What it Says in the Castlebar and Mayo Papers

April 25th, 2001

Connaught Telegraph

The Mayo News

The Western People

Fury over ESB bombshell The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A row has broken out over an announcement by the Electricity Supply Board that it was unlikely to upgrade its service to Mayo to 220kv status for another five years. Without the high-powered lines, the county is not going to be in a position to attract high-tech industry to the region. Mr. Tom Martin, ESB's consumer services manager for the Midlands and West, informed Mayo County Council that the upgrading would not take place until 2006 at the earliest. In the meantime, planning permission is being sought for a 110 kV line into Castlebar while a new 110 kV station is due to open in Claremorris. However, members of the Council expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in bringing Mayo into line with the rest of the country. Labour Party member, Mr. Johnny Mee, was so infuriated that he stormed out of the meeting in protest refusing to attend a reception being sponsored by the ESB. He hit out "Eighty years after the foundation of the state, we are still without a proper electricity supply in Mayo." The Castlebar councillor accused the ESB of 'having the brass neck to come down to Mayo and tell the public that the necessary infrastructure would not be in place for another five years.'

Council support for new £3.5m. swimming pool The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A recommendation has been made to members of Mayo County Council to support the provision of a new £3.5m. swimming pool at Lough Lannagh Holiday Village in Castlebar. Mr. Alec Fleming, Assistant County Manager, presented a report at a special meeting of the authority on Monday. He stated "The members are aware that funding was approved for the refurbishment of Castlebar Swimming Pool. The pool at present requires urgent refurbishment if it is to function as a modern recreational and amenity facility. Having considered the possibility of refurbishing the existing pool, I am recommending to the Council that it would be more appropriate to provide a new facility on the Council's land at Lough Lannagh." This proposal would have the benefit of being close to the existing facility at Lough Lannagh and would enable the combined facility to offer a complete package to people and would in fact reduce the level of subvention required to provide the facility over the long-term."

Closure of Ballyhaunis Abbey ratified by Augustinian Chapter The Connaught Telegraph this week.

The closure of the 700-year-old Augustinian Abbey in Ballyhaunis has been formally ratified by the Order. The final decision, although not as yet officially announced to the people of Ballyhaunis, was communicated among community members on Saturday evening last. The decision which has been taken by the Order has caused great anguish among many of the Augustinian Order's older priests throughout the country, many of whom felt that the decision may have been overturned at the Easter Chapter. The announcement comes as a major blow to the community of Ballyhaunis and marks the end of a year-long campaign by the people of Ballyhaunis who fought to prevent the closure of the Abbey, which has served the community since 1348.

Achill woman is new Head of GMIT CastlebarThe Mayo News this week.

Achill woman is new Head of GMIT Castlebar Dr. Kate Sweeney-Tiernan, a native of Achill, has been appointed the new head of the Castlebar Campus of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. She succeeds Dr. Richard Thorn who has been appointed Director of the Sligo Institute of Technology. Since 1995, Dr. Sweeney has been working at the Castlebar Campus, initially as a lecturer in Science and Mathematics but more recently with responsibility for the development of the Lifelong Learning programmes at the Campus. Dr. Sweeney was also heavily involved in the development of the healthcare programmes at the Campus including Nursing, Emergency Care and Health Services Management.

Lough Lannagh Holiday Village brings tourism success to Castlebar The Mayo News.

The Lough Lannagh Holiday Village in Castlebar enjoyed a successful year's trading last year and is now attracting an annual spend of up to £60,000 in Mayo's county town. The village also looks set to become home to a new state-of-the-art swimming pool for Castlebar town. In a report on the performance of the holiday village since its opening in 1998, Castlebar Town Clerk, Mr. John Condon, revealed that 26,000 bednights were booked in the facility during the year 2000 and that a profit of £10,000 was made. This compares with 9,000 bednights in 1998 and 16,500 in 1999. Occupancy in 1998 was just 32% increasing to 44% in 1999 and 52% in 2000. If the occupancy could be increased to 60%, a profit of approximately £50,000 would be generated, said Mr. Condon. According to the report, Lough Lannagh Village was provided by Castlebar Urban District Council in conjunction with Mayo County Council and the assistance of a grant of £2.7 million from Bord Failte. The total cost of the village was approximately £5 million. The aim of the project from the outset has been to increase the tourism sector of the local economy in Castlebar.

