Councillors lay out the case to protect GMIT Castlebar campus

Thu, Mar 16, 2017

It was the one topic that everyone wanted to have their say on and throw their support behind at the March meeting of Mayo County Council. The future of the GMIT campus in Castlebar has been a major topic of discussion around the county in recent weeks and it was no different inside the council chamber. Some 25 councillors spoke on the topic in a debate that lasted well over an hour, and the one strong message coming from all of those who spoke was that everything that could be done to ensure the survival and the future growth of the third level facility in the county would be done.

Communities in Mayo need fibre-powered broadband – Chambers

Thu, Mar 16, 2017

Fianna Fáil TD for Mayo Lisa Chambers has expressed serious concerns that the rollout of broadband to certain parts of the county will be delayed again, and she has criticised the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten for failing to future-proof the service. There are now fears that the rollout of the service could be delayed again as a result of a lengthy procurement process.

Student entrepreneurs claim regional crown

Thu, Mar 16, 2017

Two emerging enterprises founded by local students in the Mayo Gaeltacht areas have been crowned joint winners of the Údarás na Gaeltachta - Clár Comhlachta Mayo Regional Final.

Mayo PPN information evenings for community groups

Thu, Mar 16, 2017

Mayo Public Participation Network (PPN) is organising a number of information evenings for community groups this March and April. The first series of meetings in March will take place in the four municipal districts in Mayo and is open to groups registered with Mayo PPN, in these areas. The April meeting will take place in Castlebar and is open to all groups registered with Mayo PPN.

In March there will be a series of information evenings for community groups in the four municipal districts. The municipal district in which your group operates in is the correct meeting for your group to attend. Two area meetings will take place next week, the West Mayo Municipal District information evening will take place in Hotel Newport on Tuesday, at 7pm and the Claremorris Municipal District information evening will take place on Thursday, at 7pm, in the McWilliam Park Hotel, Claremorris. The following week will see the Ballina Municipal District information evening taking place on Tuesday, March 28, at 7pm in room one of the Newman Institute, and the Castlebar Municipal District information evening will take place on Thursday, March 30, in the Macalla Hall in Lough Lannagh Holiday Village in Castlebar.

Thousands of children waiting for orthodontic treatment as key posts remain vacant – Calleary

Thu, Mar 16, 2017

Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary has called on the Health Minister to immediately intervene to reduce waiting lists and waiting times for orthodontic treatment for children in the west. New figures released to the Mayo TD reveal that there are 1,741 children on the list for orthodontic assessment and another 2,689 waiting for treatment.

IWAK offers chance to visit the home of Santa

Thu, Mar 16, 2017

Ireland West Airport this week announced a special flight to Lapland will take to the skies in December 2017. This one night Santa’s Sleepover trip will depart on December 12 and is a holiday of a lifetime.

Claremorris gets ready for a parade to remember

Thu, Mar 16, 2017

Claremorris promises to host one of the most colourful and spectacular St Patrick’s Day parades with a huge international involvement from nearly 20 countries on Friday, thanks to main sponsor St Colman’s Credit Union, Claremorris.

The Claremorris St Patrick’s parade will get under way at 3pm. The pre-parade street entertainment will start at 1pm and will be performed by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and the Latvian Circus Troupe, Beztamata.

Signal from black box of Rescue 116 detected

Tue, Mar 14, 2017

A signal from the black box – belonging to R116 helicopter which crashed in the early hours of Tuesday morning, has been detected by rescue crews working to find the three crew members of the helicopter still missing since the crash . The box was discovered shortly after 4pm on Wednesday close to Blackrock Lighthouse

Government committed to future of GMIT in Mayo

Fri, Mar 10, 2017

Yesterday, a delegation of Fine Gael Seantors from the county, Paddy Burke, Senator John O'Mahony, and Michelle Mulherin, held a meeting with Minister for Education Richard Bruton on the future of the campus. After the meeting Senator Mulherin said: “The Minister has confirmed that the Government is fully committed to the Castlebar campus of GMIT and its future growth. This will involve developing new courses and responding to the growing demand for further education in order to ensure upskilling and re-skilling responding of the labour force which is set to continue and which has been identified by the OECD."

Has the day of the disposable shovel arrived?

Fri, Mar 10, 2017

"Have we now got to the stage of having the disposable shovel? Because for the price you've told us we're buying them for, you'd do well to get one fixed for less than that price," asked Cllr Richard Finn this week at the March meeting of Mayo County Council. The councillor was responding to a presentation given by the council's procurement officer John Maughan to the elected members.

Mayo youngsters raise money for children's ward recliners

Fri, Mar 10, 2017

Young people from Foróige's Big Brother Big Sister programme and Mayo Comhairle Na nÓg collaborated to raise almost €2,400 for the purchase of reclining chairs at the children’s wards of Mayo University Hospital. The chairs are intended for use by parents who are required to stay overnight with their sick children.

Mayo's Bon Secours inmates

Fri, Mar 10, 2017

In a little under five years time, Ireland will roll out the red commemoration carpets for a year long celebration to mark the centenary of the Irish Free State. In the decades preceding the independent state, unionist politicians and their constituents vigorously, and even militantly, opposed any form of self-determination for Ireland as they believed Home Rule under a Catholic majority would mean Rome rule. The fears of those unionists were realised. The Free State, like the British state before it, inadequately supervised Catholic institutions tasked with caring for sections of Irish society and thereby put at risk the very children of the nation that independence was destined to cherish. The Free State's successors were equally culpable of neglect as each fed its own citizens to an ultra conservative, practically unregulated, system of 250 Church-run industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages, hostels and homes from the 1920s up until the 1990s. Since the 1990s, criminal cases and inquiries have established that thousands of children were abused by hundreds of priests and several Catholic religious orders were found to have participated in or concealed child abuse. 

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