Local Notes: Pioneering project proves a success in Ballyhaunis
A fabric upcycling programme run by Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns has proven popular with locals and has also involved a local youth project.
A pioneering project seeking to reduce textile waste is planning more workshops to help locals fix and repurpose clothing.
Recent workshops at the Community Hall for the public and members of a local youth project were very well attended, explained Shayla Rasmussen, a member of Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns, which runs the project.
“Our project focused on upcycling unwanted and unused clothing and fabric items. We received funding from Community Foundation Ireland to develop a Community Circular Economy Action Plan or CCEAP with help from VOICE [an NGO] and feedback from the community.
"Our project started with an open donation day for the community to dispose of unwanted material, and participants reported being happy to have this material be used in a sustainable way. We then organised two public workshops in the Community Hall, as well as a course and workshop with Foróige - the BEY [Ballyhaunis Engaging Youth] Project.
“Participants of the first public workshop created fabric boxes and during the second they learned quilting skills and made a small quilt each. For the youth course, the members learned basic sewing skills and created a patchwork wall hanging for the Foróige room, and during the workshop they made fabric coasters to take home.
“Throughout these events, the general feedback was that participants were mostly interested in learning new skills and creating new usable objects. While environmental concerns did not seem like the primary reason for their attendance, many people shared their joy with being able to reduce their material waste and make new items. Clothing repair was also a common suggestion we received from the feedback forms for possible future workshops.”
As reported in this column recently, the proliferation of cheap, low quality clothing, often referred to as fast fashion, has created a headache for clothing recyclers and charity shops due to the difficulty of finding markets for the lower-quality textiles. Rasmussen concurs:
“It is more difficult to upcycle fast fashion, as the quality of fabric is often not as good. Additionally, the material is usually stretchy and made from synthetics, which are more difficult to work with than natural fibres like cotton. Cotton holds its shape better, making it an easier material to sew with, both by hand and machine.”
Nonetheless, Ballyhaunis will have more opportunities to re-stitch unwanted clothes, said Rasmussen.
“We will finish this specific grant project in the autumn with one more fabric upcycling course with Foróige. Then we will be looking for additional funding to continue to complete projects from our CCEAP, such as more fabric upcycling workshops/repair workshops, clothing/toy swaps, and waste reduction/recycling awareness in the community.”
A meeting to discuss developments on the site of St Mary’s Abbey, known as the Friary, will be hosted by Mayo County Council on Tuesday, July 29, at the church to review current and future developments in light of the property’s unique archaeological nature.
A representative from the National Monuments Service as well as a conservation architect from Mayo County Council will attend the meeting to explain the conservation status of the Friary structures and grounds and what this means for any planned projects or structures on the site, which was occupied by the Augustinian order for several hundred years until 2002 when the religious order bequeathed the property to the community through the Abbey Trust, an entity chaired by Mayo County Council.
“Due to the unique nature of the site, its special protections and listings and the volume of groups and individuals working on the site, it was felt that now was a good time to address planned and potential future development proposals and any required preparatory works under the various legislations and protections afforded to the site and its buildings,” notes a council statement.
“It is anticipated that a blueprint for a future site masterplan will be established from the meeting and that potential plans for developments that are currently in the pipeline on the site will have a better understanding of the required route forward for their individual projects.
“Both National Monument and Protected Structure /Listed Building Status has been in place on the Friary Site for some years. No new protection has been allocated recently. A brief overview of the protections afforded to the site and what this means will be discussed on the day...
“The friary site contains many recorded monuments, and the entire site is classed as a Record of Monuments and Places (RMP) zone. RMP zones are areas identified on maps as having potential for archaeological remains, based on the presence of recorded monuments or other features of archaeological interest. These areas have protection under the National Monuments Acts and therefore require archaeological assessment and mitigation measures to ensure the protection of any potential archaeological remains on the site prior to any development taking place.
“The friary site also has listed and protected structure status, namely the Abbey building itself and the Priory Building (also known as the Friary House). Protected structure status also includes protection of the grounds of the protected buildings which in the case of the Friary extends to the entire friary site.
“Planning permission or an exemption from planning is generally required on grounds containing protected structures even if the works are not planned for the building itself. Protection often includes protection for the interior of the properties. Listed status has been given to the Priory and Friary Buildings under the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage [NIAH] Building Survey.”
A suggestion by Tánaiste Simon Harris that residents of International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) should be means tested to potentially pay rent has provoked plenty of discussion among residents of Ballyhaunis’ IPAS centre, long the only such facility in the county.
Speaking to this column, a resident of the centre, who lives in a family unit on the site, said: “We must categorise these accommodation into two categories, one the type in which I am living. That is superb, clean, respectable. It’s considered good accommodation... people who are living in this type of accommodation must contribute towards rent depending upon their income. I think those centres who are good in living condition, their residents must contribute.”
However, noted the IPAS resident, other centres with lesser facilities shouldn’t have to pay.
“I think it would be unfair for them... These are accommodation centres in which people are living life beyond standards, six persons in a single room with four kitchens for 27 families.”
The asylum seeker, who has been a year in Ballyhaunis, also believes government should change the policy “so that whoever comes and applies for asylum, since that day he or she must be allowed to work, and pay taxes".
“Now we wait for six months [to be allowed work] and then wait one month for permission, so a total seven months we are just getting from the government but we aren’t paying taxes as we aren’t working. This wait brings hate to Irish people’s mind for asylum seekers, they see them not working and getting homes and facilities.”
Employers are sometimes reluctant to take on asylum seekers due to the unpredictability of their stay in a location, said the IPAS resident. This is particularly true for asylum seekers with good qualifications applying for professional jobs, he said.
“When they know about our asylum seeker status they deny us.”
Locally-based migrants on work permits don’t have the accommodation supports given to IPAS residents but have more certainty on their status, stressed the asylum seeker.
“After completing a certain time period, they can get permanent residency, then after a specific time they can apply for naturalisation and Irish citizenship, then as an Irish national they can get all benefits.”
Congratulations to Sean Ganley, Gorthaganny, who won €1,000 in the Ballyhaunis GAA 50/50 draw on an envelope sold on the club app.
The monthly volunteer-led bike repair clinic returns on Saturday, July 26, from 9am to 12.30pm at the Ballyhaunis Community Hall.
The organisers, Ballyhaunis Community Council, have told cyclists: “Bring your bike and we'll fix it with you and show you basic repairs! We'll also have our usual 9-10 teaching slot where we work on a repair problem - brake cables, punctures, gears adjustment etcetera.”
Sports facilities in the town centre and a new purpose-built community pre-school were identified as the top two priorities in the most recent round of public consultation conducted by the Town Centre First initiative spearheaded by Mayo County Council in conjunction with local community organisations.
The 88 people who completed the survey listed the childcare and sports facilities as the top priorities out of a list of other local development projects, including the old convent building being redeveloped as a library and the old courthouse, which will be converted into artist studios.
A consultancy engaged by Mayo County Council under the government-funded Town Centre First initiative is currently researching and drafting the compilation of a report outlining a development plan for Ballyhaunis in line with local priorities.
