What it Says in the Castlebar and Mayo Papers

February 28th, 2001

Connaught Telegraph

The Mayo News

The Western People

Town's showpiece is to get £170,000 facelift The Connaught Telegraph this week.

A sum of £170,000 is to be spent by Castlebar Urban Council on giving the Mall, the town's showpiece, a facelift. The major project will involve the relaying of all the paths with a new tiled surface, drainage works, the replacement of pillars and the treating and dipping of the lines of chains around the green which were forged many years ago by local blacksmith William Fahy of New Antrim Street. Mr. Simon Wall, architectural section of Mayo County Council, gave a detailed presentation at a meeting of the council. He said the Mall was a unique facility for a town the size of Castlebar and it was important to preserve it for further generations. The green, once the cricket ground of Lord Lucan, will be further enhanced when a £10m development is completed at the nearby Courthouse. The members of Castlebar Urban District Council voted unanimously to give the green light for the Mall project.

Gala Concert a celebration for award-winning orchestra The Connaught Telegraph this week.

Mayo Concert and Youth Orchestra's annual Gala Concert in the Travellers Friend Hotel, Castlebar, on Thursday night, March 1st at 8:30p.m. is set to be a celebration. The event comes hot on the heels of the announcement that the orchestra scooped the top award in the Irish Association of Youth Orchestras' annual competition. The award sponsored by Penney's, was in recognition of their work in providing a forum for players of all ages to meet and make music. The orchestras' project for 2000 was 'Classroom Cacophonies' a music scheme developed by members of the orchestra to be taught in primary schools. The scheme was child friendly, and was met with much enthusiasm and praise. Participating schools were given two months to teach the eight lessons in the scheme. In June, all participating schools attended the 'Classroom Cacophonies' concert in the Travellers Friend Hotel where they were introduced to all the instruments of the orchestra. Following on from this, the orchestra was approached by 20 young musicians who wished to learn a new instrument. The orchestra is going from strength to strength and is planning a weeklong tour of Bavaria at Easter.

Castlebar Parade will be a ding-dong affair The Connaught Telegraph this week.

The Bells of Mayo, under the direction of Niamh O'Kelly from Kilmeena, Westport will take part in this year's St. Patrick's Day parade in Castlebar on Saturday, March 17th. The bells are another welcome addition to the parade, now regarded as one of the largest and most impressive in provincial Ireland. This will be the first outdoor public appearance of the Mayo Bells in Castlebar and local people and visitors to the town parade will be given an opportunity to hear and enjoy this unique group.

New report calls for daily Knock-London return flights The Mayo News this week.

A report commissioned by the Chambers of Commerce in the West Region has found that there is both a need and a demand for daily return flights from Knock Airport to the U.K. The momentum for the report came initially from Westport Chamber of Commerce, with considerable behind-the-scenes work being undertaken by Chamber members Peter Shanley and Martin Gillen. Mr. Shanley, who is also Chairman of the West Region's Chambers Council said: "The report indicates a latent untapped market for Knock International Airport. Access to the region is critical from Britain and the rest of Europe for businesses to remain viable and this report shows the need and demand for daily Knock/UK flights, Knock International Airport is the premier airport in the West region with the infrastructure to facilitate modern long-haul jet aircraft. The main facility lacking is direct daily return flights to London." The report was launched in Dublin on Monday by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise and Employment Deputy Mary Harney.

Pressure group may challenge Minister Moffatt's Dáil seat The Mayo News.

A Ballina pressure group has threatened to run a candidate in the next General Election, specifically against Fianna Fáil, over what they term the Taoiseach's refusal to fulfil a promise he made during the last election campaign. And among the names being touted as a possible election standard bearer is basketball star and former Mayo footballer, Liam McHale. The Ballina Sports and Leisure Committee, which enjoys significant backing from townspeople, intends to challenge for the Dáil seat of local Minister of State, Dr. Tom Moffatt, unless immediate action is taken by the Government to provide funding to complete a local sports and leisure centre.

International Pool Championships to bring £1m spend to Westport The Mayo News this week.

Westport has succeeded in securing the International Nations Pool Championships for the town from 26th to 30th March. The championships will be staged at the Castlecourt Hotel and will be hosted by The Southern Ireland Pool Federation and will bring more than 1,000 players to Westport for the week, giving a valuable early season boost to the local tourist economy. It is estimated that the championships, regarded as the most prestigious event on the international pool calendar, will generate a spend of over £1 million in Westport over the course of the week. The event itself will cost £35,000 to run.

More gas discoveries off West coast 'possible this year' The Western People this week.

The prospect of making further gas and oil discoveries off the West coast during the summer round of exploration is high, according to the Managing Director of Enterprise Energy Ireland (EEI), Mr. Brian O'Cathain. Mr. O'Cathain said on Monday that Enterprise Energy Ireland, which will shortly commence a new round of exploration, "are very hopeful" that they will be able "to add to the success of Corrib with future gas discoveries". He was speaking following the announcement that EEI, along with co-venturers Statoil Exploration Ireland and Marathon Petroleum Hibernian had approved the $500 million development of the Corrib field. The announcement of one of the largest ever single investments in a venture in Ireland comes at a time when EEI are engaged in a round of consultations with local people on the impact the development will have in North Mayo. Enterprise Energy Ireland's planning application for a gas terminal at Bellanaboy has been put on hold as the developers respond to Mayo County Council's request for additional information to support the application and the Environmental Impact Statements.

$57m blueprint for Belmullet The Western People this Tuesday.

A multi million pound blueprint for the development of services, infrastructure and jobs in Bellmullet, and for the transformation of the Erris capital into a modern town capable of attracting investors and residents, was unveiled on Monday in Geesala. The far-reaching recommendations, with an estimated cost of more than $57m, by a special Task Force, includes a recommendation that a target of 250 new jobs be set for Belmullet, with 100 being provided in the short term and 150 in the medium term. Noting that a tax renewal scheme, with special tax incentives, has been approved for Belmullet, the Task Force recommends the Erris area should be approved for a Rural Renewal Scheme and it suggests a democratically elected Community Group, and maybe a Chamber of Commerce for the town. Also in relation to employment the Task Force says that public sector jobs should be transferred to, or created in Belmullet and that the maximum possible number of jobs in the Corrib Gas construction programme should go to local workers. It recommends that the North West Mayo Development Action group work with Udaras to prepare action plans to counteract the effects of the impending closure of the power station at Bellacorick.

Claremorris to Galway fast track rail link call The Western People this week.

Iarnrod Eireann is being pressed to explore the possibility of a fast track rail system linking Claremorris to Galway City. A call for a feasibility study on the link is to be made to the Minister for Public Enterprise by Fine Gael Public Enterprise and Tourism spokesman, Deputy Jim Higgins. Deputy Jim Higgins said he was convinced that such a proposal could well be found viable. "There is a perfectly sound rail track linking Claremorris with Galway City, via Tuam and Athenry, and it is wrong that such a valuable piece of infrastructure should be almost totally unused" he said. He went on to say that a light rail system would cut the journey time from Claremorris to Galway to 40 minutes. "There are hundreds of commuters from Claremorris itself and from Ballyhaunis, Knock, Kiltimagh and Ballinrobe that would be more than delighted to leave their cars at home and use a fast track rail system if such became available" he said. Deputy Higgins said such a service would take commuters right to the heart of Galway City thus avoiding the early morning logjam which now starts at Claregalway. "Such a rail link would also open Mayo up to the thousands of tourists who, each year, come as far as Galway City but cannot find a rail link to Mayo" he added.

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