€360,000 for discovery points in Mayo

Fri, May 30, 2014

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring this week announced €3.2m funding for the next phase of the Wild Atlantic Way development. As part of the overall funding package €360,000 has been allocated to Mayo for works on 24 discovery points and four embarkation points along the route.

The discovery points which have been identified for upgrade are essential to the success of the project and represent locations where the visitor can stop off, get out and explore, find out about some unique stories relating to the natural heritage of the area as well as the culture and social history associated with the location. The funding, announced through Fáilte Ireland, will be for a programme of improvement works for 133 discovery points and 22 embarkation points which have been identified along the 2,400km route. The route which stretches from the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal to Kinsale in County Cork is already garnering significant interest overseas.

Kilcoyne the star of the show in Castlebar

Fri, May 30, 2014

Where did it all go wrong is what the Fine Gael party faithful will be trying to figure out over the next few weeks as they saw their seats in the county town drop from four to two over the weekend. One man who won’t be asking that question is Independent Cllr Michael Kilcoyne who topped the poll with an amazing 2,921 votes, a massive 1,210 first preference votes over the quota of 1,711. From not long after the boxes were opened and spilled across the counting tables in the Royal Theatre in Castlebar early on Saturday morning, there was never any doubt that Kilcoyne was going to top the poll, it was only a matter of by how much. When he was elected on the first count, he was the first councillor in Ireland elected in this year’s local elections, but he had to wait until the early hours of Tuesday morning for the official declaration of election after the recount of the Castlebar papers had been concluded. More on that below.

Some new faces for Claremorris area but six outgoing returned

Fri, May 30, 2014

he filling of the seven seats in the Claremorris electoral area was a straightforward enough affair in the end and it took just six counts to see it through.

All change as voters have their say

Fri, May 30, 2014

The curtain finally came down on the local and European election count in the Royal Theatre in Castlebar in the early hours of Thursday after a mammoth almost five days of counting of votes, when Marian Harkin held off the challenge of Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher to win the last seat in the Midlands North West European constituency.

Hannah Ferguson carries Mayo hopes in Rose of Tralee Regional Festival

Fri, May 30, 2014

MAYO Rose Hannah Ferguson is rallying her supporters to follow her to Portlaoise, for the Rose of Tralee Regional Festival from this weekend. It is a major tourism event on the Irish festivals calendar attracting 60 Roses, their families, friends, and festival-goers from Ireland and around the world.

Mayo family honoured for their contribution to intercultural learning programme

Fri, May 30, 2014

A Mayo family who regularly host intercultural exchange students from all over the world were presented with an award at the 2014 EIL Intercultural Learning Host Family Awards Ceremony in Dublin last weekend. Bernie and Colum Gavin from Castlebar have opened their home to participants from EIL’s intercultural exchange programme for many years. Speaking from the awards, director of EIL Intercultural Learning, Kevin Hickey, said: “Every year, hundreds of Irish families like the Gavin family open up their homes to international students who come here to study and immerse themselves in Irish culture. A number of the families who received awards have been hosting students for over 10 years, and many of them keep up regular contact with those who have stayed with them over the years. The length of the students’ stays varies from a few weeks up to a year, so it is a huge undertaking for these families, but the fact that most of them do it on an ongoing basis is testament to how rewarding it is not only for the families, but also for their wider communities in Mayo and throughout the country.” He concluded, saying: “The Gavin family’s story is living proof of the enormous impact that these intercultural experiences can have on both the participant and the host family, so I am delighted to be able to recognise that work at this very special event today.”

EIL Intercultural Learning is part of the worldwide non-profit Experiment in International Living (EIL) Federation, and is now Ireland’s oldest intercultural learning organisation. This year, the Cork-based organisation is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Over the past 50 years, 38,000 people have participated in its programmes, including study abroad, volunteering, language training, travel scholarships, and cultural immersion activities. The Host Family Awards Ceremony, which took place in Dublin over the weekend, is part of a year-long programme of events marking the organisation’s 50th year in Ireland.

Mayo County Council Election Count : Live (Day 3)

Mon, May 26, 2014

Welcome to day three of the Mayo Advertiser's rolling live election count coverage from the Royal Theatre in Castlebar. Colm Gannon and Frances Toner will be here throughout the day and into the night bringing you all of the news from the count centre as it happens. You can follow all the action here on www.advertiser.ie/mayo on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mayoadvertiser and on Twitter by following us here https://twitter.com/MayoAdvert.

Mayo County Council Election Count : Live (Day 2)

Sun, May 25, 2014

Welcome to day two of the Mayo Advertiser's rolling live election count coverage from the Royal Theatre in Castlebar. Colm Gannon and Frances Toner will be here throughout the day and into the night bringing you all of the news from the count centre as it happens. You can follow all the action here on www.advertiser.ie/mayo on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mayoadvertiser and on Twitter by following us here https://twitter.com/MayoAdvert.

Mayo County Council Election Count : Live

Sat, May 24, 2014

Welcome to the Mayo Advertiser's rolling live election count coverage from the Royal Theatre in Castlebar. Colm Gannon and Frances Toner will be here throughout the day and into the night bringing you all the news from the count centre as it happens. You can follow all the action here on www.advertiser.ie/mayo on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mayoadvertiser and on Twitter by following

The people go to the polls

Fri, May 23, 2014

Mayo people go to the polls today to elect the 30 members of the new county council as well as having their say on who will take the seats in the new Midlands, North and West constituency in the European Parliament. More than 100,000 people in Mayo are eligible to cast their votes today across four new electoral areas of Castlebar, Ballina, Claremorris, and West Mayo.

Returning officer for the local elections John Condon is preparing for a busy weekend in the count centre in the Royal Theatre Castlebar, which will not only host the four local election counts but also the European count for the entire constituency which will get under way on Sunday.

Calleary accuses Kenny of making empty election promises

Fri, May 23, 2014

The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, this week said the IDA had confirmed to him that it will to undertake a feasibility study to assess the possible construction of an advance factory in Castlebar in an effort to attract a new major industry to the town. Earlier this year the IDA had announced plans to build similar factories in Letterkenny, Athlone and Waterford. The absence of Castlebar from this list raised the ire of a Labour Castlebar Town Councillor, Harry Barrett who raised the issue at the March meeting of Castlebar Town Council.

Elaborate Donedeal scam leaves Castlebar man out of pocket

Fri, May 23, 2014

A Clare based garda and a Castlebar meat factory worker were both taken in by an elaborate Donedeal.ie scam operated by a professional gang, which has featured on Crimeline.

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