Thirty years of news stories from RTE's man in the midlands Ciarán Mullooly
The unusual arrival of an invasive species of shellfish in the lakes of the midlands and the last man living on an island on Lough Ree are just two of the topics that feature in a new book by the RTÉ’s midlands correspondent Ciaran Mullooly.
After a career of 30 years in journalism, the last 20 years on TV, Ciaran has written an account of many of the stories he has covered in 'Back To The Future’
He writes, among other things, about the impact of the Asian clams on fishing on the Shannon and the impact windfarms are having on residents in country areas and the sense of disappointment that more jobs in the manufacturing of the parts for the turbines were not created in Westmeath and other midlands counties.
One of the main themes of this book is the way Bord na Mona is changing its business model and the threat that poses to job numbers after 2020. “Dozens of villages and towns in the midlands are facing an entirely different way of life when Bord na Mona replaces peat with biomass in fuelling the power stations,” Ciaran says.
“I hope this book will serve as a wake-up call to the people who live in these rural areas that, unless we all come up with a more inventive approach to rural tourism and other alternative enterprises, the days of young people getting summer jobs in their own areas are over and the prospect of families continuing to work and live in their native parish may well be a thing of the past without Bord na Mona and ESB.”
Back To The Future includes a substantial biographical note on the author’s midlands background in Longford, but then focuses on 23 other stories he has covered since 1985.
Other topics are the big freeze of 2010, the fire and restoration of St Mel’s Cathedral and the misdiagnosis of breast cancer in women attending the midland regional hospital in Portlaoise – a story Mullooly broke in 2008.
Back to The Future is on sale now at shops throughout the midlands and the author will be signing his new book at the Eason shop in Mullingar on Saturday December 6 at 3.30pm.
• Ciaranmullooly@gmail.com