Local Notes: All the latest news from Ballyhaunis
Jade Swanick, aged 11, from Ballyhaunis outside Croke Park before Katie Taylor's recent historic boxing match. Picture: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie
A shopkeeper on Main Street in Ballyhaunis whose store was robbed recently believes he was targeted by a roving gang of raiders passing through the town.
“They were probably passing through,” said Muhammad Tayyab who runs the Mobile Ink store with his brother Shahid, explaining how a trio of robbers stole €2,000 worth of products and caused over €1,000 worth of damage to his storefront window.
The raiders, who struck at 12.30am last Thursday morning, were clearly prepared, said Muhammad.
“They had a way to drill a small hole and they had a glass cutter but when the shopfront window was too difficult to cut they took a keg from nearby Val’s bar and restaurant.
“We have an alarm in place, we have cameras. There’s not much else we can do other than hire a security guard to stand there all night.
“We have spoken to Eircom alarms and they are suggesting to put sensors on the window, to detect movement, which would trigger and alarm.”
Muhammad believes the gang was targetting shops as they travelled from one town to another.
“Someone saw a guy waiting in the car on Knock Road. The three guys in the car came from Upper Main Streets and walked back down.”
The raiders spent 40 minutes at the Mobile Ink store, pausing each time a car passed to duck into a nearby doorway.
Muhammad is calling on local authorities to block up that doorway, the entrance to the former Epic nightclub which has been converted into apartments.
“They were able to duck in there and hide, there is no visibility or cameras there.”
The Gardaí were called by a local Brazilian woman who was coming home after her shift at Western Brand poultry processing plant.
“The guys working in the local takeaway also came down and they called me,” explained Muhammad.
Mobile Ink was the victim of another incident during Covid when a few phones were stolen.
“Also, two years ago the front glass was broken but nothing was stolen,” said Muhammad.
Local voluntary group Ballyhaunis Language Café is seeking a teacher to deliver classes to beginners and improvers in the Irish language.
The group’s popular classes, which take an informal approach to spreading the national language, were the recipient this year of the Mayo County Council’s Cathaoirleach’s Award for best Irish language initiative in Mayo.
A spokesperson for the group said a teacher is being sought for a weekly Irish class run through the Autumn and Winter months.
“The classes are very friendly and welcoming, the emphasis is on the social aspect of learning Irish,” said a spokeperson for the Language Café, which is also calling on members of the public to drop into its Thursday evening English-language conversation group where members of the town’s diverse community meet to chat and drink tea and coffee.
“We converse about things happening in the community, different topics,” explained the spokesperson. “There’s a great sense of camaraderie and neighbourliness and for many of our regulars it’s a highlight of their week.”
Significant works at the Ballyhaunis Mosque on Clare Street has seen the demolition of a wing of the building added in later years.
"The newer wing was making the older building unstable so we had to act,” explained Abdul Shafiq from the mosque management committee.
The removal of a significant part of the building has meant less space, he explained, “but we will have to accommodate somehow.
"It was either that or we would have safety issues on our hand," he said.
The mosque management committee hopes to hire an architect to design a new extension to the building, explained Mr Shafiq.
The recent demolition works were paid for by fundraising in the local Muslim community, said Mr Shafiq.
Further fundraising will pay for any new building works, he said.
“We are looking to expand and we will be fundraising then but that is for the future.”
Built in the 1980s, Ballyhaunis mosque was long the first purpose-built mosque in Ireland. The structure was built at some expense by industrialist Mohammed Sher Rafique adjacent to the Halal meat plant he built up over two decades in Ballyhaunis.
“He’s building Ireland’s first mosque – 10 miles from Knock” read the headline on a story on the front page of the in April 1980 featured Mr Rafique and his architect, Gerry McGarry, talking about the plans for the mosque.
Construction didn’t however commence for a number of years: a December 1988 article in the detailed the ongoing construction of the dome of the mosque, lined with pure gold by Mr Rafique who said the structure could accommodate 250 worshippers even though the local Muslim community at the time totalled only 12 people.
The local Muslim community has expanded significantly since then, with large Pakistani and Syrian communities supplemented by Muslim residents at the local International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre hailing from a range of countries and regions including Bangladesh, North Africa, Somalia and Pakistan.
Ballyhaunis will soon have a new fast food restaurant as soon as an electricity connection is arranged. Armaan Jan is planning to open Mighty Bites in the location previously occupied by the Sultan Grill on Bridge Street.
Mr Jan said he’s looking forward to opening for business in the “very near future".
Homes and businesses have reported delays of up to four months for connections to the grid with the ESB struggling to keep pace with demand from new homes, businesses and data centres.
Dawn Meats has gone to a five-day week for the busy Autumn season, which is often the peak cattle slaughtering period of the year.
“It is really busy the past week and we are looking for new staff,” said one worker who spoke to this newspaper.
Falling cattle numbers across Europe has seen lower overall cattle slaughter numbers this year to date compared to 2025. Bord Bia figures show a 4% fall in the number of cattle killed at meat plants in Ireland in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period last year.
Material is currently being gathered and prepared for ‘Annagh 2026’, the forty-ninth edition of the Ballyhaunis annual parish magazine.
Articles, club reports and photographs are being accepted for inclusion. A very popular feature each year is the gallery of wedding photographs. If you, a family member, or friend with Ballyhaunis connections, got married in the past year, Annagh would be delighted to include a wedding photograph in the upcoming issue.
An appeal is made also to secretaries and PROs of local clubs and organisations to make sure reports and photographs are submitted in good time.
"The deadline for material is Friday, October 16, just over four weeks away, but plenty of time to put pen to paper or root out those photographs you would like to share. Due to the pressure on printing works as Christmas approaches, it is vital that material be submitted before the deadline.
Material may be emailed to info@annaghmag.ie or given to any committee member: Tommy Caulfield, Noreen Ruane Dalton, John Kilduff, Jim Lundon, Edward Mulhern, Seamus Mulrennan, Nell Rochford, Mike Griffin, Gabriel Smith and Paul Waldron.
