Search Results for 'Michael Holmes'

Mulranny based Independent Cllr Michael Holmes was elected the first cathaoirleach of one of the new Municipal Districts, when he won a vote to take the chair of the of the area by four votes to two, with one member abstaining from the vote.

Independent councillor Michael Holmes has called on Mayo County Council to take charge of semi-private access roads across the county which have been affected by the drastic reduction of Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) funding in recent years. Speaking at a Belmullet Electoral Area meeting last week, Holmes said it was unrealistic and unfair to ask people to pay for the maintenance of certain access roads through their villages and townlands.

There’s no area in Mayo that can be easily called as to where the seats will be divided out in next week’s local elections, but the new West Mayo area is probably the hardest. The re-drawing of the boundaries last year has seen the old Westport and Belmullet areas thrown together into one giant swathe of land that stretches right from the northern tip of the county right down the west coast to the Galway border. Currently there are eight councillors sitting in the two areas and this time out there are only seven seats up for grabs in the new giant district.

A number of the Independent candidates running in the upcoming Local Elections believe voters are disillusioned with what the traditional parties are offering and a swing towards the non-party aligned is on the cards.

Nominations for the Local Elections on May 23 closed on Saturday.

Independent Councillor Michael Holmes has criticised the four month delay in repairing storm damaged beaches and piers in north and west Mayo, stating that the delay by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in signing off on proposed works will cause huge losses for local businesses and the region’s tourist industry.

There were clear dividing lines drawn in the Mayo County Council on Monday afternoon when a controversial draft policy on ‘Community Benefit Contributions for Certain Major Developments’ was passed, by a vote of 26-6. Excepting Fine Gael where all councillors support the motion, the two other political parties in the council split on the vote, with Sinn Féin’s Rose Conway-Walsh, Fianna Fáil trio of Al McDonnell, Blackie Gavin, and Damien Ryan, and Independent councillors Michael Kilcoyne, Richard Finn, and Michael Holmes all voting for it. Voting against the motion were Fianna Fáil’s Margaret Adams, Jimmy Maloney, and Annie May Reape alongside Sinn Féin’s Gerry Murray and independents Gerry Ginty and Seamus Weir. Cllr Frank Durcan was absent from the meeting. Both Cllr Murray and Cllr Weir led the charge against the proposals at the meeting and both councillors ended up in heated side-debates with other councillors while the topic was being discussed.

Independent councillor Michael Holmes has called on the Minister for Agriculture to ensure that payments under the Agri-Environmental Options Scheme are made immediately to Mayo farmers participating in the scheme.

Three elected members of the Belmullet electoral area committee are demanding answers as to why the new submarine cable connecting North America with Europe will be landing in Killala and not in Belmullet as was expected.

Three elected members of the Belmullet electoral area committee are demanding answers as to why the new submarine cable connecting North America with Europe will be landing in Killala and not in Belmullet as was expected.