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By now you must have cleaned your glasses with vinegar at least once, just in case that excellent article published in our popular Tipperary Star newspaper, wasn’t just some trick of the flickering candle flame. What, you haven’t read it yet? Go out and buy a copy immediately, it’s further proof that the recession is over.
Having read this article several times myself, the words of the poet Willie Shakespeare “I know you all and will uphold the unyoked humour of your idleness“, suddenly sprang to mind. It also brought me to the startling realisation that I must now, humbly and profoundly, apologise to Mr Colm McCarthy of An Bord Snip Nua fame, who recommends rationalising the structures of local government by abolishing both regional authorities and town councils to provide a single local authority. Colm my old pal, I am truly sorry, please forgive me.
 Current state of footpaths at St.Mary's Avenue Our beautiful town of Thurles, Co Tipperary, which had a turnout of 4,166 voters at the last local elections, from a population of 7,000 unwashed residents, is just one of 80 towns throughout this messed up Green Land, which will, dare I say be relieved, if this An Bord Snip Nua recommendation is implemented.
Thurles Town Council, which has a staff, give or take, of about 25 and a budget for 2009 of a miserable, paltry €5.9 million, is responsible for ‘local rates’, ‘local litter prevention’, ‘local housing’, ‘street cleaning’, ‘planning’, ‘leisure amenities’ and a few ‘potholed local roads’. They have no responsibility for ‘fire brigade’, ‘national and regional road maintainance’, ‘water’, ‘libraries’ etc, as they come under the care of North Tipperary Co.Council.
Thurles town council has nine elected members and they meet once a month, suspiciously at night, except during the month of Sextilis (better known as August), because most of those we elected enjoy other daily profitable employments.
Continue reading Public Apology To Colm McCarthy
 NAMA Uncertainty Ireland’s largest, not for profit Housing Association, Respond, believe that up to 25,000 families countrywide face repossession of their homes because of the impact of the present severe economic slump.
Today, many householders in North Tipperary face repossession and a worrying and bleak future without a family home.
At national government level the National Assets Management Agency (NAMA) Bill has passed into its Second Stage and now goes to Committee Stage where amendments to the Bill will be finally decided.
The Fine Gael party have a total of 99 amendments to this Bill and in principal opposed it in its present state.
The Fine Gael amendments to the (NAMA) Bill include a ‘Home-Owner Support Scheme’ and speaking to Thurles.Info today, Deputy Noel Coonan outlined how their Party plan to protect homeowners and taxpayers.
The Deputy Stated:
“It is Fine Gael’s wish to help struggling homeowners through its amendments to the NAMA Bill. If agreed families who face repossession proceedings because they cannot meet mortgage payments will be able to apply to NAMA for support under the ‘Home-Owner Support Scheme’, to be operated by the National Assets Management Agency.
People in dire financial circumstances are continuously visiting my office and looking for help. They are obviously feeling irate at the Government’s NAMA proposal which bails out bankers and developers, the very people whose reckless greed landed us in our current mess.
If the Home Owner Support Scheme amendment is accepted the spectre of expected widespread repossessions can be avoided, NAMA will have an equity share in a portfolio of assets that is being serviced and some social benefit will be seen to flow from NAMA.
Fine Gael is determined that NAMA should be of benefit to homeowners and not just greedy and reckless banks. Our proposals are geared towards patching up as best we can what we believe to be an essentially flawed policy. ” said Deputy Coonan.
So how will the Fine Gael ‘Home-Owner Support Scheme’ work?
This proposed ‘Home-Owner Support Scheme’ would allow NAMA to take an equity share in houses facing repossession, after negotiating a write-down in the existing outstanding debt with the owners mortgage provider.
The home-owners would then service his or her remaining share of the mortgage and also pay a rental fee to NAMA for its share of the property. The home-owner would also have a clear option to buy back the NAMA equity share at any time in the future.
Those who do not meet the eligibility criteria under this scheme would immediately be referred to Local Authorities for alternative housing solutions.
