Thurles Bypass confirmed in the updated NDP today, a major step forward.
Major Step Forward as Project Enters Pre-Approval Stage Under Government’s Updated Framework.
Now classed as a priority project, it will advance through design & planning, with a push to be construction-ready by 2030.
The long-awaited Thurles Outer Bypass has been formally included in the revised National Development Plan (NDP), announced today, November 26th, 2025. The confirmation marks a significant milestone for the town of Thurles and the wider mid-Tipperary region, placing the long-discussed project back onto the national agenda and ensuring it will now advance through the required planning and design phases.
Damage caused on a regular basis by heavy goods vehicles. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Project Confirmed Under Appendix A of the National Development Plan. According to today’s announcement, the Thurles Bypass is listed within Appendix A of the NDP and designated to progress through the Pre-Approval / Gateway 1 stage. However, this represents only the first formal step in the Government’s project-delivery process, enabling detailed assessment, updated design work, and the preparation of a preliminary business case. The scheme is viewed as essential to addressing long-standing congestion and safety concerns, as well as supporting the town’s commercial and residential development.
Damage caused on a regular basis by heavy goods vehicles. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Associated Road Projects Also Advancing. Today’s publication confirms that the Thurles Bypass will sit alongside other significant transport projects for the area, including:
Thurles Inner Relief Road.
Local realignment schemes intended to improve connectivity and traffic flow.
Additional regional investments aimed at strengthening transport infrastructure across County Tipperary.
These projects combined form an integrated approach to improving mobility, safety, and economic prospects for Thurles town and surrounding areas.
Next Steps: Planning, Design and Approvals: While the Thurles bypass’s inclusion in the NDP does not indicate an immediate start to construction, it does secure its place within the Government’s investment programme through to 2030. The project will now move into:
Updated design and engineering work.
Preparation of statutory documents.
Preliminary business case development.
Environmental and route-corridor assessments.
Progression through further Government approval gates.
List of Strategic Regional Road Projects Scheduled to Commence Construction by 2030.
Project.
Sponsoring Agency.
Current Stage of Project Lifecycle.
Next Approval Gate.
Procurement Timeline.
Construction Timeline.
Successful Tenderer.
Cost Range.
Thurles Inner Relief Road.
Tipperary County Council
Final Business Case
AG1
Procurement by 2026
Commence by 2027
Not yet awarded
€10m- €20m
Appendix A. Thurles Bypass.
Various
Pre-AG1
AG1
?
?
?
?
See table above: “There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip.”King Ancaeus of Samos.
It is now important, unlike in the past, that local representatives, at all levels, emphasise their intention to push for tangible, measurable progress on this project, so that the scheme can be construction-ready by 2030.
A Long-Awaited Boost for Thurles. The bypass is widely regarded as a crucial infrastructure project for Thurles. Heavy traffic, including a high volume of HGVs, currently passes through the town centre, particularly in Liberty Square where national routes intersect. Business groups, residents, and community organisations have repeatedly highlighted the impact on safety, air quality, congestion, and commercial activity.
Today’s confirmation is seen as the first real movement on the project in many years, following earlier plans which stalled during the economic downturn.
A trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court has heard that senior gardaí have the authority to cancel Fixed Charge Penalty Notices (FCPNs) in specific circumstances.
Four serving gardaí and a retired superintendent, Mr Edmund “Eamon” O’Neill, Sergeants Ms Michelle Leahy and Ms Anne-Marie Hassett, and Gardaí Mr Tom McGlinchey and Mr Colm Geary, have pleaded not guilty to 39 counts of allegedly engaging in conduct “tending and intending to pervert the course of justice”. The charges arise from a Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) inquiry into alleged interventions in potential or pending road traffic prosecutions.
Prosecution witness Sgt Mr Kevin McCahey, formerly of the FCPN Enforcement Unit in Thurles, testified that he routinely followed instructions during garda investigations and saw nothing improper in GNBCI requests for FCPN information. Under questioning, he said it was not unusual for members of the public to seek advice from local gardaí after receiving a notice, but added he would recuse himself from handling a query involving someone he personally knew due to a “perceived conflict of interest”. He stated he would refuse any “improper instructions”, including a request to alter a notice.
