Athlone councillors' disgust at "talking down of greenway"

A request by members of Roscommon County Council to meet with Athlone councillors to discuss “the issues” surrounding the proposal to move the Retreat Road school bus pick-up point to the nearby Athlone Town Soccer Stadium was met with a strongly-worded riposte from Cllr Aengus O'Rourke this week.

Speaking at the December meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District, Cllr O'Rourke said he was “disgusted” with the way certain people had “talked down the greenway” during the debate on the pick-up point and had succeeded in “frightening children”.

Declaring himself to be “very well qualified” to speak on the issue of safety on the greenway stretch, which is located in close proximity to the three secondary schools at Retreat, due to the fact that his four children attended schools in the area, Cllr O'Rourke branded the campaign waged by elements who were opposed to the use of the soccer stadium pick-up point as “nothing short of disgraceful.”

“My four kids used that greenway every day for six years without a single incident,” he said. “And I am delighted to see that the idea of using the soccer stadium as a pick-up point is proving to be very successful.”

In terms of the correspondence from the Athlone Municipal District members of Roscommon County Council, Cllr O'Rourke said he would like to ask them “what do they want to discuss?” and he added that he had not been contacted by any of the Roscommon councillors in advance on this issue.

Mayor Cllr Louise Heavin, said the implementation of the pick-up point at the Athlone Town soccer stadium has been met with very little commentary either positive or negative, which would lead her to believe that it is working “perfectly well”.

She added that the stretch of the greenway which is currently being used by students from the three secondary schools to get to the soccer stadium is “completely safe” and told her council colleagues that she regularly walks along it “after dark and also in the early mornings before the sun comes up” and she has never once had reason to feel afraid.