Politics « Thurles Information

Thurles Welcome – Visitor Information.

I was forced to travel on foot this evening, down through Liberty Square, here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Yes, this is the same Liberty Square that received a “circumferential (360°) tummy tuck” at an overall cost of between €9m & €12m, over the past 3 years, which in the process successfully destroyed every business in the town centre, leaving it naked of any real footfall.

The local municipal district council are keeping the actual overall cost of this 50% upgrade, close to their chests, until they get around eventually to finishing the other half.

The first thing that struck me as I strolled along, was the strong smell of hydrogen sulphide in today’s escaping sewer gas. I asked a few people could they smell anything unusual. One of their replies informed me that I was obviously driving through town in the past number of weeks, with my car windows closed.

I asked where it was coming from and one person suggested it was the wind coming south west from the Thurles sewage plant. Another one suggested I ask contractor Messrs Walsh, whom they stated had to rip up some of their upgraded pavements, because of a reported collapsed pipe. Either way this problem will no doubt be dealt with sometime before the next General Election, in possibly February 2025, if not before.

Actually, what really attracted me, positioned, as it is, in the centre of this half upgraded new Liberty Square, was the last remaining antique looking, Victorian, iron signage still standing, situated just 50 metres from the Thurles Tourism Office.
Having left my glasses at home I moved closer to peruse same signage more clearly. Starting at the top in English, I read the printed utterance we use here in Tipperary, as a greeting or acknowledgement of another’s arrival in the town; the word “WELCOME”.

Same was followed by the words “VISITOR INFORMATION”. (I tell you when Sinn Féin get to hear about this, the Russian Kalashnikov’s will come out. (Not one word of Irish to be seen – No “Fáilte”, – No “Eolas do chuairteoirí”)

As a reasonably fluent English speaker, I moved closer. No, nothing, despite the 7.50 centimeter lettering threatening to inform the visitor and despite it being so close to Thurles Tourism Office. As I examined the dreaded British post box faded red paint, I discovered that obviously someone had accidentally leaned against this sign’s thick, translucent, Perspex facade on some frosty night about 3 years ago, thus leaving it in its current demise.

One had hoped to find helpful information contained their-on, for the benefit of any straying tourists — info like “Nothing Left Here – Try Blarney 118km Further On”, or “Nothing Left Here – This Way To Dublin City 151km Further On“; with perhaps a sort of codicil in small print on other necessary helpful information, like “Warning Traveller: Beware of out-of-control youth gangs leaping from car to car in Dublin city centre”, or “Warning Traveller: Beware of Dublin cowardly youths continuing to attack random individuals leaving them suffering serious head injuries”.

[Actually between ourselves, I blame all this on that feckin Covid-19 vaccine, causing this sort of moronic behaviour in our Republic’s Capital City].

Anyway, I’m not worrying, when Fianna Fail TD Mr J. Cahill reads this; out will come the video crew to provide footage for his social media page. Hope in this case he can find the right area, unlike another video venue, which he failed to identify.

Politicians and powerless local councillors in Thurles and Co. Tipperary, for the moment at least, are enjoying the silence of their electorate, but for how long more is anyone’s guess.

Thurles Municipal District Council Continuing To Waste Money.

We raised the issue of areas of Thurles public lighting system being left burning day and night, here in the Municipal District of Thurles, back on April 24th, 2022. Read by clicking HERE.

Now some 15 weeks later, no action has been taken by councillors or local council administration staff.

Why are we actually continuing to pay the aforementioned employees and elected representatives to waste our property tax and other hard earned tax remittances?

Update On Work To Disregard Historic Convictions Of Gay & Bisexual Men.

Minister McEntee publishes update on work to disregard certain historic convictions of gay and bisexual men.

Final round of targeted public consultation to launch in coming weeks on key issues identified by Group.
Consultation will allow representative organisations and affected people to share their lived experience and inform Group’s final deliberations.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has today published a progress report from the Working Group to Examine the Disregard of Convictions for Certain Qualifying Offences Related to Consensual Sexual Activity between Men.

Publishing the progress report, Minister McEntee said:

“The Victorian-era laws which were repealed by the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 caused immeasurable harm to generations of gay and bisexual men, criminalising and stigmatizing them simply because of their sexual orientation.

I am very conscious that nearly 30 years later, the damage that was caused by these laws continues to impact negatively on too many people’s lives. While this harm can never be fully undone, I am strongly committed to bringing to Government and publishing a scheme to disregard convictions for qualifying offences prior to decriminalisation in 1993.

I would like to thank the members of the Working Group for the important work which they are doing in considering a range of complex issues relating to the development of such a scheme. I have decided to publish this progress report in order to highlight the good progress made to date and to draw attention to the key issues identified which both the group and I believe would benefit from a final round of targeted public consultation prior to finalisation of our proposals.

I would encourage all those with an interest in this subject to read the progress report and to engage in the public consultation, which will launch in the coming weeks.”

The Working Group consists of representatives from the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), the Office of the Attorney General and three members of the LGBTI+ community with expertise in this area.

The report identifies progress made by the group to date on a number of key issues, as well as proposed next steps. Some of these key issues include identifying appropriate records, what happens to records, criteria for a conviction to be eligible for a disregard, and offences to be included under the disregard scheme.

