Transport « Thurles Information

Thurles Road Safety Week -183 White Crosses

Lives lost through road accidents this year.

Congratulations must go to Thurles Gardaí for highlighting Road Safety Week in Thurles, by the erection of 183 white crosses at Turtulla near Thurles Golf Club.

Each cross represents a life lost on the roads of Ireland and stands as a visual reminder of how we all need to take greater care while driving.

Gardaí locally, also distributed 2000 free visibility safety vests and armbands, to members of the public in Thurles town over the course of the week.

The L.A.D.S. (Let’s All Drive Slower) initiative program has also been launched for local drivers who received free car stickers, as part of their commitment to drive slower on our roads.

Sobering Thought

For those of you who continue to drive drunken, unfocused, carelessly, showing no respect for the personal or public safety of others, is there any chance you might carry an Organ Donor Card. You can apply for same here or you can tick and sign the back of your current driving licences.

Your undamaged spare parts can then be removed /salvaged and come in handy in assisting others, who so greatly value that wonderful gift called ‘life‘.

Remember: Although you placed little value on your own life, after death this action will be of some small consolation to your distraught parents, grieving siblings and friends, for whom your total stupidity will also have life changing consequences.

Just a thought and well done Thurles Gardaí on your initiative.

Templemore Running For Best Railway Station Award

Templemore railway Station, near Thurles, in Co.Tipperary, has been included in the Munster areas selection for the coveted title of overall ‘Best Station.‘
The Iarnród Éireann ‘Best Station Awards’ reward excellence in customer facilities, cleanliness, innovation and customer service in the country’s 141 railway stations.
Iarnród Éireann Bosses stated: “We are delighted with the response from our customers to this competition. The Awards have been running now for 16 years and we think that it is fitting that ownership of the decision making process for them should go to our customers, who use the services.”

Blast from the past - Steam train leaves Templemore Station.

Iarnród Éireann have now just revealed the choosen finalists nationally, which are as follows!

Connacht: Claremorris, Dromod, Ballinasloe.
Leinster: Arklow, Gorey, Tullamore.
Munster: Killarney, Templemore, Cobh.
Major Station: Heuston, Dundalk, Cork.
DART: Pearse, Sandymount, Raheny.
Commuter: M3 Parkway, Donabate, Leixlip Louisa Bridge, Hazelhatch.

Voting was conducted through a text and email poll. Almost 5,000 people voted as part of the competition. Customers were asked to rate their station under the following criteria; Customer Information, Staff Appearance, Staff Helpfulness and Station Appearance.

The votes were cast in a text and online poll, during November of last year.

The final awards will be presented at a Gala ceremony at Iarnród Éireann’s training centre at Inchicore on a date which will be announced shortly.

Woman Died Following Road Crash In Co Tipperary

A Garda Forensic Collision Team are investigating a two vehicle collision at Knocklofty, on the Clonmel to Ardfinnan Road, in Co Tipperary at around 12.30 p.m. today.

The unnamed victim in her late 40’s was pronounced dead at the scene and her body has since been removed to South Tipperary General Hospital. The woman’s car collided with a tractor however the driver of the tractor remained unhurt.

Earlier today, two articulated lorries crashed in foggy conditions just after 8.00 am between junctions 16 and 17 on the M7 at Portlaoise. At least seven other cars crashed as a result. It is understood that the driver of one of the trucks was taken to hospital, but his injuries are not regarded as life threatening. All diversions put in place have been now lifted.

Six Dead Following Plane Crash At Cork Airport

Six people are confirmed dead and six others are injured following a plane crash at Cork Airport. The Manx2 commuter flight from Belfast, flight number NM7100, had 10 passengers and two crew on board when it crashed in heavy fog at 9.45am.

The company confirmed that the aircraft, an 18-seater Fairchild Metroliner, was carrying ten passengers and two crew members – a captain and a co-pilot.

Two of the injured were able to walk from the wreckage of the plane, while four were taken out on stretchers. The four injured passengers in Cork University Hospital are described as being in a serious condition, while the other two are stated as comfortable.

It is believed that the aircraft had made three attempts to land at the airport and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said debris was scattered onto the runway and over a wide area.

