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Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan has this week approved Galway County Council’s design proposals to carry out extensive water mains rehabilitation works in the areas of Spiddal, Galway city west, mid-Galway and Ahascragh at an estimated cost of more than €7 million.

Fine Gael Mayo TD for Mayo Michelle Mulherin has received confirmation from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, that stipulations can be made to ensure that local workers are prioritised during construction phase in public contracts. Deputy Mulherin has called for this stipulation to applied in the case of the construction of the State’s largest wind energy farm at Oweninny. “I have received confirmation from Minister Howlin in response to a parliamentary question I submitted that there is a mechanism available which could be utilised to give priority to local workers in public construction contracts. I believe this can and should be applied in the case of the wind energy farm at Oweninny,” she said. “In response to my initial proposal that local people be prioritised for employment in the construction of the wind farm at Oweninny, Bord na Móna and Coillte stated that they are prohibited from prioritising local staff because of EU procurement rules. However Minister Howlin’s statement confirms that this is not the case. However Minister Howlin has confirmed to me that the European Commission issued guidance in 2010 that in pursuance of certain social objectives the public procurement process can be used to prioritise employment and training opportunities for young unemployed or long-term unemployed, in a contract for services awarded by these state companies. In the case of the wind farm at Oweninny, it is my contention that such a clause should be used and a derogation sought to provide work for locals who are long term unemployed and for training and apprenticeship opportunities for young people.”

Connacht are continuing to move swiftly to agree contract extensions for key players.

Mayo TD John O’Mahony this week said that he hoped that the Alchol Misuse Strategy that was published by the Government will help to tackle the unhealthy relationship that exists with alcohol and cut down on binge drinking. The second term Deputy said, “Alcohol abuse has had a pervasive effect on Irish society for decades. We can no longer afford to shrug off our bad habits as some sort of Irish-ism. While this new alcohol strategy is far from a panacea, it is a very positive first step on the road towards improving and moderating our relationship with alcohol.”

Breaffy GAA club in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation is returning to the dance floor once again this November with Strictly Come Dancing. Twenty of the most fleet of foot dancers from Breaffy will take to the dance floor in the Breaffy House Sports Arena in what promises to be a night of great entertainment and fun for all the family on Saturday November 9.

Connacht put a string of five defeats behind them with another worthy Heineken Cup display to overcome a tricky Zebre side in Parma by 33-6.

Bedevilled by injuries for most of the summer Michael Conroy served a timely reminder of just what Mayo have been missing with a superb cameo when introduced on Sunday. Playing his part in several crucial scores in the final quarter, the corner forward certainly put his hand up for a starting berth in September. He admitted that the way the starting Mayo forwards have been playing this season he knew he needed to make an impact when he got his chance against Tyrone.

They have been there and done it three times in the past decade, while we are still waiting to do it for the first time in over 60 years, and on Sunday in Croke Park the Mayo juggernaught will collide with the Tyrone colossus for a place in the All Ireland final in four weeks’ time. Mayo have breezed through Connacht and swatted aside the challenge of the reining All Ireland champions en route to this showdown, while Tyrone have taken the scenic route that has taken them from defeat in May in Ballybofey, on to Tullamore, Roscommon, Newbridge, and Croke Park to get to the semi-final. James Horan named an unchanged side from the one that beat Donegal in the quarter-final on Thursday afternoon, with Tom Cunniffe getting the nod despite limping out of the Donegal game.

Now that the dust has settled on our fantastic victory over Donegal, it is time to brush it under the carpet and firmly set our sights on Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi final. The August Bank Holiday weekend was truly a brilliant weekend for Mayo football, with our minors also qualifying for the All-Ireland semi final with a rather facile victory over Leinster runners up Westmeath. It is a first minor and senior semi-final appearance at headquarters since 1999, the last time yours truly donned the green and red jersey when we lost to Munster champions Cork.

Nowadays, there are, in the main, two kinds of sports books. The first, and by far most often published, are the so called biographies, or even worse autobiographies, of modern stars, some of whom who have not reached 25 but who decide to tell their whole life story to cash in on their current stardom.