News review of 2022 - April

April opened with the news that Columb Barracks had been chosen as the location for a new hi-tech centre of excellence for electrical vehicle management. Following a meeting between Mullingar minister, Peter Burke, and the Minister for Further Education, Simon Harris, it was agreed that the training centre would be operated by Solas in conjunction with Longford Westmeath Education and Training Board.

The arrival of refugees from Ukraine had started in earnest by April, and in fact, we reported, as far back as the St Patrick’s weekend, the county council had had to organise accommodation for 50 refugees in Westmeath.

Coverage of the launch of landmark history of County Westmeath contained a great photograph: 24 of those who had contributed to the book. ‘Westmeath: History and Society – interdisciplinary essay son the history of an Irish county’ was edited by Mullingar historian and former principal of Garbally College, Ballinasloe, Seamus O’Brien and launched by the Castletown Geoghegan native and current Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Dermot Farrell.

The retirement of two of Mullingar’s best-known gardaí was marked by photographic splashes in the first week of April. Sgt Roger Nicholson, originally from Sligo, and Waterford native, Detective Sergeant Brian Willoughby, both joined the force on the same day in 1983.

Two other retirements were also recorded that same week, those of Irish Rail employees Paddy Maher and Vincent Morley.

There was great excitement among the transition year students at Coláiste Mhuire and Loreto College as they prepared to stage a joint production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Mullingar Arts Centre.

A quirky story from the UK revealed that a controversial grave memorial erected in Sheffield over the final resting place of Athlone native Willy Collins contained a white marble solar-powered jukebox loaded with Joe Dolan hits. Sheffield Council was unimpressed with the structure.

Climb with Charlie, an initiative launched by retired journalist Charlie Bird to raise funds for the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, included events at Knockeyon and Uisneach. Charlie, who is suffering from Motor Neurone Disease, Climbed Croagh Patrick. The Knockeyon climb, organised by Ringtown GAA, raised more than €6,000 for the fund.

Two apprentice electricians from Westmeath – Jack Duignan from Killucan and Zain Kenny from Mullingar – were in the news after they won their way through to the semi-final of the Screwfix Trade Apprentice competition. Another young Westmeath person making a name for herself, rising media talent Ellen Leonard from Kinnegad, surprised broadcasting legend Marty Whelan on Lyric FM when he asked her if she could sing, and she wowed him with an impromptu a capella version of the opera favourite, O Mio Bambino Caro.

Teagasc tillage advisor Paul Fox reported that farmers in Westmeath had been proving slow to respond to the government appeal that more crops be grown in thus country in order to counter the scarcity of feed likely to result from the crisis in Ukraine.

In a most shocking case, four men were jailed in April after being convicted of a range of sexual assaults on a teenage girl at Harbour Road in Kilbeggan on December 27, 2016. The then-17-year-old girl had got into a car with the men after she became separated from her friends while on a night out in Tullamore.

On a less grim note, we were able to report in April that work had begun on the construction of the new €5m Omniplex Cinema at Harbour Street. The cinema was to contain five screens, double sofa-beds and rocker seats, Barco laser projection and Dolby audio technology.

More than 60 people concerned about the wind farm proposed for the Milltownpass, area which is to have seven of the tallest wind turbines in Europe, heard that similar developments might also be on the cards for Ballinea, Loughnavalley, Killucan, Delvin, Raharney, The Downs and Crookedwood.

The iconic canal-side pub, Mary Lynch’s, changed hands. The new owners of the pub formerly owned by John and Mary Moriarty are DSH Holdings, run by local businessmen Declan Murphy, Hugh Farrell and Shane Clifford, who are planning to revamp the establishment and reopen it as a gastropub.

The extent of the cost-of-living crisis was beginning to become really evident by April, and members of the 1428 Club revealed how much more difficult it had become to make ends meet. One member admitted that when she opened her last gas bill and found that it had risen from €170 to €400, she wasn’t able to stop herself from starting to cry.

On a more cheerful note, the 13 men who were vying to be selected as the Westmeath Bachelor at the Bachelor Festival in May were introduced to the public through our columns.

The Mullingar Sustainable Energy Community unveiled a proposal that the feasibility of establishing a 5MW community-owned solar farm on the former municipal landfill site at Marlinstown be examined.

Three Westmeath women featured on the same edition of The Late Late Show one night in April.

Comedian Alison Spittle entertained with an update on her work as a podcaster for the BBC, while friends-since-birth Sheila Hanevy and Áine Cornally shared the touching story of how Áine donated a kidney to a woman in the UK so Sheila could receive a kidney from a donor in Scotland.

Gardaí searched a premises in Tyrrellspass following a tip-off and discovered a cannabis growhouse and drugs worth €200,000.

Castlepollard welcomed a large group of Ukrainian refugees in April. The new arrivals were taken to a former nursing home that was converted into accommodation suitable for their use. Meanwhile, a special day out at Belvedere House was held for 100 Ukrainians who had already been moved to the Westmeath area.

A man of some significance in the life of Westmeath GAA was laid to rest in April. Paddy Flanagan, who served his county with distinction both as a player and an administrator, was 92 years of age when he passed to his eternal reward.

New options for getting about in the towns of Athlone and Mullingar emerged with the launch of bike sharing schemes in both towns in April.

The Mullingar tenor Emmet Cahill revealed that he was coming back to perform a concert in Mullingar in May – and bringing with him 80 international fans who were joining him on a nine-day trip around Ireland.