Local Notes: Tánaiste on the campaign trail in Ballyhaunis
The general election may not have been called yet but the campaigning has already begun. Tánaiste Micheál Martin was in Ballyhaunis last week where he was joined by Minister of State Dara Calleary, Cllr John Caulfield, Cllr Damien Ryan and local supporters. Picture: Sinead Malee
The average price of a house in Ballyhaunis at €148,250 is less than half the national average of €350,000, according to the most recent batch of data on property prices from the Central Statistics Office.
Published in mid-October, and based on transactions in August, the data shows the average price of an existing (as opposed to newly built) dwelling in the Ballyhaunis postcode is now at a level not seen since the Celtic Tiger period. However, prices are significantly lower than average prices in Claremorris (€187,000) yet higher than average prices in Castlerea (€142,000).
The volume of sales this year has also been high by historical standards, suggesting sellers are taking advantage of higher prices. First-time buyers accounted for just over a third of buyers – a similar figure to that of purchasers buying to let, according to the CSO data.
Several years’ worth of research into migrants’ language needs is presented at a prestigious conference in the University of Galway today (Tuesday), which will see the launch of a research report from the Rural Villages, Migration and Intercultural Communication project funded by the Irish Research Council.
Tracking the experiences of migrants and refugees with language learning and use in Ireland’s rural communities, the report is a “sociolinguistic study of migration in rural areas", according to Dr Andrea Ciribuco, a lecturer in Italian at the University of Galway and principal investigator for the project who conducted much of his research through the Language Café, a community group in Ballyhaunis.
“The project works with local communities to produce new knowledge on the everyday experience of migrants and refugees, and how Irish rural communities are dealing with linguistic and cultural diversity,” explained Ciribuco, who interviewed a large number of participants in the café from a wide range of backgrounds.
A summary of the research report noted that by 2017 Ireland already had the fourth highest share of migrant population in rural areas in the EU at 11.9% - more than twice the EU average.
“Migration in rural communities presents specific challenges and opportunities, linked to factors such as transportation, job market, community cohesion and demographics," noted Ciribuco.
Founded in 2018, the Ballyhaunis Language Café meets several times a week to allow locals to converse informally in English, Irish and several other European languages. The project won the Social Inclusion category in the 2023 Cathaoirleach’s Award presented by Mayo County Council.
Local footballing stalwart Johnny Biesty was one of four panellists to take the stage for the launch of ‘Our Finest Hour’, a book on the achievements of GAA clubs across the county, in the Community Hall in Ballyhaunis recently.
Johnny and fellow panellists – one of them Fr Dan O’Mahony, a brother of John – were interviewed by Edwin McGreal, the book’s author on the highlights of their playing days.
Johnny won county medals at junior, intermediate and senior grades.
"That’s some haul,” suggested Edwin, who devoted two chapters of his book to Ballyhaunis and Eastern Gaels clubs respectively.
The conversation also dwelt on stylistic changes in Gaelic football over the decades. “It was straight down the middle” in his playing days, explained Johnny. He also recalled the nomadic days of the Ballyhaunis club which was for decades without a groundsof its own until members collected £1,700 to purchase a three-acre site from a farmer.
Knock-based catering firm Steak Out Catering has secured the contract to supply warm meals to Logboy National School, the latest in a series of school contracts secured by the family-run firm in Knock.
Set up in 2019, the company has positioned itself to supply hot meals funded by the Department of Education as part of the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) national plan for educational inclusion. Both Logboy and Ballyhaunis primary schools are designated as DEIS schools, entitling them to supports including free school meals.
Minister of State Dara Calleary TD has confirmed €95,440 for Ballyhaunis Golf Club under the Community Sports Facilities Fund 2024 to pay for an irrigation system for the club’s greens.
“I am delighted to have secured this funding for Ballyhaunis Golf Club. Having worked closely with the committee, local representative Stephen Nolan, Cllr John Caulfield and the Minister, I am delighted that the application has been successful,” said Minister Calleary. “Ballyhaunis Golf Club is a very progressive club and I wish them continued success for the future."
