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Two Tipperary clergy decided to visit the Canary Islands and targeted the easternmost Spanish island of Lanzarote as their ultimate destination, during a proposed upcoming and well deserved summer vacation.
Remembering past vacations, where they had accidentally bumped into drunken members of their respective parishes from back home; this year they had decided to not wear any item of clothing that could identify them, firstly as priests and secondly as natives of Tipperary. With parish church attendance numbers down greatly, they were determined to have no embarrassing encounters which could lead to their parishioners being ashamed to attend any future church services on arrival back home. (e.g. reminiscences of the local newly married Ryan couple back in 1999, whom both men had unexpectedly encountered ‘honeymooning prematurely’ on the floor of the hotel lift, still sent chills down both men’s spines. This Ryan couple despite increasing their family size to 7 in just 5 years, had not seen sight nor sound of a sermon insides their local churches during that same 5 year period, despite having first make each others acquaintance at a Christian Solidarity gathering in Thurles, the year before their decision to marry.)
 As soon as the jet plane had landed at Arrecife Airport; both devout priests headed for a clothing store to purchase some, shall we say, rather out of character trouser shorts, flowery shirts, open toed sandals and giant sunglasses.
The next morning, dressed in their ‘tourist clobber’ and carrying a couple of hotel deck chairs, they headed to the sandy beach to enjoy the local, over priced tipple and take in the glorious sunshine; to which, back home, they were unaccustomed. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a gorgeous blonde dressed in a topless bikini and wearing sun glasses, came walking in their direction. As she passed them, she smiled, nodded and greeted them both with the salutation, “Good Morning Fathers, enjoy the sun!” Both priests were stuck speechless; how in God’s name did she know they were members of the priesthood?
Next day, feeling their last mode of dress was perhaps somewhat outdated, they went back to the clothing store and purchased even more outrageous casual outfits; determined not to be identified again during their remaining 10 day stay. Now dressed in this new attire, they settled down again in their chairs, confident they could enjoy their well deserved holiday without fear of being further recognised, interrupted and even embarrassed.
A short time later the same gorgeous blonde, wearing a different coloured topless bikini and sunglasses, came walking toward them. She again nodded at each of them reciting a similar salutation; ‘Reverend Fathers good morning! Has not the Almighty blessed us with lovely sunshine? Do be careful of not getting too sun burned on your second day”, she warned, before continuing to walk past.
Unable to stand it any longer, one of the priests called out after her, “Excuse me, young lady, I must know, how in God’s name did you recognise us as priests, particularly dressed as we are currently?”
Raising her sunglasses on her forehead, the woman replied, “Fathers, it’s me, Sister Kathleen from your local convent.”
It was with a deep sense of shock and sadness, Thurles inhabitants learned early today that a former much loved Thurles resident and one time employee of Thurles Swimming Pool had lost her life, following a hit-and-run accident in Morocco.
 Mrs Yvonne Slaughter (nee Ryan) in her 60’s and formerly from Fontenoy Terrace, Thurles, Co. Tipperary was enjoying a New Year holiday break with other friends in the Moroccan capital of Agadir, when the accident took place on Saturday night/ Sunday morning last. Mrs Slaughter is daughter of the once prominent and successful former Thurles Town Councillor Mr Martin Ryan.
Local reports emanating from the area state that Mrs Slaughter was preparing to cross the street in the resort of Agadir, when she was struck by a motor vehicle, the driver of which was suspected to have been intoxicated. It is understood that initially the driver fled the scene, but was pursued by citizens who later handed him over to police authorities.
Mrs Slaughter, a mother of two, had been residing with her husband Mr Brendan Slaughter in Sallins, Co. Kildare and we understand that Mr Slaughter has now travelled to Morocco to help make arrangements for the return of his beloved wife’s remains.
The mother of Mrs Slaughter, Mrs Phillis Ryan’ tragically passed away in July 2016, and today’s sad tidings now further adds to the huge sense of loss for a very close-knit and loving Ryan family.
As already stated, Mrs Slaughter is survived by her two children; her daughter Eabhe a Leaving Certificate student and her son Gavin a second year University student.
To the Ryan & Slaughter families go our sincere and deepest sympathy.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis.
 Parker’s Restaurant, Holycross, Thurles. Fire broke out early this morning at the well established, busy Parker’s Restaurant, situated in Holycross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
Management of the restaurant, which is a firm favourite of both local people and visiting tourists to Holycross, are unable today to confirm on how the blaze actually started, which caused serious internal damage to the building.
A member of staff arriving on duty this morning is understood to have raised the alarm and nobody is understood, thankfully, to have been hurt as a direct result of the fire.
On their Facebook today Parker’s Restaurant report the following entry, “It is with great sadness that we have to inform you our restaurant will remain closed until further notice due to fire damage. Thankfully no one was hurt in a fire that broke out in the early hours of this morning, however a lot of internal damage has been done.”
Parkers Restaurant have apologies for any inconvenience caused and ask that they be contacted on Moblie Tel. No 087-4417218 with regard to all future bookings and enquiries.
 Tipperary’s Lough Derg The Department Of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs has allocated €200,000 under the Rural Economic Development Zones (REDZ) initiative for the marketing, development and promotion of The Lough Derg Blueway, which includes the soon to be completed Lough Derg Canoe Trail.
Managed by a Steering Committee comprised of Lough Derg Marketing Group, Clare County Council, Tipperary County Council and Waterways Ireland, the project aims to build on the existing tourism and recreational infrastructure as well as improve economic activity surrounding the Blueway on Lough Derg by working with communities in the towns and villages in its hinterland.
Cllr. Siobhan Ambrose, Cathaoirleach, Tipperary County Council welcomed the announcement of funding for the Lough Derg project stating, “The Lough Derg Lakelands is an excellent hub for activities both on and off the water attracting increasing numbers of domestic and international tourists annually. The REDZ funding will allow us to invest in marketing and promoting Lough Derg as a world class destination offering a memorable visitor experience and the capacity to engage with the communities around Lough Derg during the process.”
Welcoming the funding allocation, Joe MacGrath, Chairperson of the Lough Derg Marketing Group and Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council, explained that the REDZ initiative is about community participation, boosting employment, tackling rural isolation and helping communities to identify the issues and also the solutions.
“The concept of a REDZ involves supporting communities to avail of opportunities to help themselves and their local areas and it is the essence of what a community led approach to rural development is all about. Clare County Council and its partner agencies looks forward to engaging with the local business, community and voluntary sectors in the Scarriff and Nenagh REDZ areas during the coming months to deliver on the opportunities presented by the Lough Derg Blueway,” he added.
Mr. MacGrath said the project will result in a high quality product that will increase tourism to the local towns and villages located close to the western and eastern shores of Lough Derg.
He continued, “The value of the Blueways lies not only in the recreational opportunities that they offer but also in their potential to stimulate local business and regenerate local areas. We will be engaging with businesses and communities throughout the Scarriff and Nenagh REDZ areas while the Blueway’s network of walking, cycling, heritage, food and canoe trails will be marketed and promoted as a signature experience on Lough Derg. It is intended that the initiative will deliver one of the key objectives of the ‘Roadmap for Experience Development and Destination Marketing 2014-2017’ for Lough Derg.”
Meanwhile, the proposed Lough Derg Canoe Trail, which is scheduled for completion by January 2017, will see canoe facilities and service blocks installed in Killaloe, Ballycuggeran, and Scarriff, Mountshannon and Dromaan harbours. The Trail project is an initiative of the Lough Derg Marketing Group and is being funded under the Lough Derg Stimulus Fund. Waterways Ireland is leading the design and development of the project in partnership with Clare County Council, Galway County Council and Tipperary County Council.
Refresh Thurles – Tidy Towns Group Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2016 will be held on Tuesday night next, October 11th, at 8.00pm in the ‘Commercial Room’ of Hayes Hotel, in Thurles.
This year’s National Tidy Towns Competition; generously sponsored for the past 25 years by SuperValue (part of the Musgrave Group), saw Thurles marked under Category E, and receiving 285 marks out of a possible total of 450.
Please find full ‘Adjudication Report’ (Thurles. Ref 627, in Alpha Order), HERE
 Marks given by National Tidy Towns Judges in respect of Thurles Town, following their 2016 adjudication. The local Thurles Tidy Town Committee have some new projects in the pipeline, for discussion at Tuesday’s AGM, that should contribute to the towns continuing upward trend of results in this competition. They point out that the National Winner in 2016 had just 327 marks, so winning this Competition should be seen as realistic and an achievable objective for Thurles into the future.
Thurles Tidy Town Committee would like particularly to acknowledge and thank, most sincerely, everyone over the past year, who contributed to making Thurles Town attractive; a nice place to live and indeed an exceptionally nice place to visit.
Please do remember that the Thurles Tidy Towns Annual General Meeting will take place on October 11th at 8.00pm in Hayes Hotel and please do make an effort to attend this important community meeting.
‘Thurles Community Estates’ and ‘Streetscape Competition’ winners
Meanwhile the Local ‘Thurles Community Estate’ winners for 2016 were recently announced. This year’s adjudication came courtesy of a qualified landscape architect, latter now working in the area of Community Development. Same adjudication will lead to each estate receiving professional advice on how to improve various aspects of their particular immediate area.
Thurles Estate Winners 2016
The names of the Winners and full Adjudicated Results are shown as follows:
Large Estate – Moyne Road Bellevue, Thurles, – 95%
Medium Estate – Hazelwood, Dublin Rd, Thurles, – 91%
Small Estate – Windsor Grove, Dublin Rd, Thurles – 82%
Following adjudication, each winner will now receive a prize of €200 to fittingly reinvest in their community areas.
Alas, there were no entries in the ‘Streetscape Competition’ this year; nevertheless this competition will again run in 2017, with a late May closing date. Refresh Thurles look forward to more estates and streets entering next year.
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