Work has begun this morning July 7th on the long neglected upgrade to the N75 at Kickham Street, Thurles.
The upgrade which begins from the junction with Cathedral Street/ Mitchel Street, will travel eastward for approximately 1200m to the 100kph gateway, close to Boomerang Horse and Country Store. The upgrade scheme is expected to take 4 months and will includes pavement rehabilitation (replacing existing patio slabs with solid cement); the widening of existing footpaths; kerb buildouts; the introduction of proper drainage facilities; followed by road resurfacing and finally the introduction of pedestrian crossings; signage and soft landscaping.
During this period of reconstruction, temporary traffic management will be required, in order to ensure the construction work is carried out safely amidst live traffic. Access to all properties and businesses will be maintained throughout the period of the works.
Works of this nature will cause some disruption to existing residents, businesses, schools, shoppers, and traffic running through the area, but it is Tipperary Co. Councils (Tel: 081-8065000) and Rathcabbin Tarmac Ltd, (Tel: 087-2939107) intention to minimize this, as far as is feasibly possible.
In order to ensure the safety of the public and the workers Tipperary county council requests the full co-operation and patience of all, during these works. If anybody requires special assistance during these works, please contact the contractor or the council and they will seek to provide assistance where possible.
The contractor and the council will endeavour to minimize disruption during these essential works and apologize, in advance, for any inconvenience caused.
It has taken 7 years for the state agency known as Transport Infrastructure Ireland(TII) to locate funding for a 1200 metres stretch of the busiest section of roadway in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
1200 metre stretch Of Kickham Street (N75) shown in red.
Despite two Teachtaí Dála (Dáil Deputies), namely MrMichael Lowry and Mr Jackie Cahill, latter both with constituency offices in Thurles town; combined with the mission statement by TII claiming, quote: “Our mission is to provide high quality transport infrastructure and services, delivering a better quality of life and supporting economic growth”, a 1200 metre stretch of the N75, gained limited attention for the past seven years.
Issues on the busy roadway, best known locally as Charles J. Kickham Street, were first raised in January 2021, by Thurles.info, and sadly resulted in the wasteful practice of large water-filled potholes being topped up, every couple of days, using cold tarmac. (View Here).
The issue was again raised on no fewer than 14 seperate occasions beginning between February 2021 and March 2024. We even highlighted where most of the cold tarmac gravel could be located, after it was dislodged hours later from newly filled potholes (View Here).
The 7 year abject failure to have issues improved, forced local residents to refrain from painting the exterior of their homes, due to attacks from flying stones and dirty, filthy water; same water which today still flows down the street’s centre like a shallow river, due to the lack of basic drainage and blocked shores. Despite consistent serious flooding, and complaints highlighted, still no response came from our idle councillors, local officials and lazy resident politicians. In last year’s local elections, the Thurles electorate who bothered to vote, returned all of these double jobbing individuals back into office.
See links hereunder which raised the issues of neglect with regard to route N75.
In the last fortnight one local councillor, Mr Jim Ryan, announced on local radio that TII, after 7 years, had no funding for this N75 project, yet Thurles.Info and Tipperary County Council had already been notified that funding had been sanctioned.
Today, it was officially confirmed to the general public that funding has been secured for this Thurles Kickham Street Improvement Scheme, but now 7 years later, we are none the wiser as to when or what year this same project will eventually commence.
Work proposed for this future upgrade will supposedly include:
Road re-surfacing for a distance of approximately 1200m.
Footpath improvement works at defined locations.
Improvements to existing surface water drainage to alleviate existing surface water drainage issues.
Traffic calming works.
Improved pedestrian facilities including installation of additional uncontrolled pedestrian crossings.
Provision of revised road signage and markings.
Narrowing of carriageway running lanes to 3.25m wide (10.66273ft) on the mainline N75 approaches to the Mill Road roundabout.
Minor design change to existing layout of Mill Road roundabout.
Minor realignment of a section of N75 mainline carriageway to facilitate roundabout improvements.
As well as “Justice” and “The mills of the gods”; we can now confirm that the wheels of “Tipperary Co. Council” and “TII” also grind exceedingly slowly.
Mr Sean Fitzpatrick with an address at Kilpurcell, Ballybrophy, Portlaoise, Co Laois, aged 22 year, has been jailed for 18 months, after he admitted to dangerous driving causing the death of a college friend, when they were both on a night out together, in Thurles, Co Tipperary, in March of 2023. The accident occurred at College Green, Monakeeba, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
Nenagh Circuit Criminal Court were informed that Mr Fitzpatrick had driven for more than a kilometre with the late Mr Adam Kirwan standing on the door frame, hanging out the driver’s door, with one hand on the roof of the car and the other on the open driver’s door.
