Local Notes: Ballyhaunis group makes donation to Mayo SPCA
Members of Ballyhaunis Active Retirement are pictured presenting a cheque for €700 to Mayo Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), from left: Eithne Glynn, Secretary, Ballyhaunis Active Retirement; Maura Fitzmaurice, Chairperson, Ballyhaunis Active Retirement; Jackie Reilly, Mayo SPCA; Lucie Kavanagh, Maisie the Dog and Maureen Higgins, Mayo SPCA and treasurer of Ballyhaunis Active Retirement.
Mayo County Council will host a drop-in public consultation event at the Community Hall on March 24th from 4 to 7pm to gather public views on possible Active Travel projects in Ballyhaunis.
This is part of a transport study of the town, a key step in drawing down funds for Active Travel projects as part of the Government’s push to improve public health and reduce carbon emissions through walking and cycling.
A spokesperson for the Active Travel team in the Roads Section of the council told this column that the local authority was successful in its request for funding for transport studies for several Mayo towns under the 2026 programme funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA).
“The Active Travel team have prioritised the development of the Ballyhaunis Transport Study and are opening up the study to the public for early engagement,” said the Active Travel spokesperson.
“One of the main objectives of the Ballyhaunis Transport Study is to meet the mobility needs of people and businesses in and around Ballyhaunis town. The study will propose modal networks and associated measures relating to how people move around the town. The measures will include street design, public transport and safer walking and cycling infrastructure.”
An overall plan or study of local transport needs is required for a project to be eligible for funding from the NTA’s Active Travel Programme, the spokesperson explained.
“Once the study is complete, Mayo County Council can then seek funding under the NTA’s Active Travel Programme for the development of the recommended measures. Once funding is allocated, the measures identified can then be taken forward for further assessment, planning and delivery.
“The study will also play a crucial role in safeguarding space, which allows for the integration of identified measures into the development of future projects. By reserving this space for future projects, we significantly enhance the overall quality and efficiency of our upcoming initiatives.”
Mayo County Council manages and delivers Active Travel projects funded by the Department of Transport through the National Transport Authority’s Active Travel Programme. The council has also been able to draw down funds for Active Travel projects from other state agencies and government departments, including Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport. Money has also been found from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht's Outdoor Recreational Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS).
Ballyhaunis residents living on private roadways will be looking keenly at the divvying up of a €1,204,780 allocation to Mayo County Council for the 2026 Local Improvement Scheme (LIS).
The Department of Rural and Community Development has announced a national allocation of €17.55 million for the scheme, which will support repairs and upgrades to nonâpublic rural roads and laneways across the country.
Typically serving a small number of houses, these roads are eligible for a Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) grant from government to local authorities but hundreds of such roads nationwide are waiting for cash, including several in the Ballyhaunis area which are the subject of lobbying efforts by local residents.
This year’s allotted spending appears smaller than that of previous years. In 2024, Mayo was allotted €2 million out of a €40 million national LIS budget.
Congratulations to Ballyhaunis-based soccer player Tarik Yassin, who is into his second year at modular building firm Vision Built in Tubbercurry.
A former professional footballer who’s played with Ballyhaunis Town FC and Snugboro United, Tarik commutes daily to Tubbercurry to work on key modular-build projects like a structure recently supplied to St Jarlath’s College in Tuam.
Part of the Sisk Group, Vision Built's motto is 'Building the future - offsite'. It supplies pre-made structures to a range of state bodies including the Health Service Executive, Office of Public Works and the Department of Education. Built from steel frames, the buildings are then delivered to clients’ sites.
Moroccan native Tarik, who sought asylum in Ireland in 2023 with his family, was formerly a player with two Middle Eastern clubs. One of them is Abu Dhabi-based Al Wahda Football Club which competes in the UAE Pro League. He’s also played for Saudi-based club Sitani and over a number of years on the professional circuit met major figures like Diego Maradona while playing tournaments in the Middle East and Europe. Tarik is currently playing with Real Tubber FC.
Labour shortages, road rage and slurry agitation dangers are some of the key issues for an organisation representing agricultural contractors in the Ballyhaunis area and nationally.
The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) wants visas to be provided to drivers from English-speaking countries, in particular Australia and New Zealand, to allow drivers from those countries to work the peak summer season in Ireland, itself the quieter winter season in Australasia.
A spokesman for the FCI, Gary Culbert, told this column that farm contractors are struggling to find drivers but hiring immigrants is difficult if they don’t speak English.
“We are currently not on the list of labour shortage sectors, so visas are impossible to get for non-EU citizens. They [Australians, New Zealand citizens] can get holiday visas but not working visas.”
Accommodation for these drivers is, however, an issue, said Culbert.
“To fix the labour shortage, the obvious choice is to get people from New Zealand. Firstly, we are not on the list, but the next hurdle would be accommodation for these New Zealanders; they have to be housed as part of the visa scheme.”
According to Culbert, contractors are also struggling to retain staff, with young workers in rural areas lured by regular hours at retailers like Aldi and Lidl who also offer comparatively high hourly wage rates.
“The irregularity of the work doesn’t help,” said Culbert. “The slurry ban has hurt our ability to work all year round; we have no work for lads from October to January.”
The FCI also has issues around road use regulations, in particular Culbert points to “cycle lane enforcement inconsistencies” and “hard shoulder usage ambiguity”. He also cites brake checking incidents: “There is a huge thing happening now with people overtaking tractors and then slamming on the brakes. It’s a form of road rage.”
The FCI is also looking for more farmyard supports for slurry agitation.
“When we come in to mix slurry, there isn’t a single pen in the yard to transfer cattle into while tanks are being agitated. In some cases, farmers will not let cattle out when we are agitating.
“Yet still, the contractor is responsible if cattle die when agitating with them in the shed. Why not give grants to get manholes and slats fixed?”
