Living in Portlaoise

hamrog · 24-01-2006 12:13pm #1

Hi, I'm thinking of moving to Portlaoise in the next few months. Can anyone tell me what the town is like, good for shopping, any good pubs, any good restaurants? Basically is it a good town to live in? Also any advice on good estates? Was looking in Kilminchy village, but it seems quite built up? Any body got any experience, good or bad of Kilminchy?

Pokes · 25-01-2006 12:39am

Hi , Kilminchy is grand from what i have heard.Its built up but its reasonably quite.As regards shopping there is a Shopping Centre which has Tescos , Liffestyle Sports, Trax (Music Shop) , Pennys , Planet Auto and many more etc etc .Portlaoise has a good few pubs , some good some bad.Nightclubs are , Egans , Club 23 and Skyvenue (Live Music). Im living in Rossvale myself which is on the portlaoise mountmellick road for around 8months now and havent had any problems .Its grand and quite down the back where im renting. Any more questions just ask.

MrSinn · 25-01-2006 12:51am

hamrog wrote:

Hi, I'm thinking of moving to Portlaoise in the next few months. Can anyone tell me what the town is like, good for shopping, any good pubs, any good restaurants? Basically is it a good town to live in? Also any advice on good estates? Was looking in Kilminchy village, but it seems quite built up? Any body got any experience, good or bad of Kilminchy?

Kilminchy is like something that Tim Burton(movie director)desighnd,every time i go up to that place i keep a lookout for Edward Scissorshands,i know he is up there somewhere

Portlaois is ok but the shopping options are very poor,pubs are limited,niteclubs are for the kids,it depends what you are after

Danno · 25-01-2006 1:37am

Portlaoise is a badly laid out town, traffic can be crazy. Planners there have alot to answer for. The town itself looks very run-down and there is no street atmosphere or theme going on. Abbeyleix, and Mountmellick are much nicer towns.

hamrog · 25-01-2006 1:39pm

Pokes wrote:

Hi , Kilminchy is grand from what i have heard.Its built up but its reasonably quite.As regards shopping there is a Shopping Centre which has Tescos , Liffestyle Sports, Trax (Music Shop) , Pennys , Planet Auto and many more etc etc .Portlaoise has a good few pubs , some good some bad.Nightclubs are , Egans , Club 23 and Skyvenue (Live Music). Im living in Rossvale myself which is on the portlaoise mountmellick road for around 8months now and havent had any problems .Its grand and quite down the back where im renting. Any more questions just ask.

Thanks Pokes...it's good to get the view from someone who is living in the area....

hamrog · 25-01-2006 1:42pm

Danno wrote:

Portlaoise is a badly laid out town, traffic can be crazy. Planners there have alot to answer for. The town itself looks very run-down and there is no street atmosphere or theme going on. Abbeyleix, and Mountmellick are much nicer towns.

I have to agree with you Danno....when I went to Portlaoise last week it was to view a house....the house looked class and was at a very reasonable price...I decided to take a spin into the town centre to get a feel for the place and have to say I was amazed by the number of roundabouts and traffic going through the town....it kind of put me off the town a little....

hamrog · 25-01-2006 1:46pm

MrSinn wrote:

Kilminchy is like something that Tim Burton(movie director)desighnd,every time i go up to that place i keep a lookout for Edward Scissorshands,i know he is up there somewhere

Portlaois is ok but the shopping options are very poor,pubs are limited,niteclubs are for the kids,it depends what you are after

I think I know what you mean MrSinn, I have to say I'm thinking of moving down towards the Midlands and with no offence meant for anyone living in Portlaoise, I'm drawn more towards Tullamore as a town to live in....it seems to be better laid out and from my experience and what I've heard has a good social scene...nice pubs....nice restaurants etc...

Polly19 · 28-01-2006 3:07pm

hamrog wrote:

I think I know what you mean MrSinn, I have to say I'm thinking of moving down towards the Midlands and with no offence meant for anyone living in Portlaoise, I'm drawn more towards Tullamore as a town to live in....it seems to be better laid out and from my experience and what I've heard has a good social scene...nice pubs....nice restaurants etc...

