Local Notes: Sustainable energy seminar draws a crowd in Ballyhaunis
Organisers and speakers at the recent seminar on sustainable energy at the Community Hall in Ballyhaunis photographed with electric cars outside St Patrick's Church
The falling cost of electric cars and the energy-saving potential of solar energy were among the items highlighted at a recent seminar on renewable energy organised by the local Sustainable Energy Community (SEC).
Hosted by Ballyhaunis Community Council at the Community Hall, the well-attended seminar heard from Dr Orla Nic Suibhne, a consultant to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) who remarked that a large percentage of Ballyhaunis homes have a Building Energy Rating (BER) but also pointed out that lots of measures can be taken, with grant assistance, to improve those BER ratings and thus reduce energy bills.
Dublin-based Dr David Connolly, originally from Lecarrow outside Ballyhaunis, gave an overview of what Ireland can do in terms of wind energy and heat pump installation to cut carbon emissions while also reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels. Connolly, CEO of Heatgrid Ireland, explained the efficiencies of a heat pump in a well-insulated home.
Alma Gallagher, manager of Clár ICH and a member of Ballyhaunis SEC, explained what her organisation has done to draw funds and manage projects for householders and businesses seeking to make their buildings warmer and more energy efficient. A local election candidate for Fine Gael, she said the large attendance at the briefing showed that “such events in community halls allow those who do not have the digital skills to access information online and equips them with the information they need”.
Locally based engineer Pat Lavin outlined the effectiveness of internal and external insulation works his firm Eco Smart has completed on buildings across the region. This includes external and roof insulation of the Community Hall, also known locally as the Parochial Hall, which was transferred by the diocese of Tuam to Ballyhaunis Community Council which invested €500,000 in its upgrade. The hall’s external insulation and heat pump system were both installed by contractors engaged by Clár ICH.
The increasing affordability and range of electric cars meanwhile was addressed by Liam Rochford owner of Rochford Motors.
“Electric car models we sell are now comparable with non-electrics on price. We sell new models for €30,000 and second-hand at €16,000.”
Range meanwhile has drastically improved, said Rochford, with many models now going 300 to 400 kilometres on a single charge.
David Doherty, CEO of Ballinlough-based Switch to Solar, outlined the growing popularity of solar panels for electricity generation and water heating. High electricity prices and SEAI grants have driven householders and businesses to install panels to cut their bills, said Doherty, who gave a technical explanation of the systems he installs.
The Friary conservation committee has booked popular Irish singer James Kilbane for a concert in the Friary on Saturday, June 15th.
The concert, which commences at 8.30pm, is the second played at the historic venue by Kilbane, who also performed a well-attended show at the venue over a decade ago.
The Friary conservation group, which is a subcommittee of the Abbey Partnership (the management body of the Friary and grounds), is also planning a car boot sale in the friary car park on Sunday, April 7th, from 11 to 3pm. Queries can be directed to ballyhaunisabbey@gmail.com.
Ballyhaunis Area Community Games hosted its first event of 2024 when a local Under 13 boys basketball and an Under 16 girls basketball team played in the county qualifiers held in St Gerard’s De La Salle Secondary School in Castlebar on March 18th. The boys' team came second to Westport on the day.
Tracy Cunnane, area secretary for the Cairn Community Games (renamed after a sponsorship deal with Cairn Homes), thanked her fellow volunteers Aoife Carroll, Geirdre Zaugiene and Eileen Donlon as well as the Devils Basketball Club for the loan of their jerseys, parents and the Ballyhaunis Family Resource Centre for ongoing support of the Games. Those seeking to get involved in the Community Games can contact ballyhaunis@communitygames.eu.
A sum of €30,000 will be provided by the government for the drawing up of a plan for the future development priorities of Ballyhaunis under the Department of Rural Affairs’ Town Centre First Programme.
A meeting of local voluntary groups and Mayo County Council officials is scheduled for April 11 at 7pm in Ballyhaunis Community Hall as part of the preparation of the plan, which is expected to be drawn up by a professional consultancy.
