Chris O’Dowd’s new drama will be available this autumn
This week Sky unveiled a sneak preview off Boyle actor Chris O’Dowd’s new six part drama series ‘Small Town Big Story’. Some of the drama was filmed in Chris’s home town of Boyle last September and revolves around the residents of Drumbán – the small fictional town where the series is set. Apart from Boyle, other scenes in the serial were shot in County Wicklow. Speaking about the drama Chris said “I bloody love television, and am most engrossed by stories that bring the remarkable to the everyday. I hope we’ve made a beautiful show that an audience will find funny and will keep people on the edge of their seats.”
Cast members, include Christina Hendricks, Paddy Considine , Leia Murphy and David Rawle
‘Small Town Big Story will be available to stream via Sky and NOW this autumn.
Local link to San Francisco Parade
A man with strong links to rural Boyle has been named Grand Marshal of this year’s San Francisco St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Co Sligo native Tom Hunt spent a lot of time with his grandmother in her small, rural cottage near Boyle when he was growing up, where most of his family’s roots still are. Tom was also a member of the Roscommon minor, U21 and senior football teams, winning a Connacht final in 1972 and his love of Roscommon GAA has seen his company ‘Ranger Pipeline’ sponsor a number of county teams. Tom visits Boyle and Co Sligo regularly, maintaining strong ties to family and old friends.
New 42 bed ward to be constructed at Sligo Hospital
Deputy Frank Feighan tells us that the contract for the new 42 bed ward block at Sligo University Hospital will be awarded in Q2 2024 with the works commencing on site in Q3 2024 with an estimated construction programme of 30 months. Deputy Feighan said that tenders for the 42-bed ward block at Sligo University Hospital which includes 2 x 21 bed wards, single en suite rooms with ancillary accommodation is due to be back from qualifying contractors and awarded before the beginning of the summer. “The hope here is that the contract will be completed by the middle of 2027 which given the current pressure on hospital beds is not seen as an immediate fix to the issue however we now have a clear pathway and timelines for the work to begin and finish”. “I am urging the HSE to ensure that there can be no further delays to the timelines as outlined as it is clear those extra beds are very badly needed and furthermore I want to see the HSE begin their planning for recruitment of the relevant staff by the end of next year so we don’t have 40 plus extra hospital beds but cannot open the unit because there isn’t the necessary frontline staff available to the hospital,” concluded Deputy Feighan.
Commercial vacancy rate in Boyle is not all doom and gloom
Boyle did not feature that well in the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Building Report for Q4 2023. The report examined commercial vacancy rates among a sample of 80 towns located across the state. It found that Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford was the town with the highest commercial vacancy rate in Q4 2023, at 30.2%. Shannon, Co. Clare (29.8%), Ballybofey Co. Donegal (29.4%), Boyle, Co. Roscommon (27.6%), and Sligo Town (26.2%) completed the top five towns by highest vacancy. It also showed that the commercial vacancy rate increased in 20 counties in the twelve months to December 2023.
But despite what some might like to portray, it is not all doom and gloom. Of the top 15 towns listed in the report by vacancy rates, Boyle was only one of four that showed a decrease in vacancy from Q4 2022, which is a positive sign and one that most likely will not be highlighted by traditional media. In addition, you only have to look at the amount of work currently ongoing and planned on various buildings around town, especially along Main Street to see the resurgence that is happening in Boyle.
Battle in Boyle launch tonight
Tonight Friday 1st March night sees the launch of ‘Battle in Boyle’ – (not to be mixed up with the infamous ‘Battle of Boyle’ that took place many, many years ago between a group from Cloonloo and Boyle)!!
The ‘Battle in Boyle’ is a White Collar Boxing event, organised jointly by Boyle Celtic and Boyle GAA, that will take place on Saturday May 4th. The launch will be held in King House this evening at 7pm when participants will meet with former Irish Olympian Cathal O’ Grady and his team at whitecollarboxing.ie who will be providing training and support over the coming months in preparation for the big night. All are welcome to attend.
