Local Notes: Ballina Lions Club raises funds for Children's Hospice
Martina Jennings and Audrey Duffy of Sunflower Children's Hospice, receiving a cheque for €3,500, part the proceeds of Ballina Lions Club Golf Classic 2026. Also pictured are Ballina Lions Club members, from left: Jonathan Merrick, Ivan Beattie, Robert Doyle (President of Ballina Lions Club), Joe Gavin, Gerry Jordan, Brian Hopkins, Edward Gaughan, John Carroll (Chairperson of the Ballina Lions Club Golf Classic committee), Sean Leahy, Bryan Moloney, Vincent Duffy, Noel Cribben and Adrian Bourke. A similar donation was also made to Ballina Autism Friendly Town.
Winner of Social Enterprise of the Year at the 2026 LAMA Awards, Ballina-based ACT has been awarded funding under the Creative Climate Action Fund III (2026 to 2029) for Confluence, a project that will focus on communities along the River Moy.
Under the same funding programme, The Mary Robinson Centre has been awarded €746,163 for its partnership project The Messages.
Confluence invites people to see the Moy as a living system to be understood, celebrated and cared for. It will be a three-year project using culture, storytelling and co-design to reframe how communities close to Mayo’s longest river understand and respond to climate change, and will connect five towns (Swinford, Foxford, Crossmolina, Ballina and Killala), as well as their surrounding villages and rural hinterlands.
The Creative Climate Action Fund supports ambitious creative initiatives that draw on culture, the arts, design and collaborative practices to make climate science more accessible, strengthen climate and nature literacy and encourage communities across Ireland to engage meaningfully with climate action.
ACT (Accelerating Change Together) is a flourishing social enterprise of ambitious architects, urbanists and policy specialists working to quicken the Green Transition, based at IQ Ballina but working across Ireland and Europe.
The project will invite people to see the River Moy as a living system to be understood, celebrated and cared for.
Confluence responds to increasing pressure on the Moy catchment. Recent flooding in Ballina and Crossmolina, and the closure of the Moy Fishery in 2025 due to rising water temperatures, have brought the impact of a changing climate into focus for local communities.
ACT has welcomed the investment of €598,500 in this ambitious new project by Creative Ireland, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, the Department of the Taoiseach and EirGrid.
Confluence builds on the success of Ripple and Cascade, two previous ACT-led Creative Climate Action projects in Ballina.
Separately, The Mary Robinson Centre, Ballina, in partnership with Hinterland CLG, Project Dandelion and artist Victoria McCormack, has received €746,163 in funding for The Messages. This is a women-led, all-island climate and food project that will celebrate our shared food culture while supporting communities to explore creative, practical climate action. Working alongside climate experts, artists, scientists and growers, Creative Food Facilitators will help inspire lasting change through shared meals, food exchange and community connection.
Funding for The Messages is also under the Creative Climate Action Fund III, with help from the Shared Island initiative.
There were several Stableford competitions played by the ladies of Ballina Golf Club recently.
A 12-Hole Stableford on July 23 saw Mary Tighe take the top spot (28 points), followed by Helen Dunne (27 points).
In the 9-Hole Stableford played as a junior fundraiser, Deirdre Beattie came first, with 25 points.
The results of the 18-hole Stableford competition sponsored by Cooney’s Hardware and Ballina Golf Club Captain John Slater on July 25 were as follows: 1st, Mary Tighe, 44 points; Category 1, Clair Cooke, 41 points; Category 2, Stephanie Stapleton, 43 points; and Category 3, Helen Dunne, 43 points.
The death has taken place of Brian Leonard, Rathmeel Lawns, Ballina.
Brian will be dearly missed by his wife Winnifred, son Richard, granddaughter Maya, sister Helen, brothers Joe and Tony, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, aunts, uncles, relatives, neighbours and friends.
He was predeceased by his beloved daughter Rachel, parents Ethel and Anthony, and sisters Mary, Ann and Joan.
Brian reposed at McGowan’s Funeral Home, Ballina. Requiem Mass was celebrated in nearby St Muredach’s Cathedral on August 8, followed by burial in Leigue Cemetery, Ballina.
May he rest in peace.
Ballina Credit Union has congratulated Crossmolina runner Danny McDonald, who was first across the finish line with an outstanding time of 18 minutes and 30 seconds in the recent Marian Browne 5K Run in Ballina. The event was sponsored by the local credit union.
Ballina Salmon Festival Committee organised the event to commemorate the late Marian Browne, who died last November. A popular local figure, Marian had been a stalwart of the festival, and of many other community groups, over several decades.
Starting at the Ballina Town FC football pitch, a large group of runners and walkers made their way along the beautiful Belleek Forest Trail on the banks of the River Moy, enjoying the wonderful surroundings and, at the same time, remembering the contribution that Marian had made to Ballina.
