Illustrated lecture on "Northabout" voyage
A meeting of Mayo Historical and Archaeological Society on Wednesday January 23rd at 8.30 pm in the Welcome Inn hotel will hear an illustrated lecture about the 7,800 mile voyage of the "Northabout" last year. The speakers will be three members of the crew of the "Northabout" who undertook the notoriously dangerous Northwest Passage sailing from Westport on June 23rd 2001. The Northwest Passage is an historic ice-filled route across the "top" of the world through which early Europeans hoped to find a new route to the Orient. This should be a most interesting evening.

Yew Tree Theatre's new play premieres at the Linenhall
The Yew Tree Theatre company's highly anticipated new production receives its world premiere at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar on Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd of January at 8.30 pm. The play "Grand" is written by the award-winning playwright Max Hafleer who has written radio plays for the BBC and RTE as well as stage productions in London and Ireland. "Grand" tells how the fabric of a small rural town is torn apart when the inhabitants of the town begin to receive malicious letters telling them lies about their neighbours.

Fish farmers shocked at rates U-turn
Fish farmers in Mayo expected to be exempt from Local Authority rates from January 1st but were shocked to learn that the changes agreed by all stages of the Oireachtas in May 2001 have yet to be implemented. Other food producers already have this exemption. The agreement was reached to help improve the competitiveness of the Irish aquaculture industry with their foreign counterparts. Anger at the delay is high among producers of salmon, trout, oysters and other farmed fish.