Local Notes: All the latest news from Ballyhaunis
Workers scale the roof of Ballyhaunis Community Hall in April sun to install solar panels.
The twinning 40 years ago of Ballyhaunis with Guilers, a town in northern France, is to be marked later this year.
“The outgoing committee has applied to Mayo County Council for funding to enable us to mark the occasion later in the year,” explained Rena Burke, one of the committee members.
She said the committee is hoping for “a trip down memory lane with a function in Ballyhaunis community hall, a display of photos, etc”.
“It is our intention to invite some guests from Guilers to visit Ballyhaunis as they have a Mayor and council officials in Guilers. There is active contact between some families but there is no committee in place in Guilers at the moment.”
Rena was the official translator for the ceremony 40 years ago which twinned Ballyhaunis with Guilers, a town in the Brittany region of northern France. An article in the 1985 edition of the magazine describes a "very large attendance" on Easter Monday at 3pm to witness the official twinning ceremony with Senator Jim Higgins and Dr Michael Brogan (president of the local twinning committee) representing Ballyhaunis and Guilers mayor Louis Ballard, as well as Paul Guyomorc, president of the Guilers town twinning committee, representing the French town. Kevin Flanagan was master of ceremonies for the event at the Parochial Hall.
In the exchange of gifts which followed the signing, the French visitors presented Ballyhaunis with a sun dial, reciprocated by an icon from the Book of Kells from the Ballyhaunis hosts. The sun dial was installed at the Parc Guilers, which was officially opened after the signing ceremony with the Irish army’s pipe band leading a procession from the hall to the park, an embankment of rock and seating areas adjacent to the town library and then the local playground. The sun dial remains in situ but the trees planted at the park’s opening in 1985 were removed two years ago by Mayo County Council.
The annual general meeting of Annagh Magazine Society will take place in the Friary House on Tuesday evening, April 29th, at 8pm. New volunteers are welcome.
A student living near Aghamore has been forced to commute by motorbike to Galway to attend college as inadequate public transport connections means there is no evening link to Ballyhaunis after his classes.
Florian Oniceanu sets out on his motorcycle early for morning classes at the Galway campus of the Atlantic Technical University where he studies agricultural engineering.
“I usually arrive on time in Galway, but when there was snow and the roads were icy, I used to arrive about 30 minutes later. The problem is with the return journey, because if I finish classes after 5pm, I miss the four o’clock bus, and I have to take the 6:10 bus to Kilkelly to get back, and someone - my sister or brother-in-law - has to come pick me up to take me home.
“It's not very comfortable to ride the motorcycle every day, considering that I have to change into gear before leaving, and when I arrive I have to take it off again. I’ve had some minor difficulties, but nothing major.
“In terms of safety, a motorcycle isn’t the best choice for this, but if you’re careful and respectful in traffic, it’s not bad. The time it takes to get to university by bus or by motorcycle is about the same - the motorcycle is around five or 10 minutes faster.”
Florian said he’d like to see a later bus service connecting with Ballyhaunis after 5pm, “so I wouldn’t have to leave classes before they end".
The threadbare nature of bus services linking Ballyhaunis to Galway has been underlined as the housing crisis forces more third-level students to commute to the city.
An hourly bus linking Ballyhaunis with Galway, Sligo and Knock Airport was proposed in the five-year Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility plan published by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in 2021.
The plan was pushed by the Department of Transport which under then Minister Eamon Ryan made increased bus coverage for rural areas a priority.
Bus connections between Ballyhaunis and third-level institutions in Galway was cited as a key concern by various Ballyhaunis parents who spoke to the about their priorities in the run-up to last year's general election.
A fund-raising concert for magazine takes place in Eileen's Bar in Achadh Mór on Wednesday, April 23rd, starting at 8pm.
“Because of the concerts and the generous support of our kind sponsors, the magazine has remained at the same price for the past 25 years,” note the organisers. “As usual there will be no cover charge but all subscriptions are welcome, it’s always a good community and ceol night. Fáilte róimh go léir.”
A homeless resident of the Charlestown emergency shelter for homeless people said she expects to be living there “long term”.
Originally resident in Ballyhaunis, the woman and her infant child were several weeks ago offered accommodation in the Charlestown facility, a former nursing home operated by private management, which is paid by Mayo County Council to house homeless people.
Describing a recent meeting with Mayo County Council housing officers, the woman said: “Basically they told me there's no light at the end of the tunnel and I should look on [property website] Daft for my own housing, as if I haven't been doing that for the last eight months. Looks like I'll be here long term,” she said.
“The facility is very safe and clean and comfortable, the staff are kind too,” said the woman, adding that the location, however, makes transport challenging. “There are taxis and they're very expensive.”
An electric car charger that has been out of action for months remains off-line.
“We are aware of the problem and we will be replacing the unit,” a spokesperson for EasyGo told the . “The work is scheduled, and we hope to have the new charger in and working early next week.”
A 50kW Tritium rapid charger was installed by EasyGo in summer 2023 in the Lohan public car park operated by Mayo County Council in Ballyhaunis as part of a national rollout of chargers in cooperation with local authorities and Eir. The installation was described at the time as part of a Mayo County Council programme to make the county more accessible to drivers of electric vehicles.
Mayo Co Council is not planning to actively enforce casual trading laws in Ballyhaunis, a council official told this column.
Under the Casual Trading Act, a local authority must put Casual Trading Bye-Laws in place for a specific town with licences to trade then issued by the council. There are no Casual Trading Bye Laws in place for Ballyhaunis, meaning casual trading or stalls on the street are not allowed.
“We are not patrolling for casual trading,” said the official, adding that the Act can be enforced by either the Gardaí or Council wardens. “We just haven’t the manpower to actively enforce it."
A trader with a weekly stall in Ballyhaunis selling clothes told this column recently that he was approached by Gardaí asking him if he had sought permission from the council for his sale. But on approaching Mayo County Council he was told they were not in a position to give him a permit as no Casual Trading Bye-Law is in place for Ballyhaunis.
The recent spell of fine weather allowed the installation of 57 large solar panels on the roof of the Community Hall in Ballyhaunis, nearly four months after the installation was abandoned due to snow and freezing conditions.
Covering both the east and west-facing roofs of the building, the installation was funded by a grant from the Mayo County Council Climate Action Fund to Ballyhaunis Community Council, which runs the building.
Join the Big Good Friday Clean-Up
Ballyhaunis residents are invited to join the big traditional Good Friday Clean-Up, led by Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns.
Bags, gloves, hi-viz vests, litter pickers, etc, will be available at the Community Hall from 10 to 11am on Good Friday morning, April 18th.
“Please join with Tidy Towns in this worthwhile community initiative as part of An Taisce's National Spring Clean, Ireland's nationwide anti-litter campaign which takes place during the whole month of April,” said Tidy Towns.
Congratulations to Mike Dillon, Ballindrethid who won €1,030 on an envelope sold in Curley's in the April 6th draw. Tony Smith, Upper Main Street, won the second prize: a His/Hers Jenny Glow gift set while the third prize, a SuperMacs voucher, went to Lorcan O'Connor, c/o Delaney's.
