Update on restoration of popular Tipperary landmark – ‘hopefully the clock will be ringing again’
The upgrade works on part of a popular Tipperary landmark are set to be delayed until September, a meeting has heard.
Councillors at the Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District (MD) have been informed that works on the Town Clock in Carrick are progressing, but that the results of a bat survey will mean works on part of the clock will have to wait until September.
While the bat survey didn’t find any bats living in the clock, it did find nesting birds, who cannot be disturbed until after nesting season is over.
At the June meeting of the Carrick-on-Suir MD, councillors were told by the district administrator that works on the upper part of the clock can’t take place until after nesting season.
"We have no bats in the Town Clock at the moment, but we do have nesting birds, and that just has an impact on the timing of works,” councillors were told.
“We can work on the lower floors after July 20, because of the Section 12 notification, but the works on the upper part can’t be done until after September 1, and we have some pieces of work that we need to do before that goes ahead.
"But we have the funding in place so hopefully the Town Clock will be ringing again, assuming no major dramas with the clock, we’ll get our people up there to fix it up,” the district administrator added.
A Section 12 notification allows the National Monuments Service to consider any works to a recorded monument, and how best to protect the monument during the works.
At last month’s meeting of the Carrick-on-Suir MD, councillors were informed that €9,000 in funding had been allocated to carry out works on the town’s landmark.
The Carrick-on-Suir MD have also allocated €10,000 towards the project from their municipal funding allowance.