Athlone is too important to be governed from elsewhere

Speculation that the Government could axe all town councils, including Athlone's, has been growing in recent months. This paper previously highlighted the potential significance of an impending root-and-branch restructuring of the local government system before Christmas and flagged the possibility of town councils being eliminated. And now this week, the Irish Mail on Sunday reported, on its front page, that the Government was considering removing all town councils from the local government system. There is no official confirmation of this, nor is one likely to emerge ahead of any formal announcement. And this week Taoiseach Enda Kenny remained tight-lipped on the issue when questioned by the Westmeath Independent. However, it's clear that the Government is intent on paring down the local government system, with just cause. There is too much duplication and crossovers within the system and even many councillors would admit that the system is cumbersome and unfit for purpose. There is also a clear public appetite to reduce the number of councillors in politics. However, the Government must be careful that it does not undermine local democracy and damage individual towns in the process. Towns such as Athlone, with its distinctive geography, require a strong local government structure. Athlone is too important to be governed from Mullingar, the historic county town of Westmeath, or from Roscommon. The recent census results underlined the point. The preliminary results showed that the urban area of Athlone now contains more people than the formal urban centre of Mullingar. Of course, these statistics are predicated on the precise location of formal town boundaries and their adjacent rural environs, as defined by the CSO. It's clear that the wider Mullingar hinterland has a significantly deeper population base than the Athlone region. However, the fact that urban Athlone is now more populous than urban Mullingar, at least, underlines the argument that Athlone should retain its own town council. Here is a town that's now bigger than its sister town, Mullingar, where Westmeath County Council is based. And the census figures also reveal, if you take into account those parts of Athlone Town Council on Athlone's westside, that there are over 7,000 'Athlone' people living across the Shannon, including 4,500 officially in County Roscommon. This shows that any future local government structure in this region, which does not take into account Athlone's central role across two counties, will fail to harness this town's potential. Athlone, as it is, suffers from its dual mindset, split between two dioceses, two counties, two provinces. Subsuming Athlone Town Council into Westmeath County Council would be a retrograde step and would do nothing to help bring the constituent parts of Athlone closer together. Athlone as the educational, industrial and retail centre of the midlands must not be allowed to fall between the cracks in any restructuring of the local government system. As the midlands' main town, whether as a town council, corporation or other local authority structure, Athlone needs to retain its own town government.