Mullingar: A rant

richiepoorman

This might come across as a bit of a rant, but bear with me. Recently I have been discussing with friends and family what has been happening locally regarding Mullingar in relation to other towns in the Midlands and was wondering if anyone else feels the same way?.

Why does it seem to take so long for anything to be done in Mullingar, for example: the Central Shopping development, the new proposed leisure facilities at Robinstown, the new stores for Fairgreen centre, retail units at the Lynn Road site etc, etc....

I can appreciate that most of the above are Retail based, and also appreciate that we are in a recesssion, but I feel that Mullingar missed the boat, so to speak, in terms of jobs and opportunities during the boom years.

It seems that the town doesn't have anyone in the public domain, be it TD's, local councilors or local businees community that are fighting its corner.

Some of the things that my friends and family were saying they would like to see for Mullingar are: local public transport, trainline opened to Athlone, CCTV for the town centre and a Supermacs (a personal fave!). Seriously though, what's happened to the local bus route thats being talked about? When is that going to see the light of day?.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing your replies......:)

CGorman

There are a number of points to make:

> It takes forever to get many projects done everywhere in Ireland. Sure only last week Treasury Holdings got PP for a retail project in Sligo after 13 years - these things move very slowly in Ireland.
> Yes Mullingar has no proper national public representative. That does slow down things in ways; but in fairness council projects & governement ones are actually the ones that are progressing the fastest in the town at present (new coco offices, new school in ardleigh, and department hq)
> In terms of retail, in the past it has been very hard to justify the opening of stores in Mullingar since Liffey Valley is so close. Many stores instead opened 'furthar' out, in Athlone, Longford, and Tullamore. Our closeness to Dublin IMO has hurt us in retail.
> Athlone has 3 supermacs, a bowling alley and other such amenties because it has 5,000 students to boost demand. Its actual population is in reality no more than Mullingar, but large numbers of students and (to a lesser extent) tourists boost the demand for retail and recreational outlets in Athlone compared to Mullingar.
> Again (I feel) due to our proximity to Dublin, IDA/Ent Ireland efforts have been non-existent in Mullingar for years, as they focused on Athlone and other more regional locations - we are too near to Dublin to need "help", but too far to attract lots of multinationals by ourselves
> In the past efforts were made to retain the centralness of the towns retail, this hampered the towns expansion as some feared an Athlone style urban sprawl. I think this mindset is changing.
> The lack of transport links in the past has made Mullingar less attractive for both individuals, families and companies to locate in. Bus and rail links are rubbish compared to Athlone and Maynooth (respectively).

The list goes on and on!

nice_guy80

mullingar is a much nicer town in general imho than athlone, longford, tullamore etc

all the shops in the centre area, parking up the town. very few sprawling housing estates,

no point having development for the sake of development

martin1

So here we go again.

What starts off as a Mullingar rant as usual turns into another "lets have a go at Athlone".Judgeing by the posts here on numerous different threads the problem with "Mullingarians" or "Mullingarites" or whatever, is that they suffer from an almost terminal case of begrudgery which is directed solely at Athlone.
Yes we have 3 supermacs ,yes we have 2mc donalds, yes we have a kfc, yes we have a bowling alley, 3 local bus routes, 12 chinese,4 indian,2 thai ,1 lebaneese, and a partridge in a pear tree..........SO WHAT?

If Mullingar could support these establishments. it would have them as well..............but it cant, OK? Please get over it.Its always the same story coming from Mullingar, rubbish Athlone at every opportunity.The old creak in the neck from constantly looking down the road at Athlone is an affliction you really should get treatment for.

Is it our fault that people want to live and work here?
Its a great town,come and see for yourself sometime.

witnessmenow

Correct me if im wrong but unless your going to Dublin or Sligo/Longford The roads out of Mullingar are pretty crap, would probably need to be the first thing that is sorted out.

Wasnt there problems with you're sewer systems about 3-4 years ago that stopped any large scale building projects getting planning permission?

I've always found mullingar to be pretty ok, I worked there for one summer a couple of years ago. Absolutely hated the commute from Athlone though, the road between the two is muck!

EC1000

martin1 wrote: »

Yes we have 3 supermacs ,yes we have 2mc donalds, yes we have a kfc

All excellent reasons never to go near Athlone!

On a more serious note though, Mullingar is still playing catch up due to sluggish development over the years. Its not very long at all since going to the cinema meant a trip to Longford or Tullamore.

Personally, I don't think that a housing/retail explosion is what Mullingar needs anyway - there's no reason to suggest that a larger population or the ability to shop in any number of British Retail stores is actually a good thing - just my tuppence worth....

nice_guy80

i'm not from mullingar!

have lived in both towns though.

i love the roscommon side of Athlone - narrow streets and castle. used to love the back streets leading down to the river on the golden island side, but the area has been ruined by development.

mullingar social scene isn't as vibrant and there is a poor selection of pubs

both towns have their good points

chrussell

Mullingar really could do with an IT or some sort of college...it would boost the towns creditbility greatly....or we could just get rid of the knackers, that alone would make it better....:D "We Own Mullingar!"

richiepoorman

chrussell wrote: »

Mullingar really could do with an IT or some sort of college...it would boost the towns creditbility greatly....or we could just get rid of the knackers, that alone would make it better....:D "We Own Mullingar!"

Totally agree that we need some sort of college.

Seeing as Athlone has so many restuarants, maybe we could do swap: a hundred knackers for one supermacs. LOL Surely all those students don't need all that choice.

richiepoorman

martin1 wrote: »

So here we go again.

What starts off as a Mullingar rant as usual turns into another "lets have a go at Athlone".

Is it our fault that people want to live and work here?
Its a great town,come and see for yourself sometime.

Agree with you that Athlone is a great town, don't have a problem with the place at all. Just trying to big up Mullingar. I'm a regular visitor to Athlone for the shopping, eating out etc.

We just get promised so much for Mullingar and nothing happens. But as I live and work in Mullingar, I would like Mullingar to prosper like Athlone has recently, and no, I don't think building another 300 houses is the answer.

destroyer

richiepoorman wrote: »

This might come across as a bit of a rant, but bear with me. Recently I have been discussing with friends and family what has been happening locally regarding Mullingar in relation to other towns in the Midlands and was wondering if anyone else feels the same way?.

Why does it seem to take so long for anything to be done in Mullingar, for example: the Central Shopping development, the new proposed leisure facilities at Robinstown, the new stores for Fairgreen centre, retail units at the Lynn Road site etc, etc....

I can appreciate that most of the above are Retail based, and also appreciate that we are in a recesssion, but I feel that Mullingar missed the boat, so to speak, in terms of jobs and opportunities during the boom years.

It seems that the town doesn't have anyone in the public domain, be it TD's, local councilors or local businees community that are fighting its corner.

Some of the things that my friends and family were saying they would like to see for Mullingar are: local public transport, trainline opened to Athlone, CCTV for the town centre and a Supermacs (a personal fave!). Seriously though, what's happened to the local bus route thats being talked about? When is that going to see the light of day?.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing your replies......:)

Mullingar is fine just the way it is. Dont destroy it like the other towns you mentioned... as for public rep. What about the bould Donie Cassidy?

veryangryman

Athlonian here...

<Rant>
As much as id like to bash Mullingar for its blind love of GAA and all other things backward...

I do accept that both of our towns, for better or for worse are little more than a wee-stop on the way to bigger fish (Galway/Sligo)

Recall that Mully has its own Regional Hospital yet no Supermacs. The cyncic in me would assume that us eating ourselves to an early grave would need the hospital more

Athlone is a great town. Good location and plenty of reasonably priced facilities for its size AND easy to escape from when bored of it (the weekend for instance..)

But the college is the best thing thats happened to the place for vibrancy etc, and is what directly/indirectly attracts people/business over. Mullingar/Tullamore/Portlaoise etc have suffered with a lack of such a facility

</Rant>

whyulittle

veryangryman wrote: »

<Rant>
But the college is the best thing thats happened to the place for vibrancy etc, and is what directly/indirectly attracts people/business over. Mullingar/Tullamore/Portlaoise etc have suffered with a lack of such a facility

</Rant>

200 jobs announced for Athlone.

richiepoorman

destroyer wrote: »

Mullingar is fine just the way it is. Dont destroy it like the other towns you mentioned... as for public rep. What about the bould Donie Cassidy?

Donie Cassidy the words chocolate and tea pot spring to mind......

fakefurbabe

richiepoorman wrote: »

Donie Cassidy the words chocolate and tea pot spring to mind......

