Athy. Biggest kip in Kildare???

Clueless09

_SONIC_ wrote: »

ohhhh tensions mounting people!! i think you should calm down or settle it with a good old knife fight! isnt that how things are settled in athy??

Sad

sold

I lived there from 2001 to 2003, there really was not much in the town, The was no Lidl or no decent hotel, no Gym, no Cinema. What there was in those days lots and lots of cardboard houses as my wife called them. Estates were built in a matter of months. There were lots of commuters but no facilities. I know things have changed now and there are hotels and gyms and shops, acutally TODAY athy is a lot better than 6 years ago, but I still think it could have been planned better.

Canal walk was very nice. Athy is OK, its very central to Portloaise, Carlow, Newbridge, problem is that the town does not have a realy sense of community as 60% of the people who live there now are not from Athy,.

ronaneire

_SONIC_ wrote: »

ohhhh tensions mounting people!! i think you should calm down or settle it with a good old knife fight! isnt that how things are settled in athy??

Clueless09 wrote: »

Sad

+ 1....

If you have nothing good to say why say anything?

Dane Bramage

Grew up in the town myself and lived there until 7 years then moved to Dublin. My family still live in Athy. Personally I find the people to be very friendly and decent in general although like any town you will always get a rough element.

Always found castle park, clonmullen, supermacs, the park beside the train station (got jumped here a couple of times), anywhere along the canal to be general no go areas. Other than this, its fine.

I do agree with some posts here in that the town looks very glum, down and deadbeat (with a glut of pubs) when you drive through it and a lot of places seem to have closed down lately. Athy was pretty much forgotten during the boom years compared to the likes of Carlow and Newbridge. It's a shame cause the town is located in such a strategic location, (i.e. its on the barrow, accessible to Dublin pretty quickly by train and is not a million miles away from the likes of Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Rosslare, Dublin etc. and also has a decent catchment area encompassing Grangenolvin, Ballyroe, Rheban, Castlemitchell, Kilberry, Ballylinan and so on) with such resources the town should really be a whole lot nicer than it is. Unfortunately the likelihood of this town getting any form of economic stimulus is now even more remote in this current climate.

Getting the tri-athy and the ploughing championships was good for the town but not enough in my opinion. I also heard that local business people organised a book of vouchers for local stores to the tune of €1000 or so. Not sure of the exact amount. Found this pointless as all the shops in athy are small independent retailers with nothing decent on offer, so don't think this will benefit the town much really. Besides I think that most people from Athy go to Carlow, KK and newbridge to do their weekend shopping...my folks are definitely guilty of this!!

Unemployment is definitely a problem here alright. I hear Tegral are not having a good time of it lately. They are a big employer in this town.

On a positive note, the Bay Tree in my opinion, opposite Boyle's Sports, is an excellent place to eat. Their cakes are just divine, every weekend I come home I always come in for a bite to eat. The oriental restaurant is nice too and the place beside the emigrant.

Would I ever live in Athy, probably not, looking from the outside in, the town looks too depressing and deadbeat in my opinion. I honestly think I'd be bored if I lived there!! Although I certainly wouldn't label it as the biggest kip in Kildare. Personally, I find that Kildare town looks more dull and dead than Athy.

Tilt Gone

In reply to Clueless, I must admit having looked back on this thread my first post does not do the point I was trying to get across justice. It was written mid-rant and is badly formed. The discussion I was trying to have was about the look of Athy to people that drive past on day to day basis but do not live there. The thread title is mis-informed and the context of my posts are off track. If any mod is reading this maybe this thread should be deleted/locked and when I've gathered myself and get the time I might start a better structured thread.

load1234

Looks bad when shop windows are smashed.

When someone goes to toilet on a shop it looks bad too, you see yellow and brown colour.

Two gangs with swords where stopped from fighting by garda, this also looks bad, I guess a few lies got everyone angry.

12 to 18 year olds do not go to jail so crime is attractive for this group of people.

homerhop

Athy is a lot quiter than it used to be Load1234,pity you werent around 25 years ago when it lived up to its reputation.
Now like every town it has its good and bad. Over the years when anyone mentioned having a shopping centre the local retailers were up in arms. I dont know if any of you remember the buzz that was created when Pettits got planning permission, there was cries of doom and gloom from the competition. Athy needs a face lift. It needs shops that will bring people back into the town.
Just look at what it has to offer at the moment.
If you want toys for kids you have the Gem or Brendan Conroys and boy are you bowled over with choices there.
Cloths for men..Manleys or Shaws
Cloths for women Bradburrys, Shaws or across from Smugglers
No Shop selling a decent range of sports gear, no shop with a selection of decent music and please dont say xtra vision is. Computer gear forget about it. The new Jewelers that has opened where Ann Floods shop used to be has their stuff on display before that walking into the other 2 was like walking into a back office, everything tucked away so you never knew what they had to offer.

rameire

load1234 wrote: »

Looks bad when shop windows are smashed.

When someone goes to toilet on a shop it looks bad too, you see yellow and brown colour.

Two gangs with swords where stopped from fighting by garda, this also looks bad, I guess a few lies got everyone angry.

12 to 18 year olds do not go to jail so crime is attractive for this group of people.

seriously, where do you get this stuff from.
You need to get out.

load1234

The garda stopped a sword fight in Athy was in
the local newspaper.

You might be a good sleeper usually happens late
at night when people in bed. I saw screaming
teenagers running down the street throwing eggs
and attacking street lights only twice in the last
5 years. I saw boards on shop windows and houses
these are usually fixed in a day so you might miss it
happens at night and fixed when you come home from
work.

rameire

bad things happen all over the world.
Better off going nowhere and throw away the key to the front door.
its a bad world out there.

homerhop

The garda stopped a sword fight in Athy was in
the local newspaper.

