Mullingar.ie officially launched

Before a huge crowd, the new website, Mullingar.ie was formally launched at The Atrium at the Westmeath County Council offices on Wednesday night."When people now google Mullingar, they will get our new website, mullingar.ie, and see all we have to offer," master of ceremonies, Paddy Dunican, manager of Kilbeggan Racecourse, told the attendance.Among those present were representatives of the local business, legal, entertainment, sporting and community sectors. The idea for the new website, came about after a chat between Mr Dunican and Robert Fagan, of Mullingar Equestrian Centre. Others who came board to help bring the idea to fruition were Deirdre Murphy; Christy Maye, (Greville Arms); Orla Duncan (Cookieweb), Jillian Shaw ( County Enterprise Board); Martha Clancy (Annebrook House Hotel); Eddie Tynan (Larkin Tynan & Co solicitors) and John Humphries (Chamber of Commerce). Also involved in the site is Westmeath County Council, which is hosting the site, while the County Enterprise Board provided funding. Celtic Media Group (publishers of the Westmeath Examiner), is providing much of the content, including a stream of live news stories.The site content manager is Helen Egan, who is working out of the Westmeath Examiner's offices. "The development of this website is the first of its kind in the country," revealed Mr Dunican."It is the first time in which a county council, a local newspaper and the business and voluntary community have come together to build a new website to promote a town." And he continued, there was much to promote."Mullingar and the surrounding areas is a great place. "We have got brilliant people - some of the top sports people in the world - some of the best music entertainers in the wrold. "We have great lakes, tourist attractions, sporting facilities, shops, restaurants and hotels etc. "We are in the centre of Ireland, on the new M4 motorway. "We are now only one hour from Dublin, our capital city, where our main air and seaports are linking us to the rest of the world."We have it all!Others who spoke at the event were: Johnny Penrose, Chairman of Westmeath county council, Frank Mulrennan, CEO, Celtic Media Group; Joan Mulvihill, CEO of the Irish Internet Association; Danny McLoughlin, Westmeath's county manager, and Jim Miley, project director for The Gathering, Ireland.<strong>Click here to see the video of the official 'switch-on'</strong><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vaIDHvcavbE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Video recorded by WilsonPorterVideo