Search Results for 'Frances McAndrew'

Changing personnel is what it’s all about these days as new cathaoirlaigh, mayors, managers, etc, are appointed to various public, sporting, and management bodies in our midst. Changing name plaques on doors or editing job titles to suit new responsibilities will not really cut it though in solving the many issues now facing us if the people appointed to positions of high authority are not also leaders themselves. Leadership, after all, is the essence of our existence. Most of us choose to live by copying others, but those rare heroes and heroines whose modus operandi is to blaze a trail that we all want to follow — these are the people we are truly seeking out — especially now that a proper sense of direction so eludes us.

Councillor Mary Kelly, mayor of Ballina, has just announced details of the annual Mayor’s charity event. This year, instead of the Mayor’s Ball, Cllr Kelly is hosting a Mayor’s Midsummer Barbecue, which will take place on Friday June 11 from 6pm to 9pm at the Glasgow Kennedy House, The Quay.

Following a long and protracted debate going back to 2007, the members of the Ballina Town Council decided to keep the jetty located at Bachelors Walk in the town. In 2007 Fianna Fáil Councillor Willie Nolan had a notice of motion supported to remove the jetty, however nothing had happened on it up to a number of months ago when the councillor raised the issue once again. At the March meeting of the local authority the elected members asked town engineer Michael O’Grady to complete a report on the jetty and to recommend either to remove or retain the jetty. In his report Mr O’Grady outlined that the jetty itself was in good condition, and that while some work would have to be done on the deck of the jetty it was in very good condition and had cost very little to maintain since it was constructed in 1983 at a cost of €28,000, with only €3,450 being spent on the decking in 2004. He also said regarding safety concerns around the jetty that by its nature it is a dangerous place as it is intended as an access point to the water. He went on to say that to upgrade the jetty would cost an initial estimate of €6,710 but, that was only an initial estimate. Other costs could be found when work was commenced on the removal, and an appropriate assessment would have to be carried out on it by the Parks and Wildlife department, and that cost had not been factored in. Mr O’Grady recommended the retention of the jetty by the council. Six of the eight members present favoured retaining the jetty, with Cllr Nolan and Independent councillor Gerry Ginty calling for its removal. Issues of anti social behaviour in the area had been cited as a reason for removing the jetty. Most of the councillors agreed however that it would be a bad day for the town if they had to remove a piece of infrastructure because of anti social behaviour and said that it was not the jetty which was causing the anti social behaviour.

The new €1.65 million footbridge in Ballina which was officially opened last October has finally been given a name. Ballina Town Council adopted The Salmon Weir bridge as the name for the bridge by a vote of five to two, which was against the will of the majority of the people who made submissions on the naming. Cllr Michelle Mulherin along with her party colleague Cllr Mark Winters to name the bridge after Mary Robinson, with Fianna Fáil councillors Willie Nolan and Frances McAndrew, and Independent councillors Mary Kelly, Peter Clarke, and Gerry Ginty voting against it. Both Cllr Johnny O’Malley and Cllr Barry McLoughlin were not present at the vote as they had to leave the meeting early to be part of a guard of honour for the late John Forde, whose funeral was taking place that evening.

The Grassroots in Westport aren’t happy if last week’s article is anything to go by. Nothing happening apparently, all the Government’s fault, etc, etc. But they’re forgetting that Westport has had it good for a long time in comparison to the rest of the county. And the reason they’ve had it so good is because there’s a ‘can do’ attitude in Westport that up until recently wasn’t really replicated in Ballina or Castlebar. Westport is the tourism Mecca it is today because the Covies stood up in the 70s and decided to make it that way. They put their money where their mouths were and invested considerable sums of their own money in to getting it there. That investment alongside some incredibly biased treatment from Board Fáilte and then Fáilte Ireland (memo to Fáilte Ireland - there’s more to Mayo then Westport) has made Westport the beauty it is today. Governments don’t win Tidy Towns — communities do and the ‘can do’ spirit fostered by the business community is now part of the overall Covie spirit. And in these times, that spirit, not whinging, is needed more then ever, that spirit, not whinging, will sustain Westport through these incredible times.

The members of Ballina Town Council took time out before their monthly meeting to congratulate Dara Calleary on his promotion to Minister of State within the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment. Starting off the congratulations was Town Mayor, Michelle Mulherin. She told the meeting: “I would like to congratulate Dara on his promotion to the position of Junior Minister. It is a great achievement for him and his family and he has been handed a very apt portfolio.”

Total poll: 4,590

Ballina Town Council, like its counterparts, will be very difficult to call.

Fine Gael’s outstanding performance at the polls did little to keep them in line for honours around the table at Ballina Town Council on Monday night, after a Fianna Fáil pact with two Independents elevated Independent Cllr Mary Kelly to the Mayoral office.

Ballina Town Council has agreed to fund its share of an agreement among the three town councils in the county and Mayo County Council for the FAI development officer for the next year to the sum of €7,500.