Planning « Thurles Information

Annual Review 2026 – Electricity.

Electricity emissions fell as the national grid became coal-free in June 2025 and net electricity imports continued to rise. However, with limited additional renewable capacity being added this leaves Ireland unnecessarily dependent on imported fossil fuels and exposed to global energy shocks, Climate Change Advisory Council Annual Review reveals.

Ongoing instability in global energy markets continues to expose Ireland to fossil fuel price volatility and supply risks. This reinforces the importance and urgency of Government delivering on their Programme for Government commitment to end Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels, by accelerating the transition to secure, domestically generated renewable electricity.

The Council warns that Ireland’s electricity system is failing to keep pace with the energy transition. Around 10% of available renewable electricity could not be used last year due to grid constraints and curtailment, the highest rate since records began in 2016. In addition, just 0.8GW of new wind and solar capacity was added, far below the approximately 2GW now needed every year to meet 2030 Climate Action Plan targets. The Council warns that this slow pace of renewable delivery and grid reinforcement is leaving Ireland unnecessarily dependent on imported fossil fuels and exposed to global energy shocks, including market volatility linked to conflict in the Middle East.

The Council is calling for urgent action to accelerate renewable electricity delivery, particularly onshore wind and solar. It says the Critical Infrastructure Bill must designate electricity grid reinforcement projects for prioritised delivery – with clear timelines, accountability and transparency – and must not remove the climate obligations that apply to all public bodies under Irish law. The Council also says Regional Renewable Energy Strategies, which translate national targets into county-level plans, must be adopted by the end of 2026.

Ireland now has the highest household electricity prices in the European Union with 319,000 households in arrears on their electricity bills. This underlines the need for targeted energy supports for households most exposed to energy poverty, rather than relying on broad subsidies that do not address the underlying causes of high energy costs.

Although early data indicates that electricity emissions fell by approximately 8.9% in 2025, the Review finds that the underlying risks remain significant. Net electricity imports accounted for 17.3% of supply in 2025, while data centre electricity demand has grown from 5% to more than 20% since 2015.

Renewable electricity is already helping to protect Irish households and businesses by reducing wholesale electricity prices. In 2025, Ireland had the second highest prices in Western Europe. However, prices in March 2026 fell to an average of €94/MWh on the days with the most wind energy and doubling to €179/MWh when the system was forced to rely on expensive imported fossil fuels. These figures show the direct link between renewable electricity, energy affordability and fossil fuel dependence. Strengthening Ireland’s electricity infrastructure and accelerating renewable energy delivery are essential to reducing wasted renewable electricity and tackling the underlying causes of high and volatile energy costs.

The report also warns that Ireland’s electricity system must be better prepared for extreme weather. Storm Éowyn left 768,000 customers without power – with some homes off the grid for 18 days – and triggered failures across water supply, telecommunications and health services. The Council says electricity resilience must now be treated as a core element of national climate adaptation planning, with investment in backup power solutions and electricity infrastructure needed to ensure the Electricity sector can better withstand future extreme weather events.

Mr Alex White, Chairperson of the Climate Change Advisory Council, said: “We know renewable energy helps to reduce wholesale electricity prices, but Irish households and businesses will not feel the full benefit unless we build the grid, storage and capacity needed to use that power. Every year of delay leaves Ireland more exposed to imported fossil fuels, volatile global markets and avoidable costs.
Storm Éowyn showed how vulnerable our electricity system, essential services and communities remain to extreme weather. Electricity resilience must be central to national climate adaptation planning, with clear responsibility, investment and delivery.”
The Government has set the right ambition to end Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels. The test now is delivery. Critical grid projects must be prioritised, renewable planning must be accelerated, and the benefits of clean electricity must reach Irish households and business to ensure energy security and affordability for all.”

Thurles Planning Alert From Tipperary County Council.

