Local Notes: All the latest news from Ballyhaunis
Staff and board members of Ballyhaunis Family Community Resource Centre at the launch of its annual report and website, from left: Geraldine Glacken, Family Support; Ann Flynn, Interim Project Manager; Tzyy Wang, Chairperson; Tracey McDermott, Project Administrator; Hina Rehman, Childcare Manager; Mary Morrissey, first chairperson of the board when the centre was established in 2004; Grahame Cleary, board member. Picture: Janapix
The judges for the national SuperValu Tidy Towns awards have commended Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns and supporters for major new improvements that saw the town’s score jump 15 points in this year’s competition. The town scored 350 points out of a maximum of 550. Claremorris scored 342 points and Ballaghadreen 262 points while Cloonfad, in the villages category, was awarded 289 points.
Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns told the : “We are very happy to have been awarded 350 marks this year - an increase of 15 marks on last year. We received a very detailed report with a good balance of positive comments and suggestions for improvements.
“Our efforts in implementing our Biodiversity Action Plan and Citizen Science river monitoring were acknowledged in the Nature and Biodiversity category with the adjudicator commenting that this was a very strong submission. We are delighted to receive the regional award in the Waters and Communities category for the second year.”
The judges praised floral displays outside local premises and window displays in Hopkins shop as well as Eddie Murphy’s and Tribe coffee. They also commended landscaping at Aldi and the grounds of the Friary which have been managed to be pollinator friendly.
The judges highlighted an overflowing car park at the train station as a negative, and also highlighted the lack of cycle space or parking at the station.
The report also mentioned the rusting entrances to two town carparks including the Lochán carpark located off Main Street and Knox Street.
The judges also found the chainmail fencing along the Dalgan River “underwhelming” and suggested that a riverside walk would be an amenity for the area.
The Tidy Towns score for Ballyhaunis was clearly boosted by a range of projects to protect local biodiversity, with Tidy Towns volunteers commended for planting and tending to trees in the grounds of the Friary.
Efforts to halt dereliction were praised by the judges who commented positively on the buildings recently restored for residential purposes, such as the Old Butchers and the Bank of Ireland. They urged locals to push for action by the local authorities on buildings that remain listed as derelict and singled out the old convent buildings on Abbey Street - one of which is to be converted into the town’s new library - for particular attention.
The judges also commended the Citizen Science Project run by Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns which monitors the quality of the water in the Dalgan River.
The cost of heating the Community Hall has fallen dramatically, according to figures presented at a recent Climate Conversations event run as part of Climate Action Week.
Hall management spent €4,500 on electricity in 2024, a figure that includes the running of the heat pump heating system which warms the building 24-7 for the colder six months of the year.
“Our building is kept to a constant, comfortable warmth all day long throughout the winter months which means the building is constantly ready and comfortable for use,” noted a statement from Ballyhaunis Community Council, which runs the building. “To achieve the same level of warmth and comfort we’d have spent approximately €12,000 on kerosene,” noted the statement.
The Community Council expects the electricity bill for 2025 and 2026 to fall sharply thanks to the installation of 60 solar panels on the roof of the hall earlier this year.
“There is a very clear economic rationale for renewable energy provided the building is well insulated,” noted the statement. “Our installation of external insulation and a heat pump at the hall has brought very significant savings in energy spending - and emissions."
Several householders who spoke at the event highlighted the dramatic savings in electricity and motoring costs they’re experiencing through the use of solar panels. Local householder Pat Higgins, who charges his electric car at home, said his motoring costs are a quarter of the equivalent per-kilometre cost of a similar-sized petrol fuelled car thanks to the installation of solar panels on his roof.
Also speaking at the event, Brendan Golden, Connacht chairperson of the Irish Farmers Association, gave a detailed presentation on the efforts of farmers to reduce emissions and the challenges they face in doing so.
Market gardener Sebastian Dmilanowski spoke on the challenges and opportunities in producing low-carbon, organic food locally at local vegetable producer Mannin Lake Farm in Larganboy.
Cllr Alma Gallagher spoke on the grants available to make homes more energy efficient, including grants for insulation and heat pumps.
The bookmaking business clearly remains viable judging by the large new Boylesports outlet that opened on Main Street in a premises formerly occupied by competing chain Ladbrokes.
Last June, a spokesperson for Coral, which owns the Ladbrokes brand, told the the closure of its Ballyhaunis outlet was because “the lease expired in April and unfortunately it was not commercially viable to extend it further due to lack of business". However, Boylesports obviously feel there is a future in on-street bookmaking and have relocated from their old shop at Clare Street to the larger premises. Last month, bookmaker Paddy Power announced it was closing 28 shops in Ireland due to the increase in online betting.
The future status of the Scouts Den building may be decided by a quantity surveyor survey that will give a costing for the demolition and removal of the long-derelict building.
The survey is expected to be completed in 2026 according to a Mayo County Council official who told this column that the Scouts Den stands on ground owned by the Augustinian Order but leased on a 900-year lease to the Abbey Trust, a body made up of representatives from the community and the council.
Any demolition works would require permission from the local authority but also Irish Rail, which owns a strip of land along the front of the Scouts Den.
Also in 2026, the Friary grounds are to be screened for archaeology as part of a process to create a masterplan for the future preservation of the site.
Local Aontú TD Paul Lawless has welcomed the building and renovation of apartment buildings in Ballyhaunis for social housing as “welcome and positive” despite remarks on Tiktok after the Budget suggesting apartments are largely the preserve of major cities and are invested in by “multinational finance".
International investors have largely steered away from investing in Irish apartment projects and the state is now the key investor, a fact pointed out by Derek O’Connor, the CEO of Ballyhaunis bathroom maker BPod (which supplies various apartment projects) in the last month.
Mr Lawless said his remarks were intended as criticism of the Government’s decision to limit VAT relief to builders of apartments.
“I have campaigned for a VAT reduction on the construction for quite some time. I support the VAT reduction, however, I believe it was a missed opportunity and should have been for the entire construction sector. There is a major issue in terms of viability in the construction of houses in Mayo.”
Two apartment projects coming to completion in Ballyhaunis have added 14 new housing units to the town while private developers have submitted applications for planning permission for two other apartment developments on Barrack Street and Knox Street in the town.
The persistent planting of laurel hedges is causing harm to native plant species with whom it competes for space and light. That was one of the observations of a recent meeting in Ballyhaunis of the Climate Café Connacht, which meets every month to allow those concerned by climate change and biodiversity loss to meet and talk.
The group also discussed actions in the garden during the winter months and ways to make green spaces and gardens more friendly to native fauna and flora during the October 19th meeting.
An evergreen species, cherry laurel, is widely sold in garden centres for hedging yet the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has recognised it as an "established highly invasive species with a risk of high impact" due to its ability to spread, crowding out native species of plants and trees.
Recommended as ideal hedging material, native species like whitethorn and blackthorn are preferred by environmentalists for the source of food as well as shelter they offer birds, and the pollen provided to bees when they flower in late spring. Briars and other fruit-producing native plants like blackcurrant bushes should be allowed co-exist - in a controlled manner – in gardens as a source of food, those attending the Climate Café agreed.
Climate Café Connacht meets again in November at the Friary House and can be contacted at climatecafeconnacht@gmail.com.