Ballina Credit Union thanked Marian’s family for supporting the event, as well as Ballina Salmon Festival Committee members, including Mary, Tara, Tracey and Ann, the stewards, ambulance services and D’Barrista, who kindly donated €330 to Ballina Order of Malta, proceeds which were raised by their ice cream van located at the event.
Peace in Ukraine is the focus of tomorrow’s free Music at Lunchtime show in Ballina Arts Centre.
Aina Tysenko Valeriivna is a singer, songwriter, composer and dancer from the war-torn Eastern European country. She will unveil a Healing Concert for Ukraine during her short performance, which starts at 1.15pm on Wednesday, August 19.
Aina is a creative artist, and her performance is a dedicated to peace in her home country and throughout the world. The show will open with her own music, ‘Time for Peace,’ and she will go on to sing a selection songs from Disney films as well as covers by well-known artists.
Tea and coffee will be served during the half-hour show in The Mezzanine of Ballina Arts Centre and all are welcome.
The Music at Lunchtime concerts are held every Wednesday, from June to September. These free concerts are a popular proving ground for musicians, singers and songwriters based in the area, and provide local people with a chance to see live music during their lunch break.
A parents’ coffee morning that will provide families with information about local supports and programmes is to be held in Ballina tomorrow, August 18.
The informal get-together is organised by community development company Mayo North East, which manages a range of Government and EU programmes to support individuals and communities in the region.
The coffee morning will be held at its office on Kevin Barry Street, Ballina (close to Atlantic Medical Centre) from 11am to 12.30pm, and parents and their children are welcome to come along.
Recent winners in the weekly Ardnaree Sarsfields GAA Club 50/50 Cash Draw included Deirdre O’Hora, who won €310, and Gerry Connor and John Egan, who won €400 and €460 respectively.
A ticket for the club’s popular fundraising activity costs €2, or three for €5, and can be purchased online, through the club’s app, or in participating shops.
Carra, Bonniconlon will be the location next week for an on-farm talk organised by Acres West Connacht, focusing on NPIs (Non-Productive Investments) and Landscape Actions.
Acres is Ireland's agri-environment climate scheme under the CAP Strategic Plan. The scheme is a farmer-friendly one to help address biodiversity decline while delivering an income support for up to 50,000 farm families across the country.
The Bonniconlon event on Wednesday, August 26 will give people the chance to see actions in practice, identify areas where these activities could be implemented on their own farm, and learn more about the benefits these measures can bring.
All are welcome to attend the talk, taking place at Eircode F26 C638 from 7pm to 8.30pm, and no booking is necessary.
The next day, an Acres West Connacht open-door, pop-up clinic for farmers will be held in Knockmore.
The event will be held in Knockmore/Rathduff Recreation and Resource Centre from 9am to 5pm on Thursday, August 27, and is an opportunity to raise queries regarding NPIs, Landscape Actions or ways to improve commonage scores.
Chair Yoga is back at Craoibhín Ballina. Instructor Elle May will be on hand every Tuesday from 2pm to 3pm to guide you through the many benefits of this gentle form of exercise, including improving flexibility and building strength, all while seated or supported by a chair.
To book a place, which costs €10, please call the centre on McDermott Street, Ballina at 087-2785365. Everyone is welcome to join in.
The proposed new Sunflower Children’s Hospice in Castlebar will benefit from the proceeds of an event in Ballina on the last weekend of August.
Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation submitted a planning application for the landmark 36,000 square feet, state-of-the-art, in-patient and respite facility in June of this year.
A Charity Golf Classic in aid of this important new development will take place at Ballina Golf Club on Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29, with valuable prizes. Among the many awards on offer will be for the Longest Drive - 18th Hole and Nearest the Pin - 14th Hole.
And there’s a signed and framed Mayo jersey from the 2026 All-Ireland GAA Senior Football Champions as a special raffle prize.
It costs €200 for a team of four to enter, and €15 for re-entry.
The presentation ceremony following the charity golf classic will take place in the clubhouse on Saturday night at 9pm, with live music afterwards from Kevin Casey.
Ballina Golf Club wishes to thank Western Glass/Profile Systems and Eddie Tracey Golf PGA Pro for their generous support.
Ballina Fringe Festival will take place across venues in the town from October 2 to 11 this year, with the full programme of events to be announced soon.
In the meantime, there’s a reminder that filmmakers of all ages and nationalities, from first-timers to professionals, are invited to submit short films on the theme of ‘resilience’ for the Smartphone Film Festival, one of this year’s popular fringe festival events. The deadline for submission is August 28. Films should be between one and ten minutes in duration and can be submitted via FilmFreeway at www.filmfreeway.com.
