2024 Review: February

An exciting development on the sporting front was recorded in early February when Westmeath GAA revealed it had agreed to purchase 48 acres of land from the Health Services Executive (HSE) for a new centre of excellence near the Delvin Road in Mullingar at a cost of €1.05 million.

The item, published as a lead story, said that it was planned to put six new pitches on the site and that when those were linked to the current 3G all-weather facility at Lakepoint Park, it would give Westmeath GAA a total of seven playing pitches along with a range of ancillary facilities. Before any of that could happen, however, planning permission was going to have to be secured and the promoters believed it would take several years to complete the development, at an estimated cost of between €10 million and €15 million.

Westmeath farmers turned out in force in early February to demonstrate on the streets of towns across Ireland, including Mullingar.

The cause of the demonstration was frustration with EU regulation and the farmers' protest was being undertaken in solidarity with the actions of farmers across the continent.

Roughly 30 tractors gathered at Mullingar Equestrian Centre on February 1 for the local demonstration and Westmeath IFA chairperson Richie O'Brien told the Westmeath Examiner the demonstration was not a ‘protest’ but an expression of solidarity.

He said that Irish farmers had similar concerns to those among their counterparts on the farms of Europe. “There is just way too much red tape coming from Europe at the moment and from our own government,” he said.

February saw the introduction of the new Return Ireland Recycling System for plastic bottles and drinks cans.

Largely there was a positive reaction to the system, although some disappointment that people had to store items intact and take them to one of the deposit return machines, whereas previously, they would have put them in the recycling bin.

Tributes were paid at the February meeting of Westmeath County Council to the outgoing chief executive, Pat Gallagher, who had been at the helm for the previous 10 years.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Liam McDaniel led the tributes, saying that Mr Gallagher, a proud Tullamore man, had shown commitment and dedication to the county that was second to none, guiding it through the pandemic and then overseeing two successful fleadhs, he said.

Making waves in the US was Mullingar native Odi Fitzgerald. We reported that the father of one worked in a day job as an engineer, and was also developing a media career that included presenting jobs on TV and radio and a podcast that was growing in popularity.

Also highly popular was the North Midlands Credit Union Primary Schools quiz, which took place in February. Around 100 pupils from the 72 primary schools in the Common Bond area registered to take part, and, because of the numbers, it was necessary to hold two quizzes on two different nights, one in Longford and the other at the Mullingar Park Hotel.

There was both good news and bad news for motorists on the front page of the February 17 edition. The good news was that funding had been allocated towards the long-anticipated upgrade of the N4 Mullingar to Longford Road. The bad news, however, was that new funding allocated for Active Travel schemes was predicted to reduce the space available for cars in Mullingar town centre. Active Travel schemes prioritise walking and cycling routes.

A threat that had hung over the future of water sports at Mullingar Harbour had been successfully dealt with, we reported.

The Mullingar Canoe Polo had campaigned against a change of by-laws on the Royal Canal that would have threatened an end to their activities. Their concerns arose in October 2023 when Waterways Island proposed the removal of the five-day mooring limit at the harbour. The club were concerned that would turn the canal into a storage facility for boats and leave no room for their sport. Around 120 members of the club made a submission to Waterways Ireland during an initial public consultation phase on the by-law change, urging them not to remove the mooring limit.

Former Taoiseach John Bruton who died in February, was the subject of many tributes in our columns, led by Minister for European Affairs Peter Burke, TD, who described Mr Bruton as a “true gentleman and statesman”.

In fact, he revealed, Mr Bruton had launched Minister Burke's campaign for the Dáil in 2011.

“He led Fine Gael and the government through critical times in our history including negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement as well as the economic recession,” Minister Burke said.

St Finian's college student John Glennon was making a great success of his fledgling business supplying chicks and incubators to local schools. He was warmly greeted by children at Gaelscoil an Choillín, who were excited by the knowledge that the eggs Coralstown student John had left at their school would, in 21 days, hatch as chickens.

Just back from what they described as an epic trip to Morocco were members of Mullingar hiking group; 28 members had taken on the 4167m ascent of Mount Toubkal.

Group founder Kenneth Delaney told the Westmeath Examiner they reached the summit on Saturday February 3, just in time to see the sun rise over Marrakesh and the Atlas mountains.

For the second time in a month, farmers were out en masse to make their grievances known, this time at a Fine Gael meeting at the Mullingar Park Hotel.

Minister Peter Burke, who was at the meeting, said after the event, when the protesters entered the room, a number started roaring and shouting and became abusive.

“Some of them were very intimidating, we had to stop the meeting, we couldn't continue and it had to be abandoned,” he said, adding that some of the protesters blocked the doors and party members could not get out.

Planning permission was granted in February for a major redevelopment and expansion of St Joseph's Secondary School in Rochfortbridge. As part of the development, the existing two-storey main building and its extensions are to be demolished and replaced by a 9,000-square-metre three-storey school building.

The plan also involves refurbishment of the former Convent of Mercy.

The new building will consist of 33 general classrooms, 20 specialist teaching rooms, four special education needs class-based units, a general purpose hall and a student social space.

Residents of the Riverview apartment complex in Kilbeggan took to the streets to protest over the 30 eviction notices handed to them in January. The tenants were given until July to vacate their homes after the owner of the complex, the Remcoll Group, announced that it intended to sell 77 units in the estate. The residents were naturally distraught with worry, and at their protest, Deputy Sorca Clark said the seriousness of the situation could not be overestimated.

There was good news for open water swimming fans when Westmeath County Council announced that it was to begin installing changing facilities for swimmers at Loch Owel. The item carried in our final February paper stated that the commencement of design work was set to begin in the second quarter of the year.