Come back Nestor - All is forgiven

Fri, Jun 09, 2017

Mayo meet Galway for the first time since the former’s shock defeat to the Tribesmen at this stage of the Connacht football championship last year. Galway's win put stop to Mayo's potential and unprecedented run of six provincial titles in a row. That defeat, Galway’s promotion to division one of the Allianz League, and the decision of some of Mayo’s senior players to give it one more crack, all point to a hotly contested semifinal this Sunday in Pearse Stadium. But sure what else would you expect from one of the oldest rivalries in GAA? It is a rivalry that kicked off in dramatic fashion in Connacht’s first contested championship in 1901. That year’s championship was actually not played in 1901, but was held throughout October and November of 1902. Galway had made their way to the Connacht final with a tight win over Roscommon. Mayo had received a bye into the final which was fortunate as Mayo GAA was in a period of reorganisation, its county committee had only been formed in April 1902.

Major boost for future of Knock Airport after SDZ designation

Fri, Jun 02, 2017

The designation of Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK) as strategic development zone (SDZ) this week by the Cabinet has been warmly welcomed around the county, the push to get the airport designated as an SDZ has been an ongoing issue for almost 10 years - with a number of different plans being put in place by the local authority to ensure the airport qualified for this designation.

Ballina Salmon Festival is back and bigger than ever

Fri, Jun 02, 2017

With just five weeks to go, planning for Ballina Salmon Festival is well under way with a packed programme of family-friendly events confirmed for Mayo’s largest community festival. Now in its 53rd year, the 2017 festival runs for three additional days, from Sunday, July 9, to Sunday, July 16, and will bring the streets alive with street theatre, live music, food, heritage, sports, and exhibitions.

The long road from the Bloody Code

Fri, Jun 02, 2017

‘No person shall suffer death for any offence’ - no, it is not a medieval monarchical decree, it is in fact the first order of the Criminal Justice Act 1990. The Act prohibited capital punishment under all circumstances within the Republic for the first time. The death penalty had remained on the Irish statute books exclusively for the offences of treason and murder, but from 1990 onward those crimes would carry a sentence of life imprisonment. To say the 1990 Act ended centuries of capital punishment in Ireland would be telling only half the story.

New Mayo touring trail will explore six thousand years of heritage and culture

Fri, Jun 02, 2017

Route Millennia Mayo, a new tourism trail which promotes six of the county’s premier cultural sites, was launched this week in the Jackie Clarke Collection, Pearse Steet, Ballina.

Relatives gather to commemorate Irish-American hero, Michael Conroy

Fri, Jun 02, 2017

Family, relatives, and friends of Irish-American hero, Michael Conroy, are travelling from the United States, Britain, and across Ireland to attend the special commemoration for the Claremorris born Station Tender who gave up his life in a brave effort to rescue stranded fellow miners in the Speculator Granite Mountain Mine Disaster in Butte, Montana, USA.

Michael, along with Peter Sheridan from Monaghan, was burned to death in the vain heroic attempt to rescue miners who were trapped deep into the copper mine shaft. In what was deemed as the worst hard rock mining calamity in US mining history, 168 men lost their lives, many of whom were native Irish.

What's on in your community?

Fri, Jun 02, 2017

Every day of the week there are some great events taking place in towns and villages all across Mayo, check out what's going on this week. If you'd like something included in Community Diary, email: [email protected].

Who fears to speak of Ernie O’Malley?

Fri, May 26, 2017

This week’s title borrows from John Kells Ingram’s famous 1843 political ballad, "The Memory of the Dead". In his poem, Ingram posits that later generations turned their fattened backs on the memory of the rebels of 1798, "Who Fears to Speak of '98?" Ingram was not a republican, but he penned his piece for the nationalist paper The Nation because he sympathised with what the United Irishmen had attempted to do and he had always pledged to defend brave men who opposed tyranny.

The 'Enda' of an era for Kenny

Fri, May 19, 2017

The months of speculation finally came to an end on Wednesday evening when Enda Kenny announced his decision to step down as leader of Fine Gael — the party he has led for just short of 15 years. Mr Kenny will be stepping down as Taoiseach, once a new Fine Gael party leader is elected by the party and a new Taoiseach is elected by the Dáil.

Mayo through Jack Leonard’s lens

Fri, May 19, 2017

'The Men of the West', that iconic photograph of Michael Kilroy's flying column taken with only the aid of natural light on the southern slopes of Nephin at 11.45pm on the longest day of the year in 1921, is known to us all. It hangs in numerous Mayo pubs and homes and thanks to the quality of the conditions and the skill of the photographer, we can clearly see the resolute expressions of the young men, we know their names and know their stories. But what of the photographer himself? What of the man who captured this first ever photo of an IRA unit on active service in Ireland? Jack Leonard did not just happen upon Kilroy and his men that bright June night. He was no amateur photographer, and neither was he a bystander during his country's fight for freedom. With a keen sense of duty, Leonard used his talent to capture all aspects of Mayo life in the early twentieth century. Jack 'JJ' Leonard was born in 1882 in Crossmolina and as a young man he trained in journalism and photography in London. He returned to Ireland in 1906 to set up his photography business at a time when the country was in political flux. Emotions and anger remained after the Land War in Mayo, a period of civil unrest and violence in the late 1800s, and the methods of parliamentary nationalists were now being challenged by physical force republicans.

Street protest to secure the future of Mayo GMIT

Fri, May 19, 2017

Member of the Mayo GMIT action group have announced a street protest at 3pm on Saturday, May 27, in Market Square, Castlebar. The protest is in reaction to the recent announcement of cuts to the Mayo campus.

'I'd have the gun', says councillor over Hardy Bucks graveyard filming

Fri, May 19, 2017

The fallout from the controversy over the filming of part of the new season of the Hardy Bucks TV show in Toomore graveyard continued this week, with one county councillor saying that he'd have shot at them if it had been done in his area, and another saying that he would have physically prevented them filming if he was in the area at the time.

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