Households across Ireland are bracing themselves for further price increases on Monday next “All Fools’ Day”, April 1st 2024. But the price increases promised for fuel, broadband, mobile phone and television should not be seen as just a practical joke or hoax.
From midnight on April 1st, the cost of petrol and diesel will rise with the price at the pumps rising by an extra 4 cent per litre for petrol, 3 cent per litre for diesel and 1.5 cent for marked gas oil. These increases are a step by the Government to restore excise rates to the levels they were at before a temporary cut was introduced due to the war in Ukraine.
You have two days to fill vehicle tanks, before fuel price hikes take effect.
From April 1st also, customers of Vodafone and Eir will see their bills go up by 7.6 per cent. Customers of Three will see their prices rise by a flat 4.5 per cent. Sky and Virgin Media have not committed to an annual automatic price hikes as yet.
It is no coincidence that all price rises across telecom industry providers, continue to hike their prices by a similar amount and at a similar time each year. However, consumers can save on their broadband and TV bills each year, by switching. Remember, mobile phones can be used to create WIFI hotspots for internet connectivity with most devices, (USB-tethering), while switching to other, cheaper providers.
Also, from April 15th, 2024, the price of certain beers will be hiked by a 6% increase on Diageo products, namely Guinness, Carlsberg and Smithwick’s, which when tax is included, will come to almost a 10% increase.
Today, on TippFM local radio we learn, through an interview with local elected Independent Cllr. Mr Jim Ryan, that a major upgrade of the road surface and footpaths on Kickham Street, Thurles are likely to start maybe next August 2024.
Kickham Street this evening after the ‘Pothole fixer’ came and went.
According to Cllr. Mr Ryan, some residents of the area have complained of loose chippings, latter flying up into their houses and gardens. He failed to mention the double glazed window broken by flying gravel; the rotting door timbers on houses; school pupils and adult pedestrians being struck by flying gravel and their wet clothing, same soaked by the torrents of water flowing past blocked shores. Truth is Cllr. Mr Ryan resides just one mile from this area, same easily the busiest entrance and exit in and out of Thurles town centre.
Footpath evidence today, proving that pedestrians are being assaulted by stones from disintegrating tarmac, fired from the wheels of passing trucks and motor vehicles.
So, how many times has Thurles.Info contacted Tipperary Co. Council, Mr Joe MacGrath (Chief Executive) and Thurles Municipal District Council, Ms Sharon Scully (Thurles Administrator) together with locally elected councillors? Note: Dates that Thurles.Info highlighted this issue before reading the published links, shown hereunder, starting in 2021, with video and undeniable photographic evidence provided. Note Also: You are going to be asked to vote; to return some of those who have neglected our community, back into office again in the coming weeks.
Cllr Mr Ryan failed to state that Thurles Municipal District Administrator Ms Sharon Scully(twice invited to view this area); and Director of Services Roads/Transportation and Active Travel, Mr Marcus O’Connor, both failed/refused to correspond to numerous emails forwarded to them, between February, 23rd, 2021and January 3rd, 2024.
Kickham Street, Thurles, this evening.
Under the guidance of Local engineer, Mr Thomas Duffy, his staff, in a way observed by locals as being foolish, unreasonable and even amusing, (using what appeared to be a Stihl TS420 14in Cut-Off Consaw), cut a 3.81 centimetre (1.5in inch) wide channel to allow water to flow from one pothole into another. View Here to observe the undeniable evidence and see picture immediately hereunder.
Engineer Mr Thomas Duffy’s pothole irrigation solution.See channel cut to run water from one crater to the next crater.
Interior of front hall of one house on Kickham Street, as water is splashed freely against outer wall, the damp rotting interior timberwork.
Residents in the area can now email customerservices@tipperarycoco.ie to express their total dissatisfaction with Tipperary Co. Council, We ask those corresponding with the customer service desk to please use the reference T-241140-T0G1, latter set up by Thurles.Info, in any future correspondence. See email hereunder, sent from Customer Service Desk
Dear George Thank you for your e-mail (Received March 14th) regarding ” Kickham Street Thurles “ I have forwarded your e-mail to the Thurles District Office for their attention and direct reply to you. (Got no replyfrom Thurles District Office). Should you wish to follow up on this case, please contact Customer Service Desk, quoting reference number T-241140-T0G1 Regards, Customer Service Desk, Tipperary County Council, Civic Offices, Clonmel / Civic Offices, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.
