Transport « Thurles Information

Thurles Town Strangled By Traffic Admits An Taoiseach Mr Micheál Martin.

Speaking in Dáil Éireann the newly elected north Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD Mr Ryan O’Meara, has concurred that the town of Thurles is being strangled by traffic issues; requiring immediate attention for an inner relief road. Same, if funding was provided, would link the N62 at Slievenamon Road to the Mill Road, thus providing a third vehicle bridge.

**Proposed Inner Relief Road for Thurles**

[Funny that, VIEW HERE. Back in 2021, we here in Thurles were previously informed that funding had already been acquired.]

However, many residents believe that Mr Ryan O’Meara has been fed false or inaccurate information and most business leaders see the proposed inner relief road as further waste of public funding.
An inner relief road already exists via the Mill Road, same entering and exiting south of Thurles at Turtulla Cross on the N62, which has seen 3 vehicles crash and be written-off, within the past 12 months.

Any new inner relief will only permit the exit and entering of vehicles closer into the town centre, with HGV traffic still required to travel to the four corners of Ireland, directly through our medieval streetscapes, which for the past 4 years have become a bottle neck, currently existing for all vehicles attempting to pass through Thurles town centre.

The only piece of common sense and perhaps even a small glimmer of hope was expressed by An Taoiseach, Mr Micheál Martin TD, responding to our misinformed, raw recruit, Mr Ryan O’Meara.
Mr Martin stated that the long queues of traffic being experienced, would become a thing of the past, if Thurles had a ring road/bypass and he would try to feed that into an expected review of the present National Development Plan.

As for Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Ryan O’Meara’s speech interjection in Dáil Éireann; same was perceived and smelled of the scent of a vote catching press release, same greedily accepted from his Nenagh office by local press, who were obviously experiencing a slow news day.

Vehicle Ploughs Through Thurles Roundabout Removing Signage.

A serious vehicle accident took place this morning, on the R498, north of Thurles Town.
The accident happened at approximately 11:40am, when a car crossed the roundabout at Racecourse Road, opposite the TUS Thurles Campus entrance, before completely blocking the exit unto the Jimmy Doyle Road at Gortataggart.

**Vehicle ploughs through Nenagh Road roundabout, north of Thurles, having demolished signage**.
*Pic: G. Willoughby*.

The car appeared to veer across the centre of the roundabout, through the existing flower beds, removing heavy metal signposting in its path.

Thankfully, no serious injuries were reported and the scene was attended by sections of Thurles Fire Services, whose firefighting personnel directed traffic, until the offending vehicle was eventually removed, thus reopening the busy roadway.
Dismembered pieces of signage remain strewn at the accident scene this evening.

Intention To Temporarily Close M8 Motorway, At Horse & Jockey, Thurles.

Intention to close the M8 Motorway, at Junction 6 northbound, Horse And Jockey, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Vehicle drivers are asked to take notice that Tipperary County Council propose to Temporarily close Junction 6 Northbound, on the M8 Motorway, Horse and Jockey, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, also known as the Horse and Jockey/Thurles junction.

This period of closure will be Nightly from 6:00pm until 5.00am on Thursday next, April 10th, 2025 and again on the following Wednesday, April 16th, 2025 through until Friday, April 18th, 2025.

Suggested Alternative Routes:
Exit the M8 at Junction 6, Horse and Jockey, turn left, in Horse and Jockey, onto the R639. Follow the R639 through Littleton, Ballyshane and Urlingford, before turning left onto the R693 after Urlingford, to re-join the M8 at junction 4.

Reason for Closure: To facilitate road works.

Drish Bridge, Mill Road, Thurles Returned To Former Glory.

The temporary Stop & Go traffic lights, which were in use on the narrow Mill Road, here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, over the past number of weeks have this afternoon been fully removed.

Same temporary Stop & Go traffic light system was in use while the upgrading of the bridge crossing the River Drish, situated close to Lady’s Well, was being repaired.

Some years ago, a motorised vehicle had careered into the north facing, ancient, stone bridge wall, demolishing same into the river bed. Repairs, sadly, had been undertaken using solid modern cement blocks, causing major offence to Thurles residents.

Now some years later, in 2025, this crude offence has been corrected by Triur Construction Ltd, whose Corporate office is situated at No.13 Society Street, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, (Eircode H53 N9X3).

Full Credit Where Credit Is Correctly Due.
True to the Triur Construction company pledge, this specialist Civil Engineering & Building Company has most certainly delivered high quality, in relation to this project, with the attending skilled workforce under the supervision of a Lithuanian led supervisor.

The work was undertaken over the past few weeks, despite the most severe of Thurles weather conditions, with scaffolding having to be erected on the bed of a deep and fast moving, swollen river.

The newly replaced stone work is truly excellent and fully in keeping with the existing original structure.

I understand, the company will return soon again, when the flooded river water begins to subside; to carry out further repairs to the underside of this ancient, yet quaint historic structure.

Tipperary Family Settle High Court Action against HSE.

A Tipperary family has now settled their High Court action, taken against the HSE seeking €600,000, following the death of a 51-year-old father of five, just days after a road traffic accident.

The High Court heard that a significant small bowel injury was overlooked completely by staff at Cork University Hospital.

Then patient, Mr Patrick Connolly slowly deteriorated before dying of a heart attack, while in the care of staff at Cork University Hospital, five days after the tragic road accident outside Tipperary town on December 28th, 2021.

The court were informed that no particular attention was paid to a bowel injury in the hospital and Mr Connolly’s health gradually deteriorated. Mr Connolly was in a lot of pain, was vomiting and had two heart attacks. He died after his second heart attack on January 2nd, 2022. The HSE admitted that Mr Connolly had a small bowel perforation that was not diagnosed in a timely manner.

The health service also admitted that if a laparoscopic assessment had been carried out at any time from Mr Connolly’s admission to hospital, until the time of his first heart attack, there would have been a high likelihood of him surviving the accident.

The collision had occurred when a car driven by Ms Mary Lowry, latter a central witness in the Mr Moonlight murder trial, had collided with a motorcycle ridden by Mr Patrick Connolly; with his son as a pillion passenger.

Last year Ms Lowry, aged 57 years, was given a suspended one-year jail sentence and a one-year driving ban, after she admitted a charge of careless driving in relation to the accident.

Mr Connolly’s widow, Mrs Geraldine Connolly, had sued the HSE on behalf of her family over the death of her husband.