Opposition to Monksland 'land grab' intensifies

A government proposal to alter the Westmeath county boundary, which would mean Monksland moving from Roscommon to Westmeath, is being vehemently opposed by local councillors who are urging people to attend a public meeting on Monday.
A special meeting of Roscommon County Council yesterday heard overwhelming opposition to the proposal.

A boundary commission is currently reviewing the local boundary and is due to have a report completed within weeks.

A group, 'Save Roscommon’, has been set up with the aim of opposing the plan. They say the plan, if it goes ahead, will annex a large part of south Roscommon and hand it over to Westmeath.

The mayor of Roscommon, Councillor Paddy Kilduff (Fianna Fail) said the plan must be strongly opposed.
“Roscommon as we know it is going to be destroyed, annihilated. It is a very serious problem. Unless we put up a very strong case we are in serious trouble. There is going to be major upset. They really want to land grab from Roscommon,” he said.
“We are upping the ante. I believe we will have to march on the bridge of Athlone. I will be calling for that,” he added.
Independent Councillor Lawrence Fallon said it is important that the public is kept up-to-date. “We can’t see any reason why Monksland would be annexed out of Roscommon. There is no clarity as to the reasons for it. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
“The rapid growth in Monksland hasn’t been mirrored anywhere else. It has been a big fish in a small bowl up to now. It is better for it to be a big fish in a small bowl than a small fish in a big bowl,” he said.
He said that people born in Roscommon classify themselves as being from Roscommon  and Connacht and not Westmeath or Leinster.
Fine Gael Councillor John Naughten said there is strong opposition to the proposal and has reiterated his call for a meeting with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny to discuss the plans. “We are very much opposed to it, considering the investment the people of County Roscommon have put into Monksland in terms of provision of services for industry and infrastructure over the years. To see this area now being brought in under Westmeath County Council would have a very negative impact on the county as a whole,” he said.
“Monksland is now the main town for South Roscommon. There are a lot of services provided for the people like the community health centre and the tidy towns group.”
Local TD Denis Naughten said it was important that people “stand up and defend our county by attending the public meeting on Monday, January 11, at 8pm in the Athlone Springs Hotel, Monksland”.
“While many people are putting forward economic and sporting reasons as to why we need to fight to hold our county together, and rightly so; I believe that we need to send out a crystal clear message that “Monksland is our town, and we’re proud of it!”
“Monksland is a town in its own right with about 1,000 industrial jobs and up to 500 retail/service jobs, supporting the whole South Roscommon area and not just the local population,” he said.
Members of the public are being invited to attend a public meeting at the Athlone Springs Hotel next Monday, January 11, at 8pm.

*For full coverage, see next week's Westmeath Independent.