Letter: Make Mayo's county town a better place

Sir,

THANKS to Robert, who jump-started it, we have a discussion about Castlebar.

I am originally from Vienna, Austria, and I moved with my wife, Bettina, and our three-year-old daughter to a marginal piece of land at the outskirts of Castlebar in March 1984.

In the past 40 years Castlebar has changed enormously. I still remember cows at Hopkins' fields, since replaced by supermarkets and shops.

The bacon factory was closed and a new industrial estate was created, the airport was replaced by more shopping areas, two ring roads were built, Lough Lannagh developed, and the former asylum transformed into a university, to name just a few.

When we came to Co. Mayo, we were one of the very few foreign families. Our neighbour already said, some 30 years ago, that she did not recognise Castlebar and did not know its people anymore.

The Linenhall was and is, besides sports, as far as we can see, the only neutral public space where the general public can meet.

Twenty years ago Bettina and I started an initiative to create a venue for young people to get together.

While the idea was at first met with great enthusiasm and supported with generous funding by the state, the envisaged youth centre never manifested.

Looking back at the last 40 years, I see extraordinary changes in Castlebar and from my view point it was an outstanding achievement and a commercial success.

Now, I think it is time to acknowledge and applaud what has been achieved. But it is also a time to pause and reflect and listen to other voices coming from within the community.

Castlebar, back then, had one centre – the main street with post office, banks and one supermarket. Plus there was the Mall, the Courthouse and the Imperial Hotel, besides others.

Today, instead of one centre, there are many centres – Tesco, Dunnes, Aldi and TK Maxx, the industrial complex in Moneen, the shopping centre around Woodies, cinema, Lough Lannagh, ATU, the hospital, etc.

The original centre has split into many, which can only almost exclusively be reached by car.

Forty years ago there was one homogeneous community. Now we are a diverse multi-ethnic, multi- cultural, multi-lingual community.

This being the status quo, I have many questions.

What is the fabric of the community today? What are its needs? Who is the community? Where can this diverse community gather? Do we not need a new vision which caters for all ages and creeds, as life has changed and is changing so fast and drastically?

These are only a few of my thoughts and questions in relation to a town which by now is my home town but which has not one centre but many. Isn't that a natural expression of our community?

How can we create a centre that honours and reflects this new reality in all its diversity? How can this diverse group of people become a community which feels belonging and expression of its diversity and creativity?

How can we bring all these diverse needs together for exploration and discussion?

Thank you for giving me space to express my ideas.

With blessings,

Georg Peterseil,

Castlebar.