The cheeky girls would do a better job

siralfalot

destroyer wrote: »

Mullingar is fine just the way it is. Dont destroy it like the other towns you mentioned... as for public rep. What about the bould Donie Cassidy?

hahahahahahahahahahahah.........hahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!

*pauses for deep breath*

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!

richiepoorman wrote: »

Donie Cassidy the words chocolate and tea pot spring to mind......

precisely

fakefurbabe wrote: »

The cheeky girls would do a better job

I'd love to see them try it alright, mmmmmmm cheeky girls.....:p:D;)

themaestro

richiepoorman wrote: »

Donie Cassidy the words chocolate and tea pot spring to mind......

It's really frustrating to hear someone giving out about out Public Representatives such as Donie etc... I for one know the work that this man can do behind the scenes and if he wasn't involved in Mullingar, the Celtic Tiger would have took the C-Link road to Tullamore and not even bothered with the town.

In relation to a number of pending developments, the following is my opinion:

Central: If the largest developers in Mullingar had not tried to become involved with the Local Council the development would be finished and occupied by now. However they chose to try and pull the wool over all our eyes and they got badly burned. I say Tough S**t.

Retail @ Lynn: Has anyone seen the proposal for this site . . . . its fantastic. Its a pity that the market has become so bearish and retailers have postponed all plans, because this is a great site. It would have really put it up to the Athlone's and Tullamore's with regards to retail/office and leisure. The government have approved finance for the Dept Decentralisation offices and I feel it is only a matter of time until the masterplan for this site is acted upon. I say Good Luck.

My main beef regarding Mullingar is with the predecessor of the current County Manager. She was utterly clueless and is largely to blame for Mullingar being left behind. Lets face it ......Tullamore/Athlone/Longford are not or ever will be commuter towns .......Mullingar has been and always will be a viable commuter town to the Capital. 80km of Dual Carraigeway to Dublin and a bi-hourly rail service is a missed opportunity for our town.

The current manager is a much more down to earth and efficient character, he is however now faced with different challenges. I say The Best of Luck.

pipsqueak

themaestro wrote: »

It's really frustrating to hear someone giving out about out Public Representatives such as Donie etc... I for one know the work that this man can do behind the scenes and if he wasn't involved in Mullingar, the Celtic Tiger would have took the C-Link road to Tullamore and not even bothered with the town.

In relation to a number of pending developments, the following is my opinion:

Central: If the largest developers in Mullingar had not tried to become involved with the Local Council the development would be finished and occupied by now. However they chose to try and pull the wool over all our eyes and they got badly burned. I say Tough S**t.

Retail @ Lynn: Has anyone seen the proposal for this site . . . . its fantastic. Its a pity that the market has become so bearish and retailers have postponed all plans, because this is a great site. It would have really put it up to the Athlone's and Tullamore's with regards to retail/office and leisure. The government have approved finance for the Dept Decentralisation offices and I feel it is only a matter of time until the masterplan for this site is acted upon. I say Good Luck.

My main beef regarding Mullingar is with the predecessor of the current County Manager. She was utterly clueless and is largely to blame for Mullingar being left behind. Lets face it ......Tullamore/Athlone/Longford are not or ever will be commuter towns .......Mullingar has been and always will be a viable commuter town to the Capital. 80km of Dual Carraigeway to Dublin and a bi-hourly rail service is a missed opportunity for our town.

The current manager is a much more down to earth and efficient character, he is however now faced with different challenges. I say The Best of Luck.

howaya donie, happy xmas to you and yours!!

nhughes100

Speaking as a Dub blow in I much prefer Mullingar to Athlone or Longford. I like the way there's not just one shopping centre with all the same shops as you see everywhere else, I like the fact that there's no supermacs either tbh. I've heard rumours that an outreach branch of Athlone IT is on the cards(it's in AIT's strategic plan) for Mullingar, Lomans was bounded about as the location although it would probably be cheaper to build a new one.

There's nice shops and cafes in Mullingar that are home grown and I like to support them, one thing that is not great is that you are pretty much fkd if you don't have your own transport. Imagine walking from Atlantic homecare to Expert Electrical and then going to M+S. We could seriously do with a nice gym, that one beside in Blackhall isn't open on Sundays ffs. Much better then a supermacs, apparantly there's a Supermacs opening in Ballinalack in O'Reilly's Texaco garage if you're that interested!

