Official ceremony for Mary O'Rourke bridge this spring

By Rebekah O'Reilly

An official ceremony to mark the renaming of Athlone's newest bridge, Droichead Máire Uí Ruairc/Mary O'Rourke Bridge, will take place in the Spring.

The timeframe was revealed at the latest meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District, as Cllr Paul Hogan asked to confirm a date for the ceremony.

"Will we be inviting Ministers?" Cllr Hogan asked, noting that the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien, should be invited to attend.

The official name of the cycleway bridge was decided on in October last, after a series of public submissions.

Speaking at the time, Cllr Paul Hogan - who initially proposed the renaming of the bridge at the July 2025 meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District - the biggest support was for naming it in honour of Mary O’Rourke, one of the town's most high-profile political figures for over four decades and the former deputy leader of Fianna Fáil.

Cllr John Dolan said it was important that the person whose name would be placed on the greenway bridge would “set a high bar” and the late Mary O'Rourke had certainly done that.

“No matter what side of the political divide you are on, she was a very important and influential figure who did a lot for the town of Athlone,” said the Fine Gael councillor.

Members raised the issue of the lighting on the new cycleway bridge, asking that it be fixed ahead of the Spring ceremony. "We did inherit the lighting, which were built through TII funding. The lighting has been problematic, as many councillors are aware of, and it's proven quite costly to undertake repair," said Willie Ryan, District Engineer.

"We might have to spend a little bit more money, even accessibility to the lights is proving difficult. It can be slow to do simple repairs."

He confirmed the lighting would be fixed ahead of the official ceremony.