It was for Percilla, his young daughter, who was celebrating her tenth birthday, that Dad, Frank, was frantically trying to find a birthday present, on his way home from work, before joining the special birthday celebrations.
He enters a local toy shop and beckons the sales assistant, who was busy texting on her mobile phone.
Frank: “Excuse me Miss, how much for one of those Barbie Doll things you have on display in your front window?”
Sales Assistant: “Which one do you mean, Sir? We have ‘Beach Barbie’ for €19.99, ‘Work Out Barbie’ for €19.99, ‘Shopping Barbie’ for €19.99, ‘Nurse Barbie’ for €19.99, ‘Disco Barbie’ for €19.99, ‘Ballerina Barbie’ for €19.99, ‘Politician Barbie’ for €19.99, and a ‘Divorced Barbie’ for a mere €249.99.”
Frank: (Looking slightly bewildered asks) ” Why is ‘Divorced Barbie’ at €249.99 so expensive and the others are only €19.99?”
Sales Assistant: (Knowingly rolling her eyes to heaven and sighing heavily, announces) “Sir..Sir..Sir, You don’t understand, ‘Divorced Barbie’ comes with extra accessories:- Ken’s House, Ken’s Mercedes, Ken’s Yacht, Ken’s Antique Furniture, Ken’s Dog, and Ken’s Best Friend.”
Some 15,000 people took to the streets in March of this year and a further 70,000 people signed a petition rejecting the downgrading of South Tipperary General Hospital.
The Labour Party now claim to hold a confidential HSE document which shows plans to reconfigure hospital services in the South East which will almost inevitably mean a massive downgrading of South Tipperary General Hospital.
Tipperary Labour Senator, Phil Prendergast, claims that as prophesied, plans are afoot for Hospital services to be centralised at St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny and Waterford Regional, while the former is being promoted as the main general hospital in the region, at the expense of South Tipperary General and Wexford General Hospital.
If this plan is allowed to progress then South Tipperary General Hospital will lose all its maternity service and the Emergency Department will be reduced to a 12-hour service similar to the charade that masquerades as Nenagh Hospital in North Tipperary.
In relation to South Tipperary, Labour Senator Phil Prendergast stated:
“This will have a devastating effect on the whole community and on the very identity of South Tipperary. All of this will happen in the name of a flawed model of health care forced upon the South Tipp public by a discredited HSE, which is acting as the Trojan horse for those who want to make a profit from people’s health. There will be no more Tipperary born babies, people will have to travel over an hour in emergencies after 8pm, more jobs will be lost and it will be far more difficult to attract investment. In the North East, where services were smashed in the same way some years ago, several deaths have been attributed to the long ambulance journey for emergency patients and this will inevitably happen here. If Fianna Fail is willing to make generations pay billions to bail out the fat cat bankers and developers, they will have no problem in serving their paymasters who want to make money out of the health of our citizens.”
If this information is correct then from 6.00pm daily,(not 8.00pm, ‘tut tut’ remember your travelling time,) all residents from Thurles and its environs will have to make the following travel arrangements in emergency cases:- Thurles to Waterford Distance (85km): Driving Time Away: 1 hr 40 mins and Thurles to Limerick Distance (95km): Driving Time Away: 1 hr 30 mins.
In emergency cases please do try to allow for poor weather conditions, as we all experienced last winter, potholed roads near Rearcross and Kilcommon, and that damned traffic congestion caused mainly by so called traffic calming.
One Tip: Best pack a couple of blankets for the journey, as a few nights sleeping rough in a hospital corridor can turn out slightly cold and drafty. Remember this latter statement will not apply if you are lucky to hold health insurance, but do make sure that you have your Membership Number tattooed on your right arm. I have noticed the eyes of Consultants, Anesthetists and Surgeons actually light up, when Vhi is mentioned, indicating that they prefer this method of payment at reception.
It is important also to remember that if you die along the way, do have the courtesy to die with some dignity, have positive thoughts about how you will be saving this caring government the future expense of your contributory Old Age or Widows pension, your 29 weekly payments of €18 for fuel allowance, not to mention that valuable free TV licence.
Die as a martyr for the HSE and your local politicians for God’s sake, instead of your constant whinging.
P.S Any chance of your ould No1 in the forthcoming General Election, Missus (Nod, Wink, Wink.) ?
Particularly nowadays, we are all very familiar in this country with the phrase “Two Tier Society”, however for many months now, here in Co.Tipperary the picturesque village of Inch on highway R498, has been displaying a “Two Tier Speed Limit” and locals are boasting that they are the only village in the world which has this anomaly. Indeed they are hoping to gather much needed tourism revenue and expecting Shannon Development to assist them to promote this eighth wonder of the world.
