The final piece of the public realm jigsaw falls into place
No time is a good time for road resurfacing in the centre of any town or indeed the closing of a roadway but on the positive side – by December all the digging and resurfacing in Boyle will be completed and the lower end of the town will be looking at its best for the festive season. This is what we should be concentrating on at present and planning on how to let the public know Boyle will soon have a new streetscape, free parking and great shops ready to greet customers in the run up to Christmas. But from this Monday, for the next week or two, there will be some pain as weekday 9-5pm road resurfacing along Bridge Street and Shop Street, that forms the final part of the public realm work, will result in traffic management in the town centre. There will be delays and no doubt frustration but the work needs to be done and with favourable weather conditions, it is hoped the project will be finished ahead of the December 6th date published on the closure notice. A crew of approximately 33 personnel will be on site for the duration of the works made up of 13 Traffic Management and 20 Road Construction. Parking will still be available in Green Street car park, in the Crescent car park and on other streets and areas not affected by the closures and the footpaths on Bridge Street and Shop Street will remain open for pedestrians.
The Boyle link to foundation of Shannonside Radio
Last Wednesday was the 35th anniversary of the first broadcast of Shannonside Radio. Based in Longford the station is now part and parcel of the local community, but it would not be in existence were it not for the foresight of three Boyle men. Back in 1988, the late Des McLoughlin, Brian Nerney and John Brady (who is originally from Knockvicar) met in an office in Mullingar with a common goal – to seek the licence for the first legal radio station to broadcast to Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford. The trio brought on board the Leitrim Observer, Longford Leader, Roscommon Herald, Pat the Baker, Westward Garage and the Federation of Churches and successfully obtained the licence to commence broadcasting in November 1989. When they got the licence, they proceeded, along with their fellow directors and shareholders, to build the station year on year. The rest, as they say, is history and Shannonside is still there today -35 years later- testament to the foresight of three Boyle friends.
Great response to Boyle Health Check
It is understood there was a great response by the public to the ‘Town Centre Health Check’ that was conducted by masters students from NUI Galway in Boyle yesterday (Thursday). The students were positioned at key locations in the town and asked passing members of the public a number of questions, some topical at the moment and others that were more generalised in nature. The students will now head back to Galway and compile a report based on the responses they received. The report along with the soon to be launched Boyle Community and Economic Plan will help the relevant civic bodies to improve Boyle and make it a better place in which to live, work and visit.
Pressure mounting for an early morning train to Sligo
Pressure is mounting for an early morning train into Sligo that would serve as a commuter link for towns like Carrick on Shannon, Boyle and Ballymote, First mooted over 30 years ago, the initial idea was to have a commuter train from Carrick, but that has now grown to try and have a train leave Dublin earlier in the morning to service all the line and arrive in Sligo before 8.30am. Currently you can be in Sligo from London (via Knock), earlier than if you travel from Dublin to Sligo, which is crazy. An early morning train would be of great benefit to Boyle residents as students, those with medical appointments and those who work in Sligo could continue to live in Boyle and arrive in Sligo first thing in the morning.
Boyle to feature on Moving West TV programme
Next Tuesday it’s Roscommon – and Boyle’s turn – to feature on the popular Moving West TV series. Last October Mary Kennedy and the team from Dundara TV along with representatives from the Western Development Commission came to Boyle to film a large part of the show. They visited the Spool Factory and spoke to a number of Studio Meala staff from the east coast who have made Boyle their home. They also interviewed Aine Murphy who along with her family have moved, from Brussels to St. Patrick Street and set up home in her husband Conan’s grandparents former residence. Boyle Town Team Chairman and Commodity Manager at Nordson Medical Ciaran Sheerin also appears in the programme where he gives an insight into job opportunities in Boyle. Regular viewers of the series will already have noticed Mary Kennedy’s promo for Moving West which was shot in the Pleasure Grounds in the town. Tune into TG4 next Tuesday night at 7.30pm to see why a number of people have made the move to beautiful Boyle.
News snippets from around Boyle
Head out to Boyle’s Lough Key Forest Park on Sunday if you would like to see some lovely vintage Jaguar cars, as the Jaguar Owners Club will showcase a number of models between 12 noon and 1pm……….Sinn Fein supporters got a bit mixed up last weekend, putting two Martin Kenny posters on the railings of Bank of Ireland in Boyle. (Martin of course is standing in Sligo/Leitrim South Donegal constituency)…….Well done to our ‘local’ hotel Kilronan Castle who were Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands Food Lovers Choice award winners at the Good Food Awards this week……..Not a great week to travel on Irish Rail to Boyle and Sligo with many trains running late – some up to an hour behind schedule with delays becoming the norm every day now……..When the carriageway resurfacing commences next week from McDonagh’s corner to Corrib Oil, perhaps they could spare a bit of tarmac to fill in the area around the service duct on Main Street outside the former Mattimoe’s premises…….Boyle Christmas Lights fundraising Table Quiz on Saturday November 30th at 5pm in St. Joseph’s Hall. €20 per family or a table of 4. You can also support Boyle Christmas Lights GoFundMe page here…….Roscommon County Childcare Committee CLG will host a play and stay session at the baby and toddler group next Tuesday November 19th at 9.30am in Boyle Family Resource Centre………All performances for next week’s Boyle Musical Society’s ‘The Sound of Music’ are now sold out. For those still hoping to purchase tickets, the Musical Society are in the process of setting up a cancellation list and they will publish details of this shortly. They also strongly advise people not to purchase any tickets through online third parties, even those offered through comments on their Facebook and Instagram pages………Maybe Sr. Philomena’s mantra to her junior infants class many years ago in the old Convent School of “Rain rain go to Spain and never come back to Boyle again” has finally worked!!
And finally….!
John hit rock bottom.
He was going to jail for insider trading and it couldn’t get much worse than that.
As the prison guard brought John to his cell, his worst fears were materialised.
Sitting hunched over on a bed was his soon to be roommate. He was a hunk of a man wearing a sleeveless undershirt, with vicious looking tattoos on each arm.
As John approached the prison cell the giant looked up at him and said in a deep booming voice, “So what did you do to get yourself in here?”
“White collar crime” responded John nervously.
“Well how about that? Me too,” the big man said.
“Phew,” said John feeling his body relaxing, “To be honest I got a bit nervous when I saw you.”
“Nah” responded the giant waving his hand “what’s there to be nervous about?”
“So tell me,” questioned the room mate – “How many priest’s did you kill?”
