The ongoing battle to retain the name Ballycroy in regard to the National Park located in the village "isn't going to go away", the elected members of the Westport-Belmullet Municipal District were told on Monday.
A delegation from the local community attended the district's October meeting, where Ballycroy native, Michael Gallagher, addressed the councillors and asked them for their support to ensure that Ballycroy is kept as part of the name of the park.
Mr Gallagher said that he had never seen anger quite like it before in the local community and it is something that has brought the whole community together as one.
The plan is to rename the park 'Wild Nephin National Park', but what the local community want to see is that Ballycroy is retained in the name, even if it is to become 'Wild Nephin - Ballycroy National Park'.
Gallagher told the meeting that: "This is a red line issue for us, we just want our name to be part of the national park. We don't want to be confrontational about it, but it is so sad to see how upset and angered the people are in the community about the name being taken out and we are determined that it will not happen."
He went on to say that when the National Park was first mooted, the local residents came on board and local farmers changed what they had been doing to comply with what was needed to ensure the park happened; now they just want to see Ballycroy remain as an attribute name in the park.
There was full support from the elected members present at the meeting on the stance of the local residents, with the councillors proposing that a motion go forward to the next meeting of Mayo County Council on Monday next, to stop any proposed changing of the name of the park 'that leaves Ballycroy out of it'.
