Improvement works in Leitrim spark mixed reactions

A local business owner has criticised the ongoing work at Market Yard in Carrick-on-Shannon, part of the Town and Village Scheme, as an eyesore. However, the Chamber of Commerce believes the project will significantly benefit the town in the long run.

The work includes extending the existing circular bandstand structure, upgrading the current toilets, constructing a paved terrace with storage underneath, and adding new signage, street furniture, and landscaping.

“The red brick on the outside doesn’t tone in with the vernacular of the yard. It was done with lovely old brick work and the new construction is crying in the face of the yard,” said Gene Anderson, owner of Anderson’s Thatch Pub, Carrick-on-Shannon.

“Other people have been mentioning it. I wouldn’t mind the length of the work but I worry it won’t be eye-pleasing to the town. It looks completely different to what was in the market yard.

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“The penny fountain in the middle of the yard has disappeared too.

“They may have good intentions but I feel that it’s money gone on something that could be lovely, but we’ll see what happens,” he concluded.

The Town and Village scheme was introduced in 2016 and is funded under Project Ireland 2040. The scheme targets towns and villages with populations of 10,000 or less, and all projects funded must be completed within 12 to 18 months. The scheme is designed to rejuvenate small towns and villages.

Finola Armstrong-McGuire, President of the Carrick-on-Shannon Chamber, believes the construction will greatly benefit the town.

“I’m of the opinion that in order to make an omelette you have to break an egg. The people who have created the Market Yard space have a vision, a very positive vision for the town centre,” Ms Armstrong-McGuire said.

“They saw where more could be done with it. Construction workers are very difficult to keep on track and they’re trying to do as much as they can. It has the usual slowness of anything like it, I think we have to put up with these inconveniences.

“I do feel for those who are in business within the centre. It’s not easy to have a normal business with such an amount of work that’s going on but I’d hope those they are renting from would be aware of that.

“I believe for progress in any town you have to suffer the consequences of a rebuild and remake which is all for the positivity going forward.

“There’ll be benefits once it’s finished as there has been for everything that’s been done in Carrick-on-Shannon. Nothing is done lightly in this day and age where money is so difficult to get.

“I think it’s all for the betterment of the town and the streetworks were much more major. The end result of all works have been amazing and I look forward to seeing the same here, and bear with it in the meantime,” she explained.

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Time will tell if the envisioned improvements will work alongside the historic charm of the town, but the intent to progress and enhance Carrick-on-Shannon is clear.