October’s issue spans community life, Scouts, Senior Citizens, and Tidy Towns, alongside band and theatre notes, party updates (Labour, Fianna Fáil, Social Democrats), and Library Notes. We also feature Stories from Our Readers and “Memories from the Archives,” preserving the people and moments that continue to shape Maynooth.
Submission Date for November Edition is 5pm on 23rd October 2025
The theme of the 2025 Irish Tourism Industry Confederation annual conference which was held in Kilkenny this year was “Resilience in an uncertain World”. Held a week before the 2025 Budget, the conference identified tourism industry priorities, what the future holds, and how the Irish tourism industry can prosper into the future. Tourism is a high priority for Maynooth and I know that there is a vibrant tourism sector in the area.
More visitors are often the result of a recommendations from previous visitors. As the town grows, we must ensure that we maintain our attraction to visitors. We all know from our own travels that once you arrive in a place you want to get orientated. Sadly, Maynooth doesn’t make that easy with no directional signage and often no place names. Many visitors need to use google maps to find their way around Maynooth when we should make it easier.
Of course, how we present Maynooth to visitors as an attractive environment is also important. Maynooth Tidy Towns have been to the forefront for many decades voluntarily helping to improve the area by maintenance and enhancement projects. Their efforts are regularly recognised and acknowledged locally and nationally. As one of the areas representing Ireland in the 2025 Entente Florale Europe, it is fitting that their work and commitment was recognised internationally with the award of the Gold Medal.
As October has arrived, we see the return of students to Maynooth University and with this traffic volumes in the centre of the town. There is a particular difficulty this year with road works in Mill Street until the end of the year. Parking for all this traffic is also an issue as there isn’t adequate parking provided. Casual and sometimes careless parking in residential areas is an issue. There is a narrative that the shortage of rental accommodation for students in the Maynooth area means that students need to travel to Maynooth by car. This is not necessarily the case because there is a range of private bus services as well as Dublin Bus and of course the train service. It is time that an updated mobility study was done on the origin of where people travelling to Maynooth by car start their journeys. Unfortunately, for people coming to Maynooth by car the guarantee of a parking space is not something that can be taken for granted.
