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Follow-up visit by TD Michael Lowry and Minister Heather Humphries to €30 Million Glanbia Biorefinery at Lisheen, Moyne, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
On Wednesday last, Independent Deputy Mr Michael Lowry TD, together with Minister for Business, Enterprise & Innovation, Ms Heather Humphreys TD, visited Lisheen, Moyne, Thurles where an industrial scale biorefinery is now planned.
Deputy Lowry had welcomed a major announcement in December 2017 by Minister Humphreys, when Lisheen Mines, which had closed with 400 job losses, was chosen as the site for this national bio-economy centre. Mr Lowry also welcomed the Regional Enterprise Development’s allocation decision of €4.5 million to the project in December 2017.
Following on from this Deputy Lowry took part in discussions with EU Commissioner Mr Phil Hogan, in April 2018, upon the announcement of a substantial further €22 million of EU funding for this identified Biorefinery.
Deputy Lowry said, “State funding of €4.5 million for this Tipperary project will renew and reinvigorate the local and wider economy here as Lisheen; latter set to become a world-renowned innovation centre, offering enormous job opportunities into the future”.
Led by Glanbia Plc, the project involves the building of a processing plant which will transform over 25,000 tonnes of excess agricultural food waste per annum, converting same to bio-based fertilizers.
Deputy Lowry TD, who has been central to all stages of these discussions and plans from the outset, stated on Wednesday last “Environmental sustainability is a huge issue worldwide. This new project will now place Ireland and Co. Tipperary firmly on the world map as being at the centre for future technology research and the development of further sustainable agricultural processes.”
“Here employment potential as well as overall economic growth for Tipperary and the surrounding area will prove to be hugely significant”, concluded the Deputy.
 Today, during ‘Leader’s Questions’ in Dáil Éireann, Tipperary Independent Deputy Mr Michael Lowry directed very pertinent questions at the Fine Gael Taoiseach Mr Leo Varadkar, regarding the ongoing controversy surrounding the National Children’s Hospital’s cost overrun, which he rightly stated, has the ordinary working Irish person questioning what they observe as the misappropriation and total misuse of public funding.
Independent TD Mr Michael Lowry addressed Taoiseach Varadkar as follows: “Taoiseach, the most recent controversy regarding the National Children’s Hospital cost overrun has the ordinary working Irish person questioning the misuse of public monies.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been engaged by the Government to explain this gross miscalculation. I am curious to understand what procurement procedure was followed to appoint this firm. You could argue that a conflict of interest exists because of the fact that PwC received in excess of €30 million in fees over the last 9 years for audit and related work with BAM. Taoiseach could you explain why the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C & AG) was not utilised as the watchdog to carry out this function considering their statutory remit is to improve the use of public money and resources and strengthen public accountability.
Is it the case that the C & AG is not adequately staffed to provide this resource? Why are we farming out so much of our Public Service work to a small select group of accountancy and legal firms? Is it accurate to contend that the Public Service no longer has the talent and expertise to conduct such onerous exercises?
At a time when many Irish households struggle with every day costs like childcare, mortgages, rent and insurance; there is a strongly held sentiment on the ground that public monies are being squandered with unnecessary layers of bureaucracy. Growing numbers of quangos and committees of review are established, yet no one is held responsible for costly decisions.
In 2011 both Fine Gael and Labour separately promised to abolish or merge many dozens of what they described as wasteful State agencies. Fine Gael listed 145 quangos, which would be terminated when they came to power. While a total of 62 were terminated from 2011-2017, as many as 40 new agencies have been created, 14 of which involve the merger of old agencies. We now have an estimated 257 quangos in existence, at enormous cost to the exchequer. It is ironic that their existence creates further distance between the Minister or Department in question when policy issues, controversy or blame arises. The quango culture is very much alive and thriving…at a growing cost to the Irish Taxpayer, while at the same time, diminishing even more, the responsibility of the Minister or the Department involved.
