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Westmeath Examiner February 27 2016

Teen terror threat

Gardaí were being asked to take action over “at least two” gangs of teenage thugs who were causing terror in Mullingar town centre.

A mixture of Irish natives and non-Irish, the thugs – boys and girls – were reported to have attacked several teenagers in separate incidents, and at least one of them was alleged to carry a knife.

“In one particular incident last week, as many as 25 teenagers, some as young as 14, attacked three boys. When an adult female who witnessed the altercation tried to get the three boys to safety, she was threatened and left shaken,” stated the item.

Gardaí confirmed to the Westmeath Examiner that incidents involving a number of teenagers were under active investigation.

“Most of these centre around assaults, along with public order matters which began to surface late last year,” a spokesperson said.

Local councillor, Andrew Duncan, in a Facebook post, said that the gang had been imposing a reign of terror in an area taking in Pearse Street, Church Avenue, Austin Friars Street and Mullingar Town Park. He announced that he intended holding a public meeting to discuss the issue.

Westmeath Examiner February 25 2006

NEC announces closure

Hundreds of families across both Meath and Westmeath were left reeling after the announcement that the vast NEC Semiconductors plant at Ballivor was to close.

The workforce numbered 360 at the time – and the impact in Westmeath was significant, given that, the report stated, “the entire NEC workforce [were] all living within a fifteen mile radius of the factory”.

It was ironic, the newspaper remarked, that the firm was due to celebrate its 30th anniversary in Ballivor later that year, and its closure was predicted to mean a loss of up to €10m per annum to the local region.

Management from NEC’s parent company in Japan, NEC Electronics, flew in to meet with employees, and the trade union SIPTU, which had two branches representing 300 employees, was to meet with management to discuss the future.

The closure was being blamed on trading difficulties which, the report said, related not to the Ballivor plant, but the parent company.

Westmeath Examiner February 3 1996

‘The bottleneck of the west’

“It would be easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than to get a car through Kinnegad at rush hour, and the air at Monday’s meeting of Westmeath County Council was as ‘chocabloc’ as that town ever is, as councillors strove to express their frustrations over the shelving of plans to bypass the ‘gateway to the west’,” stated the intro to the front page lead on the edition of February 3, 1996.

At the meeting, Cllrs Henry Abbott and Tommy Wright had a motion on the agenda proposing that the council call on the National Roads Authority to approve a traffic relief plan for Kinnegad which would ensure the commercial survival and growth of the town.

Describing Kinnegad as “the Nashville of the catering industry”, Cllr Abbott said that Westmeath County Council should just go ahead and design the bypass, while Deputy Paul McGrath predicted that the earliest hope of having the bypass notion revived would be in 1997, when a mid-term review of the 1995-1999 Structural Funds plan would be taking place.

Westmeath Examiner March 1 1986

‘Blackest day’

A warning that 30 job losses at St Loman’s Hospital, Mullingar, ward closures and the discontinuation of several services were looking likely formed the front page lead in the issue of the Westmeath Examiner of March 1, 1986.

The reason for the threatened cuts was a shortfall of £2.5 million in the Midland Health Board’s non-capital allocation for 1986, and the Examiner report stated that the “crisis situation” facing the board had become apparent at the February monthly meeting, which was deemed “the blackest day” in the life of the board.

The article went on to state that in 1985, the board had been told to cut back on its spending by £2m, which it did through prudent housekeeping, but without ward closures.

However, in “a grim address” to the meeting,the chief executive officer, Mr Denis J Doherty, warned that ward closures would be unavoidable that year.

Westmeath Examiner February 28 1976

‘From strength to strength’

“The fact that Mullingar was going from strength to strength and that two of its recent industrial projects will have fixed assets in excess of £17 million were points mentioned by Mr Oliver Buckley, president of Mullingar and District Chamber of Commerce and Industry when he addressed the gathering at the annual dinner dance of the Chamber in the Greville Arms Hotel last week,” stated an item under the heading ‘Industrial bonanza in Mullingar’.

Mr Buckley stated at the event that the GAF factory at present being constructed at Newbrook would provide employment for 300 men during its construction and more than 600 when in production.

Continuing, he said that Mullingar was progressing strongly, and said the chamber could take a good measure of satisfaction from that, because its work was largely concerned with the essential needs of the town and district.

Westmeath Examiner February 26, 1966

Money matters

A local man received what was described as an inordinately high phone bill – about 11 or 12 times greater than was normal for his household – the Westmeath Examiner reported on February 26, 1966.

Mr James Connolly of Dominick Street, Mullingar, opened his quarterly telephone account expecting a bill of around £12, which was what he would normally receive. However, he was stunned to find the claim was for £154 16 shillings and 2 pence. The assessment for local calls alone amounted to £144 10 shillings and 5 pence for the three months, compared with a normal figure of approximately £2.

The report stated that, on the basis of that demand, there would have had to have been 3,671 local calls made in the three months – or more than 90 local calls a day. It concluded by noting that Mr Connolly intended taking the matter up with the Department of Posts and Telegraphs.

Still on money matters, what was reported to be a record high price – in the Rathowen area at least – was obtained by Mr Thomas Clancy of Rockfield, Rathowen, for the sale of cattle.

