Athlone thread

AckwelFoley

Ballinasloe is a really great town if you want a supermacs, emergency triage or a pony in a hurry

Otherwise I can see the benefits of living in athone.

Joking aside. ALDI AND LIDL in athlone are Kips. They seem to attact every scumbag in the town and they don't seem to give a bollocks about their behaviour. I'm thinking particularly about the disgusting behaviour of one scumbag toward the security guard in Lidl.
You don't need a permit to park in a disabled bay, just a taxi plate or as little as just a pure want will permit it


.Much rather Roscommon or Ballinasloe stores. Tesco in Ballinasloe is a fairly impressive unit also

rg_lv

AckwelFoley wrote: »

Ballinasloe is a really great town if you want a supermacs, emergency triage or a pony in a hurry

Otherwise I can see the benefits of living in athone.

Joking aside. ALDI AND LIDL in athlone are Kips. They seem to attact every scumbag in the town and they don't seem to give a bollocks about their behaviour. I'm thinking particularly about the disgusting behaviour of one scumbag toward the security guard in Lidl.
You don't need a permit to park in a disabled bay, just a taxi plate or as little as just a pure want will permit it


.Much rather Roscommon or Ballinasloe stores. Tesco in Ballinasloe is a fairly impressive unit also

Ha ha

rg_lv

We are currently renting in Ballinasloe. We were looking to buy a place over the last year or so in Ballinasloe but its hard to get a decent place.

We are thinking about secondary schools for the children. Primary schools in Ballinasloe are grand, but i don't know about secondary schools. Also lot more activities available in Athlone for the kids.
We used to go out for the occasional pints and dinner before lockdown but all that's gone now.
Its a difficult decision to make.

afkasurfjunkie

rg_lv wrote: »

We are currently renting in Ballinasloe. We were looking to buy a place over the last year or so in Ballinasloe but its hard to get a decent place.

We are thinking about secondary schools for the children. Primary schools in Ballinasloe are grand, but i don't know about secondary schools. Also lot more activities available in Athlone for the kids.
We used to go out for the occasional pints and dinner before lockdown but all that's gone now.
Its a difficult decision to make.

Both secondary schools have new principals since September. Girls school seems very active on social media now. Lots of interesting initiatives taking place. Hear lots of positives from Garbally too. We live on the east side of the town so Athlone secondary schools could be an option in a few years too. Won’t be making decisions until our lad is much older and we see where his strengths and interests lie.

veryangryman

AckwelFoley wrote: »

. ALDI AND LIDL in athlone are Kips. They seem to attact every scumbag in the town and they don't seem to give a bollocks about their behaviour. I'm thinking particularly about the disgusting behaviour of one scumbag toward the security guard in Lidl.

Have to say i've shopped in both places for years and haven't seen any worse than the average Tesco or Dunnes troublemaker in either. The odd beggar outside Aldi but even then they don't bother you.

Would welcome either or both to open closer to Monksland and mentally wish to punch the objector people for both planning objections for stopping the area grow.

AckwelFoley

veryangryman wrote: »

Have to say i've shopped in both places for years and haven't seen any worse than the average Tesco or Dunnes troublemaker in either. The odd beggar outside Aldi but even then they don't bother you.

Would welcome either or both to open closer to Monksland and mentally wish to punch the objector people for both planning objections for stopping the area grow.

They're looking at a LIDL in baylough this years. Every prick with a gripe is objecting. It would clean up that corner on gallows Hill to have it there. Not to mention convenient

munsterman2008

Claw Hammer wrote: »

There is one place you should never buy a house in Athlone. The Far Side.

Where is the far side? I'm engrossed.

Sue de Nimes

munsterman2008 wrote: »

Where is the far side? I'm engrossed.

I'm guessing the Roscommon side, out around Monksland / Bealnamulla

I'm looking at potentially moving to Athlone myself and if these areas are to be avoided I would like to know, as well as why they should be avoided.

scarepanda

'The far side' depends on what side you're originally from in the first place

TomOnBoard

munsterman2008 wrote: »

Where is the far side? I'm engrossed.

It also known as "The Other Side"..

To find it, just stand on your side of the river and look across it. That's "The Far Side" on "The Other Side".

batman75

Is the Polonez in Irishtown gone or relocated?

Claw Hammer

TomOnBoard wrote: »

It also known as "The Other Side"..

To find it, just stand on your side of the river and look across it. That's "The Far Side" on "The Other Side".

There is no such place in Athlone as the "Other Side". There is only the Far (pronounced faaaaaar) Side.

rn

batman75 wrote: »

Is the Polonez in Irishtown gone or relocated?

Relocated to a smaller unit across the road I think. Behind supermacs

veryangryman

The old Athlone Shopping Centre continues to be the "difficult child". Was there not talk of Debenhams going there? I know they're gone altogether in Ireland but still.