Congratulations to Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns for a terrifically produced video on the local Dalgan River which is now available for viewing at the popular online video-sharing site Youtube.
Titled ‘Story from the West: The Dalgan River, County Mayo’, the video was shot by local photographer and videographer Adam Kaczmarek and narrated by Abaigeal Warfield. The script was written by the Women Writing Out West, a women’s writing group that meets every month in Ballyhaunis.
Featuring marvellous underwater videography and shots of the river’s meandering course at various times of the year, the video also raises concerns about the health of the river whose water was described as of “moderate” quality in the Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent report on the local water treatment plant operated by Uisce Éireann.
The Dalgan is monitored every quarter by volunteers from Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns in cooperation with the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), a regional government effort to improve water quality which also trained the Ballyhaunis citizen scientists.
There’s clear evidence that farmland with ruined dwellings on site is being priced at significantly higher levels than without.
A 14.7-acre plot of land in the Brackloon area of Ballyhaunis is currently on the market at €130,000, bringing the price to €8,843 per acre. Another 27.5-acre property, with a long-vacant derelict dwelling, is selling for €270,000 in the Carnbeg area. The land is advertised as having hills with potential gravel deposits.
Those prices are well above the median €6,745 per acre paid for farmland in the Western region in 2023, according to Central Statistics Office data which put the mean price paid at €5,343/acre.
Various plots of agricultural land in other parts of east Mayo, offered without any ruins or dwellings onsite, are listed at much lower prices on property websites. These include a 35-acre farm in the Derrynaleck area listed for €125,000, a price tag of €3,571 per acre. A 24.9-acre plot in the Meelick area of Swinford, part grazing and part forestry, is selling for €100,000, which means a per-acre price of €4,016.
Numerous long-derelict rural residences have come to the market in recent months as these properties have become more attractive given they come with planning permission and are eligible for a government refurbishment grant.
Local auctioneer Gerry Coffey feels that pricing relates more to land quality rather than the presence of a structure on site.
“If the land is of good quality there’s good demand now with interest rates falling and businesspeople see farmland as a good investment because the rent they get is tax-free," he explained.
Coffey said that despite currently high prices for timber, forested or partly forested land is often low in price because smaller-scale plantings are less attractive to forestry companies and are often awkward to access.
Falling suckler cow numbers could spell trouble for local meat processor Dawn Meats and other meat firms across the country who may face a less busy future of fewer beef cattle.
The total Irish cow numbers have fallen by 78,277 head or 3.2 percent in the 12 months to September 1st of this year. The bulk of that contraction was in suckler cow numbers, which fell by 49,000 head in the past year, according to figures published by the Department of Agriculture. The trend – which mirrors a similar trend in 2023 – has been blamed on several factors, including an aging farmer population shifting to dry stock fattening.
Meat firms are facing structural issues like falling red meat consumption and lower cattle numbers across the continent. Livestock numbers have been falling across the EU, according to new data from the bloc’s statistics body, Eurostat, which show that between 2003 and 2023 the numbers of beef cattle across the 27 member states fell by 9% while pig numbers fell by 15%. The EU’s sheep and goat population dropped by 22% but poultry numbers rose by three percent.
Beef and veal production has declined for five consecutive years across the EU, with consumption also down. This is worrying news for beef processors in Ireland, which contributed nearly 11% of the 6.4 million tons (a 3.8% decline on 2022) of beef and veal produced across the EU in 2023. France and Germany are the EU’s top two beef producers, with Ireland in third place ahead of Italy, Poland and Spain.
A decline in beef cattle for slaughtering will also be worrying to the large number of immigrants who staff plants like Dawn Meats in Ballyhaunis and other locations. Meat processors increasingly rely on recruitment agencies to source workers from locations as far-flung as Brazil and East Timor.
Congratulations to Sean, Liam and Aibhinn Herr, Devlis, winners of €800 in the Ballyhaunis GAA 50/50 draw on October 27th on an envelope sold in the Annual 50/50.
