate is estimated as high as 95%.
Brown rats have very acute hearing, and are sensitive to ultrasound. Adult rats can emit ultrasonic vocalizations in response to predators or other perceived danger, which is unheard by the human ear. However they can also produce communicative noises capable of being heard by humans. Usually they are more active at night, but as this video confirms, they will also hunt during daylight hours. These rodents are also excellent swimmers, both on the surface and underwater.
Brown rats may carry a number of pathogens which can result in disease, such as the dreaded Leptospirosis (Weil’s Disease,) Rat Bite Fever, Cryptosporidiosis, and Viral Hemorrhagic Fever. Brown rats however are mistakenly believed to be a major reservoir for Bubonic Plague. Rats are normally very shy creatures, but in the wild will bite as a last resort of defence, if it feels cornered.
The brown rat is kept as a pet in many parts of the world e.g. United States, United Kingdom and Australia in particular, with countries forming Rat Associations similar in nature to our Kennel Clubs, which promote responsible pet ownership.
This video was captured on a Flip HD Video Camera ideal for capturing nature, upclose and personal.
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