Thurles Information

Death Of John Scott, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death, on February 20th, 2022, of Mr John Scott, Farranrory, Ballingarry (South Riding), Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Sadly, Mr Scott passed away tragically at his home on Sunday last.

His passing is most deeply regretted by his wife Emma, his children Nathan, Bianca, Kaithlyn, Lauren, Michaela, Cameron, Emily, Saoirse, baby John and Shona, his grandchildren, parents John and Joan, his brothers, sisters, god-children, nieces, nephews, extended relatives, neighbours and loyal friends.

Requiescat in Pace.

Funeral Arrangements.

The earthly remains of Mr Scott will repose at the residence of his father-in-law, Mr Eamonn Burke, Cooldine, Killenaule (E41 R922) on Wednesday evening, February 23rd, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.
His body will be received into the Church of the Assumption, Ballingarry, Thurles, on Thursday morning to further repose for Funeral Mass, at 11:30am, followed by interment immediately afterwards in the adjoining graveyard.

[NB: Due to Public Health Guidelines, regarding C-19 virus restrictions; those attending Requiem Mass will continue to observe strict adherence to social distancing, face covering, with no hand shaking.]

The extended Scott family wish to express their appreciation for your understanding at this difficult time and have made arrangements for those wishing to send messages of condolence, to use the link shown HERE.

Note Please: House strictly private on Thursday morning.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

E. Coli Found In 1 in 20 Private Water Supplies.

The quality of drinking water in private supplies is not as good as it should be – according to the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA’s) “Drinking Water Quality in Private Group Schemes and Small Private Supplies”, 2020 report.
95% of private group water schemes and 96% of small private supplies complied with E.coli standards.
93% of Private Group Schemes complied with the Trihalomethanes standard.
Over one quarter of Small Private Supplies were NOT monitored by Local Authorities.

The EPA today released the “Drinking Water Quality in Private Group Schemes and Small Private Supplies” 2020 report. Drinking water is provided by over 380 group water schemes to approx. 200,000 people across rural communities. Over 1,700 small private supplies (premises like hotels, pubs and restaurants, crèches, nursing homes and national schools) also provide water to staff, customers and service users on a daily basis.

Meeting E.coli standards is a basic requirement of safe drinking water. In 2020, twenty of the 380 private group schemes (serving more than 2,900 people), and 49 of the 1,225 small private supplies monitored, were found to have E.coli contamination. These failures, at 1 in 20 private water supplies, are of significant concern and put the health of the consumer at risk.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, said:
“Consumers should expect, as a minimum, that their water is safe to drink. However, compliance with the E.coli standard is not as good as it should be for water from private group water schemes and small private supplies. It is essential that works to improve water quality are carried out as soon as possible to eliminate the serious risks to people’s health. Water suppliers are obliged to make sure drinking water is clean and wholesome for consumers.”

Trihalomethanes (THM) are a by-product of the chlorine disinfection process and are formed where there is an excess of organic matter in the water source. Water suppliers should keep THM levels within the drinking water standards to avoid any possible health impacts from long term exposure. Twenty-two private group schemes (7%) failed to meet the standard for THM, including seven schemes that the European Commission has identified as being of particular concern.

480 (28%) of the 1,715 small private supplies registered were not monitored.
The report also shows that over one quarter of small private supplies, serving food businesses, nursing homes, crèches and B&Bs, were not monitored in 2020.

Mr Noel Byrne, Programme Manager of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, said:
“We recognise that, in many cases, the failure to monitor these premises was due to difficulties in accessing premises during Covid-19 restrictions. However, it is vitally important that Local Authorities ensure all water supplies are monitored annually to provide assurance to consumers that their drinking water is safe”.

To address failures in drinking water quality due to deficiencies in infrastructure, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage makes funding available through the Multi Annual Rural Water Programme. Upgrade works should be progressed without delay at those Private Group Water Schemes, which have identified as a priority in order to improve the drinking water quality of these supplies.

The report is available on the EPA website. View Here

Further information: Ms Emily Williamson, (EPA Media Relations Office) Tel: 053-9170770 (24 hours) or media@epa.ie.

Adieu, My Pet

Adieu, My Pet.