An earlier meeting held on March 19th was attended by members of Ballyhaunis Chamber of Commerce, Ballyhaunis Community Council, Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns, the local Family Resource Centre and Ballyhaunis Region and Community of Innovation and Enterprise.
Ballyhaunis was chosen for this government scheme which aims to support the “regeneration of Irish rural town centres with a strong focus on addressing dereliction and vacancy and improving public spaces,” according to Anne McCarthy, Mayo’s Town Regeneration Officer, Mayo County Council who chaired the meeting on March 19th.
She explained that the Town Centres First plan will be delivered by a Ballyhaunis town team “drawn from a wide range of business, cultural, social and community interests in the town”.
Ms McCarthy explained that the Town Centre First Planning process takes a “bottom-up approach to development” by identifying local priorities for project delivery with short, medium and long-term goals.
“Town Centre First relies on town teams and town champions to lead out on the delivery of plans in collaboration with relevant agencies and the local authority,” she said, adding that having a plan in place will “strengthen funding applications” to government departments.
Ballyhaunis organisations had previously come together in drawing up two plans under the Mayo Community Futures Programme. Also present at the meeting was Padraic Flanagan, manager of the Claremorris Swinford Municipal District.
Common Sense Parent (CSP) is a skills-based parenting course for parents and guardians of children aged 6-16 who want to build on their existing parenting skills or want to learn new ways to deal with their children’s behaviours. It is held in a relaxed, supportive environment.
This free course will take place in Ballyhaunis Family Resource Centre (FRC), starting on Wednesday, April 17th, and will run for six consecutive Wednesdays from 10am to 12 noon. For more information or to book a place, call Geraldine on 086-0470587.
A recent survey of the waters of the Dalgan River in the Cave area near the town has shown positive results in terms of water quality.
Conducted by the Citizen Science project at Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns, the survey is the first time in five such samples in the past year to show "good" water quality as defined by the standards set by the Local Authorities Water Programme (LAWPRO), which supports the Ballyhaunis group. Earlier samples have suggested contamination in the local river remains an issue.
A spokesperson for the Citizen Science project explained: “We saw many crayfish, all the good guys and a lot less of the bad guys -no snails, no leeches - also a lot less shrimps. This is good news but we don't have enough comparison data yet to derive a trend. It could be down to the insanely high levels of water recently and rapid flow which means nutrients get washed quickly. Although very satisfying, we will keep monitoring.”
The group can be contacted at ballyhaunistidytowns@gmail.com.
Aghamore-based historian Billy Lyons is eagerly looking forward to an April 13th event at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life in Turlough which will showcase progress made in recovering some of the countless valuable documents lost in a June 1922 fire at the Public Record Office of Ireland.
Seven centuries of public records were burnt in a fire at the Four Courts, which housed the Public Records Office. Some of the documents have been recovered by the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland, an all-island and international research programme working to digitally reconstruct the lost archives.
Some of the documents relating to Mayo will be showcased at the April 13th event, which will also feature a presentation by Mayo Genealogy Group, of which Billy Lyons is an active member. By tracking down copies and transcripts in libraries and archives around Ireland and overseas, the Virtual Record Treasury has recovered tens of thousands of documents. These include Mayo census records. Find out more at www.virtualtreasury.ie.
Local councillor John Cribbin outlined his role and that of local government to a large attendance at the English language café run by Ballyhaunis Language Café recently. The retiring councillor took questions from the multinational attendance at the group which meets every Thursday evening at 8pm at the Community Hall.
The group also runs conversation groups in French, Irish, Spanish and Slavic languages.
Merrilyn Finn, one of the coordinators of the English café, said participants asked “many questions” of the councillor who will be replaced at June’s local elections. Local Fine Gael candidate Alma Gallagher also visited the Language Café recently.
Congratulations to Mary Gannon who won €400 in the Ballyhaunis GAA 50 /50 draw on March 24th on an envelope sold via the Clubspot App.