Fine Gael believes there is a clear financial and social logic to ensuring that the extensive residential property portfolio that NAMA will acquire from bankrupt property developers be made available to Local Authorities for use to house families under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).
In order for a property to be eligible for inclusion in the scheme it must have a market value of less than €750,000, be adequately maintained and insured, be a property mortgaged to one of the participating institution and the person must reside in the property as their main residence.
In making an application under this Scheme, an eligible person would demonstrate the following:
1. That they are at least three months in arrears on the their current mortgage repayments to their participating institution,
2. There has been a material change in their overall financial circumstances since the date of the original mortgage agreement,
3. They have taken all appropriate financial advice on every option available to them in their attempt to repay their outstanding loan.
4. They are in a current position to service at least one-third of their previous mortgage obligations, at current interest rates, out of 50% of their net income.
5. They have made reasonable efforts to agree an alternative repayment schedule with their participating institution.
6. They have not availed of the Scheme previously.
Some of the other amendments to the NAMA Bill proposed by Fine Gael include a proposal to abandon the payment of the so-called long term economic value for the loans taken on from the banks and the suggestion that the risk of NAMA could be shared more fairly by the State taking a bigger equity stake in banks, and in exchange giving an equity share in NAMA to the banks and their bondholders.
Fine Gael also wants a discoverable register created and made easily available, latter listing every non-performing loan taken on by NAMA, together with the establishment of an Oireachtas Committee which has the backing of a new section in the Comptroller and Auditor General office, that would fully oversee NAMA’s day to day operations.
Give us your views on NAMA, in confidence; we would like to hear from you. See the ‘Leave a comment‘ tab under this post.
US Secretary of State Mrs Hillary Clinton recently made it clear to several key Irish Americans that she would shortly appoint an economic envoy to Northern Ireland. Now, understanding this very important role in terms of helping to get the Northern economy moving, she has just announced the appointment of Tipperary born Mr Declan Kelly, an Irish business advisor, as her government’s economic envoy to this post.
 Mr D. Kelly Mr Declan Kelly, aged 41, is a native of Portroe, Co Tipperary, son of Nan and Tom Kelly. He received his BA degree in English and Legal Science in 1989.
Mr Kelly only recently announced that he is to step down from FTI, the International consulting firm which in 2006, acquired his former company Financial Dynamics (FD) International, a holding company which managed the Financial Dynamics network worldwide. He will remain with FTI in a consulting capacity but will step down as Executive Vice President.
Mr Kelly presently is a senior advisor to some of the world’s largest corporations and business leaders and has served on the board of a number of non profit organisations, including Co-Operation Ireland, latter a non profit organisation dedicated to funding peace initiatives in Northern Ireland.
He has been a Director of the Dublin Theatre Festival for several years and was appointed as a member of the Advisory Board of Glucksmann Ireland House at New York University. He serves in an advisory capacity to the Board of Directors of the American Ireland Fund and GOAL, the third world humanitarian organisation.
He is also Chairman of the US Foundation Board of NUI Galway, where he studied for a number of years and remains one of the leading advisors to US Secretary of State Mrs Hillary Clinton.
Mr Kelly was also a former journalist with the Tipperary Star, Nenagh Guardian and Irish Examiner newspapers. He is a regular visitor to North Tipperary and to his parents home in Portroe. Mr Kelly was in Tipperary in August last to attend the wedding of a former Tipperary Star and Nenagh Guardian journalist and colleague.
US State Department sources confirm that he is expected to visit Belfast today, when he will meet with business leaders. He will accompany the new US ambassador to London, Mr Louis Susman.
His brother MEP Alan Kelly recently secured himself a seat in the European Parliament elections in Ireland as the mid-west’s Labour candidate.
To give them due credit (no pun intended) when it comes to obtaining financial and other assistance for local projects which greatly benefit local communities, Credit Unions have always been to the fore.
It comes as no surprise then, that for the past seven years, the Credit Unions of Tipperary have published a calendar promoting Tipperary, which they distribute free to all their members.