You should consider Portlaoise a possibility.Its growing rapidly at the moment,has a truck load of pups,one or two good nightclubs and is near to Kilkenny/Tullamore if you wanted to spend a night out there.

Also just mention to your woman that theres possibly 5-6womens clothes shops and she will probable pack your bags for you

There's also Tesco,Lidl and Dunne's Stores for shopping and is growing with a 'mall' area after being recently built in Kilminchy

Its also in an idle location if your woman wants to go back and visit Dublin with there being numberous bus services and a train service that can get here there in 45(train)-one and a half hours(buses when theres not much traffic)or if she wanted to drive herself theres is the new motor-way streching from Portlaoise to Naas and when the Naas by-pass is finished you'll hit practically any traffic anytime of the day(until you get to the out-skirts of Dublin but even then she can park at Red Cow round-about and get the luas into city center)

Also I grew up just outside of Kilminchy(I was living there when there was nothing but fields for miles) and I dont think there are any problems at all.

There are great pubs and restaurants.You have pubs you can go to if you want somewhere quite and then others you can go to when you want somewhere with a big crowd and all the pubs(except two) have great repuatutaion.Restaurants,if you look hard enough youll see they are hidden all over the place.

In regards a good place to raise children....I myself was raised there and I have a brother who still lives there and its a fine town.I has a bad reputation for drugs and that but in relation to raising children here its a fine town.My brother and a group of his friends are currently campaigning for a skate park and have the backing of the county council and 99% of the locals.That kind of interest shows how the town listens to their youths.There is also a youth group that encourages the children to beceom involved.

One estate I can highly recommend if your looking is Hawthorn Drive.It has a reputation for being a posh place but it definally isnt.The houses are all well kept(except one or two here and there that are being rented)and it is a very neighbourly place and great to raise children.Theres never any problems as alot of the residents are local prison officers or guards(due to being near to the prison but still far away that it doesnt impact living).It is also far enough outside of the town that its easy to walk too and for,and the way is well lit as you walk up along the dublin road.It is also in a kind of quite area as you are outside of Kilminchy,but Kilminchy is still close enoguh that you can walk there if you need the shops,pub or to rent a video.The estate is not that modern as its about 16-17 years old but to look at it you wouldnt realise this.

The lay out of the town of Portlaoise.....unfortunally we are convinced the county council are nutters for putting in those twin roundabouts but whats done is done,and putting our main street as one way...again nothing we could do about it.But the lay out of the center of the town is very good as you have all the shops within walking distance of eachother

pclancy · 30-01-2006 5:01pm

Gonna add my own views to this....

Its a very badly laid out town, main street has become a dump and its currently being torn up by our fantastic council for the next three months, traffic at peak times for a small town is vicous and parking can be a pain. Life wise its not too bad, there are 24 pubs to choose from, two nightclubs (dumps) and a live venue thats pretty good. Lots of restaurants and takeaways but not many big franchise shops, tullamore has lots more of these. Its spiralling out of control IMO, new estates springing up constantly without any investment in infrastructure. Kilminchy is turning into a small town in itself. Personally from hearing from mates that live there its a nice enough estate, but the more epensive parts are supposed to be a fair cut above the cheaper units.

www.portlaoisepictures.com Have a look for yourself!

johnplayerblue · 04-02-2006 11:38pm

Hey!
I've lived in various parts of the country over the years and have to say that Portlaois and some of the smaller towns around it are going backward instead of forward and anyone one who thinks otherwise is living in the past or point blank telling lies.
Tullamore or Carlow have 10 times more to offer than Portlaois could ever offer. As for the dump been a good place to bring up children! why not kit them with some drug parafanillia (A syringe would be a start) and a mobile ph from which to ring the many dealers around the place, plus its always worth €20 when there stuck. Before people point out that "Port" is not the only town with a drug problem try reading the local rag and see what judge Mary Martin has to say about portlaois having the worst heroin problem in the midlands. Also the amount of pubs is never a good reason for trying to sell a town imo, and that really is the only selling point for "Port" How sad!
Oh i nearly forgot the PRISON, can't forget the prison cos it really attracts shall we say a different class of visitor to the town!
And another very,very important thing to remember in Laois is not to get sick! for **** sake don't get sick in Laois cos there hospital will kill YOU!
Enjoy your stay!

