Why not signpost the N5 way with famous Mayo names?

by Auld Stock

Looking at pictures of the new N5 highway, which will open to the public in the early months of 2023, it struck me that many hitherto hidden areas in west Mayo will come into view for the motoring public for the first time.

Mayo is a vast county full of lakes, rivers, hills and valleys.

Many smaller lakes around the N5 will come as a pleasant surprise to Mayo people and visitors to our county.

It would be a good idea if large hoardings were erected at the entrances to both Castlebar and Westport with information about famous people from both towns.

This is common practice on many roadways both in England and on the continent.

The signpost on the road to Castlebar could highlight famous people born in the town.

Names that come to mind are Louis Brennan, the inventor, and Margaret Burke Sheridan, renowned opera singer.

In Westport the names of Major General John MacBride, one of the signatories of the 1916 Treaty, and Cornelius Coughlan, who was awarded the Victoria Cross and is buried in Westport, could be featured on the hoardings.

The hoardings won’t cost a lot of money and would be of great interest to local people and visitors to both towns.

Some of our councillors might raise this matter at one of their meetings.

The idea, I believe, is worth thinking about.