Re-establishment of Athlone Town Council mooted
Athlone Town Council, which was abolished a little over a decade ago, could be re-established by the incoming Government.
Town councils across the country were scrapped in 2014, with Athlone Town Council being replaced by the broader Athlone Moate Municipal District.
This meant the removal of dedicated staffing and services for the Athlone Town Council area, with those being replaced by district-wide services under the auspices of Westmeath County Council.
One of the objectives listed in the incoming coalition's Programme for Government document, published last week, is to "establish town councils in large towns" on "a regional, phased basis" in order to "provide a focal-point for raising concerns of towns and coordinating town-focused activities".
Incoming Minister of State Kevin 'Boxer' Moran told the Westmeath Independent he had contributed to this objective being added to the Programme for Government, and he is hopeful Athlone will be one of the locations where a town council would be formed once again.
"I firmly believe that a town the size of Athlone, with a massive rates base, should stand on its own two feet, with its own Mayor and its own headquarters," said Boxer.
He acknowledged that the re-establishment of town councils in some larger towns was "not written in stone" but said it should be "explored more" now that it's listed in the Programme for Government.
"I work with all of the local councillors and I know them inside out. They work extremely hard, and I firmly believe that if we're successful with this it will widen the scope (of the local authority) with more councillors, which I agree with wholeheartedly.
"If you increase the (Dáil constituency of Longford Westmeath) from a 4-seater to a 5-seater beacause of an increase in population, you'd have to look at an increase in the number of councillors too.
“But that's not the issue here. The issue is that Athlone would stand on its own two feet. That's my whole purpose in looking for this," he added.
"I know that the abolition of the Town Council was a huge loss to Athlone.
"No disrespect to Mullingar or to Westmeath County Council, but I believe a town of the population size of Athlone should have its own council, and should be making its own decisions. And I stand over that," concluded Boxer.