It’s time to prioritise our safety

Residents of Carrigahorig want to see progression of the Village Safety Scheme, which is now at the detailed design phase with work set to commence in 2027.

“Our frustration and our biggest concern, is that even though we have gotten so far before, now to be at the contractor’s stage and the detailed design stage again, we are just really concerned that it’s not going to go ahead again and that we will be let down,”

“We would like to see the village safety project progress now to the next stage,” said Sinéad Finn, resident and business owner in Carrigahorig, who spoke on behalf of their community in the village. "It is a bit of a ticking timebomb here for something really bad to happen and we just don’t want that to happen here,” she said.

Dangerous Driving

Carrigahorig village has a speed limit of 50km/h. However, residents have witnessed people regularly speeding through the village.

“Cars speed down this way all the time and there’s a bend up ahead, so you can’t see them coming until you are already pulled out,” explained resident Natalie Gleeson. “Turning into my drive, people like to overtake, because I’m slowing down with my signal on, they try and overtake and there has been near misses with that already,” she reflected.

Fear of a Fatality

“I think none of us would be surprised if, God forbid, there was a fatality here in the village,” expressed Sinéad.

“There have been a few accidents here,” reflected resident Michael Wrenn. “The last thing we want is a fatality. There is too much speed in such a small village,” he said.

Natalie Gleeson, who has been living in the village for the past three years, has become increasingly concerned about how safe the roads are within the village, especially for families with young children.

“The biggest concern is for my kids,” she expressed. “I would typically drive, either over to the park or to the local shop because we have no footpaths and walking with the children along the verge or on the road itself is just far too dangerous,” she continued.

School Bus Drop-Off

Marie Flynn, who has been residing in the village for more than a decade, is extremely concerned about vehicles speeding through the village and the lack of sufficient footpaths within the village.

She is also concerned about how difficult it is for parents to safely drop their kids to the school bus each school morning.

“I have to drive them 100 metres to get them to the bus in the morning, as opposed to allowing them to walk to the bus. It would be dangerous because it’s a blind bend.”

“There can be as many as nine cars each morning that would be up there dropping their kids to the bus. There is no car park up there, so we are all parked on the verges along the road,” she said.

Coping Mechanisms within the village

“We have this little narrow footpath which is next to useless,” expressed concerned resident, Michael Wrenn about the footpath located outside his home.

“If myself and my wife want to go to the park, I have to go 10 metres up ahead of her, I have to watch the traffic at the other side, and my wife has to watch the traffic at this side, in order to cross the road to access the park,” he said, pointing out the blind spot from the bend within the village.

“My husband has severe walking issues, walking with two crutches. If he wants to go over to the park, I have to go across the road and make sure there is nothing coming from either direction,” echoed resident Antoinette Haugh.

“Safety is a huge issue, you are really taking your life in your hands,” she added pointing out that it is dangerous to walk up through the village.

“A lot of people can’t cross the road on their own now, so they need someone else to go ahead of them to signal to them that it’s safe to cross,” said Sinéad.

Communication seems to be a problem

“As a community, we are years trying to get this Village Safety Scheme up and running,” expressed Antoinette Haugh.

“My husband and myself have been very gracious giving this strip of land to Tipperary County Council, because they said the pond had to be done before the project could proceed. We’ve done that and they haven’t played ball with us,” she said.

“Communication seems to be a major problem. We never seem to be able to get to the people who are at the top so that we can actually engage with them,” she expressed. “It’s just ridiculous at this stage,”

Call for Action

“There is an awful lot of talk for the last couple of years about this project, and there actually is no work being done. We would like less talking, more action. We want to get everything resolved and get the project up and running,” expressed Michael.

“If the project is delayed any longer, we need some temporary measures, something, anything, that would slow down the traffic,” he said. “It just can’t go on much longer.”

“The project needs to start, and it needs to start now,” he stressed.

“The roadworks that they have been talking about for the past number of years to come to fruition. That’s speed calming measures to slow vehicles down and to extending footpaths out to our house so that we can safely walk into the village,” said Natalie Gleeson.

Response from council

At the most recent sitting of the Nenagh Municipal District of Tipperary County Council, spokespersons for the council said that it was in the process of appointing a design team to the project.

It was stated that the project was “imminent” and that it was a “reasonably contained job within the village” and that should be “fairly straightforward”.

The Nenagh Guardian contacted Tipperary County Council for a comment on the Village Safety Scheme for Carrigahorig.

Director of Services of Roads and Transportation, Health and Safety of the Nenagh Municipal District, Liam Brett stated: “I can confirm that the scheme in question is a priority for Tipperary County Council, Planning approval is in place and it is at the final design phase. It will proceed to construction when funding allows.”