Speaking to the Athlone Advertiser this week, Athlone Deputy Mayor, Cllr Aengus O’Rourke, has stated that now is the apt moment to enhance ambition and strive to achieve city status for the town.
“We already know that Athlone is designated as the key regional growth centre for the entire Midlands Region. That status is clearly set out in the 2040 National Planning Framework, the blueprint for national policy and planning in relation to the social, economic and cultural development of Ireland.
“In my mind, now is the right time to put this ambition forward in a bold and ambitious way. Yes, we can be a city and the facts stack up to support our ambition. Athlone can and should aim to be a new regional city in our country.
“Athlone and the Midlands can be the ideal counterbalance to the dominance of Dublin. Since the pandemic, more and more people are already now looking to relocate and work in urban centres away from our capital city. We need to build on this and make sure Athlone is an attractive option for them.
“Athlone is very fortunate that it is so centrally located, with excellent transportation infrastructure. We are within short travelling time from most parts of Ireland by road, we are very well served by trains and, of course, we are centrally located between three international airports, all just over an hour away - Shannon, Knock and Dublin.
“We have a very healthy crop of indigenous and international companies and corporations already based here and employing large numbers of people. In fact, Athlone has over 5,000 people travelling in to the town every day to work here, more than any other provincial town of its size.
“Athlone boasts a healthy range of business sectors - pharma, med-tech, manufacturing, research and development and tourism to name but a few. We also have very good state and semi-state organisations employing thousands of people.
“These industry types can and will expand provided the environment for them to grow exists and this is where the investment from the state comes in to support our city ambitions.
Now as a university town, Athlone, as the educational hub for the Midlands region, can and will become an even greater magnet for new and expanding companies. This is an immense advantage to have.
“In my view, the key aspects that we need to work on from an investment perspective are energy security, water security and a plentiful supply of housing. We also need to invest in our local transport infrastructure and regenerate and invest in tired parts of our town and surrounding areas.
“On a political level we need to see the re-establishment of our own city council in Athlone. What city in the world does not have its own decision-making municipal authority? We are nothing if we cannot make our own municipal decisions with our own locally generated taxes - without having to turn to Mullingar for permission. For as long as the current structure of local government prevails, city status could be a reach too far!
“Let the work begin, I will be calling on the government to support this ambition and to work with us to help deliver Ireland’s newest regional city – Athlone,” Cllr O’Rourke asserted.
