Local Notes: Aidan retires from council staff in Ballina after 42 years
Colleagues, family and friends celebrated with Aidan Mulvihill at a function in the Great National Hotel in Ballina to mark his retirement from Mayo Council after 42 years of service. Picture: John O'Grady
Moy Valley Resources IRD Community Employment Scheme has announced an exciting new recruitment drive, offering six unique and rewarding opportunities.
These roles are designed to support community engagement and personal development through hands-on experience and training.
The MVR CE Scheme is seeking enthusiastic individuals who are ready to make a positive impact in their community.
Vacancies include roles as gardener in The Haven Community Garden Project, cleaner in Greenhills Enterprise Centre, administrator/marketing assistant in Mayo North Tourism Office, caretaker/cleaner in Enniscrone Family Resource Centre/Enniscrone Enterprise Centre, and two caretaker roles for IRD North Mayo - West Sligo CLG, which trades as Moy Valley Resources IRD. All but one of the positions are based in Ballina.
The Moy Valley Resources Community Employment Scheme is designed to provide meaningful work experience, skill development and personal growth opportunities. Those with a ‘can do’ attitude, and who are eager to learn and make a difference in their community, are invited to apply.
No previous experience is necessary as comprehensive training will be provided that includes training programmes to help participants gain new skills and qualifications to benefit their future careers.
Participants will also have the opportunity to work with local community organisations and make a tangible impact on the lives of people in the region.
The MVR CE Scheme team encourages personal growth and is committed to supporting scheme participants every step of the way, ensuring that they have the resources and guidance needed to succeed.
If you are interested in applying for any of these positions you can contact CE Supervisor at Moy Valley Resources, Jacqueline Kinsella, for more information. Please email hr@moyvalley.ie or telephone 096-70905.
You can also visit the organisation’s social media pages and website at www.moyvalley.ie, where information on CE Scheme positions is regularly updated.
As the curtains close on Summer 2024, the eyes of Ballina Dramatic Society are now firmly fixed on Christmas, with the announcement of another great Ballina panto for this December.
Those who enjoyed last year’s exciting pantomime in Ballina Arts Centre can look forward to a 2024 theatrical extravaganza which is, once again, sure to please young and old.
Anyone interested in joining the crew for the Christmas 2024 panto should come along to Ballina Arts Centre next Tuesday, August 20. Ballina Dramatic Society will be delighted to welcome those who enjoy being front of curtain or behind the scenes.
Dragons Chorus is the name that the energetic and innovative Ballina Dragons Boat Club has bestowed on a new choir which the group is setting up.
The choir will come together for the first time in September, and anyone interested in joining is asked to contact Elizabeth by email at ballinadragonsboat@gmail.com or to message via WhatsApp on 086-2385542.
The presentation of prizes following a Deep Sea Angling Competition off Kilcummin Head took place recently in The Merry Monk, Killala Road, Ballina.
Good weather and a calm sea in Killala Bay made for a pleasant day’s fishing, and the eventual winner of the competition was Noel Tighe. A total of six species were landed.
The organisers have thanked all of their sponsors and supporters.
National Heritage Week will be marked in Ballina with a talk on biodiversity, beekeeping and pollination in the Mary Robinson Centre.
The talk will be presented by Jude Walsh of Mayo Beekeepers' Association.
This free event, which is open to the public, will be held on Monday next, August 19, at 2pm. Entrance to the Mary Robinson Centre is via Moy Lane, off Emmet Street, Ballina (opposite St Muredach’s Cathedral).
More information is available from the centre’s website at www.maryrobinsoncentre.i
The Yeast Meets West Craft Brew Festival closes off a busy summer festival and event calendar in Ballina at the end of this month.
Taking place over two days, on Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1, this year’s venue is the Cot and Cobble Bar and Restaurant, Sligo Road, Ballina.
Along with a range of craft beers, the weekend will feature live music and dancing. The fun starts in the early afternoon and runs until late.
