Transport « Thurles Information

Elderly Man Dies In Tipperary Single Vehicle Collision

A motorist has, sadly, lost his life following a single road collision in Clogheen, Co Tipperary, yesterday afternoon.

The incident happened at about 2.40pm near Loughlin’s Bridge on the narrow winding Vee road, close to the village of Clogheen, when the vehicle, being driven, crashed into a tree.

The motorist, a man aged in his 80s, was the sole occupant of the car was treated at the scene but later died.

The man’s body was then taken to Waterford University Hospital, where a post-mortem examination is expected to take place later.

Garda Forensic Collision Investigators have completed their examination of the scene and the road has now reopened.

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

Passengers Report Open Use Of Cocaine On Dublin-Cork Train Service.

Two passengers were “doing lines of cocaine” off the table on a train travelling through Thurles, from Dublin (Séan Heuston Station) to Cork (Thomas Kent Station), according to one of some 26 complaints lodged with Irish Rail in the past 18 months (January 2020 to June 2021).

One of the longest railway lines in Ireland at 266 kilometres (165 mls); in 2018, 3.46 million passengers travelled on this same Dublin /Cork line.

In all the complaints received of antisocial behaviour on this Irish Rail route; indeed several relate to drug use. A similar complaint said two passengers had a number of plastic bags and drugs on a table, which they were consuming, quite openly.

The other reports received involve details relating to drunkenness, harassment and threatening behaviour, latter which in the case of one lady; saw a report that one passenger threatened that he would hit her on the head with a bottle and machete (long flat bladed knife), if she did not talk to him.

Mr Dermot O’Leary, (National Bus and Rail Union), has called for a dedicated transport police force to be setup.
“The Cork-Dublin line is like a drug route at this stage. Our members certainly know who the drug-dealers and mules are; carrying these drugs,” Mr O’Leary stated.

Irish Rail have confirmed that the Dublin to Cork line passing through Thurles town is their busiest route; with the vast majority of journeys occurring without incident.

Thurles – The Venice Of Tipperary.

My immediate focus is on Kickham Street, possibly the busiest street in Thurles, with traffic entering from the motorway (East) and from the South via the Mill Road (latter in an attempt to avoid a new set of delaying traffic lights at the Lidl junction near Slievenamon Road & Clongour Road).

Kickham Street over recent years has suffered from faulty planning, arrogance from engineers, and more recently downright, shoddy, construction, courtesy of ‘Tar Stone’ and contractors appointed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). How any of the latter contractors have gotten paid, remains a mystery.

My thoughts are also with the businesses on Stradavoher and Friar Street, as I write this blog. Flooding is among one of nature’s most destructive forces in terms of the irreparable damage and heartache it inflicts on homes and on business owners whose ground floor premises become immersed in flood water, due to the incompetence of Tipperary council engineers.

The most probable responses from Tipperary County Council and their officials, to last Friday’s flooding on Kickham Street; Stradavoher and Friar Street will be “Ah sure hindsight is always 20/20!”, latter a phrase used to describe the fact that it is easy for one to be knowledgeable about an event after it has happened.

Last Friday’s flooding was not a case of hindsight for a change. “Ah sure, hindsight is 20/20” is not an acceptable response or excuse when the problems were already pointed out by Thurles.Info first in August 2019. [See Link Here]. See also Link Here, posted in January (6 months ago) and See Link Here, yet again posted in February (5 months ago), with latter forwarded to all local elected councillors via their email addresses and to Tipperary Co. Council engineers, through their “Customer Service Desk”, [reference numbers T-151500-F3F1 and T-151595-Y1S0.]

Many of the pictures forwarded to Tipperary County Council’s “Customer Service Desk” are featured in the sideshow shown above and were emailed to all local Thurles councillors, with only one County Councillor, Mr Sean Ryan, Littleton, bothering to reply.

We now need more foresight from our Tipperary County Council officials and politicians. Instead of reacting to trouble and challenges after the event, we need them to take action when informed in advance, thus avoiding unnecessary trouble and the wasting of taxpayers money.

