Yes, it's lonely round the fields of Athenry, relatively speaking. But is that such a bad thing?
Since the emergence in April of the new five-year draft development plan for the town, the question has been taxing the energetic few.
A public meeting is planned for next Thursday night in the hope that many others will want to think and talk about it, too. But a kind of fatalism reigns. "Sure the boom has to hit Athenry the same as everywhere else" is a typical remark.
Maybe, but whether all 1,614 of Athenry's residents know it or not, the stakes in their case are particularly high. Under this plan, their number could be five times higher in 20 years. In just four years, a doubling of the population "is not an unreasonably optimistic planning assumption", in the planners' words. If they sound pleased, this is probably because of Athenry's "potential as a commuter centre", as they put it; somewhere handy to take the pressure off Galway city, only 14 miles away, and dead cheap for building by comparison.
But it seems unreal. In 25 years, this town has seen a population increase of just 368. The "boom" produced by just 150 new houses in the past 18 months or so tells its own story. To anyone sitting in the anarchic traffic jams, or negotiating a hilly boreen to the site of a proposed 170-house development (and another projected 300 cars), or veering around boy racers on the hair-raising little by-roads linking the town with the main Dublin-Galway road, the growth scenario seems hilarious.
Of course, the plan anticipates this. "Short-term" measures (within five years) envisaged include relief roads to divert heavy goods traffic; medium term, an inner ring road system; and long term, an outer ring road. Few think these will be achieved. Pat Callanan, a local estate agent, says: "All the rezoning seems to be to the north of the town, which means all that extra traffic will have to come through the town to get to the Galway road".
Meanwhile, higgledy-piggledy suburban sprawl is already in evidence. Three-bedroom semi-detached houses can still be had for £75,000. The fact that site prices have doubled to between £20,000 and £30,000 in three years is no deterrent. Rumour has it that a 12-acre parcel of rezoned land within the town's walls has changed hands for £2 million. Pat Callanan himself will soon have several parcels of land on the market; he anticipates securing £120,000 an acre.
Many towns around the State face similar difficulties and plead special cases. The reality, however, is that Athenry is a special case. Though a Heritage Town for five years now, one of the great conundrums of Irish heritage tourism remains the "invisibility" of Athenry, a source of much local bewilderment. The long views of its great, well-preserved city walls and towers dating from the 1300s are the first indicator to visitors that this is no ordinary little market town.
INSIDE the walls, the narrow medieval streetscape radiates from the 15th-century Market Cross. Step up a few yards through the gate and into the grounds of the 170-year-old St Mary's Collegiate Church, ingeniously slotted into the chancel of the original 13th-century church. Then savour the vista as it unfurls through an intriguing tumble of overgrown graves and walled gardens, over to the pristine lawns of the finely restored 13th-century Athenry Castle and across to the majestic Dominican Priory.
Is it possible that the essential market-town ambience enclosing these cultural gifts can be preserved in the push for "commuter town" status? Can a Heritage Town suddenly be transmogrified into a commuter town and retain its integrity?
On the town's approaches, across daisy-flecked fields, great medieval walls are plainly visible. Will these views survive the dramatic rezoning provisions? The plan notes that the views are of "special amenity value" but the community council and heritage committee look at the draft maps and wonder.
Gerry Burke, chairman of the Community Council, says: "They're supposed to include 10 per cent green space but we see no real provision for it. We're not against growth but we are very concerned about it happening too fast. What we want is a phased development plan."
Madelyn Brody, heritage committee chairwoman and medieval Athenry's stoutest defender, nods in agreement. She sees something horribly ironic about the timing of this bombshell. It's happening just as riches like St Mary's are recovered from the undergrowth; as plans unfold for archaeological digs, appropriate street lighting and furnishing; as people are finally persuaded to remove unsightly edifices like the enormous grain silos that hog the great walls at one side; as the wonderful £315,000 heritage centre is about to open.
Athenry has reached a critical juncture. Given the rampant growth predicted, everyone welcomes the fact that the county council has produced a plan at all and the provisions in it for better services. The community council and the heritage committee quickly acknowledge the county council's wholehearted enthusiasm and co-operation in their various projects.
And they are wise enough to see that the current debate can only be beneficial. "A positive aspect of this plan is that it's looking at how the town should look at itself", says Kieran Hickland of the Athenry Area Development Company.
The ADC's May newsletter (delivered to every home in the area) posed simple questions about the plan, designed to get people thinking and asking questions. It hasn't had a single response.
Contact number
Readers wishing to contact Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent, can leave messages by dialling (01) 670-7711, extension 6299
