The removal of parking spaces is now harming town-centre businesses in both Cashel and Thurles.
Cllr Roger Kennedy recently raised the alarm at a meeting of the Tipperary – Cahir – Cashel Municipal District. He said road-realignment works in Cashel had removed 12 parking spaces, leaving fewer places for passing customers and discouraging people from stopping in to shop locally.
Thurles traders know this story only too well. Successive traffic and public-realm changes have reduced town-centre parking, while the approved second phase of the Liberty Square scheme will remove further spaces. Traders strongly opposed that plan, warning that it could damage businesses and put further jobs at risk. Nevertheless, it was proposed by Cllr Ms Peggy Ryan, seconded by Cllr Mr Seán Ryan and approved by the municipal-district members. Against this background, Tipperary County Council is pressing ahead with countywide “harmonised” parking charges.
So who came up with that idea? The review began following calls from Clonmel councillors. Former Director of Services, Mr Marcus O’Connor, promised the review, after which the council’s Infrastructure Strategic Policy Committee and officials developed the tiered charging system. The final Parking Bye-Laws 2026 were approved by the full County Council on 13th July 2026.
Background to the parking review. Thurles already had paid parking, it dates back at least to the former Thurles Town Council’s 2005 bye-laws. In April 2025, the elected members of Thurles Municipal District adopted replacement bye-laws retaining paid parking in Thurles. The 2026 countywide scheme now places Thurles in Tier 2 and is intended to standardise parking charges across the county.
The council says parking charges encourage turnover and help make spaces available to shoppers. But that argument becomes increasingly difficult to accept when the council is simultaneously approving schemes that remove the very spaces shoppers need.
You cannot improve parking turnover in spaces that no longer exist.
You cannot encourage people to shop locally while making it progressively more difficult—and more expensive—for them to stop.
You cannot speak about revitalising town centres while ignoring traders who depend on passing customers and convenient short-stay parking.
The issue is not simply parking charges, nor is it simply the removal of spaces. It is the combined effect:
Fewer town-centre parking spaces.
Charges on much of what remains.
Increased competition from out-of-town retailers offering free parking.
Less convenience for older people and those with limited mobility.
Reduced passing trade for independent businesses.
Decisions proceeding despite strong concerns from local traders.
There was significant resistance even among councillors themselves. An amendment allowing municipal districts to provide a one-hour-free-parking option passed by only 19 votes to 17. That close vote shows how divided elected representatives were over the council executive’s original 20-minutes-free proposal.
Cashel and Thurles need a joined-up parking policy based on the actual number of spaces available, business needs, accessibility and independently measured town-centre footfall, not a one-size-fits-all charging exercise.
Before further spaces are removed or new charges take effect, Tipperary County Council should publish:
The total number of spaces removed in each town during the past five years.
The number due to be removed under approved schemes.
The expected effect on footfall and local businesses.
Current occupancy and turnover figures.
A clear plan for replacement parking.
The names and recorded votes of councillors who approved the relevant schemes and bye-laws.
Local businesses are being asked to survive with fewer customers, fewer convenient spaces and additional parking costs. That is not town-centre regeneration, but rather an obstacle to it.
The Irish Government reportedly spent €4.1 million in less than one year on security at a modular housing development for Ukrainian families in Clonmel, County Tipperary.
The figure relates to the development on Heywood Road, Clonmel, where 82 modular homes were constructed under the State’s Rapid Build Housing Programme. Designed for four residents per unit, the complex can accommodate approximately 328 people who fled the war in Ukraine.
€4.1 million security bill to protect 82 Tipperary homes.
At first glance, a €4.1 million security bill for 82 homes is extraordinary. However, it is important to understand why extensive security was introduced. In May 2024, while the site was being developed, security workers were assaulted and several vehicles were set on fire. One worker required hospital treatment. Gardaí launched an investigation and appealed for witnesses and video footage.
The security concerns did not disappear when construction finished. After Ukrainian families began moving into the homes in July 2025, residents reported broken windows and fences, stones being thrown, bicycles and scooters being stolen, and children being threatened or deliberately provoked.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan subsequently said he feared some of the violence was being orchestrated for broader political purposes. Residents told journalists that they simply wanted to feel safe.
Nevertheless, the scale of the expenditure demands a detailed explanation. Spread over 11 months, €4.1 million would equal approximately €373,000 per month, €12,250 per day or €50,000 for each modular home. These are illustrative calculations because the exact payment period has not yet been publicly confirmed.