Fianna Fáil TD Mr Jackie Cahill, who uses this road at least 4 times each week, in criticizing his own Political Party, may just be right. “Fianna Fáil have stopped listening to the ‘Ordinary People’,”(whoever they are). Mr Jackie Cahill, readers will be aware, is the TD who recently brought a deputation to meet Mr Jack Chambers TD, (Minister of State at the Department of Transport), and failed to get even a future committment to build a ‘Thurles Ring Road‘, first sought 50 years ago. Independent TD and government supporter Mr Michael Lowry also uses this roadway, and both TDs, who reside in Thurles, should be thoroughly ashamed, and embarrassed, because of their total inaction on this matter.
In an email forwarded to the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Mr Eamon Ryan, (eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie), and the Minister for Finance, Mr Michael McGrath, (michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie), Thurles.Info has now asked how residents in this area can appeal against their Local Property Tax, same forcibly removed from the incomes of persons residing on Kickham Street, and whose homes, which have been continuously damaged over the past three years, due to a lack of basic road repair. The request, sent 12 days agoon March 14th last, we now eagerly await a response.
We can be forgiven for believing that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) now govern this troubled country, which is totally lacking in governmental leadership.
Thurles.Info’s‘eye in the sky’ sent back some rather disturbing images this morning. The first issue was the wanton destruction, by some ‘uncouth barbarians’, of public bench-seating, situated in the Cabragh-Ballycurrane area, close to the now redundant old Sugar Factory and closer still to the Thurles Top Oil Depot, on Route 659, south west of Thurles town.
Over this St Patrick’s weekend, vandals struck, severely damaging community seating, which had a wheelchair accessible plinth (rectangular block base).
Public bench-seating in Thurles destroyed in an act of vandalism.
As locals are probably aware, this facility, over the years, was been widely used by both young, old and infirmed, e.g. those attending the Thurles Rehab Care Resource Centre, and in more recent times the Ukrainian Refugees, based at the old Sugar Factory, on Cabra Road.
This bench-seating plinth, was put in place, and paid for, some years ago by the local residents association in conjunction with Thurles Lions Club. This weekend was the first time that it was vandalised and sprayed with paint.
Hopefully our local authority will see the benefit in rushing out, to undertake necessary repairs to this community seating.
Another Bent Post.
Our second image demonstrates a failure brought about, once again, by Tipperary Co. Council’s failure to employ qualified engineers. The picture, immediately above, shows yet another bent signpost, adding to the very large number of other bent and misleading signposts, stretched right across the town, being ignored for years.
Sadly, this act carried out at 10:45 Greenwich Mean Time, this morning, will, I greatly fear, put an end to any hope of our 5 awards, as promised.
Yet Another Three Day, Single, Crater Filling, Exercise.
As you can see from the image above, our ‘Eye in the Sky’ caught a glimps of a JCB attempting, for the second time in just 6 days, to fill the same single pothole on Kickham Street, Dublin Road, Thurles. Thankfully, none of the other 48 craters were filled in, so I suppose we should be grateful to the town’s Administrator, her local Engineer and the Chief Executive of the County Council.
One nearby neighbour, in an effort to remove my frustration and my down cast fizzog, said that the new crater filling, put in place this morning, should be gone again, over the next two days, and hopefully long before the adjudicators reach their expected final decisions. (So least said in case judges are out and about). Luckily the JCB operator left the filling to exiting traffic, to put pressure on the craters filling, in the knowledge that he would be back again on Friday or Monday, at the latest.
It’s a funny country, our little Ireland; we give out about the cost of medical health issues and funds spent by the HSE, yet we ignore, completely, the sheer waste of taxpayer money spent at Local Government and Municipal District Council level.
Thurles.Info are proud to inform its readers that Thurles Town has been nominated for no less than five Irish National Awards, for the first time in the Town’s history.
We attempted to contact Ms Sharon Scully (Thurles District Administrator) to announce the news, on Thursday March 14th last, however Ms Scully failed to answer her telephone.
We then attempted to contact Tipperary Co. Council’s Chief Executive Mr Joe MacGrath, however all we got was the usual automated email reply which read; [(Thu, 14th Mar, 11:25)“I am away from my office until Wednesday 20th March, 2024. Please re-send your email to evelyn.harty@tipperarycoco.ie, if this matter requires urgent attention. Since it wasn’t, we didn’t.
Full details of these “Five Irish National Awards”, (much coveted by other competing counties I might add), were contained in a communication delivered by registered post, to the offices of Thurles.Info. today.
The communication received reads as follows:-
Dear Mr. Willoughby, It is with great pleasure that I, as President of the Pothole Preservation Society of Ireland (PPSI), can inform you that Thurles has swept the boards in our annual “National Pothole Awards Competition”. As you will be possibly aware the foundation of our Society came about because of the need to maintain the high standard and quality of all road potholes in Ireland, and to recognise and reward those local authorities who contribute to the making of new potholes and who also support the improvement of those already in existence, by not filling them in, thus destroying their original structure and cultural Irish diversity.
