Cllr. Orla Leyden seeks regeneration of Roscommon Town Centre. Cllr. Leyden who raised the poor condition of the streets in the town centre at the Budget meeting of Roscommon County Council continues to seek funding for this important regeneration initiative. Cllr Orla Leyden said that Roscommon town centre is in urgent need of funds to regenerate the town centre. Cllr. Orla Leyden has made contact with the Area Engineer Ivor Kilcline, Director of Service, Kathleen Martin and the County Manager Frank Dawson to ask that funding would be made available for the regeneration of Roscommon town centre in 2014 as a matter of priority.

Cllr. Leyden said that she would like to see the works commence in the Square with an upgrading of the surface in the carparks and the town centre streets and then continuing on to complete Lanesboro Street where some work was carried out last year. Cllr. Leyden added that Castle Street also needs work as does the road coming up from Teagasc / Sacred Heart Church and the Athlone Road off Goff Street. 

Cllr. Leyden said that it is vital that the town is regenerated in the interest of businesses in the town and attracting new enterprises and businesses to set up shop.  She added, we need to regenerate the town in the interest of everyone who lives, works, shops and visits the town.

Roscommon town is a great town and we need to direct funding to ensure that it remains vital. The regeneration should also include an upgrading of tourism information in the Square and new brown heritage tourism signs that would direct tourists to Loughnaneane Park, Roscommon Castle and Roscommon Abbey. She added that it is also vital that the new parking signs in the town have directional arrows on them to ensure that visitors to the town can easily find our free public carparks.

Cllr. Orla Leyden concluded by saying that  funding has to be made available for the regeneration of Roscommon town centre in 2014 as a matter or urgency.

Cllr. Orla Leyden demands that the Government reverse its decision to take teachers from ten rural schools in Co. Roscommon in September 2014

Cllr. Orla Leyden called on the government to reverse its decision to take teachers from ten rural schools in Co. Roscommon this September 2014 at a special meeting addressed by Charlie McConalogue T.D., Fianna Fail Spokesperson on Education on the future of small schools held in Hestors, Castlerea last Monday night (10th February).

Deputy McConalogue told the meeting that that as a result of cuts introduced by the Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn, schools with 1,2,3 and 4 teachers are being subjected to phased increases in their Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) over a two year period. This means that all schools with 86 pupils will have less staff, bigger classes and less funding. “Many of our local schools have been crippled by cuts to resources. The abolition of the Summer Works Scheme and the Minor Works Grant over the past two years has made a bad situation worse. On top of that, schools with less than 86 pupils are facing additional cuts to resources as Minister Quinn targets their Pupil Teacher Ratio .

Cllr. Orla Leyden said that it was crucial the government’s plan of severe cuts for ten rural schools in Co. Roscommon is exposed and that the government reverses its decision in order to save the teachers and support hours in these schools come next September. Cllr. Leyden said that the government’s reluctance to name the schools at risk is very underhand as it is not giving the schools in question, management and parents an opportunity to mobilise and fight the proposed cuts in these rural schools. Cllr. Leyden said that she welcomed the commitment by Charlie McConalogue T.D., Fianna Fail Spokesperson on Education who addressed the meeting in Castlerea to demand a response from Government on which schools are be hit.

Cllr. Orla Leyden said that she utterly condemns this Fine Gael led Governments continued cuts to rural services in general and threats to small rural schools. She stressed the important role that Primary schools play in their local areas – “they are at the heart of their rural communities. It is vital that these schools remain open and operational without cuts to staffing, learning support hours and administration support that could squeeze them out of existence and force unwanted amalgamations”

Cllr. Leyden’s call at the meeting to reactivate the “Save our Schools Campaign” to support rural schools and pressurize the government to reverse its decision to take teachers from ten rural schools in Co. Roscommon this September 2014 was welcomed.

Join Our Boys – Together we can move mountains!

Last Night I was at a really positive meeting in Roscommon Town full of people wanting to help, Archie, George & Isaac by getting involved in the Join Our Boys campaign: http://joinourboys.org/

Archie (8), George (4) & Isaac (4) are fun loving adorable boys. They have been diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a progressive and fatal neuromuscular disease that destroys muscle tissue. DMD is typically diagnosed in children between the ages of 3 and 7. It almost exclusively affects boys, causing them to be wheelchair bound, usually between 8 – 12 years of age and leaves them fighting for their lives by their late teens to early twenties. In the Republic of Ireland, at this time there are known to be approximately 110 people living with DMD; the majority of these are under 18 years of age. In the UK, 100 boys a year are born with DMD and 2 boys die each week of the disease, making it one of the world’s biggest genetic killers.

There is a severe lack of funding for research into DMD Internationally. There is no treatment or cure at present…we need to change this. Together we can create awareness of DMD,  raise funds to ensure Archie, George and Isaac have the additional resources they require to function; to remain mobile for as long as is possible and to live a life filled with purpose and meaning, despite their physical limitations and find a treatment for Archie, George and Isaac and all the other children affected by DMD in Ireland and the World. Paula and Padraic you are wonderful parents and truly inspiring.

Together we can move mountains!

Join Our Boys Today.

I am so proud this week of the local GAA club, Fuerty. They reached the All Ireland Junior club final and play in Croke Park on Sunday 9th February 2014.



There is a such a sense of pride locally and the build up all week is just magical.



It is testiment to local volunteers and commitment from all involved.



Looking forward to seeing the local Fuerty men do us all proud this Sunday !

#fuertyabu