“Paper never refused ink,” as the old saying goes. Publication alone does not establish accuracy; public statements should be supported by clear information and visible results. I refer of course to a press release by Refresh Thurles Tidy Towns and published HERE by the Tipperary Star local newspaper.
Refresh Thurles Tidy Towns’ concern about the River Suir is, at last, indeed to be welcomed. However, the accompanying photographs show substantial litter; numerous discarded drinks bottles, food wrappers, cartons and other rubbish among the trees and along the bank, together with shopping trolleys submerged beneath branches; today evidenced remaining untouched for almost 2 years.
One supermarket trolley overlooked in River Suir since 2025.
These currently submerged trolleys present another practical question; when were they first reported, who is responsible for arranging their safe removal, and when will that happen? Despite the water being shallow, nobody should expect volunteers to enter the river to retrieve them, but residents deserve a clear answer about who will act.
Litter overlooked in Thurles town park since 2025
The group reports regular litter picks and the recent collection of eight bags of rubbish. That work deserves acknowledgement. Nevertheless, the conditions pictured raise a fair question: when were these particular areas last cleaned, and are they included in the regular litter-picking route?
There is also a question about the photograph accompanying this week recent Tipperary Star report. [See HERE] My understanding is that it previously appeared on Refresh Thurles’ Facebook page on 25th April 2026. If it is an older photograph, its date should be made clear, so readers of local press do not mistake it for evidence of this current week’s activity.
Uncollected litter dumped between 2025/26, due to absence of litter bins.
My concern is that litter problems here, have persisted since the 2025 music festival. These photographs can prove that no cleaning has occurred since then, and they do show places that need immediate attention. If access or safety difficulties prevent volunteers from collecting this rubbish, have those locations been reported to the council, and what response has been received?
The timing of the press statement also merits clarification. Has Refresh Thurles previously raised these concerns publicly or in writing with the relevant authorities? If so, when, and with what outcome?
Please do take the time to fully view the video hereunder, to fully understand what must be observed as Ireland’s shame.
Why Ireland’s Rivers Are Dying?
Finally, the published statement’s reference to installing wildlife information boards needs clarification. My understanding is that Thurles Municipal District Council installed the signage. Could the respective roles in commissioning, funding, designing and installing the boards be explained, so everyone’s contribution is accurately acknowledged?
Uncollected riverbank litter since August 12th, 2026, still visible this wet morning.
These are reasonable questions, not a dismissal of voluntary effort. Those who discard rubbish bear responsibility for their behaviour, and volunteers deserve thanks for the work they do.
But appreciation and accountability can and must sit together. What matters now is an accurate account of the work completed, a clear allocation of responsibility and dates for addressing the problems shown in above accompanying pictures shown here and with no remedial action taken for months.
Some newspapers are happy to publish public relations (PR) material from politicians and other organisations, without verifying the facts. The favourable accounts they present are often far removed from the truth.
Paper may never refuse ink. The River Suir, at this stage, needs more than words.
The cheerful online mischief-makers (View “Meanwhile in Ireland” Here), Ireland’s digital equivalent of a lad leaning over a pub counter saying, “I’m only telling you what everyone else is thinking”, have declared Thurles “a quiet railway town that feels dead on non-match days.”
This is precisely the sort of reckless investigative journalism we feared. For generations, the people of Thurles have worked tirelessly to create the impression that absolutely nothing happens here. It is one of Ireland’s most successful covert operations, surpassed only by the mystery of where county councils store road signs before deploying eleven thousand of them around a tiny pothole.
Now meanwhile in Ireland, that lovable online hornet with a laptop, has come dangerously close to exposing the entire scheme. Yes, Thurles looks quiet. That is the point. The objective is simple: keep excessive tourism at bay.
We have seen what happens when a perfectly pleasant Irish town is discovered by lifestyle journalists. First come the travel bloggers. Then come the ring lights. Before long, somebody is charging €19 for avocado on a roofing slate and describing Liberty Square as “Thurles’s answer to Montmartre*.” [*Montmartre, for the benefit of “Meanwhile in Ireland” website, is a historic hilltop neighbourhood in northern Paris known for its steep cobblestone streets, artistic heritage, and the iconic Sacré-Cœur Basilica.]
We cannot allow this. Every resident therefore receives extensive anti-tourism training. When an unfamiliar car enters town, locals are instructed to look mildly inconvenienced. Anyone asked, “Is there much to do around here?”, must stare thoughtfully into the middle distance and reply: “Depends what you’d call doing.” This is not rudeness. It is perimeter security.