Least this time they stopped it, remember one night they closed off both ends of the town and let them at it.

I saw screaming teenagers running down the street throwing eggs
and attacking street lights only twice in the last 5 years

You must have lived a very sheltered life in your previous home, you didnt live out on a light house by any chance?

I saw boards on shop windows and houses

Show me one town or village in Ireland that hasnt got at least one house or shop with a boarded up window at some stage.

mcaul

load1234 wrote: »

I saw boards on shop windows and .

that would be Mervyns curtain & fabric shop - they are replacing their shop front and doing up their store.

According to head of chamber of commerce, crime levels in Athy are much lower than they were a few years ago and very little serious crime happens these days.

You'll always have youngsters having a fight even those from schools such as Blackrock college - only difference is they leave you dead!

load1234

People are not reporting crime because they think the Garda can not do anything and the Garda are not recording all crime so crime is higher.

It was another shop I saw with boards on it a house sales shop.

loveforcelbridg

To Be honest,load1234, I just think your tryng to give athy a hard name, but bringing up things such as boarded shop windows, and wild teenagers roaming the night fcking eggs at lights, isn't giving athy a hard name, it just sounds like a normal place to me.
You'd want to get a out a bit, I don't think athy has as much "crime" as any other town in ireland..
Here's something to compare it too, watch taht then make your mind up.
If you find one of athy, ill shut up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNS9FxgVOKQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7BpWuZjJU0

load1234

There was also flashes of lights I am
hopeful they did not have some type
of explosive.

Lets not compare Athy with the worst places
in Ireland but compare Athy with the best
places in Ireland.

I am writing this because people are afraid.

I also want to know why the Garda are not catching
these people ?

I do not have the crime statistics for every town in Ireland.

Why evil 12 to 18 year olds are not put in Jail ?

There is only a few bad people committing the same
crimes over and over again.

rameire

maybe it was lightning
or a torch.
or bangers.
have you rung the gardai?
do they know you by name when you do.

maybe set up a vigilanty group to go out and start kicking the little gits.

mcaul

I have a business in Athy (and we're expanding) and I talk to other bsuinesses and we're all in agreement that whislt there is crime (and there's a level of crime in every town in the world) it is not at a level any higher that any other town of similar size.

Windows do break - sometimes it some drunk who has fallen against it, sometime its accidental and sometimes its vandalism.

Try living in some UK towns of similar size and you'll find Athy is extremely peaceful in comparison.

load1234

school burn down, 2 girls try to kill another girl ends up in
hospital. Crime is very high for a small town much higher for towns in UK of
similar size. In UK it is town centres and council estates. In athy it is everywhere. Most crime is caused by under 18 including rape. Gardai are unable to track a pattern of complaints. Sometimes Garda do not turn up for the crime. At least 60 % people would do nothing if the neighbours where attacked. Failure to properly record and tackle incidents by Garda.
Government is to blame, Irish government supports crime changed laws in 2006 to allow under 14 break any law but in reality anyone under 18 can rape, do violence, steal, assault, lie and not get a fine or go to jail. In newbridge youth gangs are burning bins so yes violence is everywhere.

rameire

you should go to the conspiracy theory forum.
because what you are saying is a total load of rubbish.
no facts
no information to back anything up
just hearsay
and curtain twitching.

load1234

Quotes from respectable newspapers not from me.

Scare of the truth ?

homerhop

load1234 wrote: »

Quotes from respectable newspapers not from me.

Scare of the truth ?

what papers? copy and paste? links?

load1234

use google following words gets some facts
and newspaper name.
words.
model school burn athy
girls attacked athy

Throw eggs at my car last night and put 2 pieces of bread
on the car. There was also a number of fires started outside of
houses in the last few years thankfully not my house.

Who would do that is it travellers or illegal horse business people any information ?

Emme

load1234 wrote: »

Throw eggs at my car last night and put 2 pieces of bread on the car.

Athy people are generous but they can be slow to approach strangers directly. Maybe you look hungry and they're trying to feed you!

rameire

whats the fire got to do with anything,
fires happen all the time unfortunately.

homerhop

If you are posting quotes from any other source it is the norm on internet forums to post links to said quotes.

Now let me see...a fight in a school!!!!! omg call out the reserves. It has been happening since schools have begun.
As for the rag that you quoted the article :rolleyes: from, well to say the least they are not exactly famous for their journalistic skills or researching an article before printing it.

Has there been an actual statement by the Guardi that the model school fire was deliberate?

Fires in the last few years oh come on, how about I start posting incidents for the last 30 odd years now that would be real scare mongering.

Funkyspunkball

This is all GRRRRRRREAT research for me...my job is about to transfer me to Athy

rameire

itll be grand, what area is the job moving to

Funkyspunkball

It's fairly central to the town center, I've heard that the better places to live are along the Dublin road /Carlow road, that sound about right to you?

rameire

Funkyspunkball wrote: »

It's fairly central to the town center, I've heard that the better places to live are along the Dublin road /Carlow road, that sound about right to you?

i would say yes.

Rothmans

Funkyspunkball wrote: »

It's fairly central to the town center, I've heard that the better places to live are along the Dublin road /Carlow road, that sound about right to you?

The area out by the Dublin road is v nice. The Golf Club is out that end of town ( and pretty much all the other sports club) if you're interested in sports. Never really thought about it till now but they are actually the best parts of Athy. Athough them two estates out the Kilkenny road don't look too bad-Branswood and Coneyborough I think are the names of them but I could be open to correction