Mayor gets support for museum committee proposal

A definite move towards provision of a museum for Mullingar looks to be on the cards following discussion on the subject at the November meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad.

There was a positive response from councillors to the proposal by the mayor, Cllr Ken Glynn, that the district create a sub-committee working group with interested parties to work towards provision of a museum to showcase the military, musical, sporting and transport history of the town.

The response from the executive stated that the district can assist in the creation of such a group.

“It would be beneficial to have a strong community membership,” the written reply stated, going on to add, however, that a museum feasibility study would need to be carried out by an expert in the field and cautioning that the project would require a funding source.

“There is an awful lot of great minds in this town that could come together with the help of Westmeath County Council. And the reason I put this motion down is that I want Westmeath County Council to get involved,” Cllr Glynn said, adding that he was aware that colleagues on the council including, Cllr Mick Dollard, Emily Wallace, Bill Collentine and Andrew Duncan, had also called several times for provision of a museum in Mullingar.

“But we can talk and talk and talk and talk about it forever – or we can try to give it a little push,” he said.

Cllr Glynn revealed he had also taken inspiration from local man, Murty Quinn, who had amassed a collection of some 43 years of memorabilia to do with Columb Barracks and the military history of Mullingar.

“I think Murty with his collection showed it can be done, and I think now is the time, and I think how we do it is that we put the call out to see who’s out there and we all know people who would be excellent and can add value to this.”

The mayor stressed that it was not just about celebrating military history: “There’s also massive musical heritage. We’ve had people from this town on the world stage. We’ve had people represent us at the Eurovision. We’ve had people represent us at the Olympics. We’ve had world champions. We have people who play professional sports. And we need to shout loud about it. And we need to get a museum in place.”

Cllr Glynn said he wanted “a meeting of minds” to move the project forward.

Cllr Emily Wallace supported the call: “We must be one of the few large towns in the country that doesn’t have a museum. And what’s sad about it is that it’s almost as if we’re not proud of the achievements of what people have done. Really we are, but we’re not advertising that or not showcasing it,” she said.

“We have to stand up and applaud people that achieve and are selling and advertising and promoting Westmeath and the town of Mullingar.”

The view of Cllr Aoife Davitt was that it made sense to have an umbrella organisation in place to record all the different accolades that have come to Mullingar and to catalogue its past, partly to ensure preservation of that history for future generations, but also, to cater for tourist interest.

She wondered if the council looked at their inventory of buildings, to see if there was one that could be designated for use as a museum.

Cllr Bill Collentine also supported the mayor’s call: “I think we do need a lot of people to support this and get behind this and push it forward,” he said, adding that the last time he had raised the subject for discussion, he had proposed that the present swimming pool be converted to use as a museum when the new swimming pool opens.

Cllr Denis Leonard spoke of the in-depth work carried out by Bob Morrison in the early noughties on the possibility of opening a transport museum, and said because of that, there was “no need to reinvent the wheel”.

Cllr Dollard admitted that he suspected the willpower was not there on the part of the executive. He said that when Columb Barracks closed in 2009, Westmeath County Council indicated they had zero interest in the building.

“You can have all the sub-committees you want it, but if it’s only going to become a talking shop, then it’s a waste of time,” he said, pointing out that a museum would need a site and it would need funding and it would need money to cover operating costs and to pay for staff.

Director of services, Deirdre Reilly, said she would be happy to facilitate a public meeting on the subject, but added that when it came to the question of a site, the council did not have suitable property in its ownership.

In addition, she said she was aware that the reservations from the executive were exactly those to which Cllr Dollard had referred. “It’s the operating costs. And, you know, these buildings are really nice to have and to look at but they have to be run. And I would say in all earnestness, that’s where the reservations come from.”

Cllr Glynn was keen not to let the momentum slip: “I think what we’ll try to do is move this forward,” he said, adding that there had been enough talking. He suggested that the councillors start by getting together on the issue.

“I think it’s important, because it’s been talked about for years,” he concluded.