Meath West: Tóibín fights his old party amid the urban-rural divide
The declining fortunes of the small village of Clonmellon, in the three-seater constituency, epitomise problems that can be found across the state
The village of Clonmellon in Co Westmeath used to have seven pubs. It now has one. Isaac’s Well, the sole survivor, was ransacked by burglars recently in a 4am raid.
There used to be four shops in Clonmellon, but there are now two. Its post office closed two years ago as part of An Post’s redundancy programme.
The village faces the same challenges as hundreds like it throughout the country, and may explain why the ...