Application Ref: 2660370.
Applicant: Aidan & Valerie Murphy.
Development Address: 18 Iona Drive, Thurles , Co. Tipperary.
Development Description: Demolition of existing attached lean-to ancillary to side facade and extension of dwelling including associated works.
Status: N/A.
Application Received: 29/04/2026.
Decision Date: N/A.
Further Details: http://www.eplanning.ie/TipperaryCC/AppFileRefDetails/2660370/0.

Closure Of R659 Holycross To Thurles Road.

Public Notice: Proposed Temporary Closure of R659 Holycross–Thurles Road for Watermain Works.

At the end of last month, Tipperary County Council announced plans to temporarily close a section of the R659 road between Holycross and Thurles to facilitate essential water infrastructure works.
The proposed closure will run from midnight on Friday, May 29th 2026 until midnight on Friday, July 17th 2026, a period of approximately some seven weeks.

The works are being carried out to enable the installation of a new watermain as part of an upgrade by Uisce Éireann.
During the closure, traffic management measures will be put in place, with motorists advised to follow designated diversion routes via surrounding regional roads.

Members of the public are invited to submit objections or representations regarding the proposed closure. Submissions must be made in writing to: Road Closures Section, Roads & Transportation, Tipperary County Council, Civic Offices, Limerick Road, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, or by e-mail to roadclosures@tipperarycoco.ie

NOTE: All submissions must be received no later than 12:00 noon on Thursday, May 7th 2026.

The council encourages early engagement from residents, businesses, and road users who may be impacted by the proposed works.

Chernobyl Shadows & Political Amnesia -Ireland’s Nuclear Debate Set To Return.

A new law to legalise nuclear energy is set to come before the Dáil in the coming months.

On the surface, it is framed as a pragmatic response to high energy prices and climate pressure. But scratch beneath that surface, and what emerges is something far less reassuring; a political system once again flirting with an idea it has repeatedly rejected, often for reasons that remain unresolved.

The Ghost of Chernobyl Still Matters
Any serious discussion of nuclear power in Ireland that does not grapple with Chernobyl disaster is either incomplete or deliberately selective.
Ireland’s anti-nuclear stance did not appear out of thin air. It was shaped by a combination of domestic protest and global catastrophe. The planned nuclear plant at Carnsore Point, Co. Wexford collapsed not just because of local activism, but because nuclear accidents abroad fundamentally changed public perception.

Chernobyl, **forty years on from the events of April 26th, 1986** **in Russia**.

Chernobyl turned nuclear energy from a technical question into a moral one. It cemented a widespread belief that the risks, however statistically small, were politically unacceptable. That legacy still lingers, even if proponents now prefer to speak as though it belongs to a “different era.”

A Pattern of Crisis-Driven Thinking.
What is striking about the current proposal is not its novelty, but its timing. Ireland tends to rediscover nuclear energy whenever its energy model comes under stress.

In the 1970s: oil shocks → nuclear proposed.
In the 1980s: public backlash + global disasters → nuclear notion abandoned.
In the 2020s: energy prices + climate targets → nuclear once again revived.

This is not strategic thinking—it is reactive policymaking.
Even today, nuclear power remains explicitly banned under the Electricity Regulation Act 1999.
So before any plant is even discussed, the State must first undo decades of settled law; a process that signals just how far removed this proposal is from practical delivery.

The Uncomfortable Contradiction.
Supporters often point out that Ireland already imports electricity generated by nuclear power. That is true, and it exposes a possible contradiction in policy. Ireland bans domestic nuclear generation while quietly relying on it through interconnectors.
But this argument cuts both ways. If nuclear energy is acceptable when produced elsewhere, why has there been no sustained effort to build domestic capability in the past 25 years?
The answer is simple, because when the issue moves from abstraction to implementation, political support tends to evaporate.

