Law « Thurles Information

EPA Again Confirm Tipperary Co. Council Is To Blame For River Suir Pollution.

EPA Quote “This is now a matter for Tipperary County Council to investigate and take action.……”

On September 4th, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed that Tipperary Co. Council are directly responsible for failure to protect the River Suir from pollution here in Thurles. (Complaint Ref. COM021813).

This firm confirmation came about, following a complaint made by Thurles.Info, asking that the EPA prosecute Tipperary County Council for their inability and failure to control the pollution of the River Suir over the past 12 years.

**One small section of Suir riverbed in Thurles town centre. This area is governed by a Municipal District by-law** **(latter a regulation made by a local authority**), **banning the consumption of alcohol in a public place.**

The following communication was received from the EPA today, September 9th 2025, which we now publish hereunder in full.

To the complainant, Thurles.Info:-

Dear Sir,
Further to our previous correspondence with you relating to the above referenced matter, we acknowledge receipt of your permission to refer it to Tipperary County Council on your behalf.

We have now sent a copy of your correspondence to Tipperary County Council for their attention and action. We have also requested that they contact you directly, regarding this issue.

Please note, a referral from the EPA obliges the local authority to log the complaint, open a case file, investigate the matter and report back to the complainant (you in this instance) as to any assessment or action either planned or taken.

This is now a matter for Tipperary County Council to investigate and take action as appropriate as they are the responsible authority.
Please continue to engage directly with Tipperary County Council any further enquiries regarding this matter for their attention and direct response to you.

As requested, please find attached copy of correspondence from the EPA to Tipperary County Council, our Ref COM021813.

Please use the reference number above in any further communication with the EPA regarding this matter.

Trusting this is of assistance to you.
Yours etc (Name withheld)

Correspondence forwarded to Tipperary County Council by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Subject: COM021813 Alleged pollution of river Suir in Thurles, Co Tipperary.
Environmental Complaints E.Complaints@epa.ie (Name withheld)

To customerservices@tipperarycoco.ie.

To Tipperary County Council,
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received correspondence on 01/09/2025 relating to concern regarding alleged pollution of river Suir in Thurles, Co Tipperary. Our Ref COM021813.

Please see attached copy for your attention and action.

Tipperary County Council should take steps to investigate this matter using appropriate enforcement actions. Your Council is also requested to directly contact the complainant in relation to this matter and to advise them how Tipperary County Council is investigating and dealing with the complaint.

Please use the reference number above in all further correspondence with the EPA regarding this matter.

Kind regards, etc (Name withheld).

This will now be the second case-file opened within the last 10 days, with no action taken in relation to this major problem in Thurles and no communication, as yet and as usual, entered into by Tipperary Co. Council.

Teen Refused Bail Charged With Murder Of Tipperary Man Met On Grindr.

A 19-year-old teenager has been charged with the murder of Tipperary resident Mr Ian Walsh, latter found dead in his Carrick-on-Suir home, in Co. Tipperary, on August 4th last.

Mr Nathan Hanlon, allegedly, is understood to have met the 49-year-old victim on the dating application ‘Grindr’, before Mr Walsh picked him up in the early hours of August 2nd last.

Mr Walsh’s body, sadly, was later discovered with multiple stab wounds in his bathroom. Gardaí have also not established, as yet, a motive for the crime, which reportedly showed no signs of being premeditated.

The High Court heard evidence linking Mr Hanlon to the scene, including fingerprints, DNA on clothing, and CCTV showing him leaving the estate with bags that Gardaí believe were later discarded in the River Suir in Tipperary.
Items located following a search at his family home also contained traces of blood, though the suspected murder weapon has not, as yet, been recovered.

Gardaí opposed bail, citing the seriousness of the charge and strength of the gathered evidence.
Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford refused Mr Hanlon’s bail application, adjourning the case until later this month.

“You Will Die in Prison”, A Tipperary Story – RTÉ One Tonight -10:35pm.

“You Will Die in Prison”, is a Tipperary man’s true story, which will be featured on RTÉ One Tonight, September 3rd, at 10:35pm.

A Tipperary man, wrongly imprisoned in Iran, states that he continues to suffer following his treatment in an Iranian prison. Mr Bernard Phelan, a Tipperary man who spent some seven months in an Iranian prison, has said the trauma of his ordeal continues to affect both him and his family.

Mr Phelan, originally from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, revealed that he recently suffered a stroke, which doctors have conclusively linked to post-traumatic stress disorder.

The 65-year-old, who holds both Irish and French citizenship, had been travelling to Iran since 2017, first as a tourist and later to develop trekking holidays. In October 2023, he was arrested, accused of providing information to an enemy state, before being held in prison until May of 2023. He was forced to go on hunger strike, before finally being pardoned and released on humanitarian grounds.

Speaking about his time in captivity, Mr Phelan said he was haunted by fears that his father would die before his release. Their reunion following his eventual return was he stated, “deeply moving”.
He later got a chance to meet President Michael D Higgins, latter who failed to criticise Iran for its constant call for the total destruction of the state of Israel and for its funding and the arming of terrorist organisations, namely Hamas and Hezbollah, not to mention its violations of human rights against its very own citizens.
In mid-2024, Irish President Mr Higgins had written to Iran’s new president Mr Masoud Pezeshkian to congratulate him on his new appointment. The letter was not officially published by the President’s office, but was circulated online and received some criticism, including from members within Fine Gael, who rightly accused President Higgins of being “tone deaf” to civil rights issues within Iran.
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Charlie Flanagan had rightly informed the Press that he felt Mr Higgins’ views on Iran were “somewhat misplaced”.
The Irish President then falsely accused the Israeli embassy in Ireland of circulating the letter, when in fact it was proven to have been circulated by the Iranian embassy as a “Look Ireland Supports Iran” PR stunt.