Because the flight originated in Belfast, UK authorities will be providing the investigation team with the passenger manifest and with all details of how much fuel the plane was carrying.

It is not known at this stage if any of the passengers were from County Tipperary.

A witness at Cork Airport has stated that weather conditions were so poor that the crash could not be seen from the terminal building. Passengers in the terminal were unaware that a crash occurred because of the dense fog surrounding the building.

Aviation expert Gerry Byrne said that Cork Airport has ‘category 2 instruments’ for landing, but he was not sure if the plane would have been capable of landing using those instruments.

The Air Corps is preparing to fly an investigation team from the Department of Transport from Baldonnel to the scene of the crash at Cork airport. Troops are also on standby in Cork to assist at the scene if required.

Representatives of Manx2 are expected to arrive at Belfast City Airport shortly.

Boycott And Give Petrol Power To The People

Irish Fuel Prices

The word boycott is not a new word to any patriotic Irishman. Indeed it entered the English language during the Irish “Land War” and is derived from the name of Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott, the land agent of an absentee landlord, Lord Erne, who lived in Lough Mask House, in County Mayo, Ireland and who was subject to social ostracism organized by the Irish Land League in 1880.

Thurles.Info receive lots of suggestions each week from its ‘Netizens‘ with regards to matters in and around Tipperary which they feel we could or should be highlighting. One particular suggestion received to-day was regarding increasing vehicle fuel prices and suggests, with some merit, that we ‘boycott‘ major oil companies.

We are now almost hitting €1.45 a litre for unleaded petrol and €1.38 for Diesel. Soon, if we are to believe the “Informed Prophets of Doom,” we will be faced with paying € 1.50 plus per litre in the coming months. One of our many discerning readers (My thanks ML) has put forward, what I believe is a rather good idea.

This idea makes much more sense than the ‘Don’t buy petrol on a certain day campaign ‘ that got started in America and was going around last year. Oil companies just laughed, knowingly, because they knew we couldn’t continue to hurt ourselves by refusing to buy petrol, and anyway it became more of an inconvenience to us the consumer, than it hurt the major Oil Companies.

However, whoever thought of this idea, has now come up with a plan that could really work.

Boycott And Give Unleaded Petrol Power To The people

Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us into believing that the cost of the present litre of fuel is cheap, (well compared to bottled water), we need to take aggressive action to teach oil companies that consumers and not wholesalers control the oil market. Then of course there is Facebook, Twitter etc, etc.,sure we could tell everyone in this green and pleasant land in an hour.

With the price of petrol going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come down is if we hit someone very hard in the pocket, by not purchasing their petrol product. Yes, we can do that without hurting ourselves and here is how.

1. For the rest of this year DON”T purchase ANY petrol from one of the biggest oil companies presently operating. We know who they are, so pick one, but do make sure we all pick the same one. Ouch!

2. If they are not selling any petrol, they will be encouraged to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit. See it as real laissez-faire economics at work, but to have an impact we need to reach literally millions of Irish petrol consumers to organise.

So how do you reach these consumers you now ask? Well it’s really so simple in this modern communications era.

Now, don’t switch off on me at this point… keep reading and I’ll explain how simple it is to reach those millions of people!

Thurles.Info are sending this information out to between 700 and 1000 daily readers. If all of these readers ‘Email This Post‘, by ordinary mail or using the Tag shown at the end of this post, to at least ten more people (700 x 10 = 7,000)….and those 7,000 send it to at least ten other people (7000 x 10 = 70,000) … and so on… now do you get my drift? Then of course there is Facebook, Twitter etc etc etc, sure the world and his mother would know in less than an hour.

Don’t know what you think of this idea, but oil companies are blackmailing us and between them and government taxes, essentials like motor fuel and motor vehicles are slowly being turned into luxury items, and very soon they will be only available to the very rich or NAMA clients.

Maybe we need to gain the support, influence and muscle of The Irish Farmers Association( IFA ) together with the Irish Road Haulage Association they could lead us in such a campaign, they would know better who and when to hit and I am sure that the low paid worker with the 2003 car, who is forced to drives ten miles, for his daily bread every morning, would be more than happy to give their full support.

Organise Brothers, Organise!