The Cost Illusion.
There is also a persistent tendency to present nuclear power as an Irish solution to high energy prices. This is, at best, misleading.
Modern nuclear projects in Europe have been plagued by delays and spiralling costs. The UK’s Hinkley Point C, for example, has seen its projected cost balloon dramatically over time.
For Ireland, a small grid, limited capital capacity, and no nuclear infrastructure; the barriers would be even higher. Even optimistic timelines suggest nuclear would not deliver power for well over a decade. That makes it irrelevant to the current cost-of-living crisis it is being used to attempt justification.

History Has Already Tested This Idea.
Ireland did not “miss out” on nuclear power by accident. No it tested the idea thoroughly before rejecting it.
The Nuclear Energy Board, established in the 1970s, pursued nuclear development seriously. Plans were advanced, sites selected, and policy aligned.
Yet the project ultimately failed due to:-

Public opposition.
Safety concerns amplified by global events.
Overestimation of future energy demand.

These are not trivial footnotes, they are structural barriers. And many of them still exist.

A Debate Without Honesty.
What is missing from the current discussion is intellectual honesty.
Proponents frame nuclear as:- (1) A solution to high prices. (2) A route to energy independence. (3) A necessary complement to renewables.
But they often underplay:- (A) The decade-plus delivery timeline. (B) The multi-billion euro upfront costs.
(C) The lack of domestic expertise or infrastructure and (D) Continued public scepticism.
Even recent polling shows a divided public, not a mandate for change.

Conclusion: Reopening or Repeating?
The upcoming Dáil debate may feel like a turning point, but it risks becoming something more familiar: another cycle of political curiosity followed by practical retreat.
Ireland is not debating nuclear energy for the first time, it is revisiting a question it has already answered, under pressure, multiple times.
The shadow of Chernobyl still looms, not because the technology hasn’t evolved, but because the political, economic, and societal challenges it exposed were never fully resolved.
Until those are addressed directly, rather than sidestepped, the latest push to legalise nuclear energy may prove less a bold new direction, and more a repetition of history.

Major Housing Setback In Clonmel, Tipperary As Developer Enters Liquidation.

A significant residential development in Clonmel has been thrown into uncertainty following the collapse of its developer, in what is shaping up to be a major blow to the town’s housing ambitions.

Construction work on the Coleville Road site, latter a planned 122-unit housing scheme, had already stalled in recent weeks. Now, the situation has escalated further, with Torca Developments Limited among a group of companies placed under provisional liquidation by the High Court.

The development forms part of the wider Torca Homes network, where a total of 20 associated companies have been deemed insolvent. Of these, 13 have entered court-appointed provisional liquidation, while the remaining seven are expected to follow through voluntary liquidation proceedings.

Local Impact and Community Concerns.
The collapse has raised immediate concerns for prospective homeowners, particularly those who had already committed deposits. Local people described the situation as a serious setback for both the town and buyers:
The key concern now is safeguarding deposits and ensuring the project can be revived under new ownership.

Despite the setback, there remains cautious optimism. The site’s prime location, on the southern bank of the River Suir and close to the town centre, continues to make it attractive for future investment, especially given the strong demand for housing in the region.

A Promising Development Now in Limbo
Originally granted planning permission for 115 homes, the scheme was later expanded following approval from An Bord Pleanála in late 2024.

The revised proposal included:
122 residential units (up from 115).
A mix of houses, duplexes, and apartments.
A childcare facility with capacity for 33 children.
Expanded car and cycle parking.

Community-focused features such as:
Bike parking areas.
Soft play spaces.
Shared communal areas and quiet seating zones.

The project had been designed as a modern, sustainable community aimed at families and individuals alike, making its current halt all the more significant.

What Happens Next?
With provisional liquidators now in place, the immediate priority will be securing assets and assessing whether the development can be transferred or sold to a new builder.
For Clonmel, Co. Tipperary the hope is clear, that this stalled project will not remain idle for long, and that a new developer will step in to complete what was one of the town’s most important housing schemes in recent years.