Politics « Thurles Information

Left Behind – Thurles, Co. Tipperary Left Without A Single Bus Stop.

Residents in Thurles, Co. Tipperary are becoming increasingly frustrated at the continued absence of even one proper bus stop in the town centre or in the surrounding areas.

In the heart of Thurles, recent half-finished street upgrades have already removed up to 80% of available parking. For those depending on public transport, the situation is even worse: commuters are left with no proper designated public transport areas. Passengers now huddle beneath the overhead canopy of the AIB Bank, for limited shelter on wet days, or under the entrance of a canopy at Thurles Garda Station on Slievenamon Road, where buses are forced to double-park and block traffic – putting road users at further risk.

**AI generated image of vacant area between Thurles Shopping Centre and Lidl Supermarket that if developed would give consumers options.**

With winter fast approaching, this lack of basic infrastructure disproportionately affects families, students, older people, and anyone without access to a car. Something as simple as a sheltered bus stop would protect waiting passengers from rain and wind, while providing a safer, more accessible public transport system.

It is astonishing that in 2025, a town the size of Thurles still lacks such a fundamental amenity. This neglect hurts business footfall as much as residents on the move. While the government can allocate €336,000 for a covered shed supporting 36 bike spaces outside Dáil Éireann, surely the cost of installing a few bus shelters in Thurles would be only a fraction of that amount.

Beyond serving commuters, shelters in Thurles could even generate revenue. Advertising panels – whether static posters or digital displays – could provide income for Tipperary Co. Council itself while also improving currently decreasing town centre business.

The consequences of inaction are already clear. More people are resorting to driving, increasing congestion. Local shops are losing customers who might otherwise travel in by bus. Vulnerable groups – particularly the elderly, young people, and those on low incomes – are being left isolated. Businesses argue that this lack of provision is not just inconvenient, but unsafe, as passengers are forced to stand on busy pavements in poor weather with no protection.

This is a matter of fairness and safety. Public transport users in Thurles are not demanding the luxuries afforded to Leinster House – just the bare minimum: safe, accessible bus stops that connect the town to the wider region. Without them, Thurles will continue to fall behind.

**AI generated image of area for a bus shelter as detailed in recent Thurles planning upgrade.**

We read that Tipperary County Council, in conjunction with the Local Enterprise Office, is inviting applications from Town Centre Teams, Trader Associations, Chambers of Commerce, Community Groups, Farmers Markets, Craft Markets, or those involved in the craft sector under the Christmas Retail Support Programme. This grant scheme, (View Application Form Here) they believe, will support towns and villages to implement activities aimed at boosting or retaining Christmas spending. Yet this approach rings hollow. It represents a deliberate waste of public money (for really just a 30 day promotion), when parking spaces in medium size town centres like Thurles are being eradicated, leaving shoppers with fewer options. Without convenient parking or public transport facilities, people will simply turn to online shopping for what appears to be cheaper shopping options – undermining the very local retail trade this scheme claims to protect. [Do remember the phrase ” Buy Cheaper – Buy Twice”.]

It is time for Tipperary County Council, transport authorities, and national decision-makers to act. Bus stop facilities are not an optional extra – they are an essential part of building a connected, inclusive, and sustainable community.

Niamh Sweeney Appointed As New Data Protection Commissioner.

The Government has announced the appointment of Ms Niamh Sweeney as the State’s newest Data Protection Commissioner. She will take up the role on October 13th 2025, for a five-year term.

Ms Sweeney, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Columbia University in New York, brings more than two decades of experience across technology, public service and media. She most recently worked as a Director with a global strategic advisory firm, and previously held senior roles in the tech sector, including Director of Public Policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at ‘WhatsApp‘.

Her earlier career included a stint as Special Adviser at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and several years as a journalist with RTÉ.

The appointment follows the designation of Dr Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland as Commissioners in February 2024. It completes the Government’s plan, first set in motion in 2022, to expand the leadership of the Data Protection Commission (DPC) from a single commissioner to a three-person panel.

Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in May 2018, the DPC has become one of Europe’s most active regulators. Up to the end of 2024, it has issued fines totalling more than €3.5 billion, received nearly 44,000 breach notifications — 98% of which have been concluded — and handled over 1,800 cross-border complaints, the majority in its role as lead supervisory authority.

The Government has said the expansion of the Commission is part of a wider strategy to strengthen Ireland’s position as a hub for digital and data regulation within the EU’s Single Market.

Rural Safety Plan 2025-27 To Be Launched At Ploughing Championships Today.

Plan has been developed by the National Rural Safety Forum, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs, and Migration, to build safer rural communities across Ireland.
Building on the previous Plan which covered 2022-24, the latest Plan identifies four priority areas which member organisations will focus on: Community Safety & Engagement, Property Crime, Roads Safety, and Animal & Wildlife Crime.
The development and publication of the new Plan fulfils a commitment in the Programme for Government 2025.

The Irish government will launch the Rural Safety Plan 2025-27 at the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Co. Offaly today.

The Rural Safety Plan 2025-27 has been developed by the National Rural Safety Forum in conjunction with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs, and Migration.

This Plan’s vision is to continue to build safe communities across rural Ireland. Achieving this vision requires a multi-agency, collaborative approach, including everything from having more visible Gardaí in the community – to providing safe public spaces and amenities.

The Core objectives of the Forum are:-

Community Reassurance.
Information Sharing & Communication Network
Increased Community Engagement
Crime Prevention & Crime Opportunity Reduction

Following an analysis of the previous Rural Safety Plan 2022-24; this new Plan identifies four priorities to address: Community Safety & Engagement, Property Crime, Roads Safety, and Animal & Wildlife Crime.
Under these four pillars, the 24 member organisations of the National Rural Safety Forum have committed to 18 actions which will be enabled by 53 sub-actions, all with a view to ensuring people are safe and feel safe in rural Ireland.

The National Rural Safety Forum is comprised of organisations and people with a common purpose of ensuring rural safety. The Forum is co-chaired by the IFA and An Garda Síochána, and is supported by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs, and Migration.

The Forum works to develop a nationwide network for the distribution of consistent, highly effective crime prevention advice while also increasing engagement within communities and reducing the opportunities for crime.

Assistant Garda Commissioner Ms Paula Hilman said, “An Garda Síochána remains committed to rural Ireland and our community policing ethos. Through various collaborations including the National Rural Safety Forum, Community Alert schemes and new Community Safety Partnerships, An Garda Síochána is listening to and working with rural communities. This collaboration, must be and is supported by Gardaí who work, live, socialise and are embedded as part of all our communities.
Through initiatives such as Operation Thor, An Garda Síochána has targeted and taken on crime gangs who have caused significant worry to rural communities, leading to a significant decline in residential burglaries by 75% since its introduction in 2015.
An Garda Síochána will continue to listen, respond and support rural communities across all four pillars on the National Rural Safety Plan, Community Safety & Engagement, Property Crime, Roads Safety, and Animal & Wildlife Crime. An Garda Síochána is steadfast that we are here to help.”

The National Rural Safety Forum will now monitor the implementation of the Plan and evaluate the progress of the Plan during its lifetime.

A copy of the National Rural Safety Plan 2025-27 can be downloaded HERE.
More information can be found on the National Rural Safety Forum HERE.

EPA Intervention Sparks Token Clean-Up Of River Suir In Thurles.

Residents shrug, visitors horrified, as Thurles river turns into an open sewer.

LAWPRO scientists warn Suir is ‘dying rapidly’ while Tipperary Council fails to act.
Twelve years of neglect and denial leave one of Ireland’s great rivers in crisis.
Officials accused of hiding 28 sewage outlets behind unchecked weed growth.

Yesterday afternoon, as a heavy downpour swept across Thurles Town, I took shelter beneath the trees on the banks of the River Suir and waited. As predicted at 3:00pm, as the bells from Thurles Cathedral struck the hour, the rain eased just long enough for me to capture a series of photographs and a short video, the evidence of which, now speaks for itself.

Video above shows sewage flowing openly in the River Suir, in Thurles Town centre.
The Fountain, once gifted to the Thurles Tidy Town Committee and stolen from the river Suir by council officials, with the knowledge of current serving local councillors, must now be returned.