Superintendent Ms Blaithin Moran of the Garda Roads Policing Bureau told the court she regularly worked with the FCPN Cancelling Authority in Thurles, where she had legitimately cancelled notices in exceptional cases, such as emergency responses by medical professionals or incidents involving sudden death. She said travelling to routine medical appointments or funerals would not qualify. Discretion, she noted, is applied “on a case-by-case basis”.
The case, before Judge Mr Roderick Maguire and a jury of 12, is expected to run until Christmas.
Project first proposed in 2009 seen as key to easing Thurles congestion and boosting local economy.
The long-awaited Thurles bypass is expected to feature in the forthcoming revision of the National Development Plan (NDP), which is due to be formally announced on Tuesday, November 25th.
First proposed in 2009, the project was shelved following the economic crash, but has remained a long-term priority for the business community. The long awaited bypass is viewed as being critical to easing chronic traffic congestion in the town and hopefully unlocking the towns wider economic potential.
Damage caused on a regular basis by heavy goods vehicles. Pic: G. Willoughby.
Traffic volumes in Thurles, particularly heavy goods vehicles passing through Liberty Square, have long been a source of frustration for residents and businesses, as two national secondary routes currently converge in the town centre.
Damage caused on a regular basis by heavy goods vehicles. Pic: G. Willoughby
Detailed design work on associated relief roads has also been completed, with supporting documentation now under review as part of the statutory approval process.
This news indicating that the bypass will proceed, will be greatly welcomed by both business and community leaders in Thurles same seen as essential to ensuring Thurles can thrive as a safe and accessible regional hub.
If fully confirmed in the updated NDP, the Thurles bypass would represent one of the most significant infrastructure commitments for mid-Tipperary in recent decades. Construction is expected to follow later in the plan’s timeline, subject to final funding and planning approvals.
The revised National Development Plan will be formally announced on Tuesday, November 25th, and it will then fall to our local representatives to help drive forward a project they have in the past been slow to champion.
Five operators of bus and taxi services In Tipperary appeared today in a Competition and Consumer Protection Commission led prosecution at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, where they pleaded not guilty to alleged anti-competitive conduct in the school transport sector.
Defendants Mr Andrew Walsh of Derrymore, Roscrea; Mr Raymond Heney of Camas, Cashel; Mr Noel Browne of Bansha; Mr Larry Hickey of Ardmayle, Cashel, and Mr Anthony Flynn of Golden Road, Cashel, all resident in Co Tipperary, face a single charge under the Competition Act 2002, alleging that each engaged in a concerted practice between November 1st 2014 and December 31st 2016, aimed at preventing, restricting or distorting competition in the provision of school-transport services in counties Tipperary, Limerick, Clare, South Galway and Waterford.
Presiding Judge Mr David Keane empanelled a jury of seven men and five women to hear the case, which is expected to last up to six weeks.
The prosecution arises under Section 4(1) of the Competition Act 2002, which prohibits any agreement, decision or concerted practice, whose object or effect is to prevent, restrict or distort competition in trade.
The defendants’ pleas of not guilty mean the matter will now proceed to full trial, where the court will examine evidence including tenders, contracts, communications between operators and the structure of the school transport market.
Private operators bid for contracts to provide specific routes as part of the scheme. When operators agree or coordinate how to bid (or not bid) for these contracts, the effect can be to reduce competition: fewer bidders means less pressure on prices and potentially lower quality of service.
The national competition regulator, Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is empowered, under the Competition Act 2002, to prosecute concerted practices or agreements between competitors which have the object or effect of restricting competition.
The school-transport scheme involves significant public expenditure. For example, in a recent review the cost was estimated at about €509 million for the 2024 year. If competition is distorted in the contracting of these services, the State and ultimately families and taxpayers may face higher costs or receive less efficient service. Coordinated bidding or allocation of routes undermines the competitive tendering process.
By pursuing criminal cases in this domain, the Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is signalling that collusion in public-service contracts (including school transport) is taken seriously.
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