Polly19 · 05-02-2006 4:36am

Right well theres one review with flaws in it.

So what theres a prision in town,when was the last time someone broke out of it or people had problems with it?I myself grew up in a private estate five minutes from there and we never had any problems with the prision.The prision is just there!!

The drug problem...so what theres a drug problem?My god if that influences where you live yuo might as well live in outer space.Yes Mary Martin had something to say about the drug problem but 19years living in Portlaoise I never got apprached by druggies or someone trying to sell me the stuff.Talk to the locals get their opinions

Hospital killing you?And your basing that on what....??

pclancy · 06-02-2006 2:03pm

Yeah that was a bit extreme, the drugs problem is there but its not in your face and certainly the prison doesnt worry people. There might be a slight element of people moving down to live near those "inside" but I dont see much trouble from them. The hospital isnt great but what hospital is in this country? Its certainly no worse then any of the other regionals.

Polly19 · 11-02-2006 7:43pm

At least theres not corridors lined with trolleys for people who have been there over a week looking for a bed(in the hospitals)

booth · 24-02-2006 10:51am

I live in Portlaoise. I can't compare with other regional hospitals but I recently has an elderly relative in the hospital and the treatment she got was disgraceful. She had some tests done and all of us were told the worst case scenario of these tests. She then lay in her bed for about 8/9 days waiting for more tests to be done. It turns out that it was just a false alarm but all the family were living in fear and gloom for a fortnight basically and the treatment she received was not good in my opinion.
I've had some friends with gruesome A and E stories also.

IMO there's only 1 direction a town can go in when there are thousands of houses being built and no amenities. Anybody who thinks the drugs problem is bad now should not stick around for the next 5-10 years.

Every bit of town planning smacks of over-paid "politicians", brown envelopes and general lack of common sense.

The issue is not that there is a prison in Portlaoise but every weekend the town is innundated with people who visit their relatives then head in for some easy pickings in the local shops (there are no security guards in Portlaoise)!

Sorry Portlaoise.

drdre · 24-02-2006 10:55am

guys my uncle has a restaurant on the main street, Kingfisher. you check it out has great food:D

TomTom · 24-02-2006 10:22pm

I'll give my two cents for tullamore if you wish.
It's a nice town but can be a bit rough at the weekends, but then again every town in ireland is like that now.
In it's favour it has two shopping centers and a retail park. The older of the shopping centers is being renovated at the moment.
There is a 24 hour tesco, two dunnes stores, texas department store(massive place, don't let your wife in there or she will never come out). There is a heck of a lot of shops around the town and an argos is going in in the retail park. I find it very handy as i'm building a house myself and everything from that point of view is available there. There is also the new hospital on the kilbeggen road and a private hospital going into development. Services such as broadband are readly available all over the town.
Few bus stops along the main street, plus regional buses. There is also a train station on the kilcormac side of town.

Dcully · 25-02-2006 6:25pm

Best thing about Portlaoise is indeed the Kingfisher

My wife and i love it,infact ill be travelling from Monasterevin tonight just to pick up a take away.
Their chicken balti is THE best ive ever tasted

In fairness Portlaoise has little compared to Carlow as mentioned.
Dunamaise is very nice however.

pclancy · 27-02-2006 12:33pm

yes Mr Googee does a fine balti. Probably the nicest indian ive ever been too also! For some reason Portlaoise has a massive amount of takeaways. By my count 5 chippers, 8 chinese, 2 Indian, 1 Italian, Abraheartbypassbabra and fight club (supermacs) which seems a lot for a small town. Then again with that amount of pubs you need some grease for the way home.

