Shame on any pub that is still serving
Reports had been circulating locally over the last few weeks of pubs (not in Boyle town) still remaining open at certain times for certain people. As bad as any publican is to open at this critical stage, shame on those who frequent licensed premises at a time when we all should be avoiding being in close proximity to others. If you know of any pub still serving customers please do us all a favour and report the details to An Garda Siochana.
All is not shelved but put on hold
All the great plans for the development of Boyle are not shelved, as one or two of our local consistent naysayers, would like you to believe – they are put on hold, like everything else in this country and indeed the world at present. But when the time comes for life to get back to ‘normal’, the developments around Boyle that are nearing completion or awaiting commencement, will kick back into action and it will be ‘full steam ahead’.
One piece of infrastructure that is not ‘in limbo’, and for which plans are in place for the town to capitalize on once the crisis is over, is the connection of Boyle to high speed 10Gbps fibre broadband. This can be seen by the number of Eir van’s currently around the town. Every day another local neighbourhood is having their connection complete. According to Eir, “35% or 600 premises in Boyle” are now ready, but not yet fully connected to the system. Up to last Friday that included: “Rockingham Road, The Warren, Abbeytown Road and estates, Deerpark estates, part of the Main Street and around Marian Road”. The majority of these premises are to the north and east of the Boyle town. It is understood it will be a few weeks yet before the remaining 65% in the designated areas are fully connected and can sign up for the various packages.
A great resource at our disposal
This blog has regularly detailed how lucky we are in Boyle to have the Family Resource Centre at our disposal. While the Centre’s doors are currently closed, the numerous services it provides are still available by phone or email with staff working diligently out of the public eye. There is no doubt but the demands on the Centre over the next few weeks and months will increase as the mental effects of Covid-19 are felt by many people. The Centre is also coordinating the ‘Boyle Covid -19 Assist Group’ who are there to assist any person who needs food, medicine etc brought to them. It is understood that over 40 local people have volunteered to help with this group. The Centre is also continuing with it’s FEAD programme, community activity challenge and is currently in the process of distributing activity packs for children while providing a number of other online services.
Civic Amenity Site remains open
While the local Civic Amenity sites are currently operational as normal in Roscommon, Ballaghaderreen, Castlerea and Boyle, the bulky goods recycling service for couch, armchair, mattress and divan base bed etc. is suspended at this time.
The changes that will be part and parcel of our lives going forward
As we become accustomed to our new ‘normal’ way of life, many of the changes that have taken place will most likely become part and parcel of every day living going forward. For example, social distancing will be here for a long time to come so the handshake and the hug are put on hold. Banks will be delighted that ‘cash is no longer king’ as the move to cashless payments increases. Covid – 19 has been the ‘dying kiss’ for newspapers, both local and national. Declining advertising revenue and falling circulation were the order of the day for the print industry before the crisis but as more people are now turning to online websites to get their news, chances are they will never go back to the old print media. Many pubs and shops will never open again when ‘normality’ returns. Indeed it may be the ‘opportunity’ some needed to finally close their doors once and for all. Face to face meetings are no longer taking place, with Zoom and other video conferencing mediums going to become part of daily life going forward. And one wonders if a foreign holiday or a trip overseas will be a thing of the past – well for this year anyway.
And finally…..!
A boy was going through his grandmother’s purse one night and found her ID card.
“Grandma?” he asked,”How much do you weigh?”
His grandmother replied, “That’s not an appropriate question, Jimmy”
He then asked, “How old are you?”
She again replied, “That’s not appropriate either, Jimmy.”
Finally he asked, “Grandma, why did grandpa leave you?”
Before she had time to answer, Jimmy looked at the card and said, “Oh I see, it’s because you got an ‘F’ in sex.”