Mr Phelan now called for stronger EU action in securing the release of European citizens wrongly imprisoned abroad. Mr Phelan believes, and with justification, that European citizens are not being helped by EU authorities.

His story will be told in a new RTÉ documentary entitled, “You Will Die in Prison”, being airing tonight on RTÉ One at 10.35pm.

Update: Pollution of River Suir In Thurles Town Centre.

The following reply was received from Tipperary Co. Council, following a formal complaint having been made by this website, last Thursday. The complaint referred to the pollution of the River Suir over the past 12 years.

The Reply Reads:-
Dear George,
Thank you for your e-mail regarding Pollution of River Suir in Thurles.
I have forwarded your e-mail to Environment Section for their attention and direct reply to you.
Should you wish to follow up on this case, please contact Customer Service Desk quoting reference number ENV-11308-F6L3.

The formal complaint was sent to Tipperary Co. Council, when this website received confirmation that Tipperary Co. Council and Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), and the Office of Public Works would object to local volunteers attempting to improve the general appearance of the area.
Work would have involved the removal of discarded clothing; bottles; cans; weeds; plastic bollards, wooden pallets, rushes, bags of sand and a mountain of sediment, currently clogging the area from Barry’s Bridge to the area south of the Swinging Gates, same a poorly lit spot where persons gather regularly to partake in alcohol consumption.

WE have also formally complained to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) info@epa.ie, asking the question; “Does the EPA have any real teeth or are they like LAWPRO, latter simply passing information, same to land on other departmental desks, where seated are people who refuse to be motivated?
The EPA were also asked if they held the power to prosecute local authorities?

We now await a reply from the EPA, which we will publish here, in full, on receipt of same.

Pass It On Down.

**Randy Owen, Lead singer with ‘Alabama’**

Vocals: American Country Music band Alabama.
Lyrics: ‘Alabama’ Band members Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry, American country music singer and songwriter Ronnie Rogers and songwriter Will Robinson.

Pass It On Down.

We live in the land of plenty,
But many things aren’t plenty any-more,
Like the water from our sink,
They say it’s not safe to drink,
You gotta go and buy it at the store.
Now we’re told there’s a hole in the Ozone,
Look what’s washing on the beach,
And Lord, I believe, from the heavens to the seas,
We’re bringing Mother Nature to her knees.

Chorus.
So let’s leave some blue up above us,
Let’s leave some green on the ground,
It’s only ours to borrow, then save some for tomorrow,
Leave it and pass it on down.

Well, there’s a change taking place way on the mountains,
Acid rain is falling on the leaves,
And down in Brazil, the fires are burning still,
How we gonna breathe without them trees?

Repeat Chorus.

Well, there’s a place where I live called the Canyon (Canyon),
Where Daddy taught me to swim,
And that water, it’s so pure,
And I’m a gonna make sure,
Daddy’s grandkids can swim there like him.
Now we all outta feel just a little bit guilty,
When we look into the eyes of our kids,
‘Cause, brothers, it’s a fact, if we take and don’t put back,
They’ll have to pay for all we did.

Repeat Chorus 3 Times.

END

Two Men Arrested Following Burglaries In North Co. Tipperary.

Two men have been arrested after leading Gardaí on a high-speed chase, following a series of incidents in Tipperary and Clare in the early hours of Saturday.

At approximately 4:20am, Gardaí received a report of a burglary at a residence in the Parkmore area of Roscrea, North Co. Tipperary. A number of items and a sum of cash were reported as stolen. Several similar incidents have since also been reported in the Parkmore area. Later at approximately 5:45am, Gardaí in Killaloe, Co. Clare responded to an attempted burglary at a commercial premises on Convent Hill.

While in the course of responding to this incident, a vehicle deliberately collided with an official Garda patrol car. Gardaí pursued the suspect vehicle at a safe distance into Ballina and towards Birdhill, where a number of items were subsequently thrown at the patrol car. The suspect vehicle proceeded onto the M7 motorway and continued to drive in a dangerous manner, travelling southbound in the northbound carriageway.

With assistance from the Limerick Armed Support Unit, the vehicle was brought to a stop on the Golf Links Road in Ballysimon, Co. Limerick. Two men, aged in their 40s and 20s, were arrested at the scene and detained at a Garda station in the Clare/Tipperary Division under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

A number of items reported as stolen were recovered at the scene. The vehicle was seized by gardaí and removed for technical examination. No injuries were received by Garda members involved.

Gardaí are now appealing for any witnesses to these incidents to come forward. Any persons who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) in the Roscrea, Co. Tipperary and Killaloe, Co. Clare areas between 3:00am and 6:00am are asked to make this footage available to investigating Gardaí.

In particular, gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the movements of a Laois (LS) registered black BMW 520 in these areas in the early hours of Saturday, August 30th, 2025. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Nenagh Garda station TEL: 067 50450, the Garda Confidential Line on TEL: 1800 666 111, or indeed any Garda station.