What it Says in the Castlebar and Mayo Papers

27th of December 2000

Connaught Telegraph

The Mayo News

The Western People

Ballot to decide Keelogues church crux, a front page story in The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A County Mayo Parish is to 'go to the polls' early in the New Year in an effort to decide whether the 159-year-old church in Keelogues should be re-roofed or a new church be constructed. The locations being considered, in the event of the outcome of the vote favouring the construction of a new church, would be in Ballyvary or next to the existing Keelogues School. The cost of re-roofing the Church at Keelogues is estimated to be between £140,000 and £450,000, compared with £500,000 to £700,000 for the construction of a modern new chapel. It is now up to the 1,200 residents of Keelogues to decide the fate of the existing church. The vote has come about as a result of the deliberations of an independent external mediator who was employed in an effort to break the deadlock on the issue. It is believed that this is the first time that this particular model of consultation has been used by the Catholic Church to decide emotive issues. The facilitator stressed that the most important part of the process was to achieve consensus amongst the people and to ensure that everybody felt that their opinions had been listened to, respected and valued. He added that "Whatever happens, it will be a mammoth task for a small community to raise substantial funding. We wish them well. It's a difficult and indeed expensive time for a small community that wants to retain its own identity".

New Year shock for Speedsters The Connaught Telegraph this week.

Motorists in all of the Mayo Garda divisional areas could be in for a shock as the recipients of some unwanted post in the form of speeding summonses. In the days up to Christmas the crack Garda Surveillance Camera Unit visited locations in Castlebar, Westport, Ballina, Swinford, Belmullet and Claremorris. Inspector Padraig O' Toole said that the GATSO camera photographs the car, its registration number and records the time and speed at which the detection is made. He added that "Many motorists were detected in the Mayo campaign. They will receive notification in the post".

Big row looming over proposed increase in car-parking charges The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A row is looming in Castlebar over a proposal by the local Urban District Council to increase parking charges at the Dunnes Stores and Tesco car-parks in the town. Council members learned of the plan to charge 50p for the first two hours of parking and £1 per hour after that. Mr. John Condon, Town Clerk, said that a total of 500 car-parking spaces would be affected by the changes which would be coming into force in the New Year. He stated that "This council owns 300 of the 500 spaces. In respect of the 300 spaces that we do not own, there is a separate agreement with Tesco". Senator Paddy Burke expressed concern that these increases were not in fact agreed to by the present or any previous Urban Council. He said that "If we go down the road of increasing the charges at Dunnes and Tesco, we will find that other car parks in the town, for which there is not presently a charge, will be taken up for the day. This will be detrimental to the parts of the town that we are trying to bring back to life". Mr. Alec Fleming, Assistant County Manager, said that the increases had been adopted as part of a written report that had been circulated to the council members. Senator Burke replied by saying "I will not accept that this was agreed". Mr. Johnny Mee said that he agreed with Senator Burke and added that the rejuvenation of the lower Main Street area was dependent on the construction of a new road from Barrack Bridge to the Castle Street car-park. Mr. Blackie Gavin stated that he had spoken to a member of the Concerned Traders Group who had informed him of a letter that had been sent out from the Department of the Environment declaring that funding was not being provided for the roadway in question. Mr. Mee expressed his disappointment if this was the case. Mr. Sean Bourke said that he understood that the matter was still under consideration. "As far as I know, no decision has been made".

Mayo Women's Support Centre welcomes promise of more funding The Mayo News this week.

The Mayo Women's Support Centre, which runs a refuge home at Breaffy Road for temporarily-displaced women and families, has welcomed the announcement in the recent budget that spending in the area of services for women experiencing violence is to increase. Since its foundation a few years ago more than 700 people have used the facilities of the Mayo centre which, despite being constantly cash-strapped, is regarded as one of the most professional centres of its kind in the country. In the past two years, more than 40 families have passed through the centre, staying for periods ranging from a few days to six weeks. According to research carried out by the centre, more than 2,500 Mayo women are victims of domestic violence each year. A spokesperson for the centre said that a further strategy was being put in place to bring services to the rural areas of the county and also to the offshore islands. Mary Wallace, Minister of State and Chairperson of the National Steering Committee on Violence Against Women said that "While I appreciate that there is still a lot that will remain undone, the money provided will go a long way to helping victims of violence. I can see the service providers around the country being able to develop and grow, in order to respond to the demands being placed on them by the ever-increasing number of victims coming forward and seeking help".

Vigilance required on future of Breast Cancer Services in Castlebar The Mayo News.

