‘It was like a St Patrick’s Day but in July’
What was a miserable morning turned into a beautiful evening for the opening of the 35th Boyle Arts Festival last evening. Such were the crowds that turned out, one local described it as “like a St. Patrick’s Day but in July’. With the sun shining and the temperatures rising, there was a continental feel to the town as the new wide footpaths came into their own with chairs and tables outside various premises and hundreds lining the sunny route along Bridge Street for the opening parade. It was great to see so many local people back home for the festival with acquaintances being renewed and laughter and happiness filling the summer air. Local man and famous actor and producer Chris O’Dowd who officially opened the festival, as expected, was a big hit with the large audience, reading a poem about his hometown which was especially enjoyed by the local people who could relate to the various places he spoke about.
Full credit to all who made the opening parade possible, the people who organised the pre parade workshops and of course the hard working eleven person committee who were quite rightfully gleaming from ear to ear at what was a very successful opening night and what will hopefully be a great nine days ahead.
(The winner of the Fergus Ahern Award was Hughie O’Donoghue while the Open Art most promising award went to 12 year old Maeve Dwyer with Brenda Harvey the overall winner)
Disquiet at lack of public area maintenance in Boyle
Concern has been expressed locally of late, by many people, at the alleged lack of maintenance being undertaken by Roscommon Co Co in Boyle town. In fact some businesses are threatening to withhold their 2024 rates if some positive answers are not forthcoming. Verge and grass cutting have become more infrequent and footpaths are being taken over by vegetation. We previously raised the situation in relation to the overgrown hedges on the old Carrick Road footpath, before one turns left for Maple Drive. The situation is now so bad on this popular walking route that it is alleged a child being pushed in a buggy recently had it’s face cut by briars hanging out on the roadway. Locals have taken to cutting the grass at the Shilling Hill and on the approach junction to town on the N4 and litter picking and weed control is all undertaken by the Tidy Town volunteers and members of various resident associations or businesses. It is not good enough.
If you would like to contact your local Boyle MD County Councillor about the situation, you will find their details here. Hopefully all the representations and feelings of disquiet that have been made to date on the subject will be raised at today’s meeting of Boyle Municipal District and action taken.
Great to see Mosaic shop fronts being brought back to life
It’s great to see another landmark Boyle building getting ready for an upgrade this week with work continuing on unveiling the mosaic front on McDonagh’s premises on the corner of Main Street and Bridge Street. Boyle is unique in that it has some fabulous mosaic shop fronts like McNamara’s, Cosgroves’s, Mullaney’s and Carroll’s. Many of these were featured earlier this year on a Nationwide programme with artist Laura Earley who has documented the mosaic fronts that still exist on many shops around the county. Laura’s research has pointed to the former Irish Mosaic Factory in Roscommon as the reason why the county has such a large number of such shops fronts. If you missed the Nationwide programme, you can catch it here
The need to report crime to An Garda Siochana
Boyletoday.com was contacted last week by a viewer in the town who had their car interfered with outside their home. The viewer said they got a good description of the person involved. They asked could we publish the information so other people in town could be aware of the situation. When we asked had they contacted An Garda Siochana to report the matter, they said they had not. We suggested they should, as it is vitally important crimes like this are recorded and investigated.
Another person also recently contacted us about some anti social behaviour in Boyle and when we suggested they too should contact the Gardai, they said they did not as “we will only get through to Castlerea and they wouldn’t have a clue where we were talking about”.
This blog has highlighted previously the importance of ringing in, and having logged, any crime that happens in Boyle. If you do not do so, the statistics that Garda Management now seem to base everything on, will show that there is little crime in the town and we will then have no chance of getting additional Gardai to the area or having our Garda Station opened for longer hours.
On the same subject, it is disappointing to note that the Joint Policing Committee – the one forum where the serious situation in Boyle Garda Station with low numbers and reduced opening was raised regularly – is no longer in operation. The June JPC meeting was cancelled due to the local elections, while all other meetings scheduled for the remainder of the year are also cancelled in advance of the formation of Local Community Safety Partnerships.
Non electric cars blocking local charge points
With the rise in electric vehicles in Ireland comes an increased demand for charge points and here in Boyle we have a number of these points, but they are not always accessible. On viewer told us: “I come to Boyle quite regularly and almost every time I go to charge my car, the spots are gone and not by other electric cars. I am sending an email to Roscommon Co.Co. on this. I am thinking that it might be an idea to put road markings on the spots. The station at the Post Office is always gone as there is absolutely no marking there”.
It is understood that when work commences on the remodeling and upgrade of An Rioga car park, that there will be better marked additional charging points installed, but until then, please do not park your car in an EV charge point unless you intend to use it.
News snippets from around Boyle
There are now a number of food outlets in the town open for evening meals, especially during Arts Week so let’s head out and support these establishments as they endeavor to fill a gap in the market that people are often quick to highlight………Great interview with Chris O’Dowd on the Ray Darcy show on RTE Radio 1 on Thursday afternoon in advance of his opening of the Arts Festival. If you missed it, you can catch it here………Ardcarne Garden Cafe got a nice mention in last Saturday’s Irish Times in an article titled “Great Garden Centres where you can find a nice lunch too”…………Coffee Morning for Hospice in the home of Liz and Denis Flanagan, Killaraght, Boyle F52 N253, tomorrow (Saturday) from 11am-6pm…………We seem to be a magnet for abandoned buggies in Boyle. Previously there was one left outside An Rioga for a few weeks. Then there was one on Shop Street and now another has popped up in the Pleasure Grounds………….A letter posted in Boyle on Monday morning took 3 days to get to Dublin, arriving Thursday……It was a long journey for passengers, incuding some from Boyle, who were heading to Milan yesterday evening from Knock. The inbound plane diverted to Dublin due to technical problems resulting in the outbound flight from Knock departing 4 hours late at 10pm………..With Boyle scheduled to see an influx of visitors this week for the Arts Festival, it would be great if business owners and their staff used the various car parks around town and not park on street……….Boyle Family Resource Centre is delighted to announce that Athlone Rape Crisis Service are now providing an outreach clinic in the counselling centre on Tuesdays. This service is a free professional counselling service for both males and females who have experienced rape, sexual abuse, or any other form of sexual violence. Counselling is provided by accredited psychotherapist Caitlin Hester (MIACP). Appointments can be made by ringing Athlone Rape Crisis Centre directly on free phone number 1800 306 600………Plenty of events for the younger members of the community this weekend with the County Playday in Boyle’s Lough Key Forest Park on Saturday followed by Family Day in the Pleasure Grounds on Sunday……….You now don’t have to leave Boyle to avail of a University course with the Spool Factory Co Working Hub offering three Level 6 courses in conjunction with TUS this September……..Culture Friday continues today in Boyle Craft Shop from 1-1.30pm with “Meet the Author with Alanna Moore”. Alanna will share a glimpse of our latest book ‘Fairy Haunts of Ireland’…………All the painting and cleaning around town, the beautiful floral displays, added to by some planned openings, the Arts Festival, warmer weather and additional tourists is giving a very positive vibe and sense of pride around Boyle at present. Long may it continue.
And finally….!
A cowboy appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.
‘Have you ever done anything of particular merit?’, St. Peter asked.
‘Well, I can think of one thing,’ the cowboy offered.
‘On a trip to the Black Hills out in South Dakota, I came upon a gang of bikers who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn’t listen. So, I approached the largest and most tattooed biker and smacked him in the face, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I yelled, ‘Now, back off or I’ll kick the crap out of all of you!’
St. Peter was impressed, ‘When did this happen?’
‘A couple a minutes ago’ replied the cowboy.
