News review of 2022 - May

The winner selected in The Westmeath bachelor competition was 25-year-old Kerryman Bryan Murphy, who greatly amused the audiences, and impressed the celebrity judges, Louis Walsh, Doireann Garrihy, Anne Doyle and Nathan Carter.

“We really want to work,” was the message from the adults out of the 56-strong group of Ukrainians who arrived in Castlepollard in April. They were anxious to convey deep gratitude to the Irish government, to the Irish people they had met so far, to the Poles, Romanians or Moldovans who had given them precious help in the early days of their flight, and to the network of Ukrainians around Europe who hosted them as they took their first steps towards creating a new life outside their own country.

The homelessness shortage that pertained in this country long before the arrival of the refugees from Ukraine meant there were few options available to renters whose landlords opted to sell: “They are either ending up in Teach Fáilte, a hostel, a B&B or a hotel – still homeless or couch-surfing,” summarised Cllr Ken Glynn as he raised the subject of homelessness for discussion at a meeting of the county council’s Housing, Community, Corporate and Cultural SPC.

The California-based Mullingar bass player Tanya O’Callaghan, who was signed up in 2021 with the world-renowned rockers Whitesnake, managed to stop off for a quick visit home to Ballinderry before taking to the stage with Whitesnake at the 3Arena in Dublin in April.

Just a month after announcing their acquisition of a fire-engineering firm in the UK, the Mullingar firm Writech opened a new €1.8m extension to their offices in Mullingar – and announced a further significant acquisition, that of Ce Sprinkler, a leading Swedish fire protection business.

Ballymore man Seamus McDermott went to an old graveyard in the village to take photographs of a stone believed likely to be the apex of a window from an old church – but when the early morning light hit the stone, he realised it contained a carved face. Investigations revealed it was likely to have been carved in the 13th century, and that it was a representation of the face of Christ.

The pass rate for driving tests n the midlands in 2021 was higher than the national average. Of those who took the test in Mullingar, 57.8 per cent passed, and in Athlone, the pass rate was 59.7 per cent.

Republican activists gathered in Mullingar on Sunday April 25 to mark the 100th anniversary of the killing of anti-Treaty IRA officer, Joseph Leavy. Leavy (36) was killed at the junction of Dominick Street and Mary Street on April 27, 1922, shortly after pro-Treaty National Army soldier Patrick Columb died in an incident nearby.

CSO figures released in May showed that for the second year in succession, there were no Church of Ireland or Presbyterian weddings celebrated in Westmeath during 2021, and that again, in line with the 2020 trend, the number of Catholic weddings, at 157 from the total of 343 opposite-sex marriages registered, represented less than half of the county’s weddings.

Just two weeks after our report on the dismal outlook for tenants who had to leave their rented properties and attempt to find alternative accommodation, our front page story revealed that supply was so low that there were just three properties available to rent in Mullingar. Auctioneer and county councillor Andy Duncan said it was the lowest number he could ever recall.

There was good news for open-water swimmers with the news that Lilliput was deemed safe for bathers once more and a three-year ban on swimming there was lifted. The water quality had improved significantly following action by the county council in conjunction with the local farming community.

Six years after he bought it, Niall Horan put his six-bedroom house at Gaybrook up for sale with an asking price of €775,000 – almost €300,000 more than he had paid for it in December 2016. Still on the property front, An Bord Pleanála upheld a decision by Westmeath County Council to allow a bloodstock firm erect 64 stables on lands at Ballynaclin, Ballinea.

The Mullingar singer/songwriter Flynn, who was enjoying some success with his latest single ‘Elephant’, revealed he was to be the main support act to Scottish star Lewis Capaldi at a concert in Malta over the summer.

‘Europe Day’, which fell on May 9, saw visitors from two embassies visit schools on Mullingar. The Latvian ambassador, Janis Sills, called to the Educate Together NS, while at Loreto College, students got the chance to meet with Kadri-May Kaunissaare, deputy head of mission at the Estonian Embassy in Dublin.

The promoters of the Hammerlake Studios project, planned for Lough Sheever Park in Mullingar, disclosed that the budget for the project was €70m, and it would employ up to 350 studio crew when complete, with 300 jobs anticipated during the construction phase.

Fore Heritage and Amenity Group received a runner-up award at the All-Ireland Pride of Place awards in Killarney in May, and in Castlepollard, the Water Street Community Centre was opened by a group of local people.

Castlepollard firm Mergon sent employee Odran ‘Odi’ Fitzgerald to work at their plant in South Carolina for a week. That was in 2017 – and not alone Is robotics engineer Odi still there but he runs his own talk show, ‘Night Time with Odi’, on a cable channel.

Another home-grown TV star featured in our paper in May – interiors architect Aoife Rhattigan from Ballinderry, who is one of the chief professionals on the ‘DIY SOS’ TV show presented by Baz Ashmawy. Aoife admitted it can be hard to hold back the tears when families in need finally get to see their homes transformed and made suitable for their needs.

Food writer Maria Harte), a native of Bunbrosna, revealed that the Covid lockdown led her to launch what she calls her “passion project” – her Instagram page @the.cook.book.club, and Tyrrellspass native, Frank Gillespie, who is in business in Boston, shared the amazing stories of his links with some of the biggest names in sport and entertainment.