Enda McEvoy, a sports writer with the Sunday
Tribune was moved to write an article for the “Kilkenny Voice” which appeared
in it's edition of the 31st
of October. Headlined “The town that Time Forgot” his article is a
damning indictment of our town. Athy he describes as “an awful looking town
with a hangdog appearance and peeling facades and crumbling hotel and shop
fronts that haven't received a lick of paint since about 1972”. Apparently a
seasoned traveller between Kilkenny and Dublin which necessitates a journey
through our town, McEvoy posed a few questions for “local worthies to consider
amid their red faced splutterings” at the next meeting of the town council.
“What attractions or facilities does Athy
boast” asks the Kilkenny man before extending his cross examination to enquire
as to what Athy offers the visitors and concluding with the question “Why does
Athy resemble a town that stopped evolving over 30 years ago”. He cites Athy as
a prime example of what happened to a place that “has been let down by it's
civic leaders – as Athy so clearly has”.
How does one respond to McEvoys questions and
claims of civic neglect? On the one hand many would believe that he is right
when he writes of a town let down by it's civic leaders but equally he is wrong
with his sweeping claims of “an awful looking town with it's hangdog
appearance.” Athy is perhaps one of the most attractively located inland towns
in Ireland accessible by both the River Barrow and the Grand Canal. Due to the
ravages of 17th century wars which saw the destruction of much of
the earlier medieval village the subsequent reconstruction of the urban
settlement gave us extensive open spaces in the town centre. The interlinking
Emily Squares provide extremely pleasant public spaces in which two buildings
of architectural merit, the Court House and the Town Hall provide a pleasant
backdrop.
The long narrow main street so typical of early
urban settlements of the thirteenth century brings with it unfortunate
drawbacks when faced with twenty first century motor traffic. The solution was
never going to be the building of another road parallel to the main street and
within shouting distance of it. More apparently stated as within engine noise
distance of each other and creating within the two streets an island of the
town centre shop buildings whose customers would be forever subjected to a
constant barrage of traffic noise and fumes.
If there is a shabbiness about some local
buildings(and I must admit that there are buildings on the main street that
represent a blot on the streetscape) the problem is accentuated by the close
proximity of the passing traffic especially the heavy goods vehicles which
should be removed entirely from the town centre. The ever increasing traffic trundling
through Athy town centre from early morning to late at night contrives to keep
the shoppers away from the retail shops whose success or otherwise will largely
determine if the shabbiness complained of by McEvoy will be tackled. There is
little incentive for local shop keepers to spend money on repairs or decoration
if the customers are staying away. It's almost a chicken and egg situation but
with one difference. The removal of through traffic and especially the heavy goods vehicles, from our
town centre is essential if the retailing heart of Athy can reclaim the success
which once marked it's efforts.
One can readily understand why McEvoy
questioned what facilities the town boasts. These may not be obvious to those
passing through the town in a car. For those lucky enough to live in Athy there
is an enormous wealth of sport organisations with facilities which are second
to none. However there is a serious deficiency when it comes to the arts. While
the earlier mentioned Town hall houses the town library and the heritage centre
there is no dedicated arts centre to serve the needs of the local community.
This has been a serious omission in the town facilities ever since the loss of
St. John's hall in the early 1960's and shortly thereafter the change in the
use of the Town hall from
ballroom-theatre to a factory space.
It is not only in the retailing stakes that
Athy has slipped behind all the neighboring towns. When we come to consider the
cultural needs of the towns people we find that it is an area where we have
lost considerable ground. Newbridge has it's Riverbank Centre, Naas it's Moat
Club and Portlaoise its Dunamaise Theatre. This brings me to consider McEvoys
claim that Athy has been let down by it's civic leaders. What do you think?
What do we expect of the nine men and women who collectively constitute the
town council and who in conjunction with the town officials manage the affairs
of our town? Are they there only to receive complaints of broken doors and
windows in council houses, attend to complaints of broken public lights and
generally to act as receivers of complaints to be passed on to the council
officials? This would seem to be the belief held by a lot of the local people
and importantly so far as the town councils members are concerned, these same
people have a vote to cast in the next local election. Unfortunately, the
messenger boy element has become an important part of Irish politics, both
nationally and locally.
What can we say for the town fathers? Do they
devote their time and energy to deal with the corporate business of Athy in a
way which would satisfy any auditor of corporate performance? I'm afraid not.
McEvoy is right. Athy has been let down by it's civic leaders and nowhere is
that more apparent than in the failure to properly and speedily deal with the
towns traffic problems. The absence of an arts centre in a town which has a
tradition of excellence in the dramatic arts is not only regrettable but surely
an indictment of our civic leaders as well as of others in our community.
Athy has suffered decades of neglect but in
that regard the entire blame should not be
laid solely on the shoulders of the Town council. Civic leadership takes
many forms and I'm afraid the leadership which one could and should expect from
the business men and women of this town has seldom been forthcoming. There are
one or two exceptions represented by business men who are always available and
always in attendance whenever attempts were made to create a springboard for
advancement in the town.
I know that the Town council hosted a meeting
last week to recreate a cultural and recreational committee for the town and
the hope is that this may lead in the not too distant future to the development
an arts centre for the people of Athy. It's a long awaited and a much needed
facility and if and when it arrives it will help to secure and boost the
multi-talented artistic skills of young and old alike.
In the meantime the members of the town council
will no doubt take umbrage at McEvoy's description of our town as they probably
will of my comments and claims as regards their collective failure to act as
governors of our historic town. I can understand the reason for McEvoy's
complaints even if his descriptions of Athy are somewhat unkind and undeserved.
However his article can serve to prompt us to look again at what we are doing,
and more importantly what we have not been doing, to help to steer this town of
ours through what the economists might call “the recovery period”.
Let me conclude with a little bit of history to
justify the “Eye In The Past” title which appears at the top of this article.
Last week a silver cup presented in April 1909 by E. Higginson to Athy Golf
Club for a competition amongst it's lady members was returned from England by Honor
McCullagh whose aunt Nora Duncan last won the cup. I haven't had an opportunity
to check back through newspaper files but I suspect she won it in or around
1913. Incidentally I gather Higginson
was a jeweller who carried on business in the premises now occupied by the
Permanent TSB in Duke Street.
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