Search Results for 'Peter Hynes'

The issue of the retention of county council area offices in towns around the county is one that has been brought up on numerous occasions over the past few years as budget cuts have hit the county. The issue was raised again at Monday’s budget meeting of Mayo County Council, and county manager Peter Hynes reiterated that no guarantee can be given for any office, especially with the expected redrawing of the electoral area boundaries to municipal districts. “It’s not a decision of anyone in this chamber as to the map of the division of the municipal districts, there are no guarantees,” he said. “You can’t look for rationalisation and give guarantees on depots and offices. When the map for the planned divisions come in we’ll do a workforce plan like we’ve done before.”

Balla

The failure of the Achill Bridge to close on Monday morning caused a serious inconvenience for people on the island who were stuck and not able to get on or off the island for up to an hour and a half.

There was widespread condemnation of Independent Castlebar Cllr Frank Durcan by his fellow elected representatives this week after he laid a charge of “bare faced fraud” against county manager Peter Hynes at the November meeting of Mayo County Council. The firebrand councillor had taken to the floor of the chamber to speak on an item to approve an overdraft accommodation of €10 millon for Mayo County Council for 2013.

John Byrne, representing Ireland finished in fifth place in the IAU World Trophy 50k race in Italy last Saturday morning. In very hot conditions and a strong sea breeze, finishing times were down. Participants completed eight laps of the 6.25km course at the coastal towns of Vallecrosia and Bordigheria. The race was won by British athlete Steven Way in 2:54, as the top three broke the three hour mark. John finished in 3:10, a brilliant effort by Mayo AC’s ultra man. In the early stages he ran in group of four in eighth place, including Daniel Oralek (Czech), a former World 100k winner. As the temperature hit 25c he moved into sixth place after 16 miles, and fifth after 20. “It was a battle for survival from then on,” said John. Although he dropped back to sixth with four laps to go, a typical gritty finish by the Straide man saw him gain fifth again which he sustained to the line after 31.1 miles of running.

Providing physical activity opportunities for some 15,000 people, providing information to 500 clubs/organisations, and advising 7,000 people who contacted the partnership about sports specific information were just some of the highlights of the 2011 Mayo Sports Partnership annual report.

Sunday will see round eight of the Mayo AC C&C Cellular 2012 Road Race League go to the tap in Ballina. This round of the league will be run over a four mile one lap course. The course will be well marshalled and the final mile will take runners up through the scenic Belleek Park. Race HQ will be at the Ballina AC track and entries will be taken on the day. Entry fee for the race is €20 and includes a T-shirt, the race will start at 3pm, there will be no prize fund for this race as all money will go towards cancer research. For more information contact Michael on 087 6611975.

In an exciting new development for the west plans have been unveiled to establish a Mary Robinson centre in her home town of Ballina. The centre is to be established at Mary Robinson’s birthplace in Victoria House, on the banks of the River Moy, and will include both a visitor centre and an academic research centre, supported by NUI Galway and focused on scholarly research and education in the fields of human rights and women’s leadership.

A threatened strike by Mayo County Council’s outdoor staff which could have had a serious impact on the provision of services in the county has been called off, pending a Labour Court hearing.

Mayo County Council won’t have to worry about dealing with a €2.57 million hole in their budget if the collection rate for the household charge reaches between 75 and 80 per cent. County manager Peter Hynes told a special meeting of the council this Monday that, going by all indications following discussions with the Department of the Environment and the Minister, the potentially ‘catastrophic’ cuts would be avoided if those collection rates were met.