Athlone's riverside seating reinstated for second time at The Strand

Athlone's riverside seating has been reinstated for second time at The Strand.

The popular public benches on the eastern bank of the River Shannon were absent for a few years while work was being carried out in the area on the recently-completed €114m Athlone Main Drainage Scheme.

Six new benches were reinstated along the Shannon on June 4, however, just a fortnight after their return, the benches were taken away again by the council after they had reportedly been "tampered with".

"The fixings of some of the benches were tampered with, for reasons unknown," council official Bernard Sorohan told the Westmeath Independent last month.

"We decided to remove them in the short term until we gather the resources to construct a more elaborate means of installation to make them more difficult to be tampered with."

Athlone Moate Municipal District Engineer Willie Ryan has now confirmed that the six seating benches along The Strand were now back in public use having been reinstalled this week.

With the latest installation, it appears the fixings of the benches have been further secured with tar to prevent tampering.

Mr Ryan added that two additional benches proposed for "the area outside the flood defences at Wolfe Tone Terrace" will be installed "once the newly-sown grass has become established" at that location.