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Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
No funding allocated for bypass of Kerry town that is suffering from 'significant' daily traffic delays
The statement was made at Friday's meeting of the Kenmare Municipal District following a question by Fianna Fáil Cllr Tommy Cahill who asked that Kerry Council provide a comprehensive report outlining their plans to address, what he called, significant daily traffic delays in Killorglin town. In their response, the council said that minor proposals to assist with traffic flow in the town are being considered as part of the public realm improvements that will be proposed under the Killorglin Rural Regeneration and Development Fund. However, they said a bypass is the only intervention that will have a significant impact on traffic congestion at peak times. Noting their response. Cllr Cahill asked if a bypass of the town is something that is seriously being looked at or considered because the traffic situation is something that seriously needs alleviating. "The issue of traffic is quite significant in Killorglin town. People are missing dental appointments and medical appointments because of it,' he said. To this, the council said that looking at the current TII allocations, there is currently no funding 'on the books' for a bypass of the town but that discussions between them and TII about one have taken place over the years. The council said that it will raise the idea again with the TII Inspectorate at the next meeting to get an indication of what their feeling would be in relation to the project in the context of the overall national situation around funding. They added that TII funding has been very constrained over the last couple of years but there are indications that it may improve over the next number of years.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Irish Independent
‘Monstrous' headstones being erected in Tipperary cemetery in the middle of the night
That was the claim made by Cashel councillor Liam Browne at the May meeting of the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel Municipal District, who said that Tipperary County Council were turning a blind eye to the enforcement of by-laws in Cormac's Cemetery in Cashel which governs the height that headstones can be. Responding to Cllr Browne's calls, Cllr Roger Kennedy said that 'it's not fair on the ordinary people, who have a gravestone under four foot six, and the one beside it has an eight foot high monstrosity.' Speaking to the Irish Independent, Cllr Browne said that council by-laws are being ignored not just by people putting in headstones, but by the council as well who should be policing and enforcing the bylaws. "We have Tipperary County Council burial by-laws and to be quite frank, what I said at the meeting was that they're being ignored. "They're not just being ignored by the people putting up the headstones, which are out of size and scale for what they should be, but they're also being ignored by the council who should be policing the headstones that go in, and once they go in, there seems to be an acceptance by the council that there's nothing they can do about it,' Cllr Browne said. Large headstones are being erected at nighttime, Cllr Browne said, with Tipperary County Council officials encountering a contractor who was putting in an 'illegally sized' headstone under the cover of darkness. "The council did come across a contractor putting in an illegally sized headstone a couple of months ago, and they stopped the contractor from putting it in, they told them they were not an authorised contractor, and the contractor left, but they came back two days later at two or three o'clock in the morning and finished off the headstone,' Cllr Browne explained. "They then basically rang the council and said look, it's up now and ye can do what ye like with it, ye can take it down if ye like but as far as he was concerned, he had fulfilled what he was supposed to do, which was put it up,' the Cashel-based councillor added. Calling on the council to enforce the bylaws that are in place, Cllr Browne said that they should go after the contractors who are installing these headstones. "The council know that this is happening and whether they should be going after the contractor, I think they should because the contractor's obviously broken the law, but they don't, and then the families who are putting the headstones up, as sensitive a subject as it is, if you don't address it, I do believe it's going to get worse,' Mr Browne added. ADVERTISEMENT The Tipperary County Council burial ground bylaws state that headstones should be no taller than 4' 11', or 7' in the case of a Celtic Cross, but headstones that far exceed these rules have been installed in Cormac's Cemetery. At the May meeting of the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel MD, Cathaoirleach of the district Cllr John Crosse said that the council were not ignoring the issue and that a meeting and a site visit would be held to discuss the issue. 'I have to disagree [with Cllr Crosse] on that, we are ignoring it, we have been ignoring it, and we've been ignoring it in more than Cashel, we've been ignoring it in graveyards across the county because Cashel is not the only place that have complained,' Cllr Browne said. Action needs to be taken on these 'illegal' headstones according to the Cashel councillor, saying that people should be made aware that if they erect a headstone that doesn't comply with the burial ground bylaws, it can be taken down. "As much as I hate to think that it would have to be done, there may be a case, it has been done in the past, there is precedent of taking headstones back down again, you cannot just say look, if a headstone's gone up and it's in breach of a law, that it stays up, there's other cases of breaches of planning legislation around the county, you could look at modular homes, you could talk about extensions, but they would be very quick to move on the people involved, and use the law to have them taken back down again,' Cllr Browne said. "I've had conversations with members of the travelling community, and that suggestion has been made to them and some of them are quite happy with the suggestion that yes, they can still put up what they would consider 'fancy' memorials as they put it, but they would still have to remain within the bylaws,' the independent councillor added. "I believe that in too many cases, too many people talk for the traveller community, and not to the traveller community … sometimes if you sit down and have a chat with the local travelling community in the towns who are long-standing members of the town, due to the sensitivity of this, I don't think we chat enough to the travelling community themselves and see what can be accepted,' the Cashel councillor concluded. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Irish Independent