The Traffic Is a Defensive Installation. “Meanwhile in Ireland” website; our nation’s premier supplier of lists designed to start arguments in family WhatsApp groups, also mentions traffic congestion and poor road surfaces. Again, allow me to inform you this is deliberate. Those cars are not stuck. They have been strategically positioned by the Thurles Tourism Deterrence Unit. The road surfaces, meanwhile, are calibrated to shake loose anyone carrying a selfie stick, a drone or a notebook containing the phrase “ten authentic experiences.” If your suspension survives Liberty Square, you may proceed, but you will be monitored. The cleverest part of the operation is that nobody can prove the congestion was planned, because even the people allegedly planning it, have been trapped in the traffic since 2017.
“Dull and Dated,” Says “Meanwhile in Ireland” Correct. Absolutely. Please tell everyone. Do not notice that Liberty Square has witnessed centuries of Irish life. Ignore Hayes’ Hotel, where the GAA was founded in 1884. Pay no attention to the architecture, history or independent businesses. Most importantly, do not enter the building containing the official Thurles visitor-information point. That would only give you ideas.
The apparently vacant buildings are decoys. Behind one of them are six musicians, a retired county hurler, two women organising a fundraiser, a committee discussing another committee and a man capable of explaining the entire history of Tipperary politics without even drawing breath. We cannot disclose which building. National security.
“Meanwhile in Ireland” website, having peered briefly over the digital hedge with all the forensic rigour of a man reviewing a pub through its letterbox; has declared the place empty. Excellent. The camouflage is working.
“Nothing to Do After Dark” This is our favourite accusation. Yes, there is allegedly nothing to do after dark, apart from theatre, comedy, music, dance, cinema and exhibitions at The Source Arts Centre, which describes itself as Tipperary’s cultural and entertainment venue. But apart from all the entertainment, there is no entertainment.There are also pubs, restaurants, community events, racing and the occasional conversation that begins with the weather and ends four hours later with a frame-by-frame analysis of the 2001 Munster hurling championship. If you hear laughter coming from a crowded pub, it is probably a recording. If you see people leaving a performance, they are actors portraying an audience. If thousands turn up for the Liberty Music Festival, kindly assume they are commuters whose train has been severely delayed. “Meanwhile in Ireland” may be Ireland’s cheekiest electronic parish newsletter, but even it cannot expect us to believe several thousand people accidentally wandered into a music festival.
Cold and Unwelcoming? Naturally, Thurles people are exceptionally friendly, which is precisely why they must sometimes pretend otherwise. A genuinely warm welcome could trigger a catastrophic chain reaction: A visitor enjoys Thurles. The visitor tells friends. The friends arrive. A travel magazine publishes “Ten Secret Irish Towns You Must Visit.” Liberty Square acquires an oat-milk queue visible from space.
Consequently, friendliness must be rationed.
A local may give you directions, recommend somewhere to eat, explain the history of the GAA and ask who your people are, but this should not be mistaken for hospitality. They are gathering intelligence. If somebody buys you a pint, you have penetrated the inner defences. Do not mention it to “Meanwhile in Ireland”. They will turn it into “Ten Irish Towns Where Strangers Recklessly Purchase Beverages.”
Semple Stadium: The Approved Distraction We admit that maintaining the dead-town illusion becomes difficult on match days, when Semple Stadium fills and Thurles temporarily produces enough noise to alter migratory bird patterns. That is why outsiders are encouraged to believe the stadium is our only attraction. While everyone is watching the hurling, residents quietly enjoy everything else: the River Suir, local walks, cafés, shops, arts, history and the reassuring absence of tour guides waving umbrellas. There is even Lár na Páirce, the museum of Gaelic games, in the town where the GAA began. Naturally, we tell tourists it is merely a sophisticated warehouse for elderly sliotars.
The wider tourism authorities describe Thurles as a town blending sporting heritage, culture, scenery and history. But what would they know? They have presumably never assembled a slideshow entitled Ireland’s Most Miserable Places while rubbing their hands together like cartoon landlords.
A Warning About the Surrounding Area. Under no circumstances should visitors use Thurles as a base for exploring Holycross Abbey, Cabragh Wetlands or the wider Tipperary countryside. The scenery is terribly scenic. The history is excessively historic. The wetlands contain birds that refuse to perform on demand and have shown no interest whatsoever in becoming Instagram influencers. You would hate it.
