Local Notes: New town map is unveiled in Ballyhaunis
Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns unveiled a specially designed town map, sponsored by First Choice Credit Union and now displayed at the town square.
Minister for European Affairs, Jennifer Caroll MacNeill is expected to attend the unveiling of a monument on July 20th.
Senator Gerard Craughwell, who issued the invitations for the event, received notification that Minister MacNeill would attend in the place of Minister for Defence, Tánaiste Micheál Martin.
The Army will be represented by a colour party of three officers as well as a drummer and a trumpeter. The chief of staff will be represented by a senior officer. Craughwell told this column he had asked for an Army band, tents and an honour guard.
The July 20th commemoration event was organised by neighbours and former comrades of Private Kedian, with a €10,000 grant from Mayo County Council paying for the monument.
Local organiser Gerry O’Boyle has called on local people to donate to an iDonate page titled ‘Friends of Private Billy Kedian’, which was set up to pay for the event.
“So far we only have €270 [of €4,068] in donations from the Ballyhaunis area, the rest of it came from outside the area. We need people to be generous," he said.
O’Boyle explained that catering will now be provided by Supermac’s and a food truck which will be in situ at the site of the monument in Moneymore.
“We will have a shuttle bus which will take people from my yard to the site. This is for road safety.”
A reception in Delaney’s bar on Abbey Street will follow the event, said Mr O’Boyle.
All are invited to attend a Circular Economy Workshop, taking place on Friday, June 28th, from 6 to 8pm in the Community Hall, Ballyhaunis.
“The aim of the workshop is to develop ideas and plans for how our community can work together to reduce waste, promote the concepts of reuse, repair, recycle and build a more sustainable future,” explained a spokesperson for the organisers, Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns.
The workshop will be facilitated by Tad Kirakowski of Voice Ireland, an NGO dedicated to reducing waste.
The Tidy Towns spokesperson added: “Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns, in association with Ballyhaunis Community Council, are inviting you to have your say in our circular future. Through funding by Community Foundation Ireland and support from VOICE, we are coming together to develop ideas and plans for how our community can come together to reduce waste and build community.
"We are holding a community meeting to ask what are the waste and circular economy issues we would like to address? What are the projects we’d like to see? How can we build a more sustainable future for our community?”
Residents of the Holywell area, who have been waiting for over a month for the repair of poles and wire damaged by a passing truck, continue to wait for Eir workers to arrive on site.
In response to a query from this column last week, the company said: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Open Eir teams attended the site and have made it safe. A replacement pole and cable will be installed in the coming days.
"Public cooperation in reporting safety concerns is appreciated. If members of the public see damage such as downed poles or trees interfering with telecommunications infrastructure please contact Open Eir at 1800 245 245.”
This year’s Abbey Pattern is planned to take place at the end of August in the Friary Field at St Mary’s Augustinian Abbey.
An Abbey Pattern planning meeting set for Tuesday, June 25th, at 8pm in the Friary House welcomes any person or group interested in helping out or running an activity to attend.
The Abbey Pattern is a long-standing tradition in Ballyhaunis, being a family-based sports/fun day normally held on the last Sunday of August (the feast day of St Augustine) and just as the new school term begins.
After a three-year hiatus the event returned last year, proving a great success with athletics events along with bouncy castles and other novelty events.
The committee are currently looking for volunteers willing to help prepare the event. If you or your group would like to help in this year’s Abbey Pattern, please feel welcome to attend the planning meeting on Tuesday, June 25th, at 8pm in the Friary House or contact the Ballyhaunis Sports Hub Coordinator at 086-0618126.
An environmental scheme will fund the establishment of an orchard of native Irish apple trees at the Friary grounds.
The Hare’s Corner scheme is run by BurrenBeo and named for the area of a field traditionally left to hares and other nature. It will fund up to eight apple trees as well as a small surrounding woodland.
Laura Dinraths, from Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns, explained the group has sought permission from the Abbey Trust to do the planting.
“The trees will be available during the bare root season, so we will be planting supposedly between December and February. The schools were interested and we'll communicate later to get community groups involved in planting and maintaining if possible. The orchard would be planted on the plateau behind the community garden, trees planted five metres apart.”
The Biodiversity Action Plan, published by the Tidy Towns group, includes other potential actions for the Friary grounds, including the addition of beneficial plants such as yellowrattle, bluebells and wild garlic.
Ballyhaunis’ Muslim population celebrated the Eid ul Adha festival with prayers and a communal feast.
Eid ul Adha is celebrated on the last month of Islamic calendar, where all the Muslims around the world get together and perform Hajj or pilgrimage, local man Mohammed Usman Sarwar explained.
“Muslims who are able physically and financially to do Hajj are required to perform Hajj once in their lifetime which is performed in Mecca every year. This ritual literally translates as 'to attend a journey' and denotes both the outward act of physically travelling and the inward act of a person's contemplation of their faith. Hajj requires the Muslims to repeat a set of rituals first performed by the Prophet Mohammed centuries ago.
"This event is deeply spiritual experience for Muslims, and one every believer aspires to take part in at some point in their life, if they are able. When the Hajj is over then the Muslims sacrifice animals like goat, sheep, cows and camel etc in remembrance of the Prophet Ibrahim [also known as Abraham] who nearly sacrificed his son Ismail [Isaac].
“Eid ul Adha in Ballyhaunis is celebrated accordingly as the rest of the Muslim community in the world celebrates. After the Eid prayers, the whole of the community get together and greet each other. Food is distributed by the mosque committee which is cooked and paid by the mosque committee as well. The celebrations continue throughout the day. Both of the Eids are celebrated for three days.
"The people from different communities in Ballyhaunis are more than welcome to join whenever these festivals take place.”
Further celebrations marked the return from Mecca of two members of the local Rahmani clan, which runs the local Aleppo food store and wholesaling business. Almost 200 members of the local Syrian-Irish attended the party on June 20th at the Community Hall following the return of the two pilgrims from Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Residents of the Ballyhaunis international protection accommodation centre - previously known as the direct provision centre – seeking to move out to accommodation are being referred by Mayo County Council for assistance to two charities, Depaul and Peter McVerry.
A council spokesperson told this column: “Depaul and Peter McVerry are contracted to provide supports to those who are granted status following their international protection application in guiding them through the process of sourcing their own accommodation.”
Individuals and families granted refugee status or permission to remain in Ireland have been given notice by the national international protection accommodation service to find their own accommodation. A new office at Mayo County Council, the Local Authority Integration Team, is led by Natalya Pestova, Integration Support Co-ordinator. Ms Pestova previously supported residents at the Ballyhaunis centre in her role as coordinator of the Mayo Intercultural Action group, funded by Southwest Mayo Development Company.
The council spokesperson explained that the “role of the Local Authority Integration Team is to provide information, advice and guidance on how to access local services to individuals based in IPAS [International Protection Accommodation Service] accommodation centres".
"The LAIT in Mayo signposts the individuals granted status to Depaul for respective supports.”
Asked what percentage of direct provision residents in Co Mayo are eligible to move out to private housing, the council replied: “The requested information is outside of our knowledge.”
Ballyhaunis Community Council invites all to a social night of music, dancing, and open mic for anyone to come sing a song, play a tune or recite a poem on Saturday, June 29th, from 8 to 10pm. The social night is supported by Nolan's SuperValu with all funds raised going towards Western Care. All welcome for this family-friendly evening.
Congratulations to this week's lucky winner in the Ballyhaunis GAA 50/50 draw, John Fitzgerald of Erriff, Ballyhaunis, who won €460 on an envelope sold in The Corner Bar.
