What it Says in the Castlebar and Mayo Papers

March 21st, 2001

Connaught Telegraph

The Mayo News

The Western People

Bombshell dropped over $ 37m. Sewerage plan The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A £37m. plan to upgrade Castlebar's sewerage and wastewater facilities may not be sufficient to appease the concerns of angling interests. The Northern Western Regional Fisheries Board is involved in a concerted campaign to block major development in the town because of the 'devastating effect' overflows from the existing plant is having on fish life in the Castlebar River and surrounding lakes. Now Mr. Vincent Roche, the Board's chief executive officer, has made it clear that joint proposals by Mayo County Council and Castlebar Urban Council to expand and upgrade the town's wastewater works at Knockthomas, off the old Turlough Road, will not go far enough in addressing their concerns. He stated "Even when the new facility is provided, the board will retain serious concerns about the ability of the Castlebar River to provide sufficient dilution for treated sewage given the size of the river and the flow rate during the summer months." Mr. Roche said that he had made the Board's position clear at a series of meetings with top ranking officials at Mayo County Council. Although there was widespread concern among contractors that the development of Castlebar would have to be put on hold until the new treatment plant was provided, Mr. Roche's statement comes as a real bombshell and will lead to job losses in the local construction industry.

Grounded Falcon may play a mating game The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A Peregrine falcon, one of whose wings was ripped in a probable collision with barbed wire, is on the mend after treatment at the Mayo Animal Hospital in Castlebar. The bird, which is described as Western Europe's most impressive falcon, is now in the hands of Padraig Reaney, a trained falconer based in Moycullen, Co. Galway. After meals of chicken, the 6 - 7 years old falcon is making good recovery and, even if it is unable to fly again, may make a mate for two female peregrines which are currently in Mr. Reaney's care. Peregrine falcons, which nest in coastal cliff areas, were rare up to sometime ago but are now becoming more widespread.

Support mounts for stag party ban in Westport The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A Dáil Deputy is backing moves by 44 publicans in a seaside town to ban stag and hen parties from the region. The pub owners in Westport will refuse to serve the revellers because of late night rowdyism. Deputy Michael Ring said the unruly pre-nuptial celebrations were damaging the town's fine tourism industry. He protested "These people do not behave themselves when they come into town. I have seen them myself first hand and I was shocked by some of their antics. The Gardai have suffered them over the years. The message should go out loud and clear that stag and hen nights are not welcome here. We are only interested in people coming to Westport to enjoy themselves in a civilised manner. We do not want locals or visitors being intimidated by these people running around in a drunken state and often dressed in strange outfits. These people would be welcomed if they behaved themselves but they don't." Deputy Ring said hotel and B & B operators should ensure, as best they can, that block bookings are not made for hen or stag parties. Meanwhile Mr. Chris Lavelle, chairman of the Westport Vintner's Association, said that his members are taking a stand because of the problems some parties cause on a regular basis. He said, "We want to get the message across that stag and hen parties are not welcome in Westport. There have been several incidents in recent years, which we do not want repeated. It is only a small percentage of them but unfortunately you cannot make flesh of one and fish of another."

Easing of 'Foot and Mouth' measures welcomed in Mayo The Mayo News this week.

Business people in Mayo have welcomed the removal of the stringent restrictions against 'Foot and Mouth' disease, which Government announced at the weekend. Whilst proving effective to date in keeping the Republic free of the disease, the severity of the restrictions on the movement of people, the staging of public events and the all-out ban on angling, had been having serious financial repercussions for a whole range of concerns throughout the country. In Mayo alone, hundreds of operators in the tourist industry have already incurred considerable losses. Fishing tourism was especially badly hit in recent weeks following the all-out ban imposed by the Department of Marine on both freshwater and sea fishing. However, following the lifting if the ban on fishing on Friday last and the announcement that all conferences and indoor and outdoor events not directly interfering with livestock can once again go ahead, visitor numbers are expected to return to normal.

£3m. Visitor Centre site acquired in Ballycroy The Mayo News.

Many years have passed since a National Park for North-West Mayo was first mooted, but in a significant step forward, Ms. Sile DeValera, Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, has announced that her Department has purchased a site for a new Visitor Centre to service the park development. The site is located in the village of Ballycroy, which is the nearest centre of population to the park. Several sites were offered locally and all were evaluated over the past two years. Minister DeValera has allocated a sum of £3 million under the National Development Plan for the provision of the Visitor Centre and she told the 'Mayo News' that she is anxious to proceed with planning for the design and construction of the new building.

Croí plans Centre of excellence The Mayo News this week.

Cardiac surgery should be available in the West region for heart patients in the counties of Mayo, Galway and Roscommon by the year 2003. Such a development is part of a plan to make the West a centre of excellence in the treatment of cardio-vascular disease, according to a consultant cardiologist and medical and research director of Croí, the West of Ireland Cardiology Foundation. Dr. Kieran Daly of University College Hospital, Galway, says that with the new regional heart surgery unit and coronary care unit under construction and the growth of the local biomedical industry, Galway was uniquely placed to become a centre of excellence in cardiology surgery for the West. Mr. Martin Curry, Westport, Chairman of the local branch of Croí, said Mayo had played a very proud part in voluntary fund-raising for the new heart surgery unit with 'many, many thousands of pounds collected throughout the county'. He said that Mayo would continue to support the work of Croí in the future and he paid tribute to all who had supported the aims and objectives of the foundation to date.

Gas target of 2003 'will be met' The Western People this week.

Enterprise Energy Ireland (EEI) remains on target to deliver gas to the national grid by the end of 2003 despite the failure to secure planning permission from Mayo County Council last January, according to the Managing Director Mr. Brian O'Cathain. EEI has faced a winter of discontent as local groups opposed the construction of the terminal at Bellanaboy on health and environmental grounds. He predicted that in five or ten years time people would look back on the project and see it as a turning point for development in North Mayo. He added that he was ' very upbeat' about the possibilities for the new drilling season during which Enterprise Oil will drill wells in the Corrib and Errigal prospects as well as joining with Statoil in a well in the Porcupine Basin off Kerry. Mr O'Cathain added that recent comments by Junior Minister at the Dept. of Public Enterprise, Joe Jacob and Marine Minister Frank Fahey with regard to a gas pipeline for the northwest were very encouraging.

Mayo Wind Farm in the air The Western People this Tuesday.

A major wind farm development is on the cards for Mayo if plans now being made by Bord na Mona in relation to their extensive land holding in Erris, reach fruition. Bord na Mona has had a wind farm in operation in Erris since 1992 and they will be drawing on expertise and experience gained in this venture, in planning and brining a more modern and extensive farm into operation on a phased basis. The development was welcomed at the weekend by Dr. Tom Moffatt, Minister for State, who said he understood that a large number of turbines was envisaged for the proposed farm and that if it went ahead there would be considerable spin-offs for the North Mayo region. He said that when taken in conjunction with the gas supply to be provided in the area, the generation of electricity from a new wind farm in North Mayo would be most welcome and would give a major boost to the region.

Cooper-Flynn libel case concludes The Western People this week.

Evidence in the libel action taken by Deputy Beverley Cooper-Flynn concluded on Thursday last in the High Court in Dublin, but a decision is not expected until later this week. Dep. Cooper-Flynn brought the action against RTE, journalist Charlie Bird and a retired farmer Mr James Howard who alleged that Dep. Cooper-Flynn had advised him on how to avoid the payment of tax. The case, which ran for seven weeks, created history by becoming the longest running libel action in this country.

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