Daivtt College students gear up for musical masterclass

Fri, Nov 20, 2015

Davitt College’s annual musical production, Thank Abba for the Music, will be staged in The Joe Langan Sports Hall on the Davitt College campus next week. From Tuesday November 24 to Friday November 27 the sports hall will be transformed into a theatre and auditorium by a professional company of outfitters, providing sound, lighting, and a purpose-built stage and sets. 

Dannolla's is backing Mayo Cancer Support

Fri, Nov 20, 2015

Giving back to the community is something that is important for businesses to do, Liam and Patjoe O'Connell from Danolla's in Castlebar and Westport is firmly of that thinking. So on Wednesday December 2, Danolla's are holding a special fundraising day for Mayo Cancer Support where, when you buy any meal during the day, the company will donate half the cost of that meal to Mayo Cancer Support.

Patjoe explained the thinking behind their decision to do this. "It's important for businesses to get involved with the community and charity events, and something like cancer touches all of us," he said. "I myself lost my mother to cancer earlier this year and I felt that this would be a very worthy cause to get behind. The people in Mayo Cancer Support and Rock Rose House do fantastic work with people who've been affected by cancer and their families, so this is something where we can give back something and say thank you and to help them with their fantastic work in the community."

Heart Project with Mayo farmers scoops top national award

Fri, Nov 20, 2015

A recent awareness campaign aimed at alerting farmers in Mayo to the signs and symptoms of a heart attack has won a top award at this year’s Irish Medical Times Healthcare Awards. This innovative project stemmed from a collaboration between local heart and stroke charity Croí and the HSE in Mayo as part of the on-going work of the Mayo Action on Heart Disease and Stroke Programme. The winning initiative was jointly led by Croí nurse Ailish Houlihan and Ann Marie Brown, cardiac rehab co-ordinator at Mayo General Hospital.

Biography of Raiftearaí to be launched in Kiltimagh

Fri, Nov 20, 2015

The award-winning biography of pre-famine poet and songwriter, Mise Raiftearaí an Fíodóir Focal (I am Raiftearaí the word-weaver), recently awarded the prestigious Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin, Irish-language Book of the Year Award, is to be launched in Raiftearaí’s native Kiltimagh by the Most Rev Brendan Kelly, Bishop of Achonry.

Written by writer, musician, broadcaster and Aghamore native, Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, the book will be launched on Thursday December 3, at 8pm, in the Cill Aodáin Court Hotel, which takes its name from one of Raiftearaí’s best-loved songs. Bishop Kelly, a native of east Galway has himself a personal connection to the poet – his father, Seán Ó Ceallaigh, wrote a book about the poet and his competitive relationship with the Callinan brothers, natives of the Craughwell area, where Raiftearaí died and is buried. 

Mulherin calls on council to review emergency plan following Crossmolina flooding

Fri, Nov 20, 2015

Mayo Fine Gael TD Michelle Mulherin is calling on Mayo County Council to review its early warning and emergency response plan for Crossmolina following severe flooding in the town at the weekend when the River Deel burst its banks. Deputy Mulherin met locals whose business premises and homes were flooded  at the scene in Crossmolina.

Taoiseach urges voters in Mayo to check the register before Wednesday

Fri, Nov 20, 2015

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has urged all voters in Mayo to check the draft register of electors which is available at both their local county council office and online at www.checktheregister.ie until next Wednesday, November 25.

Base Camp

Fri, Nov 20, 2015

"I’m not going to climb it! I told you already, I don’t climb, I climb out of bed in the morning and that’s it. Anyway since when were you pagan?"

Find out what's going on in your area in Community Diary

Fri, Nov 13, 2015

Give blood
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service will be holding a blood donor clinic in The Castlecourt Hotel, Westport on Tuesday, November 17, Wednesday, November 18 and Thursday, November 19 from 5pm to 8.30pm each day.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service will be holding a blood donor clinic in The Castlecourt Hotel, Westport on Tuesday, November 17, Wednesday, November 18 and Thursday, November 19 from 5pm to 8.30pm each day.

Áras Attracta worker to plead guilty

Fri, Nov 13, 2015

One of the HSE employees who had been charged with assault on elderly residents of the Áras Attracta care home in Swinford following the broadcast of a RTÉ Investigations Unit programme showing undercover footage of practices in the home last December, is to plead guilty to three charges of assault at Swinford District Court sitting in Ballina on Wednesday morning was told.

A week is a long time in parking and politics

Fri, Nov 13, 2015

Last week the elected members of the West Mayo Municipal District thought they had secured a victory in their battle against on street parking charges in the towns around the district, when all of the councillors backed a proposal that on street parking charges would be "taken off the agenda". However on Monday morning, when the Municipal District met to discuss their discretionary budget for the coming year the item was very much back on the agenda.

Insulation works and central heating top of council's housing works list

Fri, Nov 13, 2015

Mayo County Council has been working on bringing its housing stock up to standard in relation to insulation and central heating works over the past year and that will continue into 2016. In a report to the elected members of the council, senior executive officer Paul Benson outlined that according to preliminary data of the council's 2,046 housing units, 112 of them had been identified as being deficient in terms of central heating provision and 764 had been identified as having insulation standards lower than being applied by the council under its energy efficiency programme. However it was outlined that most of the houses in the 764 identified as being deficient in terms of insulation complied with building regulations at the time of their construction and that the council apply a very high standard when it comes to insulation and it is for this reason that the glaring deficiency exists.

Derelict sites coming back to the fore of attention for council

Fri, Nov 13, 2015

Mayo County Council is working its way through a review of the council's Derelict Sites Register since earlier this year and, according to council officials, the issue of derelict sites and getting them cleaned up and sorted is "coming back much more on the agenda".

Director of services for Mayo County Council, Tom Gilligan, this week gave a report to the elected members on the progress they have made so far. "We've made contact with a  number of owners who've done work in relation to improving their sites, allowing us to take them off the register," he said. "The work is ongoing, to date we've in the region of 100 sites dotted around the county." He went on to explain: "Particular issues coming up after the recession is ownership, as that could have changed hands a few time since the recession."

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