Sheltie · 05-03-2006 2:01pm

Polly19 wrote:

One estate I can highly recommend if your looking is Hawthorn Drive.It has a reputation for being a posh place but it definally isnt.The houses are all well kept(except one or two here and there that are being rented)and it is a very neighbourly place and great to raise children.Theres never any problems as alot of the residents are local prison officers or guards(due to being near to the prison but still far away that it doesnt impact living)

When I was looking to buy a house in Portlaoise I was looking around some of the new developments. I drove in to one and had my car stoned by kids who couldn't have been more than 10 years old. Needless to say I didn't bother viewing the house. I looked around Kilminchy and felt the houses should come with an oxygen tank as standard. It just wasn't for me. So I finally settled on a house in a mature estate which would fit the exact same description as Hawthorn Drive mentioned above. Except as soon as I moved in I became harassed by some of the neighbour's kids, some petty stuff but some not so petty which meant I had to pay a trip to the local guards, after 'dialogue' with some of the parents was futile. I've stood my ground but it's interesting that the two main culprits both come from households where one of the parents is a prison officer. There are also guards living in the estate but the Residents Association is inactive. Yet I have to say that 99% of the resident's are very good, but that carries no weight if a small minority regard themselves as untouchable, which has been my experience. So my point is that you cannot automatically equate a high presence of prison officers and guards residing in an area as leading to a trouble-free neighbourhood. Yet all too often we're very quick to point the finger at the more disadvantaged sectors of scoiety.

TipTopToe · 06-03-2006 1:32am

Dcully wrote:

Best thing about Portlaoise is indeed the Kingfisher
My wife and i love it,infact ill be travelling from Monasterevin tonight just to pick up a take away.
Their chicken balti is THE best ive ever tasted

I'll second that emotion!

drdre · 16-03-2006 1:15am

yeah guys googee is my uncle, my dad also has indian restaurant (shalimar) in south great georges street, there all in the restaurant business:D

FinoBlad · 29-03-2006 3:49pm

hamrog wrote:

Hi, I'm thinking of moving to Portlaoise in the next few months.

Some of the negative views in your thread could apply to any small town thats become included in the greater dublin commuter belt. If I was you I'd not move anywhere without booking a hotel or b+b and staying for a few days, weekdays and weekends and see how ye get on.

In the meantime you could checkout the property shops. Theres several but the best webbie is Hume and their site is http://www.hume.ie/

RSF · 31-03-2006 6:05pm

The town is full of skanger scumbags, especially our "shopping" centre, which isn't actually very good for shopping anyway. I would recommend taking a good look around before purchasing a property here.

Danno · 31-03-2006 6:23pm

What an ambassader for the county you are RSF! Pat yourself there on the back ol buddy!

RSF · 31-03-2006 6:32pm

Danno wrote:

What an ambassader for the county you are RSF! Pat yourself there on the back ol buddy!

There are quite a few nice towns in Laois, I admit that. However, Portlaoise is badly designed from the start, and yet we keep adding to it.

As for the population, don't get me started.

Sheltie · 22-04-2006 12:11pm

Hamrog, just out of interest, where did you finally settle on? If you didn't choose Portlaoise, what would have been your reasons for not doing so?

drdre · 18-06-2006 10:59pm

theres a new italian restaurant opening soon in Kilminchy,just thought id let you guys know that leave around there.:D

Lanfear · 02-08-2006 12:46pm

We moved down to Portlaoise over 5 weeks ago and love it. We are a couple of miles outside the town (west) in a peaceful rural location. I have found the people to be very friendly and shop assistants helpful and polite. I have gone to lunch a few times with visiting friends and food is tasty and reasonably priced.

Parking is easy enough and the layout of the main street means it is not too far to walk to most shops. I found a fantastic garden centre out off the old Dublin road, and have got lovely hanging baskets and window boxes for a lot cheaper than I have paid in Dublin.

We are very pleased with our decision to move to Portlaoise and look forward to many happy years here.

pclancy · 02-08-2006 1:25pm

Its lovely to hear nice stories like that! Welcome to Laois

There's also a good garden centre in Mountmellick just on the way into the town. Dont have green fingers myself but mates say its good.

Lanfear · 08-08-2006 9:40am

pclancy wrote:

Its lovely to hear nice stories like that! Welcome to Laois

There's also a good garden centre in Mountmellick just on the way into the town. Dont have green fingers myself but mates say its good.

