Information Age Payout

Castlebar Cinema Wars 1

Castlebar Cinema Wars 2...
Death of a Cinema

Cinema this week

Castlebar Golf Wars

Mother Hubbard


£133,000 Info Age Payout!

Castlebar's Digital Park moved a step nearer this week with the single largest payment yet from Telecom Eireann to Castlebar. Following Richard Wynne's starring role in this weeks Sunday Business Post profiling Castlebar's Information Age plans, Pat Jennings was interviewed by CRC and the Connaught Telegraph. Pat outlined the benefits of this further boost to Castlebar's Information Age hopes. (It should be remember that the voluntary committee, formed originally in early 1997 to prepare Castlebar's submission for the Telecom competition, - is still meeting on a weekly basis.)

Part of the money will go towards the further planning of the Digital Park which aims to bring in high tech, Information Age jobs to Castlebar.

All those who availed of the discount computer scheme before Christmas also received handsome cheques in the post early this week as a rebate towards training and establishing e-mail connections.

The payment also covered some 500 ECDL Training CD-ROMs which are being rented for £5 (plus refundable £40 deposit).

A non-profit company has been established, Castlebar Information Age Town Ltd, to handle the £1 million winnings from the Information Age Town Competition. The remainder of the £1 million is earmarked for a range of projects aimed at bringing jobs into Castlebar and enhancing community life in the town. One of these projects is the establishment of a town server and major expansion of the present www.castlebar.ie web domain which has been run on a voluntary basis to date. Other projects at the planning stage now will be revealed as they are brought to fruition.


Cinema Wars!

Castlebar UDC approves a third cinema for Castlebar! The recent opening of £1M Mayo Movie World provided four new screens (plus two more due to be added in 1999 to the Moneen complex) in addition to the existing three screens at the County Cinema, Spencer Street. Can Castlebar support a further six screens? Time will tell.

The Ward Anderson Group have received planning permission from Castlebar UDC for their new cinema close to Dunnes Stores, Knockcroghery. This £2.3M investment will provide another six screens for Castlebar movie fans. Mr. Leo Ward hopes to have the new cinema up and running within six months.


Death of Cinema

Following the item above from earlier this week, it now appears that the County Cinema will close its doors for the last time on Thursday 14 January 1999. Thus, the listings given this week are the final showings for the venerable old County Cinema. The light over the foyer seen in our photograph (which has graced the weekly cinema listings on the Castlebar Domain since early 1997) will be extinguished for the last time. Very sad indeed, but perhaps inevitable when compared to the luxury of modern cinemas.

Does anyone have any stories they would like to tell about the County Cinema? Lots of couples must have got their lifelong relationships off to a good start sitting in the back row of the County Cinema. Whether they saw any films or not is another matter. Anyone remember the crowds in the aisles for ET - the black hole of Calcutta wasn't in it. Why did they replace the seats with boards? If we get a response we will run a few obituaries for the grand old dame that was the County. Already Anon (that famous poet and writer) remembers with great fondness obviously the smell of Jeyes Fluid - I love the smell of Jeyes Fluid in the mornin to quote Apocalypse Now, - the Green Cinema in Dublin was even worse than the County though. The modern disinfectants used in public buildings are more refined altogether.

On the bright side - the notice in the Connaught does state, however, that the operators of the cinema will be back in business in September with a new 4-screen Cineplex with 'Stadium Style Cinemas'. It is not clear whether this will be on the current Spencer Street site or a part of the new complex mooted for the Dunnes Stores site at Knockcroghery.

What's on in the cinema this week anyway?


 

   

Golf Wars!

Golf Wars 1... Cup Returned but mystery remains - Who took the cup?

Oliver Kelleher - must be relieved - the cup was handed into the Connaught Telegraph offices unscathed. Oliver had engraved the Oireachtas Presidents Golfing Cup for Senator Paddy Burke recently. Unfortunately he handed it over to a person purporting to be collecting it on behalf of the good senator and it disappeared. What the motive for stealing it was remains a mystery. The thing would have been virtually impossible to sell because it has the names of half the Dail's golfers engraved on it - dating back to 1929. We were afraid that someone would flatten it with a steamroller and hand it back as the Oireachtas Plate or that a disgruntled taxpayer would use it as a chamber pot.

Oliver Kelleher can now return to marketing his special glassware designed to keep the head on your pint of plain, in peace. The stuff is walking out the door apparently. His special head-retaining pint glasses have really taken off, to the extent that he is establishing a new 7000 sq ft distribution centre to keep up with the demand.  

Golf Wars 2... Castlebar Golf Course to Move!?

Like Burnham Wood, Castlebar Golf Course may take up its foliage and walk, if the rumours are correct about a move to a new site. It is felt that a mistake was made a number of years back in not taking up an offer to acquire additional land adjacent to the golf course at Rocklands. Of course the Celtic Tiger wasn't roaming the greens and fairways then, so golfers weren't as fluairseach as they are now. Anyway, Pat Staunton, the club captain, says it ain't going to happen and members were invited to look at the new development plans earlier this week and then attend a general meeting on 21 January to decide on the matter.  


 

Bare Cupboards at the Town Hall?

Mother Hubbard won't be giving her dog a bone every night this week at the Town Hall (apart from Tuesday 13 January that is) as the annual Castlebar Pantomime opens its doors. Just when you thought it was safe to go out again after all the Christmas storms and bad weather.... Pantomania strikes. All the usual and unusual suspects will be there Polly, Hughie, Medicine Man, Hank and Jake, the Bailiffs, Dandy, Good Fairy, Tex Laramie, Old Tumbleweed, Matt Vinyl, Miss Lulabelle, Little Deer, Chief Thunder Cloud, Little Drizzle, Major Day, plus Mother Hubbard of course.... And all that lot from the nursery rhyme! Try matching them against Stephen Guthrie (the ringleader), Walter Donoghue, Brenda Donoghue, Ann Melvin, Denise Roddy, Sharon Lavelle, Mary McHale, Donna Jennings, Annmarie Wilmot, Padraic Heneghan, Michael Rice, John Gavin, Jimmy Murphy, Marina Rice, Debbie Lyster, Des Gilsenan, Fergal Joyce, Karen Conway. No doubt Beverly Flynn and Enda Kenny will get a mention or two as well.

Tickets £5 for adults, £2.50 for children - Downtown Records and on past experience it's definitely advisable to buy them in advance. Shows at 8.30 pm nightly (except Tuesday) and there's an extra Sunday matinee 3 pm. Go out and support this wonderful annual show which has gone from strength to strength since it was revived a number of years ago back in the 80s.

 

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