New €9m Belmullet Sewerage Scheme is ahead of schedule

Fri, Nov 18, 2016

Irish Water said this week that it was "delighted" with the pace of work on the €9 million Belmullet Sewerage Scheme contract. The project, which commenced on the ground in June of this year, is ahead of schedule and when completed will remove Belmullet from the list of 44 towns nationally where wastewater is discharged untreated.

Investment in integrated rail and public transport system 'essential for growth in rural Ireland' says Conway-Walsh

Fri, Nov 18, 2016

Senator Rose Conway-Walsh has stressed the importance of transport connectivity to the rural economy. Her remarks came this week in response to a report that Iarnród Éireann may soon be insolvent.

“Today, we see the report that indicates that Irish Rail is facing insolvency and that rural routes may have to be cut if Iarnród Éireann does not get an extra €103 million a year over the next five years," the Sinn Féin senator from Mayo said in the Seanad this week. "And that is just to stay solvent. That does not include the necessary investment to address the neglect and failure of successive governments in our rail links.

Do you want to teach in England or Wales?

Fri, Nov 18, 2016

Teach In is an organisation that finds long-term jobs in England and Wales for teachers wishing to move from Ireland.

The organisation understands that deciding to take a new job in England is a big step and you will have many questions. For this reason, Teach In are touring Ireland at the end of November to meet teachers who are either currently training or have finished their courses who might consider making the move across the water.

Kevin Keane wins Westport Sea2Summit adventure race

Fri, Nov 18, 2016

Westport was awash with more than 2,500 competitors who took on the gruelling challenge of Westport Sea2Summit on a bright and breezy Saturday morning.

When presidents were presidential

Fri, Nov 18, 2016

History was indeed made on November 8 when Donald Trump was elected 45th president of the United States. I am not quite sure why history was made, a Republican beating a Democrat is not new, but it certainly feels like something immense has happened. Only something immense could sway the US electorate from voting to return a black Democrat in 2012, to voting four years later for a white billionaire Republican who holds overtly racist and misogynistic views. 

Average rent in Mayo now €588 per month

Fri, Nov 11, 2016

According to the latest rental report by property website Daft.ie rental prices in Mayo have increased by five per cent over the past 12 months, and a 3.5 per cent increase quarter on quarter. The report states that the average rental price in Mayo now stands at €588, with a a four bedroom house now costing on average €639 per month, an increase of almost six per cent on this time last year, while a three bedroom house will now cost on average €427 per month to rent, an increase of 4.7 per cent. A five bedroom house has an average rental price per month of €717 per month, an increase of 10.1 per cent in 12 months, by far the biggest percentage increase of any price of a rental property in the county according to the report.

When it comes to apartment rental, a one bedroom apartment in Mayo currently has an average monthly rental price of €427 up 4.7 per cent on this time last year, with a two bedroom apartment having an average rental price of €486 up 7.3 per cent in 12 months. There were 124 properties to rent in Mayo on Daft.ie's website earlier this week.

Former solicitor stole €260k from clients

Fri, Nov 11, 2016

A former solicitor who was €6.5 million in debt stole €260,000 from her clients after she made a series of “catastrophic” investments during the property boom, a court has heard. Jacqueline Durcan (47) previously from Co Mayo but with an address in Rue Laubespin, Brussels, Belgium, pleaded guilty to one count of stealing €260,000 between February 21 2008 and January 27 2011.

Irish TV gets court protection

Fri, Nov 11, 2016

Westport based television station Irish TV who had suspended production on new programming last week was awarded High Court protection yesterday with Michael McAteer appointed as interim examiner. The petition came after a funding shortfall left it with a shortfall of liabilities over assets of €8.7m. The station was founded by husband and wife couple Pierce O’Reilly and Mairéad Ní Mhaoilchiaráin. It was launched in 2014 and has been available on Sky TV and the Freeview platform among others, and had recently been in negotiations to be available on the Saorview platform.

Eight entries from four secondary schools in Mayo accepted for Young Scientist Exhibition

Fri, Nov 11, 2016

The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, was on hand last week to help BT Ireland announce a record number of entries for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, which takes place from January 11 to 14 next year. Some 2,090 project ideas were submitted by secondary students from 375 schools across the island, an increase of two per cent from the 2016 exhibition. Of the 550 projects shortlisted to compete at the exhibition, eight come from Mayo secondary schools, with a total of 18 students from four local schools heading to the RDS in January.

The eight Mayo entries that were accepted include three each from St Muredach's College in Ballina and Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Gortnor Abbey in Crossmolina, along with one each from St Joseph's Secondary School, Castlebar, and Our Lady's Secondary School in Belmullet. Of the projects accepted from Mayo one of the Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Gortnor Abbey, entries in the technology section in the intermediate age grade is looking at a road sign that changes speed according to the temperature of the given time, which the students aim to use to reduce casulties on Irish roads. One of the St Muredach's entries looks at investigating the relations between concussion in young life and Parkinson's disease in later life.

International prize for Mayo novelist

Fri, Nov 11, 2016

Louisburgh author Mike McCormack has been celebrating on the double this week, with the news that his third novel Solar Bones, which is written as a single sentence novel, was this week picked as the winner of the Goldsmiths Prize for Fiction and with it the €10,000 prize money for the winner and has been shortlisted for Irish Book of the Year. The Goldsmiths Prize was established in 2013 to celebrate the qualities of creative daring associated with Goldsmiths University and to reward fiction that breaks the mould or opens up new possibilities for the novel form. The annual prize of £10,000 is awarded to a book that is deemed genuinely novel and which embodies the spirit of invention that characterises the genre at its best. McCormack was announced as the winner of this award on Wednesday.

Chambers calls on Minister for Education and An Taoiseach to ensure the future of GMIT

Fri, Nov 11, 2016

Fianna Fáil Deputy for Mayo Lisa Chambers has expressed her concern at a recent review carried out by the Higher Education Authority, published by The Irish Times, which found that six institutes of technology are “vulnerable” and face immediate sustainability challenges with the GMIT being one of them.

Corrib Onshore Gas Pipeline voted Engineering Project of the Year

Fri, Nov 11, 2016

The Corrib Onshore Gas Pipeline has been voted Engineering Project of the Year, it has been announced. The Corrib Gas Field, approximately 83km off the coast of Mayo, has become a critical piece of national infrastructure that will produce much of Ireland’s future gas supplies over the next 15 to 20 years. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the State’s history, costing approximately €3.5 billion and will contribute some €6 billion to Ireland’s GDP.

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