28-05-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Tipperary families concerned about traffic on ‘incredibly busy' street
Residents of St Patrick's Avenue in Tipperary town raised their concerns with independent councillor John O'Heney, who asked at the May meeting of the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel Municipal District that some traffic calming measures be implemented on the street. St Patrick's Avenue has the Monstary School at the bottom, with other schools St Joseph's and St Anne's in very close proximity, while the entrance to the Tipperary Hills is also at the top of the avenue. Speaking at the meeting, Cllr O'Heney said that young families living in the area have serious concerns for their children who play on the street. "There's a lot of young families, which is great to see, who have moved onto the avenue in recent times, but that causes other issues with children playing on the avenue. "It's a one-way system, it's incredibly busy during school times, particularly if someone is in a rush dropping someone to school, they're flying around the avenue and you just don't know what you're going to meet,' Cllr O'Heney outlined. Tipperary County Council confirmed that a speed survey would be carried out in the area, with the results of the survey analysed and a design completed in line with the council's Traffic Calming Policy. An application for funding under the Low Cost Safety Scheme will then be made if traffic calming measures are needed. Cllr O'Heney said that he was pleased with the response from Tipperary County Council on his motion. "I'm delighted that a speed survey will be carried out, and that hopefully it may lead to some traffic calming taking place if possible on the avenue, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of it,' he said.
Irish Independent
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Control of horses in Tipperary costing significant sums of money each year
The May meeting of the Tipperary-Cahir-Cashel Municipal District was told that in the first five months of this year, over €25,000 has been spent by the council to rehome horses that have been found on public land. The issue arose at the meeting following the circulation of a video showing the shocking treatment of a horse in Clonmel, which happened earlier this month and made national headlines. Gardaí confirmed earlier this month that they are investigating the issue, which saw two to three boys apparently beating or whipping small horses or ponies in what is understood to be the Cashel road area of Clonmel. Councillor Liam Browne raised the issue, wondering if Tipperary County Council employed a horse warden who was responsible for the enforcement of by-laws relating to animal welfare and the mistreatment of horses. Responding to Cllr Browne's query, a representative from Tipperary County Council's environment section told the meeting that the council are only responsible for the control of horses in public places, which has posed a considerable expense to the council. "We don't employ a horse warden, we deal with the control of horses in public places, we get phone calls that go through our complaints system, we follow up then with the districts, we try and locate the horses and if they're there, and we confirm they're there, we arrange for the horse to be collected, and brought down to a horse pound in north Cork,' the meeting was told. "It's quite expensive. So far this year we've spent in the region of €25,000 on it [across the county], we were able to claim back so far just over €4,000 from the Department [of Agriculture]. So it's a costly expense to the council'. 'We only deal with horses in public places, we can't deal with horse welfare issues and we don't deal with horses on private lands'. Independent councillor Liam Browne questioned whether the council have any jurisdiction around horse welfare in the county. "Are you saying then, take a halting site for example, if a horse is brought from outside it, into it, then we don't have any responsibility, or we can't go in there and check on the welfare of the horse?' In response, Mr Browne was told that Tipperary County Council have no authority to check on horse welfare. "Welfare of horses is dealt with by the Department, it's not within our remit, horse welfare is not our issue, that's not what we investigate. 'We have no veterinary officers, we don't have people that would investigate that,' Cllr Browne was told. Last year, none of the horses that were seized by Tipperary County Council were returned to their owners due to people not having the correct paperwork or land to keep the horse on. The council have a budget each year of €70,000 for the control of horses, and this funding is exhausted every year, the meeting was also told. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
Irish Independent
12-05-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Wexford residents raise safety concerns about new North Relief Road – ‘It's like Mondello'
Residents in the Mill Quarter development in Gorey, Co Wexford have raised concerns regarding the new North Relief Road set to be constructed in the coming months. Raising the issue at the April meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD) Councillor Nicky Boland said he had been contacted by a number of residents about the road and whether any safety measures would be put in place when it was finished. He was supported by Cllr Darragh McDonald who had also been contacted by those with families who were worried about how busy the relief road would become as the town continued to grow. Allaying their concerns, director of services Liz Hore said the relief road had been 'specifically designed' so that motorists 'wouldn't be able to pick up speed'. 'It's been designed with bends, it won't be a straight-through road,' she added. 'It's almost too good of a road,' noted Cllr Donal Kenny. 'He's done such a good job that it's like Mondello,' agreed Cllr Joe Sullivan.
