€18.7 million investment in Thurles District in the last year

Thurles town centre and it's approach roads have seen very significant investment over the last twelve-eighteen months. And, the improvements are being welcomed throughout.

While the Liberty Square enhancement project is the flagship one for the Cathedral Town and has taken a generation to come to fruition from when it was first mooted, other works have been most welcome and have made an enormous difference to the quality of life of the townsfolk, business people and visitors alike.

The Thurles Templemore Municipal District Authority members were presented with a report on the works undertaken over the last year and when all the works are put together for Thurles town, it makes for very impressive reading.

District Engineer, Mr Thomas Duffy told members at that meeting: “ Our budgets over the past five years have seen a substantial increase up from €10.9m in 2016 to €18.7m in 2021.

“This is a €7.8m or 74% increase in budget and this figure is excluding any capital monies available through URDF/RRDF associated with Templemore Town Hall or Liberty Square, development levies, bond monies.

“This increase is predominately seen in roads but also Active Travel, OPW works and climate adaption works. These extra works are being delivered with the same amount of staff resources as was available in 2016 and in the middle of a global pandemic,” Mr Duffy said.

Spending close to €20million in one year on the town is bound to make a big difference and some of the projects included have certainly been very visual and make a big impact. They include:

Liberty Square Enhancement Scheme Phase 1
Widening of footpaths with new high-quality paving, realignment of carriageways, pedestrian crossings, new Liberty Square car park, provision of dedicated loading and short-term car parking/set down areas and feature lighting including smart low energy lighting. The main funding stream was the Urban Regeneration Development Fund, commercial rates and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

The impression of the works in Liberty Square have been really positive and there now exists a very modern, vibrant, pedestrian and motorist friendly urban centre which is the envy of the county.

Abbey Road Roundabout
Safety improvement works at this high accident count location were a must and had been in the pipeline for some time. Works consisted of junction tightening, new roundabout and footpaths, road resurfacing works and landscaping. This work was funded by the Department of Transport as a Low Cost Safety Scheme.

The works were held up for some time with a water main having to be laid under the road - there was little point in doing the roundabout and resurfacing the roadway, if it had to be dug up again for the water main. The works have certainly defined the junction and have made it easier and more safe to negotiate.

River Suir & Drish Walkway Phase 1
The overhaul and refurbishment of the existing 1.5km riverside walking route between Clongour Road and Thomond Road, Thurles was funded by the Active Travel Funding.

This work has been completed and has been the subject of many generous compliments as a whole new amenity area has been opened up and improved considerably for many people who did not know that the original walkway even existed.
It has been made safe, is wheelchair accessible, and looks really well with the works at the former Erin Foods site also enhancing the area. This year will see the Lady's Well walk enhanced and made more wheelchair friendly too.

The fact that so many projects are coming on stream at the same time is due in no small way to the work of the council officials who, behind the scenes, have been chasing funds from all sorts of sources and strands - a fact highlighted by District chairman, Cllr Seamus Hanafin.

“The funding pipeline does not end this year - it goes on and there will be significant funds invested again this year with the Market Quarter project, the the top of Liberty Square, Slievenamon Road, Lady's Well, Bowe's Corner, not to mention footpaths and road resurfacing.

“We have been very fortunate with the funds we received and that is down to a lot of hard work and having projects ready to go. The ambition of the council is being realised and it is very positve,”Cllr Hanafin said.

Smart LED lsighting was also included in the town as part of a pilot scheme involving Clonoulty and Drangan villages, and this has made a big difference too.

The next step now is to entice & attract new business into the town centre.