Councillors agreed on a €201m Mayo County Council budget, at a meeting yesterday.
The council’s Director of Finance, Peter Duggan, informed councillors that the local authority had to be mindful of an existing €3.1m deficit within the budget.
The council’s budget was debated for approximately five hours before a resolution was achieved.
Fine Gael’s Jarlath Munnelly said the amount included in the budget was “eye-watering” and “head spinning”, but expressed concern that capacity issues may mean the council could struggle to spend it.
Sticking points emerged during the attempts to balance the budget, in relation to funding for a number of organisations, most notably the Michael Davitt Museum, in Straide.
Fine Gael’s Ger Deere said it would be “shameful” if the museum was not supported.
Following negotiations, a resolution was achieve. €25,000 was ring-fenced for the Davitt Museum and funding was provided for eight other groups.
