Local Notes: All the latest news from Ballyhaunis
Pictured at the 'Revolutionary Women of East Mayo' presentation by Mayo Genealogy Group at the Community Hall in Ballyhaunis were from left: Mark Godfrey, Patricia Conway, Sean Leach, Martin Neary, Ann Leydon, Lauren McGrath, Leah Honan, Adrianna Gallagher, James Breheny, Mary Donnelly and Seamus Bermingham. The exhibition features women from the Ballyhaunis area involved in the War of Independence and the Civil War.
The number of officially derelict buildings in Ballyhaunis continues to fall, with 11 properties with a Ballyhaunis address on the latest list compiled by Mayo County Council compared to 12 in June of this year and 14 in December 2023. In late January 2022, there were 17 properties on the Derelict Sites Register for Ballyhaunis.
Some major sites still on the list include the former Dillon’s commercial building at the Square, as well as a former bicycle shop on Bridge Street and McCabe House, commercial properties on Knox St and Abbey St respectively. Also listed is the old Larganboy schoolhouse, which is privately owned.
Works have been completed on the interior of the Dillon’s site, which is being redeveloped into eight apartments by the site’s current owner, property development firm Tarbury Ltd.
Also on the list are two sites in Abbeyquarter valued at €120,000, two properties on Barrack Street remain listed as derelict while the DK Moran building on Knox Street has also been removed from the list in the past six months.
Dereliction notices are issued under Section 8 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, giving the owners an opportunity 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 thus have to be paid in the case of a sale.
A spokesperson for St Vincent de Paul told this column that its new shop in Ballyhaunis will open in the early part of the new year.
“The hope is that the shop can open in the first few months of 2025,” a spokesperson for the charity told the .
The shop will open on Bridge Street in the premises currently occupied by clothes shop Claire Fontayne.
Amar Sattar, who also owns the building, told this column several months ago that his Claire Fontayne shop would close for good in late November to make way for his new tenant, St Vincent de Paul, which runs over 200 charity shops nationwide trading under the ‘Vincent’s’ name.
Asylum seekers living in the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centre in Ballyhaunis are waiting for up to a year for their first interview with the Department of Justice as part of their asylum applications.
A Bangladeshi resident of the IPAS centre in Ballyhaunis, which is operated by Roscommon-based company Bridgestock Care, told this column he and his wife and children have been nearly a year in Ballyhaunis without any interview regarding their application.
“It’s a long time but this seems the normal waiting time in Ireland,” noted the man who is now working in a restaurant in Swinford.
Mayo County Council, in its budget for the year ahead, has budgeted €40,000 for the maintenance and operation of St Mary’s Abbey, also known as the Friary, in Ballyhaunis. This is down on the €62,000 adopted for the property in 2024, according to a copy of the draft budget published by the Council.
Padraic Flanagan, manager the Claremorris municipal district, explained to this column: “There was a once off expenditure item last year to buy the new ride-on lawnmower for the Abbey Grounds. The budget is back to normal levels for 2025.”
Prepared by the local authority’s executive staff, the 2025 budget was adopted by councillors earlier this month. Mayo County Council has budgeted €1.15 million in spending on the Old Convent National School (Ballyhaunis Community Hub) in 2025 with €2.57 million the following year and €2.17 million in 2027. The funds are coming from grants (€5,276,070) but also a loan of €586,230.
“This regeneration proposal seeks to sensitively adapt the existing derelict Convent Primary School Building and its grounds within the town centre of Ballyhaunis to a new use as Public Library and Enterprise Hub,” notes an explanation of the project in the budget document.
“Externally, the grounds will be developed as a landscaped public park with pedestrian links to the main business and retail core of the town.”
Congratulations to Damien Keadin, Old Racecourse, Ballyhaunis who won €460 in the Ballyhaunis GAA Club's 50/50 draw in an envelope sold in Delaney's.
