For five weeks, concerned traders and residents in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, have been holding daily protests in the Town Square.
“This is not the Mediterranean we’re in here. This is Ballaghaderreen. It’s a business town,” said James Kilcoyne, a local auctioneer who has been attending the daily protests.
“On one side we’re hearing the Government speaking about trying to revive towns and get businesses open again and then this is what they’re doing here, it’s absolutely insane.”
Traders and residents are opposed to the advancement of public realm enhancement works which were under way in the town, claiming that if the works progress it will decimate local trade.
Public realm projects involve creating more pedestrian space, improved connectivity and places for people to congregate and dwell in a town centre.
Residents and traders in Ballaghaderreen have concerns about the loss of parking as a result of the works, and the practicalities of larger vehicles navigating the streetscape of the new road layouts.
“We’re horrified, we cannot let this go ahead and we won’t let this go ahead. What they’re proposing will break this town,” said businessman Brian Mulligan.
“This is an industrial town. It’s a market town. When this town was designed, way back, it was designed with fine, wide streets and there is a mania and not just in Ballaghaderreen, but all over the country, to narrow down the streets.”
Businessman Padraig O’Dowd who runs a storage and warehousing company outside of Ballaghaderreen agrees and said the loss of parking space will decimate business.
“We’re losing lots of parking spaces. They want to close off this square and put in benches and stuff that’s of absolutely no use to this town or the people and the traders,” he said.
The residents and traders in Ballaghaderreen are not alone.
There are a number of other towns across the county who also have concerns about similar plans and the impact they may have on trade.
In recent weeks, traders and residents in Strokestown, Castlerea and Boyle attended a rally in Ballaghaderreen, also concerned about changes to their streetscapes.
“This may well work in the south of France or in a suburb outside a major city but in a market town that relies on industry and commercial business, it’s not going to work” said local Independent Councillor and businessman, Micheál Frain.
“It all looks well and good in theory and that when you’re making wider streets and wider footpaths, but what will happen is that we’ll have nobody on those footpaths, because we’re going to have no one in the towns.”
Works have now stopped on the €4.5 million project which Roscommon County Council says is a “once in a lifetime transformational opportunity”.
The project contractor has not been on site since the controversy began, and work came to a stop since the protests began on 10 March.
In a statement, Roscommon County Council has defended the project’s design and wider vision.
The council said the Ballaghaderreen Town Centre Enhancement Project aims to deliver a more vibrant and inclusive public space.
It emphasised that the plan was informed by public consultation and that statutory planning consent was granted in October 2021.
Construction, which began last month, is now approximately 40% complete and a total of €2.4m has been spent to date on planning, design and works.
Officials say they have engaged with community representatives throughout the process and are taking local concerns seriously.
In relation to parking, it said that it is proposing to fully offset the loss of parking spaces in the town including providing a minimum of eight additional spaces near the Town Square.
It said it also plans to make improvements at a nearby 72-space car park, and is proposing to develop a new car park located within 60 metres of the Town Square, to be delivered in parallel with the public realm scheme.
It said it will continue to engage with traders in the town centre and again appealed to the local community to support the undertaking of the improvement works to avoid unnecessary and costly delays to the construction programme.
However, locals and traders have vowed to maintain their protests until the plans are taken off the table or revisited and revised.
Frustrated traders say the future of their town is at stake.
“If we have no parking we have no footfall and if we’ve no footfall, there will be no rates for Roscommon County Council,” said businessman Padraig Mulligan.
“They’re biting the hands that feed them. It’s deplorable,” he added.
Cllr Frain repeated his call for mediation to take place, saying Ballaghaderreen is just one example of a wider agenda which appears to be pushing cars and trucks out of towns.
“There is no reason why we can’t work in harmony with cars and lorries in an area and still have a pretty town,” he said.
“Every small town is fighting to keep business alive. Common sense has to come back into this.”
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