Sadly Mr Kirwan, aged 20 and a former Laois minor and under-20 hurler, died when the car driven by Mr Fitzpatrick hit a kerb, after he misjudged a corner, in a single vehicle collision, less than 50 metres from their intended accommodation that fatal night, in Thurles town.
Both young men had been studying to become teachers and were attending, as students at Mary Immaculate College (Previously St Patrick’s College Seminary ), Cathedral Street, in Thurles.
Mr Fitzpatrick admitted driving with excess alcohol causing death and driving without motor insurance. Both men had been on a night out with a third college friend when they decided to move Mr Kirwan’s car from a car park in Thurles, in case the car received a parking fine, before they could retrieve it the following morning.
Both men drank pints of beer and ‘Jagerbombs’ (a shot of Jägermeister flavoured liquor, usually mixed with an energy drink), while watching a match in a local pub, before later attending a house party on the night.
Considered less intoxicated, Mr Fitzpatrick drove the car, however, his alcohol reading was found to be more than twice the acceptable drink driving limit.
Mr Kirwan clung onto the roof and the open door of the moving vehicle for the 1.3km journey (0.80mls) from the centre of Thurles to the house where they were being accommodated
Mobile video footage was played in court at the sentencing hearing, recorded by a third passenger, who sat in the rear seat of the vehicle together with Closed-Circuit Television video (CCTV) footage gathered by investigating Gardaí.
Presiding Judge Ms Catherine Staines sentenced Mr Fitzpatrick to three years in jail, with the final 18 months suspended. In sentencing the Judge stated that Mr Kirwan’s death was what resulted when people mixed drinking with dangerous driving.
Over the 2025 Easter bank holiday weekend, a Garda roads policing operation was put in place countrywide, between 7:00am on Thursday last, April 17th last, and 7:00am today, Tuesday, April 22nd. During this Garda Operation 2800 drivers were detected for speeding offences.
During the above stated period, sadly, there were three fatalities, including that of a four-year-old boy; together with 11 other serious traffic accidents on our Irish roads, resulting in a total of 12 persons being the subject of serious life-threatening injuries.
Police officers carried out more than 912 mandatory intoxicant testing checkpoints over the same stated holiday period, which saw some 4,500 breath tests and 213 oral fluid tests being performed; leading to 149 arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
Fixed Charge Offences detected during this period included:- Divers exceeding the speed limit → 2800 No seatbelts → 73. Using Mobile Phones → 225. Unaccompanied learner drivers → at least 160. Vehicles seized for having no tax or insurance → 438. Vehicles seized from learner permit holders driving unaccompanied → 109.
Speeds detected in some county speed zones:- 110km/h in a 50Km/h zone on the Naas Road, Dublin 12, Co. Dublin. 165km/h in a 100Km/h zone on N18 Ballinacurra (Weston), in neighbouring Co Limerick. 179km/h in a 60km/h zone on R194 Granard, Co Longford. 139km/h in a 80km/h zone on R157 Dunboyne, Co Meath. 125km/h in a 50Km/h zone on R394 Milltown Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath. 80km/h in a 50km/h zone on Ballymount Road, Dublin 24
Families should note that one in three people, who have lost their lives on Irish roads this year, were under the age of 30 years.
Speaking in Dáil Éireann the newly elected north Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD Mr Ryan O’Meara, has concurred that the town of Thurles is being strangled by traffic issues; requiring immediate attention for an inner relief road. Same, if funding was provided, would link the N62 at Slievenamon Road to the Mill Road, thus providing a third vehicle bridge.
Proposed Inner Relief Road for Thurles
[Funny that, VIEW HERE. Back in 2021, we here in Thurles were previously informed that funding had already been acquired.]
However, many residents believe that Mr Ryan O’Meara has been fed false or inaccurate information and most business leaders see the proposed inner relief road as further waste of public funding. An inner relief road already exists via the Mill Road, same entering and exiting south of Thurles at Turtulla Cross on the N62, which has seen 3 vehicles crash and be written-off, within the past 12 months.
Any new inner relief will only permit the exit and entering of vehicles closer into the town centre, with HGV traffic still required to travel to the four corners of Ireland, directly through our medieval streetscapes, which for the past 4 years have become a bottle neck, currently existing for all vehicles attempting to pass through Thurles town centre.
The only piece of common sense and perhaps even a small glimmer of hope was expressed by An Taoiseach, Mr Micheál Martin TD, responding to our misinformed, raw recruit, Mr Ryan O’Meara. Mr Martin stated that the long queues of traffic being experienced, would become a thing of the past, if Thurles had a ring road/bypass and he would try to feed that into an expected review of the present National Development Plan.
As for Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Ryan O’Meara’s speech interjection in Dáil Éireann; same was perceived and smelled of the scent of a vote catching press release, same greedily accepted from his Nenagh office by local press, who were obviously experiencing a slow news day.
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