In regard to review and due diligence case load, the State should look beyond the top companies in the Services Sector. Lucrative engagement contracts should be extended to less well known firms who have the competence to conduct the work.
Proper due diligence carried out on the allocation of public monies would result in substantial and genuine market competition and would safeguard taxpayers’ money. The nurse’s strike and the widespread support it’s receiving further evidence a growing dissatisfaction amongst front-line public sector workers. Middle Ireland continues to be squeezed financially.
We have money to spend on the top professional accounting and legal firms; money to spend on creating quangos and agencies; money to spend on ever changing costs of new builds; yet we had nurses taking to the picket lines last week, causing huge backlogs in our already overburdened health service.
The cost of administering the State together with so much unaccountable allocations of public monies, is infuriating for a hard pressed workforce.
Taoiseach what measures will you take to reign in the excessive cost of public administration. What measures will you take to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest arising between bodies under scrutiny and those being engaged to carry out the due diligence. Middle Ireland needs to feel that they are getting value for money, but, in reality the fear is that huge amounts of our hard earned money is being spent on the existence of ineffective agencies and quangos.”
You can watch HERE, Deputy Lowry’s questions and An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s reply.
 Second Level Students Ms Emer O’Donnell & Ms Sarah Ryan. Borrisoleigh Students Create Innovative Uses For Discarded Fishing nets.
Something that one person considers worthless, may be considered valuable by someone else. So say two students from St. Joseph’s College, Borrisoleigh, who have come up with some most innovative ways of turning plastic waste into useful commodities.
As part of their ‘Business Studies Course’, the two students, Ms Emer O’Donnell and Ms Sarah Ryan, have created a Mini Company called “ES REUSE”; same which specialises in the creation of sought after products, manufactured from throw away waste materials / rubbish.
The students have created a simple but effective all-in-one wall hanging ideal for holding hurleys, garden tools and a host of other items. The hanger makes use of old abandoned fishing netting, recovered from the sea shore, partnered with recycled timber. ‘Ghost Nets’, as they are called by environmentalists, are fishing nets that have been left behind or lost in the ocean by fishing craft. These nets, often nearly invisible in the dim light, can be left tangled on a rocky reef or drifting in the open sea. Sea creatures, e.g Seals, Dolphins, Turtles etc. most often become entangled in these nets, resulting in most cases in their slow, often painful death.
The girls also have a number of other products, such as a key holder and wardrobe hangers made from old tennis balls.
Products can be bought online via their website www.esreuse.com and a percentage of their profits will be donated to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.
Please do give them your full support.
Firstly, remember that despite the constant, daily bungling by the current Fine Gael minority Irish Government, the next Irish general election will be held no later than on or before Monday, April 12th 2021.
There should be 159 of the current 160 Dáil seats being contested, with the outgoing Ceann Comhairle being re-elected automatically, unless of course he should opt to take retirement.
Yesterday FG Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Ms Regina Doherty, attended a “Jobs Expo” in Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary.
 A Vanishing Rural Tipperary Minister Doherty, despite her party being in government for a second term since 2011, (laughably propped up presently by a party who claims to be in full opposition), insisted that her visit yesterday and her personal number one priority, is to create a thriving Tipperary town. However, having stated same, said she wasn’t going to make any promises that same could be orchestrated any day in the near future. This is what happens when rural towns and villages get passed over and are allowed to rot for decades; excluded, even ostracised financially, in favour of job creation in overcrowded capital cities.
For this very reason, our readers will well remember that Tipperary rid itself of Fine Gael representation on February 26th 2016. It is highly unlikely that new, unknown FG election hopefuls; poised waiting and ready, with their tongues hanging out in the hope of collecting large salaries and pensions, and who personally have achieved nothing to date in their careers, are going to be elected in 2021.
