New university road signage in Athlone 'a matter for TUS': council

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Upgraded signage for the Technological University of the Shannon, Midlands Campus, is the responsibility of the university itself, the latest meeting of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District heard.

The motion, brought by Cllr Tom Farrell, asked that the district "liaise with TII, Westmeath Co Co, Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) to update all road signage to reflect the new name with University status".

"TUS changed four years ago to a University instead of an IT, and the signs haven't been changed to reflect that," Cllr Farrell said.

"I've made contact with TUS and with TII to see if we can work together to update the signs as soon as possible, and I've been informed that TUS have a draft plan already.

"We have to sell ourselves as a university town, the fact that TUS has university status is very important. It's probably one of the main attractions to the town."

The motion received the support of members of the chamber including Cllr Aengus O'Rourke, Cllr John Dolan, Cllr Frankie Keena, and Cllr John Gibbons.

"I was a party to the committee that advocated for TUS to become a university, so I strongly support this," said Cllr Gibbons. "Every town across Europe that has a university will have a huge sign saying 'you are now entering a university town'. Athlone is not in the name of TUS, but we have an opportunity there to highlight it."

Cllr Keena agreed that the university needed to be highlighted, noting it is a 'marvelous facility'. Cllr Dolan showed his support, adding that having a university is a 'major selling point' for Athlone.

"It's a good news story for the town, we should be promoting that," said Cllr Dolan.

In a written response, the council executive said the upgrading of signs was a 'matter for the university'.

"The upgrading of the signs on the non-national network is primarily a matter for the University. The University can consider the locations of existing or proposed signage on the network that they plan to upgrade and can discuss any issues or proposals with the District if necessary.

"Regarding the existing signage on the M6/N6, the District will contact the TII’s MMaRC (Motorways Maintenance and Renewals Contractor) to explore updating the signs on the Motorway/Dual Carriageway network. This contact can be made subject to members support."

Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme.