Local Notes: Ballina's Moy Singers are seeking male members
Joan Loftus takes a selfie of the Moy Singers at their Carols by Candlelight Christmas Concert Extravaganza for Ballina 2023 in the Great National Hotel Ballina. Picture: John O'Grady
The Moy Singers – one of the busiest vocal groups in Mayo – is back rehearsing for 2024 with a new musical director, Alf Potter. Alf has been accompanist with the choir for the last six years.
After a number of pre-Christmas performances and various concerts during the Ballina 2023 celebrations, the group began its new practice sessions with music by Simon and Garfunkel and Mozart, and from some Broadway shows.
The Moy Singers is reaching out to male singers to join its ranks. The choral group of over 50 members needs more men to augment its tenor and bass parts, and to help contribute to the choir’s reputation for professional-standard public concerts.
The Moy Singers was established in 1986 and has had a ringside seat at many events over those years, including singing for two Presidents - Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese - in Ballina and in Áras an Uachtaráin, Dublin.
The current Moy Singers committee consists of Evelyne Judge (Chairperson), Mary Brogan (Vice-Chairperson), Ann Duffin (Secretary), Mary Flynn (Treasurer), and Jackie Devlin Mehigan (PRO).
Expressions of interest are being sought from enterprises who may be interested in locating in IQ Ballina, the newly developed innovation hub and enterprise space located in the heart of the town in the old Military Barracks.
IQ Ballina, which is owned by Mayo County Council, was funded through the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund via a joint application that also included Moy Valley Resources IRD, which will manage and maintain the innovation hub.
The new campus located at Market Square will meet the demand for high-quality enterprise space in Ballina and North Mayo while also addressing dereliction and vacancy in the property stock of the town.
Various sized offices, flexible desk spaces, and meeting facilities will be provided across the new-look three-building complex to accommodate a myriad of business needs.
Interested business owners and entrepreneurs can request an EOI form from eoienquiries@iqballina.ie.
Ballina Tennis Club resumes its activities for the new year this week.
If you are looking to introduce your child to a sport, tennis is a great option for many reasons, says the club. It develops their hand-eye co-ordination and fine motor skills, while all the while building speed, agility, balance and flexibility.
Children’s coaching at Ballina Tennis Club – located near Ballina Community Sports Centre - is for beginners or advanced players.
Classes are held Monday to Thursday and on Saturday each week, with children between the ages of five and 16 welcome.
Equipment is provided and discounts are applied for families and multiple classes per week.
Contact Artur on 085-7573457 or visit the club’s Facebook page for more information.
As we approach our next National Public Holiday on Monday, February 5, Ballina Costume Company, in association with the Jackie Clarke Collection, is preparing to recreate St Brigid’s Cloak.
Legend has it that when Brigid asked the King of Leinster for land to build a monastery, he agreed to give her what her cloak would cover. To his astonishment, her cloak spread over the entire Plains of The Curragh in Co Kildare!
The February Public Holiday was introduced last year to commemorate St Brigid and will occur on the first Monday of February each year except where February 1 falls on a Friday, which will then be the public holiday. It is hoped to have the new Ballina St Brigid’s Cloak completed before February 5.
To celebrate Nollaig na mBan earlier this month, Ballina Costume Company and the Jackie Clarke Collection unveiled their most recent project, the Community Quilt, which was made by women from across the diverse community of Ballina.
The Newman Institute, Ballina will be the location for a training programme by the HSE Resource Office for Suicide Prevention next week.
SafeTALK is a suicide alertness programme that prepares participants who are over 18 to identify and engage with persons who may be having thoughts of suicide.
The Ballina course will take place on Tuesday, January 23, from 10am to 1.30pm.
Participants learn how to provide practical help by using the steps of TALK (Tell, Ask, Listen and Keepsafe), and also gain information on the supports and resources available locally, regionally and nationally. These specific skills are called suicide alertness and are taught with the expectation that the persons learning them will use them to help reduce suicide risk in their own community.
Booking can be made online.
Christmas tree recycling services will be in place at Mayo County Council’s Rathroeen Landfill Site, Killala Road, Ballina until this weekend. The Council asks that all decorations are removed from trees prior to recycling. Telephone 096-75959 for details of opening hours.