What the footage show above is undeniable: Tipperary County Council officials, aided by Thurles Municipal District officials and supported by local councillors, are not only failing in their duty to protect the River Suir; they are directly contributing to its pollution and decline.

The reason the rampant weed growth along the riverbank is left uncontrolled is now obvious. These weeds serve as a natural curtain, concealing the 28 outlets discharging their contents directly into the river; a river which LAWPRO (Local Authority Waters Programme) scientists confirm is dying rapidly.

Yes, in response to an EPA memo last week, Council officials, who had deliberately ignored our warnings, made a token gesture. Two pallets, two plastic bollards, a pile of discarded clothing, and six supermarket trolleys were finally removed. But beyond that, little has changed. As my video above shows, bottles dumped into the river during this summer’s Town Park Music Festival still remain. The blame here cannot rest entirely with festival-goers; when public seating is installed by a river, litter bins must also be provided. Yet councillors and their officials continue to ignore this most basic of facts.

I spent over an hour yesterday in that putrid stretch of riverbank, speaking with those passing along the walkway near the Swinging Gates at the junction of Emmett Street and Thomond Road. After the downpour, one covered drain was spewing raw sewage; another carried foul runoff from the southern end of town. Spanish students and Ukrainian refugees were horrified by what they saw. Local residents, on the other hand, merely shrugged, “nothing new,” they said.
Even the ducks, same introduced years ago by the late Wilbert Houben, Thurles Gun Club and myself, paddled eagerly in the filth, feeding on its floating debris.

Meanwhile, on 11th September, (a full 13 days after I had contacted the EPA in Wexford), our local newspaper finally ran a piece on the issue. Disappointingly, the image used was a long outdated archive photo, showing a river that looked nothing like its current choked and dying state. The article itself read more like a promotion for a local politician, than an exposé of the environmental crisis being ignored for the past 12 years.

And so, the buck-passing continues. LAWPRO; Uisce Éireann; Inland Fisheries Ireland, etc. none are willing or able to take legal action against Tipperary County Council. Instead, information shuffles endlessly from one desk to another, while the river suffers in silence and our government runs around like a headless chicken, believing, like the two genetically enhanced mice, ‘Pinkey and the Brain’, that their hyper-intelligence is slowly taking over the world.

But let it be clear: as the video shows, this is ‘Not The End’.

Government Waiver Immigration Fees For victims Of Domestic Abuse.

Victims of domestic abuse will not be required to pay the immigration registration fee of €300.

The Irish government has signed into effect regulations to facilitate arrangements for survivors and victims of domestic abuse, which exempts them from immigration registration fees.

Under the immigration guidelines anyone who experiences domestic abuse and whose permission to be in Ireland is linked to the perpetrator of that abuse, can apply to the Immigration Service for a separate independent immigration permission.
Providing a separate and independent permission removes barriers for people to leave abusive relationships or unsafe family environments. The application for this permission is free and requests are dealt with sensitively by the immigration authorities.

When a person applies for a residency permit, they are required to pay a registration fee.
Exemptions from the registration fee are provided by law, while some survivors and victims were already exempt under the previous Regulations, the government has now amended these regulations to expressly include survivors and victims of domestic violence, granted an independent permission.

The government is committed to protecting victims and survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence as a matter of priority and consequently encourages people to come forward and access State support services, where previously they may have been hesitant to do so.

Currently this €300 fee must be paid by all applicants, unless they are:

Under 18 years at the time of registration.
A spouse, widow or widower of an Irish citizen.
A civil partner or surviving civil partner of an Irish citizen.
A spouse or dependent of an EU national who has a residence permit.
A Programme Refugee or a person granted Refugee Status under Section 47(1) of the International Protection Act 2015.
A person granted Subsidiary Protection under Section 47(4) of the International Protection Act 2015.
A person granted Permission to Remain under Section 49(4)(a) of the International Protection Act 2015.
A family member reunited with a recognised refugee in Ireland under Section 56 of the International Protection Act 2015.