What it Says in the Castlebar and Mayo Papers

February 7th, 2001

Connaught Telegraph

The Mayo News

The Western People

Tesco react to filling station speculation in The Connaught Telegraph this week.

Tesco have reacted cautiously to reports that they are planning to build a petrol-filling station adjacent to their new £8m. superstore in Castlebar. The superstore officially opens on Monday, February 19th. Speculation was growing in the county town that the supermarket chain had proposed to construct a petrol station on a vacant site beside their new carpark at Knockacroghery. Tesco is the largest independent retailer of petrol in Britain, but have yet to move into the Irish market. Because the firm has invested so heavily in their Castlebar store, it was deemed the ideal location to launch that side of their business in Ireland and undercut the price fixing of a local cartel. The cost per litre of unleaded petrol in most filling stations in the town is 65.9p, one of the highest prices in the country. However, Sarah Morris, Tesco Ireland's public relations officer, said the company had no such plans for Castlebar at the moment. She said, "we have spent over £200m. on building new supermarkets and upgrading existing ones throughout Ireland where we now have 75 branches. Our emphasis is now focused on ensuring such an investment is reflected in a growth in our consumer share. Once that is achieved, we will be looking at other options. Although it is not correct to say, at this point, that Tesco is planning to build a petrol station in Castlebar, it is true to say we have not ruled it out."

Higgins predicts June General Election in The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A leading Fine Gael T.D. and strategist, has predicted a General Election in June. Deputy Jim Higgins says he is convinced that the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, will call a summer contest. He told the faithful, at a party meeting in Castlebar on Monday night called to support Enda Kenny's bid for the leadership, that whoever won the leadership contest could be Taoiseach before the year is out because of the virtual inevitability of an early General Election. " If the Taoiseach gets through the tribunals casualty free, he will be tempted to call an election," the Mayo T.D. stated. " By summer, the benefits of the giveaway budget will also be kicking in," he added. Deputy Higgins said he also believed that Fianna Fail might think Fine Gael will be off balance over the next few months because of the change in leadership and try to take advantage.

Action plan on housing ready to roll The Connaught Telegraph this week.

The first phase of an action plan to address housing needs in Castlebar is set to get underway. The Local Urban Council has joined forces with Mayo County Council to provide a scheme of 114 houses over the next four years on a site at Turlough Road in the county town. Mr. Martin Keating, the County Council's housing officer, confirmed a contractor was due to be appointed within the coming week and work would get underway before the end of February. A total of 56 houses, consisting mainly of two and three bedroom houses, will be built during the first phase of work. A further 58 houses will be constructed during the second phase of the project. The project is expected to take two years to reach completion. Sixty-six ' affordable ' houses are being provided as part of the scheme as well as 12 voluntary houses with the remaining being allocated to people on the housing list. Included in the impressive design for the two and a half acres site is a community centre, shopping units, two astro-turf five-a-side soccer pitches, a tennis court, carpark, and a children's playground. Access will be provided from Turlough Road and the road into the estate will be widened with calming measures put in place.

Mayo says no to Galway's waste The Mayo News this week.

Fears are growing in Mayo that the County could be asked to allow its landfill sites to be used more extensively to take commercial waste from Galway City and other parts of the West region. Already rubbish from parts of Sligo is being tipped at Ballina landfill sites. It is believed that tentative approaches were made to the County Council last weekend to see if the crisis situation developing in Galway City, following the picketing of the Ballinasole landfill site by the Waste Contractors Association, could be resolved even temporarily, by allowing the dumping of commercial waste at the landfill site at Derrinumera, near Newport. Although a Connacht Waste Management Policy, when eventually put in place, will impose duties of co-operation between local authorities in Connacht, it is understood that neither management or membership of Mayo County Council would favour the use of the Derrinumera site for the disposal of commercial waste from Galway City.

'Early Bird' flights back as industrial dispute is settled The Mayo News.

'Early Bird' flights from Knock Airport to Dublin are set to commence following the resolution of an industrial dispute at the Airport for the past three weeks. "The daily service Knock/Dublin will commence on Tuesday the 13th of February, 2001 leaving Knock Airport at 7:00 a.m., and returning at approximately 8:00 p.m.,". said Mr. Cathal Duffy, Chairman of Knock Airport Board.
"The industrial dispute, which stalled the start of the Knock/Dublin daily return flight, has been amicably settled. We are happy to announce that harmonious relationships have been renewed between all interests at Knock Airport. We the board members and staff, apologise for the inconvenience caused to potential passengers since the 18th of January. Upsets and disagreements happen sometimes in the happiest and best-regulated families, and the 'family unit' at Knock Airport is no exception. However, we have solved our problems and are fully united in going forward."

Castlebar-led company wins prestigious national award The Mayo News this week.

Campus.ie an Internet company led by Padraig and Elaine Staunton, Castlebar, has won the latest Eircom/Irish Independent Business award for excellence. The award is specifically for companies who can show that communications technologies have benefited their business performance. The award is sponsored by Eircom and the Irish Independent and is open to small and medium size companies from all industry sectors in Ireland. Campus.ie follows in the footsteps of another recent winner Dublin based, International Financial Systems, who develop specialist treasury software for many of the largest banks in the world. The judging panel for the award includes Enterprise Ireland's Department Manager John Wims, Mr. Seamus Mulconry, e-Commerce expert from Accenture Consulting, Darren McAuliffe from the Irish Independent and Denise Cox from the Irish Internet Association. Campus.ie the complete website for students, was launched last year. It offers a complete range of services and information for students in Ireland. The site offers all students MyLocker - a free set of services for students online including e-mail, a planner and file storage. In all, the site offers students 45 megabytes of file storage space - the equivalent of 35 floppy disks and 22 times the current offering from Hotmail.com. Campus.ie is forty websites in one as it is customised to forty colleges in Ireland. It offers every club and society in the country a free noticeboard on the site. Campus.ie is a passionate advocate for student issues. The site promotes national and college specific student issues as they arise on a daily basis.

