Locals urged to support local!

The 2018 Athlone Shannon Feastival which takes place in just over a fortnight will focus on the town's connection with the River Shannon.
The event will take place on September 8 and 9 and promises to be a feast for foodies and families, with a busy programme of events planned.
The festival is being held in the run up to the 2018 World Canal Conference which runs from September 10 to 12.  This global conference will bring hundreds of canal and waterway enthusiasts, professionals and academics to the town.
Athlone Deputy Mayor Councillor Aengus O’Rourke has urged people to support the festival, saying that a lot of resources are put into the event.
Cllr O'Rourke said: “Athlone is very proud to host the very successful 'All Ireland Drama Festival' in May each year and that event over the course of a week is a fantastic asset for the town in terms of economic impact and profile.  
“However, Athlone has been crying out for a Summer festival too, a festival with the potential to attract national and international visitors now and into the future.  We are aiming for this festival to grow in the years ahead and to feature strongly on the national calendar of festivals, attracting visitors from far and wide, in the same vein as The Kilkenny Cat Laughs, the Galway Oyster Festival, the Cork Jazz Festival and so on.”
He added: “To do this, in my opinion, we need the help of the people of Athlone, not only to turn out and support the festival, but also to help promote the festival to those we know, basically to all our connections.  We all have friends and relations scattered across the country and further afield.  If we all promote the festival to our contacts directly or via social media it will help us greatly to market the weekend to a wider audience and to an audience with a connection to the town.”