“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” (Quote attributed to President Abraham Lincoln, but possibly first quoted by American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer Phineas Taylor Barnum.)
The old adage that ‘Paper does not refuse ink,’ was further emphasised, clarified, reinforced (call it what you will,) on page five, bottom right hand corner, of today’s local Tipperary Star newspaper. The latter adage retains a healthy scepticism with regard to what is written in everyday newspapers, however absurd, illusory or self promoting.
I am referring to the headline, “Thurles Visitor Figures Rise,” (No it has nothing to to do with over weight people,) purporting to come from the pen of Fine Gael town Councillor & outgoing Town Mayor Mr Michael Cleary.
Fine Gael Councillor Michael Cleary reports an increase in visitor numbers to Thurles & surrounding areas according to this printed report. While every business in Thurles is reporting information to the contrary, one cannot help wonder from whence came Councillor Cleary extracting, surprising & amazing insight on these tourist numbers.
One is immediately also drawn to the website of Fine Gael Councillor Neale Richmond and his Blog posted on May 29th 2013, entitled “Tourism numbers on the rise as Gathering picks up pace.”
Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear, one of these Councillors, dare I say both being “Pretenders to the Throne,” must stand accused of “Plagiarism,” latter word being defined as academic dishonesty. Will one of these Councillors now be subject to severe sanctions, like expulsion from the Fine Gael party, if found guilty by a jury of their peers?
So what did they both publish? Spot the difference.
The Glen of Aherlow (Irish: Gleann Eatharlaí,) is a picturesque valley nestling between Slievenamuck and the Galtee Mountains in the western part of South Tipperary in Ireland. The principal village, in this most beautiful of visual landscapes, is Lisvernane. Other adjacent centres of population are the villages of Galbally (on its western side), Kilross (on its north west front) and Bansha (commanding its eastern approach).
For Tipperary dwellers not surprisingly, this year (2013 ), judges from The Irish Times Best Place to Holiday in Ireland competition have chosen the Glen of Aherlow, Co Tipperary, from more than 1,400 entries from every county in Ireland and have placed it on their list as being one of the top five national places to visit and holiday this Summer.
Judges, demonstrating a strong preference for remote, unknown yet strikingly beautiful hidden locations, such as the Glen of Aherlow, reflect preferences which also recognise the wonderful work undertaken by local people in making the best of their natural and unspoilt resources.
A final result for this ongoing competition is expected this week.
(Music and Video comes courtesy of Trudi Lalor, with Lyrics written by Billy Morrissey.)
A receiver has been appointed to the South Tipperary Clonmel Park Hotel, latter owned by the Brennan Group situated at the Poppyfield Retail Park in Clonmel town. The Hotel is one of four hotels in the group, with the Arklow Bay in Wicklow, and the Springhill Court Hotel situated in Kilkenny also in receivership.
The fourth hotel in the group, the Green Isle in Dublin, is not affected and continues to trade as normal.
Hotel Asset Management Services (HAMS), a company formally set up to manage hotels which get into trading difficulties, has confirmed that it had been appointed to manage the three affected hotels.
This news follows the appointment earlier this week of a provisional liquidator to the Ballykisteen Hotel near Limerick Junction, Tipperary town & last month both the Hayes Hotel and Anner Hotel in Thurles, Co Tipperary.
All the hotels above named continue to trade, for the moment, with all staff remaining employed, however this news further highlights the neglect of Tipperary by this present government, with regard to the promotion of tourism in the county.
“Trains and boats and planes are passing by, They mean a trip to Paris or Rome, To someone else, but not for me, The trains and boats and planes,
(Lyrics by Hal David 1966.)
The Industrial Development Authority (IDA), smugly and at every possible media opportunity, boasts of its success in achieving strong net job performance, with 11,766 jobs created in client companies, mainly through foreign direct investment.
In first place, with some 54%, or 6,389 jobs created, was Co Dublin, while in second place was Co Cork, achieving some 1,979 similar job replacements during the same twelve month period.
Here in the County of Tipperary, the South of the county saw a mere ten jobs put in place, ( Fifth from bottom of the overall list, ) while in North Tipp (Bottom of this list, ) saw not even one single job created, during this same period.
