What is Loughrea like?

doctor evil

As above, may be moving there.

Is there any bus services or transport?, local amenities or shops.

Thanking you;).

EAFC_rdfl

did the same myself about a month ago. can't fault it so far, a lack of good value shopping wise, there's a thread on here somewhere about it already, basically tesco aldi etc are constantly refused from opening so its only the supervalu to go to
theres a private bus firm who run a service into galway think it goes 3 times in the morning and 2 or 3 times in the evening which my girlfriend uses
havn't been out on the town too much so far but there seems to be a good few pubs to choose from

Earlc

Nice town. Pretty Small. Close to Galway City. Lots of local amenities. I quiet like the idea of not having a Tescos, Aldi etc. I live in the UK and tescos has ruined a lot of towns bigger than loughrea. If Tescos were to open in Loughrea, it would be on a out of town site. All the small businesses such as butchers, fruit & veg shops, petrol stations etc within the town boundaries (which makes like easy for locals to shop and give the town centre a vibrant feel) would not be able compete and would automatically shut down. Supervalue may be expensive but there are other options. Keep these multinationals out I say:)

Good luck with the move Doc, you could pick a lot worse

doctor evil

Sounds good sounds good!

Brouhaha

If your question about bus services is for between Loughrea and Galway city then this is the service people use for work/college commute: http://www.healytours.ie/ss_loughrea.html

As Loughrea is on the Dublin to Galway road there are also Bus Eireann/City Link/Nestors buses roughly every half hour.

Loughrea is traditionally a market town so there are plenty of shops with the notable exception of the big multinationals as EAFC_rdfl said (it might not be a popular opinion but I tend to agree with Earlc that a Tesco would do a lot of harm to Loughrea - the family owned business in the town centre couldn't compete)

kellyreilly

Nice town though with just the one nightclub.......Ringos!!
Ringos.....if you there and your over 21 your considered to be old....nuff said

doctor evil

kellyreilly wrote: »

Nice town though with just the one nightclub.......Ringos!!
Ringos.....if you there and your over 21 your considered to be old....nuff said

Think I'll be a bit old for there!, what are pubs like?

Shryke

Less and less pubs every year its seems. Still, McNamees and a few others are decent. You should be able to find one you like.

finlma

This just might make you change your mind about Loughrea. Don't know if there's any truth but if I was considering moving there it's certainly something I'd look into.

http://www.galwaynews.ie/2480-claims-moyross-residents-relocate-loughrea?mini=all_news/2008/3/all&

MargeS

apparently there is no truth to that. It was said as a joke/hoax and a councilor brought it up at a council meeting and the story took off from there.

johnnyboy4711

Moved here over 2 years ago for house afordablility etc from Galway city.
I love the idea of an open market and I think the consumer(IE ME) shouild have a choice where he/she would like to shop and make it my business not to shop in supervalue as in my opinion it has the market share and does not need to work about competitors so consumers get shafted!
Many people in Loughrea like the idea of not having choice fair play to them but not me!
Its like the town in Blazing Saddles with everybodies surname ending in Johnson.
I make it my business to shop in Aldi,Lidl,Dunnes or tescos when I am in Galway,Ballinasloe or Gort.
There are people connected with Loughrea and Galway county council that make it their business to turn down anyone trying to set up in Loughrea,unless your name is johnson!
nuff said

On a brighter note
Moylans is a nice sporty pub for rugby and soccer games.
Billys Bargains a household name.
Nice lake where you can only get an anglers license if your name is johnson.
Town is bypassed(thank God!now for craughwell!)
New hotel going in eventually!
New public swimming pool going in after over 20 years raising money for it!(thats a alot of dough!)
Like iranrod eireann "were not there yet,but were getting there!)
slan
j

Brouhaha

JohnnyBoy - I agree with you that Supervalu's virtual monoply is anything but healthy and Aldi, Lidl or Dunnes would be welcome additions for the sake of competition and the unfortunate consumer (on the proviso that they would be within the shopping area of the town and not a car drive outside the town on basic planning principles). But I'm extremely wary of Tesco. Their reputation in the UK for damaging the vibrancy of small towns is well documented. They move in, aggresively undercut to drive small businesses to the wall then go back to their standard prices, the consumer is left with less rather than more choice and whatever character a place had is badly damaged.

johnnyboy4711

agree on tesco!
but we seriously need some/any competition for super(lack of)valu.
thanks
john

AmyG

doctor evil wrote: »

As above, may be moving there.

Is there any bus services or transport?, local amenities or shops.

Thanking you;).

