One Minister’s Athlone office closes as another opens

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran and Robert Troy were both announced as Ministers of State in the new government late last month.

But while 'Boxer' Moran's constituency office in Athlone opened for business last week, Minister of State Troy confirmed that his office in the town closed for good shortly before Christmas.

The office of Minister of State Moran is located at Coosan Stores, Abbey Road, Athlone, directly behind the Janosik Polish grocery shop.

The office opened for the first time since the general election on Tuesday of last week, and it's understood that there are currently two full-time members of staff working there.

Minister of State Troy told the Westmeath Independent that he had taken the decision to close his office on Gleeson Street in Athlone shortly after the November 29 election.

"The office in Athlone has closed, sadly. There was a cost associated with it, and I had it open full-time since 2016," he said.

He outlined how the closure had been prompted by the relatively low number of constituency queries fielded by the Athlone office in comparison with his office in Mullingar.

"From evaluating where the bulk of the work was coming from, and how busy it was, there was no comparison between the volumes in Mullingar and Athlone, and I had to look at providing a more streamlined service.

"That being said, I'm not pulling out of Athlone. I will be continuing to have regular clinics in Athlone and in the south of the county, but I couldn't sustain the office any longer to be honest."

He said his next clinic in Athlone would be taking place on Tuesday next, February 18, in the Sheraton hotel.

'Boxer' Moran's appointment as Minister of State is at the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), while Robert Troy is Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance.