Cllr Bourke refutes 'the lie' that Templemore has been forgotten

Templemore based Fine Gael County councillor Joe Bourke has this week refuted a suggestion that the Cardens town has been forgotten by the Templemore Thurles Municipal District.

In a statement to this week's Tipperary Star, Cllr Bourke robustly defends the local authority and says that a lot of great work is being done at the present time in Templemore.

“To say Templemore is the forgotten town could not be further from the truth. We should be talking positively of our town as Templemore is punching well above it’s weight, when it comes to the distribution of funding. And, while I’m a public representative for the area, Templemore will always be at the top of my priority when it comes to our fair share - all my work is done quietly behind the scene because this is where I find I can get best results for the people I represent. I’m not interested in recognition - to me it doesn’t matter who gets the credit once the work is done. For four and a half years since the council was set up, I have been fighting for Templemore’s interest all the time,” Cllr Bourke said.

Outlining a number of key projects he went on to list.
“Our Lady’s opened its new extension early last year. This was a €7 million investment by the government and it brings our Lady’s to a state of the art school, which will serve the community for years to come. I had no input in this, but I’m glad that Templemore has a state of the art secondary school now.

“Our Garda College is open now and is operating to full capacity. I spoke with Minister Charlie Flanagan last week and he told me that 600 new Garda will graduate from Templemore in 2019. I worked with Noel Coonan and then Minister for Defence for a long time to make sure that the college would reopen in Templemore - at one stage it seemed possible that the college could close altogether and be re located to Dublin, but for us this was never an option and thankfully the college is at full capacity now. I also meet Chief Superintendent, Margaret Keogh of the Garda College on a weekly basis, to try and get the swimming pool re opened to the public. I worked with Minister Charlie Flanagan and Superintendent Margaret worked with the Commissioner where we were successful in achieving this - 300 young people use the facility on a weekly basis and six primary schools also use this facility.

“The long awaited flood relief for Templemore is now up and running. This is something Templemore has been looking for for years. Noel Coonan and I met with the then Minister of the OPW Simon Harris on four occasions where we were successful in ring fencing the €11 million for this project. It will be a major boost to the town when it is complete at the end of next year.
“Templemore is on target to have a new fire station opened in May of 2019 and I am delighted for the staff of Templemore fire station who provide such a wonderful and vital service for the area. I met with Simon Coveney when he was minister, in his office in Cork on two occasions. He promised me he would deliver for Templemore and he was true to his word.
“Our town hall is to get a €250,000 revamp early next year. This is something I have been looking for going back to the old town council, when we were able to put aside monies from our budget, for the refurbhment of the town hall. This will also be a major boost to the town when complete.

“I agreed a three year work programme when I was chairperson of the area for work on the old graveyard. Year one featured the taking down of the dangerous trees on Church Avenue and also the replacement of the boundary wall between the car park and the graveyard. Year two saw the replacement of some of the wall on the road side and the resurfacing of the car park, and next year we will replace the paths in the graveyard. It is also my intention to set up a grave yard committee next year to do some more work in the graveyard.

“In 2011 I made an application to Leader for funding for a tranquillity garden in the park. We got €140,000 but this money was later transferred to the ECCO lake committee to do work on the lake. Two years ago when I was chairperson, management and myself made an application for funding to close in the old swimming pool and replace it with a tranquillity garden, our application was successful and now we have a lovely tranquillity area in the park.
“Also when I was chairperson, our Christmas lights were not good but while some of my colleagues were on local radio, I was in Clonmel where I secured €11,000 towards new lighting - this was the stepping stone for the €40,000 lighting we have today.

“All the paths in The Park housing state are now replaced and the roads are re surfaced; the paths and road on Mary Street were also re done as well as the paths in Woodville Crescent. Last week saw the completion of over 800 metres of path in the park - this is a major boost to a wonderful park and I want to thank the town foreman and the small number of staff for the work they are doing in Templemore.

“These are things I have been working on since the council began and I am glad to see them being brought to a conclusion. Over the past two years I have been working with the Department of Education and I met the then Minister, Richard Bruton on two occasions in relation to a new primary school for Templemore. This would see the amalgamation of the two primary schools. This is work that is on going and I will be meeting with Minister for Education Joe McHugh in early January to try and move this forward.

“I would like to say well done to the development committee in Templemore on being successful in securing €50,000 from Leader towards work on the park wall on the Dunkerrin road in Templemore. This will be a major improvement on the approach into Templemore when the work is completed in the middle of next year.

“These are some of the good things that have happened in Templemore over the past four years, but more needs to be done. The Roscrea road out of Templemore is in a bad way. I met with Tánaiste Simon Coveney recenty in Dublin, where I raised this issue with him again. He told me he had spoken with Transport Infrastructure Ireland about this and he will speak with them again. I am hopeful that work will start on this in February or March of 2019. I am also working with the Garda college and the council at present to try and secure a car park for the college, nearly all students today have a car and parking is a major issue”, he added.