Time for walkies: funding for dog park confirmed
Local dog owners and their pets have received an early Christmas present this year with the news that Mullingar will soon have its own dog park. Funding has been allocated to proceed with an enclosed dog park, where owners can let their pets off their leads to socialise with other animals. The dog park will be located on a site in Clonmore next to Westmeath County Council’s depot.
The funding for the park and other local projects, such as a new cafe on the greenway at Streamstown, was secured by Minister of State Peter Burke through his department.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Minister Burke said that the new dog park is a “key local project” that is sure to prove popular with dog owners and their pets.
“I am glad to announce that we finally will have the capital to create a new dog park beside the C Link bridge at the canal. Local activists such as Darren Mills and others have been calling for this, and I have met locals with Cllr Andrew Duncan on a number of occasions.
“I have now allocated the funding to Westmeath County Council to develop a dog park and I look forward to work commencing soon. We have seen more and more families get pets during the pandemic and it will be great to have a space to bring dogs and let them off their leads to play and interact with other dogs,” he said.
Cllr Andrew Duncan says that after working behind the scenes on the project for the last four years, he is delighted that a site has been earmarked and funding secured.
He says that he’s hopeful work will be begin on the site early next year and that it will be operational as soon as possible.
“We have had a lot of issues over dog fouling. Hopefully the park might help solve a lot of the problem. I am glad the we kept working on the project until we finally got it done.”
The idea of a dog park for Mullingar was first mooted around four years ago when an online petition started by Darren Mills was signed by almost 400 local people.
Welcoming the news that funding and a site have been secured, Darren says that the high number of signatures his petition received indicates that the dog park will be well used when it is opened.
“The fact that it is on the canal would be an asset to it. The whole idea of a dog park is you are supposed to exercise your dog first and then take them to the park to socialise with other dogs.”
Noting that most of the small number of off-the leash dog parks in Ireland are located in Dublin and other cities, Darren says that it is good to see Mullingar being “proactive”when it comes to delivering an amenity like this.
He also believes that there could be a positive spin-off for the local economy.
“Mullingar could advertise itself [as a dog friendly town]. We will have the dog park. We have the greenways. If a couple of restaurants said that they were dog friendly, whether it be indoor or outdoor, and if a hotel or two said, ‘we have a boarding area, come’. Tourism-wise, it could build into something.”