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A female Mute Swan slowed traffic down on Barry’s Bridge, for a short time, here in Thurles today, February 4th 2019.
We understand the unfortunate bird was blinded by the sun, as she glided southwards towards the waters of the River Suir, clipping its wings on unseen overhead Christmas illuminations.
The Mute Swan, despite being badly shaken by the ordeal, remained ‘mute’, and having once more recovered her bearings; allowed herself to be escorted back to the river by sympathetic locals. [Tipperary Co. Council could be in for yet another compensation claim, should she decide to visit her ‘Fowl Advocate’.]
But why are Christmas Lights, Reindeer, Snowmen, Santa Clauses and religious paraphernalia left, still hanging; strung across the Thurles skyline, 6 weeks after Santa Clause has come and gone, I hear you say. Especially since only half of same truly functioned during this last festive season.
I regret to communicate that this seems to be the new policy, being initiated by the Templemore / Thurles Municipal District Council, for the past two years. Indeed, last year (2018) quite a few of our aerial embellishments were not removed until March, while lights on Barry’s Bridge remained up until July, and others on Cathedral Street and on Thurles Castle; same were not removed at all.
Still, remember you can register your dissatisfaction on May 19th 2019; as Councillors now begin to come, once more, out of the woodwork, highlighting ‘dog poo’, and the funding of ‘Thurles entry roads signs’, left out-of-date for 10 years.
Councillor Michéal Lowry (Templemore / Thurles Municpal District), welcomes funding for the maintenance & improvement of regional & local roads in Co. Tipperary.
 Cllr. Michéal Lowry Cllr. Michéal Lowry has today welcomed the 2019 grant allocations from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to Tipperary Co. Council, in respect of maintenance and improvement works to be carried out on regional and local roads.
The total grant allocation in 2019 for Tipperary Co. Council is €25,766,721 million. In particular, Cllr. Lowry welcomed the funding of €75,000, which has been allocated to allow for the construction of a new raised roundabout on Abbey Road, Thurles, at the junction of the entrances to Lidl Supermarket and the Kennedy Park housing estate.
“This current grant allocation is positive news for Tipperary overall and I am delighted that a key project here in Thurles, which I had particularly requested for inclusion in the 2019 allocation, has received funding,” said Cllr. Lowry. “Following today’s funding announcement, the construction of this new raised roundabout, on the R-660 at Abbey Road, can now get under way”, Cllr. Lowry concluded.
Statement from the Department of Roads at Tipperary County Council.
 The Roads Department of Tipperary County Council, wish to inform landowners that it has come to their attention that persons, latter purporting to be agents/contractors, are approaching farmers and other landowners, claiming that the Council has employed them to cut trees/hedges on behalf of the said Council. These rogue agents are also seeking payment for any work undertaken.
Tipperary County Council wish to make it clear to the public that it has absolutely no involvement, whatsoever, with these persons and has not employed their services in any capacity. They further point out that it is up to each individual landowner to arrange to cut their own trees/hedges.
If any member of the public should come across such so called agents, they are asked to report the matter immediately to Gardaí.
Should members of the public wish to receive further clarification on the above, please contact Tipperary County Council at Tel: 0761 06 5000, to discuss the matter further.
Note: All landowners and occupiers of land should note that Section 46 of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 prohibits the cutting, of hedges and ditches during the period March 1st to August 31st each year; thus ensuring the safety of birds and other wildlife.
 A 19-year-old female driver, has lost her life in a single-vehicle collision here in Co. Tipperary.
The incident is understood to have happened on the N24 in the townsland of Ballydrehid, near Cahir, Co. Tipperary at around 8.30am this morning.
The teenager, who was pronounced dead at the scene, has been named locally as Ms Laura Quinn, a beautician from Kilshane, near Bansha, in Co Tipperary. Ms Quinn was the only occupant of the motor vehicle; which she was driving to her place of work in Clonmel, before coming into contact with a tree.
Her body has been removed to University Hospital Waterford, where, later, a post-mortem examination is expected to take place.
Garda forensic collision investigators, this morning, were examining the crash site, and the road remained closed with diversion alternative routes signposted.
Cahir Garda Station are asking for any person with information regarding this incident, to contact them on Tel No: 052-7445630.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis.
“Go n-éirí an bóthar leat”, loosely translated from the Irish language into English means “May the road rise to meet you” or in more realistic phraseology, “May your journey be successful”.
Oh, but not so in Thurles; no, we living here in this rural backwater, when we use this Irish phrase “Go n-éirí an bóthar leat”, we mean the literal, loose translation, “May the road rise to meet you”.
Following a recent news statement posted on this website on December 28th last, headed “EU Awards Funding For Tipperary Smart Street Lighting”; we were since contacted by a number of individuals asking where a series of “sunken road craters” existed in our town.
To those that enquired, check your email, we sent you photographs showing the above 3 craters which are to be found within 6 meters (18 ft) of each other on Slievenamon Road, Thurles and all between 4 inches and 10 inches below the actual current road surface. You can find a few more recently “installed” in the proximity of Emmett Street and Mitchel Street.
The drain covers, interestingly, have a manufacturers name and the address of the foundry that cast them; “Sharkey Dublin”, possibly installed in the latter half of the reign of Edward VII, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India until his death in 1910.
The effect of these craters on motor vehicles of course is usually, at worst, a steering system misalignment or bent wheel rims. Motorists pay local authorities motor tax, if they want to drive their vehicles in a public place. There are four forms of tax on vehicle fuel:- (1) Excise duty charged by the litre, (2) Carbon tax, which is charged by the tonne, (3) A National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) levy of 2 cents per litre, (4) Vat @ 23% is added on after all other taxes have been charged. We won’t mention the tax on the purchase of the vehicle itself, the cost of obtaining a Driving Licence, passing a Driving Test, Vehicle Insurance and that ever essential National Car Test (NCT).
With all of these taxes taken into consideration therefore, Co. Councils feel you shouldn’t get too upset when forced to pay the extra costs of repairs needed to replace / repair steering system misalignments, destroyed tyres or bent wheel rims.
Recent road repairs undertaken in Mitchel Street and Emmett Street in the town, prove that Tipperary Co. Council practises remain extremely flawed. It appears that when it comes to manufacturing craters; the words of author, scientist, and statesman Benjamin Franklin come to mind as in, “old habits die hard”, meaning it is difficult to change a way of behaving, that Tipperary Co. Council has displayed during previous decades, despite the introduction and a major emphases being placed on “Health and Safety” practises.
Yes, “Go n-éirí an bóthar leat”, or “May the road rise to meet you”, is a wish only we can offer pedestrians in Thurles presently, yet we live in optimistic hope that no person steps off the pavement into one of these craters, under cover of darkness on any future moonless winter night.
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