Tuesday’s rain was not the worst seen in Boyle
What a contrast there was between last Tuesday and the previous Tuesday. 48mm of rain fell on Boyle in a twelve hour period between 7am and 7pm on Tuesday last while the previous week we basked in blue skies and high temperatures. There were numerous reports of flooding with disruption to the rail service as could be seen from the online video on Boyletoday.com which received thousands of views. The rains last Tuesday were not the worst to hit Boyle. Back on what started off as a sunny hot Sunday afternoon on July 28th 1996, 83.6mm of rain fell in one hour on the town! That downpour was one of the worst in recent memory. It washed away roads, closed the rail line and cut off the town resulting in the County Emergency plan being one step away from activation. So think how bad Tuesday was over a twelve hour period and put double that rain into one hour and you will get an idea of what occured in ’96.
Knock to greet it’s highest profile customer
This website has long been an advocate of Ireland West Airport – “our local airport”, and the benefits it can bring to this region, including Boyle. Here in this town, we have become accustomed to the sight and sound of low flying aircraft on descent to the airport with Ryanair, Aer Lingus and Flybe the most frequent companies heading into the Mayo base. But in the next few weeks you may notice a few larger than normal and more unusual aircraft over Boyle on their way into Knock. Add to this the noted increase in security as one enters the airport and all the indications are present that something big is about to happen. Well you read it here first! “Our local airport” will soon get one of it’s highest profile customers with the arrival of the Vice President of the United States of America Joe Biden. Last Saturday a massive C17 US Military Globemaster plane circled Gurteen on finals to Knock after coming from McGuire Airforce base in New Jersey with advance logisitics for the VP’s visit and there are more such planes to come in advance of the visit. Keep an eye skywards over Boyle in the next few days and you could see some aircraft that may never be seen again over our skies.
Increase in King House numbers is welcome news
The 2000 extra visitors to King House since the launch of the McAleese Collection is to be welcomed. The display of a sample of the collection today (Friday) at the opening of Aras an Chontae in Roscommon will hopefully entice more visitors to come to the House to see the full range of Presidential gifts.
Encouraging our young footballers
Last Saturday Boyletoday.com paid a visit, on request, to the Abbey Park to photograph the under 10 GAA blitz in progress. It was an enjoyable morning and a big change from the blitzes of old. Gone, thankfully, is the “must win at all cost” mentality. The competiton at this level is on enjoyment and learning the rules and skills of the game. It was also heartening to see the encouragement of the coaches to the young players with little or no shouting, replaced instead by pats on the back and smiles all round. The assistance and knowledge of ex Roscommon player and now U10 coach Gerry Emmett probably went over the heads of the youngsters from Boyle (as thankfully did Gerry’s one liners!). From what was on show last Saturday in the Abbey Park, the future of underage fottball is sceure in County Roscommon. Well done to all involved, especially the coaches who give up their time freely to train our young people.
Bin changes caught many unaware
The changes to the collection day by Barna Recycling, as highlighted by this website, caught many unaware. Domestic, recycling and household waste will now all be collected in Boyle by the company every two weeks. This in itself is a good thing as it eliminates the need to know what bin goes out what day on what week. The problem is not the frequency but the way the change was communicated to some. Barna blame An Post for the delay in letters issuing, An Post say they deliver over 90% of mail next day. Somewhere along the line something slipped up. Some consumers in town were notified last week while others only received notification Monday or Tuesday, resulting in bin times being missed. In addition there is some annoyance at the elimination of bin tags from July 1st, when pay by weight is introduced. Not everyone can afford to pay bin charges in advance and the weekly purchase of a bag or tag eased the financial burden.
Boyle filling stations can benefit from closure
The unfortunate closure of the McCormack group of companies during the week has left many people out of pocket and workers without jobs. In Castlebaldwin, the Excol shop and adjacent Supermacs premises remains closed resulting in no fuel station now on the N4 from Collooney to Carrick on Shannon, that is unless you divert into Boyle. For the village of Castlebaldwin it is yet another blow in an area of low employment opportunities with Cromleach Lodge closing earlier this year and now Excol and Supermacs.
Facebook defamation case should be noted
This morning’s Irish Independent reports that a Monaghan man must pay €75k damages for defamatory comments he posted on Facebook. In issuing the award the judge in the case said his order “should teach people posting messages on social media to be very careful”. Those who post defamatory comments, innuendo, gossip, personal attacks and rumour on Facebook or the internet should note carefully the contents of Judge O’Hagan’s ruling.
And finally….!
A SNCO and a Very Junior Officer are sitting next to each other on a long flight. The Officer is thinking that NCO’s are so dumb that he could get one over on them easy. So the Officer asks if the SNCO would like to play a fun game. The SNCO is tired and just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and tries to catch a few winks.
The Officer persists, saying “Come on, this is a fun game. I ask you a question and if you don’t know the answer you pay me only €5. Then you ask me one and if I don’t know the answer I will pay you €100.”
This catches the SNCO’s attention and, to keep the Officer quiet, he agrees to play the game.
The Officer asks the first question, “What’s the distance from the Earth to the Moon?”
The SNCO doesn’t say a word, but reaches into his pocket, pulls out a five-euro note, and hands it to the Officer. Now it’s the SNCO’s turn.
He asks the Officer, “What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?”
The Officer uses his laptop and searches all references he can find on the internet. He sends e-mails to all the smart friends he knows; all to no avail. After over two hours of searching he finally gives up. He wakes the SNCO and hands him €100. The SNCO pockets the £100 and goes right back to sleep.
The Officer is going nuts not knowing the answer. He wakes the SNCO up and asks, “Well, so what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four?”
The SNCO reaches into his pocket, hands the Officer €5, and goes back to sleep.