Thanks pclancy, its a great place

Will have to have a look at that garden centre, which approach road to Mountmellick is it on do you know?

pclancy · 08-08-2006 10:54am

Just go from Portlaoise out the Mountmellick Road (under railway bridge, pass dunnes stores) and its on the left as you come into Mountmellick before the Statoil garage.

Lanfear · 08-08-2006 12:05pm

Thanks pclancy

jennifer26 · 15-08-2006 7:59pm

Hi, I am moving to Colliers Lane in Portlaoise in a couple of weeks - anyone know it? One person we know from Portlaoise told us it was right beside a really bad housing estate, we have been up there but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Would really appreciate opinions if anyone knows where i'm talking about.

I didn't realise Portlaoise was so bad with drugs until reading some of the views on this site - part of the reason, i'm leaving Dublin is to keep my little boy away from drugs (I mean later on in life - he's only 4). Is it really as bad as what some people have said?

drdre · 16-08-2006 12:04am

jennifer26 wrote:

Hi, I am moving to Colliers Lane in Portlaoise in a couple of weeks - anyone know it? One person we know from Portlaoise told us it was right beside a really bad housing estate, we have been up there but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Would really appreciate opinions if anyone knows where i'm talking about.

I didn't realise Portlaoise was so bad with drugs until reading some of the views on this site - part of the reason, i'm leaving Dublin is to keep my little boy away from drugs (I mean later on in life - he's only 4). Is it really as bad as what some people have said?

DRUGS are everywhere in the world, whats that got to do with buying a place.

pclancy · 16-08-2006 9:51am

Weird, Colliers lane isnt near any bad housing estates unless their talking about kilminchy but thats grand? Its a nice mature part of portlaoise, most of the houses on colliers lane have been there as long as i can remember. I dont think you're going to have problems with drugs unless you go looking for them. Portlaoise has a heroin problem in a few small areas but like any town/city its not really out in the open that much, I wouldnt worry for your son its a nice town to grow up in, i've turned out allright. The estates that do have "bad people" have far more nice decent families there so its unfair to brand em all as scumbags. This thread was a bit harsh in places, you willl feel safe walkiing around the town and will meet 99% nice people. The town park is lovely now with stuff for the kids to play on and you've got roll and bowl, supermacs, blacks toystore and other stuff to keep u/them busy. Dont worry, you'll be fine

Oh and if you like soul music come see us next time we play in town....:)

road_high · 16-08-2006 1:43pm

The problem I can see with Co Laois, and Portlaoise in paricular is the break-kneck speed with which the county council has encouraged huge re-zonings and consequent sprawling housing estates.
They should slow down a bit and ensure some decent services are put in place alongside the new population.

I think they shouldn't be promoting this long distance commuting (Dublin) so heavily either.Build sustainable employment locally.
I mean the employment oppurtunities in Co. Laois are pretty limited with most people tending to work in surrounding counties.It sure must be an attractive location (very central) for further commercial development.

pclancy · 16-08-2006 1:56pm

Very true. Loads of well qualified and educated people living in poorly planned towns with poor infastructure. Id love to see them take an active approach to attracting new business to portlaoise and surrounding towns. Local business coudl really do with some help too, the chamber of commerce is a joke.

I got excited one day when driving somewhere i say a sign that said about the website www.workinlaois.ie then very dissapointed when I saw the site. Purely to register skills on and nothing of use for anyone really. No updates now since Nov 2005. Thanks Mr local governemnt.

road_high · 16-08-2006 2:12pm

pclancy wrote:

Very true. Loads of well qualified and educated people living in poorly planned towns with poor infastructure. Id love to see them take an active approach to attracting new business to portlaoise and surrounding towns. Local business coudl really do with some help too, the chamber of commerce is a joke.

I got excited one day when driving somewhere i say a sign that said about the website www.workinlaois.ie then very dissapointed when I saw the site. Purely to register skills on and nothing of use for anyone really. No updates now since Nov 2005. Thanks Mr local governemnt.

