St Colman's students receive Pope John Paul II awards

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

Students from St Colman’s College, Claremorris, received their Pope John Paul II awards in Knock Basilica recently. It was a wonderful night of celebration of all the great work done by so many young people across the Archdiocese of Tuam over the past 12 months.

More than €1 million to be spent on upgrading two water treatment plants in the county

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

Irish Water has announced details of a €1.2 million upgrade to wastewater services in two areas of Mayo. A contract has been awarded to TES Ltd to upgrade the existing wastewater treatment plants in Belcarra and Lahardaun which serve a combined population of almost 1,000 people. The benefit of these works will see a vast improvement in the quality of the final effluent being discharged from both wastewater treatment plants which flow into two rivers forming part of the River Moy Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Solicitor sobs as she is jailed for stealing €260,000

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

A former solicitor who stole €260,000 from her clients over a three year period has been jailed for a year. Jacqueline Durcan (47), a mother of five originally from Co Mayo, carried out the thefts after a series of “catastrophic” investments during the property boom. Most of the money stolen was put back into the family practice, including paying for professional indemnity insurance, while €51,000 was used towards stamp duty for the purchase of her own home, the court heard.

Rates rise in Ballina and Westport

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

Just under six and half hours into the second day of deliberations over the Mayo County Council's budget for next year, the whip of the controlling Fianna Fáil and Independent axis, Cllr Damien Ryan, got to his feet to get the real business under way. After around 15 hours of presentations and questions, over the previous Monday and then again last Friday, Cllr Ryan was ready to propose a budget for adoption with a few amendments to what had been proposed by the council executive.

What's on in your community?

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

There's wealth of events taking place across Mayo each week and we bring you some of the best in our Community Diary each week. If you'd like to have something included in Community Diary, please email [email protected] by 5pm on the Monday before the next publication date.

Connecting medieval and modern Mayo

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

If you have ever attempted to compile your family tree you may have already felt that sense of frustration when you realise that all accessible leads have been exhausted. Truthfully, at that point there is also a feeling of relief. Relief in the knowledge that there are no more stones to overturn, that you can finally park the family tree as being ‘finished’, which of course it never is. If, like the majority of the county, your ancestry is Irish and Catholic, you will be fortunate to trace your pedigree back to the relatively recent 18th century. The reason being that State registering of births, deaths, and marriages did not begin until 1864 and the earlier recording of this information by Catholic clergy in their parishes was haphazard. The earliest parish records for Aughaval (Westport) only begin in 1821. Records for Kilmoremoy (Ballina) and Aglish (Castlebar) begin in 1823 and 1824, respectively. For information before the early 19th century, the amateur genealogist is largely dependent on luck and supposition.

Award winning Road Safety efforts by Mayo County Council

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

Mayo County Council has been named overall winner of the Road Safety Award 2016 in the Public Sector Awards Magazine. Mayo County Council and the Mayo Road Safety Working Group are delighted to accept this award for their work in promoting road safety awareness.

Get your dancing boots ready for Harvest

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

Westport House will be alive to the sounds of country and roots music next August when the Harvest festival takes over the historic estate on Saturday August 26 and Sunday August 27. The festival, which will take place in Westport and Enniskillen over the same weekend, with the acts swapping venues over both days, will be promoted by Aiken Promotions which has been responsible for bringing some of the biggest music names in the world to Ireland over the years, including Bruce Springsteen. 

Castlebar rewards its tidy heroes

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

On Friday last Castlebar Tidy Towns hosted its annual awards ceremony in the Linenhall Arts Centre. Local business people and residents from all parts of the town were joined on the evening by a number of guests. In 2016 Castlebar Tidy Towns retained its silver medal award in the national competition and the evening was an opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of businesses, community groups, and Castlebar residents.

HSE and Tusla staff in Mayo launch annual Bronntanas Appeal for Christmas

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

In 2002 HSE staff in Mayo came up with an initiative to ensure that less privileged children in the county and their families would have a fair chance to enjoy the Christmas festive season. The plan was to organise the giving of presents anonymously to children in families under financial strain. The initiative, which was given the appropriate title of Bronntanas, involved a group of HSE staff, their families and friends coming together with volunteers from voluntary organisations in the weeks before Christmas to collect and distribute presents anonymously to children at risk of not receiving a gift at Christmas time.

Final episode of The Airport up in Knock takes to the sky

Fri, Dec 09, 2016

UTV Ireland’s six-part documentary series The Airport Up in Knock concludes on Monday, December 12 at 8pm. In the final episode, it’s the busiest day of the year for airport customer services with thousands of pilgrims setting off on special chartered flights to the miraculous springs of Lourdes in France. With most passengers in need of special assistance, Anne and the team will need to work fast and furiously to get everyone boarded.

Ring announces almost €1 million in Clár funding for Mayo

Fri, Dec 02, 2016

Minister of State for Regional Economic Development Michael Ring yesterday announced €976,869 of funding under the Clár scheme for projects in Mayo. The total funding nationwide for the scheme was €8.24 with almost €1 million of that going to projects in Mayo.

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