Filming takes place next week on Boyle’s redevelopment
A film crew from the Department of Rural and Community Development will be in Boyle next week to shoot a video around the many developments that have taken place and that are planned for Boyle over the next year or so. It is understood the Department has selected Boyle for it’s ‘flagship video’ on how the town has benefited from grant aid from the Department and the effective way it has been utilised.
Tidy Towns celebration evening on Saturday
Boyle Tidy Towns will hold a celebration this Saturday evening in recognition of all the hard work volunteers have put in over the past year. The fruits of this labour resulted in Boyle winning it’s first ever National Award at the Tidy Towns Awards, coming 2nd overall in the Town Centre category. Saturday evening’s event will take place in King House at 7pm where there will be a few presentations, wine and nibbles and all are invited to attend.
A new low
A viewer has been in contact with us to tell the following: “I thought I has seen it all, but today (Thursday) was a new low. I was travelling across the bridge on the Carrick Road when I saw someone with two plastic bags dumping stuff into Boyle River from the bridge! I stopped my car and rolled down the window to ask him what was he doing but I couldn’t really do anymore because there where cars building up behind me”.
News snippets from around Boyle
A traditional music session with Liam Purcell and friends will take place in Cleen Hall Community Centre, Knockvicar on Sunday March 3rd at 4pm…………The Roscommon v Mayo game will be broadcast live on TG4 at 7.30pm on Saturday evening………..Sections of the public realm work around town are now nearly complete and coming in for favourable comment. When the carriageway is upgraded along with the Tidy Towns planting scheme, Bridge Street, Shop Street and the An Rioga car park will all look brilliant this summer………Congratulations to Amy Beirne, Dunboyne, daughter of Muriel and Gabriel (formerly Maple Drive, Boyle) who recently won €500 for her school – St. Peter’s NS Dunboyne in the Specsavers Short Story Competition…………A lot of people caught off guard this morning (Friday) after waking up to snow. It would seem the local authority were also caught off guard as Met Eireann did not issue a weather warning until 08.16 at which stage most commuters were stuck in the snow……… While not directly related to Boyle but of interest to some – ‘A Night with the Miners’ will be held on Wednesday March 6th at 7.30pm in Kilronan Castle. Proceeds on the night will go to North West STOP. It will be a night of interviews with past miners from Arigna along with music and stories. Tickets are €10 and are on sale now. In advance of the event, Ella Mc Sweeney from RTÉ was in Arigna during the week to interview some Miners and discuss the upcoming ‘Night with the Miners’. This will air on the Countrywide show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Saturday March 2nd………..Roscommon Public Participation Network community information evening will take place in St. Joseph’s Hall on Monday March 4th from 7-9pm…….The exterior of An Rioga received algae treatment on Thursday last which will hopefully improve the appearance of the building. Now if it could only open as an public space for the people of the town as intended………..With a little over two weeks until the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Boyle, unfortunately donations are very slow. Currently only €1,380 of the €4,000 required has been raised. If you can, please donate here
And finally….!
Two brothers inherit the family farm.
Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble.
In order to keep the bank from repossessing the farm, they need to purchase a bull from the mart in another town so that they can breed their own stock
They only have €600 left.
Upon leaving, the brother said to his sibling, “When I get there, if I decide to buy the bull, I’ll contact you to drive out after me and bring it home.”
He arrives at the mart, inspects the bull, and decides he wants to buy it. The man tells him that he will sell it for €599, no less.
After paying him, he drives to the nearest town to send his brother a telegram to tell him the good news.
He walks into the telegraph office and says, “I want to send a telegram to my brother telling him that I’ve bought the bull for our farm”.
“I need him to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can bring it home.”
The telegraph operator explains that he’ll be glad to help him, then adds, “It’s 99 cents a word.”
Well, after paying for the bull, the man has only €1 left.
He realises that he’ll only be able to send his brother one word.
After a few minutes of thinking, he nods and says, “I want you to send him one word: Comfortable.”
The operator shakes his head. “How is he ever going to know that you want him to hitch the trailer to your pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your farm if you send him just the word ‘Comfortable’?”
The brother explains, “He’s a bit slow and that word is big. He’ll read it very slowly … com-for-da-bull.”