Had a look at that one alright, was fairly pathetic despite the big signs outside Plaoise for it!I mean, you wouldn't want to be depending on decentralisations as a means to creating employment locally. This was a whitewash and I can't see it succeding on the scale Parlon said as the workers mostly don't want it.
One of my family works in Laois, I live close to it, but apart from her she is the only one I can think that works there. On the other hand, I know loads here in KK from Laois and working here. Not that KK is great for jobs or anything, but Laois must be worse going by this anecdotal evidence. There doesnt seem to be any big private employers I can think of in Laois, despite as you say the many local qualified individuals.Surely the IDA and Enterprise Ireland can do more for the county in promoting it as an attractive location.

And surely the M7 must be an attraction for commercial development in the county?

Stheno · 16-08-2006 2:26pm

Hi, I am moving to Colliers Lane in Portlaoise in a couple of weeks - anyone know it? One person we know from Portlaoise told us it was right beside a really bad housing estate, we have been up there but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Would really appreciate opinions if anyone knows where i'm talking about

I live in Colliers Lane Upper, the newer bit that was built in 1999/2000 along with kilminchy.

The estate you are probably talking about is I *think* called Colliers Way, it's on the lhs after the old road and new road join back up. The council bought a lot of properties in there and moved residents from other estates to that estate.

Personally (and I live literally across the road from it) I've never had a problem and it's been there at least 18 months, apart from the odd speeding car.

As for the hospital I've just come out after being in with suspected appendicitis, went in at 10:15 on a Sunday night, was admitted and in a ward by 12:45 and got excellent care, same happened a year ago when I fractured my hip, in and out of a and e in four hours, and my dad had a heart scare last year and recieved excellent care.

My OH works for a private ambulance company and they would rate Portlaoise as one of the better hospitals in the midlands.

the shops are rubbish in terms of the large multiples,but there are some fantastic independant retailers for clothes, furniture and accessories, and there is an excellent doctor recently opened in kilminchy with superb hours.

The traffic is terrible though at some times, but doesn't affect me as I commute to Dublin each day to be honest.

Long term I'll move further out into the country as Portlaoise is becoming terribly built up, but overall it's certainly not the worst. A recent Sunday times survey ranked it in the top five towns for commuters :rolleyes: ahead of newbridge, kildare and monasterevin.

Mr. Green Genes · 18-08-2006 1:33pm

I may the be the only person in the history of Portlaoise who unashamedly loves the town. I've lived here all my life and have never been anything short of comfortable, even with my slightly eccentric nature amidst a sea of white tracksuited skanger types.

If you enjoy rock/metal/funk as much as me, there's a great live music scene in the town lately, and the quality of bands (both covers and original) has vastly improved over the last few years. Plus there's the tantalising prospect of the Electric Picnic festival 10 minutes down the road next month.

I have no qualms with Portlaoise and provided you don't pick a ****ty area to live in (there aren't many), I'd never hesitate to recommend the place. I don't drive so the layout or roundabout situation has never bothered me.

Marksie · 18-08-2006 3:33pm

I have lived in portaloise for seven years now. About a mile out on the tullamore road.

TBH the traffic can be crazy, very badly planned though i believe they are bypassing the whole town centre

The shopping isnt great to be honest but newbridge is ony half an hour away and that has the whitewater centre.

I have GIVEN UP going into town at the weekends, just too dangerous. There always seemed to be fights.

There is an excellent theatre there, the dunamaise and a restaurant that was clssified in tth top 100 in ireland: The Lemon tree. I have been there and it is mouthwatering. Loads of takeaways. Kingfisher is good.

The estate i am on is small and most people get on. But watch out for the white City!!

I am not going to say much about the locals.

Agree with some of the posts... someone was on the take when planning the town

Mr. Green Genes · 21-08-2006 12:26pm

marksuttonie wrote:

I have GIVEN UP going into town at the weekends, just too dangerous. There always seemed to be fights.

Only outside Supermacs and Egans to be honest. I'm up town all the time and they're the only real danger areas because of the types that frequent those places and general areas. It's where trouble looks for trouble. Stay around the square or middle main street and you'll never have a problem.

pclancy · 21-08-2006 1:45pm

Yeah its just like any other town really. I lived on Main St for about a year and a half and though its a bit rowdy around when the clubs empty theres not really much action except egans and supermacs as said above. Usually theres plenty of cops walking around at night through the town as well.

