Athlone prepares for Christmas festivities

With Christmas Day only six weeks away, work is very evident on the streets of Athlone with the erection of the town’s Christmas lighting display.

Thirty foot Christmas trees are now in place in both Count John McCormack Civic Square and St Peter’s Square which are further enhanced with the daily erection of pole mounts and cross street displays throughout the town.

The core responsibility for erecting these lights falls to the Athlone Festival & Events Infrastructure Group which is ably led by Shay Hamilton. This year again the group were faced with the challenge of sourcing a competent contractor to erect these lights.

"It is fantastic now that the contractor is in place and this work is underway," stated Cllr Frankie Keena.

"As secretary of this group I would like to sincerely thank Shay Hamilton for his leadership and Damien Delaney for managing the finances," he added.

A massive amount of work goes on behind the scenes by this group in preparing to enhance the town for the festive season and indeed for other seasonal activities, he added.

"Special thanks to all the group members for their ongoing voluntary work and indeed for the excellent support from the District Manager, Jackie Finney plus Athlone Chamber of Commerce," stated Cllr Keena.

The Athlone Switching On Lights group led by Caoimhe O’Connell are busy in finalising plans for the switching on ceremony in the Civic Square on Sunday, November 27 starting at 4pm. It is definitely going to be a wow event, not to be missed. Come along and enjoy.