Positive attitude of driven community key to ongoing success of Mountrath

Mountrath is a town with big ambitions and an active community who have already begun a process which looks set to  transform it over the coming years.  

Laois County Council Town Regeneration officer Denise Rainey said it all began when the community in Mountrath came  together to initiate a Sustainable Community Plan which was funded through Laois Partnership and Laois County Council.  

The work which began before Covid saw a Sustainable Community Plan drawn up for the town. The plan, which was launched in April 2023, was compiled following surveys and workshops with a cross section of the population from young to old in Mountrath.

The launch roughly coincided with the government’s announcement of its Town Centre First policy which saw Ms Rainey appointed as Town Regeneration officer for Mountrath. She said the fact that a Sustainable Community Plan was already in place meant there was no need to carry out a Town Centre First Plan. 

Her role is to identify projects and work with the community groups to apply for and access funding. She now meets with the Mountrath Town Team at least every eight weeks but more frequently when new opportunities arise.  

“That is one of the good things about Mountrath. They have a very active local community and it is very representative of the entire community. I have been really lucky with the Town Team in that they are really kind of get up and go,” said Ms Rainey. 

“Anytime there is a funding stream available they are willing and available to help with that which is really, really good. In the last twelve months we have managed to acquire funding for a number of projects,” she said. 

She said the team identified vacant properties as an issue and the response was to use the Vacant Commercial Property scheme with Laois Council, Laois Chamber and Laois Enterprise Office. 

“It is a suite of different incentives that a business can get if they set up in a building that was previously vacant for more than six months. It is all about trying to encourage businesses back into the town centre. That was one of the first things we did.” Ms Rainey explained. 

She said vacant and derelict properties were a key focus of the team in Mountrath and she has worked together with the derelict sites and housing section of the council to address the issue. Where buildings are identified the council will contact the owners with a view to getting those properties back into use.

“The ideal solution is for the property owners to do something themselves,” she said. 

Through the Irish Architecture Foundation, the Mountrath Town Team was chosen as one of only three towns nationally to secure €10,000 in funding and mentoring and practical support from the IAF’s experienced placemaking team towards a Reimagine Hometown Architecture initiative. 

With the help of a local architect, the project will explore creative ways to reconnect the town of Mountrath with the Whitehorse River, which runs by an old brewery and is a link to the town’s rich history of linen and cotton weaving.  Joseph Mackey Architects were awarded the project and the initiative will be officially launched with the first workshop in Bloom HQ today (Tuesday, June 4). 

“Under the Town and Village Scheme they got a grant of €250,000. It is all about rejuvenating the town centre,” Ms Rainey explained. 

She said the funding would go towards a few initiatives. These include new railings and the resurfacing of a car park beside the St Vincent De Paul shop where a monthly farmers’ market takes place. Landscaping work is being planned at Patrick Street and to underground the overhead wires in the town centre and to provide more ornate lighting together with improvements along the Whitehorse River walk.  The work is expected  to be completed over the next 12 to 18 months. 

The Town Team has also applied for funding to improve the town square. The funding will go towards designing a plan for a new square and Ms Rainey is hopeful that there will be positive news on the application in the next month. 

The team is also awaiting news on funding under the Community Climate Action Fund. It would provide funding for bike stands and other facilities for bicycles as well as a tree trail through the town. 

“There is a lot happening. It is trying to keep up with it all. I have to say Mountrath Town Team are really, really positive. They are really proactive and they are really starting to work together well, all the groups, which is brilliant,” she said.  

Former Laois County Council Chief Executive John Mulholland committed €30,000 in funding towards the redesign of the town square, Ms Rainey said. 

Mountrath Town Team Chairman Mark Sheeran is very optimistic about the future of the town.

The Coolrain native is the largest employer in Mountrath and has recently applied for planning permission to expand CJ Sheeran Ltd footprint in the town and take on dozens of new employees. 

“I think it is a busy town, it’s a good town. That’s good news with the Census; the population is increasing and there’s other people moving into the town from other places. The Polish community there are fantastic, you have all different nationalities, you have members of the Travelling Community and they are all great.”  

Mr Sheeran recalled never needing to look for a parking space when he first began operations in 2001 but now the town is busier. There’s less parking because the town is doing so well and there’s even new electric charging points in the centre of town. 

“You have Bloom HQ,  you have got the forum, you have got a really good Tidy Towns group here, you have a really good GAA Club here, very involved in the community. You have a lot of other people coming in from the hinterlands from Camross, Coolrain and Castletown and Trumera and Ballyfin,” he said.  

He praised the members of the Town Team who he said have done “powerful work” and he said CEO of the Síol Foundation Edward Dunne deserves credit for being the driving force behind Bloom HQ, the state-of-the-art  enterprise centre, remote working hub and community facility at the former Brigidine Convent in Mountrath. 

Mr Sheeran also noted the work of Mountrath Community Forum Chairman Martin Meade and local Cllr James Kelly, who has taken over the former Bank of Ireland and turned the building into short let accommodation and a community bookstore, aptly called The Book Bank.  

He said the community had been proactive in bringing ideas and progressing initiatives for the town. 

“A lot of information is being put forward and it’s great and there is funding there for that, for what needs to be done. The local people can do that by sending information back into the Town Team. Our door is always open. Anyone can come in and give us ideas. We will go back to the council or whatever other agency that has funding to implement  those plans. There’s is lots of stuff there to be got, to do several different projects.” 

 “Laois County Council have been very good, especially under John Mullholland, the County Manager. He was very good to the town. He gave us funding before he left,” he said.  

“The Mart shut down about five years ago and it’s like a bank or like anything else. Once it is gone it is gone. There is a committee there now trying to resurrect the Mart or reimagine the Mart,”   said Mr Sheeran.  

He said the Mart is on a 30 acre site and four acres was sold to  Mountrath GAA Club which Mr Sheerin said was great for the town.

“In my opinion, the shareholders need to ensure that Mart stays where it is. The shareholders in that Mart need to ensure that they remain part of the farming community,” he said as he praised the efforts of those trying to reopen the Mart.  

“They are fantastic, they do a great job. They are trying to keep it open which is brilliant. It is a pity that it was shut down. I would love to see it back in some form. They got some funding from Enterprise Ireland to do a feasibility study to see what could be done. 

In the town there is a medical centre there with four doctors and they are trying to find a place to put the medical centre and I am not too sure if they have settled on one yet but the Mart would be ideal. On two or three acres, that would be another way to make things good,” he said.  

Aside from the Mart, Mr Sheeran also believes the Kilbricken Railway Station should be reopened. 

The station is located between Mountrath and Castletown. While government policy is focused  on trying to get people to use public transport, this facility is lying idle for years. 

“What needs to be done is reopen Kilbricken Train Station. That should be a major focus,”  said Mr Sheeran. 

The station opened on September 1, 1848 as part of the Great Southern and Western Railway in Ireland and was used for 127 years before being closed altogether by the CIÉ on September 6, 1976.

Mr Sheeran questioned why people would drive to Portlaoise where they had to find parking before catching a train rather than just driving to their destination. He believes the reopening of the station would get people out of their cars and back onto public transport.

 Mr Sheeran believes the future is bright for Mountrath and he said “I just think Mountrath should remain upbeat and positive.”