How did this unusual phenomenal occur you might ask? Well to tell you the truth www.thurles.info for the first time ever admit we are totally gobsmacked.
Fairy at work in Inch Thurles.
Locals expound many theories as to how this came about and these include:-
(A) Signs were installed by a dyslexic NRA or North Tipperary Co. Council Council employee.
(B) Unhappy green fairies in the area are bitter because someone interfered with their rainbows. (Believe me there are fairies in Tipperary. They can best be seen after the pubs shut.)
(C) It is a special speed limit for local politicians and their Garda drivers, rushing to funerals and to the aid of the 7,712 Tipperary unemployed and the 36,438 households countrywide that are now in mortgage arrears.
(D) An effort by the Garda Traffic Corp to confuse drivers, so as to collect maximum money from speeding tickets, to assist in the bolstering of Anglo Irish Bank Guarantees.
(E) However the most common held theory elucidated, is that because of the imminent threat to Accident and Emergency services at Nenagh General Hospital, HSE officials and local politicians may need access to a quick getaway, the latter to survive taking part in the soon to be held next General Election.
All joking aside folks, while the National Roads Authority (NRA) reveal plans to develop a 2,000km cycle path network around the country at cost unknown and now also intend to spend €250,000 erecting signs across the motorway network, telling drivers there is nowhere to stop to eat, refuel or visit the toilet, motorist in Rural Tipperary are being fined for speeding where speed limit signs clearly do not exist or, at the very least, are confusing.
Top Local Solicitor and Thurles Councillor Mr Gerard O’Brien who runs his office from 2 Thomond Road in the town has described this scenario as “motorist entrapment, akin to shooting fish in a barrel.”
Whatever the reason for this anomaly, it would appear that after some months, no one is rushing to correct this confusion, which would include the replacement of missing speed signs traveling towards Thurles, and balancing the existing speed signs travelling towards the Nenagh direction. Our picture clearly shows the back and front of speed signs as you enter the village of Inch from the Thurles road and also as you leave the village, headed towards Thurles.
Locals inform us that a certain van regularly parks in the towns-land of Ballinahow, taking pictures of car number plates. In fact one was lurking there on the 2nd of September last at 7.00pm, we wonder if they photographed or even noticed this confusing signage. Certainly local police appeared to be unaware of it when I reported it today.
We have also notified North Tipperary Co. Council’s Health and Safety department so hopefully this confusion can be sorted out before the NRA run out of money or motorists end up in the local Courts, wasting a Judges valuable time.
On Sunday, Tipperary have a chance to write themselves into history as they face Kilkenny in the final of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship at Croke Park.
So who do you think will win this years GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final?
One dedicated Tipperary female fan has absolutely no doubts as to Tipperary’s intent, as can be seen hereunder.
We at www.thurles.info wish the Tipperary Hurlers and their Management Team the very best in their endeavours against their old rivals Kilkenny.
Win or loose, thank you for a fantastic season.
We will be screaming out our support on the day and looking forward to your victorious homecoming.
You are retired, the kids are gone and you want to re-kindle lost youth or maybe you are getting married shortly, you possess two left feet and live in dread of that first dance in front of all your guests, – well have we got good news for you.
Thurles Club For Dancing
The Club for Dancing here in Thurles are holding their next set of dance classes, for beginners, starting on Tuesday 31st of August in the Premier Ballroom.
Before you say “I can’t afford dance classes” the charge is just €20 for a six week course, which starts each Tuesday at 8.30pm sharp and concludes at 10.00pm. This €20 charge is just to covers the clubs cost of advertising, hire of the hall, etc.
Dance has always been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since the birth of human civilizations. Movement of the body through dance, to music, has been long regarded as a form of communication between humans, creating social interaction.
The aim of these very enjoyable classes is to teach people the basic steps of the Waltz, Foxtrot and Quickstep.
Young people may not be aware, but when ‘Rock and Roll‘ first emerged in the early 1950s, record companies were uncertain as to what style of dance would be most applicable to this music. Famously, Decca Records initially labelled its Rock and Roll releases as “Foxtrots”, most notably “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets. Since that recording, which by some estimates, went on to sell more than 25 million copies, “Rock Around the Clock” is technically the biggest-selling “Foxtrot” of all time.
In California the waltz was banned by Mission Fathers until after 1834 because of the “close” dancing position.
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