Yeah its nice lil place there is a bus route there now and plenty lil shops and very handy to get to the city !!!!

johnnyboy4711

heard from someone who knows someone,that the new development at the old chanelle factory on the old galway road will comprise of McInerneys Super(lack of )valu and none other than ALDI!!!!
freakin great news if true!
slan
j:eek::):):):):):):):):eek:

fatgav

ya cos NOTHING improves a town like a character-less international supermarket :rolleyes:

johnnyboy4711

i prefer a characterless international supermarket than getting ripped off with feck all choice!

and i also hope that more supermarket chains come to town!
john

fatgav

there is choice. there are two supermarkets and a lot of other smaller shops. sure, you may save a few euro in a tesco/aldi/lidl or wherever, but the potential destructive effects of one of those supermarkets on a town are well known. there's plenty of those supermarkets in nearby towns - you say yourself that you use them johnnyboy and, at times, so do i. however, i'd much rather a town where local businessmen have a chance, and keep their profits in the locality. it may be a traditional viewpoint, but it's something i'm looking for in a small town

rescue26

johnnyboy4711 wrote: »

Moved here over 2 years ago for house afordablility etc from Galway city.
Its like the town in Blazing Saddles with everybodies surname ending in Johnson.
I make it my business to shop in Aldi,Lidl,Dunnes or tescos when I am in Galway,Ballinasloe or Gort.
There are people connected with Loughrea and Galway county council that make it their business to turn down anyone trying to set up in Loughrea,unless your name is johnson!
nuff said
j

Why didnt you buy in Gort or Ballinasloe then seems your busy slating Loughrea. I am from Loughrea and dont know what your talking about the name Johnson. But anyway getting off topic, Bus pasts through Loughrea every hour, 2 Supermarkets and lots of other smaller shops, not so many clothes shops, Moylans is a good pub, Kearys is kinda a younger crowd but have good music some nights. McNamees is ok too, alot of pubs to choose from but only a few decent ones. New hotel is open and the food is lovely up there, well the bar food is, dont really like the restaurant and also the nightclub is opening next week, which is meant to be over 21's, cant see that lasting though. had a sneak preview of the nightclub, nice spot, its underground. swimming pool wont be up and running for a good while yet. personally I think its a lovely little town but i might be biased and i think its a plus that none of the big chain stores are there:D

johnnyboy4711

rescue26 wrote: »

Why didnt you buy in Gort or Ballinasloe then seems your busy slating Loughrea. I am from Loughrea and dont know what your talking about the name Johnson. But anyway getting off topic, Bus pasts through Loughrea every hour, 2 Supermarkets and lots of other smaller shops, not so many clothes shops, Moylans is a good pub, Kearys is kinda a younger crowd but have good music some nights. McNamees is ok too, alot of pubs to choose from but only a few decent ones. New hotel is open and the food is lovely up there, well the bar food is, dont really like the restaurant and also the nightclub is opening next week, which is meant to be over 21's, cant see that lasting though. had a sneak preview of the nightclub, nice spot, its underground. swimming pool wont be up and running for a good while yet. personally I think its a lovely little town but i might be biased and i think its a plus that none of the big chain stores are there:D

That was meant to be a joke!
You obviously didnt get it!
anyway
I like loughrea,just that it has so much potential but the town council seem to block anyone from getting a piece of their pie!
perfect example the lake,another closed shop how easy is it to get fishing there?not very!
How long are the good folk of Loughrea waiting on a swimming pool?
I seem to recall £20 raffle tickets being sold a long time ago,wheres the cash gone ?

There wouldnt be much here without the bypass,trust me!
That was the reason i decided to move here.
I getting to like it more and more.

regarding chainstores Open market - better consumer choice!!!

Didnt mean to offend!
slan
johnnyboy4711

cson

To back up johnnyboy, the chainstores - such as Aldi and Lidl, provide huge employment opportunities for a local community in a time when jobs are proving more difficult to find in Ireland.

Aldi are opening in my town, Portumna, and let me tell you guys Portumna is a lot smaller than Loughrea. How do I feel about it? Good, because it will offer choice, provide employment and if you have any basic understanding of economics > More jobs, means more disposable income for those employees to be spending around the town and plus the savings that can be made in Aldi will mean more disposable income in local consumers pockets which can be spent in other buisnesses around the town.

johnnyboy4711

cson wrote: »

To back up johnnyboy, the chainstores - such as Aldi and Lidl, provide huge employment opportunities for a local community in a time when jobs are proving more difficult to find in Ireland.

Aldi are opening in my town, Portumna, and let me tell you guys Portumna is a lot smaller than Loughrea. How do I feel about it? Good, because it will offer choice, provide employment and if you have any basic understanding of economics > More jobs, means more disposable income for those employees to be spending around the town and plus the savings that can be made in Aldi will mean more disposable income in local consumers pockets which can be spent in other buisnesses around the town.