A new course at Ballina Further Education Training Centre is geared towards providing English as a second language. The aim of the course is to enable the learner to develop the relevant knowledge, skill and competence in a broad range of personal skills.
This is a Level 4 programme and applicants are expected to have a standard of knowledge, skill and competence equivalent to NFQ Level 3. Applicants may have participated in primary and secondary education, although no formal qualifications are required.
Applicants should have the motivation to learn, possess an interest in the subject and have the ability to acquire the knowledge, skills and competencies set out in the course.
On completion of this programme learners will have acquired a broad range of skills which will enable personal development and active citizenship. The programme will also help progression to employment and/or further education or training.
The course takes places at the ETB Centre, Western People Building, Tone Street, Ballina on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, from 9.30am to 12.10pm, one morning per week. It begins in September and runs over 38 weeks.
More details are available from www.fetchcourses.ie.
Comedian John Colleary returns to Ballina Arts Centre with a new show on Saturday, September 21, and tickets are now on sale.
Apart from being one of the most in-demand comics in the country, Sligoman John has also co-written and starred in IFTA nominated shows ‘The Savage Eye’ (RTÉ2) and ‘Irish Pictorial Weekly’ (RTÉ One).
John Colleary can recreate some of Ireland’s most distinct accents, leading to side-splitting moments from a performer who has entertained audiences at Kilkenny Cat Laughs, The Vodafone Comedy Carnival and The Galway Comedy Festival. Television viewers will also remember him from ‘Naked Camera’ and ‘Bridget and Eamon’.
John scooped a PPI Award for his topical sketch writing and performance on Today FM’s drivetime flagship, ‘The Last Word’.
Other TV credits include appearances on ‘Stand & Deliver (Live from Róisín Dubh)’ and ‘The Panel’ (RTÉ2).
A talented actor and mimic, John featured as one third of The Gusset Brothers on ‘The Tommy Tiernan Show’ (RTÉ One). In fact, Tommy Tiernan considers John to be his favourite comedian, so it was no surprise that John spent 2022 and early 2023 opening for Tommy on his sold-out ‘Tomfoolery’ tour, performing to tens of thousands of comedy fans around the country.
John’s first solo show ‘Loud and Colleary’ went nationwide in Autumn 2023, with much success, including a top-class show in Ballina last September.
His 2024 autumn tour includes a show in the 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin.
Tickets for his forthcoming Ballina show ‘Head like a Shed’ are priced at €18 (€16 concession) and booking can be made online at www.ballinaartscentre.com or by email at info@ballinaartscentre.com. You can also call 096-73593.
Ballina parkrun continues to go from strength to strength as it approaches its 420th regular Saturday morning event.
Dozens of runners and walkers attend the non-competitive outdoor social gathering in Belleek every Saturday morning at 9.30am.
Earlier this month, Padraig Brady marked his 250th parkrun event while, on the same day, the Ballina group welcomed visiting participants from other parkrun groups around Ireland, as well as some local first-timers.
Ann Egan is director of Ballina parkrun and brought the popular community-based event to Ballina for the first time in 2014.
Everyone is welcome to come along to Ballina parkrun, which sets off from Ballina Town FC soccer club grounds and takes runners, walkers and joggers through 5km of woodland and riverside charm.
The death has taken place of Mary McEvoy, Quignalecka Lodge, Sligo Road, Ballina.
Mary was the beloved mother of Trevor (Denmark) and June (Galway). She will be sadly missed by her son, daughter, son-in-law Conor, daughter-in-law Heidi, grandchildren Kai, Emma, Clara and Sinéad, brother Padraic O’Hara and sister Delia Flynn (Paudge), sister-in-law Catherine O’Hara, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
She was predeceased by her parents Jimmy and Nora O’Hara, her brother Eamonn and her partner George.
Mary reposed at McGowan’s Funeral Home, Ballina on Friday of last week. Requiem Mass was celebrated in St Patrick’s Church, Ballina on Saturday, followed by cremation in Shannon Crematorium.
