Deadline today for views on Roscommon - Westmeath boundary
The deadline for submitting views on a possible change to the Westmeath - Roscommon county boundary in Athlone is the close of business today (Wednesday).
Public sumissions to the Athlone Boundary Review committee must be in by 5pm today. Details of how to make a submission electronically are available on the boundary review website - www.athloneboundaryreview.ie
It's expected that Roscommon people who oppose a change to their county boundary will to make their voices heard with a “massive” number of submissions to the committee.
Representatives of the 'Save Roscommon’ community group were travelling to Mullingar today to deliver several boxes of submissions for the review committee ahead of the deadline.
Kiltoom resident and Save Roscommon spokesperson Ger Aherne said the possibility of parts of the county being “annexed” by Westmeath had prompted a “phenomenal” response both in Roscommon and beyond.
Photographs shared on social media showed people displaying 'Save Roscommon’ messages in New York, Thailand, Australia and other far-flung locations.
Mr Aherne said that, as of Monday, 2,400 people had used a link for making electronic submissions to the boundary review committee through the Save Roscommon facebook page. Other electronic submissions were being made directly on the committee’s website, but the largest bundle of submissions was likely to be the hard copies bound for Mullingar.
The extent of opposition to the possible boundary change would have taken some people by surprise, Mr Aherne commented.
“I think there has been a significant underestimation of the response from the people who might have thought this was a good idea,” he said.
“What we want to achieve is not incompatible with Athlone’s prosperity. We all have great fondness for the town of Athlone. Our children were educated there. We socialise there. What we would ask is: what is there to be gained by alienating people who are on your doorstep?”
In a statement on Monday, the Save Roscommon group said “campaigners for South Roscommon annexation” had not provided any evidence that “the changing of county borders will actually improve Athlone’s economic prospects.”
“Further, given Westmeath’s track record with Athlone, perhaps a better plan would be to re-incorporate the west of Athlone, which today has more than 40 vacant business premises, back into County Roscommon,” said Mr Aherne.
Westmeath County Council has made a submission to the boundary review committee arguing in favour of extending its boundary to incorporate Monksland and other areas of South Roscommon.
The council said this would be the most appropriate administrative arrangement for promoting the future development and prosperity of the Athlone area.