Specialist to be appointed to assess issues at Mayo landmark

A structural engineer is to be appointed to assess ongoing subsidence at the Mayo Peace Park near Lough Lannagh in Castlebar.

Subsidence has caused separations to appear in the main memorial wall of the Peace Park. The wall contains the names of over 1,200 Mayo soldiers who died in major conflicts around the globe.

At last week’s meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District, councillors sought to clarify issues over the ownership of the site on which the park is located.

Director of Services John Condon confirmed that Mayo Co Council is the owner of the Peace Park.

“The council owns the land and therefore it owns the structure. The council used to allocate General Municipal Allocation (GMA) to maintain the Peace Park but the amount allocated has diminished in recent years due to competing demands."

Mr Condon said tender documents are currently being prepared for the appointment of a qualified structural engineer to assess the current condition of the wall, identify the cause of the subsidence, and to provide recommendations for short-term interventions as well as long-term corrective measures. The expectation is that the successful tenderer will be appointed in January 2024.

Fine Gael Cllr Donna Sheridan said the Mayo Peace Park is a relatively new structure, having been erected in 2008, and it may be necessary to look at it from an engineering perspective to ensure nothing went wrong in the development of the project.