Among the interim recommendations of the group is that the term ‘disregard’ replace the term ‘expungement’ in all relevant communications, pending final recommendations. An approach that involves entirely removing or destroying records of unjustly applied offences would not be considered appropriate due to it eliminating records and therefore evidence of such injustice. It would also frustrate the efforts of researchers and historians to explore the relevant topic in the future. For this reason, the Working Group strongly recommends a ‘disregard’ rather than ‘expungement’ (destruction) approach to relevant records.

The purpose of the proposed public consultation is to allow representative organisations and affected people to provide input, based on their lived experience, on a number of key issues identified by the Working Group as requiring further input from affected communities, which will inform the Group’s final deliberations, and ensure more effective policy making and implementation.

The public consultation will be launched in the coming weeks. As set out in Justice Plan 2022, the final report of the Working Group is scheduled for submission to the Minister by the end of Q3, 2022, subject to the conclusion and outcome of the consultation process.

Tipperary Farms To Get €1,000 To Prevent Future Fodder Shortage.

Minister for Agriculture Mr Charlie McConalogue has stated that he is finalising details of a funding plan, which he has brought to Cabinet for approval, aimed at supporting farmers, particularly those in the livestock sector.

The Minister said he wants to ensure that we grow enough grass over the course of this year, to ensure that we remain secure in terms of having enough fodder from next autumn to next spring.

He further stated that this is part of the process of responding to the challenge of there being war now on European soil, latter for the first time in over a generation, which could brings real challenges.

Livestock farmers will be able to avail of up to €1,000, under the new scheme, valued at €55 million, thus encouraging farmers to store sufficient fodder for animals past next winter.

The proposal being examined is to introduce a scheme which would incentivise beef and sheep farmers to grow hay or silage and pay up to a maximum of 10 hectares at €100 per hectare; thus ensuring farmers have the resilience to deal with any challenges that are there from the war in Ukraine.

The Agriculture Minister has already announced €20m in supports for pig farmers, €12m to encourage farmers to till extra land and €3m to support the horticulture sector.

Ongoing price increases in animal feed, fuel and fertiliser, together with other agriculture inputs, have seen beef and sheep farmers demanding help from the Government, with many saying the viability of their enterprises are severely threatened and will suffer income declines of between 13% and 25% in this current year.

St. Patrick’s Borstal Institution Tipperary.

Jail *(Gaol)* Gate, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

Recently (April 20th 2022) we here at Thurles.Info featured an article entitled “Official Opening Of New “Horses of Hope” Equine Centre At Castlerea Prison”, which is expected to play an important part in the rehabilitation of prisoners, thus preventing same from reoffending on their eventual release. Read article HERE.

History recalls the setting up of a rather similar type of institution here in Co. Tipperary, same first established back in 1906.

Ireland’s first and indeed only Borstal institution, known as St. Patrick’s Borstal Institution was located in the centre of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, as a place of detention for young male offenders, aged between 16 and 21. Most of whom were detained for offences including larceny, house-breaking, assault, animal theft and a low number of sexual crimes.

This Clonmel borstal institution provided boy inmates with continued support, same affected by the then existing “Borstal Association of Ireland”.
Following on from their release, the aforementioned association provided help and advice in finding employment, with this aftercare proving to be extremely successful, demonstrated by the small numbers of boys relapsing back into crime, following on from their release.

The Clonmel Borstal was first established following the recommendations of the 1895 “Report of the Departmental Committee on Prisons”, latter more generally known as the “Gladstone Committee”.

The institution was modelled on an innovative approach to young-offender reform, then being developed at a similar facility in the town of Borstal near Rochester, Kent, England, then begun in 1901.

This Clonmel, Co. Tipperary institution was designed to be “educational rather than punitive (intended punishment)”, but it was highly regulated, with a focus on routine, discipline and authority during its early years. However, in cases of mutiny or assaulting a prison officer, corporal punishment was officially available in the form of a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient’s bare buttocks, but only with the consent of a magistrate in attendance.

In Clonmel, to establish this borstal it was necessary to acquire all of the old prison grounds, with older or adult prisoners then serving sentences, transferred to other existing prison institutions.

The Prevention of Crime Act 1908 envisaged that youths aged between 16 and 21, who were charged with serious offences could undergo a programme of discipline intended to rehabilitate them, while segregating minors from the influence of adult prisoners.

The average number of inmates at Clonmel Borstal, at any given time, is understood to have been about 50 in number. Only about half of these had been sent directly by a court. The others were transferred by Ministerial order from their ordinary prisons. The regime in Clonmel allowed a level of trust to develop between the staff and detainees. At the discretion of the acting Governor, the boys could be allowed out into the town to seek employment.

The Clonmel borstal was an obvious recruiting ground for the British army. Magistrate Mr Justice Thomas Moloney, while attending the Spring 1919 Court of Assizes in Clonmel, paid tribute to some 424 inmates that he estimated were enlisted to fight. He further claimed that around seventy of these boys had made the “supreme sacrifice”.

In 1922, when the civil war began in Ireland, the institution was commandeered for military purposes and inmate boys were moved to Clogheen workhouse, Co. Tipperary.

By the mid-1950s the numbers of inmates had declined and with fewer coming from Dublin, it was decided to close the facility in Clonmel.
On December 1st 1956, 50 years after its initial foundation, the Irish borstal institution vacated Clonmel for the last time.