The father of the Moone Boy himself Chris O'Dowd has spoken to Anton Savage about his desire to see Westmeath County Council get their hands off Roscommon.
Sean O'Dowd is one of over 26,000 campaigners who are hitting back at what they call a “land grab” which would move 7,000 people (10% of population) and 12% of the landmass of Roscommon into Westmeath. Anton likened the new rectangle of Westmeath to 'a hernia'.
But to locals, it's anything but funny. They have lined up to criticize the plan, proposed under the Athlone Boundary Review. Ex-pats all over the world have been tweeting and posting pics. Whilst there is no word from Tom Cruise yet (his roots allegedly go back to Roscommon), arguably the most famous man from Roscommon, Chris O’Dowd from Boyle, has got behind the campaign, tweeting from Hollywood to his 700,000 followers under the #saveroscommon hashtag.
- Two counties harmoniously under one hat? We doubt it...
His dad, Sean tells Anton that he hopes in his heart it would not happen. He said he was happy to make a submission against the proposals. Even though he lives 50 miles from affected area, he says it affects everyone from the county that it could lose a key area.
The plans would see 30 square kilometres from Roscommon to Westmeath redistricted as part of Athlone, County Westmeath.
That 'hernia' up close.
Environment Minister Alan Kelly last year established a committee to report on a number of boundaries across the country. This one includes Monksland which Sean says is one of the fastest growing towns in the country, known as industrial heartland of Athlone, and developed by Roscommon County Council at expense of other parts of county. It is packed with many pharma and food firms, including Alkermes (formerly Elan), Arran, Sidero, Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Carty Meats.
Terry Wogan on 'Moone Boy'
Sean also fondly recalled the late Terry Wogan's appearance on 'Moone Boy'. He says Terry kindly gave up a day to film some scenes, even bringing his own 80's mustard suit. The day went on long, but Terry was a good sport and when shooting finished, he insisted on taking the crew out for pizza. Chris called him “a class act” on Twitter.
Terry played the host of a You’ve Been Framed style show, appropriately titled You’ve Been Framed to Look Like a Big Fecking Eejit.
