The Western People - 29 Oct 2002

From www.castlebar.ie

Local Papers Commentary
The Western People - 29 Oct 2002
By Castlebar Observer
Oct 30, 2002, 12:05

€300m. Mayo windfarm plan is blown off course

Plans for a €300m. investment in a North Mayo windfarm, which would be the biggest in the world, have received another setback at the planning stage.A number of strong objections have been made to the proposals including objections on environmental grounds from the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Duchas, An Taisce, and the North Western Fisheries Board.

Mayo County Council has requested that the promoters of the project- Bord na Mona and the ESB, provide additional information. Bord na Mona and the ESB are now collating the requested information for submission to the council. The 210 turbine farm on 12,377 acres of cutaway bog at Bellacorick would have the potential to supply 200,000 homes in the North West with a sustainable power supply and would provide approximately 100 contract jobs over a number of years if the project is given the go-ahead.

Ballina Youth in Dublin Hospital after stabbing

A Ballina youth, who was stabbed in the town on Friday night was taken by ambulance to Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar and later by helicopter to the Mater Hospital where he was operated on after being stabbed with a knife in the neck and in the back. His injuries were described as very serious but not life threatening. Gardai in Ballina are following a definite line of enquiry in their investigation.

Vehicle numbers soar

There are almost 40,000 private cars on the roads of Mayo, and when all classes of motors are counted, the total number of vehicles soars to 53,657.
The vast majority of the cars (9,925) are in the engine range of 1301 to 1400 cc in engine capacity and there are 6,459 in the 1400 to 1600 cc engine range.
The number of goods vehicles come to 7,547 in total and there are 4,165 vehicles which are classified as tractors. the number of public service vehicles and other exempt vehicles totals 569.
Mayo has 412 motorcycles, 69 taxis, 245 hackney cabs and 3 limousines.

The most popular make of car is Toyota (6,781) followed by Ford (6,347), Opel (5,774) and Volkswagen (4,171).
At the end of December 2001, there were 12,781 current provisional driving licenses in the county.