Our Official Response to Meanwhile in Ireland So, to our friends at website “Meanwhile in Ireland” that delightful digital gobshite, forever throwing verbal fireworks into quiet towns and running away giggling we say this:- You are completely correct. Thurles is miserable. There is nothing here. Please encourage your readers to continue directly to somewhere with a souvenir leprechaun every nine metres. Do not stop for coffee. Do not attend a show. Do not explore the town. Do not enter a good pub. Above all, do not ask a local about hurling unless you have cleared the remainder of your afternoon and possibly the following morning. And definitely do not discover that Thurles is a warm, lively, historic and deeply characterful Irish town that simply has no interest in dressing itself up like a theme park for anyone’s approval. Nothing to see here. Move along for God’s sake now; before somebody offers you a pint.
The recent meeting concerning the River Suir, held at Cahir House Hotel in Cahir, County Tipperary, on Wed 26th last, attracted a packed room of anglers, Tidy Towns personnel and environmentalists all united by their concern for the future of the river Suir. The meeting was chaired by Mr Derek Cagney, (National Secretary of the Trout Anglers Federation of Ireland and Chairman of the Cashel, Golden and Tipperary Anglers Association). Despite the strong public attendance and the importance of the issues under discussion, no politicians, elected councillors or other local Thurles representatives were seen to be present.
Meanwhile, independently a formal complaint has now been made once again by myself, directed at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the continuing condition of the River Suir in Thurles town centre and the failure to respond by the known responsible body, namely Tipperary County Council.
The complaint, (EPA reference COM021813), concerns the stretch running from Eircode E41 NX94(Barry’s Bridge) along the full stretch of river running to and including the area Eircode E41 C6K7, (Slievenamon Road River Walk entrance).
Concerns have been raised about this watercourse repeatedly since approximately November 2013. Recent photographs, vidoes and observations indicate that serious problems remain, including:
abnormal, opaque or grey-looking water;
foam or surface scum;
dark material or sludge in the channel;
water suspected of containing domestic wastewater or run-off;
extensive rush and vegetation growth, sucking the oxygen from the shallow water;
bottles, drinks containers and other litter throughout the riverbed and floating on now stagnant, polluted water.
Loss of the River Suir Fountains at Barry’s Bridge It is deeply regrettable that Tipperary County Council removed the two fountains from the River Suir These fountains were more than decorative features. They enhanced this prominent riverside area, while helping to circulate and aerate the water. Although fountains cannot themselves remedy pollution or replace proper river management, their operation can improve local water movement and dissolved-oxygen levels. At a time when residents are reporting stagnant-looking water, excessive vegetation, algae, sludge and litter, their removal represents the loss of both a valued public amenity and a potentially beneficial source of aeration.
Tipperary County Council should now explain why the fountains were removed, what assessment preceded the decision and whether they will be again restored. Their return should form part of a wider, properly funded programme to investigate pollution, clean the channel and restore this neglected stretch of River,
Photographs alone cannot fully establish the composition or exact source of the water or material contained. That requires a professional inspection, laboratory testing and proper source-tracing. However, the visible conditions are sufficiently abnormal to justify an urgent investigation.
In September 2025, the EPA referred the matter to Tipperary County Council as I requested. The Council subsequently outlined immediate and planned actions, including a proposed catchment-management plan and pilot study, details of which I am not privy. In November 2025, the EPA informed me that it was satisfied, based on the Council’s response, that the Council was taking appropriate steps to fulfil its environmental responsibilities.
Alas however, the continuing conditions during 2026 now raises serious questions about whether those promised measures were ever implemented and whether they produced any measurable environmental improvement.
On 23rd August 2026, the EPA acknowledged my further correspondence. It has again referred the matter to Tipperary County Council and has stated that it will assess what further EPA action may be appropriate after reviewing the Council’s next response. An update has been promised within the next four weeks.
It has been made clear that another referral and exchange of correspondence will not, by themselves, clean this river, identify the source of any discharge or prevent the problem from recurring. The Council’s handling of the matter is itself a central part of this complaint. Independent oversight now requires verification of what is happening on the ground.
Dried-up riverbed in Thurles town centre.
It has been formally requested that a suitably qualified EPA officer conduct an unannounced inspection while the conditions are visible. I am available to meet an officer at the site and identify the affected locations.
The EPA have also been asked to:
inspect and photograph the affected watercourse;
arrange properly documented upstream and downstream sampling;
analyse the water for appropriate chemical, biological and microbiological indicators;
trace relevant drains, pipes, culverts and outfalls;
establish whether any discharge exists and whether it is authorised;
examine Tipperary County Council’s complaint, inspection and enforcement records;
obtain evidence that Tipperary County Council’s promised actions were completed;
specify deadlines for investigation, cleaning and remediation;
consider its statutory supervisory powers if the evidence shows that Tipperary County Council has not performed its environmental duties adequately.
