Barrett unhappy with Christmas parking arrangements for Thurles

Last week Thurles Municipal District Council announced 30 minutes free parking in Thurles for December to encourage people to shop in Thurles over the festive season.

Thurles community activist Tommy Barrett feels this initiative does not go far enough.

“I was really disappointed when I learned in recent days that the local authority has only granted 30 minutes free parking leading up to Christmas in Thurles.

“ I wish to firstly highlight how fantastic the new Christmas lights in Liberty Square look and welcome the continued improvement works taking place in the town centre. These are great developments and very positive for our town.

“Traders in Liberty Square are also to be complimented for supporting the increase in rates from 2003 which made these works possible. Businesses in Liberty Square have had a very difficult time over the last few months, along with Covid restrictions their businesses faced a lot of disruption due to the renovation works.

“ I really do think that the 30 minutes free parking for December is a real insult to retailers. In my opinion 30 minutes allows very little time for people to enjoy looking around the shops and supporting local businesses. I was particularly angry when I learned that in Tipperary Town, they have free parking in all car parks for December along with 2 hours free on street parking for December.

“Also, in Cashel and Cahir there is free parking in council owned car parks each Saturday in December. This is concerning to me as I feel that all towns in Tipperary should have a unified Christmas parking initiative.

“I wish for Thurles Municipal District Council to clarify to the people of Thurles why they are offering only 30 minutes free parking in Thurles- the worst Christmas parking incentive in the county. I also wish to hear from our local councillors and I would like to know if they raised this issue at meetings earlier in the year in a bid to have clarity on such an important issue. Surely our local councillors made suggestions at council meetings this year about parking incentives in Thurles in the run up to Christmas.

“ I have also this week put in a freedom of information request to Tipperary County Council requesting to know how much money was collected from parking charges in Thurles over the last two years and a detailed breakdown on how this money was used. It is my view that this money should be invested in improving the conditions of the public car parks. For example, the council run car parks in Thurles have no painted car parking spaces and badly need to be resurfaced especially Parnell Street.

“I hope the people of Thurles will be given clarity on these issues by our public representatives.

“Finally, I wish to once again encourage people to shop local in Thurles as we have a great selection of retail outlets, but don’t forget to feed the meter after your 30 minutes of free parking is up in Thurles.