Kenny in high stakes battle for FG top post The Western People this week.

Long serving, Castlebar based Deputy Enda Kenny is this week engaged in a high stakes battle for the political prize of a lifetime. If successful in the campaign to take over at the helm of Fine Gael he would be well placed to become the country's next Taoiseach. Kenny, who is 50 years old, and has 25 years experience in the Dail behind him, became a contender for the highest prize Fine Gael has to offer in the immediate aftermath of the no confidence motion in deposed leader John Bruton. The former national school teacher, led the defence of Bruton's leadership last week but despite what all of his colleagues described as a ' brilliant performance', he was unable to stave off the twin pronged challenge to Bruton launched by Limerick Deputy Michael Noonan and Dublin's Jim Mitchell. The prospect of a bloodless handover of the leadership to the Noonan/Mitchell axis was immediately dashed as Kenny declared that he would enter the contest. It was seen by many observers as a bombshell announcement, as most of the talk before the no confidence motion centred on Ivan Yates as the most likely 'Bruton Camp' candidate. However, in the days leading up to the heave, Kenny had come under pressure to allow his name into the contest and had been approached by a number of deputies who urged him to allow his name forward. "It may have been a surprise to people on the outside and to the media commentators but my declaration did not come as a surprise to very many of my colleagues," said Deputy Kenny on Monday. "I have the backing of a committed group of Oireachtas members who strongly believe I can give the party the direction, leadership and change of style that will bring Fine Gael back into government. The heave against John Bruton would have no meaning if it did not lead to changes in the Party that would put Fine Gael in government after the next election. I believe, and my supporters believe, that I represent the best prospect of bringing about the change to Fine Gael." Senator Paddy Burke, who is Kenny's campaign manager, was "very confident" that Deputy Kenny would surprise the commentators and come out on top. He said, "this was not gut reaction to the defeat of John Bruton. Numerous Oireachtas members had approached Deputy Kenny and their support is still available. There is no doubt in my mind, considering the number of people who approached him before and after the no confidence motion, that he is in with a great chance. He has received a marvellous reaction not just among Oireachtas members but throughout the party generally."

Mayo's meat as safe as can be got The Western People this Tuesday.

"The meat purchased from Mayo's family butchers is as safe and as close to organic as can be got," according to Mayo County Council Veterinary Surgeon, Mr. Cathal Walsh. He was speaking following the completion of the first module of a training course for abattoir butchers run in the training centre, Aras an Condae, in Castlebar last week. The course was designed and delivered by Mr. Walsh and Ms. Cathy Waddell, V.O. attached to the County Council. The course was attended by forty-two butchers representing the County's 25 licensed abattoirs. The theme of the course is: The production of safe and wholesome meat for the consumer. "Most of the population of County Mayo is supplied by fresh meat produced in these abattoirs," said Mr. Walsh. "The cattle, sheep and pigs, which are produced locally, are inspected by the Council vets before slaughter. The meat is inspected post-mortem by the same vets and the veterinary health mark is applied to the carcasses, thus underwriting the safety and wholesomeness of the meat," he continued. Mr. Walsh pointed out that the Food and Safety Authority and the Dept. of Agriculture had carried out independent audits of Mayo's abattoirs and had given them a clean bill of health. He said that Mayo had the best record of any County in the country with regard to BSE and only two cases had been recorded. "From the point of view of the consumer, they can be assured about the safety and quality of the meat sold in the butcher shops," he said.

Mayo could be a 'zero waste zone' by 2010 The Western People this week.

A Westport-based community activist has claimed that towns throughout Mayo could achieve zero waste status in 10 years time if the local authorities followed the example of towns throughout Europe and Australia. David Keating, who is secretary of the Westport Sinn Fein Cumann as well as being heavily involved in the Westport Tidy Town's campaign, believes that towns and villages throughout Mayo should be striving for zero waste over the next 10 years. He cities the Australian experience of total recycling - through kerb side recycling - as the way to the safest and eco-friendliest, answer to our existing problems of landfill and the threat of incineration. Mr. Keating said the initiatives must come from the local authorities and the entire issue of recycling must be addressed in the context of Town Development Plans. " A plan for the reduction, reuse and recycling of all waste must be the objective. A five or ten year town development plan is an ideal vehicle and yardstick for places like Westport, Castlebar and Ballina to strive for and achieve zero-waste status," he said. Drawing parallels between what has happened in towns throughout Australia over the last ten years and what could be happening in Mayo, Mr. Keating said that "the policy of kerbside collection was a huge success in Australia and throughout continental Europe. People are hooked on the simplicity in the countries it is practised in, and a recently published report by independent economists' shows the community is benefiting three-fold in environmental terms. The study measured the financial, environmental, and social costs and benefits of recycling, and translated the environmental impact into dollars. The report on kerbside recycling through household recycling bins shows an average cost of 26 dollars a household per year. The study collected information from about 200 metropolitan and regional councils, representing 12 million Australians. It estimated household recycling delivered about 266 million Australian dollars each year of environmental, economic, and social benefits to the whole country." Because of the ongoing problems implementing a Connacht Waste Management Plan, and the resistance from local communities to super dumps and incineration, Mr. Keating stressed the urgent need for waste reduction and recycling as the safe and sensible option.

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