The EPA’s own guidance states that people may complain about a council’s environmental performance where a problem has not been addressed within a reasonable period or properly investigated. It also states that the EPA may issue legal notices or direct a council to take action where its duties have not been performed adequately. Under section 63 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992, as amended, the EPA oversees local authorities’ performance of their environmental-protection functions.
The EPA are being asked to prejudge whether an offence has occurred. A rigorous, evidence-based and independent investigation is being sought. If the EPA decides that an inspection is unnecessary, a reasoned written decision has been asked for, explaining what verified evidence supports that conclusion.
After approximately thirteen years of complaints, plans, promises and political assurances are no longer enough. The public is entitled to a clean watercourse, accountable environmental governance and clear answers about what has entered this section of the River Suir.
From today, August 30th, I will make the substantive correspondence and official responses publicly available, subject to the appropriate protection of personal information. Further photographs and updates will follow.
Two reports present contrasting pictures of Irish tourism in 2026.
Fáilte Ireland’s business sentiment survey reveals falling turnover and widespread concern among operators, while official Central Statistics Office figures show growth in foreign visitors and expenditure. The reports are not necessarily contradictory. They measure different aspects of tourism and suggest that national growth is not reaching every business, sector or region equally.
First report: Tourism operators report declining turnover Fáilte Ireland surveyed 643 tourism businesses about trading conditions in the year to May. Only 24% reported increased revenue compared with 2025, while 25 per cent recorded no change and 51 per cent experienced a decrease. B&Bs, activity providers, pubs and bars were among the weakest-performing sectors. Businesses along the Wild Atlantic Way also reported particularly difficult conditions.
Dublin performed more strongly. In the capital, 38% of businesses reported increased revenue and the same proportion recorded a decline. Nationally, however, 43% expected revenue to fall during the remainder of 2026, compared with 29% anticipating growth. Approximately three-quarters of operators said the Middle East conflict had affected their businesses. Among those reporting an impact, 74% cited higher energy costs, 55% experienced other cost increases and 53% were affected by disruption associated with April’s fuel protests. Half reported increased cancellations, while 45% said bookings had declined. Hotels also observed that longer leisure stays were becoming less common.
Businesses are responding cautiously. Some 55% were seeking cost reductions, one-third planned to absorb increased expenses and another third intended to target domestic holidaymakers. That strategy may prove challenging because many operators believe Irish consumers have less disposable income. Fáilte Ireland stressed that the findings represent operators’ opinions rather than verified financial results. Sentiment may have been influenced by strong expectations following 2025, persistent cost pressures and a succession of negative international developments.
Hidden Heartlands and the Tipperary position. Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands broadly reflected the national difficulties. In that region, 20% of respondents reported increased revenue, 30 per cent recorded no change and 50 % experienced a decline. Looking ahead, 28% of Hidden Heartlands businesses expected revenue to increase during the remainder of 2026, while 26% anticipated no change and 46% expected a decrease. This result was slightly better than the Wild Atlantic Way, where 56% reported falling revenue to date and 48% expected a decline during the remainder of the year. Nevertheless, the Hidden Heartlands figures indicate considerable pressure on inland and rural tourism businesses.
These regional findings cannot be treated as figures for Tipperary or Thurles. Parts of Tipperary, particularly around Lough Derg, are promoted through Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, but other parts belong to Ireland’s Ancient East. Fáilte Ireland’s consumer tourism site identifies Thurles specifically as part of Ireland’s Ancient East. Neither region’s results provide a reliable stand-alone measurement of tourism performance in the town.
The survey contains no county or town-level breakdown. It therefore shows the wider environment in which Tipperary businesses are operating, rather than proving that local turnover followed the regional pattern.
Second report: Foreign visitors and expenditure increase
The CSO recorded 676,300 completed foreign-resident visits in July 2026. This was 5% above July 2025 and 3% higher than in July 2024. Approximately 3.9 million foreign visits were completed between January and July; 13% more than during the equivalent period of 2025, although only 0.4 per cent above 2024. Visitors spent 5.2 million nights in Ireland during July, an annual increase of 2%. Average stays nevertheless declined from 7.9 to 7.6 nights. This shortening of visits may help explain why some accommodation, hospitality and activity businesses did not experience growth matching the increase in arrivals.