AMEN BROTHER!!!
slan
j

Adam Mitchel

Loughrea is a nice town but for the cartels that operate within the town. No competition hence really expensive to for grocery shopping.
Avoid Supervalu pure rip-off !

Bring in the more competition into Loughrea.
Oh ! I forgot the corrupt Chamber of Commerce don't like competition.

Adam Mitchel

Bring in the competition I say. Feck the like of SuperValu. They've ripped off the people for too long. If your happy to put up with playing through the nose for shopping then off with ye, keep you head in the sand ostrich boy, and let Gerry Mac empty wallet.

The loughrea area needs good kick in the buttocks to gets the town moving. It's visually a nice town, but lacks atmosphere, competition, and choice. There feck all in the town really. Hopefully the bypass will encourage more businesses in to town and kill off this red-neck bias to large supermarkets (it will mean more jobs for the area dummies).
Plus hopefully some one will decide to build a good music store.

Scoobydo

:rolleyes:Adam I don't know if you noticed but supervalu recently won the cheapest supermarket award on branded products. McInerneys in particular won the recent quality award 2008 and is voted to be in the top five supervalu's in the country. When it moves location it will be the largest supermarket in the country so Loughreas needs will be filled...your problem clearly is something else

SalthillGuy

A friend of mine moved there two years back and loves it. He works in Galway City, but previously from Dublin. I suppose it gives him a start in getting to Dublin, rather than starting frm Galway. It has to be similar to other City satellite towns like Gort, Tuam, etc.
The new hotel in Loughrea should be a god addition.

moderndaymadnes

I used to live in loughrea (moved back to galway). Honest opinions about this little Town!

Reasons to move to loughrea:

-The lake and the walk on the Gort Rd (corries field i think?)

- Affordable housing

- Good schools

- Easy commuter town for galway/athlone

- it has a bypass

- mostly safe for children

Reasons not to live in loughrea:

- People there are snobbie, make "outsiders" feel unwelcome and are clannish IMO
- Pubs are rubbish, full of "farmers" who just stare at everything and anyone-sometimes i felt i was being spied on by the CIA. LOL :-)

- people not interested in general chit chat unless about hurling (it becomes very boring)

-Lack of competition (only one supermarket which is really really expensive, no matter how they try glam it up as being as cheap etc)

- A promise of a swimming pool (i will be cold in my grave by the time that comes and im only 37)!

- You walk into a bank and people try to listen to your business (really annoyed me, i never experienced that in any other country or county for that matter)

Anyway, i could go on and on and on and on lol! this is all my opinion, and people who have grown up there all their lives could prob never leaveeeeeeee.............................................. :-)
Hope this helps Doc

hoody

Loughrea is a fine town but like everywhere could do with a couple of improvements:

- More competition for nightlife, while Ringos was fun in its time, its well overpriced and brutal value for money as well. The new hotel had an excellent nightclub in it but its closed at the minute - I don't think the €12 entry fee coupled with the €5 for the return bus from town was the best way to entice customers. Maybe a late bar would help?

- The lake should be "opened up" more. Its a bit of a closed shop at the minute, when it comes to fishing etc., there's a lot of scope for all sorts of activities but even in high summer (if we ever get one again), it is criminally underused.

- More walking areas like Corry's Field. This is a really popular route but there should be at least one more like it beyond the Long Point, and there should definitely be a walking route/biking route all the way around the lake.

- A decent stretch of the main street should be pedestrianised, with allowances for deliveries, like Shop Street in Galway. I know this was mentioned a few years ago but its unlikely to happen. It would give the town a focal point it somewhat lacks at the minute. To do this, the mart/Beattys yard road would need to be upgraded and made into a public road. Unlikely, but this is all just talk.

- The town definitely needs a small, public museum, given the immense history of the place, I'm baffled that most towns in Ireland don't have a museum when everywhere in somewhere like NZ, a country with a much briefer history than our own, has one.

- The Temperance Hall needs to be done up, and to be renamed! Its pretty shameful that a town with a long tradition of musicals, drama and theatre still has to suffer this shed for a performing space. It serves a useful purpose at the minute but it could definitely be more user-friendly.

- Finally, the town needs a big, thick, session of a weekend festival of music and banter every summer, regardless of the rain, it would create a bit of buzz and give the place a bit of life.

Just some of my thoughts on the town, what do ye think?