Davitt College takes top place The Mayo News this week.

Davitt College, Castlebar, has scooped the £10,000 first prize in a national competition sponsored by Irish Independent/Dell Computers. Six students from the school came out best when their project - " Local Tourism: Our 20/20 Vision" was adjudged winner over 130 other entries nationwide. The project in question takes as its theme the concept of tourism in the Castlebar region, its potential for development and the measures which could be taken to promote tourism as a key local industry. The co-ordinator of the project was geography teacher, Mairead Padden, and the students were - Jenny Geraghty, Jacintha McHugh, Kathryn McCluskey, Eimear McEvey, Karen Freney and Sharon Faulkner.

Slump in market blamed for loss of 146 Castlebar jobs The Western People this week.

Volex, the Castlebar-based company that manufactures computer cable assembly systems, shocked workers with 146 job lay-offs on Friday last. The company has said that when there is an upturn in the market they will look to re-employ those who lost their jobs. However, it is unpredictable as to when that will be and it could be as far away as January. The loss of the jobs was announced on Friday last and it has been blamed on the downturn in the telecommunications market. Managing Director of Volex, John Corcoran, said the company could only employ what the order book lets them employ. The company has 800 on the payroll and is one of the biggest employers in the county. The majority of those being let go are temporary workers and were only taken on last August. Mr. Corcoran said that this was a very difficult decision for the company to have to make, but he had indicated to staff in February and March that the business was starting to take a downturn and that customer orders had dropped. He continued "I did say that I was hiring people in excess of what I had orders for but I was doing that on the basis of holding out as long as possible before we had to make a decision. There comes a time when if you keep the numbers beyond that you start to impact on the overall position of the business and it would be unfair for the remainder of the employees here. We held out as long as we could and there was no question about it, we did not want to have to make the decision".

New County Museum for BallinaThe Western People this Tuesday.

In a major development for Mayo, a County Museum is to be established in a prime town centre property in Ballina. The museum will be located in the former Moy Hotel premises on Pearse Street. It is expected that the local branch library will be transferred to the extensive three-storey premises when it is renovated. The major project is the first to come on-stream under an Urban Renewal Scheme and Town Clerk, Paul Benson, who has been seconded to promote this and a number of other projects, has been complimented on this success. The development, which is set to take place as a result of a deal negotiated with a developer, was announced at a meeting of Mayo County Council on Monday and was welcomed by the Cathaoirleach Cllr. Annie May Reape.

Business Park to be developed on Castlebar SiteThe Western People this week.

Consultants have been appointed by the IDA to develop approximately twenty-one acres of land in Castlebar into a Business Park and currently four offices are being designed for the park, Deputy Michael Ring has been informed. Deputy Ring had asked Ms. Mary Harney, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, what property the IDA had for leasing in Mayo, what property the IDA had leased but not yet occupied, the payment rates for the lease(s) concerned and a list of the properties available in various towns in the county. Minister Harney informed Deputy Ring that, in line with IDA strategy to achieve a more equitable distribution of inward investment, the Authority evaluated on a regular basis the industrial property requirements in regional locations. She listed the properties available in Mayo as IDA space available, leased from Private Developers - 22,605 sq. ft factory in Ballinrobe at £3.22 per sq. ft.; IDA owned space available to lease - 3,606 sq. ft. unit in Ballina at £3.50 per sq. ft. In addition the Minister added there were a number of properties owned by the private sector available for lease and being promoted by the IDA for suitable inward projects. I am also informed added Ms. Harney, "that consultants have been appointed by the IDA to develop approximately 21 acres in Castlebar into a Business Park for which four office buildings are currently been designed."

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