2023 NEWS REVIEW: April

Minister Peter Burke was among those who made submissions to the Electoral Commission calling for the parts of Westmeath in the Meath West constituency to be returned to Longford Westmeath. He said splitting the county ahead of the 2007 general election was a mistake and he was hopeful that the commission would be in a position to “right the wrong” due to the population increase. Westmeath’s population had increased by 7,000 according newly published preliminary census data.

The news that Belvedere House, Gardens and Park lost more than €4 million since 2010 made the front page of this newspaper. The stats came from Mullingar Chamber of Commerce, who had based their estimates on the council’s adopted budgets, during a written submission to the draft Tourism Strategy (2023-2027). Chamber spokesperson, John Geoghegan, said such “constant ongoing losses” “would simply not be sustainable in the private sector”, and was cause for concern in terms of appropriate use of public funds. Furthermore, the chamber also said that Belvedere House and Garden’s long association with Life Festival be reconsidered, as it was an “inappropriate use” of the amenity, that caused considerable anti-social upset to the town and environs.

Army veterans and their families were deeply upset when trees located in the Columb Barracks parade ground were cut down to make way for accommodation for International Protection applicants. Noel O’Callaghan, retired regimental sergeant major, said it showed “complete disregard” for the heritage of the barracks and the soldiers that served there, while then mayor of the municipal district, Cllr Hazel Smyth, argued that “we should be planting more trees, not chopping them down”. She added that the act was more than likely illegal as it was nesting season.

Cllr Emily Wallace claimed Mullingar was owed free parking days. She sought an update on leftover Christmas parking days at a district meeting, reminding the executive that agreed extra free parking days were to be carried forward to 2023. The Fine Gael councillor explained that her concern was that days meant to have been carried over the year before had been lost, and she did not want the same thing happened again.

“The whole idea of moving the days forward was to encourage people to come into Mullingar in the quiet first quarter of the year,” she said.

Sorca Clarke, TD, chaired a Sinn Féin women’s conference at the Sheraton Athlone, where party president, Mary Lou McDonald, TD, vowed that any government she led would strive to “create an Ireland where every woman is free to live safely in pursuit of her ambition and potential”. Clarke, party spokesperson on education, welcomed attendees from across the island, adding that the conference was all about “creating a space for learning about important projects and services in the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence sector”.

Construction began on a new 10-bay ultra-rapid EV charging facility at Lough Sheever Corporate Park, the first of at least 30 planned hubs in Ireland by SSE Energy Solutions. Lidl opened its newly extended Mullingar Regional Distribution Centre at Lough Sheever, one of the company’s largest, comparable in size to “nine Aviva stadiums”. A thousand jobs were created during its construction, and Lidl’s permanent workforce increased by 100, taking the company’s employee total in Westmeath to almost 400. The expansion included 3,000 solar panels erected on the roof of the facility, enough to power 218 homes for a year.

Boatbuilder Tiernan Roe, a Mullingar native who grew up in Ballinderry and is now based in west Cork, won an award for restoring the Lady Min, a 30ft racing yacht. A former member of the sailing club, Tiernan likened the Classic Boat Magazine award to “winning an Oscar”’ his one-man operation beat runner-up, a 40ft Norwegian build from a much bigger boat yard in Oslo. Another Westmeath man won and Irish Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year award. Colm Smullen, a courier from Milltownpass, had spent the previous 12 months sending aid out to Ukraine, and matching refugees with host families here.

The subject of dog owners leaving poop bags by footpaths and hanging on trees was raised at municipal district level by Cllrs Aoife Davitt and Ken Glynn, who proposed “once again” that a series of dog poop bins be installed along popular walking routes. The council said, however, that the ‘Any Bag, Any Bin’ approach had been adopted for the disposal of dog waste, and public litter bins were available at the entrance to the greenways and along walking routes.

Westmeath Rose of Tralee, Rachel Duffy, spoke about her time participating in New York’s St Patrick’s Day Parade, attending Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, as well as enjoying breakfast with the mayor of New York, Eric Adams, at Gracie Mansion, where she met US senators and prominent members of the Irish American community. She called them “pinch-me” moments.

Mullingar Agricultural Show was announced winner of best float in the Mullingar St Patrick’s parade, which drew huge numbers of spectators. The Agricultural Show’s float contained a winning mix of live animals, rosette winners and smiles.

Westmeath County Council made an order for the compulsory purchase of land to facilitate the construction of a pedestrian and cycle bridge next to Saunders Bridge in Mullingar. The proposed scheme includes a suspended bridge deck and landing, approach walk and cycle way, revised landscaped area, cycle balustrades. The bridge will have a span of 40m and will be 3m wide.

Bus Éireann began work on a fully accessible bus shelter at Mullingar Train Station. The upgrade included a new shelter, lighting, paving and new accessible parking spaces

On Easter Monday, a large crowd gathered at Tyrrellspass Castle for the official opening of the Cloncrow Bog and Village Trail. ETHOS (Everything Tyrrellspass Has on Show), developed the idea and brought it to fruition. Th 3.5km loop walk passes through a range of diverse habitats and down a turf cutters lane, bounded by bog woodlands which supports a range of biodiversity such as butterflies, moths, birds, insects and mammals. The trail continues though the raised bog, containing sphagnum mosses and woodlands with Scots pines, and other native species, before entering reclaimed pastures and back into Tyrrellspass village on the north side again, passing Belvedere Orphanage, St Sinian’s Church, the village green and Imogen Stuart stature.

It was a “big honour” for the town when Mullingar priest, Fr Paul Connell, was named by Pope Francis as Bishop as Ardagh and Clonmacnois. The Mullingar native, who was president of St Finian’s College for decades, was ordained to the priesthood in 1982. Fr Connell said that he was deeply honoured to have been asked to undertake the role.

Funding was approved for the expansion of St Finian’s College and the delivery of a new hone for St Mary’s Special School Delvin, in Mullingar.

The greenlighted co-located local projects were welcomed by Deputy Robert Troy, a past pupil of St Finian’s. The multi-million project includes the upgrading of the main St Finian’s school building and construction of a two-storey extension, upgrading of the gymnasium, as well as the construction of a new two-storey building to accommodate technology classrooms and science labs, and a new three-storey building to accommodate art classrooms.

Plans for the new St Mary’s Special School include a single-storey, eight-classroom building, teaching and clinical spaces, general purpose dining hall, library, staff room, solar panels, as well as play and kick-about areas.