Frain pledges focus on tourism, town renewal, road safety and community development

Tourism, town renewal, road safety and community development are some of the key priorities for new Cathaoirleach of the Boyle Municipal District.

Ballaghaderreen councillor Micheál Frain was elected to the role at today’s (Tuesday’s) Annual General Meeting. Cllr Liam Callaghan selected as Leas-Cathaoirleach.

Outgoing Cathaoirleach Cllr Sean Moylan was thanked by colleagues for his fair chairing of meetings over the past year. He identified the opening of the new N5 bypass as the proudest moment of his term.

Cllr Frain paid tribute to his predecessor, saying: “Sean has done great work over the past 12 months. Sean, like myself, is immersed in community development and he is very hard working.” For the new Cathaoirleach, continued representation for Ballaghaderreen and the wider development of North Roscommon will be central to his year in office.

The recent reopening of Ballaghaderreen Library was described as a welcome boost for the town, with Cllr Frain maintaining that momentum through the proposed new childcare facility and the Plots development would be important for the area.

Tourism and connectivity will also be major priorities. Cllr Frain highlighted the need to improve the region’s links with Ireland West Airport Knock and to provide better signage for towns and villages affected by the N5 bypass.

“We fly over the most beautiful parts of County Roscommon coming into Knock, and yet there isn’t a sign to say where Roscommon is,” he said. “Developing links, including physical links such as walkways and cycleways, is important.” Lough Key Forest Park, one of the district’s main tourism assets, was recently granted planning permission for a major redevelopment. Cllr Frain said he believed the project would progress without further delay.

“It’s down to Coillte and the company involved. Roscommon County Council has representatives on board, so I think they’ll be moving on that pretty quickly and going to tender,” he outlined.

He added that Boyle had not fully benefited from the Night and Day Festival at Lough Key, pointing to a shortage of accommodation in the town.

While acknowledging there may be some pushback, including in relation to the proposed Aldi store for Boyle, Cllr Frain said he would like to see a hotel or additional visitor accommodation developed in the town.

More broadly, he said the social and economic development of North Roscommon offered “huge potential”, with school and estate safety, unfinished estates and derelict buildings among the issues he wants to see progressed.

“I’m also looking at developing safety outside schools and estates for children — it’s a huge issue,” he said.

Cllr Frain said communities bypassed by new road infrastructure, including villages such as Frenchpark, must continue to be supported and promoted.

“We want to make sure that there’s enough done for these communities and that people are made aware of the facilities available, including restaurants, pubs and local amenities,” he said.

“I think we have huge potential in the whole of North Roscommon. It’s all about getting the facilities in place, bringing people into the towns and revitalising them. We have councillors who work together for the betterment of North and West Roscommon,” Cllr Frain concluded.