Local notes: Decline in number of Ballyhaunis sites on dereliction list
Pictured at the Mayo Comhairle na nÓg Youth Conference were students from Ballyhaunis Community School, with their teacher Catriona Murphy. Picture: Trish Forde
There has been a fall in the number of sites listed as derelict in Ballyhaunis, with 14 local properties on the latest list compiled by Mayo County Council. In late January 2022, there were 17 properties on the Derelict Sites Register for Ballyhaunis, while eight properties had been removed from the process in the preceding year.
Some major sites still on the list include the former Dillon’s commercial building at the Square. Works have been completed on the interior of the Dillon’s site, which is to be redeveloped into eight apartments by the site’s current owner, property development firm Tarbury Ltd. External appearance is taken into account when designating properties, a staff member at the environment department at Mayo Council told this column.
Two properties on Barrack Street are listed as derelict along with a property on Knock Road which is in the hands of Danske Bank. Several former commercial properties are on the list, along with a residential unit above a busy optician’s practice on Main Street.
Dereliction notices are issued under section eight of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 by Mayo County Council to owners of properties regarded as neglected or unsightly ahead of any posting of a public notice on the property, allowing the owners to complete works and improvements. Properties on the dereliction list can be removed after improvements are inspected by the council and levies are paid.
Each property on the register is subject to a levy of up to 7% of the market value of the property, with interest accrued for non-payment. Crucially, any levies owed remain with the property and thus have to be paid in the case of a sale.
Ballyhaunis-based Mayo Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) has called on people to think harder before getting a dog after an influx of abandoned creatures has put the refuge under pressure.
Even though its kennels were full in December, the Ballyhaunis-based shelter declined requests from parents seeking a dog or cat for Christmas. This is due to concerns over the long-term commitment to the animal’s care, explained the director, Marion Biesty.
She explained: “We stopped rehoming before Christmas. The last weeks have been so busy. People ring in saying their little one wants a dog from Santa. We say Santa will send the child a letter to say he doesn’t bring animals. After Christmas, mom and dad can bring them to the shelter and they can get to know a particular dog or cat.”
Marion instances cases where locals have not thought out the implications of getting a pet.
“I’ve had a man pull up outside with two pups which he had gotten for his wife but they then had to go back to France. Three months later, he came back with another pup he wanted to leave with us. People are just not thinking.
“We need to think ahead. Pets are a lifelong commitment, and the dog has to come first when you’re planning your holidays for example. People don’t think of these things or the amount of work involved.”
Similarly, a lack of preparation causes issues over safety and animal behaviour.
“Collie dogs are a big problem, they’re a really intelligent breed and require interaction and work but people get them and then they’re left outside or they’re tied up and bored and they’ll chase cars or they start rambling.”
A reticence to neuter dogs is also creating unwanted animals who are often abandoned, explained Marion. Recently, the shelter took in a bag of mixed breed (Collie-German Shepherd) puppies dumped along the road outside Ballinlough. Marion believes they were dumped by a breeder or someone "who didn’t bother to get the dog neutered and didn’t want the pups”.
The issue is compounded by the presence of rogue breeders.
"Breeders come up with mixed breeds and give them fancy names like Labradoodels because they know it’s lucrative. But people who buy them don’t know the temperament of the animal and this leads to cases of abandonment.”
Neutering remains an issue in the cat population also – a situation which “isn’t getting better,” said Marion.
Marion stresses that Mayo SPCA is very grateful for the assistance from the Department of Agriculture, which recently announced a €36,375 grant for the Ballyhaunis shelter, as well as Mayo County Council and local councillors.
On the issue of investigating and prosecuting animal cruelty and neglect, Marion believes a dedicated animal welfare officer for Mayo is crucial because they’ll be authorised to go onto properties to inspect and rescue mistreated animals.
“Dog wardens can go onto the property but can’t remove mistreated animals.”
To better screen would-be pet owners, Mayo SPCA asks those seeking to foster a pet from the shelter to provide a letter from their landlord as well as photos of the garden available to the pet. A recommendation from a local vet is also sometimes requested.
“If we have doubts we push a bit more for information,” explained Marion.
Staff at the University of Galway have got behind an innovative language translation proposal for Ballyhaunis. The School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures has secured €5,000 in grant funding to pay for a group of PhD students from the university to conduct a pilot training programme for would-be interpreters in Ballyhaunis.
The students will be overseen by Dr Andrea Ciribuco, a lecturer at the university who has paid several visits to Ballyhaunis as part of a project funded by the Research Council of Ireland. As part of the research, Dr Ciribuco and his colleagues have interviewed various participants in the Ballyhaunis Language Café, an informal grouping of language enthusiasts.
Spearheaded over several years by local businessman Gerry McGarry, the language translation proposal aims to train interpreters among Ballyhaunis’ multi-lingual community.
The proposal for a translation business, which Gerry has titled ‘Teanga,’ was last year the recipient a €50,000 grant from Enterprise Ireland for a feasibility study.
Describing Teanga as an “on-line multi-lingual interpretation’ service, Gerry said that the project would leverage Ballyhaunis’ multiculturalism by engaging locally-based speakers of foreign languages to help open markets for Irish exporters.
Dr Ciribuco is researching the challenges of migrants in Irish rural settings by working with Ballyhaunis Language Café and the Family Resource Centre in Gort, home to a large Brazilian community.
The bridge carrying the N60 road over the Dalgan River in the centre of Ballyhaunis is listed among a series of bridge works to be completed in 2024 as part of a national series of road bridge rehabilitation works overseen by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
TII has also listed the bridge at the former Bekan railway station as part of a “safety programme” of works for 2024. Also on the N60 route, the bridge is familiar to motorists travelling between Brickens and Ballyhaunis.
A sum of €40,000 was allocated to the Friary in Ballyhaunis in 2023 while €60,000 is earmarked for the site in the 2024 budget of Mayo Co Council, according to the document outlining the council’s 2024 spending plans.
That budget projects the council will spend €1 million in 2025 on the redevelopment of the old convent building as a Community Hub while €3.5 million is budgeted to be spent in 2026. The source of funding is described as a grant.
Major works are required at the Friary church where council engineers have been surveying subsidence in the floor and cracks in the wall around the altar area. The church heating and electrical wiring systems also require updating, according to a note from the Abbey Trust, holders of the property, in announcing the establishment of a conservation fund to protect the church.
An Bord Pleanála has pledged to decide on a planning appeal taken by a forestry owner against a decision by Transport Infrastructure Ireland preventing it building an entrance to its plantation near Ballyhaunis.
SLM Silva, an investment company, appealed the planning decision that prevents it from building an access road onto the main Ballyhaunis-Cloonfad road for extraction of timber.
The planning request relates to a ten-hectare forestry in the townland of Corranun (near Gurraune) owned by the SLM Silva Fund which describes itself as a sustainable Irish forestry fund that harvests timber over a lengthy period rather than clear-felling, the model more common in the industry.
SLM, which was established in 2018 with backing from the European Investment Bank and other European investors, outsources management to Irish forestry company, Purser Tarleton Russell Limited (PTR), who are responsible for managing the forests.
A five-week introduction to genealogy course, set to commence on January 16th, has drawn strong interest locally, with nearly 20 people from the locality seeking to join the classes, organised by Ballyhaunis Community Council. Participants will be guided by an experienced researcher in how to research their family lineage back to the Famine. Queries can be sent to ballyhauniscommunitycouncil@gmail.com.
