RONNIE CARROLL and Elaine Roddy are expecting their first child and recently bought a house in Talbot Court, off Millview Road, Malahide. Elaine is “new” to Malahide, while Ronnie is an “old-timer”, born and bred in the area. He was out of it for a few years and is very glad to be back home again.
He says, good humouredly, that his mother “kicked me out when I was about 25. She helped me buy a house in Swords, which as an experience was the best thing that could have happened because it exposed me to the realities of buying.”
He’s 31 now and “glad to have finally got back here. Elaine is from Beaumont and we wanted our child to be born in Malahide.”
Talbot Court is an enclave of a dozen houses. “We wanted a bigger house, and detached. This one has three floors and five bedrooms. It’s like a building site at the moment but it’s going to be fine. It’s got a big garden, necessary because we’ve got two big dogs, a German Shepherd and a white sable collie. It’s within walking distance of the village and you can’t put a price on that!”
He is vice-president in charge of operations and sales with the Oasis Group, who are records management providers. Elaine has recently set up her own company, Buzz PR, specialising in media and commercial work – 70 per cent of her customers come from Malahide.
Both believe Malahide is the place to be, for now and the future.
“One of the beauties of Malahide,” Ronnie says, “is that it started as a village and has managed to retain that core villagey feel despite a population explosion. You would want to raise kids here. There’s nothing you can’t do in Malahide. It’s got sea and coast, and great schools. Everything a young couple could want. Elaine hadn’t spent a lot of time here before she met me but now she loves it. I’m a bit of a home bird.”
He doesn’t think Malahide was over-developed during the boom years. “The developments were built fabulously well and luckily most were completed so that there aren’t any eyesores around.”
