Government rapped over welfare issues

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

A Labour party candidate for Castlebar Town Council, has hit out at the Government for what she called a callous attitude towards the old and the young. Bernie Courtney said: “I have met many elderly people who are terrified they will lose their medical card. One couple told me they had received a renewal form from the Department of Social Welfare for their medical card. The form is a gross intrusion into the affairs of elderly people who had found great difficulty in completing the forms. This is no way to treat decent people, the backbone of the country over the years,” said Courtney.

Road through Castlebar car park labelled dangerous

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

Castlebar Town Council candidate, Stephen Lavelle, has raised the issue of the danger to pedestrians using the roadway through Castle St Car park. “I have observed the danger to pedestrians and people pushing pushchairs attempting to walk along the road while traffic passes in both directions,” he said.

Eleven counties, four provinces, 13 candidates and only three seats

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

One thing is for sure about the European election count on Sunday is that all eyes across the EU will be on The Royal Theatre, Castlebar when the ballot boxes are opened thanks to one man’s name on the ticket, Declan Ganley. The Galway man and Libertas leader has emerged as the most controversial candidate in an election in Ireland for years. Ganley and his Libertas group’s anti-Lisbon Treaty campaign last year lead the charge for the no-vote on the treaty in the country and his party has now gone pan-European in these elections. If Ganley fails to take a seat in this election, where does his or his party’s mandate go to in the expected re-running of the referendum later this year? We will have to wait and see.

Two men jailed for ‘thuggish behaviour’ at hospital A&E

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

Two men who caused severe chaos at the Accident and Emergency department of Mayo General Hospital in aggressive incidents which occurred less than a week apart— in which the men were extremely abusive, were forcefully removed by security, and caused criminal damage to the outside glass door of the department, were both jailed by Judge Mary Devins at Castlebar District Court on Wednesday for this “thuggish behaviour”.

Mayo tops the poll for clean beaches in Ireland

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

Mayo has topped the poll for the highest number of blue flags awarded to any one county in Ireland this summer.

Driving ban for man whose house burnt down last weekend

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

A Ballyhaunis man whose house burnt down last weekend was given a three year driving ban and a €300 fine after pleading guilty to drunk driving in Ballyhaunis District Court.

Three months in jail for farmer who failed to reduce sheep numbers

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

Judge Mary Devins imposed a three month jail sentence on a farmer who failed to reduce the number of sheep on his lands to 100 after being found guilty in a cruelty case this week.

Two cases of swine flu confirmed in the west

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

Two cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the west according to the HSE.

Man was selling drugs to send money to sick mother, court told

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

A Polish man, who was found to be in possession of a large quantity of ecstasy and cannabis which he supplied to members of the Polish community in order to send the money to his sick mother, was before Castlebar District Court on Wednesday.

Garda Donal Rafferty told the court that having received confidential information a search warrant was obtained for the home of Pawel Welecki, James Street, Claremorris, which was executed on August 1 2008, where 183 E tablets and cannabis herbs were found on the premises.

Former Rose of Tralee Aoibhinn to co-present new RTÉ series

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

Mayo Rose of Tralee Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin will be one of three presenters in a brand new seven part traditional music series on RTÉ.

Vote for Mayo’s Hardy Bucks in final four of RTÉ/YouTube competition

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

Hardy Bucks is a web-based comedy series gaining notoriety among comedy-hungry You Tube users. It is currently in the final four of RTE’s Storyland competition, having made it through two rounds of voting. The series follows the lives of Eddie and Buzz, two ‘sturdy, reliable fellas’ from the fictional Mayo hamlet of Castletown, as they struggle to hold down a job, while dabbling in various money-making schemes, all the time faced with their own incompetence, and having to contend with their arch-nemesis ‘the Viper’.

Three year driving ban for mother of three

Fri, Jun 05, 2009

A 22-year-old mother of three children whose children are all under the ages of three, was disqualified from driving at Castlebar District Court on Wednesday after she was convicted of drink driving.

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