What it Says in the Castlebar and Mayo Papers

10th of January 2001

Connaught Telegraph

The Mayo News

The Western People

400 Councillors for winter seminar in Castlebar a front page story in The Connaught Telegraph this week.

Castlebar will enjoy a welcome out-of-season boost at the end of this month when 400 County Councillors from all over Ireland descend on the town for the General Council of County Councils (GCCC) 2001 Seminar. This will be the first time that the prestigious GCCC annual forum has been held in Castlebar although it was staged in Westport three years age. "Delegates greatly enjoyed the Westport experience and this is one of the main reasons why it was decided to return to Mayo for the 2001 Seminar", GCCC Director, Liam Kenny explained. The Seminar will be officially opened in the Welcome Inn Hotel at 8 p.m. on Friday, January 26th.

Newtown earmarked for big development The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A major new retail development is in the pipeline for Newtown, Castlebar. Isintez Holdings Limited have made application to the local Urban Council for planning permission to demolish existing buildings and sheds and construct six retail units and 22 self-contained apartments at Newtown. The proposal also includes a footbridge over the Castlebar River and on-site car parking.

Judge Devins is tipped for promotion The Connaught Telegraph this week.

District Court Judge Mary Devins is widely tipped to be appointed soon by the Government as a Judge of the Circuit Court. Judge Devins, who lives in Co. Sligo, was assigned to District Court 3 in the autumn of 1999 following the retirement of Judge Daniel Shields. She has won praise for her efforts to streamline the courts service in Mayo and make it more efficient. Judge Devins introduced an earlier start (10:30 a.m.) to District Courts in her area last year in order to tackle the increasing workload. A decision on the Circuit Court vacancy, for which Judge Devins is highly tipped, is expected in the next six weeks.

Walkin calls for further development of sea angling The Mayo News this week.

The sea angling sector in the West of Ireland must organise itself if it is to avail of the £24 million in funding available under the National Development Plan, according to the Chairman of the North Western Regional Fisheries Board, Mr. John Walkin. Speaking at a recent conference, Mr. Walkin said his Board would be actively pursuing the development of sea angling in the next few years and hoped to avail of significant funding under the National Development Plan. "Funding must, in the first place, be directed at ensuring that we have a sufficient number of licensed angling charter boats available and that all boats are up to the highest standard. Secondly, we must ensure that shore angling is developed to its full potential through improvement of access, parking, etc. Thirdly, I would suggest that substantial funding is required to promote and market the sea angling sector."

Modern Post Offices facilities arrive on Inishturk The Mayo News. The Mayo News.

The inhabitants of Inishturk Island can now avail of state-of-the art Post Office facilities after the official opening of the new custom built premises just prior to Christmas. The entire island community turned out to see the unveiling of the premises, which will now provide a much-needed efficient postal service for the island.

Prestige I.M.L. meeting for Castlebar The Mayo News this week.

Castlebar International Four Days Walks will have a signal honour this year when the local committee will play host to the annual general meeting of the I.M.L. (International Marching League). Up to thirty delegates from all over the World, each representing a national walking event, will converge on Castlebar for the three-day conference in June. Castlebar Walks, itself a founder member of the I.M.L. will have the task of preparing the detailed organisation of the meeting, which will attract huge international coverage.

West's heart and cancer deaths lower than national average The Western People this week.

The Western Health Board, which has responsibility for Mayo, Galway and Roscommon, has issued its first ever public health report. The Director of Public Health, Dr. Mary Hynes, says the aims are to review the health of the population as we begin a new millennium and to suggest ways of improving health. "The WHB faces particular challenges in promoting health and in delivering health services. We have an older age profile than the national average. Our population is spread over a wide area. There are pockets of real material deprivation, especially along the Western Seaboard and in inner city areas," she says. Heart disease and strokes are major causes of death and ill-health, but Dr. Hynes reports a steady fall in death rates from these conditions, with death rates in the West remaining a little lower than the national average. Cancer rates are also slightly lower than the national average

Ballina, Castlebar boundary extensions still await decision The Western People this Tuesday.

The Minister for the Environment, Mr. Noel Dempsey, is still sitting on proposals - agreed by Mayo County Council some years ago - to extend the urban boundaries of Castlebar and Ballina. The plans to extend the boundaries will give the two towns much larger urban districts and a population boost of about 2,000 each. The new towns will include all recent housing and other developments. At present, huge areas of housing and other developments in both towns are in the County Council area leading to confusion among the public and a lessening of the influence of both urban districts. The delay in sanctioning the proposals for the extensions is difficult to understand given that the County Council has agreed to them and the same Minister extended the areas for electoral purposes two elections ago. This meant that people on the outskirts of Ballina and Castlebar voted in Urban Council elections for people who (when elected) have no jurisdiction to represent them.

Victory as 'Cnoc Mhuire' is restored The Western People this week.

Sean Egan from Knock was so shocked when he heard that the 'Cnoc Mhuire' Irish name for Knock was being changed to 'An Cnoc' 14 months ago that he undertook a major campaign to halt bureaucracy in its tracks. On New Year's Eve, Minister Sile De Valera issued a special ministerial order directing the Placenames Commission to accept Cnoc Mhuire as the official Irish name for the famous Marian Shrine village.

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