Political nature calls Taoiseach to grandest toilet opening in recent memory

It was a busy week for the Taoiseach with a public pay deal reached, the criminal legal aid dispute resolved and Dublin hosting major summits as part of Ireland’s Council of the European Union presidency.

Micheál Martin’s warm-up for meeting dozens of international leaders began, aptly enough, in the Premier County, with the Fianna Fáil leader finding time on Monday to engage in what local news outlet Tipperary Live described as a “ribbon-cutting bonanza”.

“What a wonderful way to start the morning,” said Martin as he arrived for the official opening of the €1.2 million Dromineer-Lough Derg Lake Facilities, which comprise toilets, changing rooms and showers for those who swim in and use the lough.

The Taoiseach said he was keen to see the lake being enjoyed year-round, recalling a conversation he had about swimming with immunologist Luke O’Neill, who told him cold water “significantly enhances your immune system”.

Martin challenged the local representatives present to “show leadership” by making use of the facilities and going for a dip. The challenge was a broad one, with Tipperary North’s three TDs – Fianna Fáil’s Ryan O’Meara, Labour’s Alan Kelly and Independent Michael Lowry – and various councillors and local authority officials on hand for what was one of the grandest openings of a set of toilets and changing facilities in recent memory.

There was a tight squeeze for the “family photograph” with Martin joined to snip the ribbon by nine others, including council officials Rosemary Joyce and Liam Brett, who were almost pushed out of shot.

From there, Martin went to Nenagh to cut a ribbon to mark the official opening of the headquarters of investment firm SYS Financial. Then it was off to Nenagh College, where with another snip a new all-weather hockey pitch was declared open. Last but not least, Ireland’s answer to Edward Scissorhands visited the new constituency office of his party TD O’Meara in Nenagh to do the honours.

Mount Pleasant tennis club not calling game on padel plan

A residents’ group may have won a planning battle over the proposed development of padel courts at Dublin’s Mount Pleasant Lawn Tennis Club, but the war may not be over.

An Coimisiún Pleanála recently overturned a grant of permission from Dublin City Council to the Ranelagh-based club, which initially sought to build three padel courts but later revised this to two.

The Dublin 6 club failed to sufficiently demonstrate that the development, including the proposed acoustic canopy and its design and height, would not result in an adverse visual effect on the area’s architectural heritage, the commission ruled.

Food writer Susan Jane White and Jane Gogan, wife of broadcaster Eamon Dunphy, were among those who objected, with the Irish Georgian Society weighing in to say the scheme contravened the city development plan.

In a note to members, the club’s management committee said this was a “setback”, particularly “given the enormous amount of time, energy and commitment” put into the proposal.

However, it said there were “some important and encouraging aspects” to the decision, including that plans around floodlights, bicycle parking, landscaping and acoustics were satisfactory.

The public tends to get what the public wants, and the management committee doesn’t appear to regard the ruling as game, set and match. It said it was “very conscious of the strong support expressed by members for the introduction of padel at Mount Pleasant”.

“We will now take time to reflect carefully on the decision, consider its implications and assess the options available to us ... We continue to believe that padel would be a tremendous addition to the club and the community.”

Edgeworthstown set to get another pet-related business

Edgeworthstown has long been home to a pet-related enterprise, with Albert Reynolds establishing animal food business C&D Foods there in 1969 before embarking on a political career that saw him rise to become taoiseach.

The Co Longford town is about to get another, with Brenda McNamee recently granted planning permission to develop the Midlands Pet Crematorium at Barneygole and this week seeking tenders to construct its premises.

Longford County Council gave the 58sq m crematorium (including incinerator) approval early last year, but locals appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála. They said the operation would be too close to dwellings (with one four metres away) and raised concerns about “the disposal and scattering of ashes, storage of remains and potential health and environmental risks”.

Planning inspector Gerard Kellett recommended refusal, saying a specific need to locate the crematorium in the countryside had not been demonstrated and that related traffic would create a hazard on a “seriously substandard minor road”. However, he was over-ruled by the commission, which said the development would, subject to conditions, diversify existing agricultural activities and not be prejudicial to public health.

In the interest of residential amenity and traffic safety, it said the operation “shall be used for the cremation of small domestic pets only” with a maximum of seven per day to be “incarcerated” – we’ll assume that should be “incinerated”. It also asked that a log of complaints received from the public be maintained.

‘Formidable’ Toscan du Plantier’s story gets stage treatment

The murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork continues to intrigue and horrify people across Ireland and farther afield as the 30th anniversary of her killing approaches.

The film producer was bludgeoned to death aged 39 outside her holiday home near Schull on December 23rd, 1996. The case remains a whodunit even if many fingers, and French prosecutors, pointed firmly at English-born Ian Bailey, who maintained his innocence until his death in 2024.

There have been documentaries, podcasts and countless newspaper, television and radio pieces about the murder, but a first theatrical treatment is set to debut this month.

Toormore, named after the townland where Toscan du Plantier was killed, has been written by Brendan Griffin and Patrick Talbot. Staged readings of the work will take place on November 27th at the Dance Firkin Crane in Cork and in Skibbereen on December 6th. Irish stage and screen actor George Hanover will play Sophie for this run.

The playwrights say their work imagines the French woman’s last visit to west Cork from her perspective and “presents a formidable woman and artist for whom the ruggedness and beauty of west Cork were a vital antidote to the urban intensity of her life in Paris”.

A book based on Toscan du Plantier’s writings during her visits to Cork was published this week. Love of the Land is illustrated by artist Dermot Flynn and translated from French by former Irish Times Paris Correspondent Lara Marlowe, who describes it as “an affirmation of Toscan du Plantier’s talent, a small victory from beyond the grave”.