Council warned West Mayo budget should not be effected because of parking charges

Fri, Nov 06, 2015

The elected memebrs of the West Mayo Municipal District this week once again insisted that there would be no introduction of on street parking charges in the district and added that the district should not see its budget affected because of their decision not to introduce the charges to the town in the area.

Grace upon a time

Fri, Nov 06, 2015

He is sitting there, all alone, huddled in the chilly May dew upon a rock dressed in seaweed. His scruffy, woollen coat wrapped tightly around his frailing 84 year old body. The waves, roughly batter around his black, scuffed ankle boots as he licks on an icecream cone. A lonesome seagull is perched on the rock beside him trying to peck at the cornet. ‘Away with you,’ he flummoxed with his tar stained, crinkly hand. ‘Shoo.’ It has always baffled me as to where he can get an icecream cone for his breakfast. The town is a distance away and his feeble waddle would take him a good two hours to walk. I am convinced he lives in the icecream truck hiding behind the Burrishoole, Grace O’Malley castle, over towering beside us. I often hear the jingle of the icecream van but I can never see it.

Retailers in Ballina Municipal District urged to take up new facade improvement scheme

Fri, Oct 30, 2015

Business people in the towns of Ballina, Ballycastle, Bonniconlon, Foxford, Crossmolina, Killala, and Swinford are being urged to take up the grant aid that is available to them to make improvements to their shop fronts under a recently adopted Traditional Facades Grant Scheme. The scheme was adopted by the members of the Ballina Municipal District at their October meeting on Wednesday this week.

Prolific children's author to give talk in Westport

Fri, Oct 30, 2015

On Saturday November 14, well-know children’s author Oisín McGann is hosting a talk at Westport Library as part of the 2015 Rolling Sun Book Festival.  The event is free of charge and suitable for children up to 12 years of age. Oisín is one of Ireland’s most prolific and best-known writer-illustrators, producing books for all ages of reader. He is a winner of the European Science Fiction Society Award, the Bisto Book of the Year Merit Award, and has been shortlisted for numerous other awards, including the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in the UK, le Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire in France, and Locus Magazine's Best First Novel Award in the US. 

Mayo’s Joanne Clarke wins The Taste of Success

Fri, Oct 30, 2015

Mayo woman Joanne Clarke was declared the winner of The Taste of Success on RTÉ One on Tuesday night scooping one of the biggest prizes in Irish television. In the dramatic finale of the eight-week programme, The Taste of Success viewers saw Joanne Clark, a 43-year-old single mum from Westport, Co Mayo, emerge victorious with her nutty brioche and butter pudding. She wins a prize worth €100,000 and her product is now available on the shelves of more than 140 Lidl Ireland stores nationwide. The victory marks a major turnaround in fortunes for Joanne Clark. During the final viewers heard how she has struggled financially in recent years with the bank repossessing her home. 

“All through the competition, I had been really confident about the product, thinking it could go all the way, but you can never dare to dream. Any time someone broached the subject about the prize I would start talking about something else,” she said. “I suppose, even though I count myself as a positive thinker, I didn't want to risk dreaming about what I would do with the win and then maybe be disappointed. I made a conscious effort to just live in the moment, and enjoy the experience, and I have to say I loved every minute of it. I really enjoyed developing the product and tweaking it along the way. I hope people like it. I am still in shock. The impact of winning this prize is going to be huge for me.”

What's going on in your area?

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

Arthritis and Fibromyalgia support group
A support group meeting for people living with arthritis and fibromyalgia will take place on  Wednesday, October 28 at 8pm in TF Royal Hotel, Castlebar. This months guest speaker will be a Chiropractor. If you have any questions regarding the meeting please do not hesitate to contact the organisation at [email protected].

Most recent Mayo road death brings total to eleven this year

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

The death of a 20-year-old man in Ballina following a road accident on Wednesday night has brought the number of road deaths in the county to 11 so far this year. The latest fatality has come fresh on the back of the release of information from the Western Garda Region that Mayo had the highest death toll on the roads in the region, accounting for almost half of the deaths recorded in the region this year. 

Ring announces €340k for tourism projects in Mulranny and Achill

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring, this week announced that €340k in funding has been approved through Fáilte Ireland’s Capital Investment Programme for two tourism projects in  Mayo.

Party politics splashes about on pool loan

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

The issue of the raising of a loan of €2.5 million by Mayo County Council as a contribution towards the development of a new swimming pool and the national outdoor education and training centre at Lough Lannagh in the town turned into a political back and forth in the council chamber on Monday.

Council is 'redoubling' efforts to increase rates collection

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

Mayo County Council is putting in a serious effort to collect rates owed to it, the head of finance for the council said this week. Cllr Jarlath Munnelly raised the issue of the collection of rates in the county, which was 75 per cent according to Local Government Audit Service Statutory Audit Report for 2014. Cllr Munnelly said that he understood there were plenty of genuine cases where businesses could not pay their rate demands, saying: "There should be more of a increase in the collection of the rates, this is not a case of pursuing money where we cannot get it, but there are plenty of business who went through a tough time and paid their rates and we owe it to them to ensure that those who can pay do."

Responding to Cllr Munnelly, Peter Duggan, head of finance for Mayo County Council, said: "In relation to it, I agree, it's an area we're looking very hard at and we have a lot of staff out there working hard on revenue collection, it's not an easy job. But that's not an excuse. I should thank all the rate payers who have paid their rates in very difficult times. We are redoubling our efforts, but we literally have to go through it on a case by case basis. We are working our way through agreements with people also."

€6.5 million in loan repayments due next year by council

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

Mayo County Council will be spending €6.5 million in repaying loans due next year, it emerged this week. Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne questioned the level of spending on loans the council would have to make next year at the October monthly meeting, when the councillors were discussing the Local Government Audit Service Statutory Audit Report for 2014.

Responding to Cllr Kilcoyne's question, Peter Duggan, head of finance for the council, said: "I have just the draft figures on local repayments for next year are in total about €9.4 million, of which €2.8 is directly recoupable from the Department, so the net cost is about €6.5 million for next year."

Council chief 'very happy' with return from expenses spending

Fri, Oct 23, 2015

The chief executive of Mayo County Council, Peter Hynes, said he was "very happy" with the return the council got from its spending on hospitality on council credit cards. The issue was raised by Fine Gael councillor Jarlath Munnelly on Monday, during a discussion on the Local Goverment Audit Services Statutory Audit Report for 2014. Cllr Munnelly pointed out an item in the report compiled by Hugh Neville, an auditor with the Department of the Environment and Local Government, that read: "Expenses paid through credit cards for senior management, including a sample of invoices processed through the expenditure system for hospitality were examined by me in the course of the 2014 audit. While improvements continue to be made, the information supplied in some cases was not detailed enough. Given the poor state of the finances of the council, the level of hospitality and related expenses currently incurred by the council should be capped."

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