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16 Apr 2026
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16 Apr 2026
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Left: Cllr Tom Acheson. Right: Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister of State John Cummins.
A Tipperary councillor has spoken out against the “ridiculous” pace of delivery by his party colleagues in Government.
Fine Gael councillor Tom Acheson made the comments at the April meeting of the Clonmel Borough District.
He was speaking specifically in relation to the pace at which the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is being distributed.
Cllr Acheson said: “The pace with which the Government is operating and sending out money for the URDF is just ridiculous.
“They seem to force the council to jump through hoops time after time and it just pushes it out and pushes it out.
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“I’d say the ordinary ‘Joe Soap’ on the street doesn’t understand how this is taking so long.”
He went on to detail a meeting that was recently held between local Fine Gael councillors and Minister of State John Cummins.
“The Fine Gael members met with the Junior Minister for Housing, [John] Cummins, there maybe three or four weeks ago.
“He spoke about all this money that was available and we did say to him that he needs to pony up and show us the money. It’s just absolutely ridiculous.”
Cllr Acheson also pointed to delays to the regeneration of Gladstone Street as an example of slow delivery.
“It must be six or seven years ago since there was a big debate about taking down the trees on Gladstone Street to facilitate the regeneration of the two streets.
“We’re still there talking about it and someone said I think in the minutes we’re talking about that 2027 will be the shovel ready deadline.
“Donald Trump might take care of all that, there might be no money there.
“If they have money, they need to start pushing it out and stop talking about dereliction and stop talking about rejuvenating towns and do something about it.”
He concluded by acknowledging that his party is in Government. He added that he has made his opinion clear to local TD Michael Murphy.
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