Courtesy of Thurles Author & Poet, Tom Ryan ©

Adieu, my pet.
‘Twas well we met
And well we’ll part to meet again.
No tears shall fall,
Joy overall,
For what has been
Will be again.
Adieu, fair maid.
The years
Shall fade,
But friendship’s hands shall clasp again.
Adieu my pet
‘Twas well we met
And well we’ll part,
To meet again.

END

Tom Ryan “Iona” Rahealty, Thurles, Co. Tipperary

Strategic Plan To Deal With UHL Overcrowding.

Independent Clare TD, Mr Michael McNamara, has received confirmation that HIQA is to undertake inspections of the Emergency Department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) and work with hospital management to develop a strategic plan to address capacity issues at the Mid-West facility.

In response to Deputy McNamara’s call for an independent inquiry into ongoing overcrowding at the hospital, Health Minister Mr Stephen Donnelly says HIQA has received an evaluation of the current factors influencing crowding in the emergency department from the Hospital Group CEO.

Deputy McNamara said he hopes the strategic approach to tackling the trolley crisis will have a wider scope than the approach taken up to now.

“UHL is the most consistently overcrowded hospital in the country with over 76,000 attendances in 2021, up 16% compared to 2020 and up 7% on 2019,” stated Deputy McNamara. “Hospital management and staff appear to be firefighting on the issue of overcrowding as opposed to identifying and rectifying the issues that are causing the problem.”

“The Minister informed me that a key part of the solution for Limerick is additional beds,” stated Deputy McNamara. “However, the problem of overcrowding in Limerick has worsened rather than improved since the delivery of the 60-bed modular ward block, the provision of an additional 38 inpatient beds and the anticipated delivery of a 96-bed replacement ward block, for which a works contract will be awarded in early Quarter 2 of this year subject to HSE Board approval and funding availability. A full review of operations within the UL Hospitals Group is required if we are to ultimately find lasting solutions to the overcrowding issues.”

Deputy McNamara said HIQA has a limited remit and would not be able to put forward such recommendations as the upgrading of Ennis, Nenagh or St. Johns to Model 3 Hospitals. He continued, “There also needs to be an assessment of admission and discharge policies at UHL, as well as the impact of population growth on the demand for services within the UL Hospitals Group. I would hope that some additional outside expertise and input can form part of the delivery of any future strategic plan for tackling the long-standing overcrowding problem.”

Responding to Deputy McNamara, Minister Donnelly said surge capacity had been opened to manage the “extremely high levels of activity” being experienced at UHL. He added that the UL Hospital Group have reported that they are continuing to deal with high volumes of patients attending the University Hospital Limerick ED, a pattern that has been sustained over a number of months and is being replicated around the country.

“University Hospital Limerick is working to ensure that care is prioritised for the sickest patients,” Minister Donnelly stated. “As part of their escalation plan, additional ward rounds, accelerated discharges, and identification of patients for transfer to UL Model 2 hospitals are all underway. Surge capacity has been opened to manage the extremely high levels of activity.”

The Minister added, “HIQA has also been in recent correspondence with the Hospital Group CEO to seek further information and assurances from them relating to their evaluation of the current factors influencing crowding in the emergency department. The resultant evaluation which HIQA received is very comprehensive and strongly highlights the Hospital Group’s view as to the factors at play, not least their opinion that they remain short on bed capacity at the hospital in the context of limited bed stock across both the public and private sector in the region.”

Vanishing Thurles.

How many people in Thurles can remember this house?

**The above picture was photographed by Jill Forrest in 1969**.

The photographer, Jill Forrest, was the wife of well-known artist/book illustrator Donald Forrest, both of whom hailed from Hastings, Sussex, on England’s south-east coast.

The Forrest family were previously owners of Farney Castle, close to Holycross, in Co Tipperary and at least one of their daughters was educated for a time, here in Thurles, by the Ursuline Convent.

The above rare picture of this quaint Thurles thatched building, was once the property of the McCormack family.

Those who can still remember the building, will also remember the delightful displays, set in drills, of Dahlias and the tall colourful supported stalks of trumpet-shaped blooms, known as Gladioli, (latter meaning ‘Sword’ in Latin).
Same flowers were then easily visible on the left side of the above dwelling.

**Former Jobst Ireland Ltd, medical goods manufacturing plant building as viewed today.**

Alas, the building is no longer to be seen; demolished by the IDA, to accommodate the short lived medical goods manufacturing plant, known as Jobst Ireland Ltd, once situated in the Archerstown Industrial Estate, here in Thurles.