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If you are rushing from Thurles to the Regional Hospital in Limerick with a seriously sick aged parent or an infant, do not use route R503.
 Trust me when I say that spending a couple of nights freezing on a trolley in this hospital’s corridors, waiting for a bed, is the least of your worries, such is the dire state of this road’s surface.
Even senior engineer Mr Michael F. Hayes agrees that a lot of this roadway needs realignment and confesses that it is bad in places. Approximately €300,000 has been spent on this road so far this year, filling the potholes. By Christmas parts of this road surface should be almost impassible.
Tourists encouraged to visit the lovely Clare Glens, the solitude of Kilcommon Prayer Garden and the picturesque Walking trails of Upperchurch, will surely have a talking point when they return home.
Of course our North Tipperary political representatives are presently too busy to notice these required road repairs.
Mr Michael Lowry is busy, pencil in hand, downsizing Quirky’s Casino blue prints and anyway there are no wealthy business men residing in that area, who could create 2000 jobs, so chances are he does not travel route R503. To be fair, should he need a hospital, (God forbid,) he would be air lifted to the Blackrock Clinic, no trolley’s there I understand.
Mr Allen Kelly, who according to his website is Minister For Public Transport and Commuter Affairs is possibly trying to pen together further self glorifying text for his website, which has not been updated since 11th March last, his first day in the Dail. Click here to see me “Sitting at my Desk in Department.” Still I suppose it is an improvement on his famous compromised Twitter. I wonder if he is worth approaching (cap in hand mind you, show a little respect for office) what with his power, maybe he could transfer the near €1 million allocated for the unnecessary old R445 cycle track, purely in the interest of creating jobs you understand.
Mr Noel Coonan, and I could be wrong, but I suspect he is behind this new strategy of holding a Pubic Meeting which was recently announced by the Tipperary Star Newspaper. This new type of meeting strategy is expected to overturn the proposed closure of 22 beds at the Thurles Community Hospital of the Assumption by Health Minister James Reilly. The first of these naked meetings will be held on Monday evening next in the Tipperary Institute, at 7.00pm and a massive crowd is expected to turn up, just for a look you understand.
On the other hand, as my granny used to say, “When God closes one door, He opens a window.” Since it will soon be almost impossible to reach Limerick Regional Hospital by road, won’t it take the pressure of all those underpaid and overworked Consultants, Doctors and Nurses.
Maybe a pubic meeting with our politicians is now overdue and could avoid the embarrassment of people stopping payment on their vehicle road tax.
Are roads covered under the Irish Consumer Rights Act does anyone know?
God knows, if it were raining soup, our hard pressed local Town Councillors would be out there standing, holding knives and forks. Only just back from the seaside and with local footpaths still not repaired since the tremors of our last earthquake, sure you would think they had enough problems for the weeks ahead.
 But as the poet, Billy Shakespeare, once said to me “When trouble comes they come not in single spies, but in battalions,” and true to form, now our strategic escape route, Thurles road bridge, is falling down.
The bridge’s problems are visible on the north west side facing Pheasant Island, where two dressed limestone triangular cutwater supports, protecting arch supports are now about to collapse.
I do not want to panic any of our residents, but I worry that the large numbers of unemployed workers, heading out of this forgotten town to experience adventure on the emigrant trail, could find themselves marooned, until after the rainy season.
(Click on image for larger photo.)
Barry’s Bridge, in Thurles, to give it it’s true title, has provided passage over the river Suir, since it was originally built circa 1650. It remained unchanged until circa 1820, when its upper, side protection walls were partially reconstructed, removing two semi circle areas, which had provided safety to pedestrians from splashes from high speeding coaches and galloping horses. In the twentieth century both of these walls were removed and replaced by steel railings and the bridge road surface also was widened with a pedestrian footpath added on the south side.
This original 17 century bridge was constructed using a combination of rubble and dressed limestone materials, and has provided textural variation and interest, which gave scenic value to the amenity areas to the south and north. (Well it did until certain individuals placed assorted pipes and wires across its seven beautiful arches.)
Only one Thurles Councillor, so far, has asked Co Council engineers to inspect the bridge, but he states “there is no cause for panic,” however to use the famous riposte spoken by Mandy Rice-Davies, a Welsh former model and showgirl, best known for her role in the Profumo affair, “Well, he would, wouldn’t he?”
The National Tidy Town’s Award Results sponsored by SuperValue were announced today and from a County Tipperary and Thurles Town point of view, these results make very interesting reading indeed.
First allow me to congratulate Killarney in winning this year’s award for the Tidiest Town in Ireland and also scooping the first prize for Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town. Out of a possible total mark of 400, Killarney gained another 3 marks above last years score of 307, winning with an overall total of 310 marks.
