Transport « Thurles Information

From Mid-West Region To Kenya: Clean Ireland Recycling Helps Build New Disability Centre.

Mid-West firm Clean Ireland Recycling is backing Irish charity Project ESPWA in building a new disability centre in Bamba, Kenya, set to open in early 2026.

The facility, which will cater to hundreds of children and adults with disabilities, has been steadily taking shape through multiple volunteer missions from Ireland.

**Pictured L-R above:** **Mr Pat Barry** *(Project ESPWA)* **and Mr Brian Lyons and Diarmaid O’Donnell** *(Clean Ireland Recycling)* **pictured with another shipment of building materials, ahead of its departure for Kenya**.

Clean Ireland Recycling, which operates throughout County Tipperary, is providing building materials that are scarce locally, including timber, door locks, hinges, electrical sockets and switches. The shipment recently left Cork Port bound for Kenya.

Managing Director Mr Brian Lyons, who has a son with disabilities, will travel to Bamba with volunteers in February 2026 to help complete the centre.

Mr Lyons said the project is “very much driven by personal connections,” particularly the inspiration of long-time ESPWA volunteer Mr Pat Barry and board member Mr Dan Ducey.

Project ESPWA, whose name means “hope” in Haitian Creole, has worked in crisis-affected communities worldwide since 2010. Each year, skilled Irish volunteers travel to Kenya to build schools, deliver clean water and support local communities.

“We have been inspired with stories of their work, from building a school in Shirango, Kenya, to the emotional moment locals saw clean water flow from a new borehole for the first time,” he added.

Mr. Lyons said the partnership “highlights how local businesses can make a tangible difference overseas, providing not just materials but hope and opportunity to some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities.”

Clean Ireland Recycling provides waste management services across Tipperary, Clare and Limerick . With more than 35 years’ experience, the award-winning company has a strong record of supporting charitable projects both in Ireland and abroad, combining professional expertise with social and environmental responsibility. See website www.cleanireland.ie.

Fatal Road Traffic Collision In Co. Tipperary.

Gardaí are investigating a fatal road traffic collision that occurred on the N24 at Cahir, Co. Tipperary, this morning, Sunday 21st September 2025.

The collision, which took place at approximately 11:05am, involved a motorcycle and a van. The motorcyclist, a man aged in his 70s, was pronounced deceased at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward.
Road users who were travelling in the area between 10:45am and 11:15am and who may have phone camera footage or dash-cam footage are asked to make same available to investigating Gardaí.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cahir Garda Station Tel: (052) 7445630, the Garda Confidential Line Tel: 1800 666 111, or indeed any Garda Station.

Further investigations are continuing.

Pedestrian In 50s Seriously Injured In Tipperary Collision.

A lady pedestrian in her 50s was seriously injured in a three-vehicle crash in Co Tipperary on Friday morning.

The collision happened at around 8:00am on the R498 at Latteragh, Nenagh.
Emergency services attended the scene and the woman was airlifted to University Hospital Galway via Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115.
Garda Forensic Collision Investigators have since examined the area. No other injuries were reported.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident, or who may have dash-cam footage from the area between 7:45am and 8:15am, to contact Nenagh Garda Station Tel: (067) 50450, the Garda confidential line Tel: 1800 666 111, or indeed any Garda station as investigations continue.

Thurles Road Signs & Road Safety Failures Highlight Council Waste.

We have been watching it, and yes, yet another road sign on Liberty Square, in Thurles, has met its “Waterloo”, demolished by traffic attempting to turn west on a narrow street scape that has become a hazard since its so-called upgrade.

**Sign on Liberty Square, central, left prostrate for 6 days**.

As with the nearby ESB cabinet highlighted on September 7th last, the sign was positioned far too low to be visible to drivers. This latest casualty has lain in the middle of Liberty Square for six full days before being retrieved today, a symbol of official neglect.

This pattern has become all too familiar. In the past three years alone, railings at the Slievenamon Road junction have been flattened three times by heavy vehicles. Five signposts, installed perilously close to narrow traffic lanes, have been damaged. Two remain not replaced. Add these collisions to continuously adjusted pedestrian crossing lights, to a set of traffic lights, not to mention street bicycle racks and everyone can see why Thurles needs a bypass.

**Six damaged traffic signs on a 4.7 km *(2.9 miles)* stretch of roadway near Thurles, Co. Tipperary**.

The problem is not just confined to Thurles. On the short 4.7 km (2.9 miles) stretch of road, between the villages of Littleton and Horse & Jockey; same a six-minute drive, I observed six damaged signs just today. (See above picture). Two remain lying flattened at the scene; four have been removed altogether.
In at least two years, Tipperary County Council has made no effort to replace any of them. Which begs the obvious question, if these signs were dispensable for two years, why were they installed in the first place? The answer points to waste; waste of taxpayers’ money and a lack of responsibility in both planning and maintenance.

While motorists and pedestrians deal daily with poor visibility and dangerous road layouts, Tipperary County Council continues to spend without accountability, leaving the public to pay the price in both safety and wasted resources.

The evidence shown above speaks for itself. The waste of taxpayers’ money by Tipperary County Council still continues, unchecked.

Thurles MD Council Set To Tackle Overflowing & Shocking Problems.

Tomorrow morning, September 8th, a few Thurles Municipal District councillors will gather for their monthly meeting, latter a time-honoured event where the real challenge isn’t making decisions, but finding a topic colourful enough to secure a quote or a photograph in the paper, or even a 10 minute clip on local radio.

This month, however, two burning issues (one quite literally) await them:

Issue (1) Liberty Square’s “Shock Feature”.

Motorists exiting the shiny new, half finished, Liberty Square area, into the new car park, may notice an ESB junction box/cabinet, carefully positioned where nobody can see it until it’s too late.
Local observers have described it as “Thurles town’s first drive-thru toaster,” raising concerns that a poorly placed cabinet and a passing bumper could one day combine to produce Thurles’ first-ever flame-grilled shopper.
One lady has suggested that the engineer responsible should be castigated. (I hope I have spelt that word correctly).
While some might view this as a design flaw, others see potential: “It could be an electrifying tourist experience,” said one local. “Where else can you risk being fried without paying an admission fee?”
But look on the dark side; for the first time in 3 years, the lights in the pavement no longer work during daylight hours. I wonder where that white piece on the side went? (See image above).

Issue (2) Parnell Street’s Garment Pod Avalanche.

Meanwhile, the town’s clothing recycling pods are reportedly following a “fill once, empty never” maintenance schedule/policy, as I observed today. Overflowing bags and the odd suitcase now cascade gracefully onto tarmac, creating what locals have dubbed “The Thurles Textile Centre.”
Some residents are calling for official walking tours of the mounds of garments, while others suggest the pods be reclassified as public art. “At least it adds colour,” remarked one passerby, “though the smell in Summer could be as bad as the Suir-side walkway.”
Speaking of the Suir-side walkway; other observers suggested that those responsible for this littering should have thrown their ‘unwanted couture‘ behind the bushes at the swinging gates on Emmett Street, like other considerate idiosyncrasies.

Local Councillors New Dilemma.
Faced with these pressing concerns, councillors must now decide; will tomorrow’s headlines read “Councillors Prevent Electrocution” or “Overflowing Pods Finally Emptied”?
Or, more likely, with Xmas on the way, will they spend 45 minutes debating the colours of fairy lights, before returning to their other places of employment.

But keep in mind the writings of St Matthew 6:24 on double jobbers councillors, quote; “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other”