Athlone could become super-city to rival European capitals by 2050, RTE show predicts
Campaigners have called for years for Athlone, a town roughly midway between Dublin and Galway, to be upgraded to a city at the heart of a future Ireland. Now RTE is examining this possibility in a new three-part series called Futureville Ireland tha
Athlone could be the most exciting urban centre in Ireland and a potential rival to Dublin as the country’s new high-tech capital, a new telly series claims. Campaigners have called for years for Athlone, a town roughly midway between Dublin and Galway, to be upgraded to a city at the heart of a future Ireland.
They see it as the unrivalled capital of the midlands that could be home to 250,000 people, a massive population jump of 993 per cent compared to its current 22,869, according to CSO figures. Now RTE is examining this possibility in a new three-part series called Futureville Ireland that airs next week to coincide with Science Week.
A show spokesperson called Athlone a “near future metropolis” and said: “Futureville Ireland will look at a reimagined version of Athlone as Ireland’s first-ever city of the future. It provides the audience with a sense of what Athlone could look like and what everyday life might be like for those that live and work there in 2050. It looks to explore the big ideas from Irish scientists that could one day shape Ireland’s future.”
Athlone’s rise to the cusp of super-city status has gained momentum over the last decade. It pushed to be designated a regional city in 2017 in submissions to Project Ireland 2040. The report projected that the midlands town could more than double in size before 2040 and become the biggest area in the region and the country’s second capital.
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Athlone would be a hub for life science and technology firms, as per the submission. Authors of the report were lobby group Destination Athlone, which includes local businesses, Athlone Institute of Technology, IDA Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, Waterways Ireland, and Roscommon and Westmeath councils as Athlone falls under both jurisdictions.
Their proposals stated a plan to build the town into a city that will “serve as a key enabler for a new regional city to benefit the wider midlands region”. They envisage Athlone to become a model of “social, economic, physical, and environmental development”.
The National Planning Framework is the country’s vision for the next 20 years as part of Project Ireland 2040, which is the overarching policy and planning framework for the social, economic and cultural development of Ireland, as devised by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government on behalf of the Government.
But critics of the campaign to boost Athlone have stated fears that its elevation could threaten investment in neighbouring counties and risk job losses.
Nonetheless, Athlone’s ascendancy continued when it was conferred as a university town in 2021 with the official opening of the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS). That encouraged renewed calls for Athlone to be elevated to city status.
Other new towns have emerged in the past, like Shannon in Clare, Monard in Cork, and at least three in Dublin — Adamstown, Clonburris, and Seven Mills. But none has quite built momentum like Athlone currently, according to a think-tank that assessed a range of European locations based on their attractiveness to foreign direct investment.
It assessed Athlone’s potential for growth as a city of the future and placed it alongside Monaco as one of Europe’s top “micro-cities of the future”. All of that feeds into RTE’s new TV series and the show spokesperson added: “Episode one on Tuesday highlights the newest technologies that will enable our vision of a future Athlone.
"Athlone [is] re-imagined as a near future metropolis, a capital of the midlands and a new home for a quarter of a million people in 2050. This exciting transformation, built on Irish scientific research, could happen just as easily to any other Irish town or urban centre.”
Maynooth University engineering professor Gerry Lacey tells the show’s presenters Carla O’Brien of RTE and Dr Lorraine ‘Lollie’ Mancey of UCD Innovation Centre in episode one how robots will become a key part of our daily lives over the coming decades.
Meanwhile, Carla and Dr Lollie also hear insights from Athlone resident Tadhg Kelleher about the daily lives and challenges faced by locals as they look to the future. Carla said: “I was truly awed by Tadhg Kelleher, who created a virtual reality version of Athlone to show his father, who has dementia and is currently in a nursing home.”
She added: “Looking into the future and what a town or city might be like isn’t as crazy or disconnected from the past as it might seem at first glance.”
Award-winning academic and businesswoman Dr Lollie said: “I have absolutely loved making the series. I am passionate about how human society is changing with technology and as an anthropologist in innovation I see the impact it has on us.”
■ Futureville Ireland, which is supported by Taighde Éireann (Research Ireland), formerly Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), airs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 7pm.
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