EAFC_rdfl

hoody wrote: »

Loughrea is a fine town but like everywhere could do with a couple of improvements:

- More competition for nightlife, while Ringos was fun in its time, its well overpriced and brutal value for money as well. The new hotel had an excellent nightclub in it but its closed at the minute - I don't think the €12 entry fee coupled with the €5 for the return bus from town was the best way to entice customers. Maybe a late bar would help?

12 euro into any nightclub on a friday night is a joke, but especially into that ringos place. is there any sign of the price dropping? I never got up to the nightclub in the new hotel, didnt realize a bus was running!!its only a 10 min walk!a late bar in town would be great, far better value for money!

hoody wrote: »

- A decent stretch of the main street should be pedestrianised, with allowances for deliveries, like Shop Street in Galway. I know this was mentioned a few years ago but its unlikely to happen. It would give the town a focal point it somewhat lacks at the minute. To do this, the mart/Beattys yard road would need to be upgraded and made into a public road. Unlikely, but this is all just talk.

Not a bad idea, but I'd say bus companies etc would be out in uproar.

hoody wrote: »

- The Temperance Hall needs to be done up, and to be renamed! Its pretty shameful that a town with a long tradition of musicals, drama and theatre still has to suffer this shed for a performing space. It serves a useful purpose at the minute but it could definitely be more user-friendly.

where is that hall?

MNAJPA

Hello, all.
My family and I are planning a 2 week trip to Loughrea in May. I've been "Googling" the town, to read as much as I can about it before we go.
My great-grandmother is from there, (we are all from either New Mexico, or Florida, or New York, USA), and I've gotten 10 people so far in the family interesting in visiting Ireland (and another batch are interested that live in Massachusetts), and we will be staying in Loughrea for the most part.
Are there things that an "Ugly American" should know? Even if it's negative, it's better for me to know how NOT to offend!
Someone mentioned having a bar stay open later, and I was wondering what time they normally close? (The bars close here at 2:00 a.m.)
The 12 Euro that was mentioned as the fee to enter the nightclubs, would be about 15 US dollars, and that is pretty steep. Are there other things you can tell me about?
Thank you,
Mary

hoody

MNAJPA wrote: »

Hello, all.
My family and I are planning a 2 week trip to Loughrea in May. I've been "Googling" the town, to read as much as I can about it before we go.
My great-grandmother is from there, (we are all from either New Mexico, or Florida, or New York, USA), and I've gotten 10 people so far in the family interesting in visiting Ireland (and another batch are interested that live in Massachusetts), and we will be staying in Loughrea for the most part.
Are there things that an "Ugly American" should know? Even if it's negative, it's better for me to know how NOT to offend!
Someone mentioned having a bar stay open later, and I was wondering what time they normally close? (The bars close here at 2:00 a.m.)
The 12 Euro that was mentioned as the fee to enter the nightclubs, would be about 15 US dollars, and that is pretty steep. Are there other things you can tell me about?
Thank you,
Mary

Hey Mary, hopefully I can answer some questions for you

- The bars normally close at about 1 on the weekend, however this can be fairly changeable depending on a number of things, like if there's a big birthday party on, the bar might close later. The nightclub will close at 2 am and I wouldn't really recommend it, I always find the music/craic/prices better in the pubs. Mine own favourites in the town are Moylans (small but good), Kearys (bigger but busy, with good music) and Mcnamees (big and busy, good fun during the summer)

- As for things to do, there's lots, you should definitely do some horse riding and visit the local pet farm, especially if you have any younger folk travelling with you. Hill walking is good too, the mountains to the south of the town don't have any official trails that I know of but there's lots of quiet roads up there and the views can be lovely. Ye'll probably have a car or two, so I'd recommend a day trip to Connemara and also the Burren. The Aran Islands are lovely as well (if ye go there, hire bikes, not too fun if it rains, life as it should be lived if it doesn't!). The best thing to do would be to ask the locals the first night ye get here, they'll be delighted that ye're visiting here.

- Loughrea has everything you need in terms of restaurants (there's an Italian, two Chinese/Asian places, pub grub in a couple of spots and of course, greasy fast food places, always goes down well after a few pints!) and shops as well. There's a few craft places and some clothes shops as well that are worth checking out. Galway city is only a half hour drive away but the more money you spend local, the better!

- Haven't got much to say negatively about the town, why would I upset your plans by having a moan about the place? :L ...I like it here, I hope ye will too. Bring rain gear, because it WILL rain, and don't be afraid to ask the locals for anything you need, they'll be only too happy to hear that people want to come and visit Loughrea. Here's a couple of pics to give you an idea of what you can look forward to:

http://www.countygalwayvec.com/images/sunset-loughrea-lake.jpg Sunset on Loughrea Lake
http://www.goplay.ie/uploads/Images/Loughrea-Main-(7).jpg Loughrea on a sunny day!
http://www.countygalwayvec.com/images/sttc-loughrea-abbey-gardens.jpg
Loughrea Abbey

Book the trip, and give me a pm if you need to know any more!

