A great seven days for Boyle
In what has been a great week for Boyle, €300,000 in funding has come the town’s way, the latest tranche of €100,000 coming on Thursday. This will now be used to identify ways to encourage more people to live in the centre of Boyle. The money is separate to the category two funding that will be sought for the ‘Boyle Rooms’ project and separate also from the €3m being sought under two other schemes for the town rejuvenation. Getting people to live in the centre of Boyle is a crucial part of the Boyle 2040 plan.
Despite the efforts of one or two in Boyle to indicate otherwise, Boyle 2040 will not sit on the shelf gathering dust. It is plan that is being implemented with immediate effect, as was stated at it’s launch. The initial allocation of funds shows that is exactly what is happening.
Denis Naughten was a friend to Boyle
Denis Naughten’s shock resignation on Thursday as Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment will be sorely felt here in Boyle where he has been a good friend to the town and all it has planned. Denis was instrumental in getting Boyle 2040 launched and as late as Monday last, had his officials working on a separate matter – a broadband problem that is affecting many in Boyle. Denis made no secret of his admiration for the work that is being undertaken in the town and constantly lent his support to the plans. He will be missed.
Benefiting from being ‘off the beaten track’
The visit last week of Chad Gillard from US based Letsworkaround.com to Boyle should put the town on the map for working adventure holidays. Chad visited the Spool Factory and will included it on his list of working locations throughout Ireland. Chad believes there are two types of holiday his country folk are interested in. One is the holiday to Killarney, Galway and the major tourist centres and the second is to the likes of Boyle which is more reflective of rural Ireland and ‘off the beaten track’. Chad was very impressed with the town, coming as he does from a small rural town in America. He visited Lough Key Forest Park, the Farmers Market and even took in an underage GAA game! Looking out from the Spool Factory he saw the ongoing work on Frybrook House and visualised how he could bring tourists to the house and other locations in Boyle while they worked in the Spool Factory and visited Lough Key Forest Park, the Abbey and King House. An exciting collaboration between Letsworkaround.com and Boyle is on the cards.
Boyle’s Dangerous Junctions
There has been much debate over the years as to where Boyle’s most dangerous junction is located. The top two have to be McDonagh’s corner and the N4 old Carrick Road junction at Erris. How McDonagh’s corner ever ended up with the current layout is beyond belief. Granted the N61 makes its way down through the town, but having cars stop on Main Street to cross over the national primary route to St. Patrick Street is a recipe for disaster. There are no road markings in place to tell motorists to stop with many just heading straight through. And then you have the motorist who are heading straight on out St. Patrick Street who put on their right indicators, giving motorists on Patrick Street the impression that they are turning right when in fact they are going straight on!
At Erris, bad driving added to by no turning off lane from Carrick N4 to the R294 will lead to a serious RTC at some stage. For whatever reason, certain drivers exiting right from the old Carrick Road onto the N4, see a car indicating to turn in the Carrick Rd and on occasion pull straight out across the N4, oblivious to cars hidden behind the vehicle coming from Carrick. On top of all these we have the bottle neck at the Bank of Ireland where cars coming from Military Road, cut the sweeping chicane into the path of motorists travelling from Main Street. Roscommon Co Co, who are doing brilliant work around town at present could perhaps consult Transport Ireland to look at all our dangerous junctions.
Job opportunities at Centre Parc
Centre Parcs will hold two recruitment days in Longford today Friday and tomorrow Saturday. There are a large number of jobs on offer in various areas from food and beverage to housekeeping, technical, office, leisure, guest services, HR – the list is endless! The resort, which is due to open next summer with 750 jobs, is within commuting distance for anyone from Boyle looking for employment. Further details are available now on ‘Around the County’ section of Boyletoday.com.
Will Dublin – Sligo line be alcohol free?
One wonders how long it will be before the Dublin – Sligo rail line is included in the list of routes where alcohol is banned. From today (Friday) a number of services from Heuston to Galway and Westport will be alcohol free following “persistent complaints” from passengers about anti-social behaviour on board certain services from the capital on Fridays. Regulars on certain trains to Boyle will be only too well aware of the behaviour of groups who head off to stag party’s in Carrick and Sligo at the weekends and who can, on occasion, be very boisterous when they have alcohol taken. Mind you it is not on the trains that they get the alcohol as it is cost prohibitive.
And finally…..!
An elderly man lay dying in his bed. While suffering agonies on his way to his final moment, he suddenly smells the aroma of his favourite scones wafting up the stairs.
He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed.
Leaning on the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, gripping the wall; he slowly makes it to the kitchen.
There, piled on a tray are his favourite scones.
Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of love from his devoted Scottish wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?
Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in rumpled posture.
His aged and withered hand trembled towards a scone at the edge of the table, when suddenly his wife smacked it with a wooden spoon.
“Hands off” she shouts……………. “They’re for the funeral”.
