Concerns raised over 'deplorable' water feature in Tipperary Town
Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell has called out Tipperary County Council and particularly the Tipperary/Cahir/Cashel Municipal District for the condition of the water feature in the front of the District Headquarters at Rosanna Road, Tipperary Town.
Speaking in the Seanad on Tuesday, February 28, Senator Craughwell made his comments following a visit to Tipperary Town.
Describing the water feature as “disgusting”, Senator Craughwell went on to explain how he came to visit Tipperary Town.
“I got the most peculiar email from the United States asking me to go and visit Tipperary Town. The man that asked me to visit Tipperary Town told me that what I should expect to find would be depressing. I did visit Tipperary Town and to say I was depressed leaving it would be an understatement. The County Building where the bureaucrats and the people who look after the town reside, where their headquarters is, there is a water feature there and it is absolutely disgusting. It is filthy dirty, debris thrown into it and rubbish thrown into it. Surely to God at the very centre of the town, that should be the first thing that should be looked at.
“The town Courthouse which is 100-years-old, locked up, totally and utterly unusable at this stage, meaning that young people who were involved in domestic violence situations or in marital problems who have to resort to the courts, have to travel 60km in order to get to a Courthouse. That’s simply not good enough.
“Now there are other things I will say not just about Tipperary but about how we deal with such things as rates in towns and how people can avoid rates but that is something I will deal with in more detail later,” concluded the Senator.
In 2015 Tipperary County Council commissioned a Permanent Artwork at The Plaza of the then Cashel/Tipperary Municipal District Office (later became the Tipperary/Cahir/Cashel District Offices), Rosanna Road, Tipperary Town. This public art commission was funded by Tipperary County Council through the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government Per cent for Art Scheme.
The aim of the commission was to invite artists to design, create and install a permanent artwork or creative intervention which responds to the theme of Peace.
The chosen theme for the commission drew on the theme of Peace and is rooted in long associations with Tipperary Town and
The Tipperary Peace Convention. Drawing on this theme, the commissioned artwork was to reflect, celebrate and inspire the kind of ideals and contributions of such notable work towards peace and reconciliation globally, as demonstrated by winners of the award to date. Artists were to address a method by which the names of the recipients of the Tipperary International Peace Award on an annual basis, could be incorporated or included/ displayed as part of the artwork or in an associated manner, with potential options to include use of the foyer space of the then Cashel/Tipperary Municipal District Offices.
Unfortunately, just eight years later, the feature is in a deplorable state and the names of the recipients of the Tipperary International Peace Award have all but disappeared from view, despite the fact that one of the commission guidelines was that it would be suitably durable having regard to the climatic conditions of the area.
It is a shame to see that the names of the recipients can no longer be viewed and it is poor recognition for the peacemakers that were honoured to date with the Tipperary International Peace Award. Senator Craughwell is to speak further on his visit to Tipperary Town in the Seanad in due course.