Ballina Salmon Festival meeting
The organising committee of the Ballina Salmon Festival will be holding an open meeting on Tuesday April 10 at 8.30pm. The meeting will take place on the third floor of the Ballina Salmon Festival Office at 44 Pearse Street, Ballina - next door to the tourist office. This is an opportunity to meet the people behind the festival and hear an update on the plans for this year’s festival, and get involved if you wish. Business owners in the town are particularly welcome at this meeting.
Mayo authors up for literary award
Two authors with strong Mayo connections have been named on the shortlist for this year’s Dublin Literary Award. Mike McCormack who hails from Louisburgh has been nominated for his already award winning book Solar Bones, while Eimear McBride who spent part of her childhood in Mayo has been nominated for her book The Lesser Bohemians. The winner of the competition will be announced on Wednesday, June 13.
Mayo man pardoned for nineteenth century murder
President Michael D Higgins this week signed the warrant granting a posthumous pardon to Myles Joyce (Maolra Seoighe ), who was hanged in the wrong, for the Mám Trasna murders on the Mayo/Galway border, 136 years ago. Joyce and two others were hanged for the murder of five members of the Joyce family, despite the two other men separately admitting their guilt in the crime and saying that Joyce was innocent.
More than three hundred on trollies during March in Mayo
There were 301 people on trollies in Mayo University Hospital last month according to the latest figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO ). That was an increase of 101 on the same time period last year in the major hospital in the county town.
Westport Arts Festival EGM
Westport Arts Festival will hold an extraordinary general meeting next Thursday, April 12, at 7.30pm in the Sean Staunton Room in Westport Town Hall. Voting on the night will be only available to paid up members, but patrons, supporters, and volunteers are all welcome on the night.
The Chapel Street Gospel Choir rises again
Castlebar Gospel Choir was formed in 1999 and though rooted in traditional gospel and spiritual music it is also acclaimed for its interpretation of all genres of music, from classical to pop.
The choir has collaborated with many artists at home and abroad and participates in the music ministry at the Church of the Holy Rosary Castlebar monthly. Under the direction of Kathy Fahey the choir has achieved success at the Mayo Choral Festival and the Kiltimagh Choral Festival and has performed internationally in the USA and Germany.
This Easter the choir launched its new look and new name, The Chapel Street Gospel Choir. Based on the street where the choir was formed, the new name reflects the diversity of members from around the county and reinforces its roots as a spiritual group.
To mark the launch the Chapel Street Gospel Choir will perform two Spirit and Soul concerts at Christchurch Castlebar on Sunday, April 8 at 3pm and 7pm. The concerts promise to lift the spirit and enrich the soul and should not be missed. Tickets are available at Downtown Records Castlebar.