You have highlighted the pothole situation on many occasions with fine photographs from your local area and a number of these are now on permanent display in our Library.
As you know, potholes have been an intrinsic part of our heritage for centuries, in fact ever since the invention of the wheel. It is a matter of record that many blacksmiths all over our green and pleasant land, have made a good living, for many years, from the refurbishing of wheels on donkey carts, horse-drawn carriages and caravans, as a result of the careless driving through, rather than around, our nation’s numerous potholes.
Similarly, in modern times, tyre companies have contributed greatly in reducing unemployment figures as they attend to the needs of motorists who fail to recognise the need to avoid potholes at all times, especially at night. Speaking of which, our Society is extremely conscious of the difficulty of this latter point raised, and is presently engaged in active discussion with the Road Safety Authority on the possibility of providing Pothole Warning Lights (PWL), for night-time driving.
Adjudication:
Judging of all the major towns in Ireland has just been completed and, while the final official ratings from our headquarters will not be available for some weeks. Delay is due to the practice by some County Councils, who insist on filling potholes that have already been nominated for an award.
However, I am in a position to inform you that, to-date, Thurles has been awarded first place in all of our major categories.
These categories include:
Highest Overall Number of Potholes.
Lowest Number of Streets with no Potholes.
Highest Number of Potholes impossible to avoid while driving.
Potholes that simply will not vanish.
First-time Potholes Filled In, but still causing serious bumps while driving.
Your town of Thurles is expected to finish top of the list outstripping, by a huge majority, all other leading contendersin their race for National Award recognition.
It is a matter of great pride for our Society to highlight the fact that the municipal authority, within the Thurles Town Municipal District area, has set new standards of preservation with regards non maintenance of potholes in the town and its environs. and have set new standards for others that will be most difficult to emulate into the future.
Yours sincerely, T. R. McAdam,Honorary Secretary, (Pothole Preservation Society of Ireland).
Readers please keep your fingers crossed, the race is on.
Surface of Kickham Street Thurles, regularly travelled by Thurles Town’s two TD.
As a boy caught involved in some mischief, it was a regular phrase conveyed verbally by my grandmother Liza Jane, which out of respect resulted in my immediate head bowed silence. “Always when in a hole, stop digging George”, that wise old woman would say.
On Friday March 8th, the family amendment, which proposed extending the meaning of family beyond one defined by marriage and to include those based on durable relationships, lost, (67.7% to 32.3%).
The second care amendment, latter which proposed deleting references to a woman’s role within the home and replacing it with a new article acknowledging family care, not surprisingly, also lost, (73.9% to 26.1%).
According to the Irish Independent newspaper, Tipperary Fine Gael Senator Mr Garret Ahern went abroad last weekend and failed to cast his vote on both Irish Constitutionnal Amendments. Which reminds me, I will book a flight abroad, in advance of the next General Election.
Fianna Fáil Senator, Ms Lisa Chambers, latter a contestant for the European elections expected in June next, and a former barrister; yes I repeat “a former barrister”, and leader of Fianna Fáil in the Seanad since June 2020, has confirmed that she had voted No in the recent referendum; despite canvassing for a Yes vote in Dublin city centre, last month.
Cavan/Monaghan Fianna Fáil Deputy, Ms Niamh Smyth, also canvassed for a Yes vote on the Care and Family referendums, but had voted No on her election paper. But then Fianna Fáil blood flows deep in Ms Niamh Smyth, what with her being a grandniece of former Minister Paddy Smith.
Meanwhile, here in Thurles, according to RTE, Fianna Fáil TD Mr Jackie Cahill stated, quote; “I think this is a serious wake up call for us. We need to start listening to the ‘ordinary people‘ on the ground. We’re doing things in Government that they don’t agree with”. Mr Cahill was elected to Dáil Éireann in 2016 and was, prior to that, a member of Tipperary County Council from 2014 to 2016. Was it the ordinary people who elected Mr Cahill, or was it some higher power?
No matter, we now fully understand why Thurles has no ‘Ring Road’, no ‘Inner Relief Road’, no ‘Local Employment’, yes we fully understand why Thurles has ‘Potholed streets’, reminicent of the moon’s surface, and works to upgrade the ‘drainage infrastructure’ in Thurles may not be completed until 2029. It appears that it is all because Mr Jackie Cahill and Fianna Fáil have not been listening to those annoying “ordinary people“.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Recent Comments