Thurles, Co. Tipperary has apparently developed an innovative transport policy; to force enormous juggernauts through streets designed when the principal form of heavy traffic had four legs and ate hay.
Available to view on Mill Road, Thurles, one of two signs within metres of each other, originally warning of a dangerous junction and dangerous bends. Pic: G. Willoughby.
The predictable result can be seen in the accompanying, undeniable video shown hereunder; for months damaged signs, battered street furniture, demolished walls, uprooted and dinged bollards and not surprisingly yet another enormous bill waiting for the over-stretched ratepayer.
If the claim that 90% of signs are seriously damaged is to be stated as fact, Tipperary County Council should immediately conduct and publish a proper survey. What is already beyond dispute is that the council; not passing motorists or magical road-sign fairies, is totally responsible for maintaining signs on local and regional roads.
Video courtesy of G. Willoughby. (Feel free to copy/share).
Local residents may know every turn in Thurles by instinct, by memory and generations of experience, but tourists, delivery drivers and other non locals do not. They depend on clear, visible signs to identify directions, restrictions and hazards.
Damaged or unreadable signage is therefore more than an embarrassment; it creates a genuine road-safety concern, particularly where unfamiliar drivers must make sudden decisions while navigating narrow, heavily trafficked streets. The Road Safety Authority expressly identifies regulatory, warning and information signs as essential guidance for tourists using Irish roads. Visitors should receive directions, not an unscheduled navigation exam, with a juggernaut approaching from the opposite direction.
For years, Thurles residents have heard about an Inner Relief Road and an Outer Bypass. The council’s 2024 – 2030 Local Area Plan still describes both as projects for which funding must be secured. The Inner Relief Road alone is intended to provide a 1.1-kilometre connection between the N62 and Mill Road, while the proposed bypass would link the N62, N75 and R498.
In 2025, only €100,000 was allocated to progress the Inner Relief Road’s detailed design. That is progress in the same sense that buying a doormat means your house is nearly built.
Mr Michael Lowry TD, Mr Alan Kelly TD and Mr Ryan O’Meara TD must now provide the public with something more useful than announcements, photographs and recycled assurances.
The evidence for action is already visible on the road. Official data published for the N62 at Turtulla records an average of 9,539 vehicle movements every day. More importantly, Tipperary County Council’s own Thurles Local Transport Plan concludes that the proposed road schemes would reduce total traffic in the town-centre core by approximately 20%, cut traffic crossing the River Suir bridge by more than 50%, and reduce town-centre heavy-goods traffic by approximately 50%.
The same plan states that roughly three-quarters of the predicted reduction would involve strategic traffic that neither begins nor ends its journey in Thurles. Vehicles presently passing through the town would use a suitable alternative route which presently does not exist. These are not speculative complaints, they are the council’s own measurements and modelling, providing compelling evidence that the relief road and bypass are necessary for safer streets, more reliable commercial access and a town centre that can perhaps function more effectively.
Thurles Needs Immediately:-
► A confirmed and fully funded delivery programme for the Inner Relief Road. ►A published timetable for the bypass. ► A professional audit of damaged signs and street furniture. ►A costed plan to prevent heavy vehicles repeatedly causing further damage. ►Clear public reporting of who sought funding, when it was sought and what response was received.
Thurles residents have waited long enough. They deserve proper engineering, funding and dates, not another series of ceremonial announcement that the announcement of a future announcement is progressing according to plan.
A teenage motorist has lost his life following a single-car collision near Ballynonty,Thurles, County Tipperary during the early hours of this morning, Sunday July 26th, 2026.
The fatal crash happened at approximately 3:45am on the L4101 at Lanespark, close to Ballynonty and Thurles.
Emergency personnel attended the scene, but the young driver, described by Gardaí as a male teenager, was sadly pronounced dead a short time later. He was the driver of the only vehicle involved in the incident. His remains have been taken to the mortuary at University Hospital Waterford, where a postmortem examination is expected to be conducted later. The local coroner has also been informed.