Ardnaree Community Playgroup, which marked its 50th anniversary this year, is offering free Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Scheme places for children who will be three years of age by the end of December 2024. Children can start from the age of two years and eight months in September this year.
Ardnaree Community Playgroup was first established in 1974 by a group of local people who saw the need for a place where young children could play together in a safe, secure environment that also provided a social outlet for young mothers. Among those initially involved were Reneé Corcoran, Bert Desoni, Marian Casey and Maura Fitzpatrick.
The busy playschool operates in the Sean Duffy Centre, Shanaghy, the home of Ardnaree Sarsfields GAA club.
A revamp of the play area formed part of the Ardnaree group’s anniversary celebrations this summer.
The ECCE Scheme provides early childhood care and education for children of pre-school age and more details are available from Ardnaree Community Playgroup by contacting 087-3381871 or email ardnareecommunityplaygroup@gmail.com.
St Muredach’s College golf fundraiser
The St Muredach's College Golf Classic is an event which aims to raise funds to directly support the boys of the Ballina secondary school by improving their class environments and upgrading educational resources, thus helping to provide a world-class education for its students.
Ballina Golf Club will host the outing on Saturday, September 21, where the local community can come together, enjoy a great day of golf and contribute to a worthy cause.
The entry fee is €40 per individual player or €160 per team, with the first tee-off at 7am.
Sponsorship opportunities are available for business owners. For example, €50 euro will buy a tee or green sponsorship, while event sponsorship or prize donations are also welcome.
You can register to play by calling Ballina Golf Club at 096-21050.
For more information, please contact St Muredach's College at info@stmuredachscollege.ie or send a message to any of the school’s social media platforms.
Ballina Arch Club wishes to thank all those who helped out and those who contributed to its recent church gate collection.
Ballina Arch Club is a social club for adults with additional needs. It is a safe space for them to develop their social and interpersonal skills, learn real-world skills, make friends and just have fun.
The total collected for the local club was €1,608.79.
Culture Night will take place in Ballina on Friday, September 20. The event programme has yet to be announced, but the quality is expected to surpass even that of Culture Night 2023 when three free events took place in the town.
Over one million people attended 1,700 events in cities, towns and villages nationwide and online on last year’s Culture Night.
Culture Night is supported by the Arts Council and local authorities and is a national moment which takes place across the country every year, celebrating culture, creativity and the arts.
Funding in Mayo is provided through Mayo County Council’s Culture Night Event Fund, which offers financing of up to €1,000 for local community groups, arts, heritage and cultural groups, venues, not-for-profit organisations and societies to stage events.
A social gathering to mark the recent retirement of Clair Cooke from the position of principal of Culleens National School, Ballina is being organised by the school’s past pupils.
The celebration takes place on Friday, September 6, at 7.30pm in the new building of Scoil Naomh Bríd, Culleens, which is located in the Killala Road area of the town.
The 12-classroom building opened in April of this year, 170 years after the first single-classroom school opened in the same townland in April 1854.
Clair Cooke worked as a teacher and principal of the school from 1978 to 2024 and was replaced as principal by Sinead Caffrey.
You can indicate your intention to attend the retirement event via the link on the Facebook page of Culleens National School Past Pupils – Ballina.
Nine plays will feature across three nights during this year’s Ballina One-Act Drama Festival in November.
The celebration of top-class theatre is coming to Ballina Arts Centre on the weekend of November 1, 2 and 3, with Geoff O’Keeffe as the adjudicator.
The festival is sponsored by Ballina Manor Hotel and Connacht Print and Signs, Ballina, in partnership with the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland and the Drama League of Ireland.
Recent Ardnaree Sarsfields GAA Club 50/50 draw winners include John O’Hara, c/o Hughes, Ballina (€325); Sé Lynch, c/c Niall O’Donnell (€300); Anthony Marsh, Greenhills, Ballina (€350); Mary Folan, Ardnaree, Ballina (€420); and Teresa Cavanagh, Ballina (€399).
Tickets for the club’s weekly fundraising draw are available through the Ardnaree Sarsfields GAA Club app, or in local shops.
