Soapbox - Thurles Information

‘Tail Continues To Wag Dog’ – Where Tipperary Co. Council Are Concerned.

On April 13th, 2023, (Read HERE), we wrote about our concerns in relation to the state of roads within the immediate precincts of Thurles town. A copy of same was forwarded to Mr Joe MacGrath (Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council).

**State of Barry’s Bridge *(Thurles Suir Bridge)*, Thurles (N75) today, August 5th, 2023.**
*Pic: G. Willoughby*.

In a surprising reply, received from Mr Joe MacGrath, through his Secretary Ms Evelyn Harty; Mr MacGrath broke a 3 year silence to discuss road craters on Thurles streets. [His rare reply has now been framed ].

In his reply Mr MacGrath regretted the fact that we should have published such damning text on social media, in advance of not giving Tipperary County Council an opportunity to respond; same which he found disappointing.
Then again Mr MacGrath, in this same reply of Tuesday April 18th, 2023 forgot that previous efforts to get him to respond to issues raised over a previous 3 year period, had resulted in not even one reply, which I personally found disappointing.

On Tuesday April 18th, 2023 Mr Joe MacGrath informed us that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) would be along to fix the N75 bridge crossing in Thurles. Quote from Mr MacGrath: “The second photo is on the N75 bridge crossing in Thurles. TII has programmed works for this section of road, which we expect will be undertaken by the end of May”.
It is now August 5th 2023 and 10 weeks later no sign of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, hence we suspect when it comes to statements made by Mr Joe MacGrath as Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council “The tail appears to continue to wag the dog”

Currently every Monday morning, in two of the craters on Thurles Bridge (Barry’s Bridge), cold tarmac is tapped down with the back of a shovel. Within a 24 hour period it has been transformed into a gravel patch, causing further damage to the area and allowing collected surface water to seep through into the bridge’s main arch structure.

The end of this month, starting August 30th, primary and secondary school children will begin travelling back to our excellent educational facilities. If repairs are not undertaken and completed before the end of this month (August 2023), school traffic in combination with roadworks will ‘drive’ everyone to despair. Local residents can then stand and further watch the destruction and ruination of businesses within an now neglected Thurles Town centre.

A copy of this blog has been sent to Mr Joe MacGrath, Chief Executive at Tipperary Co. Council.

Neglect Of Thurles Town Continues.

It was Charles Dickens’s character Wilkins Micawber who warned eloquently of debt’s downside.

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.”

For tourists headed southwards into Thurles this coming holiday season, the pictures shown here, on left and right of this text, are enough to encourage the visitor to quickly move elsewhere, rather than “Dwell A While” as our town website encourages.

This road, highlighted in the pictures, is the N62, a busy national secondary route in Co. Tipperary, which forms a junction with the M7 motorway, south of Roscrea, latter, unlike Thurles, an acknowledged heritage town, which attracts a large amount of both domestic and foreign tourism.

While our two resident politicians and Municipal District councillors and Municipal District officials continuously regurgitate details learned of a few new funded projects; maintenance of past projects are forgotten and permitted to decay.

The above permitted dereliction and neglect within the town, is evidence of poor quality administration, and once again begs the question amongst residents; “What do we get in return for our Local Property Tax payments, not to mention Rates and Vehicle Parking Charges?”

More on this and the continued waste of taxpayer’s funds, by Tipperary Co. Council, in the coming days.

Sewage Continues To Harm Quality Of Our Rivers, Lakes & Coastal Waters, Says EPA.

A must read for Thurles residents and their businesses.

QUESTION: Were Thurles Councillors & Officials duped yet again at their Monday meeting with Irish Water officials?

Poorly treated sewage continues to harm the quality of our rivers, lakes and coastal waters, says EPA.

Just half (51%) of Ireland’s sewage was treated to the European Union standards set to protect our environment, well below the EU average of 90%.
Works to eliminate raw sewage flowing into seas and rivers from 32 towns and villages have commenced or are due to start by 2024.
Irish Water has no clear plan to improve treatment at 27 priority areas where waste water discharges are impacting on rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

The EPA report on Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2021, [Found HERE] and released today, shows that investment in waste water infrastructure is delivering improvements to priority areas identified by the EPA, but treatment at many areas is still not as good as it needs to be.

