Tourism figures provide interesting reading
The 2016 tourism figures published here in Boyletoday.com on Wednesday made interesting reading. Lough Key, as expected, was the number one tourist attraction in the town and county. King House and Boyle Abbey came in second and third which was no surprise. But what did raise eyebrows was the low numbers visiting Boyle Abbey and by association with Lough Key, King house also. With a facility like Lough Key attracting 70,000 people in 2016, why has Boyle Abbey – less than 5k away – only attracted 7,900? And even though King House had an 8% increase in visitor numbersin 2016, why is it only attracting 13,000? This blog has campaigned before for a joint marketing campaign for the three Boyle tourism attractions and a three venue entry ticket. When the Model Railway comes on track in April this could be a four venue admission ticket. A meeting between Moylurg Rockingham, the OPW and Roscommon Co Co needs to be organised straight away to get this in place. The figures speak for themseleves and reiterate the well know fact that Boyle is not fully benefiting from having Lough Key Forest Park right on our doorstep.
How would Boyle react to a refugee centre?
As Ballaghaderreen wakes up this morning to news that it’s former hotel is to become a refugee centre, one wonders what the reaction would be in Boyle if we heard the Royal Hotel were to face a similar fate? In Ballaghaderreen, it seems the annoyance is not mainly aimed against refugees, but against the fact that the hotel will not reopen in it’s former glory. Like Boyle, the residents of the town know the importance of having a hotel in their midst. Now it looks like that will not be the case any more. No doubt this breaking story will be one of the main talking points around the county for the next number of weeks.
Isn’t there a grand stretch in the evenings?
In general the weather has been beautiful so far this winter. As yet, we have not had that many of the grey, dark, cold days that one associates with winter at this time of year in the West of Ireland. Instead, bright, crisp sunny days have been the norm. The fine weather of the past week has given rise to the annual comment “Isn’t there a grand stretch in the evenings”. And indeed you can notice it in the evening although the morning’s seem darker! For the record, the grand stretch today Friday 6th is now at approx 16 minutes and increasing daily. Remember, if you work until 6pm, you will becoming home in daylight in or around Valentines Day!
No move for the nearest Lidl store to Boyle
The decision by An Bord Pleanala to overturn a grant of permission by Leitrim Co Co and not to accept the recommendation of its own inspector to grant permission to Lidl for a new store in Carrick will be of interest to shoppers from Boyle. The current Lidl store is located in Cortober on the Boyle side of Carrick. The proposal was to build a new store on the other side of Carrick – opposite Tesco and the retail park. From a Boyle perspective, a move to the eastern side of the Leitrim town by the German retailer would probably have a negative impact on those who travel from the town to the store, with a resultant decrease in footfall. The traffic problems that have blighted Carrick, especially at weekends, could have put people off travelling to “the other side of town”. Up in Roscommon, the local authority must be delighted at the decision as the closure of the Cortober store would have seen a large decrease in rates from that part of the county.
The mystery buggy
The abandonment of a buggy near the Boyle river on what was once referred to as “The Nun’s Walk” gave rise for concern earlier this week. The buggy, which seemed in perfect condition, was left close to the gate at Christ the King junction and remained there for several days. It has since been removed. Many hoped that there had not been some form of tragedy with the buggy left so close to the river while others had what could probably be assumed as the most logical answer when they suggested that it may have been abandoned in the hope of getting a bigger and better one!
A strange time to close up shop
The January sales always attract a fair number of shoppers to Boyle considering the range of quality men’s and ladies fashion stores we have in the town, added to by many other retail outlets. Following the shopping, men sometimes head for a pint – with plenty of choices for them in Boyle, while the women may drop in to an outlet for Coffee. Unlike their male counterparts, those females shopping in January who fancied a coffee and something sweet did not have the usual wide choice of venues as pre Christmas. For some reason many of our food outlets and cafes decided to close after Christmas and in the process lost out on a captive market. Consistent opening hours with plenty of value for money choice is a must in the food sector in Boyle and certainly at a time like post Christmas when many people are more interested in eating out than eating in.
And finally….!
A wife was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband’s key in the door.
“Stay where you are,” she said. “He’s so drunk he won’t even notice you’re in bed with me.”
Sure enough, the husband lurched into bed none the wiser, but a few minutes later, through a drunken haze, he saw six feet sticking out at the end of the bed.
He turned to his wife: “Hey, there are six feet in this bed. There should only be four. What’s going on?”
“Nonsense,” said the wife. “You’re so drunk you miscounted. Get out of bed and try again. You can see better from over there.”
The husband climbed out of bed and counted. “One, two, three, four. You’re right, you know
