Lurgan

jenheiffer

pgilc1 wrote: »

Theres talk that some of the key business owners objected to a shopping centre being built in lurgan when portadown and lisburn were building theirs. They wanted to protect their own business and didnt want the competition - to the detriment of everyone else living in the town...

There are too many boring anonymous shopping centres in NI - good for the local businesses for standing up against it! Can't anyone who wants to go to a shopping centre go to Craigavon?

motorguy

jenheiffer wrote: »

There are too many boring anonymous shopping centres in NI - good for the local businesses for standing up against it! Can't anyone who wants to go to a shopping centre go to Craigavon?

I think thats the problem - everyone DOES go to Craigavon.

Contrast Lurgan with Portadown which has embraced its three(?) shopping centres and is a bustling town, as opposed to Lurgan whereby you only go there if you have to.

Theres very little footfall in lurgan now to justify any new shops, therefore it will take something major to shake things up again. Tescos helped a bit, but they're only interested in sucking what trade there is in lurgan into their store - which doesnt help the town itself.

warmhands.coldheart

Right, As a native to Strabane, now living in the Craigavon area, going by everyone else’s comments, If I move to Newry I’ll have lived in the three biggest kips in Northern Ireland…. Great !!!!!
Anyway I’ll just have to get over that…. Right I’m over it !!

Yes Strabane is a bit of a sh1th0le now but remember the reason it is like this is because of the complete demise of the textile industry in Ireland…. Oh and it’s not on the outskirts of Belfast or Lisburn so falls of the radar of our “Executive”…… Yes unless your east of the Bann don’t expect too much investment or support from your “Local” MLA’s

Next point,,, possibly a bit controversial but (Appologies in advance) the biggest problem with Lurgan is …… the people who live there… the term “A face like a Lurgan Spade” certainly represents the people who live there very well….. OK not wanting to tar everyone with the same brush but what a bloody miserable lot !! Very much “Glass Half Empty” in their outlook…. The type of people who go straight to the Obituary section of the paper to see who has died…….
The massive sectarian divide doesn’t help either as both sides in this area are still quite hard line…. Not the case in Strabane in my view,, yes it has it’s hard liners but it has a much smaller Protestant to Catholic ratio in the actual town and those protestants who do live in the town are… hmmmmm a bit more middle class and a lot are married to Catholics anyway…. (Sorry to bring class into it but it’s true) Most of the Protestants in the Strabane area live out in the country…

The big problem (Actually it is the BIGGEST Problem) in the Craigavon/Lurga/Portadown area is the Council…. They couldn’t agree on anything and I mean anything… you think the MLA’s in Stormont are bad… Craigavon Council are a complete joke…….

As my wife says… People from Lurgan hate Portadown, People from Portadown hate Lurgan, And the only thing they can both agree on is they Both hate Craigavon……

savagej

I was in Lurgan a few months ago and found out where that expression comes from "a face like a Lurgan spade". The lake in the grounds of Lord Lurgan's Home (now the park) was dug by men called who were named spades (probably because the carried them about alot and did not look too happy about the amount they were being paid), hence, "a face like a Lurgan spade".

warmhands.coldheart

Oh and not to forget
The fact the Lurgan town traffic grinds to a halt at rush hour due to the numerous train level crossings in the town really doesn't help things

motorguy

savagej wrote: »

I was in Lurgan a few months ago and found out where that expression comes from "a face like a Lurgan spade". The lake in the grounds of Lord Lurgan's Home (now the park) was dug by men called who were named spades (probably because the carried them about alot and did not look too happy about the amount they were being paid), hence, "a face like a Lurgan spade".

There are at least three explanations where the term Lurgan spade came from -

(a) There physically is a 'Lurgan Spade' favoured because of the long front on it - hence to have a face like a lurgan space is to have a long face.

(b) Another theory is that it could be from the Irish language lorga sp!d meaning the shaft (literally "shin") of a spade

(c) The one you gave

I dont think anyone really knows.

motorguy

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Oh and not to forget
The fact the Lurgan town traffic grinds to a halt at rush hour due to the numerous train level crossings in the town really doesn't help things

and due to the naff traffic system and the 'bypass' road plagued by three sets of traffic lights and a pedestrian crossing.

motorguy

Actually, i'm moving to a little village out between tandragee and markethill in six months time - i might never have to frequent lurgan again!!

warmhands.coldheart

Best thing to come out of Lurgan is the road to Moira

steveymp

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Best thing to come out of Lurgan is the road to Moira

Thats actually true:T:T

When we went visiting relatives in Lurgan we always went to Moira for a bite to eat, lovely wee place it is:beer:

As for Craigavon and Portadown:eek: equally as $hitty town, but they have shopping centres:o