A.F.M.

Brouhaha wrote: »

If your question about bus services is for between Loughrea and Galway city then this is the service people use for work/college commute: http://www.healytours.ie/ss_loughrea.html

As Loughrea is on the Dublin to Galway road there are also Bus Eireann/City Link/Nestors buses roughly every half hour.

Loughrea is traditionally a market town so there are plenty of shops with the notable exception of the big multinationals as EAFC_rdfl said (it might not be a popular opinion but I tend to agree with Earlc that a Tesco would do a lot of harm to Loughrea - the family owned business in the town centre couldn't compete)

Maybe if the family run businesses in loughrea stopped ripping people off Customers wouldn't be going outside of Loughrea shopping.

Also I can do a weeks worth of shopping in Aldi and it costs me 50 euro's less than in SuperValue.

As for the Hardware. It's a complete rip-off. I can buy the items for a third of the price in B&Q.

If Loughrea businesses want to survive, they need to offer value for money, end of story

hoody

A.F.M. wrote: »

Maybe if the family run businesses in loughrea stopped ripping people off Customers wouldn't be going outside of Loughrea shopping.

Also I can do a weeks worth of shopping in Aldi and it costs me 50 euro's less than in SuperValue.

As for the Hardware. It's a complete rip-off. I can buy the items for a third of the price in B&Q.

If Loughrea businesses want to survive, they need to offer value for money, end of story

I think some people just prefer shopping local, even if they have to pay a bit more, than driving to Gort or Galway to get their food or tools or whatever. And some people just like what they know as well - they'll go back to x shop because they know the shop will have what they want, and there'll be a familiar face there to give it to them. Also, there's an Aldi coming to Loughrea, so you won't even have to leave the town to save yourself the 50 euro.
I will say that I'd rather Loughrea had thriving local shops than an out of town hypermarket undercutting everyone else. That wouldn't be progress, I think it'd be bad news for the place. My town > Tescos.

Scoobydo

hoody wrote: »

I think some people just prefer shopping local, even if they have to pay a bit more, than driving to Gort or Galway to get their food or tools or whatever. And some people just like what they know as well - they'll go back to x shop because they know the shop will have what they want, and there'll be a familiar face there to give it to them. Also, there's an Aldi coming to Loughrea, so you won't even have to leave the town to save yourself the 50 euro.
I will say that I'd rather Loughrea had thriving local shops than an out of town hypermarket undercutting everyone else. That wouldn't be progress, I think it'd be bad news for the place. My town > Tescos.

You are right about Tesco being bad news for Loughrea. I think will be just fine with what we have..but Beatty's and Keanes could lower their prices a bit..they are extremely expensive for everything! And plus supporting local businesses supports local people..why would we want to support big multi national companies who would put nothing into the town?thats my view anyway

A.F.M.

Scoobydo wrote: »

You are right about Tesco being bad news for Loughrea. I think will be just fine with what we have..but Beatty's and Keanes could lower their prices a bit..they are extremely expensive for everything! And plus supporting local businesses supports local people..why would we want to support big multi national companies who would put nothing into the town?thats my view anyway

Hi Scooby,
I have no problems supporting local business in Loughrea, if their prices were fair. Beatty's must be pulling numbers out of the air.

As for their hardware staff they could really wake up a little. I was in there for about 20 minutes before trying to get served, while they either slowly looked for something or they had a great chat.

Scoobydo

A.F.M. wrote: »

Hi Scooby,
I have no problems supporting local business in Loughrea, if their prices were fair. Beatty's must be pulling numbers out of the air.

As for their hardware staff they could really wake up a little. I was in there for about 20 minutes before trying to get served, while they either slowly looked for something or they had a great chat.

very true about Beatty's..the worst thing is when they start sending you from one shop to the other!but the staff are the worst i've ever come across! And i did say Beatty's prices are extremely high..thats not exactly supporting local businesses. Ganleys hardware in Athlone is much better. Exact same spot lights were 15.50 in Beattys and 5.00 in Ganleys..huge difference. Beatty's haven't a clue on pricing!

