A political gesture has been made to heal the divisions within the Fianna Fail party on Mayo County Council. The long-simmering split came to ahead when Councillor Margaret Adams opposed former Senator Frank Chambers for the position of Cathaoirleach of the authority in advance of last June’s annual general meeting of the council. In an internal party ballot, Councillor Chambers secured the nomination by nine votes to six. Those who voted against him were Councillor Adams, Deputy Beverley Flynn, Councillor Jimmy Maloney, Councillor Sean Bourke, Councillor Damian Ryan and Councillor Al McDonnell, party chairman.

A man who took a bag containing a digital camera, mini disc and mobile phone from Cox’s Bar in Castlebar was given the benefit of the Probation Act when he appeared at the local court. Defendant John Keegan, Cahsel, Ayle, Islandeady, brought the property to Castlebar Garda Station before the Gardai came to him, saying the first recollection he had of seeing the bag was when a friend whose house he stayed in contacted him about it. He had no idea what was in the bag.

At the graduation ceremony there were up to 650 students graduating from a diverse range of fields which included business, construction, electronics, nursing, outdoor education and, tourism and languages. Awards being granted ranged from National Certificates, National Diplomas and Bachelor of Arts Awards. The college was also delighted to offer awards to the various local community and regional recipients who have dedicated their time and effort towards building the Castlebar Campus of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

The front page item on Fianna Fail divisions by Tom Kelly ends by mentioning the strange fact that there are now 12 auctioneers on Mayo County Council with the replacement of John Carty TD on the council by his brother Michael Carty auctioneer. I find it hard to credit that there are 12 members of one profession contained within the hallowed halls of Áras and Chontae. Surely Tom Kelly is wrong in this?

The item about the theft of the bag with camera, mini disc and phone is one has direct relevance to the Castlebar website. If the gear had not been returned to one PJ many of the fine photos we see here in the site’s photo gallery might never have been taken! Good for CCTV in this case as the individual was identified straight away from the tapes.