Stolen copies of this calendar, each year, often end up in the scattered outposts of Australia, England, Africa and Canada, pinched, I should add, by light fingered relations, who want nothing more than a small but constant daily reminder of “Home sweet Home” during a time of perhaps reluctant separation.
 Because of themes expressed, the very high quality of their past publications and the huge demand each year, Tipperary Credit Union’s are going one step further for their 2010 edition. They are inviting all of you out there, with a love of photography, to send them your photo or photos which, for you, depict the theme “My Tipperary”.
All your pictures will be entered into a competition which, wait for it, will carry a prize fund of €1000.
The rules governing this competition are available from your own local Credit Union or by e-mailing info@thurlescu.ie . Best to mark your request for the attention of Michael Harty who will forward your a copy and any indeed any other information you may require. Note also, your pictures will be posted, at a later date, on the web.
So what, for you, best depicts our Premier County? Could it be our rich History, Sport, People, Night Life, Birds ( feathered variety only please) Architecture, or Still Life? Whatever tickles your fancy is acceptable provided it represents in some shape or form “My Tipperary”.
The competition is open to School Students, both Amateur and Professional Photographers, Camera Clubs etc, the list is endless.
Do not be put off by the involvement by Professional Camera people, some of the best pictures I have had the pleasure to view, came from the rank raw amateur, so just get out there and start shooting, time is rapidly running out.
Word of warning, if your entry features a friend or family member or any other person, please do make sure you get their permission for public use, before you send your entry. Knowing people, as I do, failure to get permission in such cases, usually means you may walk again but not without a very noticeable limp.
The Fine Gael Party has firmly outlined that it will vote against the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) legislation in the Dáil next month.
Speaking to www.thurles.info today, Deputy Noel Coonan explains what Fine Gael would alternatively do in power to tackle this banking crisis.
Deputy Coonan stated:
“This Government has walked us into an enormous mess and cannot be relied on to pull us out. Our Finance spokesperson Richard Bruton TD has written to the Minister for Finance with detailed observations on how the draft NAMA Bill might be overhauled to become more consistent with our principles. If the Government agrees to implement Fine Gael’s proposals, only then will it have the party’s support. The Fine Gael approach would protect the taxpayer first and foremost by leaving distressed, developer-related loans with those responsible for creating them”.
Deputy Coonan went on to explain:
Under Track 1: Fine Gael proposes to ensure improved credit availability for businesses by the establishment a wholesale ‘Good Bank’, or National Recovery Bank, capitalised by the State and further leveraged by the ECB and funding markets using the ‘asset covered bond’ model that is well-established in other EU countries.
In parallel, under Track 2: The banks would be given until the end of the Guarantee period in September 2010 to pass a rigorous ‘stress test’ to show that they had repaired their own balance sheets by selling assets (such as foreign subsidiaries), raising more deposits and negotiating down their own liabilities to long-term providers of risk capital and funding.
In the event that the banks cannot pass such a stress Test by the end of the Guarantee period, Fine Gael’s proposal is to split each failed bank into two, leaving the assets with the most uncertain values (the developer loans) in legacy property management companies owned largely by the shareholders and other classes of risk investors.
Deposits, other short-term liabilities, easy-to-value loans like mortgages and business overdrafts, the branch networks and the vast majority of the staff would all move safely and seamlessly into a new, going concern ‘clean bank’, initially owned and guaranteed by the taxpayer. These new ‘clean banks’ would be well capitalised with a clean balance sheet and fully open to resume lending.
The Fine Gael TD believes the advantage of this model over the current NAMA proposal is that the risks and responsibilities associated with working out distressed developer-related loans would remain with those professional bankers and investors that funded the loans and that are best placed to recover them.
The Fine Gael TD believes we have no guarantee that prices for commercial property and development land will bounce back to near boom-time prices. This Government is foolishly basing the price of land on an estimation of the value of lands in five to ten years time.
“In the upcoming debate on NAMA, Fine Gael will ask all the probing questions that need to be answered, as this Government gambles taxpayers’ money. It’s grossly unfair and irresponsible to expect taxpayers to bail out banks when it is the banks themselves who created these toxic loans”, concluded Deputy Coonan.
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