MNAJPA

I know that I don't live there. I live in America, but I was just in town visiting for 2 weeks. I LOVED it!!! While the rest of my family went all around the west touring, I stayed my whole 2 weeks right in Loughrea. I walked everywhere (lost about 7 pounds doing that!).
From a complete outsider's viewpoint, I would offer a few things:
1. If Beatty's keeps the way they're going, then the locals will choose to drive to Galway/other towns to purchase their items. If they reduce their pricing, to be inline with more realistic competition, they could last for YEARS. It truly is the manager's/owner's choice to keep the prices high, and the employees untrained on 'customer service'. But they might be choosing their own path of 'short-term' existence. Maybe they just don't care.
2. I was very disapointed to see the new hotel, up on that hill, sticking out like a sore thumb with a white bandage wrapped around it. We used the hotel for our family reunion, and it's VERY nice, but it's too tall for the area. They should have designed it at two stories tall, at the most. Then I saw a large shopping area being built just a block or so away, and was a little depressed. Those 2 things are what's going to kill the charm of the town, because it won't stop there with just them! It's going to keep growing: taller/more/newer/etc. (the bad thing about progress, I guess).
3. The pubs were pretty fun, and the town had such a wide variety, that it was nice to 'cruise' (as we call it here) from pub to pub.
4. The constant flow of busses into Galway made it very convenient to hop over for the day, and then come back 'home', so we didn't have to spend the night out there during the Volvo races was a BIG plus!
5. I didn't do any "tourist" shopping for clothes, but I did get very cold, and popped in 3 times to Mrs. Quinn's to purchase about 5 long-sleeved tops (at about 8 Euro each...I have no problem using the bargain places...why spend 48 when I can get it for 8?) My mom was window shopping, and saw a jacket that was really nice, but sold for over 50 Euro...we kept walking!
6. All of the eateries had great prices, as well as, great food! I kept popping into 4 or 5 of them, because I really liked the atmosphere. (and I still lost the weight!)
7. Everyone we met was very nice, and made us all feel welcomed (great for that small-town atmosphere, also.)
8. You could do what we do here, in Albuquerque during the summer: Close off West Bridge and Bride Street entrances with barriers (including all of the little side-streets) and force all of the auto-traffic onto Barrack St, from the Athenry Road/Gort Road section and then back onto the end of Bride St, down past the School/office supply store. This would allow all foot traffic for the whole stretch. Use some of the empty office spaces for live bands (no alcohol needed, since there's so many pubs, so no need for liquor licenses) or things like that. Do this from Friday night at 6 p.m. until Sunday night at 6 p.m. Have the local shops stay open later (say until 8 p.m.) during these weekends. Now, here's the key: you really have to have the shops stay open, because the 2 things that will bring the walkers out will be music and shopping. The stores might even pull a fast one on us all, by offering special pricing during these hours only. We found out quickly that FOOT-TRAFFIC brings in the customers in waves, and the special pricing will motivate them to come!
9. The Walks is a VERY big asset that I don't think is advertised to tourists much. I stumbled on it. If the kids wouldn't toss the trash/beer bottles so much, it would be awsome! I even heard that it was pretty dangerous. Now...that's a real shame. The town could benefit with doing something with it, even if it was a monthly fair for selling things like pottery or hand-made items.
10. Last, but not least: The town is truly amazing! I wish I could live there. I loved the feel of the place. I'm just scared that the high prices of some of the shops could force the locals to WANT the taller/more/newer/etc. types of businesses that will force the 'mom-and-pop' shops to close. If the shops just reduced their prices even 5 or 10 percent, it would reduce the risk of people going to Galway.

I only wish I could go back.
Mary

fatgav

Thanks for the glowing assessment Mary. Now if only some of my fellow Loughrea people would stop griping about the town and would embrace the many, many assets we have then maybe Loughrea would have a better name in County Galway and beyond. Love your idea about closing the streets for the weekend - would do it for an evening rather than the full weekend personally but it's something that could definitely work.

Lucciano

Scoobydo wrote: »

very true about Beatty's..the worst thing is when they start sending you from one shop to the other!but the staff are the worst i've ever come across! And i did say Beatty's prices are extremely high..thats not exactly supporting local businesses. Ganleys hardware in Athlone is much better. Exact same spot lights were 15.50 in Beattys and 5.00 in Ganleys..huge difference. Beatty's haven't a clue on pricing!

Ganleys is a good shop. Some nice items there. I must check out the bulbs, I have to change a lot of the exterior bulbs to energy-savers. Might have a gander next weekend.

