Politics « Thurles Information

University Hospital Limerick Most overcrowded In Country This Year.

University Hospital Limerick (UHL), serving the medical needs of North Co. Tipperary, has continued to be the most overcrowded hospital in the country, so far this year, in what the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has described as the “worst year on record for hospital overcrowding”.

According to the group’s trolley watch figures, over 121,526 patients nationally have gone without a hospital bed in the year 2023 to date; the highest portion of which, 21,141, were in University Hospital, Limerick.

Across the country some 3,450 children have also been on trolleys so far this year, representing an increase of 24% on the previous year.

This morning, Tuesday December 19th, there were 517 people waiting for beds; again forced to remain on trolleys in hospitals across the country.

The five most overcrowded hospitals in 2023, in Ireland to date were:

University Hospital Limerick with 21,141 patients,
Cork University Hospital with 12,487 patients,
University Hospital Galway with 8,914 patients,
Sligo University Hospital with 8,094 patients,
St. Vincent’s University Hospital with 6,555 patients.

This overcrowding comes at a time when the HSE have decided to implement a staffing recruitment freeze, which will further demoralise an already exhausted workforce.
The HSE themselves have acknowledged that wait times are far too high for those on trolleys in emergency departments.

Compared to the HSE figures which only count patients who are physically in the emergency department, the INMO figures published on their website weekly, from Monday to Friday, give a more accurate depiction of how many people are on trolleys and chairs right throughout our public hospitals.

The highest level of overcrowding recorded by the INMO was 760 patients record on January 6th 2020.

Slievenamon Road Upgrade – Final Nail In Thurles Town Centre’s Coffin.

It has become perfectly obvious that urban city planning ideas are now being mandatory enforced on rural, agricultural towns like Thurles, Co. Tipperary with disastrous consequences, forcing trading retail businesses to either close or fold their tents to move elsewhere.

Anyone who visited Dublin City recently will know that only public transport, cyclists and pedestrians can now get into and around its increasingly menacing streets, with any degree of efficiently.

**The busy prosperous Liberty Square of the 1960’s**.

That is all well and good in Dublin with its network of buses, trams and taxis. Here in rural Thurles such public transport is very limited. There isn’t a Dart tram line to be found running from rural Upperchurch or indeed Two-mile-Borris or Littleton villages every 15 minutes. Indeed there is not one single bus shelter to be found in Thurles, to protect a prospective bus passenger from our inclement weather.

For those who wish to view what exactly will be forced on the residents and businesses of this once prosperous midland town, take a look here: N62-Slievenamon-Road-Phase-2.pdf

NOTE Page 6 of the above pdf: “Some of the key interventions that this strategy will deliver include significant investment in the provision of safe, segregated infrastructure to protect those walking and cycling on our roads, and initiatives to promote modal shift from motor vehicle travel to support environmental, safety and health objectives.”

The picturesque Liberty Square, midday in 2023, asks a Question: Where are the town centre consumers; where are the cyclists; the walker, and the vehicle parking spaces.
Answer: Driven out with the businesses. Gone to support German international discount retailers on the outskirts of Thurles, who offer very little local employment, while selling a considerable amount of German processed produce.

See also what is planned in the Draft Discussion maps for Slievenamon Road, shown here: N62-Slievenamon-Road-Map.pdf.

Question: Where are the Cycle Paths either on a half upgraded Liberty Square, town centre or on this newly designed, still to be revamped, Slievenamon Road plan?
Answer: Non existent.

This October 2022 plan will most certainly drive home that final nail in our town centre’s coffin. However, the local electorate, (now remaining surprisingly silent), can express their anger, during local elections, expected to be held possible next March.

Deputy M. McNamara Challenges Tipperary Senator G. Ahearn Over Dáil Vote Comments.

Clare Independent TD, Mr Michael McNamara, has described Senator Garret Ahearn’s criticism of Independent TDs, who on Tuesday last, (December 5th, 2023) voted ‘No Confidence’ in Justice Minister, Mrs Helen McEntee as “facetious”* and “surprising”. [*Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour”].

Deputy McNamara has responded by suggesting that the Tipperary-based Senator is “opting to ignore the depletion in numbers of Gardaí in Tipperary merely for advancement within his own party.”

“The Garda numbers in the Clare/Tipperary Division have fallen considerably during Mrs Helen McEntee’s term of office and I am surprised that Senator Ahearn has no issue with the resultant increase in antisocial behaviour in towns like Clonmel and Ennis,” added Deputy McNamara.

Figures released by the Department of Justice in response to a Parliamentary Question by Deputy McNamara reveal that the number of serving Gardaí in the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division dropped from 727 in November 2020 to 674 in November 2023, while numbers nationally decreased by almost 4,000 to 13,940 in the three years to November 2023.

“Senator Ahearn’s comments are facetious and bely the situation faced by communities across rural Ireland that have witnessed the closure of Garda stations and an overall decrease in the number of serving Gardaí,” explained Deputy McNamara. “It comes as a great surprise to me that any politician, aspiring to represent Tipperary, would be happy with the depleted numbers of Gardaí serving in the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division.”

Speaking during yesterday’s ‘Motion of No Confidence’ in Mrs Helen McEntee, Deputy McNamara said, “There is much about personalities and criticism of people’s personalities on both sides of this House. For me, this is not about personalities at all, for what it is worth. The Minister is a fine person and a relatively competent politician. There must, though, be political accountability in this House, in this democracy. This must be the case for health services and security services. Unfortunately, there are fewer Gardaí in the State now. The total is a little under 14,000 now, while there was a little under 18,000 at the start of this Dáil term.”

