The latest news from the Tipperary Midwest Community Radio news desk!
Concern has been expressed at news that the Excel Centre in Tipperary is to close for five to six months to allow the building of a new library there to take place.
The news was announced to staff this morning.
It is also understood that staff will be let go for the duration of the closure - from April 1st until October 1st - while the café on the premises will also have to close.
According to an individual involved in the Excel, it was brought to the attention of the board at a meeting on Monday that the county council, upon consultation with the builder and architect, had recommended that the centre close down for that length of time due to health and safety and insurance concerns.
There are concerns as to the impact such a lengthy closure will have on the Excel in the medium term, while the workers have an uncertain future.
A taskforce with the purpose of addressing unemployment in Tipperary town is to be set up.
Recent CSO figures have revealed that at the end of December 2016, 1256 people in Tipperary town were on the Live Register.
Last night hundreds of people attended a Jobs for Tipp public forum on the matter. TDs and local councillors also made themselves available to discuss the reasons for the continuous trend of unemployment, the lack of inward investment and the regular closure of businesses.
A call was also made for people and local organisations to join together and participate in a taskforce for the benefit of the town. This taskforce, it is hoped, would keep open the channels of communication with the various agencies, officials and public representatives that can influence or help facilitate change.
Jobs for Tipp organiser Maureen Walsh said that last night’s meeting was just the start of what she hope is a growing movement in the town.
The group is also due to meet with council officials this week while a meeting with the IDA is also anticipated.
The Chairperson of Tipperary County Council has said that she hopes the need for a by-pass of Tipperary town on the N24 will soon be on the Transport Minister’s priorities list.
Siobhan Ambrose was part of a delegation of Tipperary County Council that met with the organisation previously known as the NRA this week.
Cllr Ambrose maintains that at that meeting, the Transport Infrastructure Ireland representatives took note of the local need for work on the N24 at Tipperary town and Carrick on Suir. She said that until now, the Tipperary town project has failed to make it to the minister’s list of priorities.
She said that she hopes this week’s meeting may go some way towards addressing that.
The state of the N24 at Main St through the centre of Tipperary town was also raised with the TII officials.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland will submit recommendations to the Transport Minister Shane Ross when he is drawing up a list of projects around the country that he believes should be given priority status.