Lucciano

MNAJPA wrote: »

I know that I don't live there. I live in America, but I was just in town visiting for 2 weeks. I LOVED it!!! While the rest of my family went all around the west touring, I stayed my whole 2 weeks right in Loughrea. I walked everywhere (lost about 7 pounds doing that!).
From a complete outsider's viewpoint, I would offer a few things:
1. If Beatty's keeps the way they're going, then the locals will choose to drive to Galway/other towns to purchase their items. If they reduce their pricing, to be inline with more realistic competition, they could last for YEARS. It truly is the manager's/owner's choice to keep the prices high, and the employees untrained on 'customer service'. But they might be choosing their own path of 'short-term' existence. Maybe they just don't care.
2. I was very disapointed to see the new hotel, up on that hill, sticking out like a sore thumb with a white bandage wrapped around it. We used the hotel for our family reunion, and it's VERY nice, but it's too tall for the area. They should have designed it at two stories tall, at the most. Then I saw a large shopping area being built just a block or so away, and was a little depressed. Those 2 things are what's going to kill the charm of the town, because it won't stop there with just them! It's going to keep growing: taller/more/newer/etc. (the bad thing about progress, I guess).
3. The pubs were pretty fun, and the town had such a wide variety, that it was nice to 'cruise' (as we call it here) from pub to pub.
4. The constant flow of busses into Galway made it very convenient to hop over for the day, and then come back 'home', so we didn't have to spend the night out there during the Volvo races was a BIG plus!
5. I didn't do any "tourist" shopping for clothes, but I did get very cold, and popped in 3 times to Mrs. Quinn's to purchase about 5 long-sleeved tops (at about 8 Euro each...I have no problem using the bargain places...why spend 48 when I can get it for 8?) My mom was window shopping, and saw a jacket that was really nice, but sold for over 50 Euro...we kept walking!
6. All of the eateries had great prices, as well as, great food! I kept popping into 4 or 5 of them, because I really liked the atmosphere. (and I still lost the weight!)
7. Everyone we met was very nice, and made us all feel welcomed (great for that small-town atmosphere, also.)
8. You could do what we do here, in Albuquerque during the summer: Close off West Bridge and Bride Street entrances with barriers (including all of the little side-streets) and force all of the auto-traffic onto Barrack St, from the Athenry Road/Gort Road section and then back onto the end of Bride St, down past the School/office supply store. This would allow all foot traffic for the whole stretch. Use some of the empty office spaces for live bands (no alcohol needed, since there's so many pubs, so no need for liquor licenses) or things like that. Do this from Friday night at 6 p.m. until Sunday night at 6 p.m. Have the local shops stay open later (say until 8 p.m.) during these weekends. Now, here's the key: you really have to have the shops stay open, because the 2 things that will bring the walkers out will be music and shopping. The stores might even pull a fast one on us all, by offering special pricing during these hours only. We found out quickly that FOOT-TRAFFIC brings in the customers in waves, and the special pricing will motivate them to come!
9. The Walks is a VERY big asset that I don't think is advertised to tourists much. I stumbled on it. If the kids wouldn't toss the trash/beer bottles so much, it would be awsome! I even heard that it was pretty dangerous. Now...that's a real shame. The town could benefit with doing something with it, even if it was a monthly fair for selling things like pottery or hand-made items.
10. Last, but not least: The town is truly amazing! I wish I could live there. I loved the feel of the place. I'm just scared that the high prices of some of the shops could force the locals to WANT the taller/more/newer/etc. types of businesses that will force the 'mom-and-pop' shops to close. If the shops just reduced their prices even 5 or 10 percent, it would reduce the risk of people going to Galway.

I only wish I could go back.
Mary

Like the idea of closing the street. Only problem would be parking places.
As closing off the street would restrict parking outside xtra vision
and the parking area across from billy's shop. Loughrea should invent it's own festival day. Close the streets, Open the shops get carnival type atmosphere, going for a day or for a weekend.

Loughrea should also try to promote the lake, with fishing competitions, small boating races etc. The lake is a great asset that's completely overlooked and under developed by the town.

MNAJPA

Thank you, Fatgav, but cClosing the streets wasn't my idea. It was Hoody's.
Also, I was thinking about it, the day after I posted, and we only close the streets on the weekend NIGHTS, not for the whole day.
The buses could do their pick-up and drop-offs at then ends of the streets, near the barriors.

Face it, there's only about 10 spaces, on the diagonal, on Main street (just near the Galway-bound bus-stop). There's only a few other places on that whole strip, where 4 or 5 cars can park. So you'll only loose about 25 spaces. WAAAAAY more cars could be accomodated in the lot for the stock-yard/fairs, over by Correy's restaraunt.
People would be expecting to WALK the entire time, from Dunkelin all the way up to Bride st, if they'd be going anyway. What's one block from the old train station to Weaver's Rest.?

This could seriously be done!

And Hoody had another great idea about opening up the lake, all the way around. My daughter was excited about training at sea level for a 10K run we had the weekend we got home. Albuquerque is a mile above sea level, and she wanted to be able to run forever, when there was no altitude to hamper her training. But....From Long Point to where the path comes out on the street by the old Workhouse, until Correy's field by the boat house, she's got all traffic....this could be changed (creating jobs for the locals....!)