While it is not my personal view you understand, many Tipperary people point out that with Killarney’s God given natural scenery and the endless amount of Tourism and other public Development funding, which floods into this area on a weekly basis, it is most surprising that they do not win every year.
 Liberty Square Thurles Tipperary Ah, but pay no heed to that kind of talk, it’s all just jealousy and sure Kerry people will understand these unkind remarks. You see, unlike Tipperary, Kerry have the ability to select political representation who have real proven ability, and who actually appear for work in Dail Eireann every day, thus succeeding in ‘Bringing home the bacon,’ on a weekly basis.
Our congratulations must also go to Lismore in Co Waterford, this years winners of the Tidiest Small Town Award.
County Tipperary Tidy Towns Results
In Category A, The Bronze Medal Awards with a prize fund of €400 goes to Tipperary’s former winners Birdhill, with 306 marks and to Terryglass, with a well deserved 299 marks. Terryglass is also Highly Commended.
Also Highly Commended is Clonmel in South Tipperary with a whopping 298 marks. Now here I find myself in somewhat of a quandary, because this same year, yes 2011, IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter) branded this fair town as”Littered,” no not “Moderately Littered,” or a “Litter Blackspot,” just plain old “Littered.” Obviously one of these independent judges, and mind you I am not saying which, needs to visit a well known, tried and trusted dispensing optician.
Also deservedly Commended this year is the village of the Silvermines with 290 marks and Kilsheelan with their 293 marks.
Endeavour Awards, plus 5 crisp €100 notes apiece, goes to the Tipperary towns of Capparoe (223 marks) and not surprisingly Cashel (285 marks).
Again congratulations to the hard working Emly Tidy Towns Committee, here in Co. Tipperary who won the Sustainable Development Award and the Regional REPAK Award, latter with prize funding of €2,000.
Cloughjordan Tidy-Towns Committee, are also in the winning enclosure, taking the Climate Change Award and it’s prize fund, again of €1,000.
In Category E, Thurles was the only town in county Tipperary that did not bother to take part in this years Tidy Towns Competition. Rumor has it, (Only a rumor mind you, nothing confirmed as yet.) that the paper work got accidentally placed in the wrong envelope by our Local Town Councillors, so now you know why Queen Elizabeth II didn’t get her invitation on time, to visit her native town earlier this year, she was sent the Tidy Towns application form in error.
Ah, sure not to worry, these little accidents do happen, t’was an honest mistake and sure it happens to me self all the time, especially when I go to paying my utility bills. As the wife said last week, in the harshest possible descriptive adjectives available in the English vernacular, “You” said she in a loud voice, “Are idiotic, incompetent, ineffectual, bungling and totally unfit to be in charge.” That was me of course she is was referring too and not Thurles Town Councillors, you understand.
Heavens forbid that me missus should insult any of those fine body of men and women, who work so tirelessly, on a daily basis, giving leadership, while carrying out the wishes of their future electorate.
Seriously, isn’t Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar really fast off the mark, or “On the Ball,” as we say in Thurles.
Fair dues Leo, you took full advantage of the fact that our three TD’s, not to mention our powerless Local and County Councillors were frolicking, armed with their sand buckets and spades, on the beach, when you ordered the National Roads Authority (NRA) to stop work on all major new road projects, because of spending cutbacks. (Click here to view Independent newspaper report.)
As one leading Politician said to me “You take your eye of the mark for five minutes and that Leo is in wielding the ould spending cutback axe. Faith it would not have happened, only I was trying to activate my Dail fob key at the time, when he struck.”
 Fine Gael Sponsors New Thurles Tourism Postcards Of the 45 road projects being shelved, 32 of these are national primary and 13 are national secondary, with projects shelved to include Clonmel and Thurles bypasses. Does this mean that there will be huge redundancies among members of the NRA board?
Against a background of graffiti, forgotten overflowing litter bins (Attached to pole 0904.), daily traffic chaos and failed EU funded festivals, Thurles bypass is now to be shelved, after 10 years of failed political promises. Thurles.Info are unable to confirm if the €880,000 bicycle tourism corridor, planned from Limerick to Nenagh and recently lauded by Labour TD Alan Kelly, (His personal contribution to job creation.) has also been cancelled. I hope not since, one Bed and Breakfast reports that they had seven cyclists, stay over night last year. (The idiots had been reading their iPhones upside down and headed east instead of west.)
Here is hoping that the early medieval bridge built by the Norman Butlers in the 12th century can continue to take the traffic strain. True for the Tourism Brochure ‘Lonely Planet Ireland,’ I quote: “Thurles ( Durlas) is a large market town 22km north of Cashel, which was founded by the Butlers in the 13th. Century. Little of note has been built there since and the town square is little more than an ugly car park.”