According to staff at ‘APEX Surveys’, latter who are currently surveying Kickham Street at night, they say they are unable to tell us if and when issues on the street will be sorted out.

Surely a road survey is not required to clear out a few blocked drains.

In the meanwhile, local school children cyclists and adult pedestrians; do expect to be drenched in water by passing traffic, as you attempt to walk/cycle on Kickham Street. Remember cyclists there is no room for cycle lanes on Kickham Street and note article 13 of the 1997 Regulations makes it an offence to cycle on a footpath, unless you are entering or exiting a property.

So remember also this same inconvenience come election time.
We need massive changes in the ranks of our elected representatives, starting with politicians and ending with local councillors. Same are like computer service providers, they need to be changed often.

Boat Catches Fire On Lough Derg.

Five people have been rescued from a boat which caught fire on Lough Derg, this afternoon.

On arrival at the scene, search & rescue personnel established that all five persons on board had been previously evacuated safely on board other private vessels in the area and had been transported to safety to Portumna, where they were met by ambulance paramedics and Coast Guard personnel.

All those rescued, thankfully, were found to be unharmed and not in need of any medical attention.

It had been confirmed that there were gas cylinders on board the boat, resulting in a radio message being issued to rescue crews at the scene.

After the blaze was brought successfully under control, the badly damaged craft was eventually towed from its navigation channel into shallow waters at Carrigahorig, Co. Tipperary, [latter located 7 km (4.3 mls) east of Portumna], before the rescue operation was eventually stood down.

Liberty Square, Thurles, Co. Tipperary – So what’s the Plan?

“Fail to plan and you plan to fail”

The €9 million plus rejuvenation of Liberty Square, Thurles is surely be welcomed. Improvements have been made both below ground and above ground, and most people will agree that the lighting fixtures and granite pavement choices for the square are aesthetically pleasing.

Nevertheless, the persistent presence of a maze of barricades, coupled with the disappearance of beloved trees and the apparent narrowing of the roadways, has prompted quite a lot of head scratching, eyebrow raising and questioning among locals of late.

**With 4 traffic lanes reduced to 2, in Liberty SquareThurles ;** [**See HERE]** **how will ordinary street traffic pull out of the way, to avoid emergency vehicles, latter responding to any emergency incident. *e.g. Ambulance / Doctor / Fire Brigade services*?**
*Pic: G. Willoughby*

Here are just some of the questions being asked by our readers and Thurles residents.

(1) When will the rejuvenation project actually finish? Rumours abound, but at best it is estimated to be possibly March/April 2022 and at worst it could be July/August 2022.

(2) As the pedestrian areas on Liberty Square expand and increase while road space decreases, will there actually be sufficient space for ordinary traffic to pull over to avoid emergency vehicles, e.g. ambulances and fire engines, latter responding to emergency incidents, not to mention the ability of 20 wheeler delivery trucks, to pass, travelling in different directions? [See picture above.]

(3) If plans are being aimed to deter traffic and attract pedestrians, what impact will this have on our surrounding streets and roads?

(4) Having removed our healthy trees in an act of what can only be described as sheer savagery, are there any plans to replant same?

(5) We have beautiful pavements and an abundance of pedestrian space, but what is going to be done to get foot fall on these footpaths?

(6) What plans are in place to support and stimulate the Liberty Square economy?

Finding the answers to these questions is proving difficult based on current plans.

Although limited consultations have taken place with local residents, business owners and other interested parties, same appear to be little more than token in nature with none of the submissions by residents being implemented.

Indeed, it would appear that a final version of the plan for Liberty Square’s rejuvenation has yet to be released to the public. Some locals worry that the absence of a final plan and completion date may be indicative of inadequate planning. As the saying goes “fail to plan and you plan to fail”. Let’s hope that this isn’t the case.

We could all do without the continued wastage of public time and money, as was experienced with the planning on the Clongour Road and Slievenamon Road Junction.