Letter to the editor: Ballagh streetscaping not fit for purpose

A Chara, 

On Wednesday morning I walked down to The Square. I stood there with local businesspeople, friends, neighbours and some from other areas with Ballaghaderreen connections. More than 50 people gathered to express concern at streetscaping of the town, which is not fit for purpose. Part of the so-called planning process happened during lockdown.

I stood there on The Square and recalled my first memories of The Square about 50 years ago. There was a department store that had a catchment area of 50 miles. In it there was a bakery, a bottling store, a whisky bonder, departments for male and female footwear and clothing and a brilliant grocery with amazing smells of freshly baked bread. It was to this establishment that my father came to serve his time in 1947. A few months later he won a county title with Ballaghaderreen GAA Club and made Ballaghaderreen his home. My reality is that if Ballaghaderreen had not been such a thriving market town I would not exist.

Around that time, 50 ago, I would stand near Flannery’s Corner, in front of Mulligan’s window to view the presents that I might be able to ask Santa Claus to bring me for Christmas. On my way home last Wednesday I stopped at those beautifully rounded windows of that great shop. The newer generation has a different eye for window dressing and the displays are spectacular. We should be encouraging this newer generation to continue in business. Present plans will make it more difficult for traffic to get round that corner and make also it increasingly dangerous and difficult for large lorries.

Remembering a conversation earlier that morning I retraced my steps to examine some ingenious line marking near the Cathedral, which had been completed at 8 p.m. the previous evening. What I examined showed a complete lack of genius. The two juxtaposed bus lanes leave a narrow thoroughfare just about suitable for a single line of cars and barely wide enough for a truck to pass within its restrictive lines. I stepped off an overly high footpath and jarred my hip. Walking back up the town with a slight limp I looked to see any lowered areas that could be accessed by wheelchair. There were none to be seen. A bus tried to get across the Square area carrying children wearing high visibility jackets to a school. It haltingly made its way but soon had to stop to pick up more children. For the umpteenth time I witnessed traffic becoming gridlocked yet again.

I spoke to a man with a haulage business. With ongoing roadworks his lorries are delayed by more than 20 minutes. If his men cannot get the milk powder out of the factory quick enough production in that factory comes to a standstill, impacting on both his and the factory’s profitability. He expressed his concerns that his wagons would find it much more difficult to make the turn safely.

Despite an increasing frustration I attempted to analyse what sort of visionary signed off on these plans. What we do in the name of progress is regress. I asked one businessman if there was a plan I could look at. He advised me to go to a disused property on the Square where artists’ impressions had been displayed. The ‘impression’ lay on the ground in a disheveled state, having fallen from the window on which it was displayed.

I cannot be sure what the agenda is, but it is not focused on people, safety, quality of life, sustainability or real growth and development. The other night a man forcefully stated to me that we need the visual aesthetic and that I need to wake up and smell the roses. All I could say is that many of the most fragrant roses grow best in manure.

Yours sincerely, Joe Egan.

Main Street, 

Ballaghaderreen, 

Co. Roscommon.