“Of those gardaí, they are spending more time behind computers. That is annoying them, and they are losing confidence in their Garda management,” he continued. “We might ask what that has to do with the Minister. It is the role of the Government to put management in place in the health service or An Garda Síochána that is able and resourced to do the job. It is very clear from the views, responses and votes of rank and file Gardaí, with regard to the GRA, that they do not have confidence. The problem is resources or Garda management. Either way, that becomes the Minister’s problem because she is the one who is accountable to the House for that.”

Deputy McNamara added, “I regret not being able to express confidence in the Minister. I hope she will recruit a lot more gardaí and develop systems whereby they have more time on the beat and are not tied up as much behind their desks. All I can go on is what I am seeing and hearing in my constituency. The lack of Gardaí on the beat is resulting in increasing antisocial behaviour not just on the streets of Dublin, but on the streets of Ennis. That is a problem because people now expect Gardaí to be transferred from rural towns to Dublin. There is not the capacity for that.”

“There is a real problem with policing in this State and there has to be political accountability. It is not that I take any pleasure in not voting confidence in the Minister, but there has to be political accountability and on that basis I regret that I cannot express confidence in the Government on this issue,” concluded Deputy McNamara.

Statutory Agency Dedicated To Tackling Domestic Abuse Passes Through Oireachtas.

A statutory agency under the remit of the Department of Justice and dedicated to tackling and reducing domestic; sexual; and gender-based violence (DSGBV) while supporting victims and survivors has passed through the Oireachtas.

The establishment of the DSGBV Agency, which is expected to be operational by January 2024, will deliver on commitments under Zero Tolerance, the Third National Strategy on DSGBV.

The Bill was passed by the Seanad today, having been approved by Government for publication last September and passed through the Dáil earlier in November. The next step is for the Bill to be signed into law by the President.

The working name for the Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence Agency is expected to be called Cuan, (meaning ‘harbour’ or ‘haven’). The name is regarded as user-friendly, memorable and, above all, most suited to the functions and objectives of the new Agency.
The new agency will work collaboratively with the NGO and DSGBV services sector to ensure that the best possible services are in place to meet the needs of victims and survivors.

The Agency will be tasked with:

Coordinating and reporting on the delivery of Government strategies relating to DSGBV (including the current National Strategy).
Supporting and overseeing the delivery of safe and accessible refuge accommodation, and ensuring the delivery of excellent services to victims of DSGBV (including helpline and other supports).
Developing robust standards for funded DSGBV services in collaboration with the sector, and monitoring adherence to these standards by funded service providers.
Leading on awareness-raising campaigns designed to reduce the incidence of DSGBV in Irish society as well as ensuring that all victims know the full range of supports available and how to access them.
Liaising with the Minister for Justice and her Department to ensure that the work of the Agency aligns with overall Government DSGBV policy.
Leading on research to inform DSGBV policy development, working with others, such as the CSO, who have research and data projects underway.

A competition to appoint a CEO for the agency is currently underway, while a process to recruit members to the board of the new Agency went live on Stateboards.ie yesterday (22/11/23) and will be open for three weeks.
The statutory name of the Agency will be An Ghníomhaireacht um Fhoréigean Baile, Gnéasach agus Inscnebhunaithe, Irish Translation “The Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency”.

Tipperary Co. Co. & Thurles Municipal District Officials Ability Called Into Question.

One must seriously call into question the ability of Tipperary County Council and Thurles Municipal District officials, together with their supposedly qualified engineering department, when it comes to street design and basic planning decisions.

**Location: Liberty Square, Thurles. Crossroads sign no longer fit for purpose for those drivers, unfamiliar with the town centre.**
*Pic: G. Willoughby*.

Thurles.info has consistently warned of the complete waste of money, when it comes to positioning signposts; pedestrian lighting lamp standards and more recently, giant flower-pot street furniture; latter positioned too close to high sided vehicles, and indeed all vehicles attempting to manoeuvre their way through the mostly narrow medieval streets of Thurles.

Location: Liberty Square, Thurles. New carpark sign supposedly directing parking to the new carpark, no longer fit for purpose, for months pointing in the wrong direction for those visitors unfamiliar with Thurles town.
*Pic: G. Willoughby*.

The very existence of these high sided vehicles are testament to the failure of two resident TD’s, namely Mr Michael Lowry and Mr Jackie Cahill, who have consistently failed miserable, to obtain a long promised ring-road diversion; now no longer being discussed until 2040, at the very earliest.

**Location: Liberty Square, Thurles.** A giant, now skewed, flowerpot just installed recently. Latter street furniture has become the latest victim to suddenly change its position, courtesy of a vehicle attempting to find a non existent parking space.
*Pic: G. Willoughby*.

Liberty Square, Thurles, Perplexity.

Of course not all of Thurles streets were medieval, until current local elected councillors voted (Part 8) for what can only be described as the total destruction of Liberty Square from a business and traffic perspective, with no imput from local residents or business people being embraced during the planning stage. All businesses remaining in the area and interviewed report at least a 60% drop in customer footfall as a direct result.

Note, the above three pictures are taken within just a few metres of each other on the newly, half updated Liberty Square area of the town centre, where we learn even goods delivery vehicles, same prevented simply attempting to go about their daily business, are being issued with tickets for inescapable parking violations.