Let’s hope ‘Night and Day’ becomes an annual event in the Park
All those who attended last weekends Night and Day Festival in Boyle’s Lough Key Forest Park would agree that the location is among the best in Ireland for an event of this caliber. The sun shone on Saturday, and for some of Sunday, and when it did, the atmosphere in the various marquee’s was electric, while the backdrop of Lough Key was magnificent. It was hard to put a number on the attendance such was the size of the festival site, but a rough guess on Saturday afternoon would say somewhere between 1000-1500 people enjoyed music, food, drink and a number of trade stalls along with numerous events for children. Sunday saw even larger crowds in attendance despite the inclement weather, with many reckoning the last 5 hours was among the best atmosphere and music they enjoyed in a long time. Even though there were large numbers moving around each day, the site in no way felt crowded or unsafe – if anything people remarked on how safe they felt in the venue with security staff all around, Gardaí patrolling on foot, on horseback and in the water and a large amount of friendly staff walking around picking up any rubbish dropped by attendees (which was minimal).
There is no doubt, this was a family festival which was reflected by some of the comments left on social media after the event: “Great family friendly festival, Lough Key is a lovely venue. We really enjoyed it and will be back next year”…… “It was a brilliant festival, so well organised, soooo good for kids, really chilled atmosphere. So much fun”…… “Top weekend. Amazing family friendly festival will be spreading the word big time. Well done to all involved. Roll on next year”. “I hope it’s back in the Forest Park again next year. Very enjoyable weekend. Well done!”
While those who attended were full of praise for the weekend, locally some were not that pleased – particularly with the decision not to allow those in the 13-19 age group to attend. But on investigation it would seem many similar type festivals operate the same policy i.e. Body and Soul which is over 21’s. Others were of the view that €7 for a pint and €8 for a hot dog was a bit on the expensive side but that is the unfortunately is the price one expects to pay at festivals and remember- you don’t have to drink or eat if you don’t want to!
All in all, Night and Day was a great event. Hopefully the organisers will stay with the Forest Park, building on the success of this year and return to our Park bigger and better next year.
Local star never forgot where he came from
Never one to forget where he came from, there is speculation that Boyle native and Hollywood actor Chris O’Dowd could soon have a new project filmed in his home town. Chris broke the news on entertainment website Extra.ie last Monday. In an interview, Chris said: “I don’t think they’ve announced it yet but yeah, I’m hoping to bring some more cinema to the northwest this Autumn”. According to Extra.ie: “When asked if he feels a duty to represent his hometown, the Moone Boy writer and star said it was more of an honour than an obligation. ‘I feel a little responsibility but also very lucky to have it,’ the Boyle man said. ‘It’s such a specific, interesting, luscious world that you don’t get to see on screen a lot.’
Cold War boat visits Lough Key
There was great interest in a photograph we published last week of what seemed like an old Navy frigate docked at the Marina in Lough Key Forest Park. It transpired the vessel is indeed an 86ft long former American frigate which was built in 1952 as a Cold War Boat patrolling the Rhine. It was decommissioned in the late 70s. The boat is a frequent visitor to Lough Key and looked impressive last weekend moored alongside many other boats who had come to the Marina for the music festival.
A great investment opportunity in Boyle
There is sure to be great interest in the parcel of land for sale at the Doon Shore and detailed in our news story on Wednesday last. There has been a lot of speculation of late as to the future use of these lands, especially since a large portion of it was cleared earlier in the year giving a great view out over Lough Key. Coming as it does with 9 x three bedroom detached houses together with lands extending to approximately 21 hectares (52 acres) and planning permission previously granted for the development of 50 holiday homes, commercial building and ancillary services, we can only hope that we will see the lands used for development of much needed tourism accommodation which will be of huge benefit the area.
News snippets from around Boyle
Nice and quietly, a Boyle youth has been crowned a world champion! Well done to Conan Cregg who recently won the CRN U17 Boys World Open Irish Dance Championship…………..Yet another delay on the Dublin – Sligo rail line, this time on Wednesday morning last with the 6.20am service from Boyle arriving into Dublin an hour late due to an on-track machine that was working on the line near Longford overnight suffering a mechanical fault…… It was a strange sight to see two members of the Garda Mounted Unit patrol a quiet Boyle town on Sunday last. Sheltering from the rain on Elphin Street, it was comical to see the cars flying down town and suddenly slowing when they glanced to their left and saw two Gardai on horseback!!……. It is great to see work finally start on the public realm upgrade in front of the entrance to and along the laneway at King House. There is a lot of public realm work due to commence in Boyle over the next few months so expect disruption and all that goes with it!!……….Congratulations to Boyle Councilor John Cummins who was elected Leas Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council at it’s Annual General meeting on Monday last………Sunset got 3 seconds shorter on Monday last and it looked as though the days were really closing in such as the greyness on Monday night and again early Tuesday morning…….What a great turnout (over 600 people) at last Friday evenings ‘Community Festival of Fun’ in the grounds of King House. When the rain started around 3pm, the organisers were no doubt beginning to worry would anyone attend but as the clouds cleared, the crowds came and an enjoyable evening was had by all. Well done Boyle FRC on organising this event……..All who visited Rockingham last weekend were of the view that the sauna, hot tub and plunge pool that were in place for Night and Day would be a great permanent addition in the Park……..With pre resurfacing drainage works having commenced this week at the Abbey Park and work progressing at Celtic Park on their new pitch and stand, we will soon have two top class footballing facilities in Boyle for young and old to enjoy…….In his column this week in the Roscommon People newspaper, Editor Paul Healy refers to Enda Smith as ‘Boyle’s modern day Gaelic Chieftain’ – classic!…….On a point of information, ‘News snippets from around Boyle’ does not publish gossip or rumour – only fact – and while we appreciate viewers sending us on information for inclusion, we will only publish same when it is proven to be factually correct.
And Finally….!
A farmer had 5 female pigs.
Times were hard, so he decided to take them to the fair and sell them.
At the fair, he met another farmer who owned five male pigs.
After talking a bit, they decided to mate the pigs and split everything 50/50.
The farmers lived 60 miles apart, so they decided to drive 30 miles each and find a field in which to let the pigs mate.
The first morning, the farmer with the female pigs got up at 5 A.M., loaded the pigs into his van, and drove the thirty miles.
While the pigs were mating, he asked the other farmer, “How will I know if they are pregnant?”
The other farmer replied, “If they’re lying in the grass tomorrow morning, they’re pregnant. If they’re lying in the mud, they’re not.”
The next morning the pigs were rolling in the mud, so he hosed them off, loaded them into the van again, and proceeded to try again.
This continued each morning for more than a week and both farmers were worn out.
The next morning he was too tired to get out of bed. He called his wife, “Honey, please look outside and tell me whether the pigs are in the mud or in the grass.”
“Neither,” yelled his wife, “they’re in the van…and one of them is honking the horn.
