The blog read “Excuses By Tipp Co. Council’s Chief Executive & Thurles District Administrator” was first published by Thurles.Info on May 11th 2023 last and referred to the failure by Thurles Municipal District Council to clean drains blocked since February 20th,2022 and earlier. Read HERE.
One day earlier, on Wed, May 10th, Ms Sharon Scully (Thurles Municipal District Administrator), in an email sent to me stated; See [C]“…… all gullies in the town are on a ‘rotation list’ for cleaning. However the network is susceptible to flash flooding of this nature. Locations as listed below will be examined.”
There is no “rotation list” for blocked drains in Thurles, above drains have been blocked since 2020. In all 6 pictures shown above, ‘accumulatedindiscriminate littering‘ is not the cause of the gully blockages, but rather clay from builders and gravel from unrepaired road surfaces. Example: See one blocked drain on corner of Clongour Road, near Lidl supermarket, which was recently resurfaced, having been blocked since 2020.
Mother Nature has warned us here in Thurles, specifically over the past two years, to expect excessive rainfall in the years ahead.
A review of Ms Scully’s “rotation list” for gully’s is now needed; if drains are not unblocked with the frequency needed to match our excessive rainfall. Flash floods need a solution, if rainfall continues to become more and more a feature of life for both residents and businesses in Thurles.
To put it simply, blocked drain + lots of rain = trouble.
Meanwhile, in the email forwarded to Ms Scully, also on May 11th, 2023, asking for certain further clarifications shown hereunder; to date no reply has been received.
Email sent read: Please now also let my readers & myself have your thoughts regarding other issues shown via the following links:-
[1]http://www.thurles.info/2023/04/22/possible-bus-shelter-for-thurles/. What was the total cost of the full installation of the new carparks traffic barrier system including shelters, and CCTV cameras, same referred to as ‘Checkpoint Charlie’– and was there any money refunded following its hasty removal.
Incidentally, the very recent pedestrian crossing lights issue on Cathedral Street, was fixed, (Motorists and pedestrians thank you), but alas, having used their spanner to correct this issue, sadly no one had a spare light bulb to replace that which had failed to operate.
Again no gain to Thurles residents from paying increased property taxcharges.
The Minister for State with responsibility for Law Reform and Youth Justice, Mr James Browne T.D., has today published the Department of Justice’s policy paper on Restorative Justice.
The Programme for Government Our Shared Future makes the commitment to “work with all criminal justice agencies to build capacity to deliver Restorative Justice, safely and effectively”. Publishing this policy paper, entitled Promoting and supporting the provision of Restorative Justice at all stages of the criminal justice system, works toward fulfilment of this pledge.
Publishing the paper, Minister Browne said; “This policy paper is a culmination of a body of work carried out by the Department since the 2020 Programme for Government was published. At the same time, it signposts the next steps for continuing to ensure the safe and effective delivery of Restorative Justice initiatives, and sets out a roadmap for present and future attainment of the highest standards in this area. In light of the clear and positive benefits of Restorative Justice to victims, offenders, and the State, and mindful of the opportunity to increase current levels of provision of Restorative Justice services, the path forward that this paper identifies – to strengthen existing capabilities within current structures – provides the best prospect to make the most significant impact with the greatest efficiency.”
Restorative Justice aims to enable all those affected by an offence to participate actively in repairing the harm done and to find a positive way forward. Restorative Justice is now legislated for, and widely used, in many countries throughout the world. In Europe, a recent legal framework supports making Restorative Justice available with all offences and at all stages of the criminal justice process.
Most recent figures for Ireland, prepared by Restorative Justice Strategies for Change (RJS4C: Ireland), estimated that the total number of Restorative Justice cases reported was 1,056 in 2020. While initial figures have been produced for 2022, they do not yet include youth cautions. After removing youth cautions from the relevant previous year figures, while they show a slight increase for 2022 (413) based on 2021 (395) and 2020 (340), they are significantly down on the 2019 figure of 721.
Minister Browne further stated: “It is reasonable to conclude that Ireland is yet to use Restorative Justice to its maximum potential, and that the use of this process would increase greatly if it is more widely available. To that end, the very title of this paper is indicative – Promoting and supporting the provision of Restorative Justice at all stages of the criminal justice system. And, at all stages, our unwavering commitment to continued improvement, toward achievement of this goal, will remain.”
