Boy racers accused of ‘tormenting people’ in Tipperary late at night

People were being “tormented” by boy racers driving around Clonmel at night, the town’s first citizen has stated.

Up to 25 people were involved, the Mayor, Pat English, told a meeting of Clonmel Borough District.

He said that they gathered at the Tesco car park and there was “a rat run” around the town.

He described it as a case of “young lads entertaining themselves” but they should have respect for those who were trying to get to sleep at night before they got up for work in the morning.

The Mayor said they needed to speak to the gardaí about this.

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The issue was raised by Cllr John FitzGerald, who said that several residents in the Coleville Road area had brought the “severe speeding” in the area to his attention.

This was in spite of the hard work that the council had done, which included traffic calming measures at Coleville Avenue, to slow the speed of traffic on that road.

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He said that the boy racers congregated at Dudleys Mills and drove back towards the Loreto school at very high speeds, with very loud noise coming from their vehicles. This impacted on people driving on the road to the school and to the Hotel Minella Leisure Centre.

Cllr FitzGerald said it created quite a bit of anxiety and the gardaí had been called.

He also said there had been near-misses at nearby Raheen Road.

The speed levels on that road were worrying and very upsetting to residents who wanted to pull their vehicles out from their driveways.

After the roundabout, the road curves and cars were out of sight until the last moment. He asked if the council would consider installing a speed bump at that location.

Cllr Siobhán Ambrose said there were constant issues with speeding on the Coleville Road, which was being used as a through way.

She suggested that another speed survey would be carried out there.

District Engineer Gillian Flynn said the council had done a lot of work on Coleville Road in order to narrow the road and reduce the speed of traffic. This included installing a mini roundabout.

They would carry out a speed survey in the New Year and they would also need the gardaí’s assistance.

A report from the District Engineer stated that a speed survey had been carried out on Raheen Road in November.

“The 85th percentile speed was recorded at 50 kilometres per hour, therefore a speeding issue has not been identified.

“Raised tables can also be provided where a pedestrian desire line is identified.

“The proposed Loreto Safe Routes to School project includes the installation of a raised crossing at the Coleville Road roundabout, which will calm traffic,” Ms Flynn’s report added.