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Teacher Protest Over Radon Gas Threat The Connaught Telegraph this week.
Teachers at a leading Mayo secondary school have threatened to take action over a radon gas scare. Members of the T.U.I at Davitt College in Castlebar have informed authorities at the centre that they won't conduct classes from September in a number of rooms found to have high radon gas readings.
The 800-pupil facility is one of 23 schools in the country which the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland has placed on a priority list for remedial works to reduce radon gas levels. A spokesman for the institute said there was no need for parents or teachers to be alarmed about the situation
He said "I don't see the logic of teachers refusing to work in certain classrooms at Davitt College because the radon gas levels there are by no means the highest we have come across. It is my view that many students are exposed to much higher levels in their homes".
At Davitt College, there were 10 readings over the 200-reference level and four readings over the 400 level. A number of other schools have being scheduled for works. They include Belcarra N.S., Glenisland N.S., Creggduff N.S., St. Dympna's N.S., Burriscarra N.S., Colaiste Colman, Murrisk N.S., Rathkelly N.S., St. Colmcille's N.S., and Ballinrobe Community College.
In relation to the situation at Davitt College, Ms. Claire Rush said it was on the list of work to be carried out before Christmas. The work would take a total of five days and could only go ahead during gaps in school schedules. She could not confirm whether the works would proceed before September to avoid action by teachers at the centre. Mr. Joe Langan, chief executive of Mayo Vocational Education Committee, told a meeting of the authority that radon gas concerns at the Castlebar College would be resolved by September.
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Westport's wax works wonders The Connaught Telegraph this week.
Visitors to the stately Westport House might be surprised at some of the most recent 'residents' who have set up home there.
They are all great literary, music and art achievers who it is hopes will breathe 'new life' into the outstanding tourist attraction, which has seen over 2 million visitors pass through its doors in the past 41 years.
Scattered through that vast house, which is owned by Lord Altamount, Jeremy Browne, are wax figures of musician and composer Turlough Carolan; writer George Augustus Moore; Opera diva Margaret Burke-Sheridan; Irish Literary Theatre founder Lady Gregory; writer George A. Birmingham; composer William Percy French; Poets William Butler-Yeats and Alfred Lord Tennyson; Landscape artist James Arthur O'Connor and 'Vanity Fair' author William Makepeace Thackeray.
The life size wax works figures were created by Gems Display Figures who have been producing such figures for the international market for over one hundred years. Initially ten wax figures have been placed throughout the House. It is envisaged to increase this over the next three years.
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Quigley honoured by his ownThe Connaught Telegraph this week.
The finest honour in Pat Quigley's five-year reign as President of the Football Association of Ireland was bestowed on him last Sunday - just thirteen days before his term in office draws to a close.
The club in the village where he was born, Ballyheane, honoured him in a special way by calling their new £250,000 stadium 'Pat Quigley Park'.
The facility was officially opened by Mr. Quigley amid a carnival atmosphere and he was caught completely unawares when the name of the new complex was announced.
He confessed "I have travelled the world and made a lot of speeches. But this is the one time I have been genuinely struck dumb. This is a very kind and generous gesture by Ballyheane."
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£40,000 grant-aid for Mulranny's Safe-Home project The Mayo News this week.
The Tanaiste, Mary Harney, has announced a £40,000 Dion grant for the Mulranny Safe-Home project which advises elderly Irish people to return to live in Ireland. It works with the "Aisling" project in Camden which has also received grant aid.
Dr. Jerry Cowley, founder and Chairman of the Mulranny based "safe-home" programme expressed his delight at the allocation of £40,000(IR) by Dion. He stated that this was a recognition both of the need to assist in the repatriation of older Irish people in the UK, and also a recognition of the work of the "Safe-Home" Programme, which has already repatriated 30 people from the UK. This year alone, 10 people have returned through "Safe- Home" to quality housing all over Ireland. The Mulranny office has had over 700 enquires about returning to Ireland, and 370 of those have decided to return.
All of these will need the assistance of "Safe-Home" to return to their native place. Dr. Cowley again called for each Local Authority to officially open their housing waiting lists to older Irish abroad who wish to return. Mulranny's "Safe-Home" has already written to each authority outlining the need to do this.
"This is owed by us in justice, not in charity, to those people, our original 'Celtic Tiger'. This is the least we can do for those people in their Autumn years, our true patriots, who have done so much for us when no one else would" Dr. Cowley concluded.
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U.D.C seeks enquiry into crisis at Ballina fire service The Mayo News.