These figures have not been concocted by me, but were provided courtesy of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr Richard Bruton, supplied in a written reply to Donegal Fine Gael Deputy Joe McHugh.
The joint organisers of this year’s International Hurling Festival, under the Chairmanship of John Enright, are inviting home all Thurles people, wherever they may be, for the International Hurling Festival, now in its third successive year.
This year in particular, they are inviting back former Sarsfields Club Members and players who have been associated with this successful club in the past. They are calling on same to “Camán home for the Hurling,” on July 12th and include the Munster Final on Sunday July14th and guaranteeing to make this a most joyful reunion for all concerned.
This year’s festival will once again be centred on the International Hurling Competitions featuring the Tom Semple Cup and Carew Cup, latter names famously associated with Thurles and the GAA.
The festival will again include road bowling, wheelchair hurling, camogie, Camán Abú and other numerous social events that are currently still being finalised and for which full details will be posted as planning progresses. For now, just put this weekend date into your diary and begin planning your visit, thus making Thurles the centre of International Hurling and a special annual weekend for all who the game.
Latest Gathering News For Thurles Sarsfields International Hurling Festival.
(1) All the way from Salt Lake City, we welcome Fr. Paddy Carley and some 30 friends travelling here once again for the festival.
(2) Two full coaches from Indianapoliis, Illinois, who will spend a week in the area, playing hurling and camogie at the festival.
(3) Mr Tom Bergin from Moyne is arriving with an enhanced group of Kilburn Gaels hoping to make it a ‘three-in-a-row,’ for the Tom Semple Cup. (Mr John O’Riordan from Ardfurt, the Kilbrun Chairman has been rumoured as stating he is determined to keep the cup.)
(4) Seán Callanan with Dunboyne is back for the third year hoping this time it will be third-time lucky for his group.
(5) Former Sarsfields stalwarts Colm O’Rourke, Jamie Murphy and David Kerins are bringing the All-Irish speaking Setantas back again.
(6) Ger Collins, former Tipp County Minor, is bringing back Naoimh Moninne for the third time. Louth are also sending a road bowling team to compete in the Cusack Cup.
(7) McCormack is a name very much associated with Thurles Sarsfields. The McCormack clan from Keady are coming back a third time expecting this time to win the Tom Semple trophy. They also have strong ambitions with regard to road bowling.
(8) Mayo are coming with a huge contingent, Toureen ( Carew Cup Holders ) and Castlebar for the hurling, Ballina for Camán Abú and Westport for Road Bowling. David Hughes and Peter Goggin are the current Interprovincial ‘Michael Cusack Cup,’ champions. Mr Adrian Hession, the Mayo development officer, is the driving force here.
(9) We have a second Setanta team from the Gaeltacht in Donegal, giving us our second Irish speaking team.
(10) Ballyduff and Causeway are our two Kerry teams. It’s great to see two traditional clubs from North Kerry joining us.
(11) North Cork are arriving representing the birth place of Dr. Croke, Kilbrin.
(12) Last year Manorhamilton became the first Leitrim team to hurl in Thurles and Mr Steve Feeney is bringing them back this year for more of the same.
(13) Damian O’Doherty and Na Magha from Derry are coming back again and very welcome indeed.
(14) Fulham Irish from London, under Mr Michael Ruby from Kilshannig in North Cork will be the third London club to take part in the Tom Semple Cup.
(15) It is great to see Naas hurling manager Pat English bring his native Carlow club Ballykellin to this year’s festival.
(16) Another new entrant this year is the Rialto club from Dublin under Mr David Broderick.
(17) Bernie O’Dowd and Louise Lanigan, Thurles Sars Camogie, and Deirdre Murphy from the Munster Council are organising a senior seven-aside camogie tournament in St Patrick’s college, the latter I hasten to add is a fantastic addition to this Thurles Festival.
All in all, this year’s festival promises to be the biggest and best to date, so do stay tuned as we continue to keep you up to date with all events planned, as same are confirmed here on Thurles.Info and our sister website Hidden Tipperary.
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“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” (Quote attributed to President Abraham Lincoln, but possibly first quoted by American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer Phineas Taylor Barnum.)
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