Boston family moves to Mayo
The Connaught Telegraph this week.
A Boston couple Dick and Bernadine O'Donnell and their two children have moved to Castlebar after visiting www.castlebar.ie. They had never been in Castlebar before but they said that they felt everything was so familiar because of the excellent photos on the Castlebar website. Bernadine is originally from Fairymount, Castlerea but Dick was born in the USA even though his ancestors were originally from Ireland. Through the Castlebar website they learned all about Castlebar and Dick, who is a qualified systems engineer, decided that because of its involvement with The Information Age Town project it would be a perfect place for him to go.
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Local Residents to voice their concerns over by-pass
The Connaught Telegraph this week.
Local residents of Rockfield area Claremorris are concerned about the Knock/Claremorris by-pass. The result of the works will cause a detour to the residents which will make their journey to the local school and church almost a mile longer. The county engineer, Mr Joe Beirne, has proposed an Oral Hearing where the residents can express their views.
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Lavish tributes paid to retired town clerk
The Connaught Telegraph this week.
A function was held in the Welcome Inn on Friday last to honour outgoing Castlebar Town Clerk Mr John Condon, who has left the post he held for almost 16 years to become County Secretary with Mayo County Council. Lavish tributes were paid to Mr Condon from all his former colleagues in the UDC as well as from a number of members of the media. Mr Tom Kelly, Deputy Editor, Connaught Telegraph, summed up the general feeling when he said "You leave Castlebar with a great legacy behind you. Congrats and well done."
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Council chairman calls for scrapping of An Bord Pleanala
The chairman of the Mayo County Council, Cllr. Jimmy Maloney, has called for the abolishment of An Bord Pleanala. He said that An Bord Pleanala is being used to stifle development, and this is not why it was started, to control and prohibit only developments that were objectionable from a planning point of view. He said that An Bord Pleanala must be scrapped to make planning more balanced and reasonable.
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Neuro-Surgical Unit required for Western Health Board patients
The Mayo News this week.
A neuro-surgical unit to treat major head injuries, haemorrhage and brain tumours has been called for in the west by a local G.P. There are only 2 other neuro-surgical units in Ireland, in Cork and Dublin. In 1999, 285 patients had spine injuries, 1000 had fractured skull and vertebrae and there are 40 brain tumours annually in the Western Health Board region.
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Go-ahead for speed ramps on Rathbawn Road
The Mayo News this week.
After the residents of Rathbawn had agreed to the installation of speed ramps the matter was taken up by the Castlebar UDC. The ramps will be sloped and about 1.5 feet off the road. The idea of speed cameras was also discussed but decided against.
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Miracle Baby Mia is one year old and doing grand
The Western People this week.
Before baby Mia was born she was diagnosed with a rare condition called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. This is where the baby's stomach and other abdominal organs were in her chest and were preventing her lungs from growing properly. Mia's parents, Mary and Mick Blake, contacted doctor Jay Wilson who specialised in treating this condition and who was based in Boston. The total cost was going to be £500,000. They raised £160,000 locally and the Irish government paid the rest. They travelled to Boston where Mia was operated on 21 hours after she was born.
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Pay and Display for Castlebar
The Western People this week.
New parking by-laws may be put in place in Castlebar. If they are put in place it will result in "Pay & Display" tickets on the streets of Castlebar. Drivers will have to pay 20p or 25cents for up to half an hour or 40p or 50cents for up to an hour. The maximum time drivers can park for will be an hour. The ticket machines will be in a public place and the ticket must be displayed on your windscreen. Residents who live in the areas that the disc zones are in place will not have to pay. A meeting will be held by the UDC to discuss the new parking by-laws on Thursday.
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Minister opens new Mayo VEC adult Education offices
The Western People this week.
Minister Willie O'Dea Minister of State at the Dep. of Education opened the new Adult Education Services Offices at Cavendish House. He also said that in early 2002 he hoped to be able to announce the commencement of the Local Adult Learning Boards. The Boards were recommended in July 2000 in the White Paper on Adult Education.
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