Housing and roads are North Tipp's biggest challenges, says outgoing Nenagh MD Cathaoirleach

THE outgoing Cathaoirleach of Nenagh Municipal District told their recent AGM that the housing crisis and poorly surfaced roads are the two biggest challenges facing North Tipperary during the coming 12 months.
Prior to handing over his Chain of Office Cllr Michael O'Meara said it was great "to see a full house of councillors and the executive here today; for the first time in two years."
He said that it's a great honour and a huge privilege to be Cathaoirleach of Nenagh Municipal District and that it had been an extremely enjoyable year and a challenging year. "Covid has been a very difficult time for everyone, and now that we are thankfully emerging from the shadow of the Pandemic I am coming to the conclusion that it is hard to beat face to face meetings as opposed to zoom meetings." He praised the Leas Cathaoirleach Ger Darcy. "Ger's always there and there's no better man if you need assistance.
"The staff of Tipperary County Council have been very professional and helpful during my 12 months as Cathaoirleach.
"It's exciting to see the big projects planned for Nenagh Town including the proposed Sustainable Energy Centre of Excellence on Martyrs Road and the Rialto Cinema being transformed into a state of the art digital hub. They will further enhance Nenagh's reputation as one of the best towns in the country to live in. The traffic management plan for Nenagh is also being prepared.
"It is a challenging time for roads, particularly in my Lower Ormond area. Well done to the roads officer Barry Murphy who has been successful in getting whatever funding streams that are available out there. As we all know, the prices of materials and fuel are skyrocketing, and inflation is a very serious issue. In the Council we have responded well. We have been adaptable and are still getting through our projects."
Cllr O'Meara said there's a new County Development Plan on the way; which sets out an ambitious plan for Tipperary. The Plan will be published in September and runs to 2028. "The bottom line is that communities are at a decent standard; and I believe the plan will achieve that."
He pointed out that the Local Enterprise Offices and the Community and Economic Development groups are often the unsung heroes of local authorities, and carry out a lot of vital work.
"When we councillors seek burial ground grants, tidy towns grants, town enhancement grants we go to our Senior Executive Officer Rosemary Joyce." The councillor joked that Rosemary has the great ability of not being able to say no!
"On the other hand the Director of Services Marcus O'Connor has the great ability of not saying yes. He and Rosemary are like good cop, bad cop. For Marcus it can be like running a zoo in here at times! But he has huge experience and is good at accessing funding."
The councillor pointed out that a big, upcoming project will be a new cycle/walkway in Riverstown, out to Killeen National School.
"The elephant in the room is housing," he continued. "We have challenges in Nenagh Municipal District but the housing department is always very polite and helpful. That is the way our housing staff operates. The staff work very hard. We are in a more positive position than a lot of other Municipal Districts."
He spoke about the Pairc an Chlochair housing project in Borrisokane which was completed some months ago. "It's a beautiful housing development and there are only two of the 16 houses which have yet to be assigned to residents.
A couple of highlights during his tenure of the Chair included, "officially opening the tremendous tourism office in Nenagh along with the acclaimed writer Donal Ryan. The office is an experience in itself. It adds greatly to the historic quarter. You could spend hours there. The selection of photos in the place is fantastic.
"Becoming part of Ireland's Hidden Heartlands was another positive thing during the year. We all know that Ireland's Hidden Heartlands has great potential. The councillors in Offaly think it's great as well. IHH incorporates the beauty of Lough Derg, the Slieve Aughty range, Lough Boora, Portumna, Nenagh, Birr Castle: the way tourism works is it has to be sold as a package of attractions.
  "I want to also say thank you to the media, to the journalists from The Midland Tribune, The Nenagh Guardian and The Tipperary Star who cover our meetings. They give us a great service and are very impartial in the way they impart to the public what has been said during our meetings. The public takes a great interest in our meetings and in reading the newspaper. Despite the presence of social media it's hard to beat the local paper."
He added that Nenagh MD's proximity to Limerick is "a huge plus".
Hughie McGrath was elected to be the new Cathaoirleach and Cllr O'Meara handed over the Chain of Office to him. "This is a great privilege for me," said Hughie. "I am always very proud to be part of anything to do with Nenagh Town. In my mind I am still a town councillor. I often think of the councillors and mayors who came before us.
"We nine councillors are a unit here and we work as a unit. We don't pull and drag each other around the place for political gain. We are working for the betterment of the county. We are doing this job for the right reasons.
"As a Chairman I won't reinvent the wheel when it comes to the conducting of our meetings and some of the ways we go about our business. I will continue with the way it has been going the last few years."
Cllr Seamus Morris wished Cllr McGrath the best of luck in his new role. "We have a busy year ahead and there are quite a few big projects to complete." He said Cllrs McGrath and O'Meara were both steady, reliable hands at the tiller of the ship. "When I was elected in 2004 I thought I would change the world. But then you are brought back to earth. You realise that we are a team and the surest way to achieving things is to act like a team.
"We wanted a new tourism office in Nenagh for years. Now we finally have it and it's a marvellous place," concluded Cllr Morris.
"Congratulations to Michael O'Meara," said Cllr Phyll Bugler. "It was a very good year for him. In Ireland we have to remain competitive. I recently read that according to one survey we are 3rd in Europe in terms of financial competitiveness." She praised the incoming Chairman - "Hughie is doing great work with the Castle Fest. He is very measured and levelheaded."
Cllr Ger Darcy said Hughie McGrath is "a proud Nenagh man."
Cllr John Carroll said Michael was "very fair, innovative and easy to work with."
Cllr Rocky McGrath pointed out that Cllr Hughie McGrath "is a very capable and popular man in the area. Working together is fierce important. Well done to Michael O'Meara for handling the role in difficult times."
"I've known Michael O'Meara since he performed in a play in our area," commented Cllr Joe Hannigan. "He is a very fair and competent person. He was an excellent Cathaoirleach. Well done to you Michael for the way you performed your duties. Hughie and Michael are two great councillors. They love their area. It's always in their thoughts. Each councillor has his or her strengths and we all bring something to the table."
Cllr O'Meara said Hughie will be welcome in the Lorrha/Rathcabbin area any time, "but bring some tar with you!" he joked.
Director of Services Marcus O'Connor said Michael did an excellent job as Cathaoirleach. "He worked hard on a number of projects including the Riverstown walkway and the Borrisokane housing development Pairc an Chlochair. Nearly all the houses in Pairc an Chlochair have been assigned. There are 16 houses in this social housing development, all done to the highest standard, with air to water heat pumps.
“The Riverstown walkway is a footpath and cycleway which will run from Riverstown to Killeen National School. €240,000 in funding has been sourced for this project through the Active Travel Fund and work is due to begin in August." Cllr O'Meara said a lot of the children walk to Killeen National School but a lot of the route is on grass, therefore they arrive with wet feet. This new footpath will mean no more wet feet. The pathway and cycleway will be lit with low intensity light.