The teenager’s death brings to at least seven the number of people reported killed in road collisions in County Tipperary since the beginning of 2026.
The L4101 has been closed while Garda forensic collision investigators carry out a detailed technical examination of the scene. Motorists are being redirected through local diversions while that work continues.
Gardaí have urged anyone who saw the vehicle or witnessed the collision to contact the investigation team.
They are particularly interested in hearing from drivers or other road users who travelled through the Lanespark and Ballynonty area between 3:00am and 3:45am on Sunday. Anyone with dash-cam, mobile-phone or other camera recordings from that period is asked to preserve the footage and provide it to Gardaí.
Information can be given to Thurles Garda Station, Tel: 0504 25100, the Garda Confidential Line on Tel: 1800 666 111, or indeed at any Garda station.
Where else in Ireland would a crossroads, latter situated on a blind hill, be allowed to have traffic approaching and exiting at 100 km/h?
Well this remains the case at Turtulla Cross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. The proposed replacement of Turtulla Cross with a roundabout has been welcomed by local councillors as a major step forward. Nobody disputes that this junction has a serious safety problem. It has been associated with one pedestrian fatality, numerous collisions and long-standing concern among residents, motorists and public representatives.
Turtulla Cross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, showing blind hill, which, despite previous TII intervention, remains flooded for 10 months of the year. Pic: G. Willoughby.
The present 100 km/h limit is a maximum permitted speed, not an instruction to drive at that speed. Nevertheless, allowing traffic to approach a known hazardous junction under a 100 km/h limit sends entirely the wrong message. Drivers travelling at or near that speed have less time to recognise danger, react to another vehicle and stop safely.
However, welcoming action should not mean giving Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Tipperary County Council a blank cheque. Before large sums of public money are committed to constructing a roundabout, the authorities must explain why a significantly cheaper and quicker safety measure has not been properly trialled; namely reducing the speed limit on the approach and exit to Turtulla Cross from 100 km/h to 50 or 60 km/h.
A roundabout would inevitably force approaching vehicles to slow considerably. That raises an obvious question: why not introduce lower approach speeds now and assess the results before committing to an expensive construction project?
The Government’s own Speed Limit Review recommended lower limits, including a proposed reduction of the default limit on national secondary roads from 100 km/h to 80 km/h. Official guidance also recognises 60 km/h transition zones on national and other significant roads entering areas where traffic conditions become more complex.
A properly designed trial could include a 60 km/h transition zone, a further 50 km/h limit immediately approaching the junction, prominent warning signs, refreshed road markings, flashing speed indicators, improved lighting and targeted Garda enforcement. The trial should be supported by speed surveys and collision-risk assessments, with the results published openly. A few hundred metres closer to Thurles town such signs exist, so just grab a screwdriver or pliers and move them.
According to Tipperary County Council’s May 2026 management report, preliminary design has commenced for a safety scheme involving a roundabout. The project is expected to enter the Part 8 planning process in 2026, with construction anticipated in 2027, or 2028 or maybe 2030.
That timetable provides an opportunity to test lower-cost interventions before construction begins. Public money must be treated with respect. A roundabout may ultimately prove necessary, particularly if the junction’s layout, visibility or traffic movements cannot be made acceptably safe through speed management alone. But that conclusion should be demonstrated through real evidence, not just simply assumed by councillors wishing to take advantage of a video opportunity.
TII and Tipperary County Council should publish the up-to-date collision history, traffic speeds, projected construction cost, alternatives considered and the reasons those alternatives were rejected.
Spending millions without first testing an enforceable speed reduction would be a failure of common sense and responsible public administration. Safety must come first, but value for money, transparency and evidence must come with it.
County Tipperary Chamber is calling on every business in Thurles and the surrounding area to complete the Thurles Bypass Business Impact Survey before Friday, 7 August 2026.
For decades, the people and businesses of Thurles have heard proposals, commitments and political assurances regarding essential road infrastructure. However, the town is still waiting for the completed Inner Relief Road and the long-promised Outer Ring Road or Thurles Bypass.