Michelle McAndrew won a VW Taigo in the 5th Mayo Scout Unit Fundraising Draw which was held in the Scout Den, Teeling Street earlier this month.
The prize was offered in association with Connolly Motor Group, Ballina.
The Ballina Scout group began fundraising activities for its much-needed new Scout Den after Mayo County Council provided a greenfield site for the building in Belleek, Ballina, adjacent to Belleek Forest. Planning permission was granted in 2023 for the proposed development.
The scouts currently occupy a building in the centre of Ballina which has been its headquarters since the 1960s. It was built on a site behind the now-demolished Ballina Town Hall on Teeling Street. However, the building and its position pose a safety risk for the children who attend the group’s meetings.
The location of the new site is perfect for an organisation with the ideals of the scout movement, right next to the woods, and with plenty of flora and fauna through its kilometres of adventurous trails and walkways.
During the 1970s and 1980s, and before the building of the Ballina Waste Water Treatment Plant, the 5th Mayo used the expansive open space of the Belleek parkland, which is now circled by the Belleek Greenway, for their regular overnight camping trips.
Sky Channel 186 will show excerpts from last year’s very successful Connacht Fleadh. The fleadh was held in Ballina in July, as part of year-long celebrations to mark the 300th anniversary of the formal establishment of the town.
The programme by TV Ireland will be broadcast on Thursday, January 25th, at 7pm. You will also be able to find it online through the TV Ireland You Tube channel.
The 2024 Connacht Fleadh will be held in Strokestown, Co Roscommon from July 1 to July 7.
Meanwhile, a campaign continues to bring the All-Ireland Fleadh back to Ballina in 2027, when it will mark 30 years since the Fleadh first came to the town for a two-year run.
When a father’s world falls apart, he must battle through obstacles to ensure a future for him and his son.
‘Unguarded’, a touching, and often comedic new drama that uses imaginative physicality, vocal versatility and song, will be performed in Ballina Arts Centre next month.
Written and starring Anthony Kinahan, this innovative production highlights the vulnerable position many LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ families find themselves in due to the lack of regulation of surrogacy in Ireland.
The play comes to Ballina on Saturday, February 24th, at 8pm with direction by Anna Simpson.
Tickets for ‘Unguarded’, which cost €18 (€16 concession), can be booked online at www.ballinaartscentre.com. You can also book by telephoning 096-73593 or emailing info@ballinaartscentre.com.
After a long break comes the return of Ballina Lions Club Fun Table Quiz to The Loft, Ballina, taking place on Friday, February 2nd, the Friday of the forthcoming new public holiday weekend.
A must for all quizzers, this popular night out will have plenty of banter and prizes on offer. It starts at 8.30pm.
St Mary’s Secondary School, Ballina will take on a ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ look in their forthcoming musical. The spectacular show will feature lots of versatile dance routines and great songs from the school’s talented young performers.
It is planned for staging on February 8th and 9th.
Mayo County Council is inviting applications for funding under the General Municipal Allocation (GMA) Funding 2024.
The funding will be administered locally by Ballina Municipal District and the closing date for applications is Friday, February 2nd, at 4.30pm.
Funding applications will be considered for activities or projects which promote directly or indirectly the social, economic, environmental, recreational, cultural, community or sporting development of the Mayo area. Applications are being accepted under the following headings: Residents' Associations, Clubs/Organisations, Festivals and Events and Burial Grounds.
Preference will be given to projects which are community based and demonstrate that they have, or can attract, matching funding.
Application forms are available online from www.mayo.ie.
You can also contact Ballina Municipal District office on 096-76100 or by email at ballinamd@mayococo.ie.
The death has taken place of Michael Timlin, St Patrick's Estate, Ballina.
Michael will be sadly missed by his brothers and sisters Timmy, Eileen, Patsy and Nuala, and by his relatives and friends.
He was predeceased by his parents Marus and Rina, and by his sister Dorothy.
Michael reposed at McGowan’s Funeral Home, Ballina on Wednesday evening last. Mass of the Resurrection was held in St Patrick’s Church, Ballina on Thursday, followed by burial in Leigue Cemetery, Ballina.