I'm sorry, I'm so opinionated, as well as, long winded, and I know this is none of my business since I don't live there...but your town has GREAT potential!!!

mary

airhorn

Scoobydo wrote: »

very true about Beatty's..the worst thing is when they start sending you from one shop to the other!but the staff are the worst i've ever come across! And i did say Beatty's prices are extremely high..thats not exactly supporting local businesses. Ganleys hardware in Athlone is much better. Exact same spot lights were 15.50 in Beattys and 5.00 in Ganleys..huge difference. Beatty's haven't a clue on pricing!

I have to agree the staff in beattys have to be the worst i've ever came across, they dont seem to know anything, the place is allways dirty & in a mess, I dont know who owns that place, but its obvious he / she has'nt a clue, I wont be going i there again anyways thats for sure !

Sponge Bob

I found Beattys yard was fine while the shop is a bit of a mess.

Youngpoon

There's not a lot to do in Loughrea if your young enough. Theres a skate park but we all got bored of that after a few years.
To be honest theres not much else to do apart from playing soccer and drinking, there a good few nice drinkin spots around though. The walks used to be the main place but the gaurds go down there a fair bit lately but its still all right if your fast enough to get away from them. theres plenty of other good spots around thought where ya can drink your lovely bottle of buck. Theres a few pubs aswell that you'll get away with it

pmason

What is the gay scene like in Loughrea? Heard it was ok!

DJ Dodgy

MNAJPA wrote: »

I'm sorry, I'm so opinionated, as well as, long winded, and I know this is none of my business since I don't live there...but your town has GREAT potential!!!

mary

I moved to Loughrea 5 years ago and I never found a better list of the improvements that need to be made to the town that these posts. It is a good town but the shops doing the late opening Thursday Friday would be a great idea. As would the pedestrianisation. The bypass really improved the town hugely but it feels like it didn't do far enough by not excluding cars (at least at key times, say Thursday Friday evening or Sundays) from the main street. The opening up of a walk all around the lake is a deadly idea as well.

I completely agree with you as well about the walks. This could be incorporated into any drive to improve footfall with a market or maybe a busking competition to get people using them more.

Finally as a blow-in the hurling club needs to shout louder about upcoming fixtures in the pitch. Given it is just a walk up the road a few well placed notices around town encouraging people down would be a good idea. It is the main sporting bond for the town by a long way and strenghtens town identity more than any individual factor.

Couldn't agree more about the previous comments about the Temperence Hall as well. The talent in the town is at a much higher level that the space it is being displayed in.

Good town though just needs to be a bit more people rather than car friendly.

Mary, don't apologise for given your perspective. You've talked more sense in your posts after visiting for a few weeks than most life long Loughrea residents.

PS can we please keep the Tesco Supervalue row to the other topic, the agendas are flying.

Brouhaha

DJ Dodgy wrote: »

The bypass really improved the town hugely but it feels like it didn't do far enough by not excluding cars (at least at key times, say Thursday Friday evening or Sundays) from the main street.

The bypass was meant to extend on to the Gort road but that section was not implemented. Cars or trucks going from Dublin to Gort, Ennis and all surrounding parts are driving down the main street as a result.

Brouhaha

By the way the suggestions in this thread about the need for a summer festival are spot on. Closing main street and putting a small stage on the wide part between John Patrick's and Martin Fahy's sounds great, there is loads of trad. music talent around that could play, e.g. Joe Burke. Keeping the shops open whilst music playing sounds good also.

DJ Dodgy

Brouhaha wrote: »

By the way the suggestions in this thread about the need for a summer festival are spot on. Closing main street and putting a small stage on the wide part between John Patrick's and Martin Fahy's sounds great, there is loads of trad. music talent around that could play, e.g. Joe Burke. Keeping the shops open whilst music playing sounds good also.

Occassionally closing the through access for trucks etc some weekends and evenings with pedestrian streets would discourage out of town traffic from chancing the town rather than using the by pass.

spotthedog

Thats funny,I always found the staff in Beattys to b very helpfull but they do seem to b very busy all the time maybe they too short staffed to clean as they always have a q of customers! I had a problem with a faulty item and found their after sales service very good. Something u WOULDNT get in Galways bigger shops. Shopping local keep us and our children in jobs.

Could do with a cinema or swimming pool in the town too keep the younger people occupied,less drinking in the town:rolleyes:

airhorn

pmason wrote: »

What is the gay scene like in Loughrea? Heard it was ok!

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