News Review 2023: March

In Castletown Geoghegan, there was disquiet about the proposal to move refugees or asylum seekers into Middleton Park House. "Westmeath has taken on its fair share," a spokesperson for the Castletown Geoghegan Village Steering Group said at a meeting in the town, attended by 300.

Far away in New Zealand, much devastation was caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in February – and among those who suffered from the effects of the resulting flooding were mother and daughter Miriam Nugent and Debbie Stephens (née Nugent), from Prospect in Mullingar, along with Debbie’s husband Corey Stephens.

Miriam had travelled to New Zealand to visit Debbie and Corey, who were married in Kilkenny in September 2022 – but they had to flee as rising flood waters began encroaching on their property.

When they returned the next day – using a kayak to get there – they found that not alone had their home suffered water damage, but it had also fallen victim to the greed of looters.

Almost 20 tonnes of rubbish were cleared by Westmeath County Council from one dumping ‘blackspot’ in Mullingar last year, and 14 tonnes of waste were taken out of just a half-mile stretch of a bog in Milltownpass, community climate change officer, John Jackson, revealed to members of a Westmeath County Council SPC, adding that the cost had come to over €60,000.

Two women based in Mullingar who were convicted in June 2021 of trafficking four women from Africa to this country and forcing them to work as prostitutes were reported to have had their sentences increased. One of the women had her sentence increased from five years and one month to seven years and one month; the other from five years and eight months to seven years and six months.

In mid-March, photographs were published showing 15 large tents erected in the square at Columb Barracks to accommodate International Protection (IP) applicants. Other stories carried in that edition relating to the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers spoke of fears that the absence of beds for tourists would hit the tourism industry; that there was "a nasty element" behind the protests against the new arrivals; and that the arrival of so many extra people would bring "transport, medical and school challenges".

Keane’s CarePlus Pharmacy Group was named as one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces, and the highest-rated pharmacy group overall. Formed in 2008 in Mullingar, the group has a staff of 80 – and 96 per cent of that number declared Keane CarePlus a great place to work in the anonymous questionnaire on which the awards are based.

Also awarded a gong in March was Mullingar Community College, which received an Excellence in Education award at the inaugural ETB awards in Croke Park in March for its ‘Boston Professional Learning Tour’, for which 12 teachers and special needs assistants travelled to Boston – at their own expense – to take part in a unique training opportunity at Harvard University.

Mullingar man Bill Dunne, who had a surprise 90th birthday party, revealed that what kept him fit and active and enjoying life were his hobbies – gardening and dancing.

The CSO revealed that the most popular baby names in Westmeath in 2022 were Noah and Emily. Rather more unusual as names go was that of Thekla Beere. Thekla (1901-1991) was a Streete-born trailblazing civil servant who was named as one of four women to feature on a new collection of national stamps issued for International Women’s Day. She was the first woman to be appointed secretary of a government department and in 1970, chaired the Commission on the Status of Women.

Keeping the Streete area in the news: a lovely front page picture showed Garda Cory Brady from Coolnagun and Garda Rebecca Lloyd from Rathowen. The two were selected to be among the uniformed gardaí to travel and march in the New York St Patrick’s Day parade, which attracts some two million spectators annually.

Also in March, members of the County Council criticised the Arts Council for its lack of financial support for the Arts Centre in Mullingar after its chairman John McGrath claimed to members that it was not being funded to the same extent as other arts centres around the country.

The Bishop Emeritus of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, marked the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Tyrrellspass man Thomas Maher, who was a big hit on an episode of First Dates Ireland, revealed that he wound up having to undergo emergency surgery the day after his audition for the show.

In the Westmeath County Enterprise awards for 2023, top prize went to the Mullingar firm Watt Footprint, second place to ECN Technologies, Mullingar, and third to John Cogan’s Lir Steelworks in Fore. The event was held at The Mullingar Park Hotel.

At the Student Enterprise Awards, top prize went to a Rosalyn Keddy, Alanna Greene, Olivia Coyle and Fodhla Hoye from St Joseph’s Rochfortbridge, who developed ‘Forget Me’, a device to help people find mislaid wallets.

There were bleak times ahead for many around Mullingar, Cllr Ken Glynn told the Westmeath Examiner in March, revealing that up to 60 families were looking at eviction after March 31, when the ban on evictions expired, and that a significant number of those were likely to end up on the homeless list. A similar warning was issued by Aontú leader, Deputy Peadar Tóibín.

On a more cheerful note, US president, Joe Biden, said Niall Horan could "come back any time" after the Mullingar singer sang at the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations in the White House. Among the songs Niall sang were Spancil Hill.

In what was believed to be a first for Ballymore, parts of the St Patrick’s Day Mass in the church there were celebrated in the Romanian language. That was because the parish had the honour of having the Most Rev Josif Paulet, Bishop of Iasi diocese, and four of his priests, concelebrate the Mass, together with the Bishop of Meath, Most Rev Tom Deenihan and the local clergy.

Noted Westmeath photographer James Crombie was named as a prizewinner – again – at the AIB Press Photographer of the Year awards, for a picture he named ‘Clash of the Ash’. The photo, which won third place in the Sports Action category, captured the exact moment when Clare’s John Conlon broke his hurl as he was tackled by Limerick’s Cian Lynch during an Allianz Hurling League Division 1 clash in Cusack Park, Ennis.