The Minister for Health and Children was asked in the Dáil to confirm the position concerning the retention of services at the Breast Cancer Screening unit in Castlebar, following his meeting with public representatives and members of the Mayo Cancer Support Group in the Dáil recently. The Minister replied to Deputy Enda Kenny, T.D., Fine Gael spokesperson on Education and Science, and he outlined in some detail his position. He confirmed that his Department had no plans to downgrade the service or the facilities available at Mayo General Hospital and that he intended to work with the Health Board to ensure a comprehensive and coherent regionalised approach to the development of services in line with the incidence of breast disease in the region. Mr. Kenny, in reply, said that he was happy to note the Minister's confirmation in writing, and on the Dáil record of having no intention of closing or downgrading the current facility at Mayo General Hospital. He did state, however, that the Minister was economical with his words in that he did not state specifically that it was intended to develop further the services at Mayo General Hospital in the context of the question posed by Deputy Kenny, i.e. that there should be fully audited medical standards to be adhered to at Mayo General Hospital, which would require an expansion of services in line with what consultants, doctors and patients would wish. He concluded by saying that vigilance will be required in the next number of years to ensure that no attempts are made to have the facilities or services in any way diminished, while work proceeded on the development of a specialist unit in Galway.

Changing the Guard at GMIT an article on the County View page in The Mayo News this week.

In the same week as the news of Padraig Hughes departure came the appointment of Dr. Richard Thorn as the Director of the Sligo Institute of Technology. His departure - while a deserved recognition of his talent and ability - will be regretted in Castlebar, where he has steered the fortunes of Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Castlebar campus, through the choppy waters of its early existence. Not only was Richard Thorn a man of high academic standing, but he also had the essential talent of administrative skill. As head of GMIT, Castlebar, he helped place the institute at the centre of educational life in the county, as well as establishing formal links with industry, business and development agencies. He also championed the concept of ongoing education, building up a remarkable reputation for GMIT as a provider of adult education courses. Mayo's loss will indeed be Sligo's gain.

Massive Energy Development for Bellacorick The Western People this week.

A report being drafted in consultation with the North Mayo Enterprise Task Force will identify Bellacorick as the preferred site for a gas powered electricity generating station and a major wind farm producing 100 megawatts for the national grid. The report has been ordered by An Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, T.D., who has requested that it "be on his desk" not later than mid-January. Ministers Mary O'Rourke (Enterprise, Trade and Employment) and Frank Fahey (Marine and Natural Resources) and Junior Minister Eamon O'Cuiv (Gaeltacht and the Islands) have been tasked with finalising the document for cabinet. With up to 300 Bórd na Móna and ESB jobs to go before the end of the year 2005, the pressure has come on the Government to come to the rescue of the country's worst jobs blackspot. Combined with the closure of Asahi (250 jobs) some time ago, and Warners (119 jobs) in the past few months, the Erris region has been devastated. A potential 50 permanent jobs at the Enterprise Oil Gas Terminal in Pullathomas within two years is not regarded as sufficient compensation for the losses. However, things in the Erris region may be set to take a turn for the better with the central core of the report stating that the Bellacorick site will be used for the generation of electricity from Erris gas and the Bórd na Móna works and lands will be converted to make and locate the turbines for the windfarm. There are said to be problems with finding an independent consortium to develop the gas fired station, and this may prove to be a stumbling block. Senator Frank Chambers of Newport said that "It is too early to say what will be in the report or when it will be presented to the cabinet. However, I would be confident that there will be some good news coming to the Erris area and that the workers and the people who have been arguing the case will not be disappointed".

Charlestown's £50M bypass route options go on display The Western People this Tuesday.

A variety of route options for the bypass of Charlestown by the N5 and N17 roads have gone on public display in the town. The development of 8 km of the N17 and 18 km of the N5 will cost an estimated £50M. It is envisaged that the preferred route will have been agreed upon by next April or May with the acquisition of land by compulsory purchase order to start by the end of next year. This was the view expressed by Mr. Seamus Granahan, Senior Engineer, Regional Design Office, Mayo County Council. Mayo County Council has been liaising directly with both Sligo and Roscommon County Councils on the design options and the approval of both has been secured to proceed to the design stage. Both Bypass schemes (N5 and N17) are being designed together as the location of the junction/interchange has to be identified before either scheme progresses. Mr. Granahan added that the public consultation in Charlestown was designed to give the public the opportunity to view the route options and Mayo County Council was anxious to get as much feedback as possible from individuals and groups.

Castlebar UDC strike record rate increase for the County Town The Western People this week.

Castlebar Urban District Council has gone for a record rate increase of 7%, bringing the new rate to £54.53 in the pound. The council has also agreed to increase the domestic refuse collection charges by £20 to £140. The increase of 7% for Castlebar compares with a 5% increase by Ballina UDC, 4% in Westport, and Mayo County Council's rate increase of 4%. Mr. Alec Fleming, Assistant County Manager, had sought an increase of 9% and an increase of £40 in the refuse charges. The increases were adopted by six votes to three. Those in favour were the four Fianna Fáil members, Cllr. Sean Bourke, Cllr. Blackie Gavin, Cllr. Aidan Crowley, and Cllr. Pat King, and the two Labour Party members Cllr. Johnny Mee and Cllr. Michael Kilcoyne. The two Fine Gael members, Senator Paddy Burke and Cllr. Eoin Garavan, and the Independent councillor Frank Durcan voted against the rate increase of 7%. They felt that a six per cent increase in the rate would have been sufficient.

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