Politics « Thurles Information

State Of Kickham Street, Thurles, Co. Tipperary Today

**Footpaths, southside of Aldi Supermarket on Kickham Street today, February 23rd 2021.**

With a Status Orange rainfall warning currently in vogue for Co. Tipperary until approximately 9.00pm this evening, take a look at conditions being accepted by Thurles pedestrians, as they head to shop in Aldi Supermarket on Kickham Street over the past number of days.

We have reports of men, women and children being splashed not just by accumulating water from road craters but also being struck by gravel/stones, same being accidentally catapulted by the tyres of passing motor vehicles.

**Windows of just some of the houses on Kickham Street Thurles being struck by gravel and water; accidentally catapulted by the tyres of passing motor vehicles.**
**It is through the doors of these houses that local councillors and TD’s will be pushing political brochures, in the not to distant future, claiming *“Sorry We Missed You”*.**
**Don’t be sorry, you go missing for 5 years evertime you get elected**.

Local TD’s Mr Michael Lowry and Mr Jackie Cahill are both being asked to forget about the rubbish they post on social media accounts, (Facebook and Twitter) and publicly declare Thurles town a disaster area in relation to its roads.

We smile as we read on February 16th, 2021; courtesy of our local politicians, of how they have attracted €29.5 million in State Funding, same to be allocated for road improvements in Tipperary this year.

I phoned Tipperary Co. Council this afternoon, but only the switch operator was available to accept my complaint; everyone else was “working from home” and unavailable. Funny that, all Supermarkets, Banks, some schools, hardware stores, nurses, doctor, etc. etc., were trading as usual, but Co. Council officials normally seated in private offices were “working from home”.

On another note:
Readership of Thurles.Info now currently stands at over 3 million readers, [3,039,132 as at 3.30 this afternoon]. Each day between 2,000 and 8,000 Tipperary readers, many living abroad, all login from the United States, Germany, France, Turkey, Holland, UK, Australia, New Zealand, China, Saudi Arabia and even Russia, all anxious for news from their home town of Thurles.

Parnell Street Car Park Thurles – Latest Dumping Ground.

Parnell Street car park can be located directly opposite the Office of Mr Jackie Cahill TD, in Parnell St, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, [E41 VY66].

Currently this Parnell Street car park, with its torn up surface and muck, is reminiscent of an unoccupied slum area.
For all intents and purposes and in every practical sense, same is virtually now a refuse packed ghetto, with responsibility for its present deplorable state, the remit of Thurles Municipal District council. It is to the latter, as residents and business people, we pay our high Rates and Local Property Tax (LPT).

We watched yesterday, as civic minded individuals arrived with their boxes and bags of glass bottles; to file in the various glass containers. As you can see from the picture, all glass containers are packed to capacity and have been for weeks.

While some individuals returned home with their recyclable glass, others left same neatly on the ground in paper bags and loose; in the centre of already smashed glass, from glass containers which had previously fallen from the existing overloaded bins.

We learned recently that Tipperary Co. Council spent €50,000 removing litter left by fly-tippers. One wonders how many glass containers were thrown out of car boots into ditches and hedges, as individuals headed for their homes yesterday, unable to recycle their glass, under the promised glare of CCTV cameras.

Thurles now has three dumps, with a fourth dump expected to carry a further 24,500 tons of waste, currently being worked on, in anticipation of supported planning permission.

Proof That Waste By Tipperary Co. Council Continues

We joked about it first on September 17th, 2018. Now 2 years and almost 5 months later, it has finally happened.
Heavy vehicles, in the coming days, can soon hopefully travel without obstruction or other hinderance; same caused by the stupidity of Council road engineers.

**Road junction structure first introduced in September 2018**, **at the junction of Clongour Road and Slievenamon Road.**

But just how much of taxpayers money has been wasted by these same Tipperary County Council officials, led by Tipperary Chief Executive Mr Joe MacGrath and Mr Marcus O’Connor (Director of Services Roads, Transportation, Infrastructure).

**Same junction at Clongour Road and Slievenamon Road being properly realigned today, February 22nd, 2021, but at what cost to Thurles taxpayers?**

Perhaps latter named gentlemen would like to inform our paid, elected, public representatives at the next online meeting of Council reps, or perhaps Mr Jackie Cahill or Mr Michael Lowry could find out through a freedom of information request, while condemning the wanton waste.

Meanwhile, the waste continues within the town, as a ‘not fit for purpose Thurles Chamber of Commerce’ also remains in hiding, incapable of supporting Thurles business interests.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland Failing Thurles Town

We here at Thurles.Info always give credit where credit is justified.