With the supposed aim of getting unemployed people, in the region, back to work; over nine hundred job-seekers from the Tipperary area had been instructed to attend the Excel Arts & Cultural Centre, situated in Mitchell Street, in the town. The attendance by Minister Regina Doherty was seen as a marketing ploy by these local political hopefuls, in their attempt to indication how seriously this same minority Fine Gael government and a Taoiseach, latter seen only as representing Dublin’s interests, was tackling the dire neglect of a rural forgotten Tipperary town.
Minister Doherty was quick to deny that yesterday’s ‘Job’s Expo’; same hurriedly orchestrated in conjunction with Tipperary Enterprise Board, was simply a publicity stunt for the rural unwashed residents of a South / West county town; to promote these afore mentioned new FG election candidates. However, many known hardcore disillusioned Fine Gael voters, were privately admitting that indeed this was truly the case.
A Show for the TV Cameras
However, a number of local resident activists were far from pleased with this orchestrated event. Protesters from the March 4 Tipp (#march4tipp) group, congregated outside the meeting venue yesterday morning, understandably venting their anger at what they called “coercive means used to force unemployed people to attend the event). To this group past memories of a similar Co. Council and FG government event, was seen as yet another reflection of that costly now failed Tipperary-The Place-The Time stunt; with yesterday’s exercise viewed as yet one other “Show for the selfie phone still & the personal video”.
This #March4Tipp action group have already announced their plans for further action, which is scheduled for Friday February 22nd next, same aimed at disrupting traffic on the N24, latter in support of what the group claim are a number of negative developments foisted on the town in recent years.
It is doubtful, however, that would-be Fine Gael election candidates, reminded FG’s Minister Doherty, that more than half of all new jobs in the last 12 months were generated in Dublin city and county, with the number of people working in the capital expanding to a colossal 34,000 people.
With limited employment here in Tipperary; local workers earning €28,000 to €35,000 per annum are obliged to commute the average four hour, 300km daily return journey between Thurles and Dublin. With motoring fuel costs exceeding over €140 per week; same employees are unable to afford the limited rental accommodation on offer in the city, latter costing on average €18,000 per annum, so in order to work, they are left with no alternative.
According to Central Statistics Office (CSO), the rate of employment growth in Dublin is now 66% higher than the figure for the Irish State as a whole.
Dublin’s existing infrastructure, of course is now, also, no longer sufficiently adequate to meet present demographic requirements. Because of rural Ireland’s abandonment and neglect by this government, over the past 8 years in office; through lack of broadband; rural transport; funding & development etc. Brexit should now offer further growth opportunities to Dublin. To this end, be assured that weighty funding for projects such as MetroLink and DART expansion, not to mention Water Supply Projects are, if you pardon the pun, ‘in the Dublin pipeline’, as rural Ireland continues to be ignored and totally rejected.
The Environment unit of the Irish conservation charity, An Taisce, has recently updated and published their directory of Ireland’s most at-risk buildings. One such structure added to their list, is located here in our own County of Tipperary.
 Sacred Heart Secondary School, Roscrea, Tipperary. The latest Tipperary building listed is the once Sacred Heart Secondary School, situated at Parkmore, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, which currently sports unsightly, boarded-up windows on its road side, displaying all the future promise of total dereliction.
Originally constructed about 1865, this still solid stone, large-scale structure is one of a number of interesting buildings within a former school complex.
According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage same, until more recent years, once added variety of form and texture to the local street scape. Its imposing façade is further enlivened by well executed features; e.g. the stone string courses, and the fine porch with steps.
An Taisce warns that the named buildings all of national importance could be lost to future generations if action is not immediately taken, and further point out that some of the named listed structures could be restored to provide affordable housing.
“Given the critical homeless situation in the country, some of these heritage buildings could be restored to provide affordable housing for families and individuals.” An Taisce stated.
An Taisce confirm that a number of buildings on their list are in such disrepair, that they may now be dangerous or unusable.
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