Travel « Thurles Information

Temporary Traffic Management, Turtulla, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Public Service Announcement – Commuters Take Note.

**Turtulla Junction, N62 Thurles, Co. Tipperary**.

Temporary Traffic Management will be operational on the N62 at Turtulla Junction, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, beginning, Thursday October 16th 2025 until October 17th 2025.

Delays can be expected.

Pedestrian In 50s Seriously Injured In Tipperary Collision.

A lady pedestrian in her 50s was seriously injured in a three-vehicle crash in Co Tipperary on Friday morning.

The collision happened at around 8:00am on the R498 at Latteragh, Nenagh.
Emergency services attended the scene and the woman was airlifted to University Hospital Galway via Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115.
Garda Forensic Collision Investigators have since examined the area. No other injuries were reported.

Gardaí are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident, or who may have dash-cam footage from the area between 7:45am and 8:15am, to contact Nenagh Garda Station Tel: (067) 50450, the Garda confidential line Tel: 1800 666 111, or indeed any Garda station as investigations continue.

Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles, Silver Jubilee Presentation.

**Pictured L-R:** **Mr Gerry Bowe** *(Chief Organiser)*, **Ms Bridie Keane**, **Mr **Michael** Keane** **and Very Rev. Fr. Joe Tynan P.P.** *(Knocklong, Co. Limerick)*

At a gathering of friends in Keane’s Oyster Bar/Restaurant, Kilrush Rd, Garraun, Kilkee, Co. Clare, on Sunday 7th September 2025, a presentation was made by Fr. Joe Tynan P.P. (Knocklong, Co. Limerick), to Michael and Bridie Keane and Family.

The presentation was to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of ‘Two-Mile-Borris Friends’, travelling to the West Clare Region.

This event was initially started by the late Mr Michael (Mick) Galvin, “The Shambles”, Two Mile Borris, Thurles, who was originally a native of Moyasta, Co. Clare.
Included in the photo above, on the left is Mr Gerry Bowe, chief organiser of the annual event down through the years.

Thurles MD Council Set To Tackle Overflowing & Shocking Problems.

Tomorrow morning, September 8th, a few Thurles Municipal District councillors will gather for their monthly meeting, latter a time-honoured event where the real challenge isn’t making decisions, but finding a topic colourful enough to secure a quote or a photograph in the paper, or even a 10 minute clip on local radio.

This month, however, two burning issues (one quite literally) await them:

Issue (1) Liberty Square’s “Shock Feature”.

Motorists exiting the shiny new, half finished, Liberty Square area, into the new car park, may notice an ESB junction box/cabinet, carefully positioned where nobody can see it until it’s too late.
Local observers have described it as “Thurles town’s first drive-thru toaster,” raising concerns that a poorly placed cabinet and a passing bumper could one day combine to produce Thurles’ first-ever flame-grilled shopper.
One lady has suggested that the engineer responsible should be castigated. (I hope I have spelt that word correctly).
While some might view this as a design flaw, others see potential: “It could be an electrifying tourist experience,” said one local. “Where else can you risk being fried without paying an admission fee?”
But look on the dark side; for the first time in 3 years, the lights in the pavement no longer work during daylight hours. I wonder where that white piece on the side went? (See image above).

Issue (2) Parnell Street’s Garment Pod Avalanche.

Meanwhile, the town’s clothing recycling pods are reportedly following a “fill once, empty never” maintenance schedule/policy, as I observed today. Overflowing bags and the odd suitcase now cascade gracefully onto tarmac, creating what locals have dubbed “The Thurles Textile Centre.”
Some residents are calling for official walking tours of the mounds of garments, while others suggest the pods be reclassified as public art. “At least it adds colour,” remarked one passerby, “though the smell in Summer could be as bad as the Suir-side walkway.”
Speaking of the Suir-side walkway; other observers suggested that those responsible for this littering should have thrown their ‘unwanted couture‘ behind the bushes at the swinging gates on Emmett Street, like other considerate idiosyncrasies.

Local Councillors New Dilemma.
Faced with these pressing concerns, councillors must now decide; will tomorrow’s headlines read “Councillors Prevent Electrocution” or “Overflowing Pods Finally Emptied”?
Or, more likely, with Xmas on the way, will they spend 45 minutes debating the colours of fairy lights, before returning to their other places of employment.

But keep in mind the writings of St Matthew 6:24 on double jobbers councillors, quote; “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other”

Does Thurles MD Council Pay For Members Non-Attendance At Council Meetings?

It appears that elected members of local authorities here in Ireland can still receive allowances, even if they don’t attend all council meetings.

According to the Tipperary County Council website, they are obliged to publicly publish a register of payments to all Tipperary Councillors each quarter year. However, when the Tipperary Expenses Register is sought online the viewer is informed that Councillor Expenses are currently undergoing maintenance for 2024 and 2025 and will be back online as soon as possible.

On Friday last, August 22nd 2025, we learn from the Irish Independent newspaper that Tipperary County Council paid over €1.7 million (€1,742,077.33 to be exact) in expenses and allowances in 2024, to our 40 elected councillors across Tipperary.

The single largest category was for elected councillor’s basic salaries, which amounted €1,178,607.91 for the year 2024. The Annual allowance, made up €264,162.49 of the annual total, followed by a Local Representative Allowance (LRA), totalling €105,519.26, latter a vouched allowance for expenses incurred while carrying out the duty of being a local representative.
The highest Tipperary earner for 2024 was Fine Gael’s Declan Burgess, who took home €59,114.09 for that year. His basic salary was set at €29,755.58, then there was the annual allowance of €5,720.16, and his LRA amounting to €2,557.58.

On Monday last, August 18th, the Cork Examiner Newspaper highlighted a story which concerned a Fianna Fáil junior minister. He, Mr Christopher O’Sullivan [Now Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage since January 2025 and a Teachta Dála for the Cork South-West constituency since the 2020 general election], claimed he had broken no rules by accepting €30,000 in payments from Cork County Council. His payment came during a year in which he admits to spending six months travelling in South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Mr Christopher O’Sullivan TD, who was appointed a Minister of State in January, was, in 2008, serving as a Cork County Councillor, when he went on his travels, same undertaken the year after he was co-opted onto the council to replace his father.

Mr O’Sullivan said all payments he received; including his allowances and expenses, were in full compliance with the law. He stated that any allowances or payments during 2008 were in full compliance with the laws and regulations then in force, including the Local Government Act 2001 and his absence, while travelling, were taken in a continuous period of six consecutive months, same provided for under Section 18(4)(a) of the Local Government Act, 2001.

Section 18(4)(a) of the Irish Local Government Act 2001 states “A person shall be deemed to have resigned from membership of a local authority where the person is absent from attendance at any meeting of the authority for a continuous period of 6 consecutive months (“the relevant period”) from the date (“the relevant date”) of his or her last attendance at a meeting of the authority.”
Section 18(4)(b) states “paragraph (a) does not apply where the absence was (i) due to illness, or (ii) in good faith for another reason, and which, in either case, is accepted by the local authority and approved by resolution under this paragraph, before the end of the relevant period, in which case the period shall stand extended to 12 months from the relevant date.”

According to the Cork Examiner, Cork Co. Council records show Mr O’Sullivan TD had the lowest attendance rate of all councillors in 2008, attending only 26 out of 70 meetings and despite this, he claimed travel expenses of €4,083; monthly allowances of €8,985, and a Representational payment of €17,179. While his attendance stood at just 37%, Mr O’Sullivan TD also claimed more in 2008 than four other fellow councillors who all had higher attendance records.

It appears that the Irish electorate has lost all control of taxpayer funding.