Greatmeadow site not suitable for Modular Home plan
It is understood plans to locate modular homes at Greatmeadow in Boyle will not now go ahead due to the land in question not being appropriately zoned for the programme. The Local Government Management Agency is reported to have said that the Boyle site, along with the site in Roscommon are not appropriately zoned for the modular programme and therefore will not be progressed under this programme. It is understood sites needed to have a residential zoning or commercial with a mix of residential and the proposed Boyle site did not fit that criteria. In Ballaghaderreen, the chosen site is supposedly still under consideration.
Major traffic disruption in Boyle from Monday
There will be major traffic disruption in Boyle for a period of time from Monday next when road resurfacing takes place on the Shilling Hill. From 8am until 6pm daily (even though road signs say (7am-7pm), traffic will be diverted via N61 to its junction with R294 and via N61 to Shop Street and vice versa. In town, traffic will also be restricted from McDonagh’s Corner but remember, we have ample car parks in Boyle Town Centre where you can park for free and go about your business. Boyle Family Resource Centre has been creative in dealing with the roadworks and are advising those attending the Centre, that with agreement from the GAA, they can park in the Abbey Park and walk the short distance to the FRC. To facilitate traffic movement, a Stop/Go Traffic management system will be in operation along the diversion route due to current available road widths. The road closure is for four days until Thursday 28th.
While on the subject of road works, the company responsible for the current public realm work in the town centre are to be complimented on the way they left the paths in advance of St. Patrick’s Day, leading some to believe the works had actually concluded!! (The situation had been clarified in this blog last Friday morning). Unfortunately the said upgrades are not yet concluded and when work is finished on the footpaths and installation of new street lighting on the western end, work will then start the other side of the road all the way to the Post Office and into An Rioga car park which will be totally remodeled.
Ellie is named ‘Outsiders Woman of the Year’
Congratulations to Cavetown resident Ellie Berry who recently won Outsider’s ‘Woman of the Year’ for setting a new record for climbing the Vandeleur-Lynams, 275 mountains in Ireland in 50 days and 5 hours. Ellie, who is origionally from Tipperary chronicled her amazing adventures on Tough Soles, a YouTube channel and blog she runs with her partner Carl Lange. It was Carl who had suggested the target to Ellie in the first place. “I have a really deep love for the outdoors and mountains,” she says. “When Carl learnt about this challenge, he thought it was perfect for me though it took him a while to convince me to do it!” Ellie completed the feat in 50 days, 5 hours 45 minutes, beating the previous record by almost six days. The part she loved the most? Spending all that time outside. “This project brought me to corners of the island I would otherwise never have explored and showed me just how incredibly beautiful Ireland’s wild places are.”
Ellie and Carl are also the first people to walk every National Waymarked Trail in Ireland, a distance of over 4000km, including the Miner’s Way and Historical Trail which runs through Boyle.
Great sense of community spirit at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
If ever there was a great sense of community spirit evident in Boyle it was last Sunday when the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade drew one of the largest crowds into town for many years. Everyone was in jovial mood and a party like atmosphere preceded and followed the Parade with many people heading to St. Joseph’s Hall when the Parade concluded for the highly enjoyable performances by Music Generation. It was great to see so the new residents in our town out joining in with the locals and being made feel welcome on what was a memorable day and one that can hopefully be repeated again next year. Well done to all the Committee members and helpers and thank you for all your effort, dedication and hard work in making the day possible.
There was an interesting comment on social media in relation to the parade with one person saying “It’s good to now see Boyle pulling together”. Has Boyle not been “pulling together”??? One only has to look at all the positives that have been achieved by the numerous groups and organisations locally in recent times to see that Boyle has never pulled together better than it has in the last few years.
Praise for those who seek to go forward for election
With the line up for this year’s local elections now pretty clear, one has to commend all those who have put their names forward. Being a County Councillor can, on occasion, be a thankless task, working seven days a week, late into the night without just reward. Add into the mix, what this week has been referred to as the ‘toxicity’ that exists in local and national politics and you admire even more those who are putting their names on the ballot paper. This week Fine Gael TD Ciarán Cannon announced that he will not contest the next general election blaming “toxicity in politics”. And the shock of the week was An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s announcement that he was stepping down as leader of Fine Gael. Following An Taoiseach’s announcement, this toxicity went into overdrive and comments posted online both locally and nationally about Mr Varadkar’s personal life were outrageous, saying more about those who make such comments than the human being on the receiving end. The people who post these comments, including those not brave enough to use their own name, need to sit back and think before they hit the keyboard. What they are doing is a form of bullying which would not be tolerated in any other setting.
News snippets from around Boyle
Planning permission for change of use from a building containing eight apartments to a guest accommodation building containing eight self catering guest rooms is to be made to Roscommon County Council by Rockingham Rentals Ltd in respect of Tangier House, The Crescent, Boyle………..Well done and thank you to the two local men who nice and quietly went around the town last Tuesday cleaning the algae off the historic signs……….A timely message perhaps on one of the entries in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade – “Boyle – a town full of –Energy“………..What a brilliant achievement by Ann Wynne and Michelle Lannon from Boyle to win bronze medals during the week at the European Masters Indoor Championship in Poland and also octogenarian John McDermott originally from Abbeytown but now living in Strandhill who has won two golds so far……….It was lovely to see Boyle Abbey being used last week by a newly wed couple for their wedding photographs. It is an ideal location and looked absolutely brilliant in the afternoon sunlight. More use should be made of the glassed wall area in the Abbey to host outdoor events during the summer months with the Abbey now open daily to the public since March 15th………The late actor Emmet Bergin who died suddenly last week was a well known figure around this area having a holiday home between Ballinafad and Corrigeenroe……….Another well known person who has holidayed in this area is Oscar winner Cillian Murphy who has visited Boyle and Lough Key Forest Park on many occasions………Boyle has always been blessed with volunteers over the years so it is a shame to see the Angling Festival along with today’s Daffodil Day not proceeding this year. Maybe it takes a year without such events to make people sit up and put their names forward to help out for the future……..The proposed ‘build out’ that will be constructed on the yellow hatched area on Main Street to restrict illegal parking can not come quick enough. Illegal parking on these lines is causing major traffic problems during the current roadworks as vehicles can not get up or down Main Street due to people’s belief that they can illegally park wherever they want. Is it time for the implementation of restricted parking and a traffic warden in Boyle? (See poll on bottom right of this page)………..A date for your diary – Boyle Musical Society will celebrate 40 years of musicals with a very special Ruby Anniversary Concert on Sunday May 26th in St. Joseph’s Church, Boyle………Congratulations to Boyle girl Saoirse Supple who was the Leitrim winner in the Employee Excellence Category at the Connaught Restaurant Awards on Wednesday night. Saoirse works in Honestly Farm Kitchen.
And finally…..!
An single old lady sat on her front porch, rocking away the last days of her long life, when all of a sudden, a fairy godmother appeared and informed her that she would be granted three wishes.
Well, now,” said the old lady, ”I guess I would like to be really rich.” POOF Her rocking chair turned into solid gold.
”And you know, I guess I wouldn’t mind being a young, beautiful princess.” POOF She turned into a beautiful young woman.
”Your third wish?” asked the fairy godmother. Just then the old woman’s cat wandered across the porch in front of them. ”Ooh – can you change him into a handsome prince?” she asked. POOF
And there before her stood a young man more handsome than anyone could have possibly imagined. She stared at him, smitten. With a smile that made her knees weak, he sauntered across the porch and whispered in her ear,
”Bet you’re sorry now you had me neutered.”