Manpower at Ballina Fire Brigade has fallen to such a low level that the North Mayo town - which is the largest in the county with a population of around 10,000 -could be dependent on as few as TWO fire-fighters in the event of a major emergency.
This extraordinary statistic was revealed by Independent Councillor Jodie Beattie during a meeting of Ballina Urban District Council when he called on County Manager, Mr. Des Mahon, to launch a full enquiry into the "crisis situation" which has developed in Ballina's fire service. Councillor Beattie's comments were made in response to a letter from Mayo's Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Seamus Murphy, in which he refuted claims of a reduction in staff members in Ballina Fire Brigade. However, Mr. Murphy conceded that two recent recruitment drives had only produced one new member and this factor, coupled with the decision by several fire-fighters to take sick leave, had left Ballina station with a lower than normal level. The Chief Fire Officer also revealed that a number of successful applicants in the recent recruitment drives withdrew their applications shortly before their appointment.
Reacting to the Chief Fire Officer's comments, Councillor Beattie said he firmly believed Ballina fire service was facing a crisis which could only be adverted through the intervention of the County Manager.
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Claremorris residents opposed to new roadway The Mayo News this week.
Proposals by the National Roads Authority to construct a new N60 roadway from Claremorris to Castlebar are to be opposed by residents affected by the road.
A packed meeting of residents in the Claremorris Social Services Centre unanimously decided to call on Mayo County Council, the National Roads Authority and the Minister for the Environment to abandon plans for the roadway "because of the major disruptive effects which it will have on the lives of residents".
An Action Group was elected to campaign for what was described as "the better alternative of widening and upgrading the existing roadway".
Said Chairman, Mr. Tom Connelly: "What we have are proposals put down on maps for new roadways with no thought at all given to the concerns of local residents. It would make far more sense to widen and upgrade the existing road and would cost a great deal less."
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Gas decision put on back burner as Council seeks further information The Western People this week.
Mayo County Council is expected to make a decision this weekend granting planning permission to Enterprise Energy Ireland (EEI) for a £200 million gas terminal on a site at Bellanaboy, North Mayo. The application has been with the local authority for over a year now, during which the EEI moved the position of the terminal on the former Coillte site some 500 yards to accommodate the concerns of local residents. The local authority can grant, refuse or request more information at the weekend, but it is expected that there will be a definitive answer as there have been heavy consultations in the past few weeks with the EEI.
This is the second occasion on which the authority has sought information. The last occasion was in January and following this request, EEI submitted a second application moving the terminal a distance of some 500m on the site.
The information sought on this occasion is thought to be of a technical nature and should not hold up the planning process for more than a week or two.
A decision was due to be made last weekend and earlier in the week Mayo County Council had embarked on a two day consultation process with people in the Erris area interested in the terminal and the gas pipeline construction.
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Dana in Knock rail-link callThe Western People this Tuesday.
Connacht-Ulster M.E.P., Dana Rosemary Scallon has lent her support to the campaign to re-open the entire railway link from Limerick to Sligo. And she called for the opening of a spur line to service Knock airport.
The M.E.P says that Government investigation into the rail infrastructure of the western region is of the utmost importance. "I have expressed my disappointment that there are no proposals in the National Development Plan to invest in the reopening of the old Limerick to Sligo railway serving Athenry, Tuam, Claremorris, Kiltimagh, Swinford, Charlestown, Tubbercurry and Collooney and their respective hinterlands in Mayo, Galway and Sligo as well as down in County Clare," said Dana.
"The development of this western rail corridor, with the addition of new spur lines to serve Shannon, Galway and Knock airports, is necessary for the long -term development of the region," she added.
Her support will come as welcome news for Fr. Micheal MacGreil and his committee who have been campaigning for many years for the upgrading and restoration of the old Claremorris to Collooney railway line which has been left to rust in the western countryside over the last 30 years.
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Special Olympics drive for £25,000 The Western People this week.
A major drive to raise Mayo's target of £25,000 for the Special Olympics will be launched at a fundraising project in Charlestown on Friday night.
"Special Olympics is a very important part in the lives of so many of our service users and the money will be spent on Special Olympics within Western Care on training and preparation for the Games, equipment, etc, " said Teresa Ward of Western Care.
A raffle for a car, sunshine holidays, TV and video and other prizes is being organised jointly by Teresa and Henry Peyton, Martin Donoghue and Michael Kelly, Proprietors of K.D.'s Pub, Charlestown, at 10p.m.
Former Mayo manager John Maughan will launch the raffle. Tickets are selling for £20 each and can be obtained by contacting Teresa Ward at Western Care Association or K.D.'s Pub.
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