Enniskillen town centre has been ruined by the Council’s works
Remembering two late stalwarts of the Belleek community
Dear Sir,
It is always a shock when someone dies, particularly when that death is unexpected.
Last week, my dear friend Patsy Mccauley died. We had been friends for more than 40 years.
Patsy, and another friend – the late Francie Mcdonnell – introduced me to Belleek in the early Eighties. I have never forgotten it.
I was cruising on Lough Erne. The limit of navigation was Belleek. I walked from the jetty into the village to buy some provisions.
At that time, Francie ran the local butcher’s, Mcdonnell Meats, and Patsy ran The Corner Shop.
We hit it off immediately! Since the 1970s, I’ve been an adopted son of Fermanagh. Belleek became something of an adopted home. On my many visits, I never wanted for a bed.
Patsy and Francie were pillars of that society. They were unpaid ambassadors. Nothing was too much trouble.
In the worst of times – and in the best – they flew the flag for Fermanagh, and specifically, Belleek.
Patsy was also the local undertaker. I always said that he would be responsible for my funeral. Alas, that will not now happen...
When I attended Patsy’s Requiem Mass in Belleek, last Friday, I was present at two funerals.
Francie Mcdonnell died four years ago. Covid-19 travel restrictions made it impossible to be there, in person. So, I had to watch that Mass, online.
I now feel that I have paid my respects to both men, in a way which was fitting, by attending their Requiems. They now lie in the same row in St. Patrick’s churchyard in Belleek.
To their widows, Dolores and Siobhan, and their respective
Dear Sir,
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council have destroyed the once bustling Enniskillen town centre with their utopian dreams of ornate, tree-lined footpaths, alfresco cafes littering the thoroughfare, the overzealous reduction of on-street parking, and lavish flower displays in designer planters.
We now see ever-dwindling numbers of actual shops, lower footfall on the overly widened footpaths, restricted/reduced parking, rusting ‘water tank’ planters, traffic restrictions, and now additional colour-coordinated wardens all make the motorists/ customers decide and choose other options.
The Council pedalled this like some Parisian boulevard, free from the ‘menace’ that is vehicles/drivers, with an imagined collection of chic boutiques, and shoppers soaking up the warm ambience and aroma of fresh coffee wafting all around as buskers entertain the masses.
What a joke this town has become.
I prefer the ‘old-school’ country town of Irvinestown, with its copious, (free for now) on-street parking, various choices of shopping outlets, and everything in one small area, much like Lisnaskea.
However, the main county town is a shambles, and our rates go up to pay for this utopian farce, wages for councillors, and God only knows what folly is next.
Yours faithfully,
David Mcclenaghan,
Enniskillen.