Great Britain and Continental Europe each supplied 32% of visitors, while North America accounted for 30%. Half travelled for holidays and leisure, 29% visited friends or relatives and 11% came for business. Foreign visitors spent an estimated €681 million, excluding fares, 9% more than in July 2025. North Americans contributed €300 million, or 44% of the total, demonstrating the market’s disproportionate economic importance.
All CSO figures are national and do not identify how many visitors travelled to Tipperary or Thurles, or how much they spent there.
Growth is real but uneven. Higher visitor numbers and national expenditure do not guarantee increased revenue for every operator. Spending may be concentrated in Dublin, hotels and major attractions, while smaller rural businesses receive a limited share. Some 33% of July visitors stayed with family or in their own property, further restricting benefits for commercial accommodation. Shorter stays and rising energy, fuel, payroll and supply costs can also weaken margins despite increasing visitor expenditure.
The combined evidence therefore points to uneven growth; Ireland is attracting more foreign visitors, but regional operators remain under pressure. For Tipperary and Thurles, the national and regional findings provide important context, but more detailed local data would be required to establish their actual tourism performance. However, Thurles Tourist Office’s promotion of local nail bars, coffee shops and clothing stores as a means of attracting international visitors must be regarded as out of touch with the realities of attracting foreign tourism.
The Stench of Neglect: River Suir in Thurles Suffocates in Waste.
A Waterway Left to Fester: Apparent Pollution, Institutional Neglect and an Inexcusable Failure to Act.
The early images in the video immediately below are visually consistent with sewage-contaminated water, inadequately treated wastewater, detergent-bearing grey-water, or another organic effluent. The foam could indicate surfactants, while the grey colour and sludge may indicate suspended solids and decomposing organic matter. It does not resemble clean surface-water run-off.
However, a photograph alone cannot conclusively identify the slowly flowing substance in a river now almost static. Proper investigation should include samples from the suspected discharge point and locations upstream and downstream. Relevant analyses include dissolved oxygen, BOD, COD, ammonia, orthophosphate, suspended solids, E. coli, conductivity and surfactants. EPA material confirms that BOD, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrate and phosphorus are central indicators of organic contamination, and that pollution-incident sampling should cover downstream, discharge-point and upstream locations.EPA sampling procedure
This slide-show above, however, presents a disgusting and deeply alarming picture; grey, foaming liquid and foul-looking sludge accumulating in what should be a living watercourse. Its exact composition must now be determined by laboratory testing, but its visible condition is wholly incompatible with the clean, healthy river environment the public is entitled to expect.
This river is neither a sewer nor a dumping ground. If analysis confirms an unlawful discharge, its source must be stopped, the damage remediated and every available enforcement power used.
Continued neglect after documented notification would be indefensible, a betrayal of the waterway, its wildlife and the community these authorities and representatives are supposed to serve.
Reminder
We can confirm that the above public meeting will take place, as stated above.
Thirteen years of warnings As stated in a recent post on Thurles.Info, the deterioration of the River Suir cannot credibly be described as “sudden” or “unforeseeable”. For more than a decade, residents, anglers and environmental campaigners have raised concerns about pollution, excessive vegetation, restricted flow, sediment, litter and neglect. These concerns were documented in “River Suir Crisis—Thirteen Years of Warnings, But Still No Coordinated Action”.
Now, 13 yearslater; the Minister of State Mr Kevin “Boxer” Moran recently visited sections of the Suir in Thurles and Holycross following representations from Independent TD Michael Lowry. It was stated that the Office of Public Works would support an application by Tipperary County Council under the enhanced Minor Flood Mitigation Works Scheme. However, I can confirm from recent discussions with varying responsible bodies, that they are not aware of any recent communication. Support for an application is welcome, but it is not a restoration programme. The public has not been shown the precise work proposed, the scientific evidence supporting it, the environmental assessments required, the anticipated cost and timetable or the body responsible for delivery and monitoring.
Political videos, visits and announcements by politicians and councillors cannot substitute for accountable work. Councillor Micheál Lowry, Deputy Michael Lowry and every other representative addressing the issue must be judged by measurable results. The same standard must apply to Tipperary County Council officials. [ Which begs the question; “Where were all the other local elected councillors when a recent promotional video, capturedby Mr Lowry TD, was uploaded unto social media.” ]
The missing ingredient for the River Suir is not more talk, it is delivery.We need clear answers:
► What works will be carried out? ► When will they begin? ► Who is responsible for delivery? ► Has the funding application now been submitted? ► What section of the river will be prioritised first? ► How will pollution and damaging discharges be reduced? ► How will progress be measured and reported publicly?
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