As recently highlighted by Thurles.info, announcements and expressions of political support are not the same as approved funding, a binding construction programme or a completed road.
Thurles businesses need delivery, certainty and measurable progress. Traffic congestion is not merely an inconvenience. It imposes real and continuing costs on local employers. It delays deliveries, wastes staff time, disrupts logistics, restricts customer access and makes it more difficult for businesses to plan, invest and expand. Every delayed journey affects productivity. Every customer discouraged by congestion represents a potential loss to the local economy. Every infrastructure project that remains uncertain can influence future investment and employment decisions.
This aforementioned survey provides businesses with an opportunity to transform those daily experiences into clear, credible and representative evidence. County Tipperary Chamber recently welcomed Thurles native Mr John O’Shaughnessy CDir MBA LL.B (Hons) Dip IOD, Managing Director of Clancy, as its new President. Mr O’Shaughnessy has taken on the presidency at a critical time for business confidence and regional competitiveness. His focus on delivery, effective advocacy and ensuring that the voice of Tipperary business is heard consistently at local and national level is particularly relevant to the infrastructure challenges facing Thurles.
Under his leadership, the Chamber is determined to ensure that the concerns of local businesses are supported by strong evidence and presented directly to Government and other decision-makers.
That effort now requires the support of the Thurles business community. Whether you operate a retail shop, hospitality venue, professional practice, manufacturing company, transport business or family enterprise, your experience matters.
The survey is open to Chamber members and non-members and to businesses of every size and sector.
Government departments require more than general expressions of concern. They require evidence showing how congestion affects operating costs, staffing, deliveries, customer access, competitiveness, investment and future growth.
The greater the response, the stronger the Chamber’s case will be.
This is not about creating another report that sits on a shelf. It is about establishing a compelling business case for action and demonstrating that Thurles cannot continue to compete effectively without modern, dependable transport infrastructure.
A sincere thanks to every business that has already participated. Your time and first-hand knowledge are all helping to build the evidence needed to secure meaningful progress. To those who have not yet responded, please do not assume that another business will speak for you. Every completed survey adds weight, credibility and urgency to this campaign.
Thurles deserves roads, investment and delivery, not more uncertainty or political promises.
Gardaí have launched an appeal for witnesses after a man in his 50s was killed in a single-vehicle collision in County Tipperary.
The fatal crash happened on the R505 near Dundrum shortly before 5.50pm on yesterday afternoon, July 16th 2026. The driver, who was the only person reported to be involved, was pronounced dead at the scene. His remains were later taken to University Hospital Waterford, where a post-mortem examination is due to be carried out. The local coroner has been informed.
The R505 remained closed following the collision to allow Garda forensic collision investigators to conduct a technical examination of the scene. Diversions were put in place for motorists travelling through the area.
Investigating officers are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who used the road near Dundrum between 5:30pm and 6:00pm on Thursday. Drivers and other road users who recorded footage in the area are being urged to check their devices. Gardaí said dash-cam video, mobile phone recordings or any other camera footage could assist the investigation and should be provided to officers. Anyone who witnessed the crash, noticed the vehicle before the collision, or has information that may help establish what happened, is asked to come forward.
Five people have lost their lives in road traffic collisions within County Tipperary so far in 2026; as of yesterday, July 17th 2026. The confirmed fatalities occurred on:- 8th February: Man in his 70s, single-vehicle collision near Holycross. 8th March: Woman in her 20s, pedestrian collision near Templemore. 12th May: Woman in her 20s, two-car collision near Nenagh. 11th June: Motorcyclist in his 30s, collision near Carrick-on-Suir. 16th July: Man in his 50s, yesterday single-vehicle collision on the R505 near Dundrum.
Information can be given to Tipperary Garda Station by calling Tel: 062 80670. Members of the public may also contact the Garda Confidential Line on Tel: 1800 666 111 or indeed speak with officers at any Garda station.
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision remains ongoing. Gardaí have thanked the public for assistance.
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