Ballymahon town have recently established a new voluntary community group, which has been recognised by the Longford Public Participation Network.
Ballymahon Community Information Partnership is a voluntary local group, which was recently founded by Niall Dowler and Ronan O Ceallaigh.
Niall is a qualified secondary school teacher, building surveyor and carries out construction works, while Ronan is an electronic and mechanical engineer, global sales and marketing senior manager, project quality and legal manager and marketing consultant.
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The key goal of the community focused group is to educate and to inform residents regarding any potential developments pertaining to road infrastructure and any potential new developments of amenities and buildings.
The main focus of this group is to inform the local people directly within the Ballymahon community of all potential developments that will impact their daily lives.
Niall and Ronan, feel that there is a “serious lack of awareness amongst the community”, of what new infrastructural changes are coming down the line.
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“It is absolutely astounding in fact, how unaware our local residents really are,” they said.
Niall and Ronan said upon speaking with the people of Ballymahon town, generally the inhabitants and business owners, have no real-time knowledge, of what is happening, or what is about to happen.
They stated in their opinion this “response is due to people not being on social media, and the poor sharing of information”.
Niall and Ronan believe this “may be due to various circumstances where some people are not on social media, buying the local print media or indeed not knowing when the local Municipal District meetings are taking place” or the agendas for those meetings.
“It’s an absolute minefield, having to search for planning applications, to understand maps, and to decipher exactly how the residents of Ballymahon will be individually affected,” they added.
Niall and Ronan said this is where this new voluntary organisation the “Ballymahon Community Information Partnership” can play a huge role and it can fill that breach.
Niall and Ronan said they will “partner with the community and explain in layman’s terms what exactly is happening, educate everyone, so that everyone has a clear understanding, and remove the ambiguity” for them.
This group aims to adopt the old style method of communication, distribute leaflets regularly to each household in Ballymahon, and in parallel hold regular face to face community meetings to inform the local people in relation to what is happening within the environs of Ballymahon town and this will also inform people who frequent the town.
Niall and Ronan will host a public information meeting in the middle of August, with the date to be confirmed.
The pair said all are welcome to attend and share their input on any potential developments that are taking place currently or coming down the line and discuss any additional items they wish.
“We hope that this will be a flagship venture that the wider county of Longford may consider doing and indeed roll out nationwide,” they added.
Niall and Ronan said transparency for local residents is paramount, in relation to potential developments within towns and communities so that they can all have their inputs or opinions heard.
“We live in our communities every single day, we are fully aware of what improvements need to be made to improve our own individual lives.”
Niall and Ronan said change affects everyone in the long-term, and they need to understand it in detail.
“We are a voluntary group created to unite our local people, removing the lack of understanding and to share the public information that affect us all.
“We want to negotiate and to reach compromises with the key people who lead potential developments in our town.”