Dont be afraid of the locals! Most of us are lovely

Mr. Green Genes · 21-08-2006 4:34pm

pclancy wrote:

Dont be afraid of the locals! Most of us are lovely

Ahhh you're lovely.

Most of us would let you buy us a hamburger for which we would glady pay you Tuesday.

pclancy · 21-08-2006 10:15pm

Okay. Hamburgers are good.

Mr. Green Genes · 22-08-2006 10:36am

As are large spoons doling out the funky soul with an enigmatic moustachioed pint-sized singer.

pclancy · 22-08-2006 11:53am

Mr. Green Genes wrote:

As are large spoons doling out the funky soul with an enigmatic moustachioed pint-sized singer.

He has borderline dwarfism

The singing and reckless dancing is probably all just a cry for height.

Playing Lethean this saturday if you want to come buy me a burger....

Mr. Green Genes · 22-08-2006 1:39pm

I better make an appearance then! You are a very very happy band, yourselves and snes too. Warms me right up.

The burger thing was an out of the blue Popeye reference, but if you bring the joy, i'll bring the meat - or as they say in Mountrath: mait.

mysterious · 22-08-2006 3:37pm

I'm not a fan of Portlaoise. Even though it's a thriving place, still has doughnut feel. Fintan Lawler avenue has got to be the most hideous town centre developments ever built.. Its madness. Mountrath and Mountmelick are smaller towns but do have a market town character with a uniform streets pattern etc.

double yellow · 04-09-2006 4:00pm

I have recently moved down to Portlaoise and live in the new Fairgreen estate which is currently having a new shopping village constructed. I love the place as the houses are varied (i.e. not too ribbon-developed) but still work well together. The problem with Kilminchy imo is it feels like some kind of old sim-city game with its hills (read builder's rubble heaps) like the bulldozer feature in sim-city and things are juxtaposed beside each other in great big chunks and there is no coherency to the place.

To combat the lack of shopping argument I should point out that a new shopping centre anchored by a new Dunnes (to be the largest Dunnes outside Dublin apparently) is to be opened in November behind Tesco's and there will also be some other shops opened this year including a large homewares place (something like Texas in Tullamore). There is also going to be the new rail depot, the National Business Park (about 50 or so mixed business units) and a new leisure centre where the old swimming pool was. Like said previously the place is thriving and although I can well appreciate the argument of JFL avenue being a bit of a "strip-mall & roundabout" eyesore the traffic has been again imo a lot less than the traffic problems of Carlow or Newbridge for example. In fact you might argue that whereever decent shopping areas are located in towns the price to pay is traffic congestion.

I like Mullingar as a town that has got a lot of the planning things right compared to the areas Portlaoise has been let down by (read no Lidl in the town centre, fewer roundabouts, a decent but not overly large shopping centre and many of the UK chain stores in abundance in any town worth its salt.) However every town has its detractors and some might say Market Point in Mullingar is a Ballymun (in terms of the buildings outsizing the area) waiting to happen.

To end I think Portlaoise is a great place and for anyone new coming to the town (like myself) a few sites that may interest you are: www.laoissports.ie (click on list of clubs to see just how many varied sports and leisure options there are in Laois) www.hume.ie (for its fairly useful list of contact numbers and addresses in Portlaoise and www.agriculture.gov.ie/decentralisation/Portlaoise.pdf (for its list of what the town has to offer to decentralised ag staff!)

accordman · 05-09-2006 9:44pm

Portlaoise can go only one way, up. The town is badly laid out but the council seem to be working out an inner relief road network and a new shopping centre is not far from being finished. I cover a lot of the country for work and I can assure anyone that every corner of the counrty is saturated with drugs, scumbags and fights on a Saturday night. So called success towns like Carlow, Kilkenny and Tullamore are now turning into min Dublins with crime and anti social behaviour rocketting......
It is a gamble going to any new town but the people in portlaoise seem to be nice, and there are 165 Gardai in the station just in case!

Living in Portlaoise

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