The following transfers and appointments have been announced by Cork born, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Most Rev. Kieran O’Reilly, DD.:-
(1) Congratulations to Roman Catholic Curate Rev. Fr. Vincent Stapleton, (Thurles and Bothar-na-Naomh), who has been appointed Diocesan Secretary and Chancellor. Fr Vincent will continue to reside in Bothar-na-Naomh, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
(2) Congratulations to Rev. Fr. James Walton PP, (Ballybricken and Bohermore), who has now has been appointed as Parish priest to Gortnahoe and Glengoole, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
Both new appointments will take effect from Saturday, August 26th next, 2023.
Fr. Francis Mudungwe and Fr. John Makoni have now been assigned to the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, by the Bishop of Mutare, Bishop Paul Horan, O. Carm, latter a native of Drangan, Co. Tipperary.
Archbishop O’Reilly has stated that he was delighted that an agreement, between the two dioceses, will now see benefits affecting both dioceses and he now extends a warm welcome to both Fr. Francis and Fr. John, while wishing them both well in their new ministries in Co. Tipperary.
Fr. Francis Mudungwe will take up his ministry as CC in the parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea; while Fr. John Makoni will take up his ministry as CC in the parish of Cashel and Rosegreen.
The Heath Service Executive (HSE) has said it is currently seeing a slight increase in Covid-19 infections here in the Irish State, which in turn is causing a slight increase in hospital admissions.
During May and June infection indicators had shown a downward trend, however same began to increase again at towards the end of June, possibly due to overseas travel; as a similar trend is also occurring in the UK.
The number of patients in ICU, with Covid-19 infection did increase slightly during the month of July, but remained relatively low. Currently this month saw ten patients in ICU’s, compared to three patients one month earlier, at the start of July.
St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny has acknowledged that it is dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19 infections resulting in the suspension of visitors, except for their maternity unit and in other exceptional circumstances. St Luke’s Hospital has stated that there are a number of Covid and non-Covid patients presenting to its emergency department and while all urgent care cases should still attend the hospital, it did urge people to consider other options, if possible, before coming to their emergency department.
Several outbreaks are also being managed on inpatient wards at University Hospital Limerick.
Earlier this week, University Hospital Galway said it was also dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak, with 39 Covid patients in the hospital; thus leaving five wards affected. Visiting restrictions are fully in place in areas of the hospital affected by these outbreaks.
On April 13th, 2023, (Read HERE), we wrote about our concerns in relation to the state of roads within the immediate precincts of Thurles town. A copy of same was forwarded to Mr Joe MacGrath (Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council).
State of Barry’s Bridge (Thurles Suir Bridge), Thurles (N75) today, August 5th, 2023. Pic: G. Willoughby.
In a surprising reply, received from Mr Joe MacGrath, through his Secretary Ms Evelyn Harty; Mr MacGrath broke a 3 year silence to discuss road craters on Thurles streets. [His rare reply has now been framed ].
On Tuesday April 18th, 2023 Mr Joe MacGrath informed us that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) would be along to fix the N75 bridge crossing in Thurles. Quote from Mr MacGrath: “The second photo is on the N75 bridge crossing in Thurles. TII has programmed works for this section of road, which we expect will be undertaken by the end of May”. It is now August 5th 2023 and 10 weeks later no sign of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, hence we suspect when it comes to statements made by Mr Joe MacGrath as Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council “The tail appears to continue to wag the dog”
Currently every Monday morning, in two of the craters on Thurles Bridge (Barry’s Bridge), cold tarmac is tapped down with the back of a shovel. Within a 24 hour period it has been transformed into a gravel patch, causing further damage to the area and allowing collected surface water to seep through into the bridge’s main arch structure.
The end of this month, starting August 30th, primary and secondary school children will begin travelling back to our excellent educational facilities. If repairs are not undertaken and completed before the end of this month (August 2023), school traffic in combination with roadworks will ‘drive’ everyone to despair. Local residents can then stand and further watch the destruction and ruination of businesses within an now neglected Thurles Town centre.
A copy of this blog has been sent to Mr Joe MacGrath, Chief Executive at Tipperary Co. Council.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Recent Comments