'Historic day' for Cahir and its hinterland as public realm plan approved by members

“This is a historic day for Cahir town and its hinterland,” said Cllr Andy Moloney as members of the Tipperary/Cahir/Cashel Municipal District approved a public realm plan for the area.

Some of the features of the plan include a new car park on the old Castle Court site, a new business hub in the Town Hall, a new library and an upgrade of the paths and roads.

It also looks at town centre public realm improvements for summer/winter outdoor dining and traffic flow is “a big one also as Transport Infrastructure Ireland needs to address car backing out of the square into a regional road”, added Cllr Moloney.

At the meeting of the MD on Monday, Cllr Moloney proposed the plan for Cahir Square and Public Realm and it was seconded by Cllr Máirín McGrath.

Speaking afterwards, he said: “It will take time but at least now we are shovel ready if funding becomes available and most of the submissions have been satisfied and we need to be able to address issues as we go if we feel they are not working out, Cahir is a fabulous town and is fast becoming the place to visit so we need the infrastructure to match it.

He said the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF) money will come in time and “we’ll be shovel ready” and he said the application needed to go in as soon as possible to get the infrastructure in place to make Cahir a “destination town”.

Cllr Máirín McGrath hoped that Cahir would be successful in an future application for RRDF monies and that the public realm plan would be a “change for the town that would take a bit of getting used to”.

She also praised the efforts of the county council for the extensive public consultation that was carried out to get this plan across the line.

Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council, Cllr Marie Murphy, said it was eleven years and even more to get the plan.

“We’ve got the plan now, it’s just a matter of going after the funding to implement the projects now.”