**Emmett Street running parallel with River Suir.**

“Irish Water does not have clear plans in place to deal with one-third of the priority areas where waste water is adversely impacting the environment and has not allocated resources in its investment plan to complete improvements at these areas” ~ says EPA

Irish Water must provide for all improvements needed at these areas in its next investment plan, which covers the period 2025-2029.

Launching the report today, Dr Tom Ryan, EPA Director said: “This report shows that targeting investment at the priority areas identified by the EPA is delivering improvements in water quality, and the elimination of raw sewage discharges from Cobh and Castletownbere in Cork are good examples of progress.
However, it will take a high level of sustained investment over the next two decades to bring all treatment systems across the country up to the required standard to protect the environment and public health”.
Dr. Ryan added: “Irish Water has failed to produce action plans to improve treatment at one-third of the priority areas identified by EPA where waste water is harming our rivers, lakes and coastal waters. It is essential that Irish Water provides clear, site specific action plans and time frames to improve treatment in these areas, and it needs to allocate the necessary resources in its next investment cycle to implement and complete them and to resolve the associated environmental harms”.

Ireland’s largest treatment plant at Ringsend in Dublin is overloaded and fails to consistently treat sewage to the required standards. A major upgrade of the plant began in 2018 and is due to be completed in 2025.
Construction work to provide treatment for the 32 areas discharging raw sewage listed in the report is either ongoing or due to start in the next two years. It is essential that Irish Water delivers these projects as soon as possible.

Mr Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager said: “Sixteen years after the final deadline to comply, half of Ireland’s sewage is still not treated to the standards set to protect the environment. It is particularly concerning to see some towns such as Ballymote in Sligo failing in 2021, despite having the necessary treatment infrastructure and meeting the standards in 2020. This highlights the need for improved vigilance and oversight by Irish Water to make sure treatment infrastructure is always operated at its optimum”.

The report also highlights that Irish Water needs to improve its information on the condition and performance of sewers to inform and plan upgrade works necessary to mitigate environmental risks from sewer overflows.

The report is now available on the EPA website HERE.

Update On Thurles Flooding.

Workshop held today (October 18th) between representatives of Irish Water and elected members of Tipperary County Council.
Issue of flooding in Thurles Town high on the agenda.

Today, a ‘Workshop’ was held between representatives from Irish Water and elected members of Tipperary County Council, including Thurles Municipal District officials and engineers, from the Council’s Water Services Section; their business to discuss investment plans for Co. Tipperary.

We are told that high on the agenda was the issue of flooding in Thurles Town, experienced on Sunday night, which occurred following a period of heavy rainfall, which in turn resulted in streets being flooded by water and sewage, to a dept of over 100mm on various streetscapes.

We understand that Thurles Municipal District Council members outlined on our behalf, details of the impact that flooded streets were having on the town and the difficulties being frequently experienced by local businesses and private homes in the areas of Friar Street, west of the town.

Irish Water representatives from the Waste Water Network Asset Planning
section confirmed that they were aware of the extent of the issues and confirmed that an analysis of the network had recently been completed and would be expedited.

While we have no details as of yet, with regards to the closed discussions, we understand that our elected representatives were informed that once design options were further advanced, then Irish Water will present all solutions to Tipperary County Council.

As we head into an uncertain winter season and to sum up; there are no real solutions currently in the ‘pipeline‘ (forgive the pun), aimed at presently solving or resolving the flooding problems in Thurles, so probably best to acquire sandbags.

Another Road Sign Required For Liberty Square, Thurles.

Another of the recently erected directional road signs on Liberty Square, Thurles, has “bitten the dust”, struck by a vehicle attempting to manoeuvre within a now drastically reduced driving space.
Wonder what would have happened if the electrical box, sitting close by, had been struck? Probably would have turned off the lighting currently burning in broad daylight.

So before someone gets killed, where is the Thurles Relief Road which was announced in 2018, as being eligible for funding under the National Development Plan. See HERE.

With two politicians resident in Thurles, both supporting our present coalition government, surely, we must have some clout in Dáil Éireann; but apparently not!