Local residents to mark Jadotville siege and street's 70th anniversary
Photo: A scene from Jadotville. 13 of the personnel involved in the siege were from Assumption Road.
When a major weekend of celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of Athlone’s Assumption Road had to be abandoned earlier this year due to Covid-19 restrictions, the organisers decided to plan an even more ambitious event for next year which will see the 60th anniversary of the Siege of Jadotville being commemorated also.
In an effort to raise funds for the weekend of celebrations, the Assumption Road Residents Association have now set up a GoFundMe page and are hoping to attract donations from right across the globe for their twin projects.
“We have already got one donation of €100 from Australia,” says Chairman of the Assumption Road Residents Association, Anthony Merrigan “and we are especially appealing to anyone living either in Ireland, or abroad, who has served in the Army, or has any connection to the Defence Forces, to consider donating to our fundraiser.”
Assumption Road has a very special connection to the Siege of Jadotville as 13 of the 25 Army personnel from Westmeath who were involved in the siege hailed from the road itself.
“As part of our celebrations we are planning to erect a memorial at Assumption Road to all of the soldiers who served at the Siege of Jadotville, and commemorate and honour those soldiers in a very meaningful way,” explains Anthony Merrigan “and to do that we will need all the financial support we can get.”
The celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of Assumption Road were “already in place from earlier in the year” according to Anthony Merrigan, and were to include a family fun day with bouncing castles, clowns, face painting and a street party.
When the celebrations had to be postponed to next year due to Covid, Mr Merrrigan suggested to a meeting of the Residents Association in July of this year that perhaps the rescheduled event could be combined with a Jadotville commemoration as 2021 marks the 60th anniversary of the Siege.
“Everyone was in agreement with the idea, so we have been planning a series of events since then,” he says.
Among these will be a number of military talks in St Kieran’s Community Centre; military displays and exhibitions, as well as the unveiling of a memorial to the soldiers who fought at Jadotville, followed by a special Mass and street entertainment.
Anthony Merrigan is hoping to spread the message far and wide about the GoFundMe fundraising effort to commemorate both the 70th anniversary of Assumption Road and the 60th anniversary of the Siege of Jadotville, which is due to take place on a date yet to be decided in 2021.
Anyone wishing to donate can go to either the Facebook page which has been set up: https://www.facebook.com/antomer/posts/3406547589441277 Or the GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/Assumption-rd-70th-anniversary-jadoville-memorial
Those wishing to donate can also do so at Athlone Credit Union, Golden Island, by digital transfer to Account Number. 36360. BIC. ATROIE21 IBAN. IE33ATRO99102210494163.