He sold 20 beasts at £100 each, a total to £2,000. By contrast on the other end of the scale, the same paper reported, in Wexford the previous week bidding on a Friesian heifer opened at just £1, and the calf was eventually sold for the record low price of just £3 and 10 shillings.

Also featured on the front page was an account of a Mullingar man, now living in England, who had in his possession a rare Irish currency note. Mr Patrick Cox, formerly of Mount Street, had a 30 shilling note issued on October 10, 1833. It measured about nine inches by four inches and was blue and green in colour. Mr Cox, who resided in Stamford and was employed in a paper mill, stated that after one of his brothers died, he found the note among his possessions. He had been given to understand that offers of much more than the face value of the note had been made for it.

The 30 shilling note had been issued by Gibbons and Williams Bank, Dublin. At that time, banks had the right to issue their own notes. The bank was founded in Dublin in 1830 but ceased to function during the Famine years.

Westmeath Independent February 25, 1956

Ireland ‘cheap place to live’

The Westmeath Independent was predicting that 1956 would see a big increase in tourist traffic to Ireland.

“This will be due to the fact that not only will our American cousins be coming back to the old country, but that Dublin, and of course the rest of Ireland, have proved to be one of the three cheapest places in the world to live in, Athens and Mexico City being the other two,” the writer said.

Putting it in context, he said that if Washington were to be given a living index of 100, Paris would be 140, London 107.3 and Dublin 80.6.

“This information appears in the United States of American News and World Report. So our long-suffering readers need not worry that these figures are the product of a mind weakened by sitting too long in the centre of the Bog of Allen in Ireland,” the writer said.

Continuing in the same humorous tone he stated: “We have not, we must admit, been able to check them with Einstein as he is rather busy at the moment, probably having trouble with his income tax. However, we did notice that the last time we were in London, instead of the money disappearing like water in the desert, we never seemed to have any money to begin with. In fact, after one evening in the brighter and gaudier night spots, the living index, 107.3, appears to us to be a case of gross understatement.

Westmeath Examiner February 23, 1946

Food concerns

A notice which would seem unusual by today’s standards appeared in the issue of February 23, 1946, under the heading ‘Notice to Cottage Tenants’. It informed tenants of labourers cottages of the obligation to till their allotted plots for the coming season.

The notice warned that proceedings for the recovery of cottages would be initiated against any tenant who failed to cultivate his plot. It added that rent collectors had been instructed to submit a list of defaulters at the end of May. The notice was signed by the county secretary, E Callanan.

In the same issue, a report detailed a discussion at a meeting of the Westmeath County Committee of Agriculture concerning a letter from the Department of Agriculture outlining a proposed scheme to increase egg production.

Mr George Allen expressed the view that those who succeeded in increasing egg production should receive compensation from the department.

Mr Bennett referred to Keogh’s Hatchery in Carlow, noting that its proprietor had installed a large incubator at a cost of £500. He suggested that a similar hatchery should be established in Westmeath.

A lengthy discussion followed, during which a number of questions were put to Miss Power, poultry instructoress. It was ultimately agreed that Miss Power and Miss O’Connor would devise a scheme to be submitted to the committee with a view to boosting egg production.

Mr Bennett further suggested that, after considering the report from the instructoress, a deputation should meet with the department to discuss the matter.

Westmeath Independent February 29, 1936

‘Wheels of industry silent’

Conditions in Moate for those trying to make a living were tough, an item in the Westmeath Independent of February 29, 1936 revealed.

“We are indeed aware that the position of the workless in Moate is deplorable and there is slender hope of an improvement in the shocking conditions,” stated the item. Continuing, it said that some years earlier Moate had been a flourishing little town in which could be found a furniture factory that gave regular employment to as many as 40 men.

“Today the wheels of industry are silent, the people of the town are now depending for a livelihood on the agricultural community, the members of which are themselves finding it difficult to live owing to depression in the cattle trade.”

The writer commented that his contact in Moate also contended there was a need to have a hospital provided in the town.

Westmeath Examiner February 27, 1926

A grave evil of the times

Speaking at the 8 o’clock Mass in Mullingar Cathedral the previous Sunday, Most Rev Dr Gaughran, Lord Bishop of Meath, said that in reading the Examiner, he was highly pleased to see that the local press did not contain any advertisements for dances. This was especially gratifying to him at the opening of the Lenten season.

They were all aware, Dr Gaughran said, of the many evils that arose from modern dancing, and they must have noticed that for some years past it had been a matter of grave anxiety and consideration for the Irish hierarchy and clergy. The Bishops of Ireland, both individually and in council, had expressed their views on the subject in no uncertain manner, he stated.

Proceeding, his Lordship warned the people against the many dangers that attended, especially all-night dances and similar functions at which bars were permitted. They created, he said, a grave danger for young people, and one against which it was not only the duty of the Church to warn, but especially the duty of parents to ensure that their children were not exposed to evils which were only too prevalent from the cause referred to.

Fathers and mothers, he said, should see that their children did not attend dances unless they were under trusted and responsible supervision, and above all that they avoided all-night dances, particularly those at which bars were in vogue.