Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you very much. Unfortunately I will have to go to the Seanad shortly to discuss the community of Ballymoe which is on the Roscommon-Galway border beside the Suck river. It is part of the Suck valley. The local community is campaigning for the closed-up Garda station to be used as a community hub. This is an example of the kind of thing that is happening all over the country. A number of Garda stations in Roscommon have been handed over to local communities and others may be handed over or sold to communities to develop community projects.

I welcome all of our guests this morning. It is with particular pride that I welcome the CEO of Roscommon County Council, Mr. Shane Tiernan, and his colleagues, Mr. Mark Keaveney and Ms Úna Ní Chuinn. They are leading the way on this and so much is happening, locally and nationally.

Mr. O'Brien said earlier that every town is unique and that is very true. I will be very parochial now. I live in a village called Scramoge, which is very close to Strokestown. Strokestown is my local town and I often tell the story about when I came into Dáil Éireann in 2016. I would meet a lot of people who were visiting in the company of various TDs and Senators and they would ask me where I was from and I would say Strokestown. The response I would get 90% of the time was "I passed it going to Westport". Now, I check everybody when they say that. I ask them if they ever stopped in Strokestown and the answer is "No". We have Strokestown Park House, which is now of national interest. What is happening there is amazing but a lot more can happen there. Out the road from there is Sliabh Bawn, which Roscommon County Council, Coillte and the Government have developed into a fantastic amenity. I was talking to representatives from Coillte recently who told me that during Covid 70,000 to 80,000 people walked there per annum. Some of that would have been repeat walking but even now, approximately 30,000 to 40,000 people walk there per annum. There are built-in tourism trails and an equestrian area. Our guests have been talking about history and heritage. The amount of heritage that is around Sliabh Bawn is phenomenal. The monks' involvement with it fadó was significant and this is only opening up now. We also have Rathcroghan down the road and the town of Boyle.

Sometimes in towns it is hard to get change. While I agree with 90% of what is being done, not everything is right. One of the issues that seems to cause hassle in a lot of towns is parking and a reduction in the number of parking spaces. This is a particular issue in places with really wide streets like Strokestown, which are so iconic. Sometimes it is hard to get through to members of the community to convince them that it will be done in conjunction with them, so that their wide streets will be preserved. In fairness, the vast majority of people accept that we need to change and move on. Speaking from a Strokestown, Boyle and Roscommon town perspective, we really need to sell our county because tourism is going to be really important. We need these developments.

I have a few quick questions for Mr. Tiernan. The first is about the library that will come into Boyle. Where is that at now? When is it envisaged that the library will be open? I am aware that some buildings in Strokestown are to be repurposed and I ask him to give us an update on that. The council had a presentation and launch on that recently.

Sometimes we need to reach out more to people who are pushing back and bring them with us. It is a difficult job, and it is not easy for local authority people. I see how hard our people work at it. They sometimes come up against very difficult situations. I live at the bottom of Sliabh Bawn, on which a wind farm was put. What I and others had to go through was shocking. I do not mean local people but others from outside. I can now say that the vast majority of people think it is a fantastic development. People are using it for walking and for all sorts of activity. Different sports teams use it for training. People are coming from outside. They ask me about the area constantly when I mention it on social media. Perhaps we should reach out more to people who may find it difficult to accept what we are trying to do. On a one-to-one basis, that is good thing to do. Public meetings are vital but when you move on from public meetings, the private approach to people, trying to explain to them and reassure them, is useful.

I live in the real world. Strokestown will be bypassed but I see considerable opportunities for the town. The bypass is now under way thanks to Mr. Tiernan and his staff, and the former manager. I also thank the Government in that regard because I lobbied hard with my colleagues in Fianna Fáil and others to make that happen. I see the considerable opportunities, rather than the negatives, that will result from the bypass. We have many tourism products in our area. I do not want people to be saying that the area is to be passed through when they are on their way to Westport. We want people to stop in Strokestown and discover part of an amazing county. There are many amazing things in our town. Mr. Tiernan might answer those few points.