Decision on area offices will be taken when final redrawing of boundaries is made

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

The issue of the retention of county council area offices in towns around the county is one that has been brought up on numerous occasions over the past few years as budget cuts have hit the county. The issue was raised again at Monday’s budget meeting of Mayo County Council, and county manager Peter Hynes reiterated that no guarantee can be given for any office, especially with the expected redrawing of the electoral area boundaries to municipal districts. “It’s not a decision of anyone in this chamber as to the map of the division of the municipal districts, there are no guarantees,” he said. “You can’t look for rationalisation and give guarantees on depots and offices. When the map for the planned divisions come in we’ll do a workforce plan like we’ve done before.”

The county manager also reiterated there will be no enforced job losses from the introduction of Irish Water in 2014 which will be taking over the water and sewerage responsibilities of the council. “On Irish Water it’s not that we are withholding information, it’s down to discussions between Bord Gais [which will operate Irish Water] and the Government. As for the dedicated staff they will need, as soon as we know, we’ll let everyone know.” He also told the meeting that the staff under Irish Water would be fewer than the council currently dedicates to these areas which takes up some 20 per cent of the authority’s resources.

Popular Fine Gael member celebrates his eightieth birthday

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Popular Bofeenaun resident Davy Donoghue celebrated his 80th birthday at a surprise party which was hosted by his many friends in Leonard's, Lahardane, recently. Among the revellers were relations, friends, and members of Fine Gael. A life long member of that party, he is also an active and valued member of his community, and his endeavours are much appreciated by everyone who knows him. Davy received a special scroll to mark the occasion from An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, presented to him by Councillor Henry Kenny.

O'Brien wants dog control debate

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Fine Gael councillor Patsy O'Brien has asked that a debate be held about dog control following a number of worring incidents involving sheep. Cllr O'Brien said that he believed this is an issue that has been on the rise and will become a major issue in particular for farmers. Cllr Richard Finn supported Cllr O'Brien's suggestion, and it was agreed to put forward a notice of motion on the issue to the full council for a later discussion.

Minister has neglected Rapid programme — Ó Cuív

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Rural Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, has criticised the Minister for the Environment for failing to give priority to the Rapid scheme, which focuses on dealing with social deprivation in the most disadvantaged urban communities in the country.

Calleary accuses Government of dismantling local Garda resources

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Mayo Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary has accused the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter of single-handedly dismantling local Garda resources amid an ongoing surge in burglaries and thefts in Co Mayo and across the western region.

Register your septic tank in time to apply for a remedial grant

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Mayo Fine Gael TD John O'Mahony has urged septic tank owners in Mayo to make sure they have registered their systems before the deadline of February 1 to ensure they will be eligible to apply for a remediation grant if necessary.

Don’t be a tech zombie - keep your eyes and ears alert to dangers

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

You didn’t realise it, but an MP3 player can kill you. The road safety office of Mayo County Council highlighted the dangers of what it calls “iPod oblivion/zombie alert,” which it describes as “a trance-like or zombie state entered by the fashion of some people using MP3 players, phones and electronic organisers on the move,” and which it believes is a contributory factor to many of the pedestrian/cyclist deaths in the Ireland each year. There were 28 pedestrians and eight cyclists killed on Irish roads in 2012. It is not known how many of these cases were caused by people listening to music because the Department of Transport and the Gardaí do not have this information at their disposal.

Finn calls for low cost safety work to be carried out on N17 junction

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Indepedent councillor Richard Finn this week called for Mayo County Council to carry out work under the low cost safety scheme on the junction of the old Convent Road in Claremorris and the old N17. Cllr Finn told the meeting that the vision was impaired at that junction for those trying to come off the old Convent Road. Fine Gael councillor Tom Connolly supported Cllr Finn's suggestion.

Mayo County Council budget agreed with minimal changes

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Following a long day of presentations and contributions, the 2013 annual budget for Mayo County Council was adopted with little fuss on Monday evening in Castlebar. The only major change to the adopted budget, which was proposed by Fine Gael whip Cllr Joe Mellett and seconded by Fianna Fáil whip Cllr Micheál McNamara from the draft one that was presented to the members, was the need to find an extra €70,000 to fund some extra projects and to make up a €40,000 shortfall in the fire service budget when the members refused to increase the call out charge for the service from €150 to €200.

Suicide charities Console and Talk About were given €5,000 each. The funding for agricultural shows in the county was increased by €5,000. Fleadh Ceoil and Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Éireann were given €5,000 between them, while the Alzheimers unit in Foxford was also given €5,000. A new sports scholarship was also set up, which will be named after former multiple Olympic champion and Bohola native Martin Sheridan, and was also given €5,000 of funding. That additional €30,000 added into the budget combined with the estimated lowering of income from the fire service call out charge by €40,000, necessitated a €70,000 savings to be found elsewhere, which head of finance Peter Duggan agreed could be found somewhere in the budget.

Brackloon reunion

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Last Friday night saw another coming together of people from the region of Brackloon to make further progress in preparation for their reunion in 2013. Numbers are steadily growing all the time in attendees. The atmosphere was electric on the night and all who attended were very supportive of everything to date. Light refreshments were served and again the stories and memories flowed. A number of people brought in beautiful photographs. Many of them had sentimental value and many were of landmarks and events of old. Seamus Kenny briefed everyone again on some more historical facts.

Have a heart and use your new driver’s licence as an organ donor card

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

Jim Higgins MEP for Ireland North West and Ireland's Member of the European Parliament Transport Committee, has encouraged people who are applying for a new driver's licence from January 19 to fill in the section on the new application form which allows them to be identified as an organ donor.

Cong Village Design Statement to go out to public consultation

Fri, Jan 11, 2013

The members of the committee were given a presentation on the draft Cong Village Design Statement which is about to go out to public consultation. One of the main issues that came up in the initial production of the draft was the traffic problems on the island village, and one of the proposals included is to construct a new bridge from the public car park on the Mayo side of the village to divert traffic by the old mill in the village and out the exisiting exit towards Clonbur. This would drastically cut down on the traffic looping around and through the village, and allow for the widening of footpaths and make the village a lot more pedestrian friendly. The elected members welecomed the inital draft and told the meeting they were looking forward to the public’s feedback on it.

E-paper

Read this weeks E-paper. Past editions also available from within this weeks digital copy.