More problems with late night bus service
More problems once again earlier this week for passengers on the late night Bus Eireann service that travels, via Boyle, to Dublin Airport. The late arrival of the Bus into Sligo resulted in a 90 minute delay in the service departing which caused problems for many who had a flight to catch. Passengers were angry at the lack of communication with those in Boyle and along the route just left to wait not knowing what was happening. Delays and stops being bypassed has led to many passengers saying they will not use the late night service due to it’s unreliability.
Geographical policing areas need review
Last weekends tragic RTC in Kilglass near Rooskey, where a local man lost his life, was investigated by Gardai from Boyle, which just goes to show the ridiculous geographical area Gardaí attached to Boyle station have to cover. Rooskey is 37km from Boyle but falls into the Boyle/Castlerea district for policing. With Longford only 19km away from Rooskey, one would assume Gardai from Longford or Carrick should cover that area, but that is not the case. The Boyle/Castlerea Garda District is approximately 67km in length and stretches from Arigna to Tarmonbarry and also from Williamstown to Strokestown. It is a huge area manned by an overstretched force with limited resources. An urgent review needs to be conducted on the geography of the policing areas that currently exist, along with additional Gardai allocated to stations like Boyle.
Sprightly John goes in search of further gold
Good luck to Boyle native octogenarian John McDermott as he heads to Madeira this week for the European Masters Athletic Championship. John will participate in the both the hurdles and decathlon. No stranger to the winners podium, last year Strandhill resident John won three Gold Medals at both the European Indoor Championships in Poland and the World Masters championships in Gothenburg. He also set a new World record of 36.06 for 200m hurdles in his age group and a European record of 71.08 in the 400m. He dropped down two age group categories to compete against athletes 10 years younger to be part of the Irish team who won O70 bronze team in the 4 x 200m relay. John’s brother Liam and his wife Alice still live in the family home place in Abbeytown.
Another revenue generator for an accommodation provider
Another revenue generator for any would be hotel or accommodation provider here in Boyle could be school reunions. With two secondary schools in the town over the years, there have been many reunions with most people looking for somewhere to stay and enjoy the town where they were educated. Boyle will soon host another school reunion and this time it will be a joint reunion for both Scoil Chriost and Ri and St. Mary’s College. The reunion is for those who attended either school from 1990-1995, including anyone who left or joined the class during this period also. The main event will take place in the Moylurg Inn on Saturday October 18th with more details available on ‘Class of 1995 30 Year Reunion’ on Facebook.
New petition for early morning train service
The appearance of National Transport Authority before a recent Joint Oireachtas Transport Committee did not give any hope for a return of catering service on the Dublin Sligo rail line that serves Boyle and neither did it give any confidence that an early morning train into Sligo was on the cards. In relation to the catering service, the NTA, depsite assurances from Irish Rail last August, has said there is no budget available for the service. While every effort including petitions has been made previously for an early morning service, one Sligo Councillor is not giving up and has organised another petition to get an early morning service from Longford to Sligo. According to Councillor Ann Higgins “Sligo is one of the few end-of-line stations in Ireland without a train arriving before 9 am. As a result, students, workers, shoppers, tourists, and anyone with school, work, medical, or personal business can’t reach Sligo by train until after 10am. This forces people to use cars or buses, adding to traffic congestion and our collective carbon footprint. This petition calls on the National Transport Authority and Irish Rail to establish a daily morning commuter train from Longford to Sligo that will arrive in Sligo no later than 8.30 a.m. You can sign this petition here to get this much needed early commuter rail service established along the Longford – Sligo rail line and make life easier for those who need to be in Sligo before 9am”.
News snippets from around Boyle
Once again Lough Key Forest Park bore the brunt of last Friday’s storm with a large number of trees uprooted and access restricted to the Park for a period of time. It’s such a shame to see so many trees, hundreds of years old, taken by storm force winds in the Park since December 2024……..Two events are taking place in Boyle Library tomorrow Saturday. At 10.15am there will be an Eco Soap Making Workshop with Aoife Munn. This event is suitable for all ages but younger children will need an adult to help. Then at 11.30am Sustainable Decluttering with Aoife Munn. Get expert advice on how to declutter your house. Booking for both events on 071 9662800……… Boyle Summer Show AGM on Monday 13th October at 7.45pm in the Board Room, 1st floor Spool Factory. Success of the show depends on volunteers so everybody welcome……..Roscommon Dementia Alliance with the support of the Older Peoples Council Roscommon warmly invites you to a special Creative Brain Health event that will be held in King House, Military Road, Boyle on Wednesday, October 15th from 10:00am – 1:30pm. To register contact Teresa O’Brien on 086 029 1215 or email [email protected]………..A lot of annoyed rail passengers once again on Wednesday when yet another signaling issue caused delays of over two hours on the early morning train services out of Sligo and Dublin. And to ad to the woes, the signalling problem continued, albeit not as bad, on Thursday. Irish Rail only provide updates on “X” so the many people who do not use this form of social media were left in the dark in relation to what was happening with the delays and cancellations……….The County Leitrim Percy French Society present ” An Evening with Percy French” in King House, Boyle on Saturday October 18th at 7.30pm. Admission €15.
And finally….!
A young woman was preparing for her wedding.
She asked her mother to go out and buy a nice long black negligee and carefully place it in her suitcase so it would not wrinkle.
Well, Mom forgot until the last minute, so she dashed out and could only find a short pink nightie.
She bought it and threw it into the suitcase.
After the wedding the bride and groom enter their hotel room.
The groom was a little self-conscious so he asked his new bride to change in the bathroom and promise not to peek while he got ready for bed.
While she was in the bathroom, the bride opened her suitcase and saw the negligee her mother had thrown in there.
She exclaimed, “Oh no! It’s short, pink, and wrinkled!”
Then her groom cried out, “Ah for God sake – didn’t I tell you not to peek!”