Based on current plans, no new roads project will be commenced in 2012, 2013 or 2014, so I hope those bridge building Normans were better at future planning, than our currently holidaying TDs.
In a poll taken by this Website in June 2011, only 3% of those who voted, actually believed County Council Officials and Politicians, who claimed that the Thurles bypass would be open by Christmas. This Poll at least gives me some hope for the future of Tipperary.
In the meantime the Fine Gael Party have issued new Tourism Postcards for Thurles, (See Above) funded by Leader Grants . The cards entitled “Don’t You Wish You Were Somewhere Else.” will go on sale shortly, in case any tourists should accidentally stray in this general direction and get trapped in traffic.
 Tipperary travelling a slippery road. Some TDs, claiming to represent the people of Tipperary and who signed in at Leinster House for expenses worth up to €38,000 a year, failed to take part in a significant number of Dail votes. Fine Gael’s Tom Hayes is one of quite a number of elected Tipperary public representatives identified by the Independant today, of claiming expenses by fobbing in, but yet not turning up for Dail votes.
Tom has been absent for ten votes, but is still behind the main offenders, namely TV celebrity Michael Healy Rae, and keen bog environmentalist Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, both of whom have the poorest voting records since elected.
According to the same newspaper Casino promoter, Mr Michael Lowry TD, only voted 3 times, out of a possible 24 and missed 7 of these votes while clocked in. He was just plain absent from Leinster House on the other voting days. Michael Lowry was also one of the biggest recipients of the “Party Leaders’ allowances,” since its conception in 2005, with payments of almost €250,000 according to Departmental figures obtained under freedom of information legislation by the Irish Times, and which has cost Irish taxpayers, nationally, in total, more than €4.6 million. This allowance, paid on top of salary and other allowances and expenses, is understandably tax-free and recipients do not have to account for how the money is spent. Nationally twenty-six Oireachtas members are now entitled to this allowance, well up on the ten who were claiming it last year, due to the success of so many Party defecting Independents, in last February’s general election.
Now do you understand why Cabinet Ministers should be placed above ordinary citizens and as such, be allowed to leave Dublin’s traffic jams and use emergency bus lanes, they just cannot get to work.
In the light of this leadership shown by our politicians, it is not totally surprising then that John Hennessy, the Regional Director of operations in HSE West reveals this week that the Mid Western Hospital in Limerick, attempting to serve the population of North Tipperary, has a staff average absenteeism rate problem. Low staff morale is sited as probably a key factor, but certainly not pay and conditions. This absenteeism rate stands at 7.3% among the 703 nursing staff and 11.5% in the hospital’s 211 other care staff, hence the corridor trolley service currently on offer.
Meanwhile according to that English newspaper the Irish Daily Mail, (You surely remember the newspaper that campaigned for the reintroduction of the HPV Cervical Cancer vaccine in Ireland, while their London edition were printing stories attacking the same vaccine.) state that cash-strapped Montrose bosses in RTE are to fork out €10 million to implement 75 redundancies, while TV licence payers are invited to gain entertainment by watching washed-up celebrates clean horse manure from racing stables. I can’t wait to get home and switch on.
What all 3 papers failed to note, however, is the regular attendance nowadays by two TD’s at every possible public vote catching event. The recent invitation, to persons involved in promoting the Arts, by Minister Jimmy Deenihan, who was visiting Ballina/Killaloe, Co.Tipperary, last Thursday, saw Alan Kelly enter the Lakeside Hotel arm in arm with Jimmy. Despite RSVP to the Arts Office in North Tipperary County Council, Jimmy had no time to discuss the neglect of Thurles and surrounding towns and villages, so the Hidden Tipperary Group were ‘fobbed off,’ onto his Press Officer, Therese O’Connor. Jimmy it turns out was in a hurry to join Transport, Tourism and Sport Minister Leo Varadkar to announce a €7 million investment for that little known tourist area in Ireland known to the few as Killarney, Co Kerry.
For those of you who think I am being a bit cynical check this out. Click Here and ask yourself the following questions:-
Where is the Thurles GAA museum?
Where is the Thurles Source Theatre?
Where is Thurles Famine Museum?
Since when did Tipperary Institute become a Museum or indeed an Art Gallery?
Who is supporting the funding and administration of this Joomla, Open Source Content Management System, website?
While our local Politicians, Urban and County Councillors and other gold chain wearing Community Leaders continue to practise a policy of party politics and personal gain, before and above fiscal rectitude or fair play, County Tipperary continues to be lead along and down a very slippery road, with the worst yet to materialise.
As you can see from the image attached, here in Tipperary we are beginning to erect public warning signs.
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