Unique council meeting swaps chamber for café

Jack’s Stop in Streamstown was the location of a unique council meeting held last week.

Members of the Economic Development and Tourism Strategic Policy Committee went to the café for their first meeting of the year, on February 22.

It was a break from their typical meeting venue at County Buildings in Mullingar and aimed to “promote” the café as a valuable amenity in the county.

The Strategic Policy Committee had driven the development of Jack’s Stop from an old station house just five years ago to the bustling amenity along the Old Rail Trail that it is today.

The café opened in March of 2023 and has become hugely popular with users of the greenway due to its location as a halfway point between Mullingar and Athlone.

Cllr John Shaw, SPC chair, told the meeting he was proud of the development of the amenity.

“We would have funded this [Jack’s Stop] over the last few years out of our economic development promotion fund,” he said.

“We’re trying to show that money is going in the right places.

“I was here during the summer, one fine summer morning, and I couldn’t believe the crowd that was here.”

Cllr Shaw said he hopes to see more such meetings held around the county.

“We need to promote places like this in our county as much as possible and try to get as many people in the door here going forward to make it a sustainable business,” he said.

“It was a great venue for a meeting and hopefully something we can do more in the future.”

“I would recommend that it’s good to get SPCs out there on the ground in the future, whether that’s a school or another place like this,” said Cllr Shaw.

Discussed at the SPC was the Local Economic and Community Plan (2023-2028) and the valuable work undertaken by the Local Enterprise Office in Westmeath.

Also located at Jack’s Stop is a playground for children and bathroom facilities for those out and about on the Old Rail Trail.