Place would be great to rezone residential and create apartments. Solve the 2 birds of vacant units and housing demand in one go.

Blanco100

veryangryman wrote: »

The old Athlone Shopping Centre continues to be the "difficult child". Was there not talk of Debenhams going there? I know they're gone altogether in Ireland but still.

Place would be great to rezone residential and create apartments. Solve the 2 birds of vacant units and housing demand in one go.

Is there not some leisure centre type thing going in there? Not sure if it has hit the skids but that was original plan

https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/2020/11/13/mid-2021-opening-for-e2-million-entertainment-centre/

AckwelFoley

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

I'm guessing the Roscommon side, out around Monksland / Bealnamulla

I'm looking at potentially moving to Athlone myself and if these areas are to be avoided I would like to know, as well as why they should be avoided.

The reference to "the far side" was a joke of sorts

We on the West Side of the Shannon don't marry into those on the far side.

It's widely known they eat their own young

It's no coincidence all the protestant churches are the far side

TomOnBoard

AckwelFoley wrote: »

The reference to "the far side" was a joke of sorts

We on the West Side of the Shannon don't marry into those on the far side.

It's widely known they eat their own young

It's no coincidence all the protestant churches are the far side

All true!

Aaand they have webbed feet and most of them don't even cast a shadow in full sun..

White lighting

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

I'm guessing the Roscommon side, out around Monksland / Bealnamulla

I'm looking at potentially moving to Athlone myself and if these areas are to be avoided I would like to know, as well as why they should be avoided.

Monksland and Bealnamulla are two of the nicest areas in the town. Would be little or no anti social behaviour.

Sue de Nimes

White lighting wrote: »

Monksland and Bealnamulla are two of the nicest areas in the town. Would be little or no anti social behaviour.

One problem we have is neither my wife or I drive. We are coming from Brighton in England which is a city that is very hostile to cars. Public transport is excellent and driving is a nightmare. As a result neither of us can drive.

We intend to buy a car once we return to Ireland but we need to allow several months to learn to drive etc. How hard would it be to live in Monksland or Bealnamulla without a car?

Plumbthedepths

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

One problem we have is neither my wife or I drive. We are coming from Brighton in England which is a city that is very hostile to cars. Public transport is excellent and driving is a nightmare. As a result neither of us can drive.

We intend to buy a car once we return to Ireland but we need to allow several months to learn to drive etc. How hard would it be to live in Monksland or Bealnamulla without a car?

Very easy to live there without a car as there is a frequent bus service available.

rn

Ya, concur bus service is good. But covid19 restrictions have restricted the service a bit

Sue de Nimes

rn wrote: »

Ya, concur bus service is good. But covid19 restrictions have restricted the service a bit

Thanks for that. It is just so frustrating at the moment with the lack of housing stock available in Athlone. We have agreed the sale of our home here and will need to wait until that completes before being able to buy in Ireland. It is just pretty stressful not even knowing if there will be anything on the market to buy

yabadabado

I thought there was a decent level of housing stock in Athlone?

Two big developments planned as well ,think one has been approved (beside The Bounty) and the other one in Brawney ,planning was submitted recently iirc .About 1200 units altogether.

Sue de Nimes

Looking at Daft.ie there is very little. Much less than there was before lockdown. I've spoken to most of the local estate agents and they all say the same thing, they have people who want to sell and people who want to buy but lockdown has screwed things.

Also, new developments are going to be out of our budget. We can't avail of any of the incentives and all the new developments are priced on the assumption that buyers get these grants.

We are now looking further away in places like Carrick-On-Shannon and Cavan as well

rn

There's nothing that's movable into... I know thats subjective statement. But IMHO everything currently on the market needs extensive redecoration or even renovation.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Yeah, anything half decent is going for 10-15% above what I would have thought worth it. I've seen a bit of kite flying going on on Daft for houses, particularly in the Monksland and Bealnamullia areas, being thrown up for mad money and then being taken down a few weeks later, but not being sold.

A new development of reasonably priced and well finished units would be a welcome addition to the area and take the pressure off. Feels like we have been waiting a long time now.

Sue de Nimes

Anyone able to tell me what River Village is like? It is the only habitable stuff available in our budget at the moment. It does seem like the stuff there is overpriced though - by, like Dr. Noisewater says, 10-15%

TimHorton

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

Anyone able to tell me what River Village is like? It is the only habitable stuff available in our budget at the moment. It does seem like the stuff there is overpriced though - by, like Dr. Noisewater says, 10-15%

Good Location but Tight - Houses look small and compact - Was jokingly called "Toytown" at one point.

Sue de Nimes

Yeah, the houses look really small.

AdrianG08

The Woodville estate in Athlone is very nice, have relatives living in there and the houses (even the semi d's) are large (mostly 4 bed I believe).