Saruman

I hate Longford, I Love Athlone and Tullamore. My closest big town is Mullingar though and to be honest i like Mullingar fine, i wish there was better retail like Argos and stuff. I have no interest in Supermacs, there is 1 Mcdonalds too many in Mullingar.
Athlone has the river which makes all the difference with the look of the town.

nice_guy80

Argos?? you serious?? the lowest of the low.

the canal in mullingar is lovely - walking, kayaking, fishing and cycling. needs to be developed more

the cinema etc are out that far because of traffic and access off the bypass.

Richie

As an ex-Mullingarian, I can honestly say that arguing over which town is better - Mullingar or Athlone is the best example of 'two bald men fighting over a comb' that I've ever seen.

I still can't believe that martin1 actually sat down and seriously typed the words "Yes we have 3 Supermacs". You really know you're a backward fool when a Supermacs impresses you.

Congratulations martin1 - you're an idiot!

Saruman

Yes Argos!! They may be the lowest of the low but i notice a lot of people like to go there, in fact i think argos noticed this too So Argos becomes a draw for people. Set one up in Mullingar and you would find less people needing to go to Liffey Valley or Blanch and instead stay local. At least you know the price in somewhere like Argos long before you get there. Once out you can shop around local stores.
Im sure some local stores will suffer if an argos opens but it just encourages competition and is good for the consumer in the long run.

whyulittle

Richie wrote: »

I still can't believe that martin1 actually sat down and seriously typed the words "Yes we have 3 Supermacs". You really know you're a backward fool when a Supermacs impresses you.

Congratulations martin1 - you're an idiot!

Nice selective quoting there, leaving out the "SO WHAT?' at the end, as it the was the OP from Mullingar who wanted a Supermacs. :rolleyes:

Richie

whyulittle wrote: »

Nice selective quoting there, leaving out the "SO WHAT?' at the end, as it the was the OP from Mullingar who wanted a Supermacs. :rolleyes:

Genuinely have NO idea what you're trying to say there mate. Speak English much?

finbarr

Richie wrote: »

As an ex-Mullingarian, I can honestly say that arguing over which town is better - Mullingar or Athlone is the best example of 'two bald men fighting over a comb' that I've ever seen.

I still can't believe that martin1 actually sat down and seriously typed the words "Yes we have 3 Supermacs". You really know you're a backward fool when a Supermacs impresses you.

Congratulations martin1 - you're an idiot!

Hey I'm bald but I still have a comb!!! I do use it to tighten up the auld beard before I head off lookin' for the Supermacs to hang out in... Cos I'm cool so I am... and all the best bueres do be in the Supermacs you know

nhughes100

There's an Argos extra in Longford for those of you who travel to Liffey Valley, quite a good one too, Love to know what people's problem with Argos is, nice leisurely read through their catalogue, fill out the form and five minutes later you're done. Shopping at it's best. Never once had to bring anything back to them and anything I ordered for home delivery always arrived promptly and on time.

Blademan

As Another ex-Mullingarian and i don't get time to go back there too often, All i can say is that town is so advanced now than the crap days of the 80's discos Bloomfield / rugby club And that place that burned down out near Devlin and the lake county Jesus.. Does anybody remember the old discos in the County Hall? That place was like Beirut in it's time that's why it did not last long lol.. and that Lark in the Park Rubbish also :eek:, all people had to look forward to does that still go on?.. and the old cinema "Hibernian cinema" I remember paying in about 25p to look at Superman at the time :pac: lol..

The new generation now have it so lucky down there a lot of new facilities, A lot better than what we had in Healeys Arcade place which was terrible and that arcade place where the old Hibernian cinema was can't remember the name hold on was it Christys and not forgetting the town park behind the bandstand area lol .. But that was a no go area after dark also.. :mad:

Hey And not forgetting the canal line area ahh them memories lol.. But i do really miss the Fishing in the Mullingar in the 80's Summer "WoW" that's when we had really hot summers and amazing weather :rolleyes: and did i catch with the course fishing lol. And so many places to go to fish spoilt for choice down there at that time.

But my point is Athlone & Mullingar has it's Positives & Negatives so in my opinion both towns are as good as each other in meeting decent mad local folks lol.. But i do miss the Gar but times have moved on. Not to be forgotten.. :rolleyes: but all in all Westmeath is an Excellent County long may it live..

martin1

Sorry Richie..............................I seem to have hit a bit of a raw nerve with some of the Mullingar mullahs.

As irony seems to be lost on you,I will just wish you a happy new year.

The fact that you are an ex says it all.

Richie

Indeed you did Martin. I'm jealous of Athlone. There. I said it. Despite the fact that it's only 20-odd miles down the road and it's (lets be honest here) every bit as big of a sh*thole as Mullingar, I'm insanely jealous.

The fact that I'm an ex-Mullingarian does indeed say it all - it's a sh*thole. Athlone is also a sh*thole. Them's the facts.

Happy New Year!

BeansMeansHynes

Seriously like why would Mullingar want Supermacs and KFSs. It will just bring more scum to the town.

I def second the idea of an IT. It would def change the image of the town town in a good way.

Saruman

Why is Athlone a shíthole? Its a lovely town, every foregn visitor i bring there loves it. Does it turn into a ****hole at night maybe?

richiepoorman

Thanks for all your replies, didn,t mean for it to be a Mullingar v Athlone thing at all, but your replies made me chuckle.

A fine example of what i was originally talking about was the recent annoucement that the proposed local bus service (due to begin in Sept) in Mullingar has been put on hold again, due to a legal issue ????

The reason why i wanted Supermacs, Burger King....etc was to give people a choice (all be it, crap food) and it,s Irish owned.:rolleyes:

richiepoorman

This was in the Westmeath Examiner this week, I have agree totally with the editorial as it confirms what my OP was about.

http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/news/comment/articles/2009/09/02/390770-a-long-list-of-lost-opportunities/

Comments welcome.

mandz

richiepoorman wrote: »

Some of the things that my friends and family were saying they would like to see for Mullingar are: local public transport, trainline opened to Athlone, CCTV for the town centre and a Supermacs (a personal fave!). Seriously though, what's happened to the local bus route thats being talked about? When is that going to see the light of day?.

Eh, Mullingar does have CCTV have you not spotted the cameras around the town? I think it also made the front page of the Topic/Examiner.

fryer99

All the businesses in the centre of town object to any new development that will bring people out of the town. There was planning in for a SuperQuinn and KFC in Lakepoint Park but there was objections from the big dogs on committees who all have businesses in town...

The Centre in Blackhall has not gone ahead because it was part of the planning that there needed to be a certain amount of apartments included and as everyone knows, the bottom has fallen out of the residential sector. Because of this, the contractor would lose money building apartments that would not sell, hence they have not proceeded.

hgeogheg

Bowling alley to open on the Lynn rd by December. Will have kiddies play area, coffee shop, parking etc so its not all doom and gloom. Cant wait!! We definitely neet a college as well. Look at the crowds of 3rd level students that flock to Moate every day. Would be a ghost town during the college year if it wasnt for them. Bus loads of students leaving mullingar every day. But with colleges and students you get demand for micey d's, supermacs & KFC. Unless the local eateries start doing specials to make themselves more competitive. Anyway thats my tuppence worth. Roll on December!!!

carstupid

richiepoorman wrote: »

This might come across as a bit of a rant, but bear with me. Recently I have been discussing with friends and family what has been happening locally regarding Mullingar in relation to other towns in the Midlands and was wondering if anyone else feels the same way?.

Why does it seem to take so long for anything to be done in Mullingar, for example: the Central Shopping development, the new proposed leisure facilities at Robinstown, the new stores for Fairgreen centre, retail units at the Lynn Road site etc, etc....

I can appreciate that most of the above are Retail based, and also appreciate that we are in a recesssion, but I feel that Mullingar missed the boat, so to speak, in terms of jobs and opportunities during the boom years.

It seems that the town doesn't have anyone in the public domain, be it TD's, local councilors or local businees community that are fighting its corner.

Some of the things that my friends and family were saying they would like to see for Mullingar are: local public transport, trainline opened to Athlone, CCTV for the town centre and a Supermacs (a personal fave!). Seriously though, what's happened to the local bus route thats being talked about? When is that going to see the light of day?.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing your replies......:)

All you have said is correct but one group of people you did not mention is the landlords in the town. The rents in town are so over priced and even now rents are not coming down they would rather sit on a property empty than lower the rent.