People power in action last Saturday
Last Saturday’s Water Charges protest march was a real sign of people power in action. There was mixed views on the number of protestors who turned out, but 1000 would be a good guess. The march had an diverse mix of people taking part. There were those probably never protested before and who genuinely believed this tax is a tax to far and who felt that protesting publicly may be a way of letting the government know their frustration and then there were others who, given the chance, would march against motherhood and who would use any opportunity to take to the streets with a placard in hand. Thankfully they were in the minority. At the end of the march the microphone was opened up to the public – a dangerous thing to do at the best of times, not least when emotions were running so high. Protestors vented their anger with one or two highly slanderous comments made about certain individuals. Thankfully there were no TV cameras to record this part of the day or the “mantra” being shouted from the car as the protest went up the Crescent!
Cian Smith Testimonial Saturday
This Saturday sees a very important game of football take place in the Abbey Park after which local man Cian Smith will hang up his boots for health reasons. Cian and the Smith family are deeply immersed in the football life of Boyle and their native county and are highly respected the length and breadth of Roscommon and further afield. As a result, there should be a great turnout for the 3pm game with the proceeds going to Mayo/Roscommon Hospice and the Kyle Casey Fund. Cian is one of life’s gentlemen but he has been known to make his presence and views known on the field prompting one person to ask the question during week “Can you be put off in your testimonial?”. We’ll know the answer to that on Saturday evening!
Lets wait for the good news
The break that Boyle needs didn’t materialise on Wednesday last as word filtered through that no announcement was going to be made that day on a new owner for the Green Isle plant. Investigations by this website led to the information that a meeting did take place between various stakeholders on Wednesday but some important items need to be addressed before any announcement is made. To ensure this project becomes a reality, it is imperative that speculation is kept private and not published prematurely as this could jeopardise the whole project. The best course of action would be to let the talks progress unhindered and await an official announcement.
Two important meetings on Monday
There has been a time change for this Monday night’s inaugural Town Revitalisation Meeting. Originally scheduled for 6.30pm, it will now be held at 8pm in the Enterprise Centre. The 6.30pm slot will be taken up by a meeting on The Draft Boyle Local Area Plan which will take place in King House. Both of these meetings are of uptmost importance to the future of our town and having both on the one night is a good idea as hopefully people will stay out for the two meetings.
A sign of the great community in which we live
Last Saturday night will be etched in the minds of many local people, not least the family of Enda Lavin who died following a fishing accident on Lough Key. If ever one needed reminding of the caring and supportive community we come from here in Boyle, it was event that night when a steady stream of people drove out to Rockingham and gathered on the foreshore awaiting instructions as to where to lend support in the search for Enda. The eerie silence of the large crowd that gathered that night was only broken by the noise of the rescue helicopter that lit up the lake – a sound that will remain in the ears of many for some time to come. It is on occasions like these that you really appreciate the community you live among in Boyle, who are there when you need them most. The sincere sympathy of that same community goes out to Helen, Catherine and Paul and the Kelly and Lavin family on the sad loss of Enda.
“A Life in Stone” to launch tonight
Tonight (Friday) will see local man Barry Feely launch another book to add to the four others he has already written. “A Life in Stone” will launch in Feelystone showrooms at 7.30pm and all are invited to attend. Barry is well known in Boyle and a member of a family who have given gainful employment to hundreds of people from the town over the years. Barry is a Boyle man through and through and a great story teller into the bargain. No doubt tonight’s launch will draw one or two stories from a man who has a wealth of knowledge on and about his home town of Boyle.
And Finally….!
A man took a pair of stuffed dogs that he had found one night in a skip outside the local pub to the ‘Antiques Roadshow’ that was being held in his local town.
“Oh my goodness!” declared the normally unimpressed taxidermy expert, “This is very rare: to find on the open market one dog produced by the celebrated London taxidermist, Peter Spicer, who operated there in the late 19th century is very rare indeed. But to find a matched pair – that is quite unheard of. Spicer was very well known in Victorian times, he even stuffed things for Queen Victoria! Do you have any idea what they would fetch if they were in good condition?”
“Ah….Sticks?” asked the man.
