Keena hits back over Boxer's claim that Athlone is losing out

A local councillor has taken a pop at former Minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran's recent comments that “politicians have taken their eye off the ball somewhat in relation to Athlone with no new investment of any nature in the town since 2020’’, describing it as “wild and inaccurate”.

Fianna Fáil's Cllr Frankie Keena was responding to Boxer's remarks last week in this newspaper as he announced his intention to run for the Dáil again, and possibly for the county council if the local elections come first.

While Cllr Keena said he welcomed the news Boxer will contest the elections again, saying it is important that the electorate is given a choice, he said he was disappointed, however, by the comments in relation the record of local politicians.

“Such a wild and inaccurate statement is disingenuous and is a prime example of what gives politics a bad name. I often wonder why it is necessary to make such comments? Surely, Kevin is aware of some of the following projects in Athlone costing approximately €165m: Uisce Eireann’s Athlone Main Drainage Scheme which is currently underway costing €114m; the new Greenway Bridge across the Shannon costing €13m which is due for completion within months; the Athlone urban streetscape plan due to start shortly costing over €4m; the opening of a marvellous amenity park at the Athlone Regional Sports Centre costing over €1m and the recent Sports Capital programme which was the largest Government allocation to date with numerous sporting clubs in the Athlone and wider areas benefitting.”

He went onto give other examples of local investment like the opening of TUS technological university and more recently their announcement of work starting shortly on a multimillion-euro new STEM facility on campus, the rollout in Athlone of a Bus Éireann first electric fleet, costing €10 million, and the new multimillion euro 50-bed HSE community nursing facility currently under construction in Clonbrusk.

“These are only a short synopsis of the type of investments that Athlone enjoys with other big ones to follow such as works on the housing front. The public deserve to be supplied with factual information,” Cllr Keena concluded.

Boxer, the last TD who lived in Athlone, said last week he believed the town needed a representative in Leinster House.

He lost his seat in 2020, and said his own hope for a return to the political area would depend on the will of the local electorate.

Last week he said many of the State projects currently underway in Athlone, such as the cycleway bridge and the community nursing unit in Clonbrusk, were ones he had helped set in motion as a TD and Minister.