Search Results for 'Michael Connolly'

A number of county councillors have expressed unhappiness about a new policy whereby the details of farmers’ grants from Europe are being published online. This follows new EU regulations, which required details of all payments made to Common Agriculture Policy beneficiaries in 2014 to be published by member states. Some €1.8 billion was paid to 130,000 farmers and rural enterprises nationwide under CAP schemes last year.

A number of county councillors have expressed unhappiness about a new policy whereby the details of farmers' grants from Europe are being published online. This follows new EU regulations, which required details of all payments made to Common Agriculture Policy beneficiaries in 2014 to be published by member states. Some €1.8 billion was paid to 130,000 farmers and rural enterprises nationwide under CAP schemes last year.

Galway county councillors have issued a strong message to the Government that the present level of air service to the Aran Islands must be maintained. Aer Arann has administered the service to the islands since 1970 and currently operates daily flights to Inis Mór, Inis Oirr, and Inis Meáin. All flights which take about 10 minutes from lift-off to touch down, depart and arrive from Connemara Regional Airport. The contract for the service is now up for renewal and there are fears due to a cut from Government to the air service subvention, the service will be reduced.

It was not a day when our local politicians covered themselves in glory. A debate on where some elected members of the Galway County Council would sit in the newly refurbished council chamber was succinctly summed up by Republican Sinn Féin representative, Tomas O Curraoin, who labelled the whole matter a joke, and likened the behaviour of some councillors to small children. "If kids were in junior infants, they would be arguing about where they were sitting," he said

Civil servants were accused of being ‘highly paid, underworked, living in an ivory tower, hatching crazy plans and taking no regard of what people want’ at Monday’s meeting of Galway County Council.

Former Armagh and Crossmaglen star, Oisín McConville, will headline a seminar on player welfare, health, and wellbeing later this month in an event to formally launch Mayo GAA’s new Health and Wellbeing Initiative.

A debate on commercial rates at this week’s meeting of Galway County Council led one exasperated councillor to remark that there would not be a rural pub left in Galway in a few years time if the system was not changed. The method of collecting rates was labelled as ‘outdated and antiquated’ where the amounts paid were in no way related to business income.

Monday’s meeting of Galway County Council meeting began on an extremely positive note with councillors clamouring to be associated with Apple’s announcement that it was constructing a new data centre in Athenry. Special mention was given to local area councillor Peter Feeney who was singled out by a number of representatives for doing trojan work to attract industry to the locality.

A controversial landfill site located between Loughrea and Ballinasloe is to be re-opened by the Galway County Council - but only so it can be closed permanently in future.

The way the State deals with property owners in Ireland has been severely criticised by Galway County councillors, one of whom described its approach as being “totally unacceptable”. It follows a discussion to remove the threat of compulsory purchase orders hanging over landowners on the proposed greenway route between Galway and Ballinasloe.