A vacancy has arisen on the Bofield/Bonniconlon Community Employment Scheme for a Parish Secretary (Bonniconlon Area). This is a CE Scheme role and Department of Social Protection criteria will apply.
To check eligibility, please contact the Ballina Intreo Office.
The Draft Ballina Local Transport Plan (LTP) is currently on public display at Ballina Civic Offices. This plan will support the National Planning Framework objectives of Compact Growth and Sustainable Mobility and has been prepared pursuant to the Northern and Western Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) 2020-2032.
The plan for Ballina can be viewed from Monday to Friday, between 9.30am and 4.30pm until Thursday, February 8 (excluding the February Public Holiday).
Written submissions or observations in respect of the Draft LTP for Ballina made during such period will be taken into consideration before the plan is finalised by Mayo County Council.
A public consultation drop-in session on the Draft Ballina LTP will be held on Wednesday, January 31st, from 4 to 7.30pm in the Ballina Municipal District Civic Offices on Arran Street.
All documents are also available to download from Mayo County Council’s website at www.mayo.ie. The closing date for submissions or observations is Thursday, February 8th, at 4.30pm.
If you are an artist resident in Ballina you may be interested in a funding opportunity under the Mayo Artist Bursary Scheme, which is now open for applications.
The Artist Bursary Award aims to support the work of professional artists working in any artform, and at all stages of their career, and who are presently resident in Mayo.
Artists working in any discipline, including music, theatre, literature, visual arts, film, dance and performance art, are eligible to apply. The application deadline is 5pm on Friday March 15.
You will first need to register on https://consult.mayo.ie/en.
Further details are available from Mayo Arts Office or from www.mayo.ie.
The first meeting of 2024 for members of Ballina Active Retirement Association, due to take place last week, was cancelled. The meeting has now been rescheduled for Thursday of this week, January 18th.
As a result, the Ballina Active Retirement Association AGM scheduled for that day has been postponed until Thursday, January 25th. Meetings are in the Pastoral Centre, in the grounds of St Muredach’s Cathedral, on Thursday mornings at 10.30am.
The quiz session, which was to take place on January 17th, has now been moved to Wednesday, January 24th, with the next whist session now occurring on Wednesday, January 31st.
The death has taken place of John Murphy, Bunanertish and formerly of Cloontakilla, Ardagh, Ballina.
John will be sadly missed by his loving parents Eamon and Mary, sons Martin and Jack, brothers Eamon and Ronan, aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives and friends.
John reposed at Hiney’s Funeral Home, Crossmolina on Friday last. Requiem Mass was celebrated in the Church of the Assumption, Ardagh on Saturday, followed by burial in Leigue Cemetery, Ballina.
If you have ever considered scuba diving as a sport, but didn’t have the opportunity to get involved, then next week’s free Try-a-Dive session in Ballina Swimming Pool might be for you.
The session will be conducted by Gráinne Uaíle Sub Aqua Club, Ballina on Monday, January 22nd, at 8.30pm.
Gráinne Uaíle Sub Aqua Club was established in 1979 as a sports diving club. Since then the group has promoted scuba diving throughout Mayo and has trained hundreds of people to enjoy diving along the Mayo coast in a safe and enjoyable environment. The club has a dedicated underwater Search and Recovery Unit, the members of which operate in a voluntary capacity, providing the service in Ballina and beyond for over four decades.
Participants for Try-a-Dive need to be 16 years or over and be comfortable in the water, although the organisation has trained non-swimmers, so everyone is welcome. Divers with existing qualifications are also invited along.
You will need to bring your usual swim gear and a t-shirt to wear in the pool, as well as a towel. All other gear will be provided.
But if you do have your own scuba mask, snorkel and fins, the club also asks that you please bring these along with you.
See the Gráinne Uaíle Sub Aqua Club Facebook page for details of how to register in advance. You can also email tryadive@grainneeuailesac.ie or telephone Kate on 087-2313091. Places are limited.
Gráinne Uaíle Sub Aqua Club welcomes new members all year round.
