Local debate: "Castlebar is not a good town – it’s a great town"
Dr. Michael O'Connor
If something is repeated often enough, it can lead to a belief that it is true, regardless of whether it is or is not.
Social media allows individuals to repeatedly post opinions and ideas (not facts) that can influence an audience of any number around the globe.
People can repeat misleading information and falsehoods ad nauseam with impunity. All you need is an iPhone or a keyboard.
I have a Facebook group with almost 27,000 members.
They hail from all over the world, but the most significant groups are from the US, Ireland, and the UK, in that order.
I get several weekly queries from people planning trips to Mayo, looking for ancestors or coming to see and experience our extraordinary history and heritage.
Earlier this week I was talking to a friend in the US about a prospective trip to Mayo.
A mention of Castlebar was met with a – I read somewhere it’s a dump. I assured her it was not.
Castlebar, like every other town in Ireland, has its challenges.
Businesses have come and gone, insolvencies, Covid-19, and cost hikes consequent on wars and other calamities.
In the round, Castlebar, Ireland, and Europe have fared pretty well. There are problems, but there will always be.
One hundred years ago, Castlebar had just come out of four years of war; there was little or no work.
Two hundred years ago, our British masters and their local quasi-gentry were hanging us on the Green. During the Famine, the dead littered the streets of Castlebar.
So, some perspective is needed; the idea that we are somehow entitled to everything and scream blue murder if we don’t get it must be checked.
Castlebar is a large town. The population has seen sustained growth since the 1990s. In 2022, the population was 13,054.
A couple of streets need attention—no one disputes that. While these are or were important streets, they are not the town of Castlebar.
The town of Castlebar is a much bigger thing.
There are commercial areas such as Tucker Street, Linenhall Street, Castle Street, and much of Main Street, which have lovely shops, great restaurants, and bars.
We have a football stadium, a fantastic leisure centre, and other amenity areas around Lough Lannagh that are as good and as nice as anywhere in Ireland.
The list goes on if you include healthcare, the hospital.
Those complaining about costs in Castlebar need to get off the rocking horses and keyboards and do a bit of travelling.
In summary, a few derelict buildings and shoddy streets don’t make a town a dump.
Those saying that it is and repeating it on social media and in newspapers will do the town terrible damage. They are damaging the thing they are saying is damaged.
I left Mayo in 1986 and spent 36 years working my way back home.
I did not have to go, but I wanted to, and I am glad I did.
Like everywhere else, the Castlebar of 2024 has many issues, but it is a much better place than the Castlebar of 1986.
For those who feel that there is not enough in Castlebar for them and are saving to go to Australia or somewhere else, I suggest they don’t delay, get on with it and good luck.
But be prepared to work hard for long hours because there are no shortcuts, and the cost of living in many cities that once vacuumed up Irish is staggering.
The cost of living in Australia is, for example, higher than in the UK and Ireland, so you need to earn one of the higher salaries if you go there.
For those who don’t want to go, get off the couch, stop buying online and support local businesses, pubs and restaurants.
Get involved in community groups and advocate for what you want and how you would change things. Don’t expect others to bring it to you in a pizza box.
I would like to know what jobs those forty young people who want to leave are looking for.
On the radio last Monday, Hugh Wallace talked about the great salaries plumbers, electricians, and other tradesfolk can earn in Ireland and the shortage of such people.
Do we assume those who feel they have to leave because there is no opportunity don’t want to do these jobs or work in hospitals, healthcare or hospitality because there are plenty of jobs in those areas?
Castlebar is not a dump. It needs investment and imaginative thinking to solve existing problems, not endless rants and coarse language on social media.
Castlebar has enormous potential. We need to focus on realising it and sidelining those who see otherwise and those who want to carve it up for themselves to the exclusion of others.
It is also essential that public representatives and policymakers insist that the needs of young people feature prominently in planning.
(Dr. Michael O'Connor, a widely published historian, was responding on his Facebook page to recent criticism that Castlebar is a depressing place in which to live for young people and is the reason why so many are emigrating).