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Over 72 schools in Mayo have participated in a Meet the Spuds! challenge, where they all harvested the Colleen potato variety in an effort to create a greater appeal of the Irish potato in Mayo throughout the month of November.

On Sunday, Killala will look to book their place in the All Ireland Junior Football championship final when they take on Liverpool side John Mitchels in Carrick on Shannon. This will be the second time in two years the north Mayo men have been within touching distance of Croke Park and the All Ireland final. In 2006 they fell short against Greencastle at this stage and they will be aiming to put things to right this weekend.

John O’Mahony and his senior management team are more than likely disappointed with Keith Higgins’ decision to play hurling for Mayo rather than travel to NY for Mayo’s championship opener on Sunday week. The Mayo hurlers will play Kerry in their championship opener on the same weekend. The talented corner- back has just returned to Ireland having spent a number of months in Australia. Keith did however line out last week in Mayo’s challenge match against Kildare in Kiltoom. I expect that the Mayo management are delighted to have their ace defender back in plenty of time for the bigger challenges ahead, but would have liked if he could have travelled to the Big Apple for the weekend. However it should not have come as a huge surprise that he declared for the hurlers as Keith has always declared his love of hurling and it is no secret that it is his preferred game. This is the first time that both codes have clashed on a championship weekend, which is unfortunate as it has forced Keith to declare his preference. Coincidentally, I met with Martin Brennan, the Mayo county senior hurling manager, during the week who told me that he was thrilled that Keith opted to play in Mayo’s Christy Ring Championship encounter with Kerry. It was not a total surprise to him either as he had been in touch with Keith frequently over the last number of weeks once he was aware of the imminent clash of fixtures.

HSE West’s primary community and continuing care staff in Mayo have launched the Bronntanas Christmas project for the fifth year running. Bronntanas is a group of HSE staff in Mayo, their families and friends and volunteers from various organisations, who come together in the weeks before Christmas to organise the giving of presents anonymously to children in families who are under financial strain. This is carried out under the guidance of the Childcare Department in Mayo HSE PCCC.

One of the most colourful characters in the world of entertainment, Michael Flatley, is to visit the Royal Castlebar Theatre and Event Centre within the next couple of weeks. Unquestionably the most talented dancer of his generation, Michael is coming to Mayo to promote his Lord of the Dance show which starts at the Royal Castlebar on Saturday January 3. “I have heard great things about the venue in Castlebar and I know that I am going to be hugely impressed when I see the world-class new facility with my own eyes,” says Michael. “It’s a huge step forward for the people of Connacht as it means that elite shows and events such as ours can be brought to their doorstep. Prior to the opening of the new Royal Castlebar, it was just not an option for us to travel west of the Shannon.”

The board of Ireland West Airport Knock has announced that Joe Kennedy is retiring from his position as chairman of the airport’s board after a period of six and a half years and that Liam Scollan, former group managing director, will succeed Mr Kennedy as the board’s new chairman.

Inver National School in Ballina has won the Mayo county prize for Game Playing Day by showing that its pupils had the most fun playing board games on the day.

It's late in the evening, when this writer speaks to Adrian Hession, the full time hurling coaching officer with the Mayo county board, but it's always late in the evening when he puts the hurls away and gets to sit down and relax as he spreads the word of hurling in the county.

Switch on your television this summer and if you tune into the RTÉ News any week there is championship action and you are sure to be see the face or hear the voice of a Mayo man. Last year Kilmaine native Jonathan Mullin was appointed RTÉ News first ever GAA correspondent, and he took some time out to speak about his love for the games and where he sees the association going forward in the next few years.

Never one to shy away from a controversy or pushing for what he believed was right, Frank Durcan threw his hat back in the local political ring last week, putting himself forward for both Castlebar Town Council and Mayo County Council elections. Durcan, who stepped away from politics five years ago, is eager to get back into the to and fro of the political game and believes that politics in the county needs a serious shake up. “The country is going down the tubes, the system has been ripped off by our politicians and our bankers. In Mayo county council there are no two parties, there has been no opposition for the past five years. It's a cosy cartel, while they drew close on €1 million a year in expenses between them, which are legally entitled to them. But it’s immoral for the amount of work they do, unless you get honesty back into politics in this country it's going to only get worse and worse.”