To this end we have sought nominations for Thurles Municipal District Councillors Mr Sean Ryan (Fianna Fáil) and Mr Jim Ryan (Independent) to be considered for the Kluge Prize, which recognizes the highest level of achievement and impact on public affairs, and today is considered one of the nation’s most prestigious awards.

According to my copy of the Tipperary Star Newspaper, both men demonstrated what was observed by a reporter as demonstrating unreasonable or foolhardy contempt for danger, by verbally speaking out, accusing Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) of neglect in relation to investment and an overall failed responsibility for roads, here in our rapidly deteriorating Thurles town.

Their remarks were addressed through Mr Marcus O’Connor, (Director of Services Roads, Transportation, Infrastructure), who appears to have taken on the role of Chief Executive (CE) within Tipperary Co. Council, in an as yet unpublished Coup d’état, dislodging the reigning Chief Executive Mr Joe MacGrath.

Mr Marcus O’Connor of course felt that it was not right to be criticizing Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) at this time, because quote “they are playing their part”.

Evidence of failed ability either by Mr Marcus O’Connor himself or TII however is evidenced in the video hereunder.

The video above shows again the same repair work being carried out every 3 days, using cold tarmac; while wasting taxpayers money, through the use of necessary machinery, inferior materials and man hours.

Further along Cabragh Road heading out, towards the stronghold of Mr Michael Lowry TD; run-off areas designed to remove water off the road surface are blocked. Outside Cabragh Business Park the footpath, for at least the past 10 years, has remained 10 centimeters (4 inches) below the actual road surface itself, gathering muck and troughs of water, rendering it useless to pedestrians.

Further wasted Money.
In the past few weeks a new tributary of the river Suir has emerged to flow on the Mill Road, flooding out through the gates and through the walls of residential gardens.

Believing that a pipe had burst, immediately Irish Water were summoned. Tests were done, showed no presence of Chlorine. Thus this water was deemed to be a “newly developed underground spring”.

Today this new river Suir tributary continues to flow along the surface of Mill Road, passing residential houses, local businesses and forcing oncoming pedestrians to use the wrong side of the road.

A few hundred metres further up, on higher ground, the new half completed housing estate is flooding our ‘Double Ditch’ (near to its centre) as the estate builder, now in lockdown, is allowed to drain this land, latter a flood plain of a choked River Suir.

This drain, ripped out by Tipperary Council contractors some years ago, for the first time in its history, now contains thousands of gallons of contaminated water, 1.3 Metres deep (Over 4ft), carrying clay, sand, and what appears to be an oily paint-like substance.

This created trench ripped out at the side of the Great Famine Double Ditch by these Tipperary Council contractors, has no proper drainage pipes connecting it to the river thus allowing this contaminated water to pass through the Double Ditch into the adjoining fields on the other side.

One must ask is this the same water causing this new fast flowing Suir river tributary to appear at a lower level in the Mill Road gardens.

Meanwhile, our video clearly demonstrates the complete failure by Mr Marcus O’Connor and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) in serving the needs of Thurles town.

Perhaps Mr Marcus O’Connor might like to get up from his office desk and visit the streets of Thurles and surrounding roads, to experience at first hand the failures now being tolerated by the people of Thurles.

Thurles Municipal District Continuing To Waste Taxpayers LPT

You will be aware of that large crater which appeared and was reported by Thurles.Info on December 14th, 2020 last.

Well as you know, Councillor Jim Ryan claims he had it eventually repaired on Monday February 8th 2021.

Yes, actually it was repaired. Then three days later, February 11th 2021, same having been filled with a few shovels of cold tarmac, (view the result hereunder). Could this 3 day repair be rightly headlined “Money Wasting”?

Junction of Mill Road and N62 west of the Archerstown Industrial Estate
and south of Thurles Golf Club. *Photo: G. Willoughby.*

Meanwhile, attention all Councillors, one other little job that needs doing, (sure anytime before Xmas 2024, no rush!)

**Trying to save on cement.** *Photo: G. Willoughby*

While your electorate fully understand that you must neglect salaried council work, due to extreme pressure from your main occupations, e.g., teaching online, furniture sales, refrigeration repairs, accountancy, refuse collection, Facebook updating and God knows what else, etc. etc.; please see image above, captured near Thurles Cattle Mart, Cabragh Road, Thurles.

This heavy kerb collapse came about on February 12th last, following the snowfall.