Several important questions therefore remain unanswered. How many guards were employed? Was security provided around the clock? Which company received the contract? Was it awarded through a competitive tender? Did the €4.1 million cover only security personnel, or did it also include fencing, CCTV, lighting, vehicles, VAT and other protective measures? It should also be made clear that the money was not paid to the Ukrainian residents. It was Government expenditure on protecting a State-supported construction project, its workers and the families eventually accommodated there.
The attacks provide a genuine explanation for enhanced security, but they do not remove the requirement for financial accountability. The Government should now publish the full contract, the dates covered, the procurement process and an itemised breakdown of the €4.1 million.
Protecting vulnerable families is necessary. Explaining how €4.1 million of public money was spent is equally necessary.
Thurles, Co. Tipperary has apparently developed an innovative transport policy; to force enormous juggernauts through streets designed when the principal form of heavy traffic had four legs and ate hay.
Available to view on Mill Road, Thurles, one of two signs within metres of each other, originally warning of a dangerous junction and dangerous bends. Pic: G. Willoughby.
The predictable result can be seen in the accompanying, undeniable video shown hereunder; for months damaged signs, battered street furniture, demolished walls, uprooted and dinged bollards and not surprisingly yet another enormous bill waiting for the over-stretched ratepayer.
If the claim that 90% of signs are seriously damaged is to be stated as fact, Tipperary County Council should immediately conduct and publish a proper survey. What is already beyond dispute is that the council; not passing motorists or magical road-sign fairies, is totally responsible for maintaining signs on local and regional roads.
Video courtesy of G. Willoughby. (Feel free to copy/share).
Local residents may know every turn in Thurles by instinct, by memory and generations of experience, but tourists, delivery drivers and other non locals do not. They depend on clear, visible signs to identify directions, restrictions and hazards.
Damaged or unreadable signage is therefore more than an embarrassment; it creates a genuine road-safety concern, particularly where unfamiliar drivers must make sudden decisions while navigating narrow, heavily trafficked streets. The Road Safety Authority expressly identifies regulatory, warning and information signs as essential guidance for tourists using Irish roads. Visitors should receive directions, not an unscheduled navigation exam, with a juggernaut approaching from the opposite direction.
For years, Thurles residents have heard about an Inner Relief Road and an Outer Bypass. The council’s 2024 – 2030 Local Area Plan still describes both as projects for which funding must be secured. The Inner Relief Road alone is intended to provide a 1.1-kilometre connection between the N62 and Mill Road, while the proposed bypass would link the N62, N75 and R498.
In 2025, only €100,000 was allocated to progress the Inner Relief Road’s detailed design. That is progress in the same sense that buying a doormat means your house is nearly built.
Mr Michael Lowry TD, Mr Alan Kelly TD and Mr Ryan O’Meara TD must now provide the public with something more useful than announcements, photographs and recycled assurances.
The evidence for action is already visible on the road. Official data published for the N62 at Turtulla records an average of 9,539 vehicle movements every day. More importantly, Tipperary County Council’s own Thurles Local Transport Plan concludes that the proposed road schemes would reduce total traffic in the town-centre core by approximately 20%, cut traffic crossing the River Suir bridge by more than 50%, and reduce town-centre heavy-goods traffic by approximately 50%.
The same plan states that roughly three-quarters of the predicted reduction would involve strategic traffic that neither begins nor ends its journey in Thurles. Vehicles presently passing through the town would use a suitable alternative route which presently does not exist. These are not speculative complaints, they are the council’s own measurements and modelling, providing compelling evidence that the relief road and bypass are necessary for safer streets, more reliable commercial access and a town centre that can perhaps function more effectively.
Thurles Needs Immediately:-
► A confirmed and fully funded delivery programme for the Inner Relief Road. ►A published timetable for the bypass. ► A professional audit of damaged signs and street furniture. ►A costed plan to prevent heavy vehicles repeatedly causing further damage. ►Clear public reporting of who sought funding, when it was sought and what response was received.
Thurles residents have waited long enough. They deserve proper engineering, funding and dates, not another series of ceremonial announcement that the announcement of a future announcement is progressing according to plan.
This August, the fairways of Thurles Golf Club will become the setting for something far greater than a round of golf.
From Tuesday, 18th August to Friday, 21st August 2026, golfers from across County Tipperary and the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly are invited to gather in friendship, rivalry and common purpose for the Thurles Lions Club Golf Classic 2026.
At the heart of the event stands one of Thurles’s most treasured landmarks: the magnificent Cathedral of the Assumption.
Construction of the Cathedral began in 1865, and it was consecrated in 1879. For almost a century and a half, its towers, domes and sacred spaces have watched over generations; marking baptisms, weddings, funerals, feast days and countless moments in the life of the community. Now, as the Cathedral approaches its 150th anniversary in 2029, its roof requires major replacement. The wider fundraising campaign is working to secure the future of this much-loved building, described by Thurles Parish as more than stone and mortar, but a place of faith, memory and community that must be preserved for generations still to come.
Thurles Lions Club has committed to raising €50,000 over four years in support of that mission, and the upcoming Golf Classic is one of the central events in that effort.
The People To Chat To:- L-R: Lions Club member Mr William McDonagh and Lions Club President Ms Mary Slattery.
A golf competition with parish pride at stake. Teams of three players are invited to enter, with every team competing for the Thurles Lions Club Golf Classic Trophy and a share of an overall prize fund of approximately €2,000.
But this is no ordinary golf classic. Parish teams will also have the opportunity to compete for two special perpetual trophies: The Tipperary Parishes Trophy, sponsored by Thurles Lions Club. The Cashel and Emly Trophy, sponsored by Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly.
To represent a parish, each member of the team must either live in that parish or have grown up there. A parish may enter as many teams as it wishes. The two best team results from each parish will be combined to determine its overall score—opening the door to friendly rivalry, local bragging rights and, perhaps, a little parish history.
► Who will carry the honour of their community? ►Who will hold their nerve over the closing holes? ► Which parish will return home with the trophy?
Event Details:
Date:18th – 21st August 2026. Venue: Thurles Golf Club. Teams: Teams of three. Cost: €210 per team, including green fees and a meal. Prizes: Approximately €2,000 in prizesplus Trophies.
Thurles Golf Club provides a fitting stage for the occasion: a mature parkland course known for its peaceful surroundings, welcoming atmosphere and strong playing conditions.
Note:Payment may be made when the team checks in at Thurles Golf Club on the day of play.
Businesses, organisations and individuals can also support the event through tee-box sponsorship for €100. Parish teams are encouraged to seek local sponsorship and bring their wider communities into the campaign.
This is an opportunity to play for your parish—but also to play for heritage, remembrance and the generations who will one day walk through the Cathedral doors.
Four summer days. Three players per team. One great community cause. Great golf. Great cause. Great community. Support. Play. Make a difference.
The Born Clothing Group, Including Former Thurles Outlet, now at Centre of €1m Thai Villas High Court Claim.
The collapsed Born Clothing group, which previously operated a store in Thurles Shopping Centre, County Tipperary, is at the centre of High Court proceedings concerning the alleged use of almost €1 million in company funds to purchase two luxury villas in Thailand. The retail group operated 15 shops around Ireland before entering liquidation with reported debts of €7.82 million. This included approximately €2.2 million owed to the Irish Revenue Commissioners.
Thurles Shopping Centre, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
The allegations have been made by the company’s joint liquidators, Mr David O’Connor and Mr Ian Barrett. They claim that Mr John Curley, whom they describe as the group’s de facto managing director and “controlling mind”, used company money to acquire the Thai properties for his personal benefit, while the businesses were experiencing serious financial difficulties. Mr Curley strongly disputes the liquidators’ account. He maintains that the properties were purchased under a voluntary co-investment arrangement with the company. He claims that he contributed €220,000 and was entitled to a 30 per cent interest in the villas, although the properties were registered solely in his name.
The liquidators allege that various payments totalling close to €1 million were transferred from the company between April 2022 and November 2024 to fund the purchases. One of the properties is reportedly believed to have generated rental income of approximately €3,505 per month through the Kamala Falls Residential Resort.
Mr Curley has said that he was an employee of an associated company, Elland Distributors Ltd, earning €24,000 annually, and that he acted under the instructions of those controlling the business. However, the liquidators claim that he exercised substantial influence over Born Clothing’s daily operations. They say this included dealing with staff, negotiating with landlords and providing personal guarantees connected with company financing. Mr Curley had previously served as a company director before resigning in 2011.
The court was also told that he had the use of a BMW 7 Series company car reportedly worth approximately €110,000. The liquidators believe the vehicle remains in his possession. Born Clothing’s sole registered director at the time of liquidation was Joan Lynch. According to the liquidators, Ms Lynch has said that she knew nothing about the alleged co-investment arrangement involving the Thai villas.
At a one-sided preliminary hearing on Friday, Judge Brian Cregan permitted the liquidators to serve proceedings at short notice. They are seeking injunctions preventing Mr Curley from selling or otherwise disposing of the villas, along with declarations that he holds the properties on trust for the company. No final findings have been made against Mr Curley, and the allegations remain strongly contested.
The matter is due to return before a vacation sitting of the High Court on August 12th 2026.
The case will be of particular local interest in Thurles and across County Tipperary, where Born Clothing